Two days of temperatures over 105 degrees was not enough to keep
the Morgan Hill Pride 12U softball team from having its best
tournament of the season. The Pride continued to improve, beating
teams from Santa Rosa, Concord and Oakland on their way to the
semifinals of the Pleasant Hill softball tournament. The 11- and
12-year-olds showed maturity far beyond their years as they played
errorless ball through three games.
Two days of temperatures over 105 degrees was not enough to keep the Morgan Hill Pride 12U softball team from having its best tournament of the season. The Pride continued to improve, beating teams from Santa Rosa, Concord and Oakland on their way to the semifinals of the Pleasant Hill softball tournament. The 11- and 12-year-olds showed maturity far beyond their years as they played errorless ball through three games.
The Pride was led by terrific pitching by Samantha Bejarano and Brianna Anglikowski. Bejarano pitched three games in the tournament, posting two shutouts and giving up just seven hits in all three games combined. Anglikowski went the distance in a seven-inning game and posted a shutout of her own.
In the field and at bat, the Pride was led by Kayla Cisneroz who made play after play at shortstop and hit for the cycle in the tournament.
Following are the results:
MH Pride 6, Santa Rosa Victory 0
The Pride jumped out to an early lead with a single by Jacey Turay, followed by an RBI single to left by Cat Molnar.
The fifth inning saw the Pride extend its lead to 5-0. Bejarano started it off with a walk and, after Vivianna Rocha came in to run, Kayla Cisneroz moved her to second with a solid hit to left field. Katie Machado walked and Rocha stole third. Both runners scored on a clutch hit by Nikita Patel to right field.
San Ramon Stompers 7, MH Pride 2
In triple-digit heat, the Pride struggled a bit at the bat, but Priscilla Orona came through with a fake bunt/slap single in the first inning to score Cisneroz, who had walked.
MH Pride 3, Concord Glory 1
Didi Lopez walked in the third and manufactured her own run by stealing second, third and home to break up a scoreless game in the third. With the score tied at 1-1, Alyssa Vukcevich singled down the first base line, Lopez walked and Kayla Cisneroz ended up with what turned out to be the game-winning triple on a line drive shot to center field.
MH Pride 6, Oakland Vipers 2
Jacey Turay led off the game with a single to left field, Cat Molnar followed with an infield single of her own, and Sam Bejarano drove the ball to left field for a two-run single to take the lead for the Pride. Alyssa Vukcevich walked and Kayla Cisneroz had her first-ever home run, driving the ball to deep left-center field. The final two runs came in the third inning as Bejarano singled to left, Nikita Patel laid down a perfect bunt that moved Bernardini to third. Katie Machado hit a ground ball to shortstop that scored one run, and Alyssa Vukcevich laid down a bunt for the final RBI of the game. Anglikowski finished her first complete-game shutout of the season with a strikeout to end the game.
San Mateo Stompers West 5, MH Pride 4
The Stompers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Pride was not ready to call it a day. Cat Molnar walked in the Pride’s half of the second inning and scored as Cisneroz doubled to left-center field to complete hitting for the cycle in the tournament. In the top of the fourth, Patel walked and stole second, Bernardini sacrificed her to third base and Alyssa Vukcevich came through with a solid hit to right field to score Patel. With time quickly running out, Priscilla Orona beat out an infield hit in the seventh inning, stole second and moved to third on a fielder’s choice. Kayla Cisneroz continued her hitting dominance with a triple to bring the score to 4-3. With Cisneroz on third, Jacey Turay had a clutch single down the first base line to tie the game. The Pride advanced to an international tiebreaker to see which team would move on to the semifinals. The Pride took the lead 5-4, but Concord scored twice to win.
The Pride had a terrific tournament and end their season this weekend with a tournament in Santa Maria.
Orchard Valley Storm U11 Girls Class 1 results
The Orchard Valley Storm traveled to the campus of Sonoma State University to play the team’s first tournament of the summer. Led by goals by Monica Luna and Janessa Garcia, the Storm won the tournament opener with a hard fought 2-1 victory.
In its second game, the Storm played Placer 95. The momentum of the game turned in a 20-second span when goalkeeper Rebekah Inouye saved a penalty kick and the Storm mounted a quick counterattack, culminating in a Taylor Slattery goal. Amber Thomas added three goals and Inouye added the capper as the Storm won 5-0.
The Storm then needed a win over the host team from Sonoma in order to advance to medal play. Thomas scored two quick goals for an early lead and the Storm defense, led by Michaela Swensen and Paige Menage, turned in a shutout effort in support of great goalkeeping from Macey Dunne as the Storm won 3-0.
In the semifinals, the Storm fought back from a 1-0 deficit against Sacramento United to take a 2-1 lead on goals by Emily Kyle and Amber Thomas. A late Sacramento goal forced overtime, during which Sacramento scored with two minutes left to defeat the Storm 3-2.
The Storm rebounded in the next match with goals from Slattery, Kyle, Thomas and Luna for a 4-3 win over the Pleasanton Rage to finish the weekend with a 4-1 record and a third-place finish.
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