The Magic 14C team are the NorCal ASA champions
The finals games at the NorCal ASA championships were played at 2 p.m. Sunday, and three of the six LGSGSA Magic teams entered in the tournament were still on the field.
When the dust settled at the hot Twin Creeks complex in Sunnyvale, the Magic walked away with a first-, a second- and a third-place finish at NorCals and three bids to either state or Western U.S. tournaments.
The Magic 14C team went the distance to win its 11-team bracket. The Magic never found itself in the loser’s bracket, opening with a 9-3 win over the Cabrillo Crushers on Friday afternoon and following that up with a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over the Piedmont Tornadoes later that evening.
On Saturday, the Magic pounded the Pajaro Valley Tremblers 12-4 to set up the championship game Sunday against the King City Hurricanes.
Hera Tang pitched the first three games for the 14C team, which was riding her arm and bat plus timely hitting from Kim Showalter, Lexi Dennis, Carmen Borrison, Sadie Logan, and Meghan Hardiman.
But in the championship game, coach Scott Borrison handed the ball to Showalter, who went out and baffled the King City hitters with a mixture of off-speed pitches. Tang came in to close out the game in the seventh after the Magic scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead.
The 14C team earned a berth in the California Regional Championships/State Games July 17-19 in San Diego.
Also attending the State Games will be the Magic 12C team, which won four straight games before losing 8-3 to the Carmel All-Stars in the championship game. What made the 12C journey memorable was that they were playing in a 25-team bracket.
Coach Mike Davey’s team opened with a 9-1 win over the Burlingame Flames and a 10-1 win over the Almaden Lightning Gold on Friday. On Saturday, the Magic pounded the Morgan Hill Spirit 15-3 and then won a 12-11 thriller over the Campbell Crush to advance to the title game.
Kaitlyn McLaren and Courtney Ceran led the way on the mound, each pitching two of the victories. They also both contributed on offense with some big hits, as did Kelsey Fleming, Lauren Pataky, Julia Sakamoto, Alina Korfike and Samantha Holmgren.
The Magic 12B team earned a berth to the Western U.S. Regionals in Milwaukie, Oregon, July 27-August 2 with its third-place finish in a tough 17-team bracket.
And it wasn’t easy.
The Magic found itself trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh in its opener against the San Carlos Force Grey. All the Magic did was rally for three runs to win the game.
In its second game, the Magic shut out the Benecia Outlaws 8-0, but it then dropped a 3-1 pitcher’s duel to the South San Jose Quicksilver.
But the Magic showed why it is one of the top 12U teams in Northern California by coming back to beat the Cabrillo Crushers 4-0 and the Mountain View Nova 6-1 in the Sunday heat to capture third place.
Ellen Church and Jamie Lehman shared the pitching duties, holding opponents to just six runs in five games. Church and Mandy Lee both drove in several runs with big hits, and Rachel Vais continued to demonstrate just how valuable shortstop defense can be in holding teams down. Natasha Cougoule, Kata Pance and Tivoli Sisco also were big contributors for coach Ray Sisco’s team.
It wasn’t long ago that all Magic teams were on the sidelines watching after mid-day Saturday. Three teams playing in the final games of the day is a new Magic record.
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