E1 Prospects win it all in Far West tourney
IMPERIAL — After failing to make it anywhere near the championship game in the annual USSSA Far West National Championship tournament last year, the Imperial-based E1 Prospects 16-and-under softball team was determined to make their mark when competing in the tournament again this year.
A new focus on team conditioning and training prior to this year’s tournament, which was held July 16 to July 22 in Chino Hills, helped the squad finish with an overall record of 6-1 and bring home the national trophy.
“It was shocking to know we did that, because from the last time we went, we did terrible,” E1 Prospects pitcher McKenzie Gray, 17, said. “So this time we kind of were like, ‘We worked hard, let’s see if we can make a change from last year’ and we did. It was a good experience.”
In the tournament, the Prospects faced seven other teams, which hailed from throughout Southern California and Colorado.
The Prospects began the tournament with a tough start, as they suffered a 7-0 loss in their first game against the SoCal Ruthless of Fontana.
“I think the mindset was that we had to do it as a team, and we just had to pull through,” E1 Prospects catcher Jasmine Sandez, 17, said. “We didn’t just do all this hard work, plus months of training, to lose like that.”
The local squad learned well from their loss, as they would face Ruthless again in the championship game and beat them, 9-3.
“When the first game happened, we lost because we were just nervous that day,” Gray said. “Honestly, it helped us because we knew what we saw out there. and we knew we just had to work harder for it.”
E1 Prospects head coach Mark Gray described his team’s resilient performance to be inspirational.
“Their mindset was so positive,” Coach Gray said. “They worked and worked for this, so that loss, it was very inspirational to us as coaches, because they didn’t get down at all.”
Coach Gray believed his team’s strong performance was a result of the team conditioning prior to the tournament.
“In 110-degree weather, our defensive girls, pitchers and catchers ran between a mile and half and two miles every day,” the head coach said. “We knew that we were the best-trained team there. We knew no other team had worked nearly as hard as we did. Although it was nerve-wracking, they knew they could still fall back on their training, fall back on their conditioning and get the job done.”
Pitching for the Prospects throughout the tournament were McKenzie Gray and teammate Melody Cardoza
“I can tell you our pitching was stellar,” Coach Gray said. “They both just did an outstanding job, by them controlling the other teams’ offense, it gave our defense that much more confidence.”
With the help of McKenzie and Cardoza, the team was able to tally two shut-out victories in the tournament and win the championship game by a score of 9-3.
McKenzie said she felt no added pressure when pitching against teams from Southern California and Colorado in the tournament.
“I didn’t really see them as they were from another state. It was just as another team,” the 17-year-old pitcher said. “Obviously they were really good teams, but we’re glad to know that Imperial, a little tiny city, actually pulled through.”
To best of Coach Gray’s knowledge, the Prospects are the only Valley team to have won the Far West Championship.
“We’re such a small area, and we’re so disconnected from these bigger cities, so we kind of get overlooked,” Coach Gray said. “But we’re not going to get overlooked now, and the girls realize that.” 2018 E1 Prospects