Dreams kick off World Series in style
By: Argus Observer Sports Staff
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:39 AM PDT
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| SUBMITTED PHOTO
Field of Dreams player Audra Hall rounds third base in this submitted photo. Hall and the Dreams finished the first day of action at the Triple Crown Sports World Series in Park City, Ut. Tuesday with a pair of wins. |
Park City, Ut.—After one day of action, pitching, defense and offense appear to be firing on all cylinders for David Hopper’s Field of Dreams softball team at the Triple Crown Sports World Series in Park City, Ut. Tuesday.
The Dreams got off to a fast start in pool play action with a 4-0 win over the Black Ice, out of Grand Junction, Colo., and rounded out first day action with a 6-1 victory over the Gilete, Wyo. Blue Jays.
In the opener, Marisa Gonzalez and Tori Brown cracked home runs, and Melissa Blackwell tossed six innings of two-hit ball to lead the Dreams to a 4-0 victory.
Blackwell allowed struck out six, and allowed two singles and held off any sustained threat by the Ice.
“She did a good job getting the ball low and got some groundballs and popups against them,” Hopper said. “She pitched a great game. Our defense played great, the infield made plays and kept the ball in front of them and made some good throws. It was definitely a good day for the Dream team.”
Staked to a 1-0 lead on Barnett’s double, Gonzalez came up in the top of the third inning and slammed the first pitch she saw over the right field fence for the round tripper to give the Dreams a 3-0 advantage.
Brown added an insurance run in the top of the sixth with a solo home run to centerfield.
In the nightcap, Mariah Dodson went 2-for-2, Barnett drove in three runs, and Boo Christman tossed a complete game, three-hitter with nine strikeouts to lead the Dreams to a 6-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
Brown went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Blackwell added a double to spear the offense for the Dreams, who totaled eight hits.
Asked which game was more impressive to him, Hopper gave each pitching performance by Blackwell and Christman rave reviews.
In the end, he was happy to see the talent of his group shine through.
“We were sound. Whether it was offensively, defensively or with pitching these girls came out hungry and got the job done,” Hopper said. “We had no jitters and no deer in the headlights look to us. We were here to play and that is exciting to see.”
The Dreams hit the diamond today with a game against Team Attitude, out of Utah, earlier this morning at 8 a.m., and end the pool play round with a tilt against Winslow, Ariz. at 11:30 a.m.
