The Cody Pride 12U girls completed a busy and competitive fast pitch softball season by competing in the American Softball Association (ASA) Wyoming State Tournament in Casper this past weekend. The team, consisting mainly of 11 and 12 year olds from Cody and surrounding areas finished fourth in the 12U “B” Division behind perennial powerhouses Cheyenne, Gillette, and Torrington.

The Cody 12U girls carried some confidence and momentum going into the annual tournament by winning four (4) of their last seven (7) regular season games. The Cody 12U team that took the field in Casper included five (5) players off of last year’s State championship team in the 10U recreational division. Allison Edwards (#7), Kinley Bollinger (#23), Emily Egger (#9), Kamden Harris (#2), and A’din Ringel (#8) moved up to the 12U squad this year. The remaining six (6) players from last year’s championship team including Jayci Ervin (#10), Riley Simone (#17), Hudson Selk (#11) Jayma Tuttle (#21), Katie Brasher (#00), and Ecylia Wright (#4) returned to defend their title in the 10U division.

Wyoming State ASA Tournament--12U Girls B Division

Pool Play on Friday 07/10/15

Douglas Hotshots 11 vs. Cody Pride 10 (by ASA Tie-breaker Rules)

The Cody Pride 12U girls opened pool play on Friday morning against a familiar Douglas team. In two prior meetings at tournaments in Douglas and Gillette, the two teams split with each winning a game. The 3^rd meeting in Casper was also a close battle that ended up tied at 10 by the end of the allotted tournament game time limit. The two teams then entered into ASA sanctioned tie-breaking procedures where Cody came up just short losing to Douglas with a final score of 11 to 10. 

Cody Pride 12U bested the Douglas girls at the plate recording 8 hits to only 4 for Douglas. Six (6) Pride players recorded hits including Edwards, Egger, Harris, Nyah Meier (#5), Bollinger, and Ashley Dunkerley (#25). Dunkerley was 2 for 3 while Edwards was 2 for 2 helping to fuel the Pride offense early. Egger led the Pride from the mound to start the game while pitching well into the 2^nd inning. Egger faced 16 batters while only giving up 2 hits. Egger walked 7 batters and struck out 1 while giving up 9 runs. Egger threw 72 pitches of which 26 were strikes (36.1%). Ringel came on in relief late in the 2^nd inning and generally held the Douglas offense in check. Ringel faced 9 batters in a little more than 2 innings while giving up 2 hits and only 2 runs. Ringel threw 19 strikes out of 28 pitches (67.9%) while striking out 2 batters.

Wyoming State ASA Tournament-- 12U Girls B Division

Pool Play on Friday 07/10/15

Gillette Blue Jays 16 vs. Cody Pride 1  

In their 2^nd game of pool play on Friday, Cody drew the eventual tournament 2^nd place finisher Gillette Blue Jays. Gillette jumped out to an early 7 to 1 lead over Cody and never looked back while cruising to a 16 to 1 victory. Gillette belted 7 hits to just 1 hit for Cody (a single by #15 Summer Holeman). Cody was never able to get the bats going against Gillette which played stingy defense behind solid pitching.  The Pride also struggled from the mound behind Allyson Schroeder (#3). Schroeder had trouble finding the mark against an experienced Gillette offense. Schroeder faced 24 batters while giving up 16 runs and 7 hits. She struck out 3 batters and walked 11. Out of 100 pitches thrown, Schroeder threw 43 strikes (43%). Gillette ultimately fell to Cheyenne in the championship game on Sunday.

Wyoming State ASA Tournament--12U Girls B Division

Bracket Play on Saturday 07/11/15

Torrington Twisters 12 vs. Cody Pride 8

In their first game of bracket play in the double elimination tournament, the Cody Pride 12U girls faced another familiar opponent in the Twisters from Torrington. Pride jumped out to an early 4 to 3 lead at the end of the 1^st inning but could not hold on as Torrington pulled away with a 12 to 8 victory.

Pride matched the Torrington offense while racking up 6 hits which equaled Torrington’s. Meier went a perfect 2 for 2 from the dish singling in the first and fourth innings. Dunkerley was also 2 for 2 and Egger was 1 for 2 for Cody. Costly errors proved to be the difference with Cody giving up 4 errors while Torrington had none.

Schroeder led the Pride defense and was credited with the loss. Schroeder faced 25 batters in just over 3 innings and gave up 6 hits, 7 walks, and 12 runs while striking out 2 batters. She threw 98 pitches of which 49 were strikes (50%).

Wyoming State ASA Tournament--12U Girls B Division

Bracket Play on Saturday 07/11/15

Cody Pride 12 vs. Laramie 7

On Saturday evening, Cody Pride 12U faced a competitive team of all-stars from Laramie. Cody played arguably their best and most complete game of the season while besting the girls from Laramie 12 to 7. The game saw six (6) lead changes and was a competitive pitching duel for the first three innings. After the first inning both teams were scoreless. After trading punches in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings the game was tied 3 to 3. Cody’s offense exploded in the bottom of the 4^th when they plated 9 runs. They were able to hold on for the win after 5 innings behind excellent pitching by Schroeder and a stingy defense.

Schroeder was phenomenal from the mound and frustrated the Laramie batters only giving up 4 hits. Out of 15 outs secured by the Pride, 11 of them were due to strike outs behind Schroeder’s hot hand. Schroeder pitched the entire game and faced 24 batters. She threw 109 pitches of which 64 were strikes (58.7%). Schroeder (nicknamed by her team-mates and coaches as “Shredder”) walked just 3 batters on the night. “We are so proud of the game that Shredder pitched against Laramie” said Assistant Coach and Cody Pride Association President Brian Edwards. “Schroeder has improved her accuracy, technique, and consistency late in the season. Although we have seen Schroeder pitch well in other games, this was by far her best performance. She was accurate and in command of the game from start to finish. She left several people including many in her own dug out with dropped lower jaw after she single handedly retired 11 batters”, said Edwards.

Equally impressive was the overall team effort on both offense and defense. “Clearly the girls wanted the win and wanted to be sure they could stay one more night in Casper to continue on with bracket play on Sunday”, said 1^st Base Coach and Assistant Coach Cody Edwards. Pride belted 10 hits to only 4 by Laramie. Eight (8) of Eleven (11) Pride players that stepped to the plate registered hits on Saturday night. Harris was 2 for 3. Dunkerley was also 2 for 3 including a triple late in the 4^th inning. The barrage of hits was ignited by a home run down the first base line by Edwards and a three (3) RBI single by Schroeder.

“The Pride defense was relentless in all areas” according to Assistant Coach Edwards. This was a very physical game which saw multiple collisions and diving plays. Pride catcher Bollinger collided with the Laramie first baseman late in the 4^th inning resulting in a tournament ending knee injury. Harris and Ringel picked off multiple fly balls frustrating the Laramie batters. Relief catcher Egger made a diving play at home plate to catch a tipped ball in the final inning. Egger then proceeded to fire a ball from home plate to 3^rd baseman Edwards who made the tag at third to win the game and stifle any Laramie hopes of catching Cody. 

Wyoming State ASA Tournament--12U Girls B Division

Bracket Play on Sunday 07/12/15

Torrington Twisters 16 vs. Cody Pride 5

After an emotional victory over Laramie on Saturday evening, Cody moved up in the bracket and again faced their cross state rival Torrington Twisters again on Sunday morning. This time it was evident that the young Cody team left it all on the field the previous night against Laramie. Torrington jumped out on Cody early and coasted to a 16-5 victory while claiming 3^rd place in the B Division of the tournament.

Four (4) Torrington players combined for 11 hits and seven RBIs to fuel the Torrington offense. Torrington finished with 14 hits compared to just 2 for Cody as the Torrington batters frustrated Pride pitchers Schroeder and Ringel. Harris was the only bright spot on offense for Pride. Harris was a perfect 2 for 2 from the plate and had 1 RBI. Harris was the only Pride batter to manage a hit against the stingy Torrington defense.

Schroeder started out the game for Pride from the mound with the hopes that her hot hand from the previous evening would continue. Although she pitched well, she still managed to give up 9 hits and 11 runs in a little over 2 innings of work. Schroeder only walked 2 and struck out 3 batters. She faced 19 batters and threw 68 pitches of which 34 were strikes (50%). Seeing that the Torrington batters were finding their mark against Schroeder, Head Coach Egger brought in relief pitcher Ringel late in the 3^rd inning to see if a change in speed would make a difference. Ringel pitched well giving up 5 hits and 5 runs to the experienced Torrington team but was unable to slow down the Torrington offense. Ringel walked 4 batters and struck out 2. She faced 12 batters and threw 47 pitches of which 23 were strikes (48.9%).