Sports
CV Synergy Heads to Softball Nationals
A second-place finish at the 12-and-under Oakland Metro tournament featured an 11-8 win over a powerful Pleasanton team that had routed Synergy in an earlier meeting.
The Castro Valley Girls Softball League's Synergy Black 12-and-under team qualified for the ASA Western Nationals next month by virtue of an impressive second-place effort at the Oakland Metro Tournament over the weekend at the Pepsi Fields in Hayward.
Castro Valley went 3-2 in the event featuring the area's top "B" fastpitch teams, losing only to the eventual champion Alameda Blaze both in the winner-bracket finals and in the championship game of the double-elimination event.
Along the way, Castro Valley beat the Pleasanton Phantom, a team that had shellacked Synergy 15-2 at a previous tournament. Yazmine Romero and Angelina Parker each had four hits in the 11-8 win. Amanda Huerta added three hits and Jaylin Palega drove in five runs.
Castro Valley put itself in a position to play for the championship Sunday by beating the San Ramon Stompers 13-7 and the Fremont Flyers 14-5 in the first two rounds Saturday.
Romero (10 hits), Huerta (eight hits), Ashley Williams (six hits) and Gabby Glavin (six hits) were the team's big hitters over the course of the five games. Palega drove in a total of 10 runs, and Michael Edwards-Gonzalez scored seven times.
Kelsey Nelson and Maggie Del Grande did all the pitching for Castro Valley.
Christina Maldonado, Sydney Richardson, Allie Curtis, Karla Garcia and Margeaux Jackson also contributed to the award-winning effort.
The team is coached by Marc DeCoulode, Jeff Palega, Mike Krisman, Amanda DeCoulode and Charlie Williams.
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