The Gilroy Stanford Cardinal under-14 girls’ softball team ended
its summer season with a bang, winning the 12-team End of Summer
Softball Celebration Tournament last weekend in Modesto.
Modesto – The Gilroy Stanford Cardinal under-14 girls’ softball team ended its summer season with a bang, winning the 12-team End of Summer Softball Celebration Tournament last weekend in Modesto. The GPA & Sports squad went undefeated, outscoring its opponents 44-6 in its six-game championship run.
Leading the way was ace left-handed pitcher Ashley Harrington, who won five of the six games, including two by shutout. Harrington struck out 24 batters over the two days. Sara Sendejas picked up the other victory, also pitching a shutout.
The tournament championship was especially noteworthy in that the Gilroy Stanford Cardinal beat Oakdale TNT twice. The Oakdale team had been in the championship finals in four of the eight tournaments they played this summer, and sported four players over 6-feet tall.
In the championship game, the local team edged Oakdale TNT 3-2, scoring the decisive run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Speedy center fielder Kaitlin Muraoka led off with a line drive double to right field. Muraoka was bunted to third by Harrington, and scored the winning run on an RBI fielder’s choice hit by shortstop Kristy Pineda.
Pineda led Gilroy in hitting during the tournament with a .600 average. Catcher Julie Wallace was close behind at .545, while Muraoka batted .400 and Harrington chipped in with a .333 average. Also contributing on offense were Mandy Lafuente, Ashley Hernandez, Liz Wallace, Jessica Clancy, Ally McClintic and Sendejas. The locals batted .300 as a team during the tournament.
The Garlic City girls started the tournament off by winning three games on Saturday – outscoring their opponents 27-3 – and capturing the first-place seeding in their division. Gilroy debuted with a 4-3 win over Oakdale TNT. They followed up with a 14-0 whitewashing of the Empire Xtreme, and a 10-0 blanking of the Hughson Rebels. On championship Sunday, the locals blanked the Fallon Nevada Rockets 8-0 and beat the Milpitas Renegades 5-1 before their 3-2 championship game victory over Oakdale TNT.
The Gilroy Stanford Cardinal is managed by Joe Hernandez and coached by Aurelio Sendejas, Gary Wallace and Dennis Castro. The club will hold tryouts for their fall team on Aug. 27. Girls aged 14 and under are invited to tryout.
For more information on tryouts, call Joe Hernandez at 476-0969.
