It took until last Saturday for the annual Michelle Carew Classic softball tournament to be completed, and although both finalists – No. 1 in the state Lutheran of Orange and No. 6 Huntington Beach – did not start their aces, it was still a significant 6-4 win for Orange Lutheran.
Earlier in the week, both teams won in league games with Orange Lutheran defeating state-ranked Mater Dei of Santa Ana 14-3.
On Saturday, according to head coach Steve Miklos when he talked to Carlos Arias of OCSidelines.com, the difference was the three innings of shutout pitching he got from Amelia Van Orman that kept Huntington Beach at three runs on the scoreboard.
By the time Miklos brought in ace Maddy Dwyer (headed to Stanford), his team had built a 6-3 lead. Alisen Endsley’s two-run double in the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie. Earlier, Mackenzie Boesel had a two-run double.
The tournament initially began in April and could not be completed due to rain and wet fields. In addition to those two teams, key entrants were Mission Viejo, Los Alamitos and Amador Valley of Pleasanton (currently the No. 1 ranked team in Northern California).
The reason the Carew becomes important in the rankings isn’t just due to Amador Valley’s presence. It’s also because Mission Viejo is Division II in the CIF Southern Section playoffs instead of Division I. The Diablos, who lost to Orange Lutheran in the Carew semifinals, will now be very hard-pressed to finish No. 1 in the final state rankings unless a team charges out of the woodwork to win the CIFSS D1 title.
Thanks to tourney director Lance Eddy, here is a list of this year’s Michelle Carew Classic all-tournament team:
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Maddy Dwyer, Orange Lutheran
MOST VALUABLE PITCHER
MacKenzie Boesel, Orange Lutheran
Amador Valley: Courtney Dinelli, Danielle Williams.
California (Whittier): Justice Sharp
Canyon del Oro (Tucson): Ellessa Bonstrom, Gabby Blevins.
Capistrano Valley: Mckenna Boyd
Foothill (Tustin): Brooke Cantillo
Huntington Beach: Anna Kupta, Ivy Davis, Jaelynn Allchina, Kristina Inouye.
Kennedy (La Palma): Khloe Lilavois.
Lakewood: Name not submitted.
Los Alamitos: Lindsi Dennis, Mary Iakopo.
Mater Dei Catholic (Chula Vista): Kelsey Munoz.
Mission Viejo: Bella Loya, Camyrn Ybarra, Terra McGowan.
Orange Lutheran: Noelle Hee, Dani Dawson, Lauren Espalin.
Pacifica (Garden Grove): Name not submitted.
Poway: Gabrielle Calloway.
Rosary (Fullerton): Andrea Hester.
One Comment
Actually Mackenzie Boesel was the Most Valuable Player and Maddy Dwyer the Most Valuable Pitcher