By Loren Kopff
TUSTIN- Of the four Cerritos Girls Softball Association All-Star teams, the hottest one thus far seems to be the youngest one. For the second time in three tournaments, the 8-Under All-Stars claimed a tournament championship.
Last weekend in the Tustin Romp Tournament, the team known as No Doubt breezed through its competition. No Doubt whitewashed Poway 9-0 and crushed Los Alamitos 7-2 last Saturday in pool play action. After advancing straight to the championship due to Poway dropping out following pool play action. Cerritos had no problem with Aliso Viejo in the finals in a 14-1 victory. No Doubt, which opened the summer tournament schedule by winning the San Dieguito Memorial Day Tournament, is now 12-1 this summer and has outscored its opponents 84-13. The lone loss came to Long Beach Heartwell in the South Huntington Beach Tournament, a 1-0 setback.
The 10-Under All-Stars (Intensity) also advanced to the finals but fell to Tustin 3-2 this past Sunday. In pool play action, Intensity shutout Poway 8-0 and doubled up Tustin 4-2 last Saturday. In the playoffs, Cerritos blasted 4S Ranch out of Rancho Bernardo 11-0 as 10 different players scored as well as had at least one hit. Caitlyn Azevedo and Valerie Joaquin combined on a one-hitter and struck out 10 batters. That win was followed by a 12-0 victory over Las Vegas-based NWGS. For the second straight game, the team pounded out 11 hits and Joaquin yielded just a fifth inning single while fanning seven. She also went two for two with a walk and scored three times. Three other players also had a pair of hits.
The 12-Under All-Stars (Insanity) began pool play action with a 4-0 loss to Tustin but rebounded to edge Poway 2-1 last Saturday. In the playoffs, Cerritos slammed NWGS 17-1 as it pushed across seven runs in the top of the first and nine more in the second. The team pounded out 16 hits including a three for three, three runs scored and three runs batted in performance from Brenda Duran. Four other players all had a pair of hits and five other players besides Duran scored twice. Emily Morton faced only 12 batters, allowed two hits and struck out three batters. The game ended when the NWGS coached pulled his team off the field after Cerritos scored its last run in the top of the third following the fourth error of the contest. But in the semifinals, Cerritos fell to Los Alamitos 7-6.
The 14-Under All-Stars spent last weekend in the La Habra Tournament, getting past Hacienda Heights 11-3 and North Torrance 14-0 last Saturday in pool play action before losing to the Pico Gold team 6-1 this past Sunday in the playoffs. All four teams, plus the 6-Under All-Stars will participate in the Chino Hills Tournament this weekend.
