Brittany Ondich crushes three home runs over the fences to lead
the Pride
PRUNEDALE – The Pride of Morgan Hill 14 and Under team took first place in the Annual North County Raptor Classic held in Prunedale by defeating the San Jose Twisters in the championship game.
The Pride went undefeated in its five games and outscored their opponents 69-18 in those games.
Pride 6, Twisters 2
The Pride pulled ahead of the San Jose Twisters early with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Colleen Henningsen started off the game with a single and scored on a double by Heather Hays. Brittany Ondich, Amber Isbell, Allyson Yamashita, and Sabrina LaCorte all hit singles to drive in three more runs for the Pride.
Yamashita started the Pride rally in the fourth with a single and stole second and third base. Theresa Jacobs laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. The rally continued when Mattie Borges doubled. She was brought in by a single by Henningsen. Henningsen stole second and third and scored on a bunt by Lindsey Capozza.
Capozza pitched a near-perfect game, allowing only one hit with no runs in her four trips to the mound. Jakie Palacios relieved Capozza in the fifth and allowed two runs on hard hit balls by the Twisters. Strong defense by Isbell, LaCorte, and Yamashita contributed to a solid game by the Pride.
Hays and Borges led the Pride hitters with doubles. Henningsen and Yamashita each had two singles, and LaCorte, Ondich, Capozza and Jessica Ikerd contributed with singles.
Pride 11, Marina 3
Ondich knocked a three-run home run over the fence in the first inning to pace the Pride to victory. The Pride continued the scoring with an RBI double by Ikerd. Ondich doubled to score two more runs. The onslaught of scoring continued in the third with four more RBIs scored on doubles off the bats of Capozza and Hays. With Ondich coming to the plate, the Marina All-Stars decided intentionally walk her.
The Pride supported their bats with solid defense by Jacobs, Borges and LaCorte. Catcher Hays, with runners on first and third base threw out the runner stealing for the third out in the second inning. Capozza and Palacios combined to pitch another superb game.
Pride 11, Curves 6
Against the Greenfield Curves, the Pride was led once again by Ondich, who hit for the cycle with five RBIs. She hit a single, double, triple and a towering two-run homer over the fence. Borges ended the game in the fifth inning with a heads-up unassisted double play.
Pride def. Marina
With a first round bye, the Pride began their championship play at noon on Sunday with a rematch against the Marina All-Stars. Once again it was an easy victory.
Gennifer Giusiana was robbed of a solid hit to center field by a spectacular catch. All Pride bats contributed to amass a lopsided scoring game.
Pitcher Capozza,was backed with solid defense. Second baseman Jacobs caught a line drive for the third out in the first inning. Pride’s shortstop Yamashita made beautiful ‘textbook’ plays consistently robbing several All-Stars of almost sure hits.
Right fielder Giusiana, backing up first, picked up a passed ball and threw to second to almost get the runner in a close play.
Pride 18, Twisters 6
In the championship game, the Pride dominated the San Jose Twisters, but the Twisters got within one run in the top of the third inning.
But in the bottom of the third inning, the Pride pulled away with a solid lead. The Pride scored in the bottom of the first inning and also scored in every other inning of the game as well.
The Pride hitfest was led by Ondich, who had another over-the-fence home run and two doubles.
Ondich had 3 over-the-fence home runs. The longest was measured around 245 feet. She collected 14 RBIs over the five -game tournament.
Borges hit a triple and a double, Capozza had four singles and Ikerd had three singles.
Both Yamashita and Isbell had a pair of singles, and Hays, LaCorte and Henningsen contributed with singles.
The Pride ‘B’ team plans will be participating in the Pride of Morgan Hill tournament at the Community Park this weekend.
