Slamming Team: The West Valley Slammers finished 17th in the ASA National Tournament for girls 10-and-under softball teams. Members of the team include Nicole Bertolacci, Ashley Bowler, Megan Blach, Michele Callaway, Anna Cannino, Jennifer Carrow, Michelle D'Arpino, Ashley DeMello, Michelle, Haughey, Katie Hewitt, Montanna Maggetti and Molly Medeiros. The team's manager is Deanna Medeiros, and the coaches are Joe Medeiros and Nick Callaway.
WV Slammers 17th at ASA Nationals
'Blue' All-Stars win two tourney titles
By Dick Sparrer
It was quite a year for the West Valley Slammers. The girls 10-and-under PAL softball team won five tournament championships and finished second and third in two others before capping the year with an appearance at the ASA National Tournament in College Station, Texas.
The Slammers ended up a solid 17th in the rugged Texas tourney to wrap up a sensational 35-7 season. They won three of six games at the nationals.
West Valley earned the trip to the nationals by winning the title in the Northern California-State tournament at the Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale.
Members of the team included Nicole Bertolacci, Ashley Bowler, Megan Blach, Michele Callaway, Anna Cannino, Jennifer Carrow, Michelle D'Arpino, Ashley DeMello, Michelle, Haughey, Katie Hewitt, Montanna Maggetti, and Molly Medeiros. The club's manager was Deanna Medeiros, and the coaches were Joe Medeiros and Nick Callaway.
The Slammers won championships in the Planet Softball Tournament in Petaluma, the Morgan Hill Pride Tournament, the Bagby Classic in San Jose and the Devil Mountain Tournament in San Ramon, as well as the NorCal-State crown.
A tough 5-3 loss to the Visalia Spirit in the championship game left the Slammers in second place at the Five Cities Girls Softball Tournament in Arroyo Grande, and they were third at the Pleasanton Tournament.
West Valley PAL hosts a spring recreational league softball program for girls ages 5-15 at Bagby Elementary School in San Jose, and all-star teams are selected from those teams to represent the league tournament play at the different age levels. Girls in the league are from Willow Glen, Cambrian and Campbell.
Impressive Performance: The girls 12-and-under 'Blue' all-stars from West Valley PAL rolled to two firsts, two seconds, a third and a fourth in tournament play this year. Team members included (front row, l-r) Katie Joyce, Molly McKeever, Paulette Butera, Mary Louise Kubota, Morgan Hancock and Audrea Lopez, and (back row, l-r) chaperone Cathy Reeves, Suzanne Hancock, coach Margaret Roderick, Michelle Giraudo, coach Mark Hancock, Shawna Healy, Jena Reeves, Lillian Smith, manager Robin Cole, Liz Roderick, coach Ken McKeever and coach Cathy McKeever.
Girls picked to the 12-and-under red all-star team included Hayley Abbott, Katie Blach, Chenelle Blake, Molly Busch, Lillian Davis, Nikki De La Rocha, Kelly Enfantino, Holly Griggs, Michelle McCollum, Danielle Robinson, Brianna Rotondo, Stephanie Smith and Jessica Watts. The squad was managed by Terri Griggs and her coaches were Willie Griggs, Chris Enfantino, Scott McCollum and Randy Watts.
West Valley won the Morgan Hill Summer Sluggest Tournament, finished second in the Planet Tournament in Petaluma and finished third at Five Cities in Arroyo Grande and in the NorCal-State tourney at Twin Creeks.
Players named to the 12-and-under Blue All-Star team were Paulette Butera, Michelle Giraudo, Morgan Hancock, Suzanne Hancock, Shawna Healy, Katie Joyce, Mary Louise Kubota, Audrea Lopez, Corina Lopez, Molly McKeever, Jena Reeves, Liz Roderick and Lillian Smith. Robin Cole was the manager, and her coaches were Ken McKeever, Mark Hancock and Margaret Roderick.
The 12-and-under Slammers won the Roseville Slammers Summer Blast tourney title with six straight wins. They were also second in both the Bagby Classic and a tournament in Galt, third in the Pepsi Challenge at Twin Creeks and fourth in a Santa Clara tourney.
West Valley finished the season with an impressive 21-10 record. The Slammers posted a team batting average of .346, scoring 203 runs while allowing just 124. Their pitchers struck out 128 enemy hitters.
In the 14-and-under age group, all-stars included Ann Baumgardner, Brianna Chou, Tria Downer, Marissa Enfantino, Nicole Falcao, Rochelle Howe, Marina Mendez, Kristen Morgan, Shaylene Norrenberg, Rachel Siehl, Kendra Stapp and Jessica Whittemore. The manager was Dana Baumgardner and the coaches were Greg Whittemore, Barry Baumgardner and John Mendez.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
