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Welcome to
Lady Magic Fastpitch Softball
The goal of Lady Magic continues to be to provide young women, through competitive softball, the opportunity to develop the personal attributes and life long skills needed to be responsible adults.
Congratulations LADY MAGIC!!!
2008 ASA 16U Class A
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS !!!
Lady Magic is on Good Day Sacramento on August 18th 2008.
Link to Part One
Aug. 18, 2008, 8:23 a.m. Pacific
Julissa is in Elk Grove where a full softball diamond is in the backyard of a...
Link to Part Two
Aug. 18, 2008, 9:16 a.m. Pacific
Julissa Ortiz live at Elk Grove playing softball from a real "Field of dreams"
Lady Magic will move up to the GOLD level this FALL and play the following schedule:
Practices: September 2, 4, 7, 9,11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30
October 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 28, 30
Tournaments
September 13-14 All American Showcase, Stockton
September 20-21 RR Gold Showcase, Stockton
October 4-5 Grapettes Showcase, Stockton
October 10-12 Surf City Showcase, Huntington Beach
October 24-26 Bay Area Exposure Showcase, Sunnyvale
October 31- November 2 Surf City Showcase, Huntington Beach
Special Events
August 24 Special Olympic Softball Tournament - Volunteer, Freedom Park
September 26 Poker Tournament
Pool Play Games
Lady Magic 9 vs Milan Aces 0
Lady Magic 2 vs Northwest Blaze 3
Championship Bracket Play
Lady Magic 9 vs Midland Magic TX '92 2
Lady Magic 11 vs Germantown Red Devils TN 1
Lady Magic 7 vs East Cobb Cobras GA 0
Lady Magic 7 vs Oregon Rampage 0
Lady Magic 1 vs OC Batbusters 0
Lady Magic 6 vs St. Louis Chaos 0
Winners Bracket Final
Lady Magic 10 vs SoCal Firecrackers 2
Championship Game
Lady Magic 13 vs St. Louis Chaos 5
Congratulations Danielle, Cheyenne, and Ally!
Congratulations to Danielle Henderson (2011) on her verbal to Cal on July 9th, Cheyenne Cordes (2011) on her verbal to Cal on July 15th, and Ally Carda (2011) on her verbal to UCLA on July 18th. Danielle and Cheyenne will attend Berkeley on full rides and will join Danielle's sister Jolene (2009) and teammate Lindsey Ziegenhirt (2009) who previously verballed to Cal. Ally will be on a full ride to UCLA and will be playing for the Bruins.
GO BEARS and GO BRUINS!!!
The Lady Magic has committed 7 players to DI programs to date and expect more players to commit before the end of the year.
Magic Moments on Shutterfly
Lady Magic has created a new photo album website for our Players and Fans. Now you can see and share some of your favorite Magic moments.
Lady Magic Photo Albums
Lady Magic 2007 Softball Skills Clinic
Date: September 23rd, 2007
Sheldon High School Softball Fields
THANKS to our special guest instructors!
GO BEARS!!
Would you like to play for Lady Magic ?
Lady Magic is always interested in dedicated athletes who are passionate about softball and committed to a team concept. If you believe you have those qualities, and would like to schedule a workout with the team, please contact Jim Carda via email at jcarda@ladymagicsoftball.org
Magic's Latest Signings
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Alexa Rivera signs letter
of intent with UOP.
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Morgan Otto signs letter
of intent with San Jose St.
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Joe Jaquez and Laura Ziegenhirt are pictured here with both Alexa and Morgan.
Tuesday, August 5
Lady Magic survives 144-team field, crowned ASA national champions
Lady Magic survives 144-team field, crowned ASA national champions
By John Hull - Citizen Sports Writer
Published: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 5:39 PM PDT
They can now be referred to as “national champions.”
The Lady Magic, a girls’ softball organization which has been fielding high school-aged all-star teams for 40 years, swept through a huge 144-team field of age 16-and-under teams from virtually every state to grab the American Softball Association’s national title.
Led by Sheldon High School All-Americans Jolene Henderson and Lindsey Ziegenhirt, the Lady Magic wrapped up the big crown by defeating a St. Louis (Mo.) team, 13-5, on Sunday in Owensboro, Kentucky.
And it wasn’t just the Henderson-Ziegenhirt battery that shut down all opponents. Pleasant Grove High School sophomore Ally Carda shared the mound with Henderson to combine for five shutouts, including one no-hitter, in 11 tournament games.
With short appearances by Elk Grove High School’s Shelby Wisdom, too, the Lady Magic gave up only 13 runs total.
In the sole loss of the tournament, the Lady Magic surrendered three runs in a loss to an Oregon team in extra innings. That was during pool play.
But, after the teams were seeded in the massive double-elimination bracket, the Lady Magic was virtually un-touchable.
“They all pitched great and hit their marks really well,” Magic coach Joe Henderson said. “We had great depth in pitching, so our girls’ were never tired (during the tournament).”
Their closest contest was Saturday against the defending champs, the Orange County Bat Busters, a 1-0 win. Ziegenhirt accounted for the lone score for the Lady Magic with a solo homer.
Ziegenhirt, a senior-to-be for the two-time defending Sac-Joaquin Section champions, had an outstanding tournament with the bat, not just behind the plate. In the opener in bracket play last Wednesday, she drove in all of her team’s runs in a 9-2 defeat of a team from Midland, Texas.
The future Cal Bear had a three-run homer, a grand slam and a two-run double.
By the end of the tourney, she had seven home runs, including a pair of solo shots in the championship game.
Cheyenne Cordes, from Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, also showed her power with five long shots, including two three-run homers in the tournament clincher. Like Ziegenhirt and Henderson, she’s already committed to attending Berkeley when she graduates.
Simone Heyward of Rosemont High School emerged as another hot hitter, going 3-for-4 in the championship game. The center fielder batted over .600 for the tournament.
The team brought home what coach Henderson referred to as “a big piece of rock” for the championship trophy.
“But, each girl got a large blue plaque that is really special and something they can take home, hang it up on the wall and be proud of what they accomplished,” he said. “Every girl did their part in helping us bring home the championship. All fourteen had a role in each game, some were just situational, but our whole team has an awesome hitting ability and they all played great.”
Thursday night, Carda took the mound and shut down the Germantown Reds from Kentucky, 11-1. The future UCLA Bruin allowed only two hits and fanned 11 in four innings.
The game ended via the mercy rule in the fifth inning.
Wisdom pitched the fifth inning but was a star at the plate. The Herd’s probable starting pitcher in 2009 had a home run and two doubles.
Cordes drilled a home run, while Jessyca Rios from Patterson High School had two hits.
That put the Lady Magic into Friday’s game against the East Cobb Cobras from Georgia. Henderson took the win by pitching a three-hitter in a 10-0 shutout. The senior-to-be struck out 11 and walked none in going the distance.
Cordes had a homer and a double, while Heyward went 2-for-2.
It set the scene for the Lady Magic’s entry into the tournament’s Sweet 16. They played three games Saturday and won all via shutouts.
In the first game, Carda pitched a one-hitter in a 7-0 whitewashing of the Oregon Rampage. Henderson, who was a first baseman for the game, was 3-for-3 with a double. Heyward went 3-for-4.
Then, in the early afternoon Saturday, the Lady Magic faced the Bat Busters with Henderson allowing just three hits and striking out eight.
Saturday evening, in the national quarterfinals, they took on the St. Louis (Mo.) Chaos. Carda started the game and allowed three hits over five innings and led the Lady Magic to a 6-0 win.
Wisdom pitched the final inning.
Ziegenhirt was 3-for-4 with two home runs, while Sheldon’s Danielle Henderson and Katie Mathis from Bear River High School each had two hits.
To open play on Sunday, bats were popping again for the Lady Magic as they defeated the So Cal Firecrackers, 10-2, in a five-inning semifinal game stopped by the tournament’s eight-run mercy rule.
Henderson was again tough by striking out five in a six-hitter.
Heyward continued to lead the offense with a double, and Danielle Henderson added three hits and Hayley Miles of Center High School had two.
The Lady Magic then faced St. Louis, again, which played itself out of the losers’ bracket. The Chaos had a 5-4 lead off Carda going into the Magic’s half of the sixth inning. Then the floodgates opened and the California gals scored four times and added five more in the seventh inning to grab the national championship trophy.
Jolene Henderson came in to pick up the win by pitching the final two innings.
So what did the Magic do, in a town like Owensboro, to celebrate winning a national title?
“We’re bowling,” Henderson said on the phone Sunday just two hours removed from winning the blue plaques. “Its’ become a tradition after a win to go bowling.”
The best the Lady Magic had finished in the ASA nationals was a runner-up in 1986. The previous year, 1985, their all-stars finished fourth.
This group of Lady Magic did get a third-place finish when they were 12-year-olds in 2004.
Tuesday, August 19
Follow up by local paper regarding Nationals in KY.
Owensboro a sportstown? Lack of fan support says otherwise
8/6/2008 By Rich Suwanski Messenger-Inquirer
When Sports Illustrated designated Owensboro as "Kentucky's Sportstown" in 2004, it had more to do with the wide variety of facilities available for athletic endeavors and the high percentage of people using them.
After watching the ASA/USA Girls' 16-and-under Class "A" Fast Pitch National Champion- ship last week, I've concluded the city is more prone to playing sports than spectating.
And while that's a good thing, it's a little puzzling that, for a city that's always looking for an attraction, for something to do, local people avoided this tournament with gusto.
Hats off to those who brought the tournament to town last week, but I wonder, where were the fans?
Out-of-state teams brought fans. Even the ones from California had about 20 fans per team. That's not a lot, really, but not bad considering the distance they had to travel to get here.
So where were the local fans? Guess we were all manning the cash registers, waiting for those out-of-towners to come in waving fistfuls of 20s, 50s and 100s just dying to spend them.
For the championship game on Sunday afternoon, there were fewer than 20 local people in the crowd of about 150. It's understandable, I suppose. One team was from St. Louis and the other from Sacramento, Calif., so there was no local connection.
The thing was, even though the players were age 16 and under, it was an excellent brand of softball. In fact, five players on the winning Lady Magic team had already committed to high-level Division I schools -- four to the University of California and one to UCLA.
Do you dig the long ball? The Lady Magic hit four homers in the championship game. Just absolutely crushed the pitches. It would be one thing if this community didn't care about diamond sports, but we all know otherwise.
Monday, August 4
No Tricks to Lady Magic's Title
No tricks to Lady Magic's title8/4/2008 Sophomore Cordes blasts two three-run HRs By Rich Suwanski Messenger-Inquirer
The undefeated Lady Magic didn't get flustered when the St. Louis Chaos emerged from the losers' bracket and took a 5-4 fifth-inning lead in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.
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With her team trailing 5-4 in the 6th inning of the ASA/USA Girls' 16U Class "A" Fast Pitch National championship game, Lady Magic shortstop Cheyenne Cordes connects for a three-run homer Sunday at Jack Fisher Park. Cordes had another three-run blast in the seventh inning and the lady Magic of Sacramento, CA, went on to beat the St. Louis Chaos, 13-5, for the title. Photo by Gary Emord-Netzley, M-I.
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The Lady Magic answered with nine runs in the final two innings, including a pair of three-run home runs by Cheyenne Cordes, as the Sacramento, Calif., team beat the Chaos 13-5 to capture the ASA/USA Girls' 16-and-under Class 'A' Fast Pitch National Championships at Jack C. Fisher Park.
"We've been down before, and these girls know how to battle back," Lady Magic coach Jim Carda said. "This is such a complete team offensively that being down one run is nothing.
"They stayed composed and didn't get shook."
Cordes got around early on pitches and hit long foul balls in the sixth inning, then corrected her timing and blasted a three-run shot to deep center for a 7-5 lead. Even though she will just be a high school sophomore this fall, she's already verbally committed to the University of California.
In fact, Lindsey Ziegenhirt, who also whacked two home runs, is likewise committed to Cal, as are Jolene and Danielle Henderson. Another Lady Magic player, Ally Carda, is committed is UCLA.
"Cheyenne and Lindsey are big-time players and they're going to be on the big stage soon enough," Jim Carda said.
The Lady Magic scored six runs in the seventh, capped by Cordes' second three-run shot, quieting the Chaos' fans, who were energized when their team tied the game at 3 in the third and took a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
The teams previously met on Saturday with Ziegenhirt hitting two homers in a 6-0 victory. The Lady Magic went 8-0 in the tournament, but lost a game in pool play.
"This year, pool play didn't mean anything," the coach said. "The brackets were already set up. You weren't seeded according to pool play, so that edge wasn't there."
The Lady Magic turned it on in tournament play, though.
"Six of these girls have played together since they were 10, and they played third in nationals in 12-and-under," Jim Carda said. "They were ninth in 14s last year, and when we added Lindsey and Jolene, we thought we could win it all, but it took a lot of hard work."
The Lady Magic finished its season 54-3-2.
Sunday, August 3
Two California Teams Perfect
Two California teams perfect
8/3/2008 Outlaws eliminated by Southern Force, 7-1 By Rich Suwanski Messenger-Inquirer
Two California teams -- the Lady Magic and Southern California Firecrackers -- are the last undefeated squads in the ASA/USA Girls' 16-and-under Class "A" Fast Pitch National Championship, and meet at noon today in the winners' bracket final at Jack C. Fisher Park.
The Lady Magic, from the Sacramento area in northern California, are considered the tournament favorite and acted like it by winning three games on Saturday by a combined 14-0 score. The Lady Magic beat the Oregon Rampage 7-0, the Orange County Batbusters 1-0 and the St. Louis Chaos 6-0. "It's a great compliment, but we've been to four or five national tournaments and sometimes the best team doesn't win," Lady Magic coach Jim Carda said. "You have to get the breaks, and you have to get good brackets. "It's a credit to the kids' hard work. They earned their way here."
The Kentucky Outlaws, meanwhile, bowed out of the tournament with a 7-1 loss to Southern Force of Johnston City, Ill., on Saturday. "I was real proud of the girls," Outlaws' coach Kerry Jolly said. "They played into Saturday at a national championship tournament, and they got exposure to good competition and college scouts. "The score doesn't reflect how well we played all week." The Outlaws went 1-1 in pool play and 3-2 in tournament play for an overall record of 4-3. Southern Force broke a 1-all game in the third when Danielle Miller cracked a two-run homer for a 3-1 lead. The Outlaws loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but wasted the opportunity. Southern Force extended its lead to 6-1 when Melissa Dumezich hit a three-run homer in the fourth. "We had a couple of errors, and they capitalized on it with home runs," the coach said. Emily Jolly, the coach's daughter, said the competition got tougher with every game. "Our goal was to play hard as a team and do the best we could," the Owensboro Catholic High School product said. "Everybody talks about how good the California teams are, but we showed that Kentucky girls are just as good. "You just have to believe in yourself. We had confidence." Christian Cox went 2-for-2 and Emily Gaines 2-for-4. Emma Napier and Jolly each had one hit, and Napier drove in the Outlaws' only run. The Outlaws finished their summer with a 37-11 record. They played for championships in six of their eight tournaments.
The Southern California Firecrackers defeated the Running Rebels Gold 5-0, Orlando No Fear 5-1 and Arizona Storm 2-0 to reach the winners' bracket finals. The Firecrackers have a young team with three juniors, 10 sophomores and three freshmen. "The girls are tenacious," Firecrackers' coach Bill Jackson said. "They've overcome obstacles and refuse to die. "I like our chances." The bulk of the team could've played in the 14-and-under national tournament, but wanted a greater challenge. "We hit for power, and our pitching has been lights out," Jackson said. "We normally play like that, but we've been a little sloppy starting out here. But we're re-peaking." The Firecrackers won the prestigious Southern California Championship, allowing just four runs in 10 games.
The Firecrackers played the Lady Magic in Las Vegas on June 15, and the Lady Magic won 2-0.
The Lady Magic scored in almost every inning in beating the Chaos to reach the winners' bracket finals. Lindsey Ziegenhirt had two home runs while Danielle Henderson drove in a pair of runs. "We get good pitching and timely hitting," Carda said. "We've had some good individual play in each game. That's the beauty of our team. "Pitchers have to bring their best game against us because we can hit the ball, one through nine." The tournament continues with losers' bracket play this morning and afternoon. The championship game is set for 4 p.m. If a second game is needed, it will be at 6 p.m.
Friday, August 8
National Champions - Sacramento Bee Article - Quwan Spears
National Champions
The Lady Magic, a team comprised mostly of players from the Sacramento area, won the Amateur Softball Association/USA Girls' 16-and-under Class-A fast-pitch national championship in Owensboro, Ky., last week.
The Lady Magic, which finished 8-0 in the 144-team tournament, beat the St. Louis Chaos 13-5 in the final.
The Lady Magic recovered from a 5-4 deficit in the fifth inning by scoring nine runs in the final two innings.
Cheyenne Cordes, who will be a sophomore next season at Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, led the way with two three-run home runs. Lindsey Ziegenhirt, an incoming senior at Sheldon, helped key the victory with two solo home runs.
"Normally, the best team in this tournament doesn't win," Lady Magic coach Jim Carda said. "But things went our way. We had the talent, coupled with the big breaks to help us."
Cordes batted .517 with five home runs in the tournament. Simone Heyward, an All-Metro first-team selection from Rosemont, hit a team-leading .535 in the tournament.
Other area members on the team included Ally Carda of Pleasant Grove, sisters Danielle and Jolene Henderson of Sheldon, Alyssa Schmidt of Whitney, Hayley Miles of Center, Jenessa Jeppesen of Oak Ridge, Katie Mathis of Bear River and Shelby Wisdom of Elk Grove.
Thursday, July 31
Lady Magic split first two games
Lady Magic split first two games
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| File photo/Bryan Higashino - Ally Carda of Pleasant Grove combined with Sheldon’s Jolene Henderson for a no-hitter in the national tournament. |
By John Hull - Citizen Sports Writer
Published: Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:29 AM PDT
There are 144 teams crammed into a small town, Owensboro, but somehow, this central Kentucky city finds some way to host the American Softball Association’s age 16-and-under national tournament.
The city limits actually has enough hotel rooms around to house everyone, plus enough quality softball diamonds for the girls to play, each team about four games, before they are eliminated from the competition and sent home.
Owensboro was honored a few years back by Sports Illustrated magazine as Kentucky’s No. 1 sports town. They pride themselves with having top-notch athletic and recreation facilities that includes an ice rink, a swimming pool, a 5,000 seat arena, nine baseball diamonds, a softball complex, a soccer complex, 25 tennis courts and a football complex.
The charm of Owensboro rubs off quite nicely on the local girls playing for the Lady Magic, a collection of high school all-stars with five of them already committed to playing NCAA Division I softball.
In the first game of the tournament, two local pitchers combined to no-hit the Milan Aces from Illinois, 9-0. Sheldon High School’s Jolene Henderson pitched a perfect three innings, striking out eight. Then, Pleasant Grove’s Ally Carda finished off the Aces, allowing just a walk, the game’s only blemish.
“Not only did the pitchers do a great job, but so did our hitters,” said Lady Magic coach Joe Henderson, the father of sisters Jolene and Danielle Henderson, both of Sheldon and the Lady Magic.
The next day, the Lady Magic suffered their first loss of the tournament, a 3-2 loss to the Northwest Blaze of Oregon.
Henderson started Carda on the mound, and she was a little erratic in the first inning. “She walked two batters, then on a ground ball, we tried to get the lead runner at third, but she was called ‘safe’,” Henderson explained.
The next batter drove in two runs with a base hit up the middle for a 2-0 lead. The Lady Magic then worked out of the jam with some key defensive plays.
They got it back in the bottom of the first when Haley Miles of Center High School got on base via an infield error and Rodriguez High School’s Cheyenne Cordes hit a home run to tie it at 2.
Henderson said they had a chance to grab the lead when Sheldon’s Lindsey Ziegenhirt hit a towering shot to left that the left-fielder leaped at the fence, caught the ball, landed back in the field of play with one foot before toppling over the fence.
It was ruled an out.
The games in the pool play section of the tournament had a 1 hour, 40 minute time limit, so tied at 2, each team got a chance to win using what is called the “International Tiebreaker.”
Both teams place a base runner at second base to start each inning.
The Blaze got a base hit off Henderson to score their runner from second, and the Lady Magic failed to muster a run, thus losing in the extra inning.
Now, all 144 teams have been seeded into a double-elimination tournament that began Wednesday.
The Lady Magic played a team from Midland, Texas. If they won that, they played yesterday against the winner of a game between a team from Pittsburgh, Pa, and another Texas squad called “the Royals.”
“We’re excited about getting into (the bracket) portion of the tournament,” Henderson added. “Our goal is to keep winning so we get into Sunday’s championship bracket.”
Last season, the Lady Magic finished ninth at the same tournament.
To follow the progress of the Lady Magic, visit the team’s Web site at http://www.teamipevents.com.
Sunday, June 29
2008 LOUISVILLE SLUGGER INDEPENDENCE DAY (Boulder, Co.)
16U LONGMONT - 2008 LOUISVILLE SLUGGER INDEPENDENCE DAY
Tuesday 7/1/08
Both games ared played at Garden Acres in Longmont on field 4.
11:00 vs IL NL Lightning - W
12:30 vs IL Southern Force - W
**Wednesday 7/2/08
4:45 vs TX Travelers - W
8:15 vs IL Sharks – W
**Thursday 7/3/08
9:45 vs TX Austin Storm – W
1:15 vs CO Comets Bob – W
**Friday 7/4/08
3:00 vs AL Birmingham Vipers – W
6:30 vs LA Voodoo – W
Saturday 7/5/08
1:00 (PDT) vs. Beverly Bandits - W (6-0)
5:00 (PDT) vs. Vienna Stars - W (11-0)
7:00 (PDT) vs. Mo. Chaos - W (3-0)
Sunday 7/6/08
9:30 (PDT) vs. OC Batbusters - W (4-3)
12:00 (PDT) Championship vs Team Florida - W (9-0)
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