Sutter Buttes takes home minor softball TOC crown
The Sutter Buttes Bandits finished undefeated and took home the District 2 Little League minor softball Tournament of Champions title with a 9-5 victory over the Olivehurst-Linda Legends on Thursday night at Earle Yorton Field in Marysville.
The Bandits finished the season 22-0 and went 210 last year while winning back-to-back TOC titles.
It was also the second straight TOC championship this season for Sutter Buttes, which won the major softball title last weekend with a 10-6 win over Olivehurst-Linda.
Makala Schamanski led the way in Thursday’s victory for the Bandits, going 2 for 3 with a double, triple, two RBI and three runs scored at the plate. She also struck out 11 while tossing a two-hitter to earn the win in the circle.
Reese Sovcek went 2 for 3 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored, Grace Diaz singled and scored twice, and Anna Hernandez added an RBI single and scored once for Sutter Buttes.
The game was tied 5-5 before the Bandits scored four times in the bottom of the fifth to pull away for the victory.
Tiarre Faupula hit a three-run home run, and Mia Cheever singled and scored a run to lead the way for Olivehurst-Linda. Hallie Prather struck out seven batters in a losing effort.
Like in majors, both of O-L’s losses in the doubleelimination tournament came to Sutter Buttes. They finished the tourney with a 4-2 record. INTERMEDIATE BASEBALL
Colusa 14, Westshore 7 Kevin Chavez drove in four runs and scored once, and Colusa’s 50/70 intermediate all-star team opened its tournament with a win over Westshore on Friday night.
Nick Price knocked in a run and scored twice, Sophie Tyler hit an RBI triple and scored once, and Emmanuel Frias singled and scored two runs to help the cause for Colusa, which scored seven runs in the fifth and four times in the sixth to overcome a 7-2 deficit.
Ethan Lay struck out six over 5 ⁄ innings to earn the win and Cole Tyler recorded three strikeouts over the final 1 ⁄ innings to close it out.
Little League introduced the intermediate division in 2010 as a pilot program for 12- and 13-yearolds. It utilizes a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths, opposed to the standard 46-foot pitching distance and 60-foot base paths used in Little League.
It offers players a transition to the 60-foot, 6-inch pitching distance and 90-foot base paths used at all higher levels, from juniors to high school and all the way to the major leagues.
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