16U softball team takes tourney crown after posting a 5-0-1
record
In just its second tournament of the season, the Hollister Havoc
16U fastpitch softball team went 5-0-1 at the NSA Summer Smash in
Hayward on June 5-6, and defeated the Real Renegades 18U squad in
the championship final by a 6-0 margin.
16U softball team takes tourney crown after posting a 5-0-1 record
In just its second tournament of the season, the Hollister Havoc 16U fastpitch softball team went 5-0-1 at the NSA Summer Smash in Hayward on June 5-6, and defeated the Real Renegades 18U squad in the championship final by a 6-0 margin.
In a tournament combining teams from both the 16U and 18U age divisions, Hollister actually topped the older Renegades twice — once in the championship and another time during pool play.
“This is only our second tournament so we have some things to work on, but I was really happy with a lot of the things we did today,” Hollister manager Nick Daleo said.
The championship against the Renegades started off as a pitchers duel, as each team went down in order through the first three innings of play. But Hollister managed to snap the silent streak in the fourth when it plated a pair of runs to take the lead for good.
Earlier in the tournament, the Havoc posted a 4-0 victory over the Renegades during their third and final game of pool play, despite going up against the hardest-throwing pitcher they had faced this season, Daleo said.
Coupled with a 5-0 victory over the 16U California Bandits and a 7-7 tie with the 16U California Odyssey, in which the Odyssey rallied from a 7-2 deficit, the Havoc grabbed the No. 1 seed out of pool play, and earned a first-round bye in bracketed play as a result.
While the only blemish to their record was the tie against the Odyssey, the Havoc were granted a second chance during Sunday’s elimination round.
Once again, however, the Odyssey proved to be a formidable opponent.
“The game was played pretty tight until we got a couple of runs in the third,” Daleo said. “But against this team I didn’t think it would be enough.”
Hollister tacked on two more runs later in the game, though, and held on for a 4-2 victory over the Odyssey to set up another rematch — this time with the California Bandits in the semifinal round.
“Our bats exploded in this game and we never looked back,” Daleo said.
The Havoc jumped out to a five-run lead in the first inning and posted four more runs by the fifth. The game was called early due to the nine-run rule, and supplied the local softball team with some added time off prior to the championship against the Renegades.
“We’re taking care of the basics on defense, we’re pitching and catching well and we’re getting timely hits,” Daleo said.
Sharing pitching duties and rotating at shortstop all weekend was Morgan Daleo, Paige Miguel and Brittany Sparrer, while working behind the plate was Carly Snook and Cassy Torrez. Rounding out the infield was Kim Sparrer at third, Mia Vodanovich at second and Madison Kennedy at first. Making some spectacular plays in the outfield was Kritter Ceglia, Becky Hval, Gabby Medina and LeNae Stevens.
