Alameda Blaze Go 2-2 in San Mateo Tournament

The Alameda Blaze 12U girls tournament softball team opened their competitive season the weekend of June 8-9 at the George Feely Tournament in San Mateo. They came home with a 2-2 split for the weekend, and with a ton of optimism for the summer season. The Blaze were especially impressive with their consistent hitting up and down the lineup and solid defense.

Alameda Blaze 8        Belmont Blast 4

The Blaze opened the seeding round of the tournament on Saturday by blasting Belmont in an impressive 8-4 victory. Kayla Simonson led off the game with a solid single and came around to score on Drew Jones' RBI, and the Blaze never looked back, The Blaze put the game away for good on a two-run Simonson double to deep left field. Michelle Popelka also smashed a double, while Anastasia Scheichl, Gianna Ratto, and Jessica Ravetti all added clutch hits. Mia Musso had two hits and an RBI. Simonson pitched a solid complete game victory, aided by flawless defense. Gia Morten killed one rally by snagging a drive down the 3rd base line and firing to first to nip the speedy Blast runner. Catcher Jessica Ravetti gunned down base stealers at 2nd and 3rd base to snuff out two other scoring threats.

Alameda Blaze 7        San Mateo Slammers 3

The Blaze continued their winning ways in the second seeding round game, belting out 10 hits on their way to another dominating victory, 7-3 over the tournament host San Mateo Slammers. The Blaze scored all 7 of their runs on 7 hits in the second inning, including two that inning by Keilani Finley-Jensen. Giana Ratto collected the first of her two hits with pure hustle and speed, beating out a routine grounder to second base. Kayla Simonson also smacked two hits for the Blaze. Carrie Lee was effective and efficient in pitching a complete game, allowing only 4 hits. Jessica Ravetti threw out yet another base runner stealing second, while Erika Boeckling made two nice catches in left field.

Half Moon Bay Waves 7        Alameda Blaze 0

The Blaze completed the Saturday seeding round in second place, dropping a tough 7-0 battle to the hard hitting Waves from Half Moon Bay. The Blaze managed only 1 hit, a clean single up the middle by Erika Boeckling.

Burlingame Flames 12        Alameda Blaze 6

The Blaze ran into a buzz saw in the elimination round on Sunday, falling to the large and hard hitting girls from Burlingame 12-6. The Blaze kept the game close into the bottom of the third, trailing only 2-1 following a Drew Jones triple and a Carrie Lee smash single. However, the Flames opened up a huge 10-1 lead with an 8 run outburst, capped off by a long homerun to left by their powerful first baseman, her fourth homerun of the weekend. The Blaze continued to fight back, adding 3 runs in the fourth on triples by Michelle Popelka and Erika Boeckling, and a Jessica Ravetti single. They added two more in the fifth on a Hannah Johnson walk, a Mia Musso triple down the right field line, and a Kelly Hosokawa RBI grounder. Keilani Finley-Jensen doubled to continue the rally and Jessica Ravetti drilled another base hit, but the rally fell short, and the Blaze were done this weekend, but enthusiastic about their chances the remainder of this summer season.