Diamond Devils U18A Fastpitch: Diamond Devil News

Both DIAMOND DEVIL squads spent the fall-ball season at college exposure showcase tourneys from Chicago to Los Angeles.  These included the Surf City October Showcase in Huntington Beach, CA, the Sparks Pumpkin Fest in Chicago, the MSP Showcase in Kansas City and the always popular St. Louis Showcase.  A few players attended the Ronald McDonald Showcase in Houston, TX as well.  The Rising Star Showcase in Florida and the Mustang Exposure Winter Series in Wichita are coming up in January.  College camps and clinics are also on tap for the winter months.  The Kansas high school season begins in late March and runs until Memorial Day.  Please check the DIAMOND DEVIL CALENDAR for high school schedules and DIAMOND DEVIL NEWS for the lastest high school scores and updates!

In true Blue Valley School District tradition, Homecoming date invitations must be unique!  Disrespecting Coach Jeff Hein's edict of "NO boys at the games!!" Brock invites Jessica to the Blue Valley West Homecoming festiivities and she graciously accepts!

In conjunction with the invitation, Jessica's father Pat tunes up Brock on the rules of dating his lovely daughter!  (See photo below)

In Shootout Series softball news the weekend of 4 "Friendly" round-robin games for each Diamond Devil team was a good chance to work on fundamentals, play different positions and get ready for key exposure tournaments in Los Angeles and Chicago in October.

The SOFTBALL HIGHLIGHT of the tourney was Katie Rippberger's MONSTER home-run over the 15 foot high, 215 foot center field fence sparking a 5-0 Diamond Devil RED win over the Heartbreakers.

Also, special thanks to Kim Martin for filling in for both squads during the day!

The DIAMOND DEVILS BLACK avenged their 3-1 pool play defeat at the hands of the DIAMOND DEVILS RED in the ASA Smashing Pumpkins Championship 5-3!!  Both teams played very well over the weekend. 

The DIAMOND DEVILS BLACK were led offensively by Missouri S&T Recruit Hannah Jokisch as well as Darin Lewis who both batted over 500 for the tourney.    Rachel Hein & Darin Lewis pitched well and special thanks to Logan for filling in and then joining the team this weekend.  Welcome Logan! 

The DIAMOND DEVILS RED were led offensively by the duo of Paige Bornhorst and Alexis Pacheco who both batted over 600 for the tourney!!  WOW!!  Lauren Massey and Jessica Frederick also pitched very well in the circle.  Way to go ladies!

The DIAMOND DEVILS BLACK squad won 3 games by a total of 25 - 3 in the Ball State Exposure Camp in Muncie, IN.  However, the ladies went down to a tough Indiana Shockwaves team for their only loss.  The Shockwaves Team placed 4th recently in the U16 USA/ASA Nationals in Sioux City so some good competition there.

http://www.eteamz.com/IndianaShockwaves93/ 

Darin Lewis and Alexis Pacheco each had in-the-park round-trippers - Darin's was a Grand Slam - way to go ladies! 

All-in-all a great debut for the 2009/2010 DIAMOND DEVILS!!

The Diamond Devils finish 7-2 in the Triple Crown World Series for 3rd place competing against the BEST teams in the west.   WAY TO GO DEVILS!!!

See link below for tournament results.

http://www.triplecrownsports.com/event_results2.asp?tournyid=3200

The DD Ladies were knocked out of the winner's bracket by the Salt Lake City Flames http://slflames.com/ the eventual Champs (and Fireworks runner-up) and their 6'2" Pitcher, Tori Almond - Utah's Miss Softball and BYU Recruit.  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700232156/High-school-softball-Binghams-Tori-Almond-named-Ms-Softball.html

The Devils then lost a heartbreaker in the bottom of the 7th inning to Tucson Arizona's Pure Lightning http://www.eteamz.com/tucsonpurelightning/ to miss a return shot at the Flames for the Championship.

Excellent teams the Devils defeated included:

The Utah Sting www.utahsting.com

So Cal Storm (Last Year's U14 Champs) http://www.eteamz.com/SoCalStorm14U/

Arizona's Quick Silver http://www.eteamz.com/AZQuicksilver/

Colorado's Cardinals http://www.eteamz.com/stringzcardinals/

Utah's Pagasus http://www.eteamz.com/UtahPegasus/

Utah's Adrenaline Rush http://www.eteamz.com/AdrenalineRushSoftball/

and Las Vegas' NO FEAR http://www.eteamz.com/LVNoFear/

BACK ROW: COACH JERRY, COACH JEFF, COACH DAVE, COACH NEON DEON

MIDDLE ROW: KRISSY, KYRA, HANNAH, SASA, KYLIE, NICOLE

FRONT ROW: JESSICA, AMANDA, RACHAEL, JAMIE, AJ, LAUREN

The Diamond Devils continued their tradition of playing the BEST competition in the country.  However, rain hampered the Colorado Fireworks event this weekend.  The event was truncated on Saturday night eliminating the loser's bracket and reducing the tournament to a single elimination format.  The Diamond Devils went down 5-0 in their first bracket game to the tough second year U16 Michigan Athletics who went deep in the single elimination tourney.  Two other Diamond Devil pool opponents, the East Cobb Bullets and the Washington Ladyhawks also went deep in the bracket as well as practice opponents the California Bears and the Oregon Blaze.

We hope to see some of these teams again in a few weeks at the Triple Crown World Series in Park City, Utah as well as ASA Nationals. 

Colorado Fireworks link - www.cofireworks.com

The Diamond Devils struggled with errors throughout the tournament but still managed to finish 5th of 16 very strong teams.  They finished 2nd in their pool to the Originals-Schaberg, the 3rd place winner and then dropped two games to Team Power the eventual Champ while beating such tough teams as the Olathe Rockets, Team Intensity, KC Zephyrs and the KC Slammers.  Congratulations Team Power from the DD's.  Good luck in South Dakota!

Diamond Devils finish 2-2 in the U18 NSC Recruiting Tournament losing to the U18 Lookouts 5-3 in bracket play despite Jessica Frederick's TWO bombs over the fence.  Hannah Jokisch also hit a dinger in pool play and played stellar defense in the Lookout game.

Playing up an age group again in the U18A Division the U16A Diamond Devils met their match in the ASA Heartland Exposure Tournament losing to tough teams throughout the weekend.    They lost to three of the top teams in the region but played well and mercy ruled the Wichita Storm 9-1 in their only win.

KC Lookouts Gold 

http://www.eteamz.com/16ALookoutsGold/

U18A Missouri Madness

http://www.eteamz.com/MissouriMadness/

U18A KC Elite

http://www.eteamz.com/kcelitefastpitch/

Sasa's ONW Ravens outlasted last year's champs 3-2 and avenged their 2009 runner-up finish to Washburn Rural.  CONGRATS TO ALL THE ONW girls!!

 Check out the story at the following link:

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/433119.html

The Diamond Devils competed again in the U18A division in the ASA Pepsi Summer Kickoff Classic.  Competing well throughout the tourney they were knocked out in their second bracket game to U18A Freeze.

http://www.eteamz.com/kcfreeze/

The U16 Diamond Devils made their 2009 debut in the always tough ASA Memorial Day Tourney at the U18A Level.   The Devils were knocked out by perennial powerhouse U18A KC Lookouts in the semis 2-0.  The Lookouts avenged their 3-0 defeat by the Devils in pool play.  Full bracket at the following link:

http://www.asakc.org/pdf/2009/memday09results18a.pdf

Monday 5/18 at SM District Softball Complex

   Olathe South vs SM Northwest 3 PM

   SM North vs Olathe North (Rachel/Amanda) 4:45 PM

     Olathe North BEATS #2 Regional Seed SM North 8-6 but loses to Olathe South 5-0 for the State berth.

     http://www.shawneedispatch.com/news/2009/may/19/north-northwest-softball-teams-tumble-first-round-/

Monday 5/18 at Eudora High School

    De Soto (Hannah) vs Piper 6:15 PM

    De Soto BEATS Piper 3-0 and plays Bishop Ward on Tuesday.

    http://www.desotoexplorer.com/news/2009/may/18/dhs-softball-baseball-teams-advance/

    Bishop Ward beats De Soto and Bonner to garner State berth.

Tuesday 5/19 at BV West High School

    Blue Valley (Kylie) vs SM South

    Blue Valley BEATS SM South 12-0 then BEATS BV West 4-0 for the State berth.  Kylie records the first 2 RBI's of the game. 

    BV West (Nicole/Jessica) vs BV North (AJ)

    BV West BEATS BV North 5-0, Nicole gets 2 hits, Jessica gets 1 (maybe 2 per Mary Beth) RBI's in the BVN game.  However, BV West loses to BV 4-0 in the finals.

Tuesday 5/19 at Olathe Northwest (CBAC)

    Topeka vs Free State  3 PM

    Olathe NW (Sasa) vs Lawrence (Lauren)

    Olathe NW BEATS Lawrence 4-0 and plays Free State for the State berth.

    Olathe NW beats Lawrence Free State 3-2 for the ticket to State.

     http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/426385.html

Thursday 5/21 at Olathe East (CBAC)

    Olathe East vs SM East (Kyra)

    SME hangs within 1 run until inning 6.  8-0 Final for Olathe East.

http://www.allstarvideosports.com/video/fullscreen.php?id=346

    BV Northwest (Jamie) vs SM West

    Jamie leads off with a hit and scores the game's only run.  BVNW 1 SMW 0

    Olathe East wins the Region 4-1 over Jamie's BVNW Huskies for the State berth.

Sasa's Olathe Northwest Ravens completed a perfect season going 20-0 by beating Olathe South 3-1 and 9-0. 

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/421107.html

Jessica BOMBS Meige!  Jessica Frederick hits back-to-back dingers in the first game against Miege then comes back and picthes a gem for the sweep.  9-0 and 16-1.  Nicole contributes to Jessica's cause by continuing to hit well in the lead-off spot.  The Jags also win against St. James this week but only one game due to rain.  A nice comeback this week after a tough night being swept at 5A powerhouse Aquinas 9-0 and 9-1.  The Jags finish 12-5 for the season due to canceled games.

Deon and Kyra continue to ROCK the Shawnee Mission softball world!  SM East splits with tough SM West 1-7 and 2-1.  SM East finished the season 6-14 after only 1 win in the previous 2 years.

Kylie's BV Tigers win 3 games this week.  2 versus Topeka High and one against Sumner Academy.  The Tigers finish 13-5 for the season.

Jamie's BV NorthWest Huskies finish 13-7 for the year after beating Miege in 2 games this week but dropping 2 games in Wichita.

Lawrence and Lauren drop 2 games to tough Olathe East 12-0 and 10-0

AJ's BV North team finish the season on a winning note beating Osawatomee 1-0 in a rain shortened game.  The Mustangs finish 9-11 for the season.

Olathe North (Rachel/Amanda) lose a tough one to Olathe East 6-0.  The Eagles finish 7-13 for the year.

Blue Valley High School wins 6 games this week with Diamond Devil Kylie's help with the stick.  4-0 & 7-0 over BV North (AJ), 1-0, & 8-5 over Topeka Seaman and 4-0 & 2-0 over Miege.  Playing as the DP and batting cleanup Kylie starts a Tiger comeback in the second Seaman game with a standup double off the 235 sign in center field.  She continues to "cleanup" in the Miege series going 3-6 with single, double and triple driving in both runs in game 2.  Next week she's going for the cycle from the #4 spot!

Sasa's Olathe Northwest team continues to be undefeated beating a tough SM North contender 3-1.  They continue to be the Kansas State favorite.

 http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/414757.html

BV West (Nicole & Jessica) have a good week as well.  They sweep a tough Ottawa squad and Rocket/E Illinois recruit Hailie Ray 5-2 and 3-2.  Later in the week they split with BV Northwest (Jamie) 5-0 and 6-7.  All Diamond Devils play well although Jessica is saddled with the 1 run loss against Jamie's Huskies.  Nicole continues to get those extra base hits in key situations for BVW.  Jamie keeps pounding the ball leading off for BVNW.

Olathe North's Eagles (Rachel & Amanda) have a tough week.  They are swept by SM South 1-4 and 3-4 and split with Deon & Kyra's SM East Lancers 0-4 and 2-1. 

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/414759.html 

Deon's resurgent Lancers sweep Lauren's Lawrence Lions this week as well 10-3 and 3-1 (8 innings).  However, are humbled by the SM Northwest team 16-9 and 4-2.

 http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/may/08/lhs-softball-scores-drops-twinbill/

Lauren still battles hard every outing as the sole pitcher for the Lions.  She takes 2 more losses against the always tough SM West squad 5-0 amd 3-0.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/may/07/lhs-softball-slide-continues/

 De Soto (Hannah) splits with Gardner 1-2 and 6-1 but then gets swept by Baldwin 7-1 and 6-1.

AJ's BV North's Mustangs make a good showing at the Turner Tourney placing second to 4A power Ottawa.  They beat Bonner 6-1 and Sumner 16-0 and then run into Hailie Ray mentioned above who scatters 5 hits - 2 by AJ while her teams bunches 7 hits in 2 innings along with 2 BVN errors for the Championship win 5-0.

BV West (Nicole/Jessica) splits their double-header with Blue Valley (Kylie).  Mizzou recruit Lindsay Muller wins the first game 3-1 for BV but Diamond Devil Jessica Frederick throws a 2 hitter at BV for the 1-0 win in the second game.

Hannah's De Soto team sweeps Louisburg 4-0 and 3-2.

STA sweeps BV North (AJ) 9-3 and in a heartstopper & breaker 7-6 in 8 innings in the second game.

A tough SM North squad sweeps Deon and Kyra's SM East team 8-0 and 4-0.

Sasa's Olathe Northwest team, the odds-on favorite to win the 6A State Championship roughs up Olathe North (Rachel/Amanda) 9-1 and 9-0.

LOTS of rainouts to make up In the coming week.  There is TRASH-TALKIN' all along the K-10 corridor between Lauren (Lawrence High) and Deon/Kyra of SM East.  The smack-down will occur in Lawrence on Thursday.

BVW (Jessica/Nicole) beat Aquinas 6-5 to allow BVNW (Jamie) to win the Tourney.  Nicole starts the game out with a solid single, Uber-daughter Nicole O bunts for a homerun on two errors. Jessica is 2 for 3 with a stand up double and 2 rbi's.

BVNW beats the BVW girls 4-0 but loses to Aquinas 3-1 for their only loss.

BVNW splits with BV.  Jamie goes 3 for 4 against MU recruit Lindsay Muller! However, Kylie's Tigers win 10-5 in the first. Jamie's Huskies win the second game 4-2. Check out the video at:

http://www.allstarvideosports.com/video/index.php?id=311 

BVN (AJ) gets back to 500 with sweeps of Sumner and Miege.  AJ finds her bat and is 7 for 11 for the week. 

ON (Rachel/Amanda) takes a loss 1-4 to a tough SM West squad but come back and beat Leavenworth 4-3.  Link below:

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/402767.html

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/402768.html

Lauren pitches the Lawrence Lions to their first win over SM South. She drives in 4 runs to help her own cause. Check out the video at the following link:

http://www.allstarvideosports.com/video/index.php?id=311

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/apr/22/lhs-snags-first-win-split/

Nicole goes 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's in the first game giving BV West all the runs necessary for the eventual win 3-1.  DD Cronies Anna-banana Scopp and Nicole Uberdaughter both bat 500 to support Bell.  In the second game Jessica pitches 4 shutout innings for her first win and the Jags win again 3-1. 

Olathe Northwest (Sasa) spanks softball powerhouse Olathe East twice (5-1 and 11-5) and takes the lead in the tough Sunflower League standings!  Check out the story in The Olathe News.

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/396879.html

BVN (AJ) gets their first sweep of the season over  Pleasant Ridge 6-1 and 13-3.

BV Northwest (Jamie) loses two tough games to 5A power Aquinas.  First game is a 10 inning 1-0 battle.  Good video of the action at this link:

http://www.stasaints.net/s/348/index.aspx?sid=348&gid=1&pgid=737

Second game ends 4-2 for Aquinas.  

ON (Rachel/Amanda) splits with Lawrence Free State., 2-6 and 4-3.  See link for story.

http://www.theolathenews.com/103/story/399293.html

Lauren (Lawrence) goes 4 for 6 against Olathe North facing Rachel in the circle and Amanda in center field.  Lauren keeps the Eagles in check but loses both games 3-0 and 6-2.  Rachel pitches 12 of 14 innings for both wins. (see link above) 

Lauren then faces Olathe Northwest (Sasa), Kansas State 2008 runner-up and stifles the offense for the first 3 innings but loses 6-0.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/apr/10/lions-avoid-being-no-hit-ravens/

Undefeated Olathe East squeaks out a win against Olathe North (Rachel/Amanda) 1-0 on unearned run.  KC Pepper & KU recruit, Laura Vickers scalds a single down the 3rd base line, is caught stealing by Eagle catcher Megan McCracken but is safe on a dropped ball.  Vickers eventually scores for the only run.  Rachel pitches a strong 6 innings before the game is called after 6 due to lightning.

Blue Valley High (Kylie) splits with defending Kansas State Champ Washburn Rural.   BV pitcher & MU recruit Lindsey Muller shuts down Washburn in the first game 2-0.  Diamond Devil and BV Frosh Kylie Tanner goes 2-4 in the second game with 2 RBI's but it's not enough in a late inning heartbreaker 7-6 won by Washburn.

Blue Valley Northwest (Jamie) sweeps Blue Valley North (AJ) 2-0 and 6-1.  XTreme & Rockhurst pitching recruit Nicole Petersen scatters BVN's hits for the sweep.  BVN and BIG Flash pitcher MB Gottsch throws a 2 hitter in the first game but gets tagged with the loss.  Jamie goes 2-3 in game two.

Shawnee Mission East (Kyra) splits with Leavenworth.  2-3 and 2-1.

De Soto (Hannah) splits with Spring Hill 7-0 and 5-6.

Diamond Devil Amanda Vaupel of Olathe North (ON) goes 6 for 7 in a double header split with a tough Shawnee Mission North squad (see link above for Olathe News article).  DD Rachel Hein is the ON pitcher of record for both games picking up a win and a loss but pitching well over 12 innings holding the powerfull SM North team's offense to 3 runs in the second game.

 Diamond Devil and Blue Valley Northwest pitcher Jamie Koziol (KOZ) shuts down KCK Washington on a no-hitter and BVNW sweeps Washington in their double-header! 

Olathe Northwest (Sasa) sweeps Shawnee Mission East (Kyra) 5-0 and 4-0 in their double-header. ONW, last year's Kansas State runner up, keeps DD Assistant Coach Deon Slemp's SME resurgent Lancers in check.

Diamond Devil Hannah Jokisch leads De Soto in sweep of St. James Academy 1-0 and 5-1.

AJ Lowe (BV North) goes 1-3 against Southern Illinois recruit & Moppin Rocket Brittany Lang.  However Lang and Lansing High shut down the BVN Mustangs 6-0.  In the second game BVN loses to Basehor and KCKJC recruit Tiffany Jennings in a late inning heart-breaker 7-6.

SM EAST splits with Lawrence Free State in the debut of SME Head Coach Deon Slemp (DD Assistant Coach).  Kyra plays stellar D in 4-3 loss and a 5-3 win.  CONGRATS to Deon!

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/mar/27/hulls-return-fshs-softball-split/

Lauren Massey pitches two outstanding games for Lawrence High in a losing effort against SM North as well as provides most of the offense going 3-4 with 2 doubles to the fence! 

Olathe Northwest (Sasa) leads Olathe North (Rachel/Amanda) 2-1 at suspension of play in the top of the 4th due to heavy rain.  Rachel in the circle doing an outstanding job against last year's Kansas State high school runnerup!  

The Diamond Devils squad finished a respectable 2-2 against some good U18 teams February 14 & 15 at the St. Louis Stingers College Exposure Jamestown Tourney.  The DD's beat the Illinois Monarchs, the eventual Champs 6-0 in pool play but lost a tough 6-4 decision to the Southern Missouri Wildcats working through the bracket in spite of Amanda Vaupel's dinger.

The 2009 schedules have been announced by Head Coach Jeff Hein.  Please check updates as these tourneys approach.

February 13 - 15  Jamestown Indoor Tourney, St. Louis

April - May          Kansas High School Season - please see Diamond Devil calendar and high school schedule links.

May 23 - 25        ASA Memorial Day Tourney U18A - Overland Park/Olathe KS - 3rd place 18U Division

May 29 - 30        Kansas State High School Tournament - Sasa's Ravens WIN state! The Olathe Northwest team goes 23-0 on the season!!! 

                           ASA Pepsi Exposure Tourney U18A - Fountain Bluff Fields, Liberty, MO  

June 5 - 7           ASA Hall of Fame Qualifier U16A - Springfield, MO

June 12 - 14        ASA Heartland Showcase U18A - Hidden Valley, Blue Springs, MO

June 19 - 21        ASA/NSC Recruiting Tourney U18A, Blue Valley Complex

June 26 - 28       ASA Kansas City Metro Championships ASA National Qualifier U16A

June 30              ASA Fireworks Exposure Camp - Denver, CO

June 29 - July 5 ASA Fireworks U16A - Denver, CO

July 15                University of Nebraska Team Exposure Camp - Lincoln, NE 

July 20 - 25       Triple Crown World Series, Park City U16A, UT  3rd Place!

Sept 19 - 20         ASA Smashing Pumpkins Batfest, BVAC

Sept 26 - 27        ASA Shout Series, OGSA

Oct 9 - 11             USSSA Monster Bash, Mid America

Oct 16 - 18           Surf City Fall Classic U18A, Huntington Beach, CA

Oct 23 - 25          MSP Fall Exposure, OGSA

Oct 30 - Nov 1      St. Louis Showcase, St. Louis, MO

Jan 8 - 10             Rising Star Winter Showcase, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Moving up to U16 this fall the Diamond Devils completed a short but successful fall campaign.   Focusing on player development in anticipation of a tough 2009 national schedule the Devils outscored the competition 107 to 53 and finished the fall season with a 10 - 6 record.  The offensive focus will help drive the DD's to a more successful 2009 season. 

DIAMOND DEVILS COMPETED IN THE 2008 USA/ASA NATIONALS IN MIDLAND, TX JULY 27 - AUG 4.  THEY FINISHED 33RD OUT OF 83 OF THE BEST TEAMS IN THE NATION.  OTHER REGIONAL TEAMS INCLUDED THE ORLAND SPARKS FROM ILLINOIS (FINISHED 33RD) AND THE ST LOUIS ESPRIT (FINISHED 49TH).  WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD OF THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT CONSIDERING THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TIME TO THE "BIG DANCE"   Click on logo to go to the website for the official order of finish.

MAY 23   ASA MEMORIAL DAY TOURNAMENT - BLUE VALLEY  - 3rd Place Tie With BS Pirates

MAY 30   ASA HALL OF FAME QUALIFIER - TOPEKA  - DNP

JUNE 13   ASA HEARTLAND CLASSIC - HIDDEN VALLEY  - RO  record was 4 -1

JUNE 20   ASA KC METRO - HIDDEN VALLEY  - 2nd place in Consolation Bracket - record was 4 - 3

JUNE 27   NSC RECRUITING TOURNAMENT - BLUE VALLEY  - 2nd Place

JULY 1-6   ASA COLORADO FIREWORKS - DENVER  - Record was 6 - 3, placed 24th out of 59 teams!

JULY 13-19   TCS WORLD SERIES - PARK CITY, UT - 2nd Place Internat'l Bracket!

JULY 27-AUG 3   ASA/USA NATIONALS - MIDLAND, TX  - 33rd out of 83 teams!

This was the third season the team participated in the Triple Crown World Series.  These young ladies are very proud to be the only Kansas/Missouri  team to represent our area in the 14U "A" division.  They competed against some top teams from California, Arizona, and Texas.  Many of these same teams will go on to participate in the USA/ASA Nationals in Midland, TX.  The Diamond Devils made a strong showing this year taking 2nd place in the International Bracket, which made them the 35th seed overall.  Their record was 6-4.   Click on the logo to go to the Triple Crown website.