It’s a swing and a miss, for the other teams participating in the Silver Division Dust Bowl Tournament. Sage Creek’s junior varsity team brought home the first of many trophies to come for softball. The ladies battled hard and after a grueling game against Mar Vista, they won 15-8.

The team consists of mostly sophomores and juniors that were hungrier than ever for a chance to prove themselves after a 16 game losing streak. The youngest of this crowd, Kalani Kahaloa-White, is a freshman who won MVP of the Tournament. Kahaloa-White hit one of three home runs during this game and was the only freshman to connect on a long ball.

“You seem like you’re going to be the underdog being the freshman, but I do well under the pressure,” Kahaloa-White said.

The team was victorious in their tournament by winning a series of games against teams such as Gompers Prep Academy with a score of 20-2 and San Ysidro with a score of 14-5. These teams are new opponents from the Avocado West League that JV is facing this year. The team has no doubt grown from last year

“Having everyone with playing experience, [and who] know[s] what [they] are doing makes a difference,” junior Chloe Carty said.

Carty also won an All-Tourney award for playing consistently well throughout the entire tournament. This award was added to the extensive list of Chloe’s playing abilities offensively and defensively.

“I played first, second, short [stop], center and right [field],” Carty noted.

Anyone that knows the team sees that all of the players have the ability to swap positions to play to their strengths. Due to her wrist injury, sophomore Brooke Vinzinski only played in single elimination games but said she has, “amazing [and] supporting teammates.”

She, along with her teammates, pulled through some tough games with injuries and exhaustion with a winning smile on their faces. While the JV team has already competed and won their first tournament, the older sister team (Varsity), is ready and looking towards a CIF Championship win. Currently, they have already exceeded last year’s record of 2-17 in just the first three weeks of play!