By Nick Sinnott

The Siskiyou Heat U-18s went South on the weekend of August 8-9 to compete in the highly touted Stockton Tournament. The game temperatures were in the high 90s but the Heat made it even hotter in Stockton with their aggressive play.

Saturday
Game-1: The first game of pool play for the Heat was against the Fremont Flyers.  Kayla Graves started the game and did a great job, going the distance. The game plan was to remove Graves after four innings but she had such control the coaching team of Mike Jones and Nick Sinnott decided to let her go the distance.  Graves finished the game with seven strikeouts.  Things opened up in the first when Amber “Nails” Sinnott drove in Kelsey “The Stick” Moser with a triple to deep center field.  Graves then settled in for the next two innings and struck out five of the next six Flyers.  In the bottom of the third Sara “Who” Jones smashed a double to right scoring “Nails” and “The Stick”, who each got on board with singles, adding two more runs for the Heat.  The Flyers managed an unearned run in the top of the fourth making it 3-1 after four innings.  In the bottom of the fifth, things got a little wild for the Heat.  Michelle Rupert started with a single to right field. Sinnott then singled to left to advance Rupert to third. Jones grounded to short who fumbled the ball allowing Rupert and Sinnott to score.  Samantha “Sammy” Reed got on board with an interference call on the catcher. Mindy “Mindo” Chandler drove a hit to deep center scoring two runs and Rupert followed with her own 2-run double to complete the inning with seven runs scored. The game was called due to tournament rules. Final score: Heat 10 – Flyers 1

Game-2: The next game, immediately following the opener, was against the Reno Wolverines. The Wolverines were a very young but talented team. The Heat started Bethaney ”Ever Ready” Franklin and she stepped up as usual, getting five strikeouts.  The Heat scored first in the bottom of the second inning, when “Nails” Sinnott singled, stole second, and “Who” Jones sacrificed her home.  Good defense kept the Wolverines off the bases. In the bottom of the fourth “Nails” Sinnott singled, stole second base and advanced to third on a “Who” Jones sacrifice. Sinnott scored on a passed ball to give the Heat a 2-0 lead after four innings. It was all ”Ever Ready” after that, shutting down the Wolverine bats.  Final score: Heat 2 – Wolverines 0

Game-3:  The third and final game of the day matched the Heat against Illusion from Galt.  The starting pitcher for the Illusion had control problems in the top of the first. She walked Lauren “Hopi” Young who then showed her base running skills stealing second and third.  Michelle Rupert drew a walk setting the stage for Kelsey “The Stick” Moser who drove a deep sacrifice fly to left field scoring ‘Hopi” and advancing Rupert to third. “Nails” Sinnott singled to right to score Rupert. The Illusion pitcher then walked three in a row adding another run. “Sammy” Reed singled and “Mindo” Chandler hit a sacrifice fly to left completing the 5-run first inning rally. “Mindo” Chandler demonstrated her defensive skills making several diving catches in center field to squash Illusion rallies.  The Illusion got a run in the fourth and fifth innings to keep it close. The Heat scored a run in the top of the sixth when “Sammy” Reed waked, advanced to second on a “Mindo” single and scored when Madison “Maddi” Moser singled.   Final score: Heat 7 – Illusion 3

Sunday
Game-4: Since the Heat won all three of their games in Saturday Pool Play, they entered the second day as the first seed. They were matched up against the Reno Wolverines for the second time in two days. This time the Heat came out swinging. The Wolverines scored quickly in the first due to some fielding errors by the usually solid Heat defense. The Heat came right back with the three runs in the bottom of the first. “Maddie” Moser singled to and stole second.  “The Stick” Moser drove one deep over the center fielder’s head to score “Maddie” from second.  “Nails” Sinnott came through again with a double to deep center to score “The Stick”.  “Who” Jones scored “Nails” with a single up the middle to complete the first inning rally.  “Maddie” Moser played great defense from her right field spot throwing our runners at both second and first.  Sierra  “Strong Arm” Skeen hammered a triple off the centerfield fence to start the bottom of the second.  She later scored on an overthrow.  The Heat added another run in the third when “Nails” Sinnott stole home after getting on with a double to center. The Heat added another run in the fourth when “Mindo” tripled down the third base line and Rupert followed with a double. The game was called after the fifth inning. Final score: Heat 8 – Woverines 2

Game-5:  The win put the Heat in the championship game against the Illusion. Once again it was “Ever Ready” Franklin taking the mound. It was the Illusion who scored first with two runs in the bottom on the first inning. The Illusion added one more run in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth the Heat scored two runs. It was the combination of “Nails” Sinnott and “Who” Jones again. “Nails” and “Who” hit back to back doubles to start the inning. “Strong Arm” Skeen singled up the middle to score “Who”, making it 3-2 after four innings. Some great defense by Lizzy Stone at second base kept the score close. There was a tense moment in the sixth inning. With two outs and a runner on second, center fielder “Mindo” Chandler and left fielder Michelle Rupert converged on a hard hit liner up the left center ally.  “Mindo” made what appeared to be a great catch on the run when she collided with Rupert, who was covering from her left field position, knocking the ball loose.  Rupert who was shaken up had to leave the game and a “no catch” call was made by the home plate umpire allowing a run to score.  In the bottom of the seventh the Heat showed their spirit. With two outs and “Maddie” Moser on first, “The Stick” Moser singled to left, and “Nails” Sinnott reached first on an infield error.  “Nails” was caught off first base and “Maddie” was thrown out trying to score from third.  Final score: Heat 2-Illusion 4

The Heat took home the second place trophy having played very competitive ball at the prestigious Stockton Tournament.

Next Tournament: TBA