Unfortunately, not every team came away with a championship, but they all came away winners.

The 14 and under team didn't start out on the best of notes but certainly finished in fine fashion. The locals began pool play by dropping a tough 5-4 loss to Calaveras, a tough team with an extremely good, hard-throwing pitcher.

Almaden is noted for its powerful hitting and good defense and put that to work, nailing down two wins against Santa Clara and Rohnert Park to finish pool play as the No. 2 seed in bracket play. Almaden swept past Santa Clara a second time and then faced a rematch with Calaveras in the title game.

This time the Almaden bats started out hot as the girls pounded out four runs in the top of the first inning and Calaveras could never recover.

Ashley Bowler led off with a sharp single and Elisa Vye was hit by a pitch. Kat Faleschini ripped a triple to drive in two runs. Ashley Frost then blasted a two-run home run.

Juliana O'Brien took that four run lead and made it stand up as she pitched a strong game to nail down a 5-2 win and the 14 and under championship for Almaden.

The 12 and under team jumped out to a fast start in pool play by squeezing out a 2-1 win over Sierra Foothills. The score was tied at 1-1 in the sixth inning when Lindsey Spaletta and Chloe Larussa ripped back-to-back doubles with Larussa driving in the winning run.

Almaden lost the second game 9-1 to a strong Concord Glory team and then pounded out a 14-1 win over Campbell to close out pool play. Alex Kasnestis led the way going 3 for 3, including two doubles, and scored two runs. Ashley Gomez stroked a couple of singles and scored twice. Spaletta doubled twice and scored two runs.

Almaden entered bracket play as the No. 2 seed and proceeded to pounce all over Calaveras in a 13-5 win. Lauren Herr pounded out a single, a double and a triple while scoring each time she was on base. Spaletta continued her hot streak, picking up three hits in three at bats.

In order to get to the championship game, Almaden needed to get past Campbell, which had not lost all weekend. The girls didn't start very well, digging themselves into a 5-0 hole after three innings. But their bats finally awoke in the fourth when a series of six hits and two walks pushed across seven runs.

Kasnestis, Spaletta and Kristin White rapped singles while Lisa Fujihara, Gomez and Kasnestis ripped doubles, driving in two runs each. Larussa and Kari Anne Bittle each worked walks and scored runs. Campbell came back to score one more late but Bittle came on in relief to set down Campbell one-two-three to preserve the win and a trip to the championship game.

Katie Assadi was the backbone of the team in the pitching department with pinpoint accuracy and great control, firing strikes and keeping opponents off balance all through the tournament.

Concord proved to be too much to handle once more in the championship game, though, pinning Almaden with a 12-4 loss to grab the 12 and under championship.