It’s that time of year again when the two top softball tournaments in the state are in action on successive weeks. Prep2Prep will be on hand at both events, next week in Orange County and the following week in the Tri-Valley area of the East Bay. The following are previews of both tournaments.
The grandmother of all softball tournaments in the Golden State is the Michelle Carew Classic. The dates are March 29 to April 1 and the tournament is hosted by Canyon-Anaheim with most of the games held at Peralta Park in Anaheim with a few games at Canyon and El Modena-Orange.
The 2023 Michelle Carew Classic marks the 36th anniversary of Canyon High hosting the invitational varsity tournament and the 22nd successive year the event has been in memory of Canyon player Michelle Carew, the daughter of MLB Hall of fame great Rod Carew.
Michelle was a spirited member of Canyon Comanche softball program for four years. Shortly after her graduation in 1995, she became suddenly and seriously ill from bone marrow cancer and passed away in April of 1996. Her death and the publicity surrounding it brought more awareness to this deadly form of cancer.
The inaugural year of the tournament was 1985, the second year former Canyon head coach Lance Eddy was at the Comanche helm. The tournament missed a couple of years in the 1990’s and two years due to COVID, but Eddy, who retired in 2009 as the Comanche’s coach, has continuously run the tournament right up until this year, which will be his last. In fully retiring from softball, Eddy has left a legacy of excellence that once again is displayed in this year’s field.
The field of 31 teams includes 11 teams ranked in the Cal-Hi Sports Top 25 rankings, a few which are on what is called the Bubble, and some top teams from neighboring states.
The top eight teams as seedy by Eddy earlier this month are No. 1 St. Francis-Mountain View, the No. 1 team in California in 2022 and No. 4 in the current rankings. The No. 2 seed is current No. 3 ranked Los Alamitos. At the No. 3 seed is Murrieta Mesa-Murrieta, the preseason No. 1 ranked team and currently Ranked No. 5.
Checking in as the No. 4 seed is Norco. The Cougars are currently ranked No. 1 in the state after winning the prestigious Dave Kops Tournament of Champions in Arizona with a 13-8 victory over Los Alamitos. Seeded fifth is Pacifica-Garden Grove, currently ranked No. 14. The No. 6 seed is Huntington Beach, currently in the next group after the top 25. Seventh-seeded Lutheran-Orange is currently ranked No. 10 and the No. 8 seed is Mission Viejo.
Other teams of note in the field that were not seeded are No. 7 ranked Marina-Huntington Beach, No. 13 ranked Esperanza-Anaheim, No. 15 ranked Rancho Bernardo-San Diego, No. 17 ranked Beaumont, No. 20 ranked Mater Dei Catholic-Chula Vista, 2022 Michelle Carew Classic champion and host Canyon, Cathedral Catholic-San Diego, El Modena, Gahr-Cerritos, Millikan-Long Beach and Poway.
Highly regarded teams from neighboring states include Arizona No. 9 Canyon View-Waddell, Nevada No. 8 ranked Arbor View-Las Vegas, and Nevada No. 16 ranked Centennial-Las Vegas.
Top players competing this year include:
Cal-Hi Sports 2022 State Sophomore of the Year Cambria Salmon of Beaumont.
2022 State Freshman of the Year Kai Minor of Lutheran-Orange.
Jasmyn Burns and Caylea Rains-Campbell of Murrieta Mesa
Sofia Elliott of Mission Viejo
Mya Perez and Alyssa Hoverdale of Norco
Shannon Keighran, Kate Munnerlyn and Carly and Chloe Cummings of St. Francis
Brynne Nally and Delaina Ma’ae of Pacifica
Zoe Pryhstajko of Huntington Beach
Alyhna Chaw of Mater Dei Catholic
Giselle Alvarez of Los Alamitos
Regan Shocky of Chino Hills
Taylor Shumaker of Esperanza
Brianna Weiss of Orange Lutheran
Ashleigh Mejia of Santiago
Maddie Hulse of Rancho Bernardo
Ari Ramirez of Millikan
Livermore Stampede
While the top girls high school softball tournament in Northern California doesn’t have quite the number of top-ranked teams as the Michelle Carew Classic, the 32-team field of the 29th Annual Livermore Stampede that will grace the Ernie Rodrigues Softball Complex in Livermore from April 6-8 is anything but short on talent, and includes five teams in the Cal-Hi Sports Top 25 rankings
Founded by former Livermore softball head coach Charlie Foscalina in 1994, Foscalina, who led the Cowboys for 18 years before retiring in 2006, coached in 12 Livermore Stampede tournaments and won once. The Most Valuable Player trophy is called The Charlie Foscalina MVP Trophy.
This year’s field includes defending champion and No. 16 ranked Granada-Livermore. St. Francis, last year’s top-ranked team in California, will head back north after the Carew Classic and the No. 4 ranked Lancers will grace the field as one of the favorites.
Three other state-ranked teams in the Stampede field are No. 8 Archbishop Mitty-San Jose, No. 12 Foothill-Pleasanton and No. 21 Whitney-Rocklin.
Another team in the field that just missed the rankings is San Ramon Valley-Danville, and then there’s perennially tough Sheldon-Sacramento with legendary head coach Mary Jo Truesdale, who came into this season with 695 career wins (808 including her seasons coaching in Michigan) according to the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record – and of course a host Livermore team that obviously will be a fan favorite and could be a sleeper.
Some of the top players in this year’s Stampede include:
Shannon Keighran, Kate Munnerlyn and Carly and Chloe Cummings of St. Francis
Corri Hicks, Keira Brady and Ava Markert of Archbishop Mitty
Avamarie Perry, Emily Mayer Marissa Anderson of Foothill
Delaney Aumua, Alex Mello and Saskia Rabb of Granada
Mya Flindt and Hannah Duncan of Whitney
Paige McLeod and Sophia Jin of San Ramon Valley
Sakora Harvell of Sheldon
Jae Cosgriff of Livermore