The Hollister Heat 10U travel team only needed one game to get
adjusted.
Andrew Matheson Sports Editor
Park City, Utah – The Hollister Heat 10U travel team only needed one game to get adjusted.
Playing more than 800 miles from home, the local fastpitch softball team lost their first game of the Triple Crown World Series in Park City, Utah on July 10, an 8-4 loss to the USA Revolution.
“We came in with a mindset to let them have fun,” Heat Manager Leo Ibarra said. “(USA Revolution) was definitely a good team, but I think we were working out the butterflies in that first game.
“Being in Utah, at a tournament like this, there were definitely some nerves going on there. We were just trying to get those worked out.”
Clearly, any and all kinks, nerves, or butterflies that may have existed in the Hollister Heat vanished after their first game. With a loss already to their record in the double-elimination tournament, the Heat rifled off eight straight wins, including an 8-0 triumph in the title game over the Rocky Mountain Thunder, crowning the Heat champions.
After the game to the USA Revolution, Ibarra said his team was nearly flawless.
“Just watching them play, we’ve been working on stuff all season, and they just put it all together,” he said. “It was a great experience for them, and they just shined, the entire team.”
In pool play, the Heat edged the Utah Viperz 3-2; defeated the Las Vegas Majestix 8-0; and then upended the Colorado Buckaroos 6-0, placing the team into bracketed play.
Playing in their fifth game of the tournament, the Heat scored 12 times against the Utah Hot Shotz for an easy 12-0 win, and then were victorious against the Colorado Red Wings in a 2-1 game.
“The Colorado Red Wings had some of the better pitching we’ve seen,” Ibarra said.
Against the Red Wings, the Heat were tied 1-1, when the squad laid down a suicide squeeze to plate the go-ahead run and eventually win the ball game.
“They put it all together,” the manager said. “Even when they were down, they never seemed to give up.”
The Heat then scored a 6-2 win over Imperial Valley Stealth and a 10-9 win over the Salinas Storm, putting them into the championship game against the Rocky Mountain Thunder last Saturday.
“We put the ball in play and made the defensive plays we needed to make to come out victorious in that game,” Ibarra said of his team’s 8-0 championship win.
Ibarra also highlighted the pitching and catching of both Jordan Bachman and Adriana Ibarra. Said the manager, “They were an important key to our success.”
The season is now complete for the 10U travel squad, who qualified for the Triple Crown World Series after finishing third at a tournament in Cupertino.
“We’ll finish on a high note,” Ibarra added.
TOURNAMENT NOTES:
The Hollister Heat played in nine games total at the Triple Crown World Series, finished with a record of 8-1, and outscored their opponents 59-22. The Heat concluded with a batting average of .379, and an on-base percentage of .478.
