Saratoga News

Westmont still alive in Miguel tourney

By Dick Sparrer

There were 24 teams in the field when the 14th annual Charlie Miguel Invitational Softball Tournament began last weekend. And all had hopes of playing for the championship when the tourney crown would be decided on March 28.

But that dream remains alive for just over half of the teams in the rugged field. Because only 13 clubs return to the four-field softball complex at Mission College in Santa Clara with a chance of winning the Miguel crown.

Fremont, Wilcox, Santa Teresa and Piedmont Hills would appear to have the best shot of getting into the March 28 championship game. The four clubs are each unbeaten after the first weekend of tourney play.

But co-host Pioneer tops a list of nine teams still alive in the losers' bracket as the tourney enters its second weekend of play on March 27.

A full slate of games is on tap for Friday. The featured contests will match Wilcox against Fremont and Santa Teresa against Piedmont Hills in a pair of 6:45 p.m. winners bracket games.

Fremont put together wins over Westmont (3-2), Cupertino (2-0) and Del Mar (3-1), while Wilcox beat Notre Dame-Belmont (3-1) and Pioneer (3-1). Santa Teresa opened with wins over Gunderson (12-1), co-host Santa Clara (5-4) and Mountain View (2-1), and Piedmont blanked Los Altos (6-0), Mt. Pleasant (5-0) and Valley Christian (1-0).

In a losers' bracket game on Friday, Lynbrook and Los Altos will square off at 5 p.m., with the winner to face Mountain View at 6:45 p.m. In other 5 p.m. losers' bracket games, Los Gatos battles Valley Christian and Del Mar faces Soquel. Pioneer takes on Westmont at 6:45 p.m.

Westmont was stung by Fremont 3-2 in the first round of the tourney, and now the powerful Warriors must fight back through the losers' side if they hope to contend for a Miguel title.

Freshman Brittany Hennig tossed a four-hitter, but the Warriors could manage just two hits of their own against Fremont's Samantha Hess in the 3-2 loss in the opener.

Westmont jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the second, but the Firebirds grabbed the lead with two in the home half of the second. They added a run in the third to lead 3-1, and Westmont could get just one back in the fifth.

The Warriors battled back with wins over Mt. Pleasant and Monta Vista to set up this Friday's clash with Pioneer.

Westmont features a young squad this spring, but head coach Todd Lafferty is hoping his girls will come together in time to contend for a division title and earn a Central Coast Section berth.

"We graduated all but one starter last year," said Lafferty. "We'll start seven freshmen and two sophomores this year with no upperclassmen on the varsity."

Sophomore catcher Jessica Cobillas will be the Westmont clean-up hitter, and soph center fielder Veronica Sifuentez returns in the lead-off spot.

Hennig is a bright prospect as a freshman pitcher. She'll hit in the No. 3 spot in the Westmont lineup with freshman Lisa Chapman batting second. The two will share time as pitchers and in right field.

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