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NEWS AND NOTES FROM PRESS ROW
By Loren Kopff
LA MIRADA-The Artesia Punishers 16-Under team travel softball team, managed by Armando Canizales, had a very brief stay in the Premier Girls Fastpitch Southern California Qualifier. First, the team was blasted by the (La Palma) California A’s White-Iseri in the opener last Friday at La Mirada Regional Park before being eliminated less than 24 hours later by the (West Covina) Orange County Batbusters-Perez.
In the tournament opener, the Cal A’s needed one big inning to send the Punishers to the loser’s bracket, scoring seven runs in the top of the second inning en route to an 8-1 win. After Whitney High School’s Ashley Iseri grounded out, Jennifer Morinishi (Cerritos High School) singled up the middle. That was followed by base hits from Kaiya Cruz (El Dorado High School) and Nautica Rivera (California High School) to load the bases.
An infield hit from Sabrina Anguiano (Jurupa Valley High School) made it 1-0 before Jenna Beltran (Troy High School) cleared the bases with a triple to the left field gap. Later in the inning, Celeste Borza (Cerritos High School/University of Texas, San Antonio) doubled in a pair of runs to close out the barrage of hits and runs in the inning.
The Punishers scored their run in the bottom of the second when pitcher Mikaela Vidovich (Long Beach Poly High School) doubled to center and came home on a base hit from shortstop Jocelyn Rodriguez (Paramount High School). The Punishers were limited to six hits by six different players while Borza was one of five players to have at least two hits as part of a 14-hit attack.
The Cal A’s would then fall to the (Calabasas) Firecrackers-Redmond 2-1 last Friday night and (Madera) Central California Dirt Dogs-Duke 5-0 last Saturday afternoon.
In other PGF So Cal Qualifier news, a trio of area players on the 18-Under Cal A’s-White team based in Cerritos had strong performances despite their team splitting the four games it played in at the Diamond Valley Sports Complex in Hemet. In the team’s opener last Friday afternoon, Jennifer Iseri (Cerritos High School/University of Hawai’i) struck out 10 of the 19 batters she faced over five innings as the Cal A’s routed the (Phoenix) AZ Bombers Gold 8-1. Later in the night, the team led the Las Vegas Rage Gold 2-0 after five innings before falling 4-3 in eight innings. Iseri had a base hit to bring in Rachel DeHart in the top of the eighth to put the Cal A’s up 3-2.
Last Saturday afternoon, the Cal A’s blanked the (Fontana) Quakes Gold 6-0 as Iseri went two for three. The team was eliminated that night by the (San Pedro) Firecrackers-Pasco 5-3.despte Iseri going three for three. Also on the team from the area are Heather Cameron (Cerritos High School/University of Hawai’i) and Jazmin Guzman (Norwalk High School/California State University, Dominguez Hills).
Also in Hemet, the (Downey) Nemesis Elite 18 Gold was represented by Gahr High School’s Dejanae Davis and Deidra Genera and Madison Wright of Valley Christian. The Nemesis won three straight in the loser’s bracket before the Southern California A’s-Quarles, another team from Cerritos, posted a 10-2 win. The So Cal A’s, who have recent Gahr High School graduates Sabrina Quarles and Destiny Vasquez on the team, clinched a berth in next month’s PGF National Championships. The So Cal A’s won six games in the loser’s bracket after splitting a pair of games in the winner’s bracket.
Wright, who will be attending Simpson University, batted .444 in six games played drove in eight runs and scored six times while Davis, who just completed her freshman season, batted .375 and scored seven runs. Those two accounted for 13 of the team’s 24 runs in six games.
Genera, who will be taking her talents to Bethune-Cookman University later this summer, pitched just over 30 innings and won three games, striking out 13 batters.
RECREATION SOFTBALL
The Cerritos Girls Softball Association 8-Under, 10-Under and 14-Under all-star teams as well as the Norwalk Girls Softball 8-Under and 10-Under all-star teams plus the Norwalk 16-Under No Fear all-star team will participate in the Amateur Softball Association Los Angeles/South Bay “B” District Tournament this weekend. The games will be played at the Discovery Sports Complex and Independence Park in Downey and Rio Vista Park in Pico Rivera.
