Sparx end record run with 4th-place finish

The Sparx, a 12-and-Under All-Star team out of South Huntington Beach Girls Fastpitch softball, earned a fourth-place finish at the Western National Championships tournament in Midland, Texas last weekend.

The placement at the tournament was the highest achieved by a 12-and-Under team from South Huntington Beach.

“There was a certain ‘positive synergy’ the team exhibited early on, a synergy a coach recognizes and builds upon,” Sparx Coach Mike Hecht said.

A season that began in May saw the Sparx finish in third place in the Central District California Tournament, place in the top eight — 26 teams competed — at the Southern California State Tournament and finish fourth out of the 46 teams that competed at the Western National Championships.

The Sparx were part of a 12-and-Under All-Star tournament field that included teams from California, Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

The Sparx opened with pool play wins against Belmont, 8-0, and McLoud, Okla., 6-1. By finishing in first place in their pool, the Sparx began double-elimination play with a 10-0 mercy-rule shutout of the San Antonio Cougars of Texas. Pitchers Allyson Hecht and Alex Bauer combined on the shutout and the offense received key hits from Kelynn Mullally, Rachel Vitali and Katie Shinrock.

A loss to West Garden Grove sent the Sparx into the loser’s bracket, where the team responded with a 17-0 mercy-rule whipping of the Inferno of Carlsbad, N.M. Chelsea Roy recorded the pitching win.

On offense, Nicole Zapotoczny doubled, Roy collected three runs batted in and Stephanie Coyne, Jordan Herman and Mercedes O’Connor also had big hits.

The Sparx were more than productive in their next outing, too, a 15-0 rout of XS-NRG from Texas in another mercy-rule triumph. Mullally drove in five runs to lead an offense that received contributions from throughout the line-up.

Victory No. 6 came at the expense of Peninsula of San Diego, whom the Sparx defeated, 9-3. The winning streak reached four games and the team stayed in title contention following a 5-0 shutout of San Carlos Force of California. Key defensive plays, hits and base running in the two wins came from Maddy Hickman, Victoria Galasso, Coyne and Herman.

In the quarterfinal round of the tournament, the Sparx met up again with West Garden Grove, the only team to hand them a defeat. A determined Sparx squad came up big as outstanding defensive plays by Hickman, Mullally, Hecht, Coco Zapotoczny and a rally-ending double play in the eighth inning by Bauer and Vitali proved to be key plays in a 3-2 Sparx win. Bauer and Zapotoczny also delivered key hits and Roy notched the win.

In the semifinal round, the Sparx rallied late to pull within a run to tie Laguna Niguel, but ended up falling in extra innings, 8-7.

Laguna Niguel began to pull away from a tight game by taking a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning. But in the seventh, the Sparx rallied behind doubles by Mullally, Vitali and Galasso to score three runs and tie the score.

In 43 games played since the middle of May, the Sparx posted a record of 35-7-1.

“A lot of these girls have been playing together since they were 6- and 7-years old,” Mike Hecht said. “They have accomplished much more than their goal of getting better with every game, they have shown exceptional team spirit and have built friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

“It has been a pleasure coaching this great group of girls and I am very proud of their success.”

The South Huntington Beach Sparx 12-and-Under All-Star team is: Alex Bauer, Stephanie Coyne, Victoria Galasso, Maddy Hickman, Allyson Hecht, Jordan Herman, Avery Ingram, Kelynn Mullally, Mercedes O’Connor, Chelsea Roy, Katie Shinrock, Rachel Vitali, Nicole Zapotoczny, head coach Michael Hecht and coaches Keith Mullally, Mike Coyne, Joe Zapotoczny and Bob Vitali.