Rapids leave many in their wake

The North Valley Rapids played their hearts out last week in Hemet at the Amateur Softball Association's (ASA) National Championships, finishing 20th in the nation in the 18-and-under division.

The tournament began Aug. 1 with pool play, and the Rapids ended up with a grueling schedule after falling into the loser's bracket on the second day of bracket play, according to coach Tito Cervantes.

They started out double-elimination bracket play last Wednesday with a victory against the Orange County Elite, but lost the following day, 4-1, to the American Athletics out of San Diego.

"If anyone knows tournament play with a loss, the loser brackets become a bear and a long road," Cervantes said.

The Rapids kept their heads up and hoped for the best, playing on Friday like there was no tomorrow.

"And it literally was no tomorrow if we lost," Cervantes said. "In order to make the top 10 and play on Saturday, we had to win five games in a row."

From there the Rapids kept winning, coming from behind to prevail in one Thursday afternoon and three straight on Friday. The Rapids spent 14 hours at the ball field on Friday but came up short in the final game of the day. They played teams from Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida and Southern California.

The Rapids rebounded from the loss to the A's by eliminating the Mid-Tennesee Thunderbolts, setting up a string of four consecutive games on Friday.

Their rally continued with wins against Team Smash, Sugar & Spikes and the Lady Wildcats, but in the fourth game of the day, the Rapids were eliminated by the West Pines Diamond Dusters.

Cervantes reported that teams consisted of the best players in each state, and in most cases included players who had turned 19 and played a year at the Division I level in college. Southern California teams have 17-24 players on their rosters and players have the option of playing for any of hundreds of all-star clubs in the area.

The magnitude of the Rapids' accomplishment can be measured by their relative youth in comparison to other teams. They had one senior, five juniors, three sophomores, and a freshman, comprising one of the youngest teams to qualify for the ASA 18U national tournament.

In pool play, the Rapids fell to Team Velocity Force, 5-3, and defeated Boombah, 12-2, but those early games were essentially practice rounds.

Not only did the Rapids meet new friends from other states, they showed great sportsmanship by following their new friends and cheering for opposing teams from the bleachers.

"It was a great feeling to see such team bonding," Cervantes said. "Even after coaching for over 30 years, that is still a good feeling to end the season with."