Bonita Valley 12U Gold team captures Southern California softball title

The Bonita Valley Girls Amateur Softball Association has placed yet another team in the national spotlight this summer after its 12U Gold team recently captured the Southern California state championship – and a berth in the upcoming nationals in Medford, Ore.

The 12U Gold team is on quite a tear with a 40-33-6 record through the state championship tournament, which took place July 10-12 in Lancaster. The team is in final preparations to embark on its crusade to the Pacific Northwest to win the national championship in its division as well.

The nationals are scheduled July 27 to Aug. 3. See link at http://playmedford.awssports.com/ssp/asa12b for more information.

The team finished 6-0 in tournament play at the SoCal finals, defeating Thousand Oaks by a score of 5-2 in the championship game. Bonita Valley competed in a 32-team bracket.

Bonita Valley opened with a 9-1 win over Orangecrest, then followed with a 5-4 win over WAGS before recording a 3-2 win over Santee, an 8-7 win over Thousand Oaks and a 3-2 win over El Rio  leading up to the championship game.

Since the start of the season, the team scored 284 runs and allowed 109 runs.

Bonita Valley defeated Santee, 4-2, to win the South San Diego District championship tournament held June 26-28 in Santee. Bonita Vista finished 4-0 in that tournament.

Team members include Aimee Alvarado (right field), Arisa Tovar (catcher), Bella Hurtado (third base), Enissa Weakley (pitcher), Erika Sanchez (catcher), Julia Hill (shortstop), Kaelin McManus (second base), Kiyra Moody (first base), Lexi Tubman (canter field), Melanie Johnson (left field), Mireya Cepeda (pitcher), Nicole Hill (left field) and Saige Alfaro (second base).

The team’s coaching staff includes manager Kiyoshi Moody, head coach Scott Hill, coaches Armando Tovar, Cruz Alvarado and Damion Cepeda, scorekeeper Jeff Johnson and team mom Marlene Hill.

For more information on the team (and the league), visit the BVGASA website at www.bvgasa.org.