Youth softball teams prep for summer finales

The Slammers’ 8B squad was nearly unbeatable as it racked up a record of 25-1 as it won the bracket championship at a pair of tournaments: the Jan McPherson, hosted by San Carlos Youth Softball, and Billie Sue Memorial, hosted by Burlingame Girls Softball. The 8B squad finished second at the Northern California tournament to advance to the California State Games beginning July 18 in San Diego.

The 10C Gold Slammers will also be making the trip to San Diego after it finished third in its bracket at the Nor Cal championships. This on the heels of going undefeated in winning the Twister Classic in San Jose.

The 10B Slammers compiled a record of 22-6-1 and will be playing in the Western Nationals in Roseville at the end of the month after finishing second at the Nor Cal tournament. Its highlight was winning the silver bracket of the AST Top Gun Tournament last month.

The Slammers’ 10C White and 8C squads didn’t qualify for post-season tournaments, but enjoyed success this summer, nonetheless.

The 8C squad took the silver bracket championship in both the Jan McPherson and Billie Sue Memorial tournaments. the 10C White, meanwhile, was second at the Generation Fit-Future Classic tournament and runner-up in the bronze bracket at the Battle of the Bay tournament, which is hosted by Millbrae Girls Softball Association.

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A little further south, the San Carlos Force program, the tournament arm of San Carlos Youth Softball, has two teams heading to the California State Games after the program had five teams in the Nor Cal finals, with four finishing in the top three.

The San Carlos Force were the only program in USA Nor Cal softball to have four teams place in the top three at the Nor Cal tournament. The 8 Comp and 10C squads will both be heading to San Diego for the state games, after finishing third and second, respectively, at Nor Cals.

The Force 12B team finished third and the 14B squad was runner up at the Nor Cal tournament.

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The Millbrae 10C Mischief also qualified for the California State Games and have also set up a gofundme.com page in an effort to raise funds to pay for the tournament and various costs sending a softball team on the road.

Click on the “Support Millbrae Mischief Girls’ Championship Chase!” when you search the gofundme.com site.

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Meanwhile, the Bel-Mateo Babe Ruth 15s All-Star teams is looking to defray some of the cost associated with competing in the Pacific Southwest Regional tournament in Long Beach beginning July 21.

Bel-Mateo Babe Ruth has set up a gofundme.com page — just go to the gofundme website and search, “Bel-Mateo Babe Ruth” and click on “15-year-old All-Star Team” button if you wish to donate.

The Bel-Mateo squad punched its ticket to the regional tournament following a perfect run through the California state tournament at Belmont Sports Complex last week. Bel-Mateo went 4-0, outscoring its opponents 32-6.

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The NFHS, which is the governing body for high school sports, pretty consistently sends out emails at least once a month during the high school season for a variety of reasons.

But it’s during the summer that sees a lot of rules changes get done and there has been a lot of news coming out of the organization’s Indiana headquarters as meetings wrapped up month.

Last week, the NFHS released a new flag football rulebook. Wednesday saw a clarification of electronic communication during softball games. Yes, coaches can now call pitches through an earpiece in the catcher’s ear, who then relays signals to the pitcher.

The NFHS just wanted to clarify only one-way communication between coach and catcher is allowed, and nothing else. The new rule states, “No player shall be allowed to transmit or record audio or video from the playing surface in high school softball.”

But that’s nothing compared to the press release that came out Tuesday regarding lacrosse — as a dozen rule changes were implemented.

I wasn’t real familiar with the old rules, so the new ones probably won’t impact me too much.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.