The Antelope Valley 19-and-under All-Star team last weekend reached its first Big League Softball World Series final in a decade, only to fall to East Monroe, La., 9-1, in Roxana, Del.
The one bright spot of the game was Highland’s Nicolle Sierra who broke up a no-hitter in the seventh inning. East Monroe’s Lacey Hill settled for a one-hitter.
“It was definitely important for us to still fight to the end,” Sierra said. “We never ‘mentally’ left the game … that’s like giving up. We fought to the end and held our heads high. It was great to get that first hit; I didn’t realize it until I got back to the dugout and it was like ‘Wow, I broke up a no-hitter.’”
Lancaster’s Alyssa Tami, who stole three bases and scored twice in Saturday’s 3-2 semifinal win over Millsboro, Del., replaced Sierra as a pinch runner and scored when Quartz Hill’s Briana Garrett hit a two-out double to right to deny the shutout.
“It was very important for us to score,” Garret said. “We didn’t want to give them the shutout, and we weren’t going to stop fighting.”
Tami, the youngest member of coach Steve Sandberg’s roster, led the team in the tournament with five stolen bases and five runs. She helped Antelope Valley (8-2) avoid being shutout in the World Series final for a second time, following a 3-0 loss in 2000 to Kalamazoo, Mich.
Rosamond High graduate McKenzie Draper threw 115 pitches in a complete-game effort on Saturday, allowing only four runs, four hits and three walks in two and two-thirds innings. All total, Draper and Lancaster High graduate Rachael Furman, pitched 29 and one-third innings with 23 strikeouts during the tournament.
