ollowing a monthlong tournament break, the Taft City Diamonds traveling softball team came out flat and went 1-3 in the National Softball Association\u2019s \u201cCatch the Spirit\u201d tournament in Santa Maria, CA, August 15-16. But they rebounded last weekend to win theNSA\u2019s \u201cFirst Responder Appreciation\u201d tourney in Bakersfield, August 22-23 by going 4-1.<\/p>\n
Diamonds coach Jesse Rodriquez said, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recapping the games, Coach Rodriguez said, \u201cOn 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.\u201d Final score: Taft 9, Lady Bombers 0.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our second game, we went back with Julianna Edgar in the circle and played a familiar Firecrackers-Chavez team,\u201d Rodriquez said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d Final score: Taft 5, Firecrackers-Chavez 1.<\/p>\n
In game three, the Diamonds went with another pitcher toeing the slab. \u201cIn our last game, we worked Kenadie Hale in the circle and she did very well. She walked three, which isn\u2019t 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.\u201d\u00a0Final score: FCI 7, Taft 6.<\/p>\n
After resting, the Diamonds set out for a tournament title. \u201cOn 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,\u201d said Coach Rodriquez. \u201cNo errors once again.\u201d Final score: Taft 11, Lady Bombers 0.<\/p>\n
That win brought the Diamonds into the Championship round. \u201cGoing into the championship game, we went up against the FCI-I5, which is the team that gave us our only loss on Saturday,\u201d said Coach Rodriguez. \u201cIf 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\u2019t have to make too many plays. It looks like she struck out five of the 15 outs we recorded and walked none.\u201d Final score: Taft 8, FCI 1.<\/p>\n
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Tournament highlights<\/p>\n
In game one vs. The Lady Bombers, Julianna Edgar got two of the Diamonds\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
In game two vs. Firecrackers\/Chavez, Taft was held to seven hits. Ellie DeRushie had two hits to lead the team.<\/p>\n
In game 3 vs. FCI, the Diamonds\u2019 only tournament loss, Laux got two (a triple and a double) of Taft\u2019s five hits and Sophia Prieto drove in two runs.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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Tournament MVP<\/p>\n
Coach Rodriguez said, \u201cIt 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.\u201d We went with Heaven Laux as our MVP, she had such a great weekend for us this tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Recapping the Santa Maria Tourney<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back at our last tournament in Santa Maria we came out flat,\u201d said Coach Rodriguez. \u201cThat 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\u2019s 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\u2019m proud of how they turned it around. Our whole team was good this weekend. I\u2019m happy for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Next up<\/p>\n
The Diamonds are 15-14-1 this season. The next tournament on the Diamonds\u2019 slate is the NSA\u2019s \u2018Hot Summer Days\u2019 tourney in Hanford, CA, September 5-6.<\/p>\n
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