SPRING JAMBOREE: Osborn’s bat helps Bonanza capture crown
Emily Osborn might want to play all her softball games at Majestic Park.
The Bonanza sophomore wrapped up a two-day hitting clinic Wednesday by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs to help the Bengals defeat Centennial 4-0 in the championship game of the Spring Jamboree tournament.
The Bengals won five straight games in the tournament after dropping their two pool games.
“Our motto for the week was 'Release the Beast,’ and I just tried to do that,” said Osborn, a first baseman. “We just wanted to swing and have fun and not worry about anything.”
In two games Tuesday and two Wednesday, Osborn went 11-for-14 with three home runs, a triple, two doubles and 15 RBIs. The RBI total is especially impressive because she hits leadoff.
“She’s really been on all year,” Bonanza coach Dusti Winward said. “But she has just crushed the ball the last two days.”
Osborn’s final at-bat of the tournament all but clinched the title.
The Bengals (19-3) carried a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning and had the bases loaded after a single by Cheyenne Wells and two hit batters.
Osborn pulled a 3-1 pitch into right-center field, scoring Wells and Michelle Miller.
Nicolette Lind’s RBI ground-out made the score 4-0 and gave Bonanza senior pitcher Sam Snyder plenty of cushion.
Snyder tossed a five-hitter and didn’t walk a batter. She allowed only two Bulldogs to reach third base.
“She’s so confident out there,” Osborn said.
Snyder allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in each of the first five innings, but Centennial (15-5) went 0-for-14 with runners on, including 10 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
Centennial, a 4-2 winner over Palo Verde in the semifinals, had scored 76 runs in its previous nine games, including a 9-4 victory over Bonanza in pool play Monday.
“Sam just relaxed and really got focused,” Winward said. “She used her defense. The girls all wanted it.”
Bonanza advanced to the final by outlasting Winslow (Ariz.) 14-11 in a two-hour-plus semifinal.
“We just need to take this and keep running with it,” Winward said.
Bonanza 14, Winslow (Ariz.) 11 — Osborn went 4-for-4 with a grand slam and six RBIs as the Bengals won a slugfest in the semifinals.
Aimee Doyle also homered for Bonanza, which rallied from a 6-3 second-inning deficit to take an 11-6 lead after four innings.
Winslow pulled within 11-10 in the fifth before Bonanza tacked on three more runs.
Miller and Brittany Spencer each added a double to Bonanza’s 21-hit attack.
Centennial 4, Palo Verde 2 — Katie Lee had two run-scoring singles, and the Bulldogs never trailed en route to the finals.
Paige Reese went 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI for Centennial. Lindsay Konopelko pitched a four-hitter and struck out nine.
Missy McCormick was 1-for-2 with a solo home run for the Panthers. She threw a six-hitter with six strikeouts.
San Fernando (Calif.) 9, Coronado 6 — Nataly Garcia’s three-run homer in a four-run seventh inning lifted San Fernando to the consolation bracket title.
Cynthia Govea also homered for the Tigers.
Morgan Yuhas and Amanda Garrison hit home runs for Coronado, and Katie Cochran was 2-for-4.
Coronado 14, Douglas 4 — Winning pitcher Allie Amato went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs and four RBIs to carry Coronado past Douglas.
Yuhas was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and three runs.
Douglas’ Morgan Blomstrom went 3-for-3 with two doubles.
San Fernando (Calif.) 11, Rancho 1 — Rosario Vega and Alyssa Arrizon each went 2-for-3 with three RBIs as the Tigers defeated Rancho.
Amber Marlett’s solo homer in the third inning accounted for Rancho’s run. She was 2-for-3.
