 From Opening Day  After the Championship Finals Game  Coach's Comments - ASA Nationals Tournament
From Head Coach of the 14U Allstar Diamonds, Rich Shea:
To our Supporters and Friends, A very heartfelt "Thank You!" to all of you for the outpouring of support and well wishes given to our team as we fought through Nationals. It was an absolutely unbelievable experience and the twelve girls on our team, most of whom have played PGSL softball since they were five or six years old, did us all proud! It was an fantastic journey capped by an amazing run through the losers bracket to the National Championship Game. Playing 7 games in a 26 hour period was an incredible test of our girl's determination, endurance, focus and heart and they not only passed every test, they exceeded all expectations each and every game. Of course there were incredible individual performances by our girls during the tournament but, more importantly, our team played as a team, all 12 girls contributed and they drew strength and support from each other as the challenges grew and the obstacles seemed impossible to overcome. They were truly special! One of the significant factors in our success was the encouragement we got from everyone back home. We were hearing every day about how much support you and our other Poway friends were giving us and that helped us keep going even when things were stacked against us! A special thanks to our Website Administrator, who spent countless hours updating the web site and helping everyone back home (including my parents) keep up with how we were doing, which generated plenty of supportive calls and e-mails. His efforts played a big part in our success and we are very appreciative. I also want to recognize the support we received from the families of the girls on the team. Parents, Grandparents and siblings spent the week helping us with logistics, making sure the girls had everything they needed and most importantly, cheering their lungs out! We had, by far, the loudest and most supportive fans in the entire tournament and we wouldn't have made it as far as we did without them! Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank all those who provided financial support for our team's trip. There is considerable expense connected with a group of over 50 people traveling from Poway to Colorado and the contributions we received went a long way towards offsetting that financial burden and making the trip more enjoyable for all. It is hard to believe our season is over! 47 wins, 4 Tournament titles, a District Championship and a final 2 finish at Nationals and it still seems like we started yesterday. The 2006 14U Poway Diamonds were a very special team and I appreciate having had the opportunity to be their coach, it is an experience I will never forget. Thanks to PGSL for giving all of us the opportunity for such a magical season. Coach Rich ASA 'B' Nationals
ASA 'B' Western Region National Tournament ia being held in Aurora, Colorado this year, July 31st - August 6th.
Here's a link to the Official Tournament Website: Aurora And here's a link to the Pool Play Schedule: Pool Play Schedule & Results And a link to the Bracket Play Schedule: Bracket Play Schedule & Results
Link to Team Tournament Photo Gallery:
Journal Photo Gallery Updated: 8-Aug AM
Summary of Standings Final Update: 6-Aug-06, 1:40 PM
Record for Tournament: 9-2
2-0 in Pool Play. Seeded 1st and received Bye in first round of Elimination Brackets. Double Elimination Bracket Play: (Game times are in Colorado)
Journal Notes Updated: 6-Aug-06
Web Admin Note, Sun, 6-Aug, 5:27 PM: Just got two more emails from Colorado:
From Pam Wear, Sat, 6-Aug, 4:52 PM WOW ... what an exciting day for POWAY softball. Thank you for all the support back home!!!!!! Today we made Poway proud!!!!! The girls played spectacular and have been so much fun to watch!!!! They made incredible plays on defense, played solid fundamentals, had clutch hitting and great pitching throughout Natiionals. It was a total team effort!!!!! Our cheering section was awesome too!!!!! Here are a couple of photos attached. I will send more photos and details when I a get chance.Pam From Pam Sharpe, Sat, 6-Aug, 4:30 PM Hey Everybody One last quick email before we head out to the airport. We took 2nd place with a loss of 3-1 from Synergy. Very close game and I think that if our girls were not on game 3 already today, we could have taken them. They are very excited about 2nd place with smiles on their faces (along with the coaches and parents). Just wanted to say thank you for all the emails of support and talking with Larry today was great. Knowing how excited he wanted to get our scores so he could post them right away was great. I will give more details later, right now we are tired and want to get home. Pam Web Admin Note, Sun, 6-Aug, 1:40 PM: The next Colorado phone call just came in. Poway is the 2nd Place Champions of the ASA Western Regional National! Their final championship game was a 3-1 loss to CV Synergy. Congratulation to CV Synergy and to all the ASA Nationals competitors. What an amazing journey it's been. So much pride is welling and appreciation of the work, dedications and accomplishments of the 14U Allstar Diamonds for such a great national performance! There are not enough superlatives. More information to come including the National Championship Trophy photo. Check back. Web Admin Note, Sun, 6-Aug, 10:55 AM: The phone call just came in. Poway 3-2 over the Falcon! The next game is for 1st / 2nd Championship. It's going to be against CV Synergy. Synergy is undeated so far, and Poway will have take them twice to get the 1st Place Championship. Web Admin Note, Sun, 6-Aug, 10:40 AM: Just spoke with Colorado. It's late in the game and Poway is ahead. The background crowd noise was deafening - Poway had just scored! We should have a phone call and update as soon as the game is over. Web Admin Note, Sun, 6-Aug, 10:03 AM: History is being made right now in Aurora, Colorado. There are only (3) teams left in the Tournament out of the (56) that started and Poway is one of them. 
From Pam Wear, Sat, 5-Aug, 5:55 PM
Today was a great day for Poway!!!!! It wasn't easy, but our girls are still in it and we couldn't be prouder. We just arrived back to our hotel after a long day and 4 games. We lost the first one, but rallied back to win the next three. I see you have posted the scores of the first 3 games. The last game was against the Iowa state champs, and we beat them 7-3 to earn the right to play tomorrow. It's quite an accomplishment. There are only 4 teams out of 56 remaining. Details of the past few games will be sent later. See ya soon,Pam
I will give everyone a quick update from today (Saturday). We played San Jose today and lost and dropped down to the looser bracket. Played 3 more and won them all. The worst we can do is 4th place. We play tomorrow (Sunday) at 8am and we play San Jose again. They only beat us 4-2 so tomorrow is our turn to beat them. Scripps Ranch is still undefeated and doing well. That's all for now, we are tired from a very long day and are going to feed the girls and hit the showers and beds. Keep good thoughts and hope to see you all as Champs!!! Pam
Web Admin Note, Sat, 5-Aug, 6:11 PM: They did it. Still in the hunt, winning their final game today, Game 6, 6-1 over the Eagles. Poway Diamonds are in the finale Championship play-offs of the ASA Nationals, starting tomorrow mornning.
Web Admin Note, Sat, 5-Aug, 3:44 PM: Oh
my God, they doing it. Game 6: 6-1 over the Eagles.On to Game 7, 4:30 PM, Colorado time, against the Johnston Jaguars Gold. More than ever, I wish I could be there and look forward to the Game Summary!
Web Admin Note, Sat, 5-Aug, 1:49 PM: Wow! They're doing
it the hard way, working their way back up throught the losser
brackets. Game 6: 8-4 over Xplosion. Can't wait to read the Game Summary!Next game has already started at 2:30 PM, Colorado time, against the Eagles. Wish I could be there!
Web Admin Note, Sat, 5-Aug, 11:37 AM: Game 5 was a 2-4 loss to
the Twisters. The Poway Diamonds play next at 12:00 PM (Colorado time) in the losser
brackets quarter-finals against Northern Colorado Xplosion.From Pam Wear, Fri, 4-Aug, 9:51 PM I had planned on sending you an update earlier... but since it's late I am only sending a quick update. Game 4 vs. Wastonia, WA Impact Fastpitch Today was about 10 degrees hotter than the past couple of days ... it felt like it was in the mid 90's .... In a well played game by both teams, Poway was able to come from behind to edge out the Impact 2-1. Details will follow tomorrow. Pam
Web Admin Note, Fri, 4-Aug, 6:37 PM: They've made it to the Winner
Brackets Quarter Finals, with a 2-1 victory over Impact Fastpitch in Game 4. Look
forward to hearing more from the Team.Tomorrow's first game is at 10:00 AM against the San Jose Twisters. Please also see the lastest Game Summary narratives submitted for games 2 & 3, shown below.
From Pam Wear, Thu, 3-Aug, 6:54 PM
Here are the results from game 3 vs. Paso Robles Jr. Bearcats. Poway 9 Paso Robles 6 I'm late for the team dinner, so details will follow. Take Care, Pam Web Admin Note: Tournament format is (2) game pool play seeding for double elimination brackets. The Diamonds seeded 1st in their pool and received a bye in the first round of elimination brackets. Their 3rd game tonight, a win, was their 1st game in the elimination brackets. See the updated Nationals Bracket Chart at: http://www.auroragov.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/article-publication/024200.pdf Next game tomorrow, 2:30 PM, against Impact Fastpitch. This is a octal-finals game.
Game 3 Summary, submitted by Brenda J, Lana C., and Pam W, Fri, 4-Aug, 11:05 AM
Third game. The first game of bracket play was against the Paso Robles, CA Jr. Bearcats. Warmups were again delayed due to rain and lightning in the area. After a 30 minute delay, the game was finally started. Laurel started the game striking out the first batter, followed by Jessica to Mandy for the second out and a fly ball caught by Jessica for the third out. In the bottom half of the first, Shelley used her speed to reach first base and steal second. Brittany got on by a tough play for the Bearcats. Chloe followed with an RBI single scoring Shelley to bring home the first run. Amy then got an RBI single to bring Brittany home. Mandy got on by a fielder choice. Amber grounded out to bring home Amy to make the score 3-0. In the top of the second inning, Poway held the Bearcats scoreless. Nicole got on base by using her speed to cause an errant throw to first. Shelley followed with a high fly ball miss played by the center fielder. Brittany and Chloe got singles to load the bases. Amy hit a 2 RBI double scoring Nicole and Shelley. Mandy walked to again load the bases. With Amber up, Brittany and Chloe scored on passed balls. Amber then hit an RBI single to score Natalie who was pinch running. Laurel and Julie followed with singles, but the Bearcats held Poway scoreless for the remainder of the inning. Poway 9, Bearcats 0. The score remained 9-0 until the fifth inning when the Bearcats rallied for 3 runs in the fifth and sixth inning. With the bases loaded for the Bearcats, Poway’s defense held with a nice unassisted play by Mandy at first to end the threat. Final score, Poway 9, Jr. Bearcats 6.
Game 2 Summary, from Joni & Pam, Fri, 4-Aug, 10:24 AM
Second game. Poway 7, Sliders 6 – needing 1 inning of international tie breaker to finish. The second game of pool play against the Oklahoma Sliders. Wow - what a game! The Sliders wore their state championship t-shirts instead of their regular uniforms – trying to impress us! The 3rd inning was when the bats came alive. Jessica lead off with a walk, followed by an RBI double by Shelly scoring Jessica. Britney laid down a perfect bunt to move Shelly to third and Chloe drove her home with a single up the middle making the score 2-0. Chloe made a great effort to steal second, but the Slider catcher made a great throw that barely got her at second. Then, Amy came up to the plate and blasted a monstrous home run over the fence in left center field. Poway 3, Sliders 0. In the bottom half of the third, the Sliders scored 5 runs, showing us why they are state champs. In the fourth inning Laurel hit a single, and was advanced to second by Jessica’s walk. Shelley came up and hit an RBI single. With Poway behind 5-4 after four innings, Brittany led off the fifth with a single. Julia then came in as a pinch runner for Brittany. Julia used her speed to beat out a throw to second on Chloe’s infield hit. An RBI single by Amy scored Julia to tie the game 5-5. Poway held the Sliders scoreless in the bottom half of the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth inning, with two outs, Natalie started the rally with a single, followed by a walk by Jessica. Unfortunately, the inning ended without a run. Poway held the Sliders in the bottom half of the sixth, to send the game into international tie breaker. Shelley was placed on second to start the 7th. Brittany advanced Shelley to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Amy brought Shelley home with a single, making the score 6-5. As Amy was rounding first, the Sliders overthrew first trying to catch Amy off the base. The ball got away, and went deep into right field allowing Amy to come all the way around and score. Poway led 7-5 going into the bottom half of the 7th. With one out, and a runner on third, the Sliders hit a ground ball to Shelley who threw to Mandy for the second out. Mandy quickly threw it home to try and get the runner at home. In a violent collision at the plate, Amy was bowled over and injured on the play. After a short delay, Amy was able to continue. With two outs, Laurel kept throwing strikes and Mandy got the last batter out by snagging a short hopper and flipping to Jessica who aptly covered first. The girls and their families jumped for joy and breathed a sigh of relief as the game ended 7-6. Amy was player of the game, Jessica and Brittany were co-offensive players of the game, and co-defensive players of the game were Shelley and Mandy.
Game 1 Summary, from Doug Sigler, Thu, 3-Aug, 12:45 PM
Game One - Poway 5 , Havoc 1. Havoc is a team from Yuma, AZ. First four innings were a defensive battle. Poway was able to get some runners on base, and with some good speed, Julia was able to steal third. But couldn’t get them home. Havoc scored first in 4th inning. That got the Poway team fired up and we answered with five runs in the 5th. Natalie started us off with a double. Shelly followed her with an over the fence home run. Chloe & Amy both got base. Mandy had a good bunt that moved them around. Amber got hit by a pitch and that loaded the bases. Laurel & Julie followed with a single each, brining in 3 more runs. Other great plays were made to hold the lead. Nicole stopped a ball in center field, relayed it to Jessica who threw it to Shelly to get the batter out. Amy helped shut Havoc down when their runner tried to steal third base on a dropped third strike. Poway players were all over that. Britney came in from left field to cover and Shelly got the runner in a pickle and tagged her out. Laurel got defensive player of the game with 10 strike outs. Julie got offensive player of the game with her hit to the right side that brought in two RBI’s. Shelly got player of the game with her home run, and by being the catalyst of the team at short stop. 
After the rain storm before Game 2  From Coors Field, Poway is on the scoreboard, from 31-Jul
From Pam Wear, Wed, 2-Aug, 11:20 PM
Here's a quick update on Game 2. Warmups began with clear skies with some ominous looking clouds in the distance. About 40 minutes into our pregame warmups, the rain started coming down, so the girls ran for shelter to the Tibbsmobile, while a few other parents stayed back to cover up the gear in the dugout. It was another quick moving storm and lasted only around 20-30 minutes. The skies cleared up and we were able to play. We played the Sliders, who were the Oklahoma State champions. They gave us a great game that went one inning of International Tie Breaker. Final score: Poway Diamonds 7 Oklahoma Sliders 6 Details of our first two games will be sent tomorrow. Our next game is tomorrow, Thurs at 4:30pm. Keep the faith, Pam
From Pam Wear, Wed, 2-Aug, 2:15 PM
We played our first game today. Poway 5 Yuma, AZ 1 Next game is at 7pm. Details for both games will follow. Pam
From Pam Wear, Tue, 1-Aug, 9:53 PM
It's so nice to hear that we have so much support from back home! Thank you all so much!!!! The girls and their families really appreciate it and want to make Poway proud. Today was opening ceremonies. The girls had a great time trading pins before and after the teams paraded in front of their families and friends. Our families and friends cheered loudly as the girls marched past them. GO POWAY!!!!!!!!!!!! It was nice to hear the cheers from the Scripps Ranch families as we walked past them too, and I know we did the same for them as they paraded around the fields. Way to go North San Diego!!! After the parade, some teams got a little wild and began running their homestate flags up and down the fields enticed by cheering from girls from their state. There were teams from Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, California, New Mexico. Nevada, and Minnesota. There was even a team from Alaska here.... they won't have their pins until tomorrow, so the girls traded pins for postcards. One of the teams from Nebraska only has a population of 400. They were shocked when we told them Poway's population is 50,000 and our league has 400 girls. It was a beatiful sunny day and the girls were so looking forward to playing their first game. Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans. A fast moving storm came in around 5pm and caused the games for tonight to be cancelled. We will play 2 games tomorrow: 11am and 7:30pm. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Stay tuned, Pam
A Colorado Rookies game for R&R after the 1st day's practice on 31-Jul 
From Pam Wear, Tue, 1-Aug, 10:50 AM Here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. I'll send more tomorrow as opening ceremonies are today and our first game is tonight. Pam
From Pam Wear, Mon, 31-Jul, 4:50 PM
All the girls and their families have finally arrived. We just got
back from our first practice at a nearby field, and team checkin. The
girls looked great and are ready to go.
As you can tell, I've got my internet connection set up at the hotel. :) We
arrived in sunny Denver arround 11am San Diego time. Most of the rest of
the team will arrive tomorrow afternoon. |