St. Louis Diamond Cats

2009 St. Louis Diamond Cats 18U
Front row: Lindsay (Parkway Central), Brittany (Union), Lauren (Francis Howell), Shanna (Parkway South), Keri (McCluer)  Back row: Sarah (Maryville University), Ashley (Maryville University), Jenna (Washington), Molly (Missouri State), Lori (Parkway South), JJ (Principia), Holly (Seckman)  Not pictured: Ashley (Dupo)

This was probably the most bizarre championship the Cats ever earned, but we finished in 1st place!

We played our first game of the tournament against the Spirit and won in a run-rule game.  We advanced to play Mizuno Esprit and beat a good team with good pitching 6 - 2.  Then Sunday, after watching the Spirit team come from behind and surprise the Esprit, we let them surprise us, and we lost to them 5 - 3 in the first championship game.  We had problems with the slower pitching and just didn't look sharp in the first game.  We knew we had an "if" game and probably played it like we knew we had that safety net.  The girls were pumped up and ready to show everyone that we were the better team in the next game when the Spirit decided to forfeit the "if" game.  They had pitching issues and said they could concede we were the better team...that didn't make our girls happy.  They wanted to prove they were better, but did not get the chance.

The trophies were awarded and our girls were so gracious and gave their individual 1st place trophies to the Spirit for a well-played game.  We were the champions on the field and off!  Way to go, Cats!

Wow, what a great tournament!  The Cats went 2 - 1 in pool play losing only the first game to the Sizzle Black from Omaha, NE in a tie breaker game.  After that, they went 7 - 0.  We had some great games with some great competition.  Thanks to the Sizzle Black, Chicago Out Burst, Girlz of Summer, Illusions, Sluggers, and Wisconsin Bandits!

This was a great tournament for us to go out on!  We got great pitching, amazing defense, and timely hitting all through the order.  We are so proud of how intense and focused the girls were, and we can only imagine how much we are going to miss them!  We now have to get ready for some travel and college games!!!!

 Thanks to all the supportive parents out there!  We could not do this without you all supporting your kids and us.  We appreciate everything you guys do to give your girls the opportunity to play competitive softball. 

It has been a great ride!!!!

Sunday, July 19th
Coach Neil and Cynthia got us officially registered at the USFA Nationals!  The team is almost all here at the "team condo".  We are staying at the Wendwood condos in Panama City Beach, FL.  Really close to the main ballfields, shopping and tons of restaurants, etc.  And of course, the BEACH! 

Everyone went to the beach and got their first dip in the gulf.  Lots of trips to Winn-Dixie to get food for the condos.  The units are great! Lots of room and the kitchens will be a blessing for those wanting to save a few bucks.  We play at 2 pm tomorrow!

Monday, July 20th

Early beach time and then we hit the fields!  We started out putting girls on base the first 2 innings and then leaving them there!  But, the third inning was ours and we scored 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk.  JJ, Lori, and Ashley had 2 hits each, and Sarah and Molly were both hit by a pitch!  Their pitching was pretty good as we had 6 strikeouts, too.  Ashley M countered them pitch for pitch and they did not get on the board till the 4th inning.  They got one in the 4th and one in the 5th and Kinsey came in and shut them out in the 6th.  Good game but we need to get those bats going!  Final score Cats 3, Bluff City Bombers 2!

Fun time at Pineapple Willy's tonight!  Hour wait for dinner, but a bar and beach made the wait "no problem, mon!"  Good food and good company!  Early game tomorrow!!!!

Tuesday, July 21st

9:30 am game this morning and boy did we bring our bats to this game! We played a very nice looking Envy team from Irving, TX and blanked them 9 - 0!  We put up one run in the 1st inning and then broke out the sticks for the 2nd inning!  We batted around and scored 5 runs in the 2nd. Sarah started it all off with a walk, and then we had 5 straight hits before Lauren hit into a fielder's choice.  Molly had a huge double to drive in the first 2 runs of the inning.  Sarah and Shanna both had homeruns in the 3rd and we plated 3 more that inning.  They changed pitchers and we were done scoring in the 4th and last inning.  Kinsey pitched a great 2 innings and Brittany came in and shut them down in the last 2.  Jenna, JJ, Keri, Shanna all had 2 hits each.  Kinsey and Brit combined for 5 strikeouts in 4 innings!  What a great game...check back for the 5 pm game vs. the Jersey Tide.

Not a great way to end pool play at 5 pm!  We looked a bit like we had too much sun this afternoon.  The bats were flat and defense not up to our usual standards.  However, this was just pool play and if you have to have one bad game in a tournament, we are glad it was today!  The offense spread out 6 hits and 3 of them were Jenna's.  We just couldn't hit behind our runners so we were blanked by the Tide.  Brittany did not get much support behind her and in one inning gave up all the runs scored in the whole game.  On to a new day tomorrow...Tide 3, Cats 0!

Wednesday, July 22nd

Cats started off bracket play right with a well-played game.  It may have been the early game but we looked ready to go.  The girls got 7 hits and scored 4 runs on timely hitting and good at-bats.  Defense and pitching were flawless as Kinsey 3-hit the Rage, but only 1 hit was solid.  JJ led the offense with 3 hits and 2 rbi's.  Molly got us started with a hit and scored the first run of the game.  Then with 2 outs, Jenna jump started a rally with a solid slap up the middle and a stolen base.  Shanna followed by hustling out an infield hit, and JJ shot a liner into centerfield that skipped past their fielder.  All 3 girls scored and that iced the game for the Cats.  Keri had several stellar defensive plays and everyone did their part. Let's hope we can keep up this "Diamond Cat" level of play through Saturday! Final score, OK Rage 0, Cats 4!  Off for the day and back at the fields vs. the Bluff City Bombers again at 11 am tomorrow!  Go Cats!

Thursday, July 23rd

It is hard to win when you fly out 11 times in 6 innings!  Not sure what else the Bomber pitcher had besides a nice rise ball, but almost everything we hit was up in the air.  We managed 5 hits and 2 runs on Sarah's 2-run home run.  But, we still had chances as we left 6 runners stranded.  Bombers only had one more hit than us, but they were hitting gap shots with runners on.  They were also hitting the ball into the ground and getting some crazy hops! It was very hot and we looked very flat when we could not fet the ball out of the air.  Frustration sunk in, and we were defeated 2 - 5 by the Bluff City Bombers we beat on Monday.  We are still alive, however, and just need to be prepared for a long hot day of softball tomorrow!  Alton Flames at 9:30 am, and we will be ready!  Go Cats!

Friday, July 24th

Very hot today!  We started with a 7-inning international tie-breaker game vs. the Alton Flames. They had us down 2 - 0 after their half of the 5th in a very well-played game.  We managed to score one in the home half of the 5th on a walk to Sarah, an infield out that moved the runner by Keri, and back to back infield hits by Holly and Ashley.  That got the girls jump started and in the 6th, we tied the game after JJ doubled, Lauren got on when the catcher dropped a third strike, and Lori singled to score JJ.  Once we got to the tie breaker, the difference in the game was we executed our bunt and they did not.  Kinsey got their leadoff girl in a huge strikeout and the next 2 batters were pressing hard and made easy outs.  We started with Keri and 2nd and Holly at the plate.  Holly put down a perfect bunt to the 3rd baseman so that she had no choice but to get the out at first.  Then with Keri standing at 3rd and no outs, Ashley laced a huge hit down the 1st base line and got the winning RBI.  What a game!  Kinsey pitched great, we had good defense, and the bats came alive in time to pull it out.  JJ was 3 for 3, Lori 2 for 3, and Keri and Holly executed sacrifices to move runners.  Ashley had timely hits and we pulled this one out with a score of 3 - 2 vs. the Alton Flames!  Next game 12:30 pm!

We were not the ones who pulled off a come from behind in our 12:30 game.  We were winning through five innings with a score of 4 - 0 and the whole thing fell apart quickly in the 6th inning!  After jumping on the Impact quickly and scoring 3 runs in the 1st, the bats quieted down and only added one more run in the 3rd.  We had opportunities, but just could not quite figure out the change in the strike zone at the end, and we did not score anymore after the 3rd.  The Impact started the home half of the 6th with a reached on an error by our pitcher and 3 straight hits scored their first 2 runs.  We changed pitchers and on the first pitch to the next girl got the first out on a popup.  Unfortunately, the next girl hit a homerun on the 5th pitch of the at bat and the game was over.  We lost 5 - 4 to the Soddy Daisy Impact.  Brittany pitched a great game until the 6th inning strike zone caught up with her, and Ashley has given up very few homeruns and though she executed a good pitch, the Impact player just went out and got enough of it to hit it over.  It was such a stunner that many did not even realize the homerun was a walk off.  Our final game of the tournament was a head scratcher with the amazing moving strike zone and some very confused hitters and pitchers.  But, to their credit, the Impact adjusted to the zone and had a great comeback.  We only stranded 4 runners, but we had 10 strikeouts after the 2nd inning...5 of them in a row from the last 2 batters of the 4th inning to the side of the order in the 5th.  Sarah went 3 for 3 and Ashley went 2 for 3.  Brittany held them scoreless through 5 innings and other than the 2 errors on balls back to the pitcher, we had good defense.  It was just not meant to be and we all walked off stunned.  The girls made the best of it, we headed to the beach and did team pictures at sunset.  It was the end of a fun tournament and we have made some great memories in sunny Florida!

Now we can look toward our last games at NAFA Nationals in Chesterfield!  Go, Cats!