Foothill won the 25th Annual Livermore Stampede in a 1-0 victory over Sheldon-Sacramento as was previously chronicled, but that wasn’t the only action as Northern California’s most prestigious high school softball tournament wrapped up a quarter century of competition.
The emotion of the Livermore players, coaches, fans and local dignitaries went from jubilation and elation last Friday when the Cowboys won Pool A and sent Prep2Prep Central Coast Section top-ranked Archbishop Mitty-San Jose to the Stampede Flight, and the local girls to the Championship Flight with a 3-2 victory, to a bit of a letdown on Saturday.
Senior pitcher Melanie Laronde tossed a five-hitter with five strikeouts against Mitty but although she pitched well on Saturday the Cowboys girls bats were silenced by Oklahoma-bound Foothill pitcher Nicole May in a 3-0 semifinal loss, and then Castro Valley University of San Diego-bound Courtney Rose pitched a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 1-0 Trojans victory in the third place game.
Both Castro Valley and Livermore were rewarded in this week’s Prep2Prep North Coast Section rankings with the Trojans moving up from No. 20 to No. 9 and the Cowboys girls breaking in at No. 22 as a result of their showing at the Stampede
Mitty was beaten in two straight games after they lost 5-2 to Whitney-Rocklin in the Stampede Flight semifinal but they bounced back to win the seventh-place game with a 3-0 shutout of California-San Ramon. Whitney took a hard-fought 7-6 victory from P2P CCS No. 2 St. Francis-Mountain View in the fifth-place game.
Alhambra-Martinez captured the Bronco Flight with a 4-1 victory over Moreau Catholic-Hayward in the ninth-place game while Dublin won the 11th-place game with a 9-1 win against Freedom-Oakley
The Round-Up Flight was a bit of an anomaly. After St. Mary’s-Stockton withdrew just prior to the Stampede and teams that played them in Pool play got a forfeit win, Bear Creek-Stockton agreed to take their spot on Saturday and won the 13th-place game after a 2-1 victory over Davis was preceded by a 10-2 win over Carondelet.
All-Tournament
Foothill – Nicole May – Charlie Foscalina Most Valuable Player, Hope Alley, Courtney Beaudin, Alejandra McElroy
Sheldon – Vianna Barron, Kenedi Brown, Kiwi Pierce, Seli Pestana
Castro Valley – Caroline Allman, Sabrina Huey, Courtney Rose, Sophia Siu
Livermore – Breanna Cason, Sarah Kerling, Melanie Laronde, Kylie Roberts
Whitney – Sierra Bedrin, Alexis Caretti, Nia Trinidad
St. Francis – Alexandra Attard, Hannah Damore, Jessica Oakland
Archbishop Mitty – Hannah Edwards, Diamond Holland, Savannah Whatley
California – Alexis Burt, Sydney Frankenberger, Lainey Hanehan
Alhambra – Isabella Emerling, Bryanna Waters
Moreau Catholic – Reesah Baker, Gabi Perez
Dublin – Hannah Haynie, Liberty Schlag
Freedom – Payton Salter, Sierra Weishaar
Davis – Claire Inouye, Brittany Steenbergen
Carondelet – Jessie Juinio, Gabriela Williams
Dougherty Valley – Michaela Smith, Samantha Tran
