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If it’s spring break time for the East Bay Athletic League, it can only mean one thing — the Livermore Stampede is riding into town.
The Stampede has become arguably the best high school softball in Northern California and one of the top events in the entire state.
How good is the talent this year? Very good.
Take a look at the postseason last year. In the North Coast Section Division I playoffs last season, all four semifinalists are entered here in California, Amador Valley, Liberty and College Park. Granada and San Ramon Valley were quarterfinalists.
In the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California Championships, Amador Valley — the winner — was joined by Saint Francis, Casa Grande, Mitty and Whitney in the eight-team field. All five are entered in the Stampede this year.
Games start on Thursday with pool play at the Ernie Rodrigues Fields beginning at 9 a.m. until after 9 p.m. The teams will be back at it in pool play during the same hours Friday.
Following two days of pool play, the teams are placed into bracket play depending on their standings. The last-place team in each pool is paired and so on.
Saturday play will be expanded into using both Granada and Livermore fields, as well as Rodrigues’ fields.
The championship game for the top bracket will be at 8 p.m. Saturday night.
The top players for each team are:
Mitty (7-2): M.J. Fikes, a freshman that is hitting .429, and junior pitcher Kyleigh Mace is 5-1 with a 0.89 ERA, striking out 60 batters in 47 innings pitched.
Saint Francis (10-1): Has been starting off strong, going 10-1, losing only to Norco (16-1) in the Michelle Carew Classic in Southern California. Jamie Oakland, a junior, is hitting .735 and has scored 17 runs already. Maya Yumiba is hitting .600 and has also scored 17 runs.
Finally, Ava Bulanti is excelling both at the plate and in the circle. Pitching she is 5-0 with a 0.31 ERA. She struck out 38 batters in 22 innings pitched. At the plate she is hitting .484, with a team leading three home runs and 17 RBI.
Alameda (7-3): It’s a pair of sophomores leading the way for the Hornets thus far. At the plate Mia Wong is hitting .562 with five doubles, a pair of home runs and she has driven in eight runs.
In the circle Julia Lambert has a 1.56 era and has struck out 75 in 54 innings.
Freedom (1-3): It has been a slow start for the Falcons, one of the perennially strong programs in the area. Terralynn Delauter has been the top hitter through the first four games, hitting .538.
Livermore (8-3): The host team is paced at the plate by Laine Macosky. The junior is hitting .462, with four doubles, two triples, and a home run. She has also driven in 11 runs. In the circle, Kaci Norton is 8-3 and the junior has struck out 84 in 65 innings pitched.
Whitney (9-5): Senior Tylie Kitchen has been the top hitter at .531 with three home runs and 12 RBI. The Wildcats have used a pair of pitchers, with freshman Taylor Cordell being the most successful at this point with a 5-2 mark. She has a 2.54 ERA and has struck out 48 batters in 41.1 innings pitched.
California (7-2): Is getting strong hitting from Jayda Crosby who has an average of .531 with five home runs and 10 RBI. The pitching duties have been split between sophomores Gabriella Nudo and Audrey Cotton. Cotton has a 0.21 ERA and Nudo has an ERA of 1.59.
Liberty (5-2): The Lions have been strong at the plate thus far with 15 home runs in seven games. Taylor Jennings (So.) is hitting .481 with two home runs, with Kaitlyn Macias (Jr.) and Isabella Rice with four home runs each. Macias has also driven in 12 runs. Kate Skinner has led the way pitching with a 5-2 mark and an ERA of 1.52. She has also struck out 68 in 41 innings pitched.
Sheldon (10-3): The Huskies have been getting it on offense and defense from sophomore Micah Kennedy. At the plate she is hitting .558 with six doubles and four home runs. She has also driven in 18 runs. Pitching she is 5-2 with a 1.30 ERA and has struck out 44 in 37.2 innings. Kwinci Brown is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.05. She struck out 42 in 44 innings.
Amador Valley (5-4): The Dons are the defending NorCal champs beating a few of these teams along the way. It’s the M&M punch leading the way at the plate for the Dons. Mai Falcone is hitting .481, with four home runs and has driven in 14. McKenna Charbonneau is at .393 but has six home runs and has driven in 10 runs.
Kaylee Davis is 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA and has struck out 58 in 51 innings of work.
College Park (3-4): The team is led by Maya Davis at the plate as she sports a .526 average. In the circle Savannah Wilson has pitched the most and has a 4.24 ERA.
Casa Grande (7-3-1): They are paced by Lucy da Raza who has played in nine games but has only nine at bats and is hitting .333. Lauren Ketchu is hitting .394 with a home run. Lila Partridge is 4-2 and has a 1.29 ERA.
San Ramon Valley (7-3-1): Is getting great play from Addie Layous and Lila McLeod. Layous is hitting .452 this year to lead the offense. McLeod has a 0.99 ERA and has struck out 91 batters in 72 innings pitched.
Benicia (5-5): Emma French tops the offense with a .444 average, five doubles and nine RBI. Aryanna Banks-Lockhart is right there with the bat, hitting .433, also with nine RBI. Alana Robinson is 4-4 on the season, and a 4.01 ERA. She has struck out 46 batters in 43 innings pitched.
Carondelet (5-4): The Cougars are paced by sophomore Angela Gates at the plate as she hits .519 with four doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI. Maia is the top pitcher with a 4-2 mark, a 2.29 ERA. Control has been the big issue with 24 strike outs and 25 walks.
Granada (5-4): The Mats are paced on offense by Delany Aumua who has a .458 average and has hit seven home runs. She has driven in 14 runs. Kamryn Brannon handles the pitching duties for the Mats. She has an ERA of 3.50 and has struck out 38 batters in 34 innings.
Check the “What to Watch” section in this week’s Playbook to see the pool play schedule of games. Also, more information on the tournament can be found at www.lhsstampede.com
Service Champions Classic
This is a baseball tournament that takes place at Foothill and Livermore High’s and runs from the 10th to 12th as well.
There are eight teams — four at Livermore and four at Foothill.
At Livermore the first game at 2 p.m. on Thursday is San Marin facing Rancho Mirage.
San Marin (Novato) comes in 8-2 overall and 8-1 in the Marin County Athletic League. The Mustangs have a 1-0 win over Livermore this year.
Rancho Mirage makes the trip up from the Palm Springs area and is 8-8 overall and 2-7 in the Desert Empire League.
In the other game in the bracket, Livermore (9-3, 3-1) will play host to Santa Rosa. The Panthers are 4-7 and 2-3 in their league.
In the other half of the brackets, Redwood faces Heritage in an 11 a.m. game on the 10th.
Redwood of Larkspur is 7-5-1 overall and 6-4 in Marin County play. Heritage is 9-1 overall with their lone loss coming to Benicia in a 10-inning game.
The final game of the first round will send Berean Christian against tournament co-host Foothill in a 2 p.m. game.
Berean is a smaller private school in Walnut Creek, but it is 7-4 this year. Foothill is 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the EBAL. The Falcons have been playing well recently, winning four of five with the lone loss coming 5-4 to De La Salle.
The semifinals are set for Friday with games at Livermore at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., or at Foothill at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Saturday there are four more games split between Livermore and Foothill. Game times are 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation.
