Playing in its second tournament as a unit, the Silicon Valley Glory 14-and-under travel softball team went undefeated on its way to winning the USSSA Memorial Day Classic held in Fremont over the weekend.
The Glory backed up a strong offensive performance with clean play in the field, anchored by stellar pitching from Maria Sandoval, Alexis Conlon and Mackenzie Holt and solid catching by Morgan England and Michaela Decker. The Glory outscored the opposition 39-7 en route to their 5-0 record.
“The girls played well across the board this weekend,” manager Steve Ransom said. “They are working hard at practice and it is showing on the field.”
The offense rolled from Game 1 forward. A grand slam by Liezl Clark in that first outing led to other offensive contributions from Decker (8 for 14 in the tournament), Holt, Mckenna Parks, Alexis Conlon and Pati Sori – who all hit triples – as the tournament unfolded.
Starting shortstop Soria went down with an injury early in Saturday’s Game 3, however Miranda Rehnborg moved into that position from second base and continued her consistent defensive play.
Beginning the weekend one player short coupled with the loss of Soria, the team entered Sunday’s games with only nine players.
Facing the Concord Lady Hawks in the championship game, Glory jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first inning. The Lady Hawks put together a rally in the second inning, but with two outs and the bases loaded, center fielder Allison Ransom made a sliding catch to end the inning, as the Glory went on to win 11-1.
