12U Gold Go To Disney

The 12U Gold played in the USSSA World Series at Disneyworld. It was hot and the softball was great. The girls played well in the blazing heat taking 2nd in their pool. After surviving a monsoon type rain out, the tournament was well played and hard fought against some great teams from as far away as Washington state. All the families had a super time at the Disney & Universal parks. It was a excellent way to finish off a very successful 2008 season. On to the game details.

The Tinley Park Rockers 12U Gold traveled to Orlando, Florida to play in the "USSSA Fast Pitch 12U World Series”. The team finished 2nd in Pool Play by going 2-1. The Rockers opened Pool Play with bats as hot as the weather. The Rockers played the Collegeville, Pennsylvania X-Treme Red and won by the score of 14-1. In this game, the Rockers were lead by the pitching of Kathleen Steffensen and the hitting and defensive play of Lauren Beatty and Amy Vos. The Rockers lost their second game to the Niceville, Florida High Intensity by the close score of 3-2. The Rockers had a great pitching effort from Sarah Herold in this game. Megan Glynn contributed with the bat and called a great game behind the plate. Haley Hamann made some great defensive plays to turn back Niceville and keep the Rockers in the game. Ashley Hesse had a key hit to give the Rockers a 2-1 lead that they could not hold on to. The Rockers threaten in every inning but the High Intensity made the plays to defeat the Rockers in this very exciting game. The Rockers needed to win the final Pool Game to get a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockers played the West Palm Beach, Florida Pride and won the game 9-3. Sara Koniewicz and Angela Robison took the Rocker team on their back and lead the team to victory. The Rockers entered the championship playoffs and played the Annandale, Virginia Stingrays. This game started at 11:00 AM and lasted over 4 hours. The game went 12 innings and was delayed by a rain storm. The Rockers battled and Stingrays and the Florida heat and won the game 6-5. Allison Kotas took charge of the game by taking part in two double plays (one was unassisted) and both came in extra innings to prevent the Rockers from losing. Rachel Tobolaski came in the relieve Steffensen and pitched outstanding to get the Rockers a win. The Rockers had to play immediately after that game against the Aurora, Indiana EMR club. EMR was well rested and defeated the Rockers by the score of 7-1. The Rockers had a great game by Rebecca Vahldick and Melissa Schobel. Vahldick caught most of the games in this tournament and was the strength for the Rockers all tournament long. Schobel was the ultimate team player by playing many positions and making clutch plays. In all the Rockers Gold had a great experience in Florida. In USSSA play, the Rockers finished the year ranked 8th in the State of Illinois out of 120 teams.