July 5, 2024
AURORA, Colo. -- The bombs burst in the air just when Athletics Mercado Hovermale needed it July 4 at the Aurora Sports Park.
A lot of hits didn’t end up producing runs for coach Rick Hovermale’s team in a 16u National Power Pool TV Bracket contest against a strong Mojo-Lewis squad, but two-run home runs by three different players loomed large in an 8-3 Independence Day victory.
Heart of the order hitters Taylor Johns and Charli Calas each went yard as the Athletics rallied from an early deficit and No. 9 hitter Sasha Pham added an insurance blast late as a team comprised of players from a variety of states moved to 6-0 in the tournament.
“Their pitcher did a really good job of keeping us off balance early and once we adjusted the second time through, it made the difference,” Hovermale said. “They didn’t change their game plan much, so we were able to sit on what we were looking for later in the game. It really showed up.”
Indeed, after two innings, Hovermale’s team had five hits, but just one run thanks to the defense of the Mojo-Lewis team, which also came into the game 5-0. A promising rally in the opening inning that included three hits off Mojo-Lewis starter Addison DeRoche (Maine) was quelled when two baserunners were thrown out and it took a steal of home to get on the board by pinch runner Hailey Chavolla (California) to score in the second.
Down 2-1, Johns — an infielder from Las Vegas who has ripped the cover off the ball for the entire tournament — stepped to the plate with Bailey Goldberg (another Nevada player) on base and homered over the left field fence to give her team a needed boost.
“It could have been anybody, I think we just needed one swing to get us going,” Johns said. “Obviously it did, so that was good.”
Kylie Tafua stole a base after she was hit by a pitch, tagged and moved up on a fly ball to right field by Isabella Mosley and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chloe McGreevey as the Athletics added to its lead with a little smallball involving three players from California in the fourth inning before the long ball returned. Calas (who joined Johns, Tafua and Pham with two of 14 hits for the Athletics) then hit a blast to left field that led Mojo-Lewis’ Jordan Young into a collision with the fence in an unsuccessful attempt to make a catch.
Pham followed Chavolla’s leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run shot of her own for the seventh and eighth straight runs scored by Hovermale’s team.
“We’ve definitely had some ups and downs, but being consistent and staying through the ball have been really good for us so far this tournament,” Calas said.
The strong offensive effort was plenty to back the pitching of four different players, as Lydia Berent (Florida), Jadyn Shin and Mia Valbuena (California) threw two effective innings apiece and Aviana Valbuena (California) closed it out.
Mojo-Lewis — which includes players from nine different states — scored a tournament-high 10 runs in its game the previous day and got off to a fine start when Kensi Arringdale (Iowa) singled, made a heads-up sprint from first to third on a bunt by Young and came home on a sacrifice fly from Audrey Cathey (Tennessee) and then got an RBI from Halle Bailey (Tennessee) on a walk with the bases loaded.But that would be it for what appeared on the scoreboard until a solo home run by Avary Stockwell (Tennessee) in the top of the seventh inning.
In between, Mojo-Lewis stranded six runners — four in scoring position — as a big hit proved elusive.
“I was able to get every kid at least an at-bat and all four of my pitchers got in, so that’s a successful day,” Hovermale said. “I would like to keep competing the rest of the weekend. I wouldn’t say we’re the most talented team here, but these kids get after it, that’s for sure.”
Athletics Mercado Hovermale shifts over to Horseshoe Park for a 10 a.m. July 5 contest, while Mojo-Lewis returns to the Aurora Sports Park for a noon contest.
“We just want to keep winning and everybody keeps doing their jobs,” Johns said.
