10U Cherry Crush serves up Father’s Day treat

“I have been blessed with a core group of kids and parents who have trusted me to teach their kids the fundamentals and strategies of this game,” said head coach Ryan LeBreton. “Because we are in our third year together, this group is starting to show real promise in all aspects of softball.”

After earning a tough 13-12 victory over the South Albany Rebels in the semifinals, coach LeBreton penciled in Kennedy Abbas in the circle with the championship on the line against the Tigard Crush.

And she delivered a dazzling performance.

Abbas tossed a no-hitter with nine strikeouts and five walks, as the Crush opened up a 4-0 first-inning lead with four more in the second and three in the fourth inning to capture a 12-0 mercy-ruled triumph.

In her four frames of work, Abbas struck out five batters in a row at one point, and then escaped a bases-loaded no-out jam in the fourth inning with back-to-back strikeouts and an inning-ending groundout to seal the Crush title.

“We wanted to take home a trophy and it showed in Kennedy’s phenomenal performance in the championship game,” LeBreton said. “There is a lot of pressure on you as a pitcher when you are standing in that circle for your third game of the day and Kennedy was lights out. I was so proud of how she pitched and how all of our girls played the entire weekend. They came to play five games in a row and that is why we won the championship.”

Jeilane Stewart had three walks and scored three runs, Keiliani Crichton-Tunai added a hit, two runs and an RBI, and Abbas was issued a walk, hit by a pitch, scored two runs and delivered the walk-off RBI groundout to score Crichton-Tunai to end the game.

The Crush faced the South Albany Rebels in the semifinals, a back-and-forth where 25 runs were put on the scoreboard.

Ashlyn Jones and Zoe LeBreton both pitched in this game, but every time South Albany scored runs, the Crush offense answered with authority.

Down 12-11 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Jones led off with a single and Zoe LeBreton walked to set things up for Stewart.

Three pitches later, both Jones and LeBreton scored on passed balls to vault the Crush to a 13-12 triumph and a title game berth.

“This game was a great testament to teaching girls how to battle through adversity,” coach LeBreton said. “Both Ashlyn and Zoe threw complete games the day before and were on. This was a game where they both struggled, but I chose to leave them out there, so they could learn to battle even when things aren’t going well.”

The Crush coach credited the offense for battling a tough pitching staff for as many runs as they did.

“We faced a solid pitcher that we didn’t see the day before and she brought speed and accuracy,” LeBreton said. “Our girls stepped up to the plate and showed great tenacity in putting balls in play and forcing the Lady Rebels to earn outs. In the end, the hot bats of the Crush won out.”

Jones had two hits and scored two runs, LeBreton notched a hit, was hit twice and scored three runs, and the trio of Stewart, Keiliani Crichton-Tunai and Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai scored two runs apiece.

In their first three pool play matchups on Saturday, the Crush went 3-0 with wins of 10-4 over the Gresham Vengeance, 13-1 against the South Albany Rebels and 13-3 over the Tigard Crush to gain the No. 1 seed.

Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai had a three-run single and Abbas struck out six in three innings pitched to earn the win in the Crush’s first pool play game.

Against the Vengeance, Jones had two singles and two RBIs, Stewart had a double with two RBIs and Keiliani Crichton-Tunai had a single, a triple and two RBIs to lead the charge at the plate. Jones struck out seven in her top effort from the circle.

Zoe LeBreton struck out eight in four innings and took advantage of 10 walks to invoke a 13-3 mercy-ruled win over the Tigard Crush to cap pool play with a 3-0 record.

This season, LeBreton and assistant coaches David Jones and Joe Abbas have had the luxury of depth with five pitchers and three catchers and experienced players in the infield, two-to-three deep at each position.

Kennedy Abbas, Zoe LeBreton, and Jones have been carrying the majority of the load in the circle, and the duo of Lilly Schatz and Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai are further developing their pitching skills to become weapons to use.

At catcher, Zoe LeBreton, Stewart, and Keiliani Crichton-Tunai are doing the majority of the work behind the plate.

With the additions of Amyrah Hill, Maddie Brock, Laci Hoylman, Lilian Marx, and Keily Lutgens, this group has added experience, talent and speed to help bolster the offense and defense.

“This group of girls (and parents) have been an absolute honor to coach,” coach LeBreton said. “These kids work hard and are like little sponges – they listen and apply strategies and techniques after they have been taught something. The best part is when you see them apply what you taught them in practice to the games.”

With state play coming up, the Crush has started playing their best ball of the season, so coach LeBreton is looking forward to this group continuing to build upon what transpired in West Linn.

The Cherry City Crush team starts pool play action at 6 p.m. Friday at Bryant Park in Albany for ASA State Tournament action.