Again, congratulations to the Gilroy girls softball team that
made it through Sectionals, State, Western Regionals and back to
the LL World Series. They had a great run and played their hearts
out to get there, and a special thanks to all of the parents and
fans that followed them through it all, whether at the games
cheering them on or from home listening in on the live
broadcast.
Editor’s note: Green Phone will run in reverse order today. This submission, while long, needs no commentary to follow. Below is an example of where the focus should be when it comes to youth sports.
Calling out Names
CALLER 1: Again, congratulations to the Gilroy girls softball team that made it through Sectionals, State, Western Regionals and back to the LL World Series. They had a great run and played their hearts out to get there, and a special thanks to all of the parents and fans that followed them through it all, whether at the games cheering them on or from home listening in on the live broadcast.
We should all be proud of these girls representing not just Gilroy, but our state as well as Western Regionals. They played with their heart and always showed excellent sportsmanship in representing Gilroy. To say that this “team” tried to cheat their way into semi-finals is incorrect. The team (players) have no say-so on what calls happen in the dugout. These girls deserve the credit for making it as far as they did just like all the previous teams as well.
They always played hard and whether they won or lost they represented Gilroy as the best, time and time again. They got great complements from other teams, players, parents and directors the whole way through on how they represented themselves as being great softball players and always showing great sportsmanship in the face of defeat or victory – as they proved to everyone by winning in extra innings against Puerto Rico in the consolation game for 5th place.
They never gave up and pulled it together to the end and still came out as winners in my eyes. Special individual player recognitions: Amber “The Gun” Gamboa – caught EVERY single game from sectionals to worlds, her great contributions to the team at bat and a great arm throwing out players left and right.
Aly Olvera – with her great at bats, awesome outfielding and excellent third-generation pitching.
Ashlee Williams – with her outstanding batting, always coming up with some great doubles, triples and RBI, and great defense at third base with some outstanding catches on those on-the-fence pop-ups.
Alex Zamaripa – great team player always cheering on her teammates, excellent outfielding with some great, unforgettable diving catches to left field and coming out smashing those ball against Puerto Rico.
Celeste Jimenez – great defensive player wherever she is – outfield, infield, pitching. She had a great catch to right field on her knees to hold runners on base, as well as great pitching.
Casey Lester – fast pitcher, fastest base runner around and even a faster arm to throw anyone out from short stop or center field.
Marizza Lucio – another great team player with a big heart giving it her all with some awesome catches out in right field and always coming through with a great hit to keep it going.
Randi Rogers – excellent infielder at second base catching line-drives and great (fielding) where nothing could get past her and great at-bats, always coming through with hits to move runners around.
Kaylana Mah – with excellent pitching, striking batter after batter (out) with her unbelievable change up and a great short stop blocking and diving for everything that went her way. Great at-bats with several to the fence – doubles and triples bringing in the runs.
Shawnte Garcia – awesome defense on first base. She’ll stretch a mile for her team. Great plays at first getting runners out unassisted, ending several games for us and great at-bats with several doubles and RBI, not to mention a walk-off home run to win the game for us against Puerto Rico.
Sarah Ordaz – great outfield (play) with several diving catches to throwing runners out at third as well as catching line drives while playing second. Great clutch hits with several triples and RBI.
Sarina Sandoval – great center fielder catching everything that went out her way. Excellent at bats with major clutch hitting and RBI.
