(Marana, AZ) It was an overcast 97° morning for the 10:30 a.m. start of the 2023 Western Regionals Junior Girls 14U Softball Tournament at Arthur Pack Park Marana.
All Star Teams fromd Colusa, California All Stars representing Northern California faced off against the host team Marana.
The Arizona heat was not the only heat the team from the Sacramento Valley Region would feel.
The Marana All Stars were led by head coach Sam Mills and assistant coaches Jason Angell and Chris Beck. This group of coaches has been coaching together since 2019. When it comes to the players, some are long tenured teammates, playing together in some cases for seven years or more.
The Western Regionals consisted of teams from Alaska, Northern California, Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada and Arizona.
Northern California came up to bat first and came out strong in the top of the first.
Peyton Miller led off with a double. Marana’s starting pitcher Malia Mills would strike out the next two batters. With two outs CeCe Mitchum knocked a single advancing the runner to third base.
Northern California would strike first on an infield dribbler by Baylee Guizar who beat the throw as Miller crossed home plate. Mills retired the next batter on an infield pop up to end the top of the first inning. That would be the only run that Northern California would score.
Northern California’s starting pitcher was Bella Romero. Starting off the bottom of the first inning, Center Fielder, Addy Lee led off the inning with a walk. Marana proved their base running IQ early as Lee advanced to second base on an overthrow by the catcher to first base. The next batter, Shortstop Bella Sayre ripped a double into the right-center field gap which scored Lee from second base. Kyla Layton smoked a single between shortstop and third but was left stranded with the score tied 1-1.
In the top of the second inning, Malia Mills showed her command in the circle with her ability to use a change up and mix speeds. After a walk she got back on track to retire the side.
Heading into the bottom of the second inning, Marana’s bats exploded scoring eight runs.Brooke Beck led off and was hit by pitch. The next batter hit a ground ball that struck Beck who is called out. Emma Winter singles, steals a base. She’s advanced to third base on a single by Aubrianna Gray. The catcher attempted a throw to third base to catch Winter off guard, however the throw was wild and heads-up base running by Winter scored the run and Marana went up 2-1.
The rally got into full swing with base hits by Addie Angell, pitcher Malia Mills and Adelaide Bradshaw RBI singled made the score 3-1.
After Marana took another walk to load the bases, Mariah Moreno works a tough at bat into a walk forcing in another run to up the score 4-1. A sacrifice fly gets the fifth run across while the sixth run scored on an overthrown by the catcher.
There were still more fireworks to come when Bella Sayre hit an inside the park home run with a runner on making the score 8-1. Cadence Beck’s single was followed by two walks to load the bases. Colusa made a pitching change and brought in right hander CeCe Mitchum. Beck was caught in a run down between third base and home plate, but got out of the pickle and scored extending their lead to 9-1.
Mills continued to keep the kids from Northern California scoreless as her fast ball speed was increasing as the game went on and was always in control.
Marana closed out the top of the third inning with a 6-4-3 double play showing their strength on defense.
In the bottom of the third inning, Emma Winter led off with a single up the middle, then stole second base. She advanced to third base on a fielder’s choice and scored on a single for a 10-1 lead.
Marana continued it’s offensive attack with hits by Angell, Mills, Bradshaw, Lee and then Sayre ripped a triple to clear the bases. At the end of the in inning, Marana was now up 14-1.
In the top of the fourth inning, Mills continued her strong performance picking up her third strikeout as her defense got the local team out of the inning with no runs scored.
Marana picked up two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with a combination of base hits and a sacrifice fly RBI in an impressive run rule victory 16-1. In order to qualify for a run rule, a team must be ahead by 15 runs with a minimum of four innings in the books.
Mills went the distance for Marana striking out three. Marana had multiple steals in this game and showed base running as one of their many strengths. Their offensive attack was not to be stopped on this day.
The Marana All Stars continue their post season journey Sunday playing Washington at 10:30 a.m. Washington won their first game beating Utah.
Article by Kevin Barney – 520 Sports Talk
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