WOMEN'S SOFTBALL
OREM — Utah Valley State College is heading to Florida for the NJCAA Women's Softball Championships. The Wolverines beat Treasure Valley 6-1 Saturday in the title game of the SWAC-Region 18 Tournament to earn a third straight trip to the big show.
UVSC's Kristy Miller shut Treasure Valley down, scattering seven hits to earn her 21st victory of the season. She was named the Tournament MVP, after pitching two complete games without allowing an earned run. She also had two hits in the title game, including a sixth-inning double.
Miller out-dueled Treasure Valley's Judith van Kampen, who won four games in the tourney and carried the Chukars to the title game. The Chukars did not make it easy on the Wolverines, as they came through the loser's bracket to beat UVSC 5-3 earlier in the day and force the final "if necessary" game. In that one, van Kampen limited the Wolverines to seven hits, and the Chukars got home runs from Camas Weaver and Carrie MacKey to get the win. Weaver's homer, which came on the first pitch of the game, snapped a string of 39 scoreless innings for UVSC pitchers.
But in the title game the Wolverines got to van Kampen. They plated two runs in the first inning, as Janelle Sotelo and Belinda Renzello opened with back-to-back singles and later scampered home on ground-outs. In the fourth, Stacey Johnson belted a solo homer over the left-field fence to put UVSC up 3-0. In the fifth, Miller singled to start a two-run rally. After UVSC loaded the bases, Johnson grounded out to get her third RBI of the game. Camille Chivers singled in another run to make it 5-0.
Treasure Valley finally got on the board in the sixth, using a UVSC error and a two-out RBI single by Sarah Stephen. UVSC got that one back in the bottom of the frame when Sotelo scored all the way from second on Renzello's bunt single.
"Treasure Valley made it tough for us," said UVSC coach Todd Fairbourne. "Of the three years we've made it to nationals, this was the hardest, because of what it took to get by Treasure Valley. But for us, the kids deserve all the credit. We can provide the environment the means to help make them successful, but they have to take it upon their own shoulders to get the job done. And they did. It was always a new person to step up each game and come through. This time it was Kristy Miller. But every game somebody different stood out."
Renzello led UVSC in hitting in the tournament, with seven hits and a .636 batting average. Chivers led in RBI with six, while Johnson and Crystal Parry had four RBI apiece. Miller went 2-0 in the tourney with a 0.00 ERA and four strikeouts.
UVSC improved to 43-14 on the year. The Wolverines will head to Kissimmee, Florida, for nationals on May 16-18. The Wolverines won the national title in 2000, and finished ninth in 2001.
Box Score
SWAC SOFTBALL--2002
Treasure Valley CC at Utah Valley State
May 4, 2002 at Orem, Utah (Wolverine Diamond)
Treasure Valley CC 1 (33-22) Utah Valley State 6 (43-14)
AB R H RBI AB R H RBI
Weaver,Camas cf 4 0 2 0 Sotelo cf 4 2 1 0
Peterson,A rf/c 4 0 1 0 Renzello lf 3 2 2 1
Smith,Stacey ss 3 1 0 0 Vance ph 1 0 1 0
MacKey,C c/1b 3 0 2 0 Parry 3b 3 0 0 1
Lawson,J 1b/p 3 0 1 0 Ferreter pr 0 0 0 0
Baumann lf/rf 3 0 0 0 Johnson dh 3 1 1 3
Stephen,S 2b 3 0 1 1 Chivers c 3 0 2 1
Lenz,Kari 3b 2 0 0 0 McWhorter 2b 2 0 0 0
Kirkham, M dh 2 0 0 0 Forsey rf 3 0 2 0
Kirkham, K. dh 1 0 0 0 Hendricks 1b 3 0 0 0
VanKampen,J p 0 0 0 0 Miller p 3 0 2 0
Smith,N lf 0 0 0 0 Christensen pr 0 1 0 0
Wilcox ss/pr 0 0 0 0
Totals...... 28 1 7 1 Totals...... 28 6 11 6
Score by innings: R H E
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Treasure Valley CC 000 001 0 - 1 7 0
Utah Valley State 200 121 - 6 11 2
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E - Wilcox 2. DP - UVSC 1. LOB - Treasure 7; UVSC 6. 2B - MacKey,C; Forsey;
Miller. HR - Johnson. SB - Weaver,Camas; Sotelo; Renzello. CS - Forsey.
IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF Fly Gnd NP
VanKampen,J L 25-14 4.2 9 5 5 1 3 1 0 1 0 22 24 3 7
Lawson,J 1.1 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 3
Miller W 21-5 7.0 7 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 28 29 7 11
WP - VanKampen,J. HBP - by Miller (Lenz,Kari); by VanKampen,J (Parry).
Strikeouts - Stephen,S; Lenz,Kari; Renzello; Parry; McWhorter; Miller.
Walks - McWhorter.
Umpires -
Start: 4:45 PM Time: 2:15 Attendance: