MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (July 1–8)
Colorado 4th of July Tournament: 16U Sparkler Open
By Jason Nihles, The Platteville Journal / Fennimore Times / Boscobel Dial
Tri-State Team Heat 16U Red goes 5–2–1 at Colorado 4th of July Tournament
DENVER, Colo. — The Tri-State Team Heat 16U Red team traveled to Denver two weeks ago to compete in the Triple Crown Sports Colorado 4th of July Tournament.
Dubbed the “World’s Largest Youth Fastpitch Softball Tournament”, this year’s event featured more than 1,100 teams and more than 16,000 players in multiple divisions ages 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U. More than 600 college coaches were also on hand to get a look at the next generation of future college stars.
The Tri-State Team Heat 16U Red is coached by Team Heat club owner Bob Lowe. Chuck Schnering of Platteville is Lowe’s assistant coach. The team is made up exclusively of athletes from Southwest Wisconsin. The team at the Colorado 4th of July Tournament included Fennimore’s Kayahna Furrer, Brylie Zink and Kylie Cole, Platteville infielder Mikala Schnering, Belmont’s Jaelyn Leitzinger, Cuba City’s Josie Kruser, Richland Center pitcher Kyree Fischer, River Ridge’s Erin Adrian, Mineral Point’s Aida Tuttle, Prairie du Chien pitcher Claire Kennedy, and Cambridge’s Cally Travis.
The Tri-State Team Heat Red competed in the 16U Sparkler Open division, which featured 235 teams in 40 pools.
Team Heat opened pool play with a 12–12 tie against the Oklahoma Athletics Wednesday, July 2, before bouncing back less than an hour later with a dominating 12–2 win over Firecrackers Brashear, a team from South San Diego, Calif. Team Heat then beat Texas Glory, 10–5, and the Seattle Spice (Wash.) 20–0 — both on Thursday, July 3 — to win pool LL with a 3–0–1 record, outscoring its four opponents 54–19. Team Heat advanced to play in 16U Sparkler Mt. Elbert Bracket for 1st and 2nd place pool finishers.
The first and second place teams were then separated into eight 10-team double-elimination brackets for the next phase of the tournament. The winner and runner-up of each of the eight brackets advanced to the 16-team single elimination championship bracket, which was held Sunday, July 6 at Harold D. Lutz Sports Complex in Arvarda, Colo.
Team Heat earned one of the six first-round byes in bracket before beating the St. Louis Chaos, 8–7, on July 4 at 2 p.m. at Lutz Sports Complex. That evening Team Heat suffered a 9–8 loss to Bambinas2627 from Ecleto, Texas.
After a 4th of July Fireworks celebration on Friday night, Team Heat spent Saturday morning waiting for an elimination game opponent. Saturday at 4 p.m., Team Heat 16U Red stayed alive with a 10–4 victory over GenuWin Reign in Romeoville, Ill., but was eliminated in its very next game of the afternoon, bye Pool D winner Oklahoma Bombers XO9 in extra innings, 5–4. The Bombers, who hail from Sand Springs, Okla., went on to beat Bambinas2627, 3–2, Sunday morning to finish second in bracket H and advance to the 16-team Open Championship bracket.
Meanwhile, Tri-State Team Heat finished fourth in bracket H and tied for 25th–32nd place in the entire 235-team 16U Sparkler Open after going 5–2–1 overall.
Furrer had a monster tournament to lead Team Heat, batting .769 (20-for-26) with six doubles, nine home runs, 17 RBI, 18 runs and two walks. She also went 1–1 with a team-low 2.55 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11 innings over three starts.
Cole hit .308 (8-for-26) with one double, one homer, nine RBI, eight runs and a walk. Zink hit .294 (5-for-17) with two doubles, one RBI and five runs scored in seven games played.
Schnering hit .458 (11-for-24) with three doubles, one triple, three RBI, three walks and eight runs scored. Belmont’s Leitzinger batted .409 (9-for-22) with two homers, seven RBI, seven runs scored and two walks in seven games played.
Cuba City’s Kruser hit .423 (11-for-26) with two doubles, two homers 11 RBI, seven runs scored and two walks. PdC’s Claire Kennedy was the team’s top pitcher, going 3–0 with a 4.26 ERA and 13 strikeouts in a team-high 23 innings. She also hit .560 (14-for-25) with two doubles, one homer, five RBI and eights runs scored.
Mineral Point’s Tuttle finished second on the team in batting at .625 (15-for-24) with one double, one homer, seven RBI, 10 runs scored and one walk.
Team Heat 16U Red has traveled to Kansas City this week to play in the USA Elite Select World Fastpitch Championship July 15–20.
