23 Local Teams to Vie in State Softball Event

Twenty-three Valley-area girls’ teams will descend on three Southern California sites this weekend to compete in the Amateur Softball Assn. Major Travel State Championships.

More than 150 teams will take part in the tournament, which begins Friday and ends Sunday. The 14-and-under championships will be held in Riverside, the 16-and-under tournament will take place in Escondido, and the 18-and-under championships will be in Anaheim.

The champions of the three divisions advance to the national championships, Aug. 8-12. The 14-and-under tournament will be in Fort Worth, Tex.; the 16-and-under national championships will take place in Garland, Tex.; and the 18-and-under tournament will be contested in Lodi, Calif.

“Most teams play six to eight tournaments in preparation for this,” said Dick Siegel, coach of the West Valley Hot Shots, who are entered in the 16-and-under division.

“You must attend (a minimum of) two tournaments to attend the state championships, which explains the great number of teams that are going.”

The Hot Shots include players from Agoura, Calabasas, El Camino Real, Canoga Park, Taft, Reseda, Thousand Oaks, and Paraclete highs. Most members started on their high school teams this year as freshmen.

Major Travel is one of the divisions of the Junior Olympic program, which features 700,000 youths throughout the United States.

“It’s a very competitive atmosphere,” Siegel said. “We face people like Kym Weil (Southern Section 4-A Division Player of the Year from Hart) all the time. Every team has huge tryouts every year.”

He added, “Anyone who is anyone in softball these days has gone through tournaments like the one (this weekend).”

Four of Siegel’s players--Heidi Crocker of El Camino Real, Keri Borzello of Taft, Heather Siegel of Calabasas, and Jacquelyn Stafford of Canoga Park--will travel to Detroit for the Youth Maccabiah Games, which begin Aug. 18.