Spring Fling - Las Cruces, NM

The LadyCats were in action this past weekend at Maag park in Las Cruces, NM for the Spring Fling tournament.  Excited to get on the diamond, we drew the 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. pool games against Victory and Cruces Pride respectfully.  The pool play started out rough, with the girls struggling to hit the ball well.  Defensively, we looked ready to have a great tourney, just had to get our bats going.  We won the first pool game 4-0 and lost the second pool game 2-1 earning the fifth seed out of 14 teams.  Our first game was against NM Fire 2001 and the girls finally found their sticks and blew up for 13 runs in the 2nd inning, allowing them to win 18-4.  This placed us against the EC Sliders in our next game and the girls continued their dominating defense and continued to utilize their bats winning the game 8-0.  This placed us into our fifth game of the day against Team Crush.  A true defensive battle that resulted in a 3-1 score in favor of Crush, dropping us into the losers bracket for Sunday morning.  Our next game was against NM Rhinos and the girls picked up with great defense and used their sticks well earning a 9-0 win.  With a one game break we then faced El Paso Dynamite and the girls repeated their performance winning 9-0.  Going into the third place game, we were facing Dirty South.  Unable to get a beat on the ball, the girls struggled with their sticks and ended up losing this game 7-0.  The girls had an excellent weekend and played very well defensively and used their bats efficiently.  We look forward to growing as a team and being even better for the next tournament.  Congratulations LadyCats on earning third in this tournament.  Go Cats!

Girls gotta have fun!

Blue Diamond Spring Fling - Round Rock, TX

The LadyCats were in action this past weekend heading to Round Rock to participate in an 18 team tournament.  Expecting warm weather and sunshine, we should have known the cold was going to rear its ugly head.  Saturday morning started out really cold and so did our girls with the pool games not going very well for the Cats.  The bats were pretty silent and knew that we had to wake them up in order to compete.  We then went into bracket play at 11:30 on Saturday and with the sun finally peeking out of the clouds, the girls showed off their defense and hitting skills.  Playing TX Stix 00, the Ladycats were able to get out ahead and stay ahead winning by run rule in the 3rd 11-1.  The second bracket game was at 2:30 and we were facing the SA Tapout 01 and the girls battled tough scoring 4 in the first and 1 in the 3rd, but allowing 5 in the 2nd, we went into ITB. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, the girls did not allow them to score a run and we were able to score on a walk off hit.  The next game was immediately after against Texas Freeze and the girls seemed a little deflated during the game and were not able to keep their sticks going and fell 7-2 putting us into the losers bracket in the morning.  Winning those few games helped tremendously and allowed us to come back for our game at 12:30 on Sunday against Pumas.  The girls once again came out firing scoring runs and held them off 7-4 winning on a crazy spectacular play consisting of getting two girls out at second base.  Our next game was immediately after against SA Tapout yet again.  This was another scrappy game going back and forth, ending up tied in the 4th with one more inning to play.  Unfortunately this time we were the visiting team and were unable to score any runs leaving the door open for the other team who scored with a walkoff hit.  The girls played exceptional and were able to take 4th place out of this amazing group of 18 teams.  We still have lots to work on and areas we need to sustain and are looking forward to traveling to Tucson in two weeks for the Pitch for the Cure tournament.  Great job parents and ladies in being committed to this great organization and hope for many more successes as we move forward.  Go Cats!

USSSA Classic - Phoenix, AZ

Started off the season with a single elimination tournament in Phoenix, AZ this past weekend.  The girls all arrived late Friday evening and were ready to play Saturday.  The first pool game was played at 2:00 p.m. against Arizona Storm - Mizuno.  The defense was awesome on both sides of the ball for three innings and in the fourth, the Cats committed too many errors and allowed 5 runs.  Coming out trying to battle back, the girls put up 2 runs of their own, but time ran out and we lost 8-2.  The second game was immediately following against Worth Thundercats whom we have played before in Las Cruces.  The girls this time put together a complete defensive game and were able to score runs utilizing the short and long game, pulling the victory out 5-1, only allowing the Thundercats first batter to score in the 1st.  The third pool game was against Pride at 6:30 p.m., but started a little late.  The girls came out and battled and even though they had their fair share of errors, were leading going into the last inning of play 4-2.  Unfortunately, a few errors later, the Pride were able to pull out the victory 5-4.  We still received the 2nd seed from our pool and were scheduled to play the Saints 12U from Minnesota.  The girls came out swinging at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday and played a great game.  The game finished 14-5 and we moved on to the next game at 12:30 against the AZ Cats 00.  The AZ Cats utilized their bats and earned many runs and our girls struggled with the opposing pitcher resulting in a loss 12-0.  The girls and coaches garnered much information about the things that we need to work on moving on throughout this season.  We are ready to tackle the challenge and continue to increase our playing ability.  Thank you to the parents and coaches that made the trip and showed their continued support for the sport we all love to watch and play.  Go LadyCats!

5th Annual Turkey Shoot-Out - Seguin, TX

This weekend, the LadyCats traveled to Seguin, TX eight hours away to take part in an 18 team tournament at the Fields at Huber Ranch.  The ladies had been working hard at practice getting ready for this and were looking forward to the competition and they did not disappoint in Central Texas.  The tournament format was a little different from what we experience in ASA and USSSA in that brackets are drawn by selecting random numbers as you check in so pool play is your warm up and does not count for seedings.  Our first of two pool games was against Centex Buzz-Green.  The girls came out ready to play and took the game 7-3.  Our second pool game was against the Austin Storm and we were unable to string together any hits and lost 0-12.  Our first bracket game was held at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Border Bunch.  The girls played excellent and were able to win the game 4-1.  The next game was at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning against Vengeance.  We came to play but 3 unearned runs cost us the game and we lost 4-5.  This placed us in the loser's bracket earlier than we had hoped, but we still had faith.  Our next game after a one game break was against Adrenaline which we won 9-2 with great defense and pitching.  Again earning a one game break we matched up with Texas Cougars and pulled the win out 5-2.  Now came the fun part, there were no more breaks.  We then played SA Hitt and battled back and forth.  This was a great game that came down to the last inning 6-5, Cats win.  Our third straight game was against Texas Bobcats and the girls showed their fatigue on the field.  After a good first inning it was 2-2, but the girls let it get away with 4 runs in the second and we ended up losing 2-6.  The LadyCats came in fourth and had a great showing in a field of tough teams.  A lot of close games that the girls were able to win shows their resilience.  Last up for this calendar year is the Icebreaker in Las Cruces, NM.  Go LadyCats!

Monster Ball - Las Cruces, NM

Sorry for the long break from posting, but we are back up and running.  The girls played in the Monster Ball Tournament up in Las Cruces this past weekend.  A field of 13 teams were set to compete for this tournament and our girls were ready to play some competitive ball.  We began Friday night with a game against NM Fire 1999 and the girls were able to come out with the win 7-4 with a great first inning of hitting that scored those 7 runs.  Moving onto Saturday we went into our next pool game against Albuquerque Toxic where the girls scored well and played great defense with a 15-0 score.  This set us up for our next game versus Dynamite.  The girls battled, but too many errors allowed Dynamite to win 4-7.  This set us up for bracket play with our first game against Albuquerque Venom at 8 p.m.  Due to some unforeseen circumstances, this game was not played until about 9:30 p.m. and the girls couldn't wake up the bats or themselves and fell 5-3.  Starting off in the losers bracket was not the intention, but the girls knew they had to battle back.  The next game was against the Las Cruces Heat where the girls woke up the bats and themselves and won 12-4.  Being in the loser's bracket, our next game was immediately after against El Paso SWAT.  Pitching and defense were outstanding and we were able to pull out the victory 11-5.  This gave us a game break and we learned we would be playing the Worth Thundercats from Arizona.  The game started out really well with the score being 3-2 after the second, but the Thundercats hit very well and was able to put up 8 on us in the third securing the game 11-2.  The girls are ready to put in more time and effort into becoming better ballplayers in order to do even better next time.  We are going to hit the practice field and get ready for our next tournament, the 5th Annual Turkey Shootout in Seguin, TX. Go CATS!

USSSA World Series - West Covina, CA

The El Paso Ladycats took off to California on July 28th to play in the World Series.  The girls prepared hard and were ready to play some softball.  Our first three pool games truly tested our girls and served as a wake up call.  The first two games were losses 8-0 and 6-1 against So Cal Primetime and American Athletics.  The last pool game was a nail biter which the girls pulled out 9-8 against Redland Reds.  This seeded us 4th in our pool and set us up in bracket against So Cal Swagger which the girls showed resilience again and pulled out the win 8-6.  Our next game was against So Cal Choppers-Black and our bats never woke up and we lost 14-0.  Going down into the losers bracket we knew the road would be long and our next game was against So Cal Dreams which the girls won 13-10.  Our next game was against the Titans.  This game was rough as we led going into the last at bat by the Titans 4-2.  They manufactured four runs and the game ended with the Titans pulling out the victory 6-4.  The girls had a blast and were able to see some competition outside of the West Texas area making them more all around players.  The girls were awarded with the sportsmanship award for the 10U division.  Great job girls, coaches, and family on getting these girls to California and we are looking forward to the next half of the season.  Go LadyCats!

The Big Event - Las Cruces, NM

So after only a few days off, the girls were back at it again in Las Cruces for another 10 game guarantee.  With soaring temperatures of over 100 degrees all weekend, the girls began with 7 pool games.  Starting on Thursday, the girls played well going 3-0.  On Friday, we were scheduled for pool games and at least one bracket game.  To close out the pool games the girls went 3-0-1, with the tie being a coaching decision between us and the Sliders to get the girls out of the heat for a little bit due to the extreme temperatures.  Our first bracket game was against Q.O.D. which the girls took care of business winning 13-0.  The second bracket game was against Lady Legends, which the girls came out on top 9-1.  We then faced the AZ Power and struggled for a couple of innings until small ball came through and we ended up winning 13-6.  Next up on Sunday was the semi-final against Dynamite, which the girls lost 4-1.  Placing ourselves in the loser's bracket we knew we had a long road back and ended up losing our next game 7-4 against the Sliders.  With the hot temperatures and the many games that we played in the last two weekends, the girls did well.  We ended up 3rd in a group of 16 teams, with a record of 8-2-1.  We are proud of our girls and coaches and are looking forward to the USSSA World Series in West Covina, CA.  We presented our 3rd place trophy to Ajae for being our inspiration throughout this weekend and in life.  She will always be #1 in our hearts as she recuperates and gets stronger with each passing day.

Trophy presented to Ajae (center)