The Pleasanton Phantom Rose under-12 team came in second place, finishing 4-1 in the 2006 “Up in Smoke” U-12 softball tournament in Livermore. Of the nine tournaments the team played, the second place finish was its best of the season.
In the opening game, Phantom Rose defeated Quicksilver Black 9-4 after trailing 4-0 early in the contest. Aria Crawford led the comeback with two hits and three RBIs. Kelly Taylor hit a rally-sparking double while Jessica McKeehan and Courtney Dodge each had two hits in the game. Pitcher Lyndsay Godwin picked up the win.
The Phantom Rose then beat the North County Raptors 17-6. The Rose provided strong early support for winning pitcher Crawford by scoring 14 runs in the first inning. Lauren Bennett had three hits and Phantom Rose got two more hits from McKeehan. McKeehan also drove in four runs.
The Phantom Rose followed the 11-run win with a 16-4 victory over the Lamorinda Menace. Kara Schott led the offense with three hits and three runs scored. Crawford added three more hits as well as three more RBIs. McKeehan also had three hits while Kiera Melton, Dodge and Godwin each added two hits in support of winning pitcher Courtney Dodge.
In the semifinals, Goodwin pitched a two-hitter as the Phantom Rose defeated the Pajaro Valley Tremblers 9-1. Dodge rapped out four more hits and Freitas, Taylor, Bradley, Melton, McKeehan and Godwin each had two hits apiece to lead the offense.
In the final, the Quicksilver Black avenged the earlier defeat and beat Phantom Rose 9-0. The championship game was highlighted with several outstanding defensive plays from both teams. The results left Phantom Rose with a .543 average, with every player batting above .375.
Tryouts Sunday for girls softball league
Tryouts for the fall 2006 Pleasanton Phantom Girls Softball Ball program will take place this Sunday.
Teams will be formed into under-14 and under-12 teams. For the under-14 team, girls must be 14 or younger as of Dec. 31 of this year, and must be 12 or under on that date for the under-12 team.
The “Fall Ball” program will run from Sept. 16 through Nov. 4. Check the league Web site for time and place of tryouts at www.pleasantonsoftball.org.
Ballistic White ends up third in Santa Clara Cup
The under-15 Ballistic White soccer team was red-hot during both days of the Santa Clara Rotary Cup tournament, scoring 11 goals in four games while only giving up two. Despite going unbeaten, the team was forced to settle for a place in the consolation game and a third place finish in the tournament.
In the consolation game, Ballistic White faced the Heritage Velocity. It was an even match and at halftime the score was 1-0 with the lone Ballistic goal coming from David Meyer, with assists from Brian Johnston and Cory Thomas.
Heritage tied it early in the second half off a nice corner kick, but Ballistic turned up the heat and dominated the rest of the second half. The second and decisive goal came when Edris Bemanian cut through several defenders and punched in a goal that fell in under the cross bar. There were several other great runs at the net by Nik Thompson, Ryan Parsons, Cory Thomas, Drew Hall and Chris Hewitt.
In an earlier semifinal game, the Ballistic scored six times to post a 6-0 win over the Central Valley Storm. Jared Lui scored twice and Hall, Parsons, Thompson and Thomas each contributed with a goal. This game allowed the White to put on a clinic on how to play textbook team soccer with great passes, smart offensive strikes and heads up defense. Evan “The Wall” Zolfarelli was in goal throughout the tournament and grabbed everything that came his way.
In the early games of the tournament, Ballistic beat Mustang United 2-0 with goals from Thomas and Bemanian. Ballistic posted one tie in the tournament.
