Youth Sports Report:

West Tampa takes Junior softball state title

Posted Jul 28, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Jul 28, 2010 at 12:33 PM

Pitching and defense, and the ability to tough out a victory, proved vital as West Tampa Little League took the Junior softball state title with a 4-1 victory against Naples Little League to advance to the Southeast regional.

Nikki Lopez pitched a complete game, striking out seven, for West Tampa which would give its pitcher all the runs she’d need in the second innings as three consecutive singles brought across two runs. Natalie Margado led West Tampa at the plate, hitting a single, double and triple to help her side.

“It means a lot,” Manager Angel Lopez said. “West Tampa’s always been known for its boys, the boys went to the World Series in 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970, but no girls teams has ever gone as far as we have from West Tampa, so this is history for us.”

Unlike previous seasons where two or three leagues would combine to produce an All-Star team, West Tampa’s team was drawn from the two teams that played their regular season in the league. The team needed strong pitching from both Nikki Lopez and Amanda Weathers to earn a 5-4 victory against New Tampa in 10 innings in the semifinal.

“Amanda Weathers pitched really well,” Angel Lopez said. “Nikki Lopez pitched the first three innings and she gave up two runs, and Amanda had to pitch seven innings and she only gave up two runs. It could have gone either way, (New Tampa’s) pitcher was amazing, she went 10 innings in that heat and it could have gone either way.”

With Weathers unavailable for the final due to her work in the semis, Nikki Lopez was the only front-line option for the final, while Naples had all three of its pitchers available. That didn’t matter, though, as Lopez gave up just one unearned run keeping the Braves’ hitters off-balance with her change-up.

West Tampa will now head to Fort Myers this Saturday, opening the Southeast regional tournament with a game against Clendenin/Elk District from West Virginia in the opening game of the tournament at 10 a.m.