Bearcats are Boise Bound for Western Nationals Tournament
Bearcats finished the league with a perfect 8 win 0 loss season and claimed the top spot and qualified to travel to Boise at the end of July
–As most other local all-star teams are gearing up to start their summer tournament circuit we have athletes in Paso Robles who have been hard at work for 3 months already. Traditionally all stars is something that starts up in May for most area softball organizations. However, with rules changing in recent years through the Central California ASA Organization, Clovis to Goleta, local programs are able to take advantage of an early travel program. While most programs are yet to take the leap with this early program Paso Robles Girls Softball League has jumped at the opportunity like it is a 3ball 1strike fastball.
“We saw an opportunity to give more of our local athletes a chance to play at a higher level of competition without having to venture out of the area to play club travel ball.” Says PRGSL President and 10U Varsity Bearcat Head Coach Andy MacDonald. “For three years now we have been leading the county to make sure that all new opportunities were thoroughly explored for our athletes.”
In the third year of the early all-star program PRGSL has expanded the program to have two 10 and under teams, a Varsity and JV team, and a 12 and under team. In addition to the 3 early teams, now that the recreational season has come to a completion, PRGSL has also formed an 8U and 14U team.
“We jumped at the chance to get our athletes traveling out of the area to compete with other like-minded organizations. Three years ago we started the program when our 12U team went down to the California State Games and took 1st in the State. Our coach Berk Baker, now the PRHS Varsity softball coach, was looking at having his athletes play more than just recreational softball. We allowed Berk to expand the team’s scope and travel out of the area to find opponents that would challenge our local athletes.”
Three years later the program has expanded to nine 10U teams, nine 12U teams and four 14U teams from Clovis to Morro Bay. In addition to these teams being able to play each other in a Select League with games played on Sundays in Clovis, Paso Robles and Morro Bay, CCASA surprised the Select League this year with awarding the top two teams from each age division with a berth to the Western Nationals Tournament.
Last Sunday, May 7, wrapped up the end of the Select League competition. The results are in and the 10U Varsity Bearcats finished the league with a perfect 8 win 0 loss season and claimed the top spot and qualified to travel to Boise, Idaho at the end of July for the Western Nationals Tournament.
“These athletes are special,” says MacDonald. “They are a unique group of strong minded, hard working and extremely coachable young ladies. We have one goal every time we step on the field for practice or games: Get Better. These 12 athletes are unlike any athletes I have coached before and I have coached football, basketball, and softball in the community for over 14 years. We push them daily both mentally and physically. We assign homework assignments on how to be a better teammate, defensive assignments, and goal setting. Our Bearcats are proud to represent this community and put in the work it takes to be success ball players and teammates.”
MacDonald surprised the girls this week with a visit from former SLO High School Alum, College World Series Championship Pitcher and Game MVP, Team USA Pitcher, Katie Burkhart. Katie was quick to acknowledge that hard work has got these athletes to this point in the season and qualifying for Western Nationals is a great accomplishment but she was also there to remind these athletes to “never stop working to get better, never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something and just because one goal is met doesn’t mean it is time to become complaisant.”
Burkhart went on to share stories of her accomplishments and how coaches who first saw her attempt to pitch when she was 10 years old still today can’t believe how far she went in her softball career. “I started off as a catcher,” she said. “We played an all-star tournament that summer and our pitcher threw 5 games in one day. I remember that being a trigger for me to want to learn how to pitch. I left that tournament telling my parents, if she can do it so can I. Being determined and stubborn are great qualities for an athlete.”
“Our athletes loved the opportunity to hear from a local softball hero. All of these girls dream of playing college softball and to meet the best college pitcher to ever come out of SLO County was a true treat. Katie definitely left them with a message that will be a building block for this team all summer. As is these athletes live to get better daily but now they have had an athlete who has “been there, done that” give them reassurance to never settle. We couldn’t be more grateful for Katie taking the time to give back to the local softball community,” said MacDonald.
These Bearcats are lead by a coaching staff of MacDonald, Robby Dawson, Lindsay Emmel-Hawley (former AHS Standout Pitcher and Sonoma State record holding Pitcher), Kyle Nancolas and Bryan Wallingford. Athletes on the team are Elie Chavez, Brielle Burt, Aalia Torres, Nevaeh Dyer, Rylinn MacDonald, Olive Moscardi, Kylee Nancolas, Hailey Wallingford, Whitney Moore, Alexis Hickey, Brooklyn Healy and Kylee Dayton.
These athletes have just started their journey, a journey that will take them to Boise Idaho in July to compete against the top 40 teams in the western United States. This journey is not a cheap journey and the team has begun fundraising efforts to help them with uniforms, equipment and travel expenses. If you or your business would like to contribute as a team sponsor please contact Andy MacDonald at president@prgsl.org or (805) 835-6336.
Check out the team on Facebook.
Comments
