Behind strong pitching from MacKenzie Andrew and Dixie Lewis, the Albany/Berkeley Sting Under 10 (10U) placed third overall in the Last Chance Tournament at the Field of Dreams in Manteca, California. Sting finished the first day as the second seed, and dreams of winning the tournament crept into their heads. Rumor has it that the coaches will perform a dance choreographed by Jade Woo if Sting 10U wins a tournament this season. If you’ve witnessed Coach Jason Kaneko’s robot maneuver, this dance may not be that far fetched.
Coming from the milder climate of the Albany/Berkeley area, Manteca’s 90 degree temperatures were a shock. However, the Lady Bees were able to turn up their own heat in Game 1. Parent Stacey Owens said, “(Pitcher) Mackenzie has the heat today, just like the Manteca sun”.
Game 1 showed the offensive potential of this team - Paige dropped a perfectly placed bunt right in front of the plate for a single. In an effort to conserve Daisy’s energy, Jade Woo pinch ran for Paige. Lewis bunted for a single, advancing Woo to third. Tomasik continued her hot hitting, scoring Woo and advancing Lewis to third. In typical fashion, Lewis scored on a passed ball continuing her theme of aggressive base running. With the bases cleared, Kaitlyn Bailey struck out, but advanced on a dropped third strike and stole second and third.
Getting no hits through three innings, the Bay Breeze decided to try something different, bunting. But the Lady Bees had an answer for this strategy. Giahna Owens charged the plate and made two consecutive outs. The Game ended Sting 8, Bay Breeze 2.
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Missing from action was Daniella Lane-Goldstein who got into an altercation with a bee and had a swollen hand the size of a grapefruit.
With temperatures rising, Game 2 against the San Lorenzo Heat started with a walk for Dixie who then stole 2nd, 3rd and home for Sting’s first run of the game. The Heat had some big hitters who hit down the 3rd base line bringing home several players. In the second inning, Abby Kaneko got to first on a dropped 3rd strike. She soon stole 2nd and 3rd. When she finally crossed home plate, she ran into the arms of her dad, Coach Jason Kaneko, for a bear hug. Though Sting played hard, they had trouble hitting off the strong and consistent pitching of the San Lorenzo Heat. The game ended Heat 4, Sting 2.Sting took out their aggresssion in Game 3 by beating Hayward’s Norcal Extreme 15 to zero. Sara McIntosh got her first base hit and RBI of her Sting career in the first inning scoring Abby Kaneko who had walked and stolen second and third. Multiple hits and walks from Tomasik, Owens, Bailey, Jazmin Terry and Lewis contributed to the shelling.
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Although the strong run output could be attributed to pure athletic ability, many of the girls did switch to the Wooskinooski special bat. During pregame warmups, Coach Kaneko had players hit with Woo's bat (which is the lightest and shortest on the team) wanting to get a good look at their mechanics and not wanting the size of the bat to get in the way. They started killing the ball using Woo’s bat and many of the girls decided to try it in the game.
With a 7:30am start time for the second day in a row, Sting was ready to win. Sting picked up right where they left off this time actually shutting out the Bay Breeze 15-0 and completing the no hitter in a combined effort between Lewis and Andrew.
On the offensive side, a leadoff walk by Mcintosh lead to a run as, Terry singled and Mcintosh headed to third without hesitating at second. As Terry faked running to second, drawing a throw, Mcintosh took off for home easily scoring. Other notable hits included a bases loaded 3 RBI double by Andrew, and RBI singles by Bailey and Kaneko.
Impressive contributions from other players included a 4th inning single by Sydney Taylor, and Solia Valentine advancing the runner by putting the ball into play.
Coming off two impressive victories, Sting ran into the Heat once again. Eleven Thewlis was optimistic thinking that Sting might be able to steal a victory from them. She stated, “If we play as well next game, it will be another shutout.” Sydney Taylor was more cautious thinking we’d need “chattering bats” to win the next one. Despite the Sting optimism, the bats of the Heat were hard to overcome and Sting lost 13 to 2.
Overall, Sting placing third in their second tournament together, demonstrates great promise for this team. The potential of this team excites Coach Kaneko, as the team hasn’t even started hitting on all cylinders. Solia Valentine summed up the weekend tournament. She said she was “proud Sting won and proud to be a part of it”.