Sting Gold 12U Wins Salinas Halloween Bash “A” Division
Posted by kenmoore on Oct 24 2007 | Tagged as: 12-LBA
Albany-Berkeley Sting 12U Gold won the 12U “A” division of the ASA Halloween Bash tournament in
Salinas October 20-21, 2007. Eligible to play in the “B” division, Sting coaches Leah and Chuck Adams elected to “play up” with excellent results.
On Saturday, after a breakfast at McDonald’s for several of the players, Sting got off to a slow start in pool play. Their first game was against the San Jose (SJ) Sting. Things looked good at first for Albany-Berkeley (AB) Sting as the second batter of the game, Anna Moore, hit a hard grounder down the third base line and streaked around the bases for a home run. But SJ answered back in the bottom of the first inning with two runs on two AB errors. AB tied the game at 2-2 in the second inning. SJ again answered back in the bottom of the inning scoring four times on two walks and three singles. The final score was 6-2, SJ Sting.
In the second game on Saturday, AB Sting returned to form, overpowering the San Jose Strikkers with an eleven run outburst in the first inning. With two outs and no runs in, the next ten Sting batters reached base. Izzy Lubin-Brown hit a triple and a double in the inning knocking in three runs. Clara Obstfeld and Jordan Baker also had two hits each in the inning. In the second inning, the first seven Sting batters reached base. With no outs and a 15-0 lead, Sting coaches started base runners before the pitcher released the ball, giving the Strikkers all three outs in the inning. The Strikkers managed six base runners in three innings, but none got past second base.
In the third game on Saturday, Sting played the hometown Salinas Storm in a closely fought game. Sting got their offense going early, scoring two runs in the first inning on a singles by A. Moore and Lubin-Brown and a double by J. Baker. In the second inning, singles by Annie Smith and Katie Nordahl scored another run to put Sting ahead, 3-0. Storm mounted a come back in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a walk and a single to score their only run. A force out at third base and a strike out ended the threat. Sting won 3-1.
The semi-final game on Sunday morning found Sting facing the Salinas Storm for the second game in a row. The game went into the International Tie Breaker after the teams reached the 75-minute time limit tied 5-5. Sting got off to a shaky start as two fielding errors in the first inning and two more in the third resulted in three runs for the Storm. Down 3-0, Sting got their offense going in the fourth inning, getting back one of the runs on a walk to Lubin-Brown, a sacrifice bunt by Smith and an RBI single by Alex Hickey. In the fifth inning, Sting took the lead, scoring four runs as Storm pitchers yielded walks to Lindsey Baker, Obstfeld and J. Baker. A. Moore and Kate Moore added singles to round out the attack. Up 5-3, Sting couldn’t hold Storm in the bottom of the fifth as they collected three singles to tie the game.
Under International Tie Breaker rules, Sting started the top of the sixth with Molly Cohen at second base. Cohen advanced to third on a passed ball and stole home for the go ahead run. Sting got an insurance run as Hickey walked and scored on an RBI single by L. Baker. In the bottom of the sixth, with a Mad Dog runner starting at second, the first batter was hit by a pitch and the second batter singled to load the bases with no outs. After a ground ball to shortstop K. Moore resulted in a force at home, a walk to the Mad Dogs lead off batter scored a run making it 7-6. A ground ball to pitcher J. Baker forced another runner out at the plate. With the bases still loaded, the final out was recorded as K. Moore backhanded a hard hit ground ball and tossed to A. Moore at third for the force.
In the championship game, Sting faced the Monterey Mad Dogs who had placed first in pool play, allowing no runs to their opponents on Saturday. Sting struck first, scoring one run in the second inning as Hickey walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Nordahl. The Mad Dogs answered back in the third inning scoring two runs on a walk and three consecutive singles for a 2-1 lead. Further damage was prevented when catcher, Obstfeld, threw out a runner stealing second and pitcher J. Baker ended the inning with a strike out. In the bottom of the fourth inning Nordahl again provided the fire power, knocking in the tying run with a triple to deep left center. She then scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball giving Sting a 3-2 lead.
An unusual event took place in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs and a count of 1-1, J. Baker blew a strike past the Storm batter. The umpire called, “Strike three!” Sting went in the dug out, and the Mad Dogs came out onto the field. Then the Mad Dogs’ coach came on the field to point out that the 1-1 pitch was only strike two. Since we were the home team, I was the official scorekeeper. The umpire asked me what count I had in the scorebook. I told him I had 1-1 but thought I had been wrong when he called strike three. The umpires then called Sting back onto the field with a runner on first and a count of 1-2. J. Baker then walked that batter, but retired the next batter on a pop up. The time used by this may have prevented the opportunity for another inning for the Mad Dogs.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with the score still 3-2, the Mad Dogs were looking for a quick inning so they could get another chance to take the lead. But that was not to be. Sting scored one run on consecutive singles by Lubin-Brown and Smith. Hickey then followed with a sacrifice RBI bunt to make the score 5-2. Smith was standing at third base with two outs and Nordahl at the plate when the 90 minute time limit was reached ending the game.
SIDE BAR:
Live and learn! In the first inning of the championship game, Obstfeld led off the inning with a walk. A. Moore then hit a ground ball to the second baseman. Obstfeld ran right into the tag, and then A. Moore was out at first for a double play. Coach Chuck explained to Obstfeld that the proper action in that situation was to stop, make the second baseman chase her for the tag, thereby avoiding the double play. To lead off the third inning, Obstfeld walked and A. Moore again hit a ground ball to the second baseman. Obstfeld stopped, delaying the inevitable tag out, but there was no double play!
