The 16U Shamrocks will compete in the 2003 ASA National Championships in Midland, TX July 28-August 3. The ‘Rocks were undefeated in the Qualifier held over the 4th of July weekend in York, PA. Only the tournament winner received a berth to the Nationals, so it was a pressure packed tournament.

     The Shamrocks defeated the Central PA Breeze 16-0, Vienna Stars 7-1, Richmond Diamonds 3-2 (9 inning ITB), PA Fireballs 4-1, and held on to an early lead to defeat the PA Lucky Ladies 4-3 in the final. The Shamrocks had some breathing room at the end since they were undefeated, but the IF game was not necessary.

     In the final game the Shamrocks showed their intentions by opening the scoring in the 2nd inning. With one out, Tamara Poles drew a base on balls. Brittany Woods put down a great sacrifice bunt, and Aubrie Carmack singled. Cara L’Etoile had a line shot triple to left center to score both Tamara and Brie. The Shamrocks scored, in similar fashion, in the 4th. Tamara singled, moved to 2nd on a wild pitch, was sacrificed to 3rd with another successful bunt by Britt Woods… Brie Carmack came through with and big RBI single, giving the Shamrocks a comfortable 3-0 lead, or so it seemed at the time.

     As is typical of the Lucky Ladies, they would not go down to defeat without putting up a fight, and they began taking advantage of opportunities, as injury and fatigue were beginning to plaque the Shamrock pitching staff. In the 5th inning, Cara L’Etoile got the leadoff hitter to take a called third strike, then came a single, followed by a couple of wild pitches, a ground out to short, a walk, and another single. When the dust settled, it was 3-1, 2 outs, with runners on first and third. Jenny Clohan came in relief, hampered by tendonitis in her pitching arm. The Shamrock defense misplayed a delayed steal, allowing the second Lucky Lady run to score. With the tying run at second base, Alexandra Miller saved the day with a shoestring, diving catch in right field to end the inning, and get the Shamrocks out of a huge jamb. So now it was 3-2, and not nearly as comfortable.

     Sensing that the Lucky Ladies were gaining momentum, the Shamrocks took matters seriously and met the challenge head on, with the focus and determination that is the landmark of Shamrock teams. Here comes the “Poles-Woods-Carmack Show” - it’s like deja vu all over again. Tamara led off the 6th with a single, and moved to second on the third consecutive successful sacrifice bunt of the game by Britt. Brie stepped calmly to the plate and came up with her third hit, second consecutive RBI single to left field. Tamara Poles scored for the third time in the game. That proved to be the game winning hit, a huge contribution from our youngest player, who was with the 12U Shamrocks just last summer.

     The drama continued in the bottom of the 7th, as the Ladies mounted another serious threat. A leadoff single, a strike out, another single put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Cara L’Etoile re-entered the game in a highly pressured situation – the Shamrocks were hanging on for dear life. A misplayed drag bunt loaded the bases, bringing up their number 3 hitter. She singled to left, making the score 4-3, bases loaded and one out. Again, Shamrock resolve returns – Cara struck out their number 4 and 5 hitters to end the game, the last one was a ‘hold your breath’ called third strike with the count full on the batter. It doesn’t get any more exciting than that.

     In earlier games, the Shamrocks had significantly less trouble. In a 16-0, 4 inning thrashing of the Central PA Breeze, Britt Woods led the team with 3 hits in 4 trips, and had 3 RBI. Rachelle Wedell was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI, Branden Moss and Cara L’Etoile were both 2 for 3 with an RBI each. Except for a second inning walk, Cara threw a perfect game, with 9 K’s, 3 weak groundouts.

     The Shamrocks started slowly against the Vienna Stars, giving up a run in the first inning, and failing to cash in on scoring opportunities with runners in scoring position each of the first 3 innings. Hitting the ball very hard, but right at the defensive players, the ‘Rocks finally got a clutch hit in the 4th inning. Tamara Poles singled to open the inning, moved to second on Britt Woods’ infield groundout, and scored on an RBI single by Branden Moss. With two outs, Brie Carmack singled. Branden Moss then scored the second run on a Jenny Clohan RBI single. The Shamrocks put the game well out of reach in the fifth inning. Rachelle Wedell opened the inning with a single. Emily Nolan sacrificed her to second. Tamara Poles grounded hard to second base for an error, moving Wedell to third. Britt Woods singled to left, scoring Wedell. Another groundball (by Branden Moss) error at second base loaded the bases, bringing up Cara L’Etoile. Cara singled to center, the ball went ‘between the wickets’ of the centerfielder, and that cleared the bases and scored all three runs. L’Etoile scored on a single by Jenny Clohan, completing the scoring at 7-1. Cara L’Etoile struck out 5, walked 4, and gave up only 2 hits.

     The Shamrocks dodged a bullet in the Winner’s Bracket Semifinal. They barely got by the Richmond Diamonds in a 9th inning ITB thriller. The going got tough, so the tough got going, and brought home the key victory. Jenny Clohan led off the bottom of the 1st with a single, moved to second on a Charli Wacker sacrifice bunt, and scored on an RBI single up the middle by catcher Emily Nolan. The ‘Rocks were coasting along until the Diamonds tied the game in the 4th with a leadoff walk, hit batsman, and a run scoring base hit. The Diamonds took the lead in the 5th with 2 outs and no one on base, there was a single, hit batsman, and an RBI single. The Shamrocks offense came up huge to tie the game in the bottom of the 7th and send the game into extra innings. Rachelle Wedell lead off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Emily Nolan. In the 9th, Jenny Clohan started on 2nd base. When Charli Wacker bunted, the Diamonds tried, and failed to get the runner at third. An infield grounder by Emily Nolan scored Clohan with the winning run. Jenny Clohan struck out 10 Diamond batters, walked 2, and gave up 4 hits in 9 innings.

     The win put the Shamrocks into the Winner’s Bracket Final versus a very strong Chester County PA Fireballs team, who had just beaten the Lucky Ladies in their extra inning semi-final match. Cara L’Etoile pitched an excellent 4 hitter with 5 strikeouts and no walks. The Shamrocks put the game out of reach in the first inning, scoring 4 runs. Charli Wacker and Rachelle Wedell had back-to-back singles. Emily Nolan doubled to right center, scoring Wacker. Tamara Poles cranked a triple to the gap in left center, scoring Wedell and Nolan. Britt Woods singled to center, scoring Poles with the 4th run of the inning. The Shamrocks brought all 9 batters to the plate in the first inning, with Marisa Cruz making the last out, hitting a frozen rope line drive shot to the SS who made a nice play. Cruz was 2 for 3 in the game. All 9 batters had at least one hit. Cruz, Nolan, and Woods had two hits apiece.

     Way to go Shamrocks! On to Midland!!