Cerritos Legacy 12-U All-Stars fall short in state tournament

By Loren Kopff

LANCASTER-Plan A was very simple for the Cerritos Legacy 12-Under All-Stars in last weekend’s 2010 Southern California Amateur Softball Association ‘B’ State Championship-win the first two games and advance to the Western Nationals. When that went down the drain, plan B was to win three straight games in the loser’s bracket last Saturday.
• And when Cerritos was leading Charter Oak by a run with one out in the bottom of the fourth, it looked as if the Legacy would win the second of those three games. But Charter Oak erupted for six runs and knocked Cerritos out of the tournament 9-4 in an emotional game that left tears on the faces of the players.
• Cerritos was dropped to the loser’s bracket last Friday afternoon following a 3-1 setback to West Grove. The team rebounded for a 3-1 win against La Costa and was leading Charter Oak 3-0 after the first inning.
• “I told them, from last night to this morning’s game, to just keep their heads up,” said manager Jay Becdach. “Coach Nick [Brown] and I gave them as much motivation as we could. They were totally into it because they know also; they know what they can do. They’ve beat teams a lot tougher than the team we saw on Friday night.”
• Against Charter Oak, center fielder Tyler Johnson and shortstop Kylee Brown, the lighting and thunder combination in the lineup, singled with one out. They would score on a wild pitch and an illegal pitch respectively. With two outs, pitcher Deidra Genera doubled to center and came home when first baseman Rachel Barajas reached on an error.
• But in the bottom of the second, Charter Oak tied the game on a pair of hits and two of the Legacy’s costly five errors. Cerritos would regain the lead in the next inning when Brown tripled to right field and came home when first baseman Ashley Mitchell was safe on an error.
• With Genera, who had pitched every out of her team’s tournament, entering the bottom of the fourth with 75 pitches, it seemed she might have just enough to the finish the game and send the Legacy one step closer to Las Cruces, N.M., the site of the Western Nationals. But on her 15th pitch of the inning, she popped her shoulder and left the game with Charter Oak leading 5-4.
• “This game was a little different,” Becdach said. “All year, we lived off of one pitcher and one pitcher only. We won championships off of one pitcher and one pitcher only. There would be more pitchers on this team except the league doesn’t have any more pitchers. She’s the only dominant pitcher that we have in 12s. To be in the position that we’re in with one pitcher says it all. The parents will tell you the same, the kids will tell you the same. We went as far as she went.”
• All eight runs that Genera allowed were unearned and she threw 258 pitches in the three games under temperatures that were hovering around triple digits. On the flip side, Genera struck out five batters against Charter Oak and eight times had a 0-2 count on a batter. Only one of those batters reached while five others resulted in her strikeouts. Genera, who struck out 13 batters in the three games, also began each game with a strikeout.
• “She’s one of the only pitchers that I’ve ever been around that can be down 3-0 [in the count] and strike out that batter,” Becdach said. “All you have to do is yell out, ‘Dee-Dee, 3-0’ and all of a sudden, bam, bam, bam, strike three.”
• The game against West Grove was scoreless until the top of the third when Cerritos quickly fell behind 3-0. Held to two hits to this point, the Legacy scored its only run in the bottom of the fourth when Johnson, second baseman Alexa Becdach and Genera all singled, the last resulting in the lone tally. Later in the inning, a walk issued to designated player Nicole Waldecker loaded the bases but a strikeout ended any further damage. Johnson went two for three while Brown and catcher Megan Darling each recorded a hit.
• Against La Costa, the Legacy wasted little time in getting into the scoring column as Darling put down a bunt on the second pitch of the game. She would steal second and later score on an illegal pitch. In the bottom of the second, La Costa tied the game when Sophia Chapelone’s single brought home Jessica Aiken. But two innings later, Johnson would lead off the frame with a double to left field. She came in on a base hit from Genera, who was replaced by pinch runner Alyssa Flores.
• The bases would be juiced when Barajas was issued a walk but after a fielder’s choice forced Alexa Becdach at home, a single from Waldecker increased the margin to two runs. Johnson again went two for three and Waldecker collected a pair of hits. For the tournament, the hot hitting Legacy managed to get 17 hits with Johnson going five for nine and Brown and Genera each picking up three hits.
• “The funny thing about that is this week, before we came [up here], we practiced more on hitting than we ever have,” Jay Becdach said. “It’s hard to say what happened with the bats today. We got shot down because of our bats.”
• The Legacy end the summer at 19-7 and three 2010 tournament championships to its name. The legacy posted four shutouts and allowed two or fewer runs six other times. This was the fifth straight summer an all-star team from the Cerritos Girls Softball Association had advanced to the state tournament and just the second time a 12-Under team was represented. Last summer, the 12 and 14-Under squads both went two and out. The rest of the Legacy All-Stars are right fielder Kaitlyn Bales, left fielder Victoria Maglonzo and third baseman Erika Romero. The head coach is Nick Brown with Dave Bales and Bill Mitchell as the assistants. The team moms are Elsa Barajas and Debbey Becdach.
• “It was an incredible experience,” Jay Becdach said. “I really enjoyed it. It was special. I’m really proud of the girls for what they’ve done all year.”