The Winnemucca Gold Rush girl’s 12U fast pitch softball team opened their 2018 summer season with a second place tournament victory in Elko on June 2-3.
The Gold Rush girls posted wins against the Spring Creek Lady Warriors (11-0, 13-0) in two games, and against Elko Inferno (13-1) and Fallon Force (5-2).
They would eventually lose in extra innings in the championship game against Fallon Force (5-3).
The Gold Rush super-charged offense was led by Savannah Stoker who finished the weekend with three home runs and several extra base hits.
Maddi McClure, Gracie Marchand, Megan Cook, Kailey Franklin, Hadlee Bengochea and Bree Dunckhorst also contributed to the stellar offensive performance over the weekend by posting multi-hit games and driving in several runs.
The Gold Rush defense was led by shutdown pitching performances from Bree Dunckhorst, Kailey Franklin and Savannah Stoker; allowing only six combined runs over five games during the tournament.
Bree Dunckhorst didn’t allow a single base hit during the game against the Spring Creek Lady Warriors.
Gold Rush play
in Susanville
The Winnemucca Gold Rush girl’s 12U fast pitch softball team traveled to Susanville, Calif., on June 16-17 to compete in the Lassen Qualifier.
Due to another large tournament which was held in Reno during the same time, only two 12U teams played in this tournament; the Gold Rush and Lassen Lightning.
The Gold Rush girls elected to play up into the 14U age bracket for half of the tournament.
The Gold Rush girls lost a tough battle to the Lassen Lightning 12U team (6-3), in their opener but would go on to beat the Carson City Sharks 14U (13-3) and the Reno Elite 14U (10-6).
The Gold Rush girls would once again battle it out on Sunday with the Lassen Lightning, eventually dropping a hard fought game (7-6). The Gold Rush offense was fueled by contributions from every player on the team and multi-hit games from Stoker, McClure and Marchand.
The Gold Rush defense was excellent once again, with a combined pitching rotation including Dunckhorst, Franklin, and Stoker.
The trio allowed eighteen runs over the four-game tourney, which saw several great defensive plays including an unassisted double-play from Hayden Case at second base.
The Gold Rush girls left the tournament with their second, second place tournament win of the season.
Winnemucca travels to Carson City
After posting their second, second place tournament win in Susanville, the Winnemucca Gold Rush team traveled to Carson City to compete in the Carson City Qualifier.
There, they drew a round robin game against their nemesis, the Lassen Lightning 12U team from Susanville.
In the end, Lassen was unable to handle the Gold Rush offensive onslaught which resulted in a 12-2 win in favor of Winnemucca.
The Gold Rush went on the attack on Saturday, defeating Elko Inferno (12-2), the Carson Valley Outlaws (13-0) and ended the day with the big win over Lassen.
These games saw a ton of offensive output by the whole team, with special offensive contributions from Cook, Stoker, McClure, Marchand and Presley Hayes. Gold Rush drew the No. 1 seed for Sunday’s bracket, and would end up losing a tough game to the No. 2 seed, the Sparks Communers (6-5).
The Gold Rush defense was on point once again, and saw stellar pitching performances from Franklin, Stoker and Dunckhorst. Duckhort missed hurling a perfect game against Carson Valley, had it not been for an unintentional hit batter.
However, she was able to salvage the no-hitter with help from a sound Gold Rush defensive performance.
The Winnemucca Gold Rush were in Reno this past weekend and travel to Yerington this weekend for the state tournament.
