Saratoga News

Magic wins a county softball crown

By Dick Sparrer

Magic? There's something to that name.

And the girls on the 12-and-under softball team proved it over the June 20-22 weekend. Because with a wave of the arm and a swing of the bat-- presto!--the Magic made the rest of the field disappear at the Santa Clara County Metro championships.

The performance was good enough to earn the girls from Los Gatos and Saratoga a trip to the National Tournament Aug. 7-11 near Portland in Camby, Ore.

The Magic wrapped up the Metro title with a convincing 13-0 win over Quicksilver in the championship game. The local girls had opened the tourney with wins over East Valley (12-2), Quicksilver (6-4) and Morgan Hill (9-1).

Marissa Gault and Tiffany Baiardo were the pitching stars, and Kimmy Barker, Liz Pelzel and Amy Rebeterano led the offensive attack as the Magic worked its magic in the local tourney.

The Magic was coming off of back-to-back second-place finishes in tournament play in San Carlos and Millbrae.

The girls opened the year with a runner-up finish in the San Carlos Memorial Day Tournament, losing 10-7 to San Ramon in the championship game.

The Magic beat Belmont (8-1), Livermore (18-1) and San Carlos (6-3) in pool play, then knocked off Pleasanton (9-1) to move into the finals.

Victoria Alexander, Michelle Ernst, Melissa Mullins and Julie Schloss were top players for the Magic in the tournament.

The girls came back to finish second in the 14-team Millbrae Tournament, winning five straight games before losing 7-3 to host Millbrae in the championship game.

The Magic posted wins over San Carlos (4-2), Morgan Hill (9-0) and San Bruno (4-2) in pool play before knocking off San Mateo (7-1) and Union City (4-1) to earn a place in the finals.

Virginia Fritsch, Erin Strange, Kelly Gault and Ilana Sabes were key players for the Magic in the tournament.

The team is coached by Bob Gault, Frank Fritsch and Ken Barker and will continue to play weekend tournaments in preparation for the national tourney in August.

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