SC girls take sectional

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SC girls take sectional

Sports

Wednesday, 21 July 2010 11:51

News-Gazette Photo/Rick Pedone

St. Cloud Little League Softball 11-12 All-Stars travel to Fort Myers for the state tournament today through Saturday. The team advanced to the state tournament by beating Delaney Park and Windermere by 10-0 scores at the sectional tournament last week.

11-12 softball stars in Fort Myers today

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

The St. Cloud Little League 11-12 All-Stars softball team has blasted its way through the district and sectional tournaments, setting the stage for an appearance at the state tournament at Fort Myers today.
The players are confident that the trip south will be successful.
“We’re naturals,” Kaitley Shirah, who has played softball four seasons, said. “Sure, we can win.”
The team has every reason to expect success considering the way it has arrived at the state tournament.

The All-Stars beat Delaney Park and Windermere by 10-0 scores at the sectional tournament at Clermont last weekend in games shortened to four and five innings, respectively.
“Windermere was the sectional champion last year and the state runner-up, so that was a good win for us,” Manager Ray Whobrey said. “We’ve got a great group of girls. I’ve had them for two years and they work hard at every practice. We put together a travel ball team last fall, the St. Cloud Yellow Jackets, and we won five tournaments. They have seen good competition, so they’re ready.”
St. Cloud advanced from District 3 by beating Conway, the only district opponent, by scores of 17-1 and 17-0.
Whobrey said the team is solid in all areas – hitting, pitching and fielding.
“We have three No. 1 pitchers in Paige Shantz, Lilly Mann and Paige Wright,” Whobrey said. “Each one of them can go out and throw a great game. They work hard on their pitching, and they have great instructors. (Former St. Cloud High standout) Christine Custer and (former Harmony High scholarship winner) Deanna Sphaler work with them, so you can see why they have that ability.”
Catcher Mikeila Bush, one of the team’s top power hitters, said the St. Cloud Stars have talent and experience working for them.
“We’ve been together for quite a few years,” she said.
She has a good explanation for the team’s post-season domination.
“Lots and lots of practice,” she said.
Whobrey said that the players were determined to reach the state tournament after an early exit from the sectional tournament last year.
“They set the goal to go to the state tournament. It was a year in planning to be where we’re at,” he said.
“We’ve probably got a .500 team batting average. We’ve got it all covered. We can hit for average, hit with power, and we’ve got pretty good speed.”
Jaden Kline said if the team sticks to fundamentals, it can succeed at the eight-team state tournament, which begins with round robin play today and Friday.
“We just have to play together, like we’ve been doing,” she said.
Whobrey, whose daughter Samantha earned a scholarship to Northwood University after playing shortstop at Harmony High, said one of the team’s greatest assets is its chemistry.
“These girls get along great together. They enjoy playing with each other and they are a lot of fun to coach,” he said.
The top four teams, two from each division, advance from round robin play at the state tournament and then will play a single-elimination format Saturday to determine the state champion.
The winner goes to Warner Robbins, Ga., next Thursday for the eight-team Southeast Regional. The regional champion will advance to the World Series at Portland, Ore., Aug. 12-18.
Other team members are Taelyn Ramirez, Maddie Urguiola, Kendall Brown, Sara Crawford, Kaitlyn Ruiz and Marlo Whaley.
The coaches are Steve Shantz and Kevin Mann.
Celebration’s 11-12 Baseball All-Stars compete in the sectional tournament at Union Park Friday.