FOUR LOCALS HEADED TO ALL-STAR GAME
Four Lodi area high school softball players will have the honors of representing their schools in the Capital City on Wednesday.
One senior each from Galt and Liberty Ranch, plus two from Elliot Christian, will be part of the South Small Schools team taking part in the 40th-annual Optimist High School Softball All-Star Game. The game will be played at Capital Christian High in Sacramento.
Representing Galt will be first baseman/pitcher Samantha Martinez, and for Liberty Ranch is pitcher/first baseman Celina Maberto. Joining them are Elliot Christian third baseman/first baseman Tabitha Lang and pitcher/third baseman/first baseman Grace Robles.
At the plate, Martinez batted .457 with 33 RBIs and six doubles for the Warriors, who posted an 8-14 overall record. She also had a .985 fielding percentage. In the circle, Martinez was 3-7 with 75 strikeouts.
Maberto batted .273 with 9 RBIs. At first base, she had a fielding percentage of .955. She helped Liberty Ranch win an outright SVC title and host a first round SacJoaquin Section Division IV playoff game. The Hawks finished with a 20-3-1 record.
Martinez and Maberto will be South teammates with one of their SVC rivals in Union Mine. Pitcher/first baseman/third baseman Bethany Hammer, who will be attending and playing at the University of the Pacific on a scholarship, and catcher Mikaela Ball will represent the Diamondbacks.
Coming back from a knee injury last season, Lang had a .469 batting average this spring. Adding to that list was 36 RBIs, plus eight doubles and two home runs. At third base, Lang had a .795 fielding percentage.
Robles joined Lang in having a big bat for Elliot, which went 12-9-1 this season. She batted .442 with 28 RBIs, plus six triples and four doubles. At first base, she had a .928 fielding percentage. Getting some time in the circle, Robles posted a 2-1 record with 24 strikeouts.
The rest of the South squad consists of players from Capital Christian, Golden Sierra of Garden Valley, Rio Vista, Sacramento High, Vacaville Christian and West Campus of Sacramento.
Capital Christian coach Carissa Lombardi, and her assistant coaches will handle the South squad. The North will be coached by Wheatland’s Jim Vossler and his assistant coach Bob Gilbertson.
In addition to the small schools game, there will also be a large school game played at Capital, which has two softball fields on its campus.
Game time for the small school all-star game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The large school game will start at 6:30 p.m.
Admission for the game is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 and over, $5 for students and $3 for children 12 and under.