By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
KEIZER, Ore.– Coming off of their tough 7-5 defeat to the Newport Tides 18U on Sunday morning, the CSC Ignite came out firing in their third-place game against the MVP 16U squad. Scoring ten runs in the opening inning, the Ignite set the tone and their defense refocused as they held MVP to two hits in the contest.
CSC Ignite would take the game 16-0 in three innings. Sprague-grad and incoming Chemeketa Sophomore Shayla Qualls went two innings, striking out three and drove in 3RBI’s. Bailey Villareal closed out the game in the third to help lead the defense.
“This weekend, and the Summer, have been great so far, just working on batting and pitching. All the things I need to do to get ready for Chemeketa,” said Qualls. “We didn’t start the day the way we wanted to and going in (the second game) work on different things and having my teammates behind me, it was great.”
Qualls went 3-2 in 18 appearances , striking out seven in 38-and-two-third innings pitched with the Storm this past Spring, helping the Salem-based Junior College reach the NWAC Playoffs.
Incoming Dallas senior Kadence Tullock drove in a team-high 4RBI’s on the day. Tullock found her offense in the second game against MVP after going hitless in the opening three games of the tournament in Keizer as she’s hoping that this Summer will lead to a strong Spring season with the Dragons here in a few months.
Hitting has been a focal point for Tullock as the Ignite prepare for their next tournament in Dallas this next weekend. And playing with some current College players like Qualls, Meagan Trissel (incoming Chemeketa sophomore from Scio), and Ava Woods (incoming Chemeketa sophomore from Dallas) will go a long way as well in her development.
“It’s really good for me. I feel like playing older and playing with those higher-league people. It’s a lot of fun and it’s going to help me with my senior year too,” Tullock said. “What I can continue on is my hitting. My hitting has been a little iffy recently, but I’m going to continue to practice and work on it and hopefully getting it fixed soon.”
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
