La Jolla All Stars get a win

La Jolla 10U All Stars

On Sunday, June 1, the La Jolla 10U All Stars defeated the hosting Ramona All Stars on the Ramona home field in the annual “Valley of the Sun Tournament.” The Red, White and Blue girls from La Jolla swung hot bats in the first inning and scored five runs. Micaela Gotfredson pitched with good velocity and control to allow the opponents to scatter just a few hits the entire game. Gotfredson was awarded the Outstanding Player Award by the opponent’s coaching staff.

The La Jolla girls batted around in the first inning with big hits from Virginia Fishburn, Sarah Lewis and Micaela Gotfredson. In one “heads up” play, Leslie Brown coming up to the plate with bases loaded, noted a dropped third strike and scampered down to first. The opponents’ first baseman watched the ball sail over her head and by the time the dust settled, Brown was standing on third having driven in three runs. The defense led by Sophia Eliopulus at third, Paige Nordland at shortstop, Nicole Bertrand in center, Kate Mahony in left and Vanessa Itzkowich in right field, were very stingy, allowing only a few runners to cross the plate the entire game.

The coaching staff led by head coach Bob Schuman and assistant coaches, Jen Bertrand and Peter Nordland were very proud of the red, white and blue girls and the team’s performance. They noted that all the hard work the team has done is now starting to pay off.

La Jolla 8U All Stars

The 8U team name is the Road Runners, and they showed an aggressive defense and batting which were the keys to the Road Runners’ success. On Saturday morning, May 31, the Road Runners were down 6-7 with two outs and bases loaded. A hit from Sarah Espinoza drove in two runs to give La Jolla the lead. The 8U Road Runners went on to win the game 10-7 against host team Ramona, led by strong pitching by Jaclyn Goldberg, who pitched a complete game. Sophia Acker played strong at shortstop and Hallee Coleman first base.

Every player on the 8U team contributed to the victory, including catchers Josie Ballard and Claire Ryan, third base Allison Sweeney, and outfielders Megan Birnbaum, Elle Hathaway, Sophia Lake, Nan Pieper, Hannah Austgen and Sophia Matthie.

Both Goldberg and Coleman received Outstanding Player Awards during the weekend by the opponents’ coaching staff.

The 8U coaching staff is led by Manager Barb Birnbaum, Assistant and Batting Coach Misti Coleman and Base Coaches PJ Hathaway and Beth Espinoza.