The Gilroy Major All-Stars are undefeated and won the Northern
California State Championship in Sunnyvale Wednesday night.
But the party’s just getting started.
Now, the 11- and 12-year-old softballers are off to Vancouver,
Wash., to the Western Regional Tournament to play for a shot at the
Little League Softball World Series.
Gilroy – The Gilroy Major All-Stars are undefeated and won the Northern California State Championship in Sunnyvale Wednesday night.
But the party’s just getting started.
Now, the 11- and 12-year-old softballers are off to Vancouver, Wash., to the Western Regional Tournament to play for a shot at the Little League Softball World Series.
Despite having a relatively dominant run so far in All-Star play, the girls experienced a few nervous innings in their 9-1 win over the All-City All-Stars of Manteca before they broke the game open with a flurry of hits.
“In the first through third innings, we were kind of nervous,” said second baseman Michelle Sosa, who has the team’s highest batting average. “Then we started hitting.”
And how did they feel after the game’s last out that finalized the win?
“Joyful,” said third baseman Brenna O’Neill, with a big smile.
Next up, the Northern California reps will take on their Southern California counterparts in the tournament opener Sunday.
For the Majors’ upcoming opponents, starting shortstop Alissa Castro had this message: “Be ready for us.”
In the first game, manager Dennis Castro plans on starting Samantha Parraz on the mound for the All-Stars. In addition to her, the team has three pitchers it can turn to: Alissa Castro, Danielle Kinoshita and Stephanie Rodriguez.
Not joining the All-Stars in Washington is outfielder Marissa Gamboa, who will be visiting family in Texas. Dennis Castro expects Elaina Vasquez to fill in for her in right field.
The key to the tournament, Dennis Castro believes, will be his team’s offensive effort.
“I think for us, it’s just going to be hitting the ball and scoring runs,” he said. “We have a real strong defense and the pitching staff has done very well throughout the tournament. We score runs. We are a hitting team so that shouldn’t be too hard.”
Some other positives are that the girls, who play for different travel teams the rest of the year, play well together and have good instincts for the game.
Said Alissa Castro, “Everyone came together as a team and we did good.”
“And we got along with each other,” added Sosa.
Dennis Castro agrees.
“They’re like seasoned pros,” he said. “But then also, we as coaches have worked at teaching them about backing up (throws), where to back up and taking opponents for extra bases. We tell them, ‘Don’t expect coach to tell you to take it.'”
The girls have picked up on those lessons. Castro said there are many times as third base coach when he’ll be waving a girl home and he sees another player advancing from first to second without his instruction.
“Which is great, because then I don’t have to coach them,” he said.
The financial cost of playing in the tournament is steep, which is why the Gilroy Little League is hoping to get some support from the community. Castro said the Sunnyvale team that qualified for a recent Western Regional Tournament had its total expenses for the week add up to about $11,000.
Still, Castro, a former minor leaguer in the Florida Marlins organization, said the trip is worth the price.
“There’s no way somebody can turn something like this down,” he said. “It was a dream of mine to go to the World Series when I played Little League.”
If all goes well, the Majors will be living their own World Series dream in Portland in August.
Western Regional Tourney Schedule
Gilroy, representing Northern California, plays in the Southwest Pool, one of two pools at the Little League Western Regional.
Pool Play
Sunday, July 31, 6pm
vs. Southern California
Monday, Aug. 1, 11am
vs. Arizona
Tuesday, Aug. 2, 3:30pm
vs. Nevada
Thursday, Aug. 4, 3:30pm
vs. Utah
CHAMPIONSHIP Play
The top two teams in each pool (Northwest and Southwest) move on to the championship bracket, which begins play Saturday, Aug. 6. The championship game will be played at 2pm on Sunday, Aug. 7.
