Scottsdale Fever: My Site News
Monday, August 4ASA Western Nationals - Season Wrap Up
Fever Family,
My goodness. Another season behind us.
Our first year of breaking for the high school season. Our first year of competing (or registering anyway) at the 16U level. And, even though we had an average age on the roster of 15 1/2 years old, we largely competed at the 18U level.
On the first day, maybe it was a sign of things to come when I broke my finger getting the pitching machine prepared for the season. You wouldn't have thought so in January when the team was batting .385 and the team pitching staff had an ERA of 2.41!
All was good in Fever land. We broke for High School ball in February with a team batting average of .372 and a 2.61 ERA. The team had won 16 of the 26 games they had played. All Fever players, Freshman and Sophomores alike, were chosen for their Varsity programs at their respective high schools. We were a proud group.
Then, during High School, Tara gets hurt but she would be OK when the club season resumed. Leah gets noticed by a prestigious California club team and gives us the news that she would finish the season with the Fever but would be moving to their group for the '08/'09 season. Jenna Makis decides to take advantage of an opportunity with another team. Nicole Curet and Allie Tallman also leave looking to find a better fit elsewhere. Uh Oh! No problem. We pick up Devan Gray, Abbie Kohler and Alexa Nenaber. Three great kids. Let's go back to work.
The girls had set a couple goals for the season. One was to compete at the ASA Hall of Fame Classic in OKC. A difficult and much sought after berth. We can't play in the qualifier. Leah is in California that weekend. Several girls have finals the following week.
Another was to compete in College Showcase tournaments this year. We played in Palmdale, California in the TCS Best of the West College Showcase. We played in Huntington Beach, California in the OC Bat Busters Tournament of Champions and in Denver, Colorado for the TCS Colorado Sparkler.
We had also set a goal of chasing national tournament berths. Specifically ASA Nationals. We qualified for the fourth year in a row for Triple Crown Sport's World Series in Park City, Utah. We would then chase ASA. The Hall of Fame College Scholarship Round Robin, the local Junior Olympic Fun in the Sun Classic, the Annual Desert Shootout in Tucson, Beat the Heat in Prescott and finally the ASA State Championship. All of these tournaments the girls would compete at the 18U level with the exception of the State Championship. We fell a little short of ASA Nationals but were invited to compete in ASA Western Nationals in Portland, Oregon. In lieu of Park City, the girls went to Portland.
In fact we got back today! A good tournament. A great time. The weather was great. We didn't have Tara who was still nursing a broken finger from the ASA State Championship. And, Leah didn't end up finishing the season with the Fever. She was done after the Sparkler in Denver. She needed a break from softball before she began her new club career in California. Short handed (with only ten players), we fell short on the win-loss column. But like Steve Prefontaine said, "You may beat me, but to do so, you're going to bleed". Grace Appelbe joined us. She was great in center and a lot of fun - especially when watching her give Katie crud. We toured Nike headquarters. Went to the Portland Zoo, visited the coast, the Columbian River Gorge and took a jet boat ride up the Willamette River and played a mean game of "capture the flag" taking over the entire Residence Inn campus in Vancouver, Wa.
While the season did not wind up the way we had hoped, we still felt good about the opportunities provided to the girls, the way they took advantage of them, the lessons they learned and those they taught us. I enjoyed the opportunity to sit with each you individually to discuss goals met, some we fell short of as a team and individuals as well as our respective plans for next year. Thank you to the parents for all of your support.
It's just a game. You decide how you play it.
Christine ended the season with a .386 batting average and went deep against the Artesia Punishers on Friday, her sixteenth birthday! Ash ended up with a .364 batting average (97 points higher than last year) and a .410 on base percentage after batting .455 at Western Nationals this week. Doone ended the year with a .336 batting average. Last year Lauren batted .245. Nice job. Great improvement year over year. DP ended up batting .330 for the '07/'08 season, 72 points better than last year! A direct result of living in the cage. Abbie batted .308 for the Fever since May. Alexa batted .500 at ASA Western Nationals!
We didn't initially recruit a team. We recruited individuals. It was up to us to become a team.
Our team pitching ended up with an ERA of 4.21 (backing up to 43' at the 18U level effected us). Casey led the way with a 3.26 ERA. Opposing teams batted .270 against the Fever this year. The team's batting average for the season was .333. Very good! Last year we batted .277 as a team. On defense, 67% of the runs scored against the Fever last year were earned runs. This year, 65%.
It was another very emotional ending for me. I desperately wanted these girls to experience the success they deserve. I would do anything to give each of them that. I loved having Devan in the dugout. What a personality. Clark's naive and cute smile and great cackling laugh. Katie's work ethic. Doone's smile after getting a hit. Hannah's ferocious competitiveness, Ashley's "cool" persona. Alexa's grin and silence. Tara's phobia's. Abbie's no nonsense look out of the corner of her eye. Leah's never ending question, "What did I do?". Grace's youthful exuberance. Casey. What do I say about Sunshine without crying? Enough said. Very proud. All of you make very proud.
Thanks for all of your hard work, commitment and loyalty this year. I had a blast.
Coming up:
* August 9th Tryouts at Mohave - 9:00 AM
* End of August Initial team get together, annual trip to emergency room.
* Mid September Individual skills/recruiting videos produced. I have a production company that will make each of the girls skills videos that we can post to the web, e-mail and distribute via DVD. Some costs are variable based on number of players, especially when it comes to editing. More to come.
* Mid to late September Practice begins again - we start anew!
* Tournament opportunities for the Fall are already posted on the web site Calendar.
Thanks again Fever.
See you Saturday.
Coach Hinkle
Scottsdale Fever Fast Pitch Softball
Scottsdale Fever Fast Pitch Softball
Sunday, July 6
TCS Colorado Sparkler
Sunday, June 15
ASA 18U Beat the Heat Championship - Prescott, AZ
Sunday, June 8
ASA 18U Desert Shoot Out - Tucson
Sunday, June 1
18U ASA Fun in the Sun JO Classic
Monday, May 19
ASA AZ Hall of Fame Scholarship Fund Round Robin
Sunday, January 27
TCS 18U Super Bowl Championship - World Series Qualifier
Sunday, January 13
TCS Cool January Championship
Monday, January 7
TCS Desert Classic - Palm Springs, CA
Tuesday, November 11
TCS The Whole Enchilada
Sunday, November 4
OC Bat Busters College Showcase - Huntington Beach, Ca
Sunday, October 28
TCS Octoberfest
Tuesday, October 9
TCS Best of the West College Showcase
Monday, September 24
ASA Dave Braga Memorial Tournament
Tuesday, July 24
2007 TCS World Series
Monday, July 9
USSSA State Championship
Tuesday, July 3
TCS Red, White and Blue National Qualifier, Laguna Niguel, California
Monday, June 25
ASA State Championship
Friday, June 22
Fever Update 6-11-07
Monday, May 21
TCS Peter Piper National Qualifier
Tuesday, April 24
Fever Rolls Through Spring!
Monday, March 26
USSSA March Madness National Qualifier
Monday, March 19
TCS March Madness National Qualifier
Monday, February 26
ASA Junior Olympic Spring Classic
Monday, January 29
TCS Super Bowl Championship
Monday, January 29
Phoenix ASA Junior Olympic Kick Off Classic
Monday, January 15
TCS Cool January National Qualifier
Monday, December 10
TCS Holiday Championship - end of Fall '06 season
Thursday, December 7
USSSA Holiday Fiesta National Qualifier
Tuesday, November 14
TCS Fall National Qualifier Nov 11&12, 2006
Wednesday, November 8
ASA Ron Bouldin Classic
Tuesday, October 17
TCS Border Championship Oct 14-15
Monday, October 9
TCS Payson Fall Classic World Series Qualifier - Runner Up
Monday, October 2
CHAMPIONS! - TCS Top 4 National Qualifier - Tucson, AZ Sept 30-Oct 1, 2006
Sunday, July 23
2006 TCS World Series, Park City, Utah
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Monday, June 26
TCS Cool Country Fun - Payson, AZ
Monday, June 12
Super Diamonds - Baum's Sporting Goods TCS National Qualifier June '06
Tuesday, June 6
USSSA Memorial Day Classic
Monday, May 22
Peter Piper TCS National Qualifier May 20-21, 2006
Monday, May 8
Cinco De Mayo USSSA National Qualifier May 6&7
Monday, May 1
TCS April Days Championship Apr. 29-30
Monday, May 1
TCS April Championship
Sunday, March 26
March Madness 25th & 26th
Sunday, March 26
TCS March Madness Championship - National World Series Qualifier March 18-19
Monday, February 20
USSSA Spring Training Classic - National Qualifier Feb 18-19
Sunday, February 12
TCS WOrld Series Qualifier - Louisville Slugger Championship - Phoenix, AZ
USSSA January 28-29 2006
USSSA National Qualifier - Tucson, AZ
TCS Holiday Championship National Qualifier Dec 10 & 11, 2005
USSSA Holiday Fiesta National Qualifier
TCS Fall National Qualifier
TCS Baums Sporting Goods Octoberfest
TCS National Qualifier, Tucson Oct 1-2, 2005
TCS Back to School Round Robin
2005 TCS World Series
TCS Bear Country State Championship - Flagstaff
TCS Baum's Diamonds Cahmpionship June 11, 2005 / ASA Phoenix Metro Championship June 17, 2005
TCS Peter Piper State Championship May 22, 2005
TCS Heat'N Up Championship May 7, 2005
May Days Double Play Championship May 1, 2005
March 7, 2005
TCS Casino Ball Fun Championship, Laughlin, NV May 15, 2005