10U Victory USA Captures
Softball Today’s Team of the Year Honors
By Robert Campbell
In just two travel seasons, the youngest members of the Victory USA softball family have quickly adopted the organization’s winning tradition.
On the same day that their 14U sister squad claimed a national championship, the 10U team announced its arrival as a rising power by battling through the losers’ bracket to win a title and become the Softball Today ASA 10-&-under team of the year.
“I am so happy for all of the players, coaches and the parents who worked so hard the entire season,” coach Mark Campbell said. “I could not be any prouder of a group of girls.”
With Campbell also guiding the 14U squad during nationals, Robert Young and Brian Gutierrez co-directed the ASA championship journey — one that featured a six-game winning streak and back-to-back triumphs over the Cobras in the finals.
Pitchers Breanna Gutierrez and Stephanie Best teamed up for seven wins and combined on a no-hitter against Georgia Extreme as Victory USA rebounded from an opening day loss to the Southern California Crunch.
Not even a one hour rain delay in the final game could slow down the comeback thanks in part to a four-RBI game from catcher Deja Mulipola, who tripled in two runs in the second inning and had a two-run single in the fourth.
“The competition was tough,” coach Campbell said. “The Southern California Crunch, Cerritos Franchise and American Athletics were teams we played in the tournament that we had hard-fought games against. We played all three of them throughout the season since they are also from Southern California.”
The competition helped Victory USA rise to the challenge when it mattered most.
Alyssa Barrera doubled in the game-winning run against Cerritos Franchise (2-0) and Alyssa Pelegrin came through with a tie-breaking single in a 2-1 win over American Athletics.
There were big hits in every game — with key contributions coming from Montana Dixon, Taylon Snow, Mack Boesel, Bailey Henkie and Jaymee Campbell — until only the Cobras (and a rain shower) stood between Victory USA and a national title.
Gutierrez tossed a three-hitter and struck out eight in a 5-0 victory that forced a deciding game and then Best sent everyone searching for a cell phone with a complete-game pitching performance that was complemented by Mulipola’s four RBI and run-scoring hits from Boesel, Dixon and Pelegrin.
“From the time they started playing in the fall they continued to grow as a team,” coach Campbell said. “We only practiced one day a week because of the distance the kids travel to be on the team. But as the season went along, the girls began to understand what it took to win.”
Following a 9-2 victory over the Georgia Cobras that secured the 2009 10U ASA National Championship, the excited winners called to share the news with Campbell, who was in the process of celebrating a title with the 14U squad.
“These are the little things I will always remember,” he said. “And that is why I do this.”
