Battling the 100-plus degree temperatures in Pleasant Hill over
the weekend, the Morgan Hill Pride 16U girls fastpitch team
survived the elements and to claim third place.
Battling the 100-plus degree temperatures in Pleasant Hill over the weekend, the Morgan Hill Pride 16U girls fastpitch team survived the elements and to claim third place.
Despite a slow start on Saturday, the Pride team rallied behind the pitcher/catcher duo of Kaitlyn Nelson and Holly Turay, who were supported with excellent defense behind them.
Nelson shut out the Benicia Outlaws 4-0, throwing a three-hitter with seven strikeouts. She followed up the performance with a dominating two-hit, six-strikeout, 5-0 shutout win over the Valley Stompers to advance the Pride to the semifinals.
Highlighting the Benicia win was Turay twice picking-off runners at third base, Samantha Sanchez throwing out a runner at third from deep left field and the fielding of Brittany Vandergrift at short stop and Casey Post at third.
The offensive attack was led by Dahajaira Lopez and Kaitlyn and Robin Nelson, who all had multiple hits and runs scored and the timely hitting of the designated hitter Brooke Martin.
The shutout victory over the Stompers was made possible by perfectly played double plays by Brook Willis at first base, Vandagriff at shortstop and the bats of Post and Kelly Henningsen, whose RBI singles to Kayla Hinman and Brooke Martin in the sixth inning broke the game open.
Excellent defensive support with four assists by Reanne Sobrio at second base and the right field play of Lopez kept the shutout in place.
In the semifinals, Pride opened the game with four consecutive singles and took a 4-2 lead into the final at-bat.
But the heat, the long day and the bats of the home team from San Ramon Valley proved too much as Pride’s weekend ended with a third place finish.
The Pride 16U team has shown tremendous improvement during this summer under the direction of coaches Natalie Torrez and Rick Hinman, the varsity and junior varsity coaches at Sobrato High School.
The Pride 16U team finishes its summer season this weekend with a 12-team tournament in Watsonville.
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