San Jose Sting

Sting opened bracket play with 2 strong wins against the Atlanta Vipers of Georgia and the Beverly Bandits of Illinois on Tuesday with strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting. In the opener, Sting were having problems getting runs across the plate by leaving 8 runners on baseand only accounting for 1 run but with the score tied 1-1 going into the bottom of 7th, Chanae Jones (Oklahoma) led off with a triple and a 2 batters later scored on a errand throw by the Viper catcher for a thrilling 2-1 victory over the tough Vipers team from Atlanta Georgia. Strong pitching by Keilani Ricketts and good hitting by Jane Alexander( Harvard), Maia Monchek(Purdue) ,Briana Turang (Oklahoma) and Alyssa Nakken(Sac State). In the night cap, Sting played the very aggressive Beverly Bandits of Illinois. The Bandits led by a mostly College dominated team including Junior USA Olympian and U of Arizona Standout Lauren Schutzler. No problem for the 6'3 left hander , Keilani Ricketts who was masterful by allowing 2 hits and striking out 10 in the 3-0 victory. Great defensive credit needs to go to catcher Kelly Schulze( UC Davis) who was solid behind the plate(including throwing out a base runner), diving catches by Briana Turang (Oklahoma) in the outfield and key stops by SS Jessica Abelia( Sonoma State), 3B Chanae Jones (Oklahoma) and 2B Jane Alexander (Harvard).