|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A grueling five-month, 66-game summer softball season ended in a joyous celebration recently for the West Bay Warriors 16U team based in San Mateo and featuring Gunn senior Kylie Liu, St. Francis junior Hannah Cushing, Woodside senior Madi Truesdale and Sequoia senior Talia Tokheim.
Tokheim’s two-run homer sparked a 3-1 victory over the Corona Angels Slye in the championship game of the national Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series 16U Tier 1 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
The Warriors had to navigate 13 games in seven days before raising the championship trophy.
Mirroring the College World Series, teams were assigned to one of 16 double-elimination pools, with the eventual winner advancing to an Elite Eight and then to a three-game championship series.
The Warriors (40-26 overall) won 10 of 13 games in Oklahoma.
The season started with 345 16U softball teams in the Alliance across the country, 109 of them in the Pacific Coast Fastpitch League. The championship series was a 57-team tournament.
The Warriors, who hit .343 with 11 home runs in Oklahoma, draws a majority of its players from high schools in San Mateo County (Hillsdale’s Alex Bunton had three hits in the championship game). Several others attended schools in the greater Bay Area.
Winning pitcher Rose Malen plays for Marin Catholic. Emma Eichten, who singled ahead of Tokheim’s homer, plays at Monte Vista in Danville.
The pitching staff also includes players from San Ramon Valley, Mitty and Westmont.
Liu, a third baseman for Gunn, was at first base in the title game and recorded a single. Cushing, who went 4-for-10 over the final three games, played right field.
Tokheim worked the count full and fouled off three pitches before delivering the deciding blast. Bunton drove in a run in the second inning.
Malen allowed a run on eight hits in seven innings. She struck out four and did not walk a batter.
The Warriors listed 29 players on their 16U roster, though some of them also appear on their 18U or 14U rosters.
The roster includes Malaina Alifano, Ellie Alvarez, Keira Brady, Alex Bunton, Alexa Couto, Hannah Cushing, Olivia DiNardo, Zafirah Doss, Emma Eichten, Mackenzie Fobes, Clarissa Gamez, Megan Grant, Lauryn Horita, Isa Iniguez, Adyson Kim, Gabriella Lee, Olivia Levitt, Kylie Liu, Rose Malen, Paige McLeod, Jaelia Mercado, Ariana Montiel, Avery Motroni, Rian Prichard, Elise Roy, Claire Sarrail, Caitlin Sredanovich, Talia Tokheim and Madison Truesdale.
By Rick Eymer
By Rick Eymer
By Rick Eymer
Most Popular
Guest opinion: For Menlo Park's Measure P or not for P, that is the questionOctober 4, 2026 11:02 am
