MVLA Nova
Recent Successes!
VISIT THE TOURNAMENT BLOG
12U Red-Break The Brides Maid Curse in Manteca!
After three trips to the runners-up circle, NOVA 12U Red emerged champions last week in Manteca with a stunning series of wins. In all, we had 6 wins, no losses; 3 of the wins were by Mercy Rules, 3 of the Wins were shut-outs. For the Tournament, we were best scoring (11.16) and best differential (10).
You can really see how the girls have developed this season, both as individual players and as a team. We have some great individual contributors on the team. Three great pitchers-Amanda Delfino, Jackie Hinojosa and Natasha Sierras each pitched incredible games. I think our opponents expected a second string pitcher to come up and never saw one! When she wasn't pitching, Amanda made some long stretches at first to keep our opponents scoreless. With our backup catcher Annie Apffel on the injured list, there is a lot of pressure on Ally Bakos as main catcher (you wouldn't know it from the incredible way she's playing), but Nicole Breidis stepped in as backup and made a great throw down to first to get the out. Jackie and Jodi Hinojosa make a great matched set at 2nd and short and made some great plays. Mighty Mouse Sarah Munoz made some great plays at 3rd. She's so full of energy and style it keeps everybody pumped up. Our outfield continues to improve and in particular, Ashley Becker made a great catch that had the stands on their feet.
Offensively, we were on fire! We have developed a very effective lineup. Everyone was hitting and in particular, Amanda and Natasha both had long hits to left field for home runs. Veon Nevels broke her cold spell and had a great hit on Sunday. Shelly Parks laid down an incredible bunt and moved every everyone forward. For our future tournaments-watch out!
A day I won’t forget – 14U wins Manteca!
contributed by Coach John Parks
Exhausted from the previous day's pool play, and suffering the effects of an impromptu late night social gathering of “softball diehards", I took the field along with Terry, Chuck, and Nick, trying to convince the girls that “warming up" was a really good thing to do. Had we known what the day had in store for us, we would have attacked this "warm-up" activity with a greater since of urgency. Oh, and had I known what the day had in store, I would have insisted on more sleep the night before!
Struggling through that initial warm-up we decided that we had stretched the girls aching muscles sufficiently to meet the "She Devils" and made our way to "Tiger Stadium". Besides, our coffee was getting cold! We didn't know quite what to expect from these self-proclaimed demons but when the game was over Nova was on top 8-0. Now on the surface, no one is impressed with a score like this nor should they be. We have all seen shutouts. Heck, we have all been victims of shutouts! But this game had some very interesting stats. Sure we had great hitting like Britt's 3 run home run and Tiff’s stellar leadoff performance, great fielding (of note were Tina, Tiffany, Amber, and Madeline in the infield), and great base running. What was most impressive was the incredible pitching that we witnessed. Ali Goldberg faced 18 batters in 6 innings. She sat down 16, had one girl walk and one girl get to first on a DTS. Both runners were subsequently thrown out trying to steal 2nd! I call this a GFPG! That is a Girls FastPitch Perfect Game. Oh, and by the way, her day was just beginning!
Game 2 was just a shade more hostile, actually several shades, and very exciting. At stake was a place in the final; a place we coaches thought our girls deserved. I am told that I have very high standards about behavior. Guilty! But we are working with with kids and because of that my standards go up accordingly. Let me just say that many objectionable behaviors were witnessed during this game that I would never tolerate from a coach or kid on my team. Still, through all of this childishness from the other team, the character and "will to win" from our girls shone brighter then I could have ever imagined. I was, and remain, very proud of them.
In this second game against the dynasty we played a tie breaker, and obviously Nova prevailed. We won the 14U Championship after all! But winning, well winning truly isn't everything (who said that?)! Sometimes how you played is really the more important thing to examine, and the fact that you won, that is just the punctuation. Playing, test of character, willing yourself "over the top"; these are the things that you are going to remember, this is what you are going to brag about to your kids, and this moment in time is what you are going to recall for your children when you are trying to explain “this is why you play the game!"
How these girls won this tie breaker was at the same time fascinating and "heart stopping". Ali was magnificent, continuing her dominance in this game and ending her streak, I'm told, at the 28th batter!
Every single girl hit, caught, bunted, threw, and literally drove the coaches to the bursting point with pride. Lindsay, overcame being sick with absolute "force of will" and hit one of the prettiest triples I have ever seen. Amber literally turned in "her best performance ever!" As I said, "2nd base was where balls went to die!" Tiffany (amazing leadoff performance and I didn't even show them your "left handed approach"), Tina (bunts and now hits with power), Brit "Dirt Devil" Harper (usually the dirtiest girl on the field), Madeline, Amber, Mia, Lizzy, Jennie (How hard can this kid hit a ball anyway?), Britiana, and Anisha (These two will do anything you ask of them--truly ballplayers!) were all absolutely stunning with heroic play after heroic play, but the one play in this game that probably gave the coaches their proudest moment was when Jacqui took off on a dead run after a little flair, dove, and caught it! That catch put every Nova player into right field to congratulate Jacqui and put this team in the finals, period! As Terry said, "seeing the bench empty like that to congratulate the girl is why I coach softball!", and illustrative of our luck on Sunday, we had seen two congratulatory bench clearing events (Britt’s Homerun).
That simple act of daring, that willingness to go beyond what you are comfortable doing, abandoning yourself to the moment in order to play over your head and risk failure to achieve greatness, these things are what we want you to learn. It is also the one thing we can't teach!
The final against the "Hot Shots" proved to be just as big of a "test of will" as the semi-final game. The "Hot Shots" though were different in that they appear to be a very classy team. OK they had the one fan that had the problem metabolizing the alcohol, but the umpire took care of that.
Again a number of stand-out moments in this game, but the three that come to mind are, the final out, the look of absolute exhaustion on the face of the girls, Madeline's double pump "Chuckie Cheese" play. I believe I could actually hear her thoughts, "Fake it to 1st. Hey what is going on? Coach says this will work. Why didn't it work? Let me try again. Fake it to 1st. Oh, OK! Worked that time!"
On a personal note, I learned (maybe I should say remembered) a lot about myself during this game. Anyone who really knows me knows that I am a competitor. I love competition! I hate games, (there is a reason they are called board "bored" games) but I love sports and I usually learn something about myself during an intense period of competition. My "epiphany moment" in this instance came in the final inning when we had 2 outs and on the cusp of winning "a championship!" I could feel the air; I could feel the heat rising from the artificial surface. I could see everything and I could see nothing. I was totally focused, and I could focus on nothing. Were the girls feeling this? Did they understand it? This game was easy, but it was slowing down, and it’s when they slow down that they get away from you. The other Nova teams were above us somewhere cheering. The 12U's had very shiny metals around their necks. Bottom line, I was totally into this game. The field looked as big as a runway and who had the bright idea of moving the pitching rubber 200 feet away from home plate? Why did the ball look so big? Where did Art's strike zone go? DTS go one. What? She was clearly out!!!"
After pacing nearly a hundred miles during the weekend, it was at this moment that I thought I should inject myself into the game by calling timeout and going out and giving an inspirational speech that would carry the girls "over the top" to victory! This I could do! I told Terry and Chuck my plan and was about to take the field when Terry replied, "good idea!" -- my confidence soared, my momentum was forward-- when I heard, "or....we could go with the rhythm of the moment and let them get this last out!" Dang it!!!! Good idea!!!! Where are those stupid peanuts?
I sat back in the dugout, put my feet up on the bench, and waited for the end to come. I took a half pound of peanuts and started cracking them open. I don't remember eating a single one of them. I felt completely useless. I had finally come back to my place as "coach" in the universe. We can teach, we can insist on repetition, we can work out strategies, we can try to influence character, we can talk about the values of team and excellence, but when it comes to playing, that belongs to the girls! The girls play the game! Thanks guys, for reminding me of that. W
ell the girls won! Another nail biter, but Nova prevailed. Those faces, those exhausted, smiling, sweaty faces are forever burned into my memory. I am so proud of everyone involved; girls, managers, coaches, and parents. I must share with you that this is the fourth tournament in a row where I have been told by people outside the organization, that we as a group have "a lot of class!" Congratulations! This doesn't make the job easy, but it does let us work on the single thing that is most important; developing your girls.
I am told that this is the first time that Nova teams won championships in two separate divisions in the same tournament. I am particularly proud of that, since I have girls on both teams. Anecdotally, many of you know that Cathy and I are not from California and that our families live in the mid-west and south. While we have friends who are like family to us, the girls have never really played softball with family present other then Nick. Ironically, the girls’ 80 year old Grandmother, their Aunt, and their female cousin flew in from Wisconsin and were able to attend the entire tournament. "A Day I Won't Forget"? Well kind of an understatement I guess.