Grand Slam for Aliso Viejo Girls Softball

Aliso Viejo, Calif. – June 23, 2009 – It was a Father’s Day to remember at Aliso Viejo Community Park on Sunday, the host field for the annual Southern California Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Central “C” District Championship Tournament.  Three Aliso Viejo Girls Softball (AVGS) All-Star teams qualified for the So Cal State Championship Tournament (10U, 12U, and 14U), and one for the Celebration of Champions Tournament (8U).  The league played host to forty-two recreational softball teams from 13 Southern California cities from Redondo Beach to San Clemente. 

For AVGS President Louis Mazzarini, it was a perfect Father’s Day weekend.  Not only did he get to spend the weekend managing his daughter’s eight-and-under (8U) All-Star softball team to the district tournament championship, but he witnessed the most successful district championship showing of AVGS teams in its 15-year history.

Each year, the Amateur Softball Association holds a series of local tournaments that culminate in a national tournament held each summer. By winning the district championship game, the AVGS 8U All-Star team was invited to the Celebration of Champions Tournament (8U is not eligible for state tournament play) to be held in San Diego in mid July.

But it gets better.  The AVGS 12U team, managed by Kevin Tiber, won the 12U division district championship on Sunday as well.  And it gets even better.  The AVGS 10U team, managed by Barry Brittingham and the AVGS 14U team, managed by Shae Askew, were championship finalists.  For the first time in league history, all four Aliso Viejo Girls Softball All-Star teams (8U, 10U, 12U, and 14U) have qualified for So Cal State Championship Tourney and the Celebration of Champions Tournament.

“Elated. Amazed. Exhausted. I think that sums up my weekend,” Mazzarini said. “We are ecstatic to have all four of our All-Star teams make it to the finals, to have two of them crowned district champions, and to have all four divisions going to San Diego.”

“We had the honor of achieving all of this while hosting the Southern California ASA Central “C” District Championship Tournament on our home fields in Aliso Viejo,” said Shae Askew, 14U manager, board member, and 10-year AVGS veteran coach.

Of course that meant four days of sun-up to well-passed-sundown work for Askew along with the other AVGS board members and volunteers.  Preparation required practicing before the game, managing the game itself, and then running around between games to see how the other AVGS teams were doing.

“I’m completely wiped out,” said Brad Cravens, AVGS’s vice president and coach of the 10U All-Star team. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything; it was the best Father’s Day present I can think of.”

ASA Central District Commissioner John Felicetti said he could not recall a time when a league sent all of its divisions to the district championship games.  “It’s certainly a major accomplishment,” Felicetti said. “Aliso Viejo Girls Softball made a big name for the league this year, and they were fantastic hosts as well.”

The So Cal State Championship Tournament is held in San Diego this year from July 17-19.