BREEZE capture USSSA State Championship

The BREEZE, a 16U girl’s select fastpitch team from Port Orchard, overcame a first-round loss by reeling off six wins in a row to win the 2006 USSSA Washington State Championship held June 24-25 at Kent Commons Park in Kent.

The BREEZE dropped its opening game 8-7 but won its second to stay alive and then proceed to win five straight games to take the crown.

The BREEZE offense exploded to score 95 runs over the seven games, while the defense, led by the pitching tandem of Kristin Stephens and Kali Butler, limited opponents to 23 total runs scored.

Stephens, the top pitcher for South Kitsap High School last season, went 4-0, including a complete game shutout, to earn Tournament MVP honors. Butler went 2-0, giving up only 6 runs in 15 innings of work while Hallie Macarty was 3 for 3 in save opportunities.

B.B. Booher paced the explosive offense, going 13 for 19 with a pair of home runs, four triples and a double.

Cleanup hitter Kirstie Cosgrove also had 13 hits and drove in 15 runs, including five RBI in the title game where she belted a bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning to put the game away.

Jessie Sannino, Tara Higgins and Jocylynn Meadows each went 10 for 15 over the two-day tourney while Leah Stevens and Brianna McGinnis adding nine hits apiece. Trish Tremper had seven hits and added nine RBI, including a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt in the championship qualifier.

Monique Morey scored eight times for the BREEZE and made a couple of circus-style catches in left field, turning one into a double play to erase a scoring threat.

The BREEZE moved to 39-10 on the year are set to compete in the ASA State Championships and then play in the NSA Western World Series.

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