In true Sorcerer fashion, Sorcerer 18 Gold (Mumma) qualified for the 2008 ASA Gold Nationals this weekend in Lancaster, CA in the Pacific Coast Regional Tournament, winning the final game against the Jets Gold with a score of 8-3. 93 teams competed for 6 berths.
Sorcerer began regional play on Friday against the Valley Breeze of Van Nuys, CA with a 12-3 victory punctuated by a 3-run homer by Northwestern-bound Emily Allard.

On Saturday, Sorcerer defeated the So Cal Breakers in a 14-1 victory with home runs from Kasey Tydingco and Mississippi State-bound Courtney Moore, extending her home run streak to 5 consecutive weekends.

On Sunday morning, Sorcerer took the field at 8:00 AM against fellow NorCal team, the Strike Zone of Milpitas.  Sorcerer scored early and often, defeating Strike Zone with a score of 10-1 with a homerun by Cal-bound Alex Robben, and earning Sorcerer the right to play in the final winner bracket game for a berth to ASA Nationals.

At noon, Sorcerer faced the So Cal Diamonds of Newbury Park, CA. After having scored 36 runs in 3 games, Sorcerer bats went ice cold in the 106 degree heat.  Sorcerer scored no runs on 6 errors and gave up 3 homeruns, losing by a lopsided 12-0.  To earn a berth, Sorcerer would have to win two consecutive games in the losers bracket.

At 4 PM, Sorcerer faced the San Diego Renegades, who had just defeated the Explosion. Sorcerer dug deep, refused to allow the prior shutout to dampen their spirits, and defeated the Renegades by a score of 5-1.

Sorcerer then rested for 45 minutes, waiting to face the Jets Gold of Agoura Hills, CA as they soundly defeated the American Pastime with numerous home runs.  Sorcerer was pumped up, and in the first inning Sorcerer loaded the bases.  With one out, Courtney Moore went to the plate.  Courtney launched the second pitch to the 300 ft center field fence for a grand slam homerun, the longest homerun hit this writer has ever seen in ASA tournament play.

In the fourth inning, the Jets responded with a three-run homer of their own, bringing the score to 4-3.  But that was the end of the Jets offense, as Oregon-bound pitcher Jessica Moore and Cal pitcher Val Arioto kept the Jets hitters in check, forcing several pop-ups and strike-outs.  Sorcerer scored one more run on solid hitting. And to seal the deal, Cal-bound Ashley Decker went yard in the top of the sixth inning for a three-run homer.  After 2 hours and 5 minutes of play, Sorcerer defeated the Jets by a score of 8-3, earning a berth to ASA Gold Nationals.

Sorcerer is the first Northern California team to qualify, and the 27th team to qualify overall.  Five other teams also qualified this weekend in Lancaster:

*Notaby, 3 of the 6 qualifying teams came from the Sorcerer winner bracket, an event with a probability of only 6.25%.

In all, Sorcerer scored 49 runs in 6 games. Go Sorcerer and congratulations!!!

With a sequence of 3 consecutive come-from-behind victories, Sorcerer won the prestigious 80-team Louisville Slugger Independence Day Tournament in Boulder, CO in their first attempt. Sorcerer scored 68 runs including 7 homeruns in 12 games.

Sorcerer began the tournament with 4 wins and 2 losses in pool play, earning Sorcerer the second seed in their pool. Sorcerer
recorded victories over the Michigan Finesse (6-2) with a homerun by Kayla White, the Pennsylvania Blazing Angels
(17-0) with a 2nd inning homerun by Kayla White, the New Jersey Inferno (7-1), and the  So Cal Explosion (7-4) with a 5th inning homerun by Mississippi State-bound Courtney Moore (extending her streak to 6 consecutive events). Sorcerer suffered
losses to the Oklahoma Jitterbugs (0-1) and the Illinois Sharks (5-6).

On Saturday morning, Sorcerer began single-elimination tournament play,
with a 6-0 victory over the Missouri Renegades led by pitcher Amanda Summerford.

On Saturday evening, Sorcerer faced North Carolina-bound pitcher Constance Orr and the North Carolina Lady Blues who were riding high from just defeating the OC Batbusters.  Unbeknownst to Sorcerer, Orr had led her Butler High School (Charlotte, NC) team this year to a #2 national ranking by StudentSportsSoftball, with 22 wins and no losses. Sorcerer rose to the challenge, and defeated the Lady Blues by a score of 2-0.

On Saturday night, Sorcerer faced Arizona-State bound pitcher Dallas Escobedo of the Arizona Hotshots [Qualified]. While her 70+ MPH pitches were impressive, Sorcerer managed to score 5 runs to defeat the Hotshots 5-4.

On Sunday morning, Sorcerer faced Team Florida [Qualified] in the quarterfinal round. Sorcerer quickly leapt ahead and scored 3 runs, punctuated by a 4th inning homerun by Breana Kostreba.  But in a disastrous 5th inning, Sorcerer gave up 3 runs to allow Team Florida to tie the score. As time ran out, neither team had scored again, sending the game to an international tie-breaking (ITB) inning. In the bottom of the 8th, with an ITB runner on 2nd base, Stanford-bound Maya Burns blasted a shot into center-field, bringing in the winning run, and advancing Sorcerer to the semi-final round.

Late Sunday morning, Sorcerer faced Notre-Dame bound pitcher Jackie Bowe and the Illinois Beverly Bandits [Qualified] in the semi-final round.  The Bandits demonstrated their power at the plate by scoring 3 runs early in the game.  But Sorcerer showed true grit, and fought back to tie the game 3-3 on  homeruns by Cal-bound Jordan Wallace in both the 2nd and the 4th innings. Sorcerer added another run in the 3rd inning, and 1 more in the 4th, to advance to the championship game.

For the tournament championship, nearly exhausted from 11 games in 5 days, Sorcerer faced Texas A&M-bound pitcher Rebecca Arbino and long time rival and nemesis the Corona Angels coached by Marty Tyson.  The Angels scored a run in the first inning.

Sorcerer bats came alive in the 4th inning; a
double by Breana Kostreba brought in Maya Burns. With little production from the starters, but sensing an opportunity, Sorcerer coaches entered Harvard-bound Whitney Shaw to pinch hit. Shaw had been
sidelined after an ugly collision two games earlier that injured her
surgically repaired knee.  Despite the pain and with a noticeable limp,
Shaw was ready, and responded to the call with a 3-run blast over the
left-center field fence. [Sadly, Whitney tore her ACL again in the collision, and will undergo immediate surgery. The Sorcerer family wishes Whitney a speedy recovery.]

“Honestly, I was just trying to hit it really hard,” Shaw said. “When I got up there I was just like, if there’s one thing I can still do it’s hit the crap out of the ball. That’s all I was really thinking about.”

The Angels answered in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run homer of their own. In the next inning, the Angels loaded the bases. With one out, Arbino smashed a line drive down the middle, but with a fantastic catch, Cal-bound Jordan Wallace snared the ball, threw it to second base for the out, and seized the momentum from the Angels.

Sorcerer held the Angels scoreless in the 6th and 7th innings for the 4-3 win and the tournament championship.

Samantha Albanese pitched 11 innings with 4 strikeouts over 4 games. Oregon-bound Jessica Moore pitched 28.5 innings with 31 strikeouts over 9 games. And, Fresno State-bound Hannah Williams pitched 29.5 innings with 19 strikeouts over 8 games.

Congratulations Sorcerer on an exceptional Boulder tournament debut!

After taking the Boulder Championship two weeks ago, Sorcerer tied for 17th place in the Champions Cup tournament this weekend in Irvine with a 5-2-1 record.

Absent players and injuries hampered Sorcerer this weekend. However, the disappointing weekend was not without its highlights.

In pool play, Mississippi-State bound Courtney Moore extended her outstanding homerun streak to 7 consecutive events, while in the first round of elimination play, Cal-bound Jordan Wallace hit a grand slam homerun followed by a hit by Breana Kostreba and a two-run homerun by Kayla White.

Sorcerer pitchers Sammy Albanese, Jessica Moore, and Hannah Williams all saw action this weekend in the batter’s box.  Oregon-bound Jessica hit a double, and now leads the team with a 1.000 batting average and a 2.000 slug percentage in tournament competition.

Most importantly, several Sorcerer players received new college scholarship offers.  Sorcerer anticipates decisions soon.

Sorcerer enters the final stretch this week before leaving for Oklahoma City to compete in the 2008 ASA Gold Nationals.

Gold Nationals is unique among ASA JO National tournaments in that only 64 teams are permitted entry.  In 2008, all of these teams were required to qualify by placing very high in a regional, sector, or national qualifying tournament.  

Sorcerer will travel to Oklahoma City next Saturday. Opening ceremonies will be held Sunday afternoon at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Field. Games will be held at either the ASA Hall of Fame Complex or the Mustang Wild Horse Park.

Sorcerer will begin pool play on Monday with two games.
Double elimination
competition begins on Tuesday, and continues through Sunday. (Note: Unlike most tournaments, pool play has no bearing on elimination play.)

The team fortunate enough to win 6 consecutive games will face the only
team remaining with only a single loss at 10 AM on Sunday, August 10.
If that team wins its 7th game, it will be named the ASA 18 Gold
Champion.  Otherwise, a tie-breaking game will be played at Noon on
Sunday.

Scores will be updated online throughout the tournament.

This year marks Sorcerer’s  5th consecutive appearance at ASA Gold Nationals, having qualified every year since winning consecutive 18A National Championships.

Sorcerer will hold tryouts at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, CA for both our Fall 2008 teams directly following our return from the 2008 Gold Nationals in Oklahoma City, OK in August.

Registration for tryouts can only be done online. Please complete this form to notify us of your intent to try out.

Please arrive 30 minutes before the start of tryout to get your tryout number and to warm up.

Note: All data on this form, including your name, will be held strictly confidential.  Only members of the Sorcerer coaching or administrative staff will be allowed access to it.

If you have any questions, please contact Phil Mumma at 925-367-9012 or Pete Aguayo at 925-980-7873.

From: 5-7-08 St. Mary’s High School Gazette:

In most dominating fashion Courtney Moore turned in one of the best offensive performances this year in the BSAL in a four game stretch. The Mississippi State bound senior went an impressive 9 for 11 with 5 homeruns including a grand slam. She finished the week with 12 RBI’s and 5 stolen bases in 4 games against two of the top three teams in the BSAL.

Moore is currently batting .566 in BSAL play and is among the tops in the league in nearly all offensive categories. In a double header against Piedmont High school she was a combined 2 for 3 with a two run shot off former BSAL MVP Mina Duffy that traveled well over the wall in left center field at Piedmont High. She then followed that up on Wednesday with a 4 for 5 day against St. Joseph’s Alameda where she hit a 3 run homer and a grand slam in a BSAL victory for the Panthers. Keeping with her torrid pace she turned in another strong offensive performance the next day against the top team in the BSAL, the Albany High Cougars who are currently undefeated in league play and only have one lost overall on the season, Moore went 3 for 3 with a two run homerun and a solo shot in a hard fought loss to the Cougars.

Courtney closes out her BSAL high school career with two games this week and a final game next Wednesday against BSAL power house St. Patrick’s which will be Senior Day for the Panthers. Courtney will play her summer ball under Coach Phil Mumma with the Sorcerer Softball Club after which she will be moving on to play Division I softball in the SEC(South Eastern Conference) for Coach Jay Miller and the Mississippi State University Bulldogs in the fall.

Sorcerer outfielder Emily Allard has verbally committed to accept a softball scholarship to Northwestern University. Allard gave her commitment to Wildcats head coach Kate Drohan on March 25.

A nationally-recruited prospect, Allard recently concluded a series of unofficial visits to schools in the Midwest, including a close look at Northwestern’s Evanston, IL campus. She was impressed by the university’s combination of a top-rank educational reputation, coupled with its elite softball status, she said. “I really liked the school and its setting – Evanston – and I loved the coaches and players. Twelve players on this year’s team will still be there when I get to school, which is terrific.”

“Northwestern is getting a great recruit in Emily,” Sorcerer head coach Phil Mumma said. First, they will have a true student-athlete, which fits neatly into Coach Drohan’s recruiting philosophy. And despite the fact that Emily is already very good, she is a hard worker and has great potential for further improvement.”

Way to go, Em. Everyone with Sorcerer is very proud of you!