Synergy Wins Three Titles, Including West Nationals

The ’s Synergy program enjoyed one of the most successful weekends in its history, winning three championships ranging from its own backyard at Castro Valley High all the way to Kent, WA.

Here’s a team-by-team recap:

16A

Coach Larry Lee’s collection of talent, mostly from Castro Valley and Alameda, bounced back from its only loss of the week-long event to sweep three games Sunday, including 6-5 and 8-1 wins over the Hurricanes to claim the championship at the in Kent, WA.

The team won its first six games of the tournament to reach the winners-bracket finals, where it fell 4-2 to the Hurricanes on Saturday night.

That put the Synergy club in a position of having to win three games Sunday to win the championship—and that’s exactly what it did, outlasting the Northwest Renegades 3-2 in the losers-bracket finals before sweeping the previously unbeaten Hurricanes squad in the finals.

12 Black

Coach Marc DeCoulode’s band of CVGSL All-Stars capped a better-this-week-than-last summer progression with its second tournament win of the campaign, sweeping the competition at the Novato Classic.

and did all the pitching in the 6-0 run, but this championship was mostly the result of great hitting and a fantastic catch in right field by Margeaux Jackson that quite possibly saved what turned out to be a 10-5 win over the Pacifica Fusion in the finals.

The Synergy team outscored the opposition 59-12 and outhit it 63-27 in the tournament that capped a 26-14-1 summer.

The big hitters in the tournament were: (10-for-17 with nine runs scored), Jaylin Palega (11-for-18 with two doubles and three triples), Amanda Huerta (11-for-21 with nine RBIs, three doubles and a triple), Ashley Williams (8-for-15 with eight RBIs and two doubles) and Allie Curtis (5-for-12 with seven runs scored).

Also contributing to the offensive onslaught were Angelina Parker (eight runs scored), Christina Maldonado (eight runs scored, five RBIs and two doubles), Michael Edwards-Gonzales (three hits and three runs scored) and designated runner Yazmine Romero (five runs scored).

12 Green

Castro Valley hosted its own five-team event—the Hot August Nights Tournament—and then went out and clobbered the competition to the tune of 57-14 en route to the title.

Emily Shaw was selected as the tournament Most Valuable Player, mostly on the strength of her defense. From her catcher position, Shaw threw out five base runners attempting to steal and recorded four putouts at the plate, prompting the opposing coach from Sunnyvale to comment: “This girl was the difference. She blocked every ball, picked girls off, hustled back there. We have not seen that kind of catching in a while.”

Haley Ferrufino-Jurs, Aisley Njissang and Isabel Diaz were the starting pitchers in the team’s five wins, with Olivia Zwicker providing flawless relief.

Equally impressive, the parent volunteers put on a tournament (there was a four-team division for 10-year-olds as well) that was universally applauded and likely will result in the CVGSL bringing back its annual Firecracker Tournament next July.