Piedmont Baseball Softball Foundation Recap

PIEDMONT BASEBALL SOFTBALL FOUNDATION

Weekly game results for Piedmont Baseball Softball Foundation teams are listed below. Game information from coaches and team representatives should be submitted by Sunday at 8:00 PM at www.piedmontbaseball.org using the “Game Publicity” menu item. Results below are from games played last week.

By Matt Burge

Shetland

Bats vs. Knights

Players of the game for the Bats were Will Jacobson with terrific hitting, Zachary Barber with strong fielding from the outfield, Nikolas Markopoulos with 4 hits and smart plays at short stop, Benjamin Sachs with his best hit of the season, and Max Goldfarb with outstanding hitting and fielding. Players of the game for the Knights were Matty Jessee with 3 home runs, Emmett Maxwell with 2 home runs, and William Parker with excellent fielding.

Pinto

Piedmont Giants 22, Orinda Mad Bombers 5

Cormac Whitney's home run led the Piedmont Giants to defeat the Orinda Mad Bombers 22-5 and claim the first ever Pinto Caldecott Championship. The Giants saw production up and down the order: Whitney and Tobin Cantrill were both perfect at the plate, each going 4-for-4; Jonas Kra-Caskey had four RBIs including a 2 RBI triple; and Johnny Williams, Brayden Day and Charlie Olcott had 3 RBIs each. Defensively, the Giants defense held the Mad Bombers to only 2 runs over 5 innings, and were led in the field by Cole Pusgley with a lineout, and Shane Miller with a caught fly in center field.

Mustang

Piedmont Xtreme 3, Piedmont Wildboars 4

In a tight game, team Xtreme lost to the Wildboars in the first round of the tournament on Saturday. Matthew Clavin, Joseph Haggerty and Daniel McLaughlin threw great pitches, striking out batters in each inning. McLaughlin struck out 3 in the 4th inning. Jayden Lee registered 2 hits, while Thomas Wilson, Max Young, McLaughlin and Clavin each had a hit a piece against very strong pitchers from the Wildboars.

Bronco

Piedmont Hawks 9, Piedmont Oxygen 5

The Piedmont Hawks beat the Piedmont Oxygen in a two game Championship series to win the Morindamont Bronco Championship at Coaches Field on Thursday. Teddy Bruin had several unassisted put outs at key junctures of the game and Sam White and Ethan Dirienzo made terrific throws to get out runners advancing to 3rd base when the game was tied. Strong and uncannily timely slugging by Sam Von Herrmann, Jonah Sanders, Lucas Scherman, Ethan Dirienzo, Nick Parker and Sam White provided the scoring the Hawks needed. On the mound, Jonah Sanders pitched a solid 2 ½ innings and Lucas Scherman pitched another 2 ½ innings, holding the hard slugging Oxygen line-up to 3 runs through 5 innings. Sam Von Herrmann, one of the team’s star pitchers, came into the game in the 6th inning and struck out three batters in a row in the heart of the Oxygen line-up. The Oxygen battled back and tied the game 4 – 4 with a run in the bottom of the last inning, when first year Bronco pitcher, Gavin Kordestani, held the winning Oxygen run at third base with a strike out at the plate, to force the game into an extra inning. The Hawks answered with five runs in the top of the extra inning. The Hawks relied on two first year Bronco players (Gavin and Alfonso Hollingsworth) to pitch the final outs of the game. Coach Fonz remarked, “I've never been so proud of a group of young men. They gave me everything they had all season, and that's all you could ask for as a coach."

Softball U8

Piedmont Mini-Xtreme 2, Oakland Purple Pandas 0

Gretchen Gerhardy and Ginger Gardner combined to pitch a shutout, racking up 12 strikeouts along the way.  Elizabeth Wiesbrock, Anna Gotto and Gretchen Gerhardy led Piedmont with two hits apiece, while Angela Foo, Mia Call, Ginger Gardner, Phoebe Church and Quinn Reilly rounded out the offense with base hits of their own. 

Piedmont Mini-Xtreme 5, Oakland Blue Dolphins 6

In the semi-final round, the Mini Xtreme took the Oakland Blue Dolphins to extra innings, looking to avenge two regular seasons losses.  Despite Quinn Reilly scoring for Piedmont in the top of the eighth inning, the Mini Xtreme lost a 6-5 heart-breaker as the Blue Dolphins patched together a two out rally.  Outstanding defensive plays by Angela Foo at shortstop, Phoebe Church at third base and Mia Call behind the plate combined with strong pitching by the "GG Duo" of Ginger Gardner and Gretchen Gerhardy to keep the powerful Blue Dolphin bats at bay. 

Piedmont Purple Pony Express 12, Black Pandas 0

The Purple Pony express stormed into the playoffs with a 12-0 first round victory that was stopped after the third inning. Shelby Cavenaugh and Gracie Hall hit doubles. Every player had a hit while only 1 strikeout was recorded. Lauren Jull, Hedy Friedman, and Morgan Hunt combined to pitch a shutout.

Piedmont Purple Pony Express 3, Blue Lightning 7

The undefeated Blue Lightning outlasted the Purple Pony Express in the regular season finale in Oakland. Several girls left the game due to overheating and the game was stopped in the third inning.

Piedmont Purple Pony Express 7, Purple Pandas 2

Lauren Jull, Margaret Weaver, Maya Hollingsworth, Leah Bell and Hedy Friedman paced the Pony Express with 2 hits last Tuesday night.

Piedmont Purple Pony Express 1, Blue Lightning 2

A raucous crowd at Beach Field saw an epic playoff battle between David and Goliath. Pitchers Lauren Jull, Margaret Weaver, and Morgan Hunt limited the Blue Lightning to their lowest run total of the season. Down 0-1 in the final inning, Jull hit a double and was driven in by Weaver's base hit, but the Blue Lightning scored a walk-off run in the bottom of the inning to set off a wild celebration en route to their league championship. The Blue Lightning moves up to U10 next season while the Purple Pony Express returns to U8.

Softball U12/U14

Piedmont Dragons 6, Oakland Bulldogs 10

In the PBSF/OGSL Softball Playoffs, the Piedmont Dragons lost to the Oakland Bulldogs in the U12/14 semi-finals. Georgia Hayter pitched a strong inning with 3Ks. Caroline Strauch pitched two innings, striking out 5. Offensively, Rachel Elliott had 2 walks and scored twice, Camille Creighton singled and scored, Sofia Ochoa had a single. Tiffany Foo, Laura Bryan, and Katy Savage all scored after walking and stealing bases. Overall, the Dragons stole 15 bases. Hayter was the big hitter, with 2 doubles.

Piedmont Dragons 14, Oakland Firecrackers 13

After jumping out to a quick 3-2 lead, the Dragons lost the lead to the Firecrackers in the 3rd. Down 10-4, the Dragons began the rally in the 6th with Georgia Hayter's lead-off HR, the first of 4 runs that inning. The Dragons added 2 more in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Both teams were scoreless in the 8th and 9th innings, with the Firecrackers scoring 3 in the top of the 10th to take the lead. In the bottom of the 10th, the Dragon's Maeve Gilbert doubled in Rachel Elliott. Katy Savage then beat out an infield hit allowing Camille Creighton to come to the plate. Creighton hit a long walk-off HR to win the first-round playoff game for the Dragons. For the Dragons, Creighton was 2-3 with a single, triple, and HR. Georgia Hayter, also 2-3 with a double, triple, and HR. Elliott single and double, and Julia Tucher and Tiffany Foo, along with Gilbert, RBI doubles. Savage was 2-2 with 2 walks. Dragons pitching struck out 12 with Hayter and Kerry O'Connor strong in the early innings and Caroline Strauch pitching 7 strong innings for the win.