The Goleta Valley Girls Softball Association (GVGSA) 12U Thunder team dominated opponents throughout the annual Thousand Oaks Memorial Day Tournament this past weekend at Los Cerritos Middle School.
In taking the championship with four consecutive mercy-rule wins, the Thunder excelled on offense and defense. The team’s offense batted .505, producing 53 hits, and scoring 54 runs during the four-game tournament.
GVSGA’s pitching, meanwhile, was brilliant. The pitchers struck out 22 batters, gave up only eight hits, and allowed one run for the entire tournament. The combined batting average for GVGSA Thunder’s opponents was mere .127, as the pitchers and defense shut-down the opposing teams.
The Thunder faced off against WAGS and Ventura in pool play, and took the No. 1 seed for bracket play.
The Thunder won Sunday’s championship, 9-1 win over the Camarillo Gold in the championship. The game was scoreless through the first two innings, before the Thunder put up three runs in the third inning. Camarillo answered with one run in the fourth inning. After which, the Thunder got two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to end the game.
GVGSA Thunder was sure-handed in the field and didn’t commit a single error.
Members of the team include Sofia Bautista, Kyanne Bechler, Juliana Brunner, Kylie Buben, Elise Dreesmann, Scarlett Holian, Autumn Johnson, Piper Kittle, Madyson Meza, Emily Morici, Sophia Munoz, Dylann Ramirez, Alanah Salas.
The team’s coaches include Beau Brunner (Manager), Vince Holian, Justin Ramirez, Julie Kittle and Cyrus Morici.
The Thousand Oaks Memorial Day tournament was the team’s third tournament of the summer all-star season. The team took first place at the Moorpark All-Star Tune-up tournament and second place at the El Rio Beach Blast.
The team’s upcoming tournaments will be in Camarillo, Simi Valley, Hanford, Escondido, Arroyo Grande, and Roseville. Anyone wishing additional tournament details for the 10U Thunder team or GVGSA’s other all-star teams, can contact the league by email at info@gvgsa.com.