ollowing a monthlong tournament break, the Taft City Diamonds traveling softball team came out flat and went 1-3 in the National Softball Association’s “Catch the Spirit” tournament in Santa Maria, CA, August 15-16. But they rebounded last weekend to win theNSA’s “First Responder Appreciation” tourney in Bakersfield, August 22-23 by going 4-1.

Diamonds coach Jesse Rodriquez said, “We pulled one off last weekend. It was a hot weekend, let me tell you. Our girls battled through the heat like no other. There were girls getting hot, some were even puking. But our girls hung in there strong.”

Recapping the games, Coach Rodriguez said, “On Saturday, we started off with The Lady Bombers, a local team from Bakersfield. Our defense was on this weekend. We held them 9-0. Everyone hit this game. Julianna Edgar pitched for us this game and we held them to just four hits.” Final score: Taft 9, Lady Bombers 0.

“In our second game, we went back with Julianna Edgar in the circle and played a familiar Firecrackers-Chavez team,” Rodriquez said. “It was a tough game. We were able to put the ball in play early in the game and forced some errors. And I feel like something we do so well is hold runners. It was another good game pitched by Julianna and we have such a great defense we are looking good.” Final score: Taft 5, Firecrackers-Chavez 1.

In game three, the Diamonds went with another pitcher toeing the slab. “In our last game, we worked Kenadie Hale in the circle and she did very well. She walked three, which isn’t terrible, we just had too many throwing errors which gave the tough FCI-I5 team too many opportunities to score. Also, the heat played a factor, and we just dropped this one. All in all, it was a good Saturday for us earning us the No.1 seed as we expected to be.” Final score: FCI 7, Taft 6.

After resting, the Diamonds set out for a tournament title. “On Sunday, we played the Lady Bombers again and were able to get the bats going early we put up five runs in the first and our defense came out ready to play,” said Coach Rodriquez. “No errors once again.” Final score: Taft 11, Lady Bombers 0.

That win brought the Diamonds into the Championship round. “Going into the championship game, we went up against the FCI-I5, which is the team that gave us our only loss on Saturday,” said Coach Rodriguez. “If we could hold them to two or three runs, I knew it would be a game we could win. We went right back to Julianna Edgar in the circle, and man, she threw a great game. Our defense once again was stellar, but the way Julianna was dealing, we didn’t have to make too many plays. It looks like she struck out five of the 15 outs we recorded and walked none.” Final score: Taft 8, FCI 1.

 

Tournament highlights

In game one vs. The Lady Bombers, Julianna Edgar got two of the Diamonds’ nine hits and she drove in four runs. Kenadie Hale and Alexia Rodriguez each had two hits. Heaven Laux had one hit and two ribbies. Edgar pitched shutout ball with no walks.

In game two vs. Firecrackers/Chavez, Taft was held to seven hits. Ellie DeRushie had two hits to lead the team.

In game 3 vs. FCI, the Diamonds’ only tournament loss, Laux got two (a triple and a double) of Taft’s five hits and Sophia Prieto drove in two runs.

In game 4 vs. The Lady Bombers, the Diamonds had seven players with hits. Laux and Hale connected for two hits apiece, and Laux, Prieto and Kaylinn Barham each had two RBI. Edgar and Laux combined in the circle for a shutout.

In the Championship game vs. FCI, Taft Made their six hits and three walks count as each of the top six players in the lineup got one hit apiece, and Laux went 1-for-1 with two walks and scored three times. Edgar went the distance in the circle for the win.

 

Tournament MVP

Coach Rodriguez said, “It was hard for us coaches to decide who got the MVP award for the weekend. We had so many girls perform at a high level for us. Sophia Prieto had no errors this weekend with multiple hits, Kaydence Veach and Kenadie Hale had multiple RBIs for us while maintaining the glove work. On top of that, our outfield caught nearly everything that was out there and threw some runners out.” We went with Heaven Laux as our MVP, she had such a great weekend for us this tournament. 

 

Recapping the Santa Maria Tourney

“Looking back at our last tournament in Santa Maria we came out flat,” said Coach Rodriguez. “That was one thing we discussed with the girls is to be loud and get in the game quick. We almost seemed like we were just going through motions of playing a softball game. We want them to come out with some passion and fire. That’s something that is hard for us to coach, being in the game and focused is something our girls have to do on their own and they did. I’m proud of how they turned it around. Our whole team was good this weekend. I’m happy for them.”

 

Next up

The Diamonds are 15-14-1 this season. The next tournament on the Diamonds’ slate is the NSA’s ‘Hot Summer Days’ tourney in Hanford, CA, September 5-6.