Coach Caress; “I believe we came together as a team very well."

Fusion Orange faced some tough challengers on June 14 -15 when they travelled to Mankato, MN, for the Peppers Tournament. The first game on Saturday matched up Orange with Mounds View, Minnesota. Fusion initially led, but could not quite hang on for the win and settled for a 4-4 tie.Saturday’s second match-up pitted Fusion against Mankato Peppers “B”. Orange had a lot of success in this game, with pitcher Syd R. getting the win.

Saturday’s bill ended with Orange facing Burnsville Gold, a very good second year 14U team. The girls played well, but it seemed like every ball a Fusion player hit went directly into someone’s glove. Burnsville handed Fusion Orange its first loss of the day at 2-6.

The weather on Sunday afternoon’s first game could not have been more perfect, and neither could have Fusion’s aggressiveness at the plate. After scoring six against the initial Mankato Peppers “A” pitcher, they continued a balance scoring attack by bringing in five more runs against the Peppers’ #1 hurler to win the game 11 – 6. This brought Orange to a rematch with Burnsville Gold in the semi-final game.

Burnsville Gold came back with the same pitcher from Game 3 and Orange found much more success with their timing against her. The game remained close through the entire six innings of play, with Burnsville coming out on top 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth as time ran out on the clock.

Coach Devin Caress states, “I believe we came together as a team very well. It took a team effort to play how we did. We had some amazing plays on Sunday. We had solid production from Carly P. at the plate and diving for balls. She was amazing. Kathleen M. was pretty dang solid at catcher. Hanna C. did great at catcher and third and it is probably the best Hanna has hit in a tournament ever. Mikki Z. pitched two strong games on Sunday. Every player contributed to the success. Beating the older teams and even being in the “A” bracket is a testament to how hard the girls have worked and how good they have become. Nine months ago they were a 12U team. Look at them today!”

Fusion Orange now looks ahead to the SEFSA Memorial tournament on June 21 – 22 at Dunham Park.

Click here to see photos of the tournament.