POSTED: Wednesday March 31, 2010
Cimarron-Memorial’s softball team has resembled a giant jigsaw puzzle this season.
One the Spartans have tried to put together without being able to see a picture.
That might have changed on Wednesday at West Flamingo Park when the Spartans overcame a shaky inning of defense — a recurring problem this season — to defeat Monte Vista (Calif.) 12-2 in four innings and capture the Copper Bracket title in the Charger Invitational.
“We can see where we’re coming together now,” said Spartans coach Steve Gorden, whose team won its final three games of the tournament each by 10 or more runs. “We can see a turning point now.
“We’ve been trying to figure out what pieces to put in what places and moving people around, but this is a positive to build on.”
Expected to contend for the Northwest League title, Cimarron (7-9) lost its first three league games and was 4-9 overall after losing all three of its pool games in the tournament.
The Spartans’ pitching has been good for much of the season, but the team’s defense had all sorts of trouble jelling, and the offense was inconsistent.
In the championship game, Cimarron’s defense again nearly collapsed.
The Spartans made three second-inning errors to allow Monte Vista to pull within 2-1, but Cimarron got out of further trouble and responded with four runs in the top of the third and seven more in the fourth.
Eight players scored at least one run for Cimarron.
“We were just looking for some positive to build on,” said Gorden, whose team advanced to the Copper title game by whipping Lincoln (Calif.) 10-0 in four innings Wednesday morning. “We’re hitting the ball now. We’re going to be right in the hunt.
“This is more of what we expected.”
Madison Newhard went 2-for-2 with four RBIs and two runs for Cimarron.
Hannah Williams was 2-for-2 and scored three runs, and Sarina Cresswell and Carrie Sheehan each went 2-for-3.
Sheehan allowed just four hits and struck out nine.
Both Monte Vista runs were unearned.
“Wins make everything better,” Gorden said.
Cimarron-Memorial 10, Lincoln (Calif.) 0 — Sheehan tossed a four-inning one-hitter, and the Spartans bolted to a 6-0 first-inning lead in the semifinal game.
Sheehan faced only two more than the minimum as the Spartans played flawless defense.
Newhard’s three-run homer in the first inning set the tone, and Andrea Bishop added a two-run shot in the third.
Williams went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI.
Christian (Calif.) 11, Valley 0 — Ricki Gentry hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as Christian won a Bronze Bracket semifinal over Valley.
The Vikings, playing their first game after a nearly-three-hour, 10-inning victory over Ursuline on Tuesday, were limited to a pair of singles.
Chatsworth 11, Liberty 3 — In the other Bronze semifinal, Chatsworth used a seven-run fourth inning to down Liberty.
The Patriots scored all of their runs in the opening inning, then only registered two hits the rest of the way.
Breanna English and Sara Neiman drove in the runs for Liberty.
In consolation games:
Green Valley 13, Mater Dei (Calif.) 0 — Green Valley scored four runs in the first inning and put away the game with an eight-run third, which included Alicia Firelein’s grand slam.
Desiree Laswell went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and three RBIs and also spun a four-inning two-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
Shelby Vickers went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI for the Gators.
Desert Oasis 10, Ursuline (Calif.) 0 — Lenzi Cram tossed a four-inning four-hitter and went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs to lead the Diamondbacks past Ursuline.
C.J. Wilson was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and three RBIs for Desert Oasis, which scored three runs in the first inning and five more in the second.
Emily Heinz was 2-for-3 and scored two runs for Desert Oasis.
Granada Hills (Calif.) 6, Las Vegas 5 — Las Vegas scored four runs in the top of the seventh but stranded the potential tying run on base when a pair of short fly balls allowed Granada Hills to collect the final two outs and escape with the win.
Krizzel Galvez’s three-run homer sparked the Wildcats’ late rally.
Monique Hernandez belted a pair of triples for Las Vegas.
Madison (Calif.) 8, Durango 7 — Durango scored four runs in its final at-bat but came up a run short.
Sam Juarez, Jaexie Balilea and Nicole Herrera all homered for the Trailblazers.
Mar Vista (Calif.) 14, Clark 6 — Mar Vista erased a 2-1 deficit by scoring five runs in the third and pulled away from the Chargers.
Julia Hagen smacked a two-run homer for Clark.
Shannon Chapman and Sydney Staresinich each went 2-for-3 for the Chargers. Staresinich also had two RBIs.
Spartan softball, hard work will always pay off, and it IS beginning to show up in our game. We played well enough to win 2 of our pool-play games losing to very good Ca. teams. All the teams in our pool ended up in the championship games of their respective brackets.
We will find ourselves. It will be a tough accomplishment to make regionals in the tough Northwest league, as we have dug ourselves a deep hole, starting with three losses in league losses. I believe true character shows itself, eventually.
I am excited for what I believe to be true. Remember the reason for the season.
HAPPY EASTER, Coach Gorden...
hum lets see the newspaper is called LAS VEGAS review journal .....all though Cimarron was in the copper bracket they were the only team in the finals from LAS VEGAS...So to Holly Bryant maybe that will clear it up for you !Good Job Cimarron Played good all week . Had very close games with the gold and silver teams that ended up in the championship game.Slowly but surely you are coming together as a team and your hard work will pay off!Enjoy your break and lets start over next week !
Although only 1 Vegas team made it into a championship game - "my girls" showed their game this week. Way to go Sammy (Durango), Shannon (Clark), and Nicole (Durango). Love you girls!
Let's see. The Gold bracket is for all first-place teams out of pool play. The Silver is for second place teams; Bronze is the third-placers... and the Copper is for ALL OF THE LAST PLACE TEAMS.... and your dumb newspaper covers the Copper Final? Are you (bleeping) stupid????
I may be blonde, yet even I know better. FIRE THE SPORTS EDITOR!
Is it true that they finally kicked Lindsey off the centennial softball team, because of her bad attitude and her mouth. Bahahaha. Just would have liked to see the look on her brothers face, the biggest mouth in the world. I guess Lin Lin and Frankie hustler are done in the softball community..
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. NevadaPreps.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.