By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka fastpitch softball players swept a series in Newberg, Oregon, over the weekend to claim first place in a tournament that featured teams from across the Northwest.
Sitka’s Alaska Riptide squad won against the Tillamook Red Fury 7-4 Saturday, avenging an earlier loss to that team and securing the number one seed going into Sunday. While the Red Fury led early in the game, Sitka pulled ahead in the fifth inning to clinch the win after Kaiya Balovich scored a run and broke the deadlock of the previous innings. Through the game, Tessa Anderson, Kaleena Tucker and Balovich all made multiple hits to help push their team ahead.
On Sunday, Sitka’s girls secured the championship with a 6-5 win against Soar Athletics.
Sitka’s ten-player Alaska Riptide team poses for a whimsical photo with their medals after clinching a victory in the 16U softball tournament in Newberg, Oregon on Sunday. (Photo provided by Nikki Balovich)
Sitka took a late lead after Kaelynn Balovich doubled in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a run in the process. In the second inning, a single by Anderson and home run by Tucker kept pressure on Soar as Sitka pitcher Dalila Callahan helmed the team’s defense.
Riptide coach Nikki Balovich was proud of her 16U Fastpitch Softball team.
“This group has had a lot of ups and downs and injuries that they’ve overcome. And so it was really cool to see them bring it all together again and play as a team and have fun and power through some momentum - being down and being able to hold their own and get those comebacks and pull out a win,” the coach told the Sentinel.
Just a week earlier, the Sitka team placed fifth in a tournament pitting them against some of the same teams they overcame Saturday and Sunday. The weekend’s games were organized by the North American Fastpitch Association.
For many of her veteran athletes, the weekend victory marked the completion of a multi-year circle.
“It was just good to be back in Oregon,” Balovich said. “That’s where we started in 2017. A lot of these girls played on a 10U team that year and it was good to come full circle and play again this year in the same tournament.”
Alongside the 16U squad that drew largely from high school softball players, younger Sitka softball players also were active in Oregon over the weekend. In the 14U gold bracket, Sitka placed fourth, and in the 10U tournament, Sitka claimed second place. A week earlier, the 10U squad snagged first in the Father’s Day tournament.
