Bright spots shine at end of season

With the Colusa Colusa senior softball All-Stars winning two tournaments and bowing out in the semifinal round of divisions last week, Little League has come to a bittersweet end for the tri-county area.

Some won several games while others went two and out in double-elimination brackets, but throughout all the tournaments and games played in Little League Districts 1, 2 and 47 there were unforgettable memories.

CORNING

The Corning All-Stars battled other star-studded squads from Tehama and Shasta Counties in District 1 play, and one memorable contest was in the majors baseball division at Volonte Park in Anderson.

Corning and Cottonwood hammered nine home runs combined in a 16-14 slugfest. Corning prevailed with back-to-back jacks from Chance Nelson and Drew Fissori in the first inning, followed by circuit blasts from Dean Yingst, Wyatt Hayden and Quinton Jones.

Trent Conoly, Joseph Aguirre, Chad McFall and Justin Meents helped fill out Corning's power-packed lineup, and Aguirre was an imposing presence on the mound.

In the Minor Softball division, Corning's girls stunned a perennial Redding power, Foothill, by a score of 10-8.

Corning, who hosted the District 1 Tournament, jumped out to an eight-run lead with home-field advantage but found themselves needing tough defense at the end to win.

Marissa Hopkins fired a complete game on the mound with 12 strikeouts, and collected two of Corning's four hits at the plate. Trinity Jones and Sage Boles also singled for Corning to aid the victory.

ORLAND

With most fans fuming at the possibility of the game being postponed in a 10-10 deadlock due to darkness, the Orland senior baseball All-Stars played an extra-inning thriller with Durham in the District 47 Tournament in Paradise.

The Durham squad prevailed in the eighth inning, 12-11, and won again the following night to eliminate Orland in the championship round to advance to sections.

Still, Orland gained a lot of playoff experience, and playing under pressure will only help those boys when they don the uniforms of Orland High and Hamilton High next spring.

Dylan Shippelhoute was Orland's ace on the hill and teammates Joshua Davis and Davis Scott rounded out the pitching staff. Shea Shull was a productive leadoff man for Orland and Kevin Molleson led the team in RBIs along with Tony Esquivel, Taylor Enck and Davis.

In an all-Glenn County battle for survival in the major division loser's bracket, Hamilton-Capay thwarted Willows by a score of 6-0 behind Andrew Whitsett's one-hit shutout.

Whitsett struck out nine batters in a complete-game performance and Ricky Pompa smoked an inside-the-park home run in the first inning. Christian Brown and Pompa each had a pair of hits, and Pompa scored twice along with Damien Diaz.

WILLOWS

Willows Little League boasted a powerhouse minor division softball squad, which rallied for 20 runs in a single inning against Biggs/Richvale in a 26-7 victory during District 47 Tournament play.

Allison Weinrich slammed a bases-loaded triple as well as a two-run double, driving in five runs for the Willows offense, and teammates Amy Crawford and Kat Taylor also drilled two-baggers.

Rylan Kedanui was the club's ace, hurling a complete game against Biggs/Richvale to fuel the victory.

In the majors division baseball bracket, Willows had a tough opening-round draw against eventual D47 winner and Section 2 runner-up, Chico Central.

Alex Moorehouse earned the team's Spirit of the Game honor, and Matt Hickman was honored after the game against Hamilton-Capay.

Willows boasted a talented pitching staff with Hickman, Ian Hampel, Tanner Scalvini, Gavin Allen and Matt Wolder all logging innings. The team's hit leaders were: Leo Esparza, Allen, Moorehouse and Hickman.

COLUSA

The high school softball coaches of Colusa County ought to be looking forward to the spring season after the outstanding finish by the countywide All-Stars, who were finished at 20-2 and were two wins shy of advancing to the Western Regionals in Montana.

The Colusa County squad breezed through the regular season and District 2 play, recording 18 wins and netting a championship banner before advancing to divisions in Rio Linda.

In divisions, Colusa extended its win streak to 20 games before finally losing a game to Tahoe, 6-4. The Colusa squad was eliminated the following day by Auburn in another close contest, 4-1.

They posted a 12-3 win over host Rio Linda and also slammed San Jose, 12-5, at the divisional level.

Jani Bowen and Emily Mobley led the Colusa club on the mound and the hard-hitting offense was often paced by Tori Burrious and Cheyenne Rogers.

In major division baseball, Westside's All-Stars edged rival Colusa by a score of 5-4 in an all-Colusa County District 2 showdown.

Hunter Mobley outdueled Guy Whitley on the mound and Westside's Brian Burg belted a three-run bomb. Wyatt Charter delivered the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning, plating Weston Leighty.