Softball: Hot Shots win Western States World Series

Entering the final day of the National Softball Association Western States World Series at Stodick Park Friday, the Carson Valley Hot Shots 10-under team's chances of winning the title were about as slim as they come.

In order to even think about playing for the championship in the highest-level tournament the NSA conducts in the Western United States, the Hot Shots would have had to win five games in 90-plus degree heat.

Add to it that they opened the day with one of the top-ranked teams in California, and if they should make it past that test, they'd still have to fight their way out of the loser's bracket to even have a shot at the title.

Consider all missions accomplished.

The Hot Shots won a remarkable five games, all of which they trailed in at some point, Friday at Stodick Park (This was the first time Northern Nevada had hosted the World Series, which annually draws teams from California, Washington, Arizona and Oregon).

They capped it off with a pair of come-from-behind victories over the previously-perfect Tracy, Calif., Titans.

"We were playing from behind the whole time," said Goose Pitts, who coached the team with his sister, Dena Sargent, his dad, Leonard Pitts Sr. and Johnny Yaro. "The girls really showed a lot of character to accomplish what they did today.

"They worked really hard. It's just a good group and We're really proud of them."

After getting through the early-morning contest against Bakersfield, Carson Valley pounded out a 10 a.m. win over the Reno Thunder -- a team the Hot Shots hadn't beaten in several previous attempts this year -- and followed with a win over the Lassen Lightning at noon.

Pitcher Kali Sargent carried the bulk of the load in the circle throughout the day, keeping her velocity up despite the extreme heat. She finished the day with an incredible 41 innings pitched.

In the finals, Carson Valley trailed Tracy 4-3 in the fourth before Leanna Mortimer legged out a single and advanced to second on a fielder's choice from Maddy Parks.

Mortimer advanced to third on a wild pitch to Chelsie Chambers and scored on a passed ball to tie the game.

Tracy went back on top in the fourth 5-4 but Carson Valley got a triple from Makayla Shaver to lead off the bottom half and Sargent later drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game up. The go-ahead run came on a passed ball with the bases loaded to give Carson Valley a 6-5 lead.

Sargent induced two ground balls and struck out four over the final two innings to seal the win for Carson Valley and force the title game.

In the championship, Tracy broke a 2-2 tie in the third inning and stretched the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Carson Valley was having trouble making contact before the decisive fifth inning.

Mortimer got things going with a one-out single and Parks followed with a walk.

Chambers singled to score Mortimer and Parks scored on a passed ball to tie the game.

Justine Kristy drew a walk and advanced to second on a steal, leaving runners on second and third for Shaver.

Shaver grounded into a fielder's choice that allowed Chambers to come home, giving Carson Valley the 5-4 lead.

Sargent struck out two and induced a foul out to first to get out of the fifth and struck out two and got a ground ball to short to get out of the sixth.

Sargent struck out the lead off batter in the seventh and got a quick groundout to Shaver before Tracy got a single and a walk to put runners on first and second.

The runners moved to second and third during the next at-bat but Sargent struck out her sixth batter in three innings to end the game.

The tournament win was made even more remarkable by the fact that the coaching staff only joined the team only about two weeks ago after the previous head coach left town on a family vacation.

"The team had been well, but we just got to start working with them about two weeks ago," Pitts said. "We worked on some stuff with them and we were hoping they would do well in this tournament. This was a surprise though."

The Hot Shots roster includes Mortimer, Parks, Shaver, Sargent, Chambers, Kristy, Shaena Robinson, Lane Waggoner, Nicole Rowe, Chandler Howe, Sarah Medicine Crow and Alyana Pitts.

The team will stay together for a series of fall ball tournaments coming up.