Ample Power too much for Two Guys in Minor tournament

GLENDALE — Throughout the regular season, the Crescenta Valley Ample Power and Foothill Two Guys Minor softball teams participated in some close head-to-head matchups.

Entering Thursday’s elimination game in the Knockout Tournament, it appeared as though that would be the case again with an opportunity to advance to the tournament’s championship contest at stake.

Behind a big effort at the plate by Kaitlyn Dunford, Ample Power registered a 13-10 victory against Two Guys at Scholl Canyon Ball Fields. The game was called after four innings because of the tournament-imposed 1 hour, 40-minute time limit.

Ample Power will face Crescenta Valley Muir-Chase or Jewel City/Jewish War Veterans in the title contest at 1 p.m. Sunday at the same venue.

Dunford had a run-scoring triple in the first and scored two runs to propel Ample Power, which opened the tournament Sunday with an 8-5 victory against Crescenta Valley Tuffys. Her triple gave Ample Power a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning on Thursday.

“I really didn’t get a good swing and I thought it would just be a double,” said Dunford, who would then score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. “I didn’t swing the whole way, but we were able to get the run.

“It’s feels good to play in the championship game. I’m excited.”

Ample Power broke a 2-2 deadlock with five runs in the second to make it 7-2.

Ample Power Manager Brett Ramaker said his team wanted to get off to a good start against a familiar opponent.

“They have a good team and it always makes for a good game because the teams were pretty even during the regular season,” said Ramaker, whose team finished with eight hits and scored at least two runs in each inning. “You try to come out right away and get things started.

“You do that with disciplined hitters and we’ve got a lot of them. They know exactly what they need to do.”

Two Guys, which began the tournament with a 10-1 win against Crescenta Valley San Fiilippo on Sunday at Scholl, scored twice in its half of the first on an error and wild pitch.

Ample Power scored three runs on bases-loaded walks to grab a 5-2 lead in the second. Brittany Ramaker made it 6-2 with a run-scoring grounder before Josephine Becerril capped the scoring with an RBI single.

“That was big to get the lead back,” Brett Ramaker said.

Ample Power scored two runs on fielding errors to make it 9-2 in the third.

Two Guys sliced the deficit to 9-5 with three runs in the third. Each run came by way of a bases-loaded walk. Ample Power then pushed across four runs in the fourth to pad its lead to 13-5. Crescenta Valley scored two runs on wild pitches, another on a bases-loaded walk and the final run coming on a groundout.

Foothill wrapped up the scoring with five runs in the fourth.

Two Guys Manager Sonia Jerez said her team showed marked progress throughout the season.

“They learned how to catch the ball and did a better job hitting,” Jerez said. “We stayed with it the whole way through and were pretty competitive.

“They played hard today and came up just a little short.”