The Big Event - Las Cruces, NM

A few days after the 10 game guarantee in Lubbock, we headed out to Las Cruces, NM to play in the 8 game guarantee, The Big Event.  This event was a 10 game guarantee last year, but the Tournament Director did not disappoint by making the games longer so that the girls would experience longer and better games.  Yet, nobody expected the heat that these ladies and parents experienced over the four days.  With temperatures reaching triple digits each day, we had to try everything to keep these girls cool and ready for their games.  Pool play started on Thursday with 3 games against Lookouts, NM Fire 2001, and Las Cruces Wolfpack.  The girls battled hard and were able to come away with the victories 9-2, 12-0 and 11-2.  Going 3-0 on Saturday, the girls were ready to keep their momentum on Sunday and they did.  Facing Diamond Ice, NM Rukus, and Rhinos they were able to continue scoring runs with scores of 9-1, 12-0 and 12-3.  The ladies did just enough in the pool games to earn the #1 seed out of the pool.  Going into bracket play our first game was Saturday at 9:45 a.m. against the Diablos and the girls sticks showed themselves again and they were able to earn the win 12-0.  This placed us against the Las Cruces Heat in the next game and the girls did amazing again winning 11-0.  The next game in bracket was against the Cruces Pride and this one tested our girls a little bit.  Going into the fourth inning the score was still 0-0.  Pride scored 1st with 1 run in the top of the 4th, but our girls answered back with 3 more of their own and continued on to win 7-1 in 6 innings.  This placed us up against the EC Sliderz in the semi-final game.  As is the case every time we face each other it is always a spectacular game.  This game went the full 7 innings and the girls played well in the heat, but were unable to come up with the win with a score of 2-3, we were down in the losers bracket.  This would not phase our girls as they just knew they had to battle back.  The next game was against the Dynamite and our girls showed that they were ready to battle for the championship with a 10-0 win where defense was crucial and our sticks capitalized on opportunities.  Facing the EC Sliderz again, the girls were ready for some great games and parents and ladies were not disappointed.  Our girls had learned to start out ahead and stay ahead and they did so in the top of the 2nd and never lost the lead winning 6-2.  After a small break, the "IF" game was played.  The girls battled tough, but errors leading to 5 runs in the first two innings were insurmountable.  The Cats tried to come back, but the final score was 4-7 for a second place finish.  This amazing group of young ladies battled hard all weekend long for a final record of 11-2, with our 2 losses being a difference of 4 runs.  In 7 bracket games, the girls were able to have the 'run rule' enforced on 4 of these games.  These ladies have come a long way and we are very happy to be headed to San Diego next week to see what the girls are capable of in a much larger field of teams.  Let's get ready ladies and let's have fun.  GO CATS!!!!

Goliath - Lubbock, TX

 

The LadyCats were in action from 19 June through 22 June in Lubbock, Texas for a 33 team tournament and a 10 game guarantee.  The first day of pool action the girls were ready for 5 pool games, with the second day containing 3 pool games.  The first of these pool games was against Blu By U from Arkansas.  The beginning of this game looked very bright with our girls putting up 5 runs with two outs on the board.  Going into the bottom of the 1st with a 5 run lead our girls were able to maintain the lead but only after giving up 4 runs.  Blu By U scored 3 more runs in the 2nd and were able to pull out the victory 7-5, but the girls knew that this game would not define their tournament and bounced back in the next game against Shockwave and were able to win with a score of 11-1.  Continuing our momentum the girls then won the next 6 pool games, some close and others not.  The Cats posted a 7-1 record allowing 12 runs and scoring 54.  The ladies were done about 3 pm and awaited the bracket posting by letting off some steam at 50th Street Caboose and hanging around at the hotel.  The bracket was posted and our girls were focused with Divas 2000 Plus being our first game on Saturday.  The girls came out and battled, but the Divas were not going to go down easily and took our LadyCats to ITB.  We were the visiting team and we were able to manufacture a run in our at bats.  The Divas were not able to match that run with excellent pitching and defense and our girls won 5-4.  Our next game was set to be against TTA 01.  Yet another battle back and forth with lots of hits and runs for both teams, yet our girls stayed resilient and showed their toughness pulling out the victory 10-7.  The next bracket game was against the Dirty South.  Our girls went out and played excellent for 3 innings of ball.  The score after 3 was Dirty South up 4-3.  Being the home team we knew we were in striking distance, but the 4th inning proved extremely tough for our young ladies and Dirty South put up 10 runs and in our at bat we were only able to manufacture 1 for a final score of 14-4.  Being in the losers bracket, we knew we had our battles upcoming because every team wanted to make it to Sunday.  With a scheduled game of 9:30 pm and with the Dirty South game ending at 9:30, our girls had no rest while the Chaos team was able to take a bit of a breather after their last game and our girls didn't miss a beat coming back out.  Chaos proved to be a formidable team especially after their 2 run over the fence homerun, but our girls stayed motivated and pulled out the victory 5-4.  We had reached our first goal of making it to Sunday because the way the tournament was designed there would only be 4 teams returning on Sunday.  The girls went to their beds knowing that they had an early morning ahead of them.  At 8 am the girls came back to the fields to play ball with Lubbock Shock.  We had seen this team twice before and we had split our meetings.  The girls battled, but in the end the Lubbock Shock pulled out the victory 8-6 to send us back home with a 4th place showing.  Our girls battled through the crazy wind and the weather delays that we encountered in Lubbock to play 13 games and finish 10-3.  Our girls went home with bumps and bruises and even a broken bat, but the LadyCats played well most of the tournament and showed that we are capable of doing even better.  We are now preparing for The Big Event in Las Cruces, NM next weekend.  Let's go get it ladies, you set your own goals and let's do everything to make those goals a reality.  Go LadyCats!

USSSA Coastal Classic - Corpus Christi, TX

Thank you Richard Ocanas for a great tournament!

Our little ladies were ready to head to Corpus Christi to face a field of 23 teams, none of which we had ever faced before so we were looking forward to the opportunity to do what we know how to do and that is to play ball.  After opening ceremonies and some pin trading on Thursday evening at the NPF game between the Akron Racers and the USSSA Pride, our games started the next morning.  With all three of our pool games scheduled on Friday, this tournament is unlike others that we normally play in, in which pool play does not seed you for bracket.  The first pool game was against the Pasadena Angels and our girls struggled with their bats losing 6-1.  The next game was after a game break where the girls were able to get their minds into the right place, they battled back and fought hard earning a 5-4 win off of a walk-off hit against Corpus Christi Panthers.  Our next game was against Corpus Christi Boom and our girls finally displayed the talent that we all know they have earning the win, 12-0.  Our first bracket game was scheduled for Saturday at 9:45 am against the Pride '01.  A great battle between these two teams and our girls were able to secure the lead and take the game with 7 runs in the final inning for a final of 9-1.  After a game break, our girls were ready to battle it out with Fully Loaded.  A true defensive/pitching battle that featured 3 unearned runs between the two teams, ending the game with a 2-1 score in favor of Fully Loaded.  Dropping to the losers bracket was not what the coaches or girls anticipated, but we knew we had to battle back.  After a game break the girls were focused and came back winning 12-2 against Pink Noize.  Our next game was at 8:00 am on Sunday and the girls showed that they were ready by winning the game 11-5 against RGV Thunder White.  With another one game break we prepared to face off against Stingers Yellow and the girls kept their sticks alive with a 14-6 win.  From then on out there were no more game breaks to be had and our next game was against Centex Edge.  Yet again, the errors were not able to be surpassed by our hitting allowing the Edge to secure the win 5-3.  Our ladies will continue to learn and become better as they deal with adversity.  These young ladies finished in 7th out of 23 teams and will now prepare for the Goliath tournament in Lubbock, TX.  Our summer season has just begun and these young ladies will grow significantly over this schedule.  Go LadyCats!!!

Queen of the Mountain - Ruidoso, NM

The LadyCats were ready to play after a week off and we headed to Ruidoso, NM to battle it out in a field of 24 teams.  The girls started off strong in pool play winning their first two games against the 06 Cowgirls and Victory Fastpitch 5-0 and 8-1 respectively.  This allowed us to earn the 1 seed out of our pool giving us a first round bye.  Our first game on Saturday was against the EC Sliders.  The girls came out sluggish giving up too many errors in the first couple of innings and not being able to string together any hits, late rallies only did so much, earning ourselves a 7-5 loss, placing us into the losers bracket right off the bat.  Our next game was against the Rams of El Paso and the ladies were able to show their sticks again winning 10-3.  The next bracket game was late at 9:45 pm and the girls showed that they were not fatigued winning the game 16-0 against the Rhinos.  After ending around 11 pm the girls had to return for the 8 am game against the 06 Cowgirls and were able to pull out the victory with great defense and pitching along with some timely hitting 3-1.  With a one game break our next game was against the Lubbock Shock.  This was a battle for the girls as they tried to come back but yet again as was the case with our first bracket game, too many errors and not enough hits came together and we lost 6-5.  A highlight of our Lubbock Shock game was for Toni Gonzalez who was able to hit her first out of the park homerun. The girls finished in 7th place in the end.  The ladies will get back to work to prepare for our trip to Corpus Christi in a few days for the USSSA Coastal Classic.  We will continue to grow as a team and to try to improve our standings.  Go LadyCats!

Memorial Day Tournament - El Paso, TX

The ladies were ready to get back out onto the ballfield and continue to improve themselves physically and mentally and were able to achieve this.  The tournament started out with the girls facing the Texas Twister Classics.  The girls started off very strong and utilizing their offensive and defensive skills were able to earn the win 14-1.  The very next game was against the Las Cruces Heat and the girls showed off their sticks again winning 10-5.  The last pool game was against the Lady Lookouts and the girls played excellent winning 10-0.  Playing so well in pool play earned our ladies the number 1 seed heading into bracket play.  Our first bracket game was against the Lady Lookouts and the girls played excellent pulling off the victory 7-0.  The next game was against the Las Cruces Heat and the girls continued to show off everything that they have learned through practices and games and were able to pull off the 1-6-3 double play to end an inning during the game and pulling out the victory 6-1 placing themselves in the championship game.  The game was against Las Cruces Heat yet again and the girls played even better and were able to win the game 9-1 in the 5th inning.  The ladies played excellent battling the dust and heat definitely playing to the level that we know these ladies are capable of.  We are all very proud of our LadyCats and we know that they will continue to strive to get better.  Our next tournament will be the Queen of the Mountain in Ruidoso, NM.  Go LadyCats!

Cats Having Fun

Cinco De Mayo - El Paso, TX

The LadyCats participated in the Cinco de Mayo tournament in El Paso, TX starting this past Friday, the 3rd of May.  Starting off with 3 pool games that evening, the LadyCats started out slow against the Lady Blazers and were able to pull off the come from behind win, winning 4-3 within the last few minutes of the game.  Our second game was against Texas Twisters Classic and the girls came out swinging with great defense winning 10-2.  The third game was against the HotShots and the girls played an excellent game pulling out the victory 15-0.  Our fourth pool game was set to be played at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday against the NM Fire 2000.  This was a great battle between two teams that would be a battle all weekend.  The girls played excellent winning 3-1 earning the number 1 seed going into bracket play.  This placed us into an 8:30 p.m. game Saturday evening against the Texas Twisters Classic.  The girls came out striking the ball well and playing excellent defense winning the game 15-0.  This set us up for a noon game on Sunday which we found out later would be against NM Fire 2000.  The girls played excellent and worked hard, earning the win 3-2 in five innings of play.  Going into the championship game at 3:30 p.m. we awaited to find out who our opponent would be and it turned out to be the NM Fire 2000.  A great battle that lasted the full five innings yet again turned into a great win for our LadyCats with a final score of 3-0.  A 1st place finish for this great team is only going to allow us to carry the momentum forward into our upcoming schedule.  Great job LadyCats and looking forward to seeing you progress into even better ballplayers through the summer.  

Our great group of girls!  We are so proud of all that they do!