EL SEGUNDO HERALD July 19, 2018 Page 5
El Segundo Girls Softball Moves on to the National Tournament
By Gregg McMullin
For the second consecutive year, an El
Segundo girls softball team will advance to
a national tournament. Back in the 1970s,
El Segundo won a Bobby Sox national title.
Last summer, the El Segundo Girls Softball
(ESGS) 14U team placed second at the national
tournament. This year, the ESGS 10U
team will advance to the national tournament.
They did it by placing second in the state
tournament in the sweltering 102-degree heat
that Lancaster had to offer.
Logan Brooks feeds second baseman Jordan Slavens on a key double play in the first inning against Del Rey Little League. #33 Jake Danford celebrates his walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave El Segundo Little League a 2-1 win
In the opener in Lancaster, the ESGS team
started the first inning by scoring five runs
and holding on to defeat Westlake Agoura
Girls Softball (WAGS) 5-3. Sienna Mayer
and Allie Stevenson led off with back-toback
singles in their half of the first inning.
After three consecutive walks, Taryn Walker’s
bases-loaded double gave El Segundo a big
lead. El Segundo would need that early
lead as WAGS battled and cut into the lead
to make it 5-2. WAGS had an opportunity
to make it closer, but left the bases loaded
in the second inning. With the score 5-3 in
the final inning, WAGS loaded the bases.
Stevenson came in relief to get the final
two outs, including a game-ending pop-up.
In the second game, El Segundo faced
Rancho Trabuco out of South Orange
County. ESGS struggled in the field from
the beginning, committing five errors and
never recovering in a 6-1 loss.
Facing an uphill battle in the loser’s bracket,
El Segundo took on Eastvale, Corona. After
spotting the opponent an early 2-0 lead, ESGS’
bats came alive. First inning hits by Mayer and
Ace Anderson provided a 3-2 lead. The lead
would increase to 7-2 in the second inning
following Jacy Lindsay’s two- run double.
Charli Pages picked up the win, going the
distance and yielding just two hits. Mayer
led the El Segundo offense, going 3-3. Pages
had two hits and Hina Usada had two RBIs.
In game four, ESGS played Seaside from
Ventura County and won 9-1. ESGS started
out strong by scoring four first inning runs,
highlighted by doubles from Mayer and
Usada. Mayer led the 13-hit attack, going
4-4 while Anderson and Vanessa Rodriques
each had two hits. Stevenson was tough on
the mound, tossing 4 2/3 of no-hit ball.
To stay alive, El Segundo faced perennial
powerhouse Huntington Beach. ESGS
trailed 1-0 in the first inning, but responded
with four runs on the way to a 5-3 win.
Stevenson singled and scored on Usada’s
triple. Pages’ RBI single made it 2-1. Rodriquez
belted a two-run single to give the
locals a 4-1 lead.
In the fourth inning, ESGS manufactured
a run. Jacy Lindsey led the inning off with
a single. Two batters later, Maggie Green’s
sacrifice set up Mayer’s RBI single. Huntington
Beach would score a run in the sixth, but
came up short and ESGS won 5-3.
over Del Rey Little League.
In the team’s final game of the state tournament
El Segundo faced Vista, San Diego.
Vista’s pitching had been tough throughout
the tournament and once again shined in a
4-0 win. Pages started for ESGS and turned in
an epic performance by tossing four shutout
innings. Fatigue from the heat hampered her
later on when Vista started a big rally in the
final inning to score all four runs.
El Segundo’s state tournament run came
to an end but the team had done enough to
earn a spot at the national championship
tournament July 30 to August 5 in Camarillo.
Follow the team on the Game Changer app
“El Segundo 10u Gold” as it continues the
journey for a championship.
EL Segundo Little League All
Stars Section Tournament
The El Segundo Little League (ESLL)
has two all-star teams playing in the section
tournament that precedes the Southern
California tournament. The 12s took care
of West L.A. Little League 11-2 in the first
round of the four-team tournament. In the next
game ESLL faced Riviera Little League, but
fell 10-6 in a game that featured two grand
slams in the same inning.
Riviera scored three first inning runs,
highlighted by Noah Jimbo’s two-run double.
It extended the lead with a two-run second
inning on just one hit to make it 5-0. El
Segundo scored a run in the second inning
when Dylan Alcala drew a walk and scored
on Cruz Ochoa’s RBI single to make it 5-1.
In the fourth inning, Mathew Espinoza’s
RBI double scored Dylan Haney to extend
Riviera’s lead to 6-1. ESLL responded when
Gavin McKinnon scored on a ground ball out
by Brett Abitante to make it 6-2.
El Segundo all-stars pay respect to our nation’s flag before the start of the game. Lucas Bonham hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to pull El Segundo Little League to within 10-6.
See Sports, page 11
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