Triple Crown win for Riptide

The Newport Beach Riptide Gold, a fastpitch travel softball team,

outscored its six foes, 15-0, to win the under-18 division in the

Triple Crown Newport Beach Classic completed Sunday.

The Riptide advanced to the Triple Crown World Series in Park

City, Utah, and the Eastern Nationals in South Carolina by winning

the tournament, which featured 42 teams.

The Riptide (50-17-4), who won the Western Nationals tournament in

January, scored a run in the first inning and held on to defeat the

California Raiders from Moreno Valley, 1-0, in the title game. Dani

Brown drove in the game’s only run while Rachel Reekstin and Kelsey

Ferguson combined in the circle to shut out the Raiders. Heather

Lohrman (Corona del Mar High), Sasha Grumman and Julianne Bass --

both Newport Harbor students -- provided strong defense.

Lohrman made a catch in left field and doubled up the tagging

runner attempting to score in the third inning of a 1-0 semifinal

victory against the San Jose Extreme Gold. The game was 0-0 heading

into the last inning when the speed of Pendleton, Beazley and

Erickson combined to squeeze in the winning run.

Reekstin and Ferguson each tossed two shutouts throughout the

tournament while Jessica Alvarez struck out 10 in a three-hit shutout

in Riptide’s 2-0 victory over the Riverside Rookies in the opener.

Kristin Nicholas and Alvarez each had two hits and one RBI against

the Rookies.

Cory Pendleton, Katie Beazley and Katy Erickson each supplied

offense in a 1-0 Riptide victory over Redrum Gold from Huntington

Beach. Grumman, Alanna Snedigar and Nicholas provided sound defense.

The Riptide won their pool and sent the Wildfire, from Temecula, to

an 8-0 mercy loss behind the pitching of Reekstin, who tallied her

second shutout of them during the tournament with a five-strikeout,

one-hit performance. Beazley hit a three-run home run to left field.

Jessica Hudgins helped the offense in Riptide’s 2-0 victory over

the Wildfire in the prior tournament game.