IV Heat 12U softball scorching the competition
12U girls softball team smashing the competition while totalling four tournament titles this summer
EL CENTRO, Calif. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - About a year ago, the IV Heat youth softball team combined with the city of Yuma to for the IV AZ Heat softball team.
"The girls in the Imperial Valley I've had for three to four years now, since they were 8U," Head coach Michael Pacheco said. "The girls from Yuma I've had for a year. We decided to do tryouts because the Yuma girls wanted to join and they've been with us ever since."
Pacheco's roster includes 12 players with four from Yuma.
"It's a great group of girls," Pacheco said. "We preach it's not always about winning, we also set them up and hope for bright futures for them."
Currently, the 12U girls softball team is living in the limelight having recently won their fourth tournament of the year in early October in Indio, California. The Heat played at the high 14U level and still came out on top.
Before that, in late July, the girls won their third championship title of the year, the Triple Crown West Coast, a two day tournament in Lake Elsinore, California.
"We are the second team from the Imperial Valley to win a triple crown tournament title," Pacheco said. "The last team was Sandlot, few years ago ran by coach Philip Yescas."
The Heat finished 5-0 in tournament play and went on to finish 7-0, including a 1-0 win in teh championship game against Mafia Athletics 09-Bateman from Murrieta/ Temecula.
The Heat scored 28 runs and allowed 12 runs the entire tournament.
"That was a huge accomplishment for the girls," Pacheco said. "The girls just exploded."
"We're from a small town and we tell the girls it's not going to be easy," Pacheco said. "We go and play on Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Diego is tough, all these bigger cities. We have to do with what we got."
Pacheco says being from the Desert Southwest, the resources they have to work with are less than what teams from bigger cities have.
"We don't have an indoor complex to work in when it gets really hot like San Diego or Los Angeles has," Pacheco said. "We're outside when it's 110 to 115 degrees. Not many teams can say they do that then go out and beat the teams from the bigger cities. Not only beat them, but win the whole tournament and these tournaments are huge."
Team team is made up of players from Brawley, Calexico, El Centro, Imperial and Yuma and include Kiana Adame, Krissie Bell, Danae Castaneda, Elizabeth Iniguez, Hailey Lepe, Kaylene Mendivel, Kayleen Pacheco, Audrina Payan, Isabel Rodriguez, Audrina Salceda, Alexis Trujillo, Emery Venegas and Daniella Yescas.
