What a great season the Pleasanot HotShots 16U completed on July 21-22 in the Pleasanton A tournament. The HotShots didn't have their "A" game this weekend, but still managed to post a 2-2 record on the weekend. The HotShots lost both of their games in the bottom of the 7th inning after taking a lead in the top of the 7th. It was great to watch the HotShots compete so strongly despite not playing their best softball. In the end however, we came up on the short end. One saving grace was that we lost on Sunday to the eventual champions. Rather than detail all of the games over the weekend, i would like to reflect on some highlights throughout the season for each of the girls.
#24 Georgia Bloom. Georgia has been on the 16U team since it's inception 4 years ago. She has seen the team grow from only winning two games the entire first year to winning three tournaments this year and going to the championship game 5 times last year. Georgia was our lead pitcher all year and ended up also being one of our top hitters. She pitched a number of shutouts and other great peformances. Offensively she surprised everyone by being one of the top hitters on the team. She hit one monsterous home run and had 6 triples throughout the year. If you know Georgia, you know how far she had to hit each of those balls in order to run for three or four bases!
#22 Claire Robertson. Claire also has been on the team since season 1. Claire has grown tremendously over the past four years. This year's highlights were numerous for Claire, but two things clearly stood out. Her defense was top notch all year. It culminated with a sixth inning game saving throwout at the plate from rightfield. It was a bang bang play on Claire executed on it perfectly by fielding the base hit smoothly, crow hopping and firing a strike to Carli Kachel. She did it just the way coach Daryl Sequeira had worked with her all season on. It made Daryl very proud to see his student and his daughter work so nicely together. Offensively, Claire had a spectacular tournament in Tahoe. She had a Saturday that most people dream about by going 7/9 on the day and hitting the ball hard all day long.
#15 Allie (Beaver) Price. The third of the original team members. Allie has come so far in her softball career and her growth as a person, that it has been my pleasure to watch her grow in both facets over the past 4 years. She was an erratic pitcher with a funky motion who didn't understand much about softball 4 years ago. Today, she is a star outfielder who can track down almost everything hit her way. Additionally, she hit the ball hard all year and has grown from someone who just puts the ball in play and beats out her hits to a hitter who can spray line drives around the field. Her last at bat as a HotShot represented this as she smoked a double in the top of the 7th inning in our last game to keep our rally alive. Most importantly though, Allie has grown into a nice young lady and someone that the coaches and players enjoyed spending time with and laughing with. She has matured nicely and will have a great senior year at Amador Valley in '08.
#39 Brittany Hillman. Brittany had another great year for the HotShots. Her defense has no equals at this level. Her strong arm and great range are her teammates best friends (especially the pitchers). She led the team in blue balls, earned for making great defensive plays. She was a key reason that the HotShots turned an unofficial 16U record of 12 double plays this summer. Double plays are rare in softball, but the HotShots had many this year. She hit in the 3rd spot most of the year due to her consistent performance at the plate. She was one of the offensive leaders in all categories. She almost never struck out and hit the ball hard virtually every at bat. Her highlight offensively was hitting a home run in Tahoe, but she had double digit extra base hits. Brittany's skills were also recognized by the Synergy as she is joining them for the nationals.
#4 Lauren Ayres. Lolo held down third base for the HotShots this year. It was her first year with the team and both she and the team are very happy that she rejoined her buddies and played with the HotShots this summer. It was hard to believe how well she hit the ball on a consistent basis througout the summer from the#2 slot in the lineup. She practically didn't make an out in the first Pleasanton tournament. She was an offensive leader and hit the ball hard all summer. She also had an easy standup homer in Tahoe that was very memorable. Her defensive prowess at third was fun to watch. Whether it was a diving play to her left or covering a bunt, Lolo was flying all over the field and willing to get dirty.
#00 Alex Herman. Alex blossomed for the HotShots this summer. She had numerous clutch hits to put us ahead or to keep a rally alive from her spot in the middle of the lineup. She was able to come through for us and contributed significantly to the great summer. She executed well on bunts, had key base hits and kept us going on more than a couple occassions. Defensively, Alex mainly played right field. She threw out a number of runners who hit hard line drives to right, but she had one very memorable catch in centerfield that we are still talking about. Two runners on base in a tense championship game against Windsor. HotShots were up by one and a Windsor girl hit a shot to right center. Alex sprinted over to her left and was running flat out as she tracked the ball into her glove and made a shoetop catch to save the game for the HotShots.
#2 Haley Douglas. Haley was a very significant addition to the HotShots roster this year. As a top pitcher all summer, she contributed significantly to the successful season. After playing for other teams in the past that didn't have the defensive support that she received with the HotShots, Haley was very excited to be a part of a successful ballclub. She pitched in numerous key games and championship games througout the summer. She dominated the mid level teams all year. She rose to the occassion and competed at the highest level against the top tier competition and it was great to see her come out on top in those match ups all summer. She hit her marks when she needed to and handled the pressure with aplomb. She had a number of no hitters and finished the season as a top notch pitcher. She was asked to play in the nationals with the Livermore Smoke team. Good luck!
#13 Allie Straub. When one thinks of Allie, one thinks of versatility. She can play just about every position in the field. She played a lot of 2nd base, cenerfield and rightfield for us this summer, while batting at the top and the middle of our lineup. She is a very steady and reliable ballplayer that we coaches love to count on. She made one spectacular play that still stands out against Windsor when she caught a ball that appeared uncatchable in the Santa Rosa tournament to save a championship game for the HotShots. She hit over .300 all year and executed bunts with her high level of skill. Probably our best base runner as well, it was pleasure to watch her perform all summer.
#31 Carli Kachel. This was Carli's third year playing for our team. She is a true warrior. She catches virtually every inning of every game of every tournament. She never complains about being tired, hot, or sore. She just goes out and leads the defense day in and day out. Her ability to throw out over 75% of the runners that try to steal on her, kills more rallies for our opponents and takes away any momentum that they were trying to build. Her offense was also great all summer. She normally hit 5th and was amongst the top couple hitters for average on the team. We love her for her defense, but her offense was a great bonus all year long as she rarely struck out and stepped up time and time again with big clutch hits.
#14 Alia Ismail. Also Alia's third year with our team. It is a pleasure to watch this great athlete perform on the softball field. Whether it is her incredible speed or skill on the basepaths, her graceful power at the plate or her ability to track balls down in the field, it is fun to watch her play softball. Alia had two home runs to lead the team and a whole bunch of doubles and triples. She hit in the fourth spot most of the year as she supplied a lot of power when we had runners on base. In the infield, she was a part of many of our double plays and she gunned out runners from center field all season. Her defensive highlight had to be the throw out at the plate from center in the 6th inning of our final game of the year. We were losing by one and she quashed the potential rally by coming up firing on a base hit and executed a perfect throw to the plate. Alia played outfield, first, second, and third for us this year and did great wherever we put her.
#93 Britannia Bloom. Britannia's third year with the team was another successful one. She played 1st, 2nd, and centerfield for us this year. What a pleasure it is to watch her run down everything in sight in centerfield. Rarely does a ball go over her head or drop in front of her. She threw out a number of runners on the bases as well from the outfield. On the infield, she worked magically with her buddy, Brittany Hillman on some gorgeous 4-6-3 (2nd to short to first) double plays. These plays are rare in softball, but these girls continuously executed them throughout the summer. Offensively, Britannia was our leadoff hitter and table setter. She led the team in runs scored and was amongst the leaders in average. Her on base % was fantastic as she worked many counts for walks as well. Brit led the team in triples as she nearly reached double digits in three baggers. A couple big game saving hits towards the end of the year really put the cherry on top of her summer season.
#8 Zoe Price. The youngest member of the team performed well all summer both in the circle and at the plate for the HotShots. The highlight had to be the perfect game that she tossed. What a great accomplishment for a 13 year old girl playing in the 16's! She had a couple nice hits to put us ahead or tie the game througout the summer. Zoe is going to continue to do very well as a softball player as she is one of the top young pitchers around. She is able to hit her spots and never seems to get rattled.
Special thanks goes out to all of the parents without whose help and support we couldn't have had such a great summer.
The HotShots would like to thank coach Jerry Herman for his exceptional commitment to these kids. Jerry has coached many of the kids for many years and has had a deep impact not only on the kids, but also the coaches. I view Jerry as my mentor in coaching and thank him for all of his leadership not only this year, but over the many years. When we named the team, it was a tribute to Jerry as he coached the original travelling teams in Pleasanton with his older daughthers when they were named the HotShots. Thanks for you time and friendship over the years, Jerry!
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