Softball team takes tourney
On Sunday morning, the I.V. Elite 12 and under softball team was facing a win-or-go-home situation in the second day of the Triple Crown Sports Harbor Havoc Tournament. The team opened tourney play on Saturday and finished with a 1-1-1 record after falling to the Sun Devils 5-4, tying the Firecrackers 2-2 and defeating AZ Force 10-2.
The team also took on three challengers in the second day of the San Diego-area tourney and worked to come away with three wins to capture the 12 Open Division championship trophy.
“Last year at this same tourney we made it to the semis and lost, so this year I was expecting us to do a little better,” said Coach Ernie Espinoza.
In the first elimination game I.V. Elite defeated California Loyals 6-0 to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, the group faced a fellow-Imperial Valley team in I.V. Fogball and worked to come out with a 7-1 win to push them into the final.
Espinoza said advancing to the final was an important milestone for his team as it had just missed reaching the championship game in a few of its prior tournaments.
This time around, the squad maintained its offensive prowess and defeated San Diego Sharks 9-0 for the first-place trophy.
“We had made it to the semifinals and won a few of those before, and we’d also had a few championships -game losses, so it was great to finally see them move passed that to win,” Espinoza said.
Espinoza has overseen the team for about four years and said a majority of the girls that first formed the team in the fall of 2013 are still with him today.
“Yes, they have great chemistry,” Espinoza said. “There is no fighting among them. They treat each other very well and they’ve just been together so long. They see each other four times per week and spend whole weekends together. “
The team is made up of players from Imperial, El Centro, Westmorland, Brawley and even Yuma, with all players beginning the eighth grade this month.
The team has another tourney in October and Espinoza said he is looking forward to seeing what the girls can do in that tourney.
“A lot of the girls, we’ve had them all four years, so it was great to finally see them get that win,” he said. “They really wanted it and now they know what it takes to finish, so this might be the beginning of something bigger.”
The coach thanked the players’ parents and numerous community members that helped the team raise funds to be able to travel to various tourneys.
“We travel and practice all year and take breaks in between, so it’s great to have committed parents,” he said.