By Dick Sparrer
Christine Cutter was ready to run when her sister, Margaret, stepped to the plate in the third inning.
It was the championship game of the Tracy Junior Olympic ASA Tournament, and the Los Gatos- Saratoga Magic was locked in a scoreless tie with the Ceres Sizzle in the 14-and-under girls' softball clash.
Margaret Cutter strode to the plate after her sister had singled to open the inning. Christine was ready to run, and run she did when Margaret crushed a double to drive her home.
At the time, the run put the Magic up 1-0. As it turns out, it would stand up as the game-winner in a 1-0 Los Gatos-Saratoga victory.
Brittany Hennig tossed a two-hit shutout and catcher Jessica Enright gunned down three runners attempting to steal. M. Cutter, Lauren Lueder and Jill Wehner came through with key defensive plays for the champs.
M. Cutter, Ashley Graham, Stacie Funstin and Jill Burnett were Magic players named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the event.
The Magic had whipped the Pleasanton Hot Shots 8-3 in the tourney semifinals. Singles by Hennig, M. Cutter, Enright, Tiffany O'Farrell, Leuder and Wehner keyed a five-run rally in the third.
A game earlier, M. Cutter singled and tripled to lead the Magic to a 10-4 win over the Gilroy Fillys.
Funstin had flipped a 1-hit shutout in a 13-0 win over the Almaden Quicksilver. C. Cutter, Graham, Burnett, Kendall Self and Wehner had two hits apiece.
Hennig fired a six-hitter to pace the Magic to a 3-1 win over the West Valley Slammers. C. Cutter tripled for the winners.
The Magic, 18-1 for the year, had opened the tourney with a 15-4 win over the host Tracy Express. Triples by C. Cutter and Hennig and doubles by M. Cutter and Enright sparked a seven-run rally in the third. C. Cutter had two triples in the win and M. Cutter added a triple and double. Funstin flipped a two-hitter for the win.
The Magic will return to the diamond Aug. 8-10 for tournament play in Portland, Ore.
12-year-old division
The Magic 12-and-under team also brought home a tournament championship from Tracy, beating the Ceres Sizzle 8-1 in the title game.
Andrea Gremmer and Kimi Enright teamed to toss the Magic to the victory. Kim Pugh, Amanda Palasky and Lisa Ballon starred defensively for the champs in the win.
The pitching of Gremmer and the hitting of Jennifer Brown sparked the Magic to a 14-4 win over the Almaden Quicksilver in the tourney opener.
Enright struck out nine to toss the Magic to a 12-2 win over the Tracy Express. Brown, Tara Hodge and Jennifer King were the offensive stars and Casie Piper and Meagan Clapp starred in the field.
Outstanding defensive plays by Hodge, Jenny Dixon and Paige Jewell weren't enough to keep the Magic from falling 4-3 to Livermore.
But the Los Gatos-Saratoga crew fought back to beat Almaden 4-1 behind the pitching of Gremmer, the hitting of Jewell and Enright and the defense of Pugh, Palasky and Brown.
The Magic got a little revenge with a 7-0 win over Livermore. Enright tossed the shutout and struck out 12, including seven of the first eight batters she faced.
The win pushed the Magic into the tourney title game.
The tournament championship marks the progression the 12-and-under Magic squad has shown this summer. The locals opened the year by finishing fourth in a tournament. Since then, they have finished third, second and now first.
The Magic is gunning for a berth in the National Girls' Softball World Series set for August in Lodi.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, July 17, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved