Summer softball sweeps championships

Four Bruins played on the club team that won the Amateur
Softball Association Major Championship this past Tuesday when the
Schutt Hurricanes beat the Stratford Brakettes 3-1 in the
championship game in Stratford, Conn. Krista Colburn, Kristen
Dedmon, Ashley Herrera and Danielle Peterson played on the
Hurricanes throughout the summer, competing in other tournaments
and even playing against some professional teams as part of the
National Pro Fastpitch schedule. But their defining moment came at
the most important tournament of the summer, the ASA Major
Championships, where the Hurricanes churned out a four-game winning
streak at a tournament featuring 12 of the top club teams in the
country. “The four of us were still bitter with the loss at
the World Series, so winning the championship was great for
us,” Herrera said. “Hopefully it’s a precursor
for us for next year.” “The ASA Major Championship is
the pinnacle of women’s major softball during the
summer,” UCLA coach Sue Enquist said. “I’m really
proud of all the players that contributed to that team.” In
the championship game, Herrera tied the game with an RBI single in
the top of the seventh inning to drive in Peterson, and an RBI
single by Hurricane Kim Gonzalez gave the team the lead over the
Brakettes, who are 27-time national champions at the amateur level
and will become a professional team next year. Herrera was also key
in the winners’ bracket final the day before, driving in the
only RBI with a sacrifice fly in a 1-0, eight inning victory over
the Brakettes and its pitcher Cat Osterman, who is widely
considered to be the best softball pitcher in the country. It was
an unorthodox summer for the Bruins playing on the Hurricanes, as
all four were called on to play positions they hadn’t been
asked to play this past season at UCLA. Herrera and Colburn,
outfielders at UCLA, regularly played in the middle infield for the
Hurricanes. Dedmon and Colburn, who seldom pitched for the Bruins,
were called on in relief multiple times for the Hurricanes. And
Peterson, who was on the bench most of the season at UCLA, started
almost every game for the Hurricanes. “Summer ball is all
about being laid back, having fun and staying in shape with
softball,” Herrera said. “It was a good experience. A
lot of the teams we played against had players from the Pac-10, and
it was fun to play against some of the old players we never got to
play against.” The four Bruins also got a taste of
professional softball, as NPF teams scheduled half of their games
against club or international teams for the first time. The
Hurricanes played eight games against professional teams and won
one of those games, a 4-1 win over the Arizona Heat. In that game,
Herrera hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to give her
team the win. “It was really exciting,” Herrera said.
“We were all out just having a good time, but they’re
professionals; they had to take it seriously. Any win against them
was huge.”

NATIONAL TRYOUTS: Two current Bruins and four UCLA alumnae were
invited to participate in USA Softball’s National team
selection camp, from Sept. 6-10. Caitlin Benyi and Andrea Duran,
who will be seniors in the upcoming softball season, were invited
to tryout, as well as former Bruins Tairia Mims Flowers, Amanda
Freed, Stacey Nuveman and Natasha Watley. All four of the former
Bruins starred on the U.S. Olympic Team, which won the 2004 gold
medal in Athens, Greece. The Women’s National Team Selection
Committee will be selecting 17 players for the team it will be
sending to the Pan American Games and the World Championship
qualifiers. Thirty-five athletes were invited to the camp.

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