The Gilroy Glory 14-and-under girls fastpitch softball team won
its second championship in as many weeks. They came in first out of
12 teams in Fremont June 24-25. Coaches credited heart,
determination and a total team effort in the victory.
The Gilroy Glory 14-and-under girls fastpitch softball team won its second championship in as many weeks. They came in first out of 12 teams in Fremont June 24-25. Coaches credited heart, determination and a total team effort in the victory.
Saturday began with pool play against the Tracy Express Titans. The Titans scored two runs in the fourth inning to win by a 4-1 score.
The second game in pool play was against the Central Valley Lightning. Again it was another hard fought game that see-sawed back and forth. The Lightning won 5-4.
The third and final game on Saturday was against the Campbell Crush. This game would define the character of this team. Campbell held a 6-3 lead in the fifth. Julie Wallace led off the bottom of the fifth with a base hit to left. This was followed by consecutive base hits by Mel Morales, Brenna Oneill, Lindsay Holt and Amanda Poso to tie the score at 6-6.
Sunday began bright and early at 8am against the Ceres Sizzle. After spotting them to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Gilroy struck back with three runs. Hits from Sara Spindel, Sean Bay, Morales, Liz Wallace and Holt produced three runs.
Glory pitcher Danielle Kinoshita was hit in her shin and had to leave the game. The Glory rallied to score seven more runs to beat Ceres 10-7.
Game 2 was against the No. 1 seed Yuba Sutter Sting. Yuba Sutter took a 5-1 lead into the third inning when the Glory took charge. Timely hits from Spindel, Bay, Morales and Alysa Castro, three errors and a walk spelled doom for Yuba Sutter. The end result was an 8-5 victory for the Glory.
Game three pitted the Gilroy Glory against the Lady Patriots. The Glory got started in the first with a walk to Morales and a triple to Oneill (she scored on an error) for a 2-1 lead. The Glory scored three more times in the third, the key hit another triple from Oneill. Pitcher Spindel held the Lady Pats to six hits over five innings for a 5-2 victory putting the Glory in the championship game.
This game featured the No. 1 seed from the other bracket, the Tracy Titans. Kinoshita, who was injured in game 1, wanted to pitch the final game, and she pitched brilliantly. She fired a four-hitter, giving up only one run over five innings, assisted by superb defense. The Glory started the scoring in the second inning with base hits from J. Wallace, Kinoshita and Morales for a 2-0 lead. The third inning the Glory continued where they left off.
Oneill and Castro reached after errors. Lindsay Holt followed with a home run over the left fielder’s head by for a 5-1 lead. An error, a base hit by Morales and sacrifices by Holt and Castro produced two more runs.
Liz Wallace made a fine running over-the-head catch at second base to preserve the victory for the Gilroy Glory. Morales was given the game ball for her hitting and fine catching skills behind the plate by manager Joe Hernandez and coaches Larry Owen and Gerry Wallace.
The Gilroy Glory next play in the state tournament in Modesto July 4 weekend.
