Siskiyou County residents Sydney Cross and Ashley Cox are competing with the North Valley Rapids at the ASA U-10 Western Nationals fast pitch softball championships in Medford this week.

The Redding based Rapids earned the right to play in the Western Nationals by placing second at the NorCal ASA Championships in Sunnyvalle earlier this summer. The Rapids tuned up for the tournament with a championship at the Wine Valley Classic in Napa two weeks ago. Prior to that, they took second in a tourney in Sacramento and won the Mercury Madness Tournament.

So far, however, the Rapids are having a tough time at the Nationals, losing both games of pool play in decisive fashion.

The Rapids played a strong defensive game in the opening round of the championship bracket on Thursday, before falling 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning to the Junior Eagles on a bloop base hit to left field.

The Rapids found themselves in several jams during the game, but managed to escape unscathed until the seventh. The Eagles had bases loaded with one out in both the first and second innings. Strikeouts played a key role in thwarting both threats.

In the fifth inning, the Eagles had a runner on third base with one out. The Rapids retired two Eagles in a row on a pop out to first base and a strikeout.

The Siskiyou County girls, Cross and Cox combined to send an Eagle base-stealer to the pine in the sixth inning. Cross, the catcher, fired to shortstop Cox who was covering third on the play, ending another threat by the Eagles.

With a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, an Eagle blooped a hit into left field scoring the winning run.

The Rapids still have a chance to wash away the memory of the losses, when they face AASA on Friday morning at 9:00 am. A win keeps the Rapids in the tournament. A loss sends them packing.

Note; While the U-10s are in Medford, the North Valley Rapids U-18 team is competing in the Nationals at Hemet, Cal. The 18s split in pool play, won the first game in the championship bracket, lost the second game, dropped to the losers bracket and won the next game. Mt. Shasta’s Kayla Spini and Tori Weatherford play for the Rapid 18s.

The U-18 Rapids face Team Smash on Friday at 8:00 am in an elimination game.