Scotts Valley Trouble: Incredible Season!

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9 months ago

By Laiya Pamela Restivo

I’ve been involved in youth sports (coaching my fifth kid now) for many years through several sports and the 2023 Scotts Valley Trouble had what is hands-down the most successful comp season in terms of wins.

The team is comprised of 7-, 8- and 9 year old girls, many who had never played softball with a catcher before. Some girls couldn’t even catch well or throw properly at the start of practices for the season. They worked so hard practicing with the team 2, often 3 times a week in addition to whatever practicing they do on their own.

We played friendly scrimmages against teams from Watsonville to Los Gatos — Pajaro Tremblers, Cabrillo Crushers, SLV Mountain Dream, Los Gatos Magic, and Branham Hill Thunder with a record of 6 wins, 2 ties, and no losses.

We played in five USA Softball-sanctioned tournaments and placed in all of them.

In chronological order:

We earned:

2nd at Jan Macpherson in San Carlos
3rd at Battle of the Bay in Millbrae
2nd at Blast by the Bay in Soquel
Champions at Eric Padgett in Sonoma
Champions at the Strawberry Jam in Pajaro/Watsonville

Highlight from the latest championship berth:

Harper Swartz and LaVinnia Restivo had a combined 15 strikeouts over six innings, Swartz with 8 and Restivo with 7, each pitched three innings (extra innings using international tiebreaker rule) for a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sparks — where video footage was reviewed by the lead umpire in a call challenged by the opposing coach-video replay revealed a proper call by the on-field umpire), propelling SV Trouble to the championship game where the two phenom pitchers, Swartz ,a righthander, and Restivo, a southpaw, each pitched another two innings each to secure the tournament win over the Cabrillo Crushers.

“Trouble, you know, 212!”

•••

Head Coach (Manager): Laiya Pamela Restivo • Assistant Coaches: Jim Conner and Brett Swartz

Players: Olivia Simmons • Emma Lee • Jocelyn Conner • Alex Shippee • Mya Rapolla • Taylor Mace • Rylan Rossignol • Vivian Sklar • Ella Blasius • Allie Pao • Harper Swartz • Vinnie Restivo • Penelope Castillo

Developmental players who came to practices and scrimmages but were not tournament participants: Randie Byrd • Lucy Steele • Kate Steele • Ava Adams