Softball: Not all the “winners” were completely clear-cut
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Ayala and Pembroke Pines (Fla.) emerged from their respective pools of three teams by going 2-0 to advance to the semifinals today/Saturday at the Nike Faster to First softball tournament at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex.
And Sacramento Sheldon has gone 3-0 in its quarter of the bracket, which is set up like a conventional tournament.
But it wasn’t nearly so clear-cut to determine the fourth semifinalist, which also emerged from pool play that bridged the first and fourth rounds. All three teams went 1-1.
El Modena beat El Toro, 4-1; El Toro beat Valencia, 1-0; and Valencia beat El Modena, 8-7. El Modena is the fourth semifinalist by virtue of run differential in the tie-breaker.
The semifinals for the 26-team tournament begin at 1 p.m. The championship game is at 7:15.
Here’s the schedule:
Championship semifinals
Ayala (6-2-1) vs. Sacramento Sheldon (5-1), 1 p.m.
Pembroke Pines (Fla.) (14-0) vs. El Modena (5-4-1), 1 p.m.
Fifth-place semifinals
Belmont Notre Dame vs. Valencia, 3 p.m.
Corona Santiago vs. Anaheim Canyon, 3 p.m.
5th and 7th place games at 7 p.m.
Ninth-place semifinals
Long Beach Wilson vs. El Toro, 1 p.m.
Sparks (Nev.) Spanish Springs vs. Norco, 11 a.m.
9th and 11th place games at 5 p.m.
Consolation semifinals
Vista Murrieta vs. La Palma Kennedy, 11 a.m.
Phoenix St. Mary’s vs. Camarillo, 11 a.m.
Consolation championship and 15th place game at 5 p.m.
Consolation games
Sierra Vista (Ariz.) vs. Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial, 9 a.m.
Garden Grove Pacifica vs. Phoenix Sunnyslope, 9 a.m.
Winners play at 3 p.m., losers play at 3 p.m.
Other consolation games
Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral vs. Hollister San Benito, 9 a.m.
Austin (Texas) Westwood vs. Norwalk, 9 a.m.
North Las Vegas Rancho vs. Norwalk, 11 a.m.
Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral vs. Hart, 11 a.m.
Hart vs. Hollister San Benito, 1 p.m.
Austin (Texas) Westwood vs. North Las Vegas Rancho, 1 p.m.
-- Martin Henderson