Softball shouts

 Time now for our Tuesday softball shoutouts this morning and it was a fairly busy weekend once again this past weekend for young ladies from the Valley and their families, as the out-of-town portion of the fall schedule is now getting underway.

Several teams from our area featuring players with ties to the Valley were over in the Tri-Cities at the USA Preps Play in Pink tournament. The teams for the most part were very successful, and those local players proved important. Woodinville's Absolute Blast Pettit 16U's got a solid performance in the circle Sunday from Mount Si High School sophomore Jenna Nowak in a 7-3 win over southwest Washington-based Sabotage Northwest. Nowak went the distance allowing the three runs on four hits striking out five. She also had a hit in the game offensively. Cedarcrest High School's Paityn Craig is also on the team and also played in that game, going 0-2. Both ladies saw quality action all weekend for that team.

Also over there was the Voodoo Rhinehart, an 18U team also from Woodinville. They went 4-1 on the weekend and closed out things with a strong showing in two games Sunday. The Mount Si duo of Georgia Dennis and Westyn Haigh got plenty of playing time, with Dennis going 2-3 scoring two runs in a 9-4 Voodoo win over Preps Academy Floyd, but it is one of their teammates we want to give a big shout to this morning.

Travel softball for those involved in it is a very significant time, and especially, financial commitment, as the Valley families that are part of it spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars every softball season on travel, club fees, equipment, you name it, all to help their daughters chase their softball dreams. However, there are some families that go the extra mile to achieve this same goal. One of those families is part of the Voodoo crew this fall. It is the Rodriguez family from Anchorage, AK, with their daughter Sela. Sela Rodriguez has become a key part we think of the Voodoo offense this fall, and she showed why Sunday, hitting two homers including a grand slam and driving in six runs pacing Voodoo to a tournament-closing win over Woodinville-area rival Elevate Elite.

The concept of families sending their daughters to out-of-state travel programs is to a degree rare, and one might wonder why they do this considering there are ample opportunities at home, but it has happened in the past locally - some years ago, there was an ace pitcher at Juanita High School in Kirkland named Alison Rhodes who competed in travel ball down in southern California with a team there, and right now, a second team with a Mount Si player, Ally Hetzel's Washington Ladyhawks Simpson 18U's, has an out-of-state player on its roster, from Montana. So the families doing this are ostensibly looking for higher-level competition for their players than what is available in their home regions and in both cases those players very much are getting it. In Rodriguez's case, she is shining. So the extra investment her family is making right now is paying off well we think, and here is hoping that will continue as the out-of-town schedule gets fully underway.

BTW, also over there with her team was Ella Carter; the Redmond HS sophomore, whose older sister is Cedarcrest HS and Fordham U. softball alum Michaela Carter, competed with the Seattle Spice Perez 16U's in the tournament. Carter scored two runs and drove in a third for Spice Sunday in an 11-5 win over USA Explosion Perez.

Also this morning, we want to mention there was a friendly doubleheader on Saturday between Snoqualmie's Flame Fastpitch Gillespie, a 16U team, and the Fall City-based KB Riley 14U's at Torguson Park in North Bend. The two teams split the pair with Riley winning game one and the Flame taking game two. In the opener, Valley middle-schooler Paige Yost doubled, scored a run and drove in a second pacing KB to the 5-2 win, while Mount Si's Clara Connor did most of the heavy lifting for the Flame in a 12-1 blowout by them in the nightcap. She allowed two hits and two walks in three shutout innings striking out five, and had a hit and scored two runs as well leading the Flame. Fellow Wildcat Sam Santo doubled and scored a run as well for the Gillespie crew.

Rounding things out, Wildcat Fastpitch Club's Johnson 14U's were in Chehalis for the USSSA’s October Fest tournament this past weekend and while things did not go as planned on the field – the team tied for ninth overall in the event – the squad did get recognition for something else. The event had the teams all dressed up in costume. The ladies from the Johnson crew, based in North Bend, all dressed up as “Pikachu” from the Pokemon video games, and this costume design won the tournament’s award for best costumes in the 14U age level. Additionally, the WFC 10U’s coached by Steve Sanelli also participated in the event, and they, too, won their age group’s award for best costume design; those girls and coached dressed up it appears to us as characters from the legendary baseball movie “A League of their Own” which focused on women’s baseball opportunities during World War II and starred Madonna, Tom Hanks and Geena Davis among others. WFC’s 10’s finished tied for third in the tournament.

As the out-of-town schedule is starting to ramp up, this segment is we think gradually going to reduce itself in length over time, but we anticipate being back with this again next week for you here.