STARS 13TH; Church Begins Workouts

Lompoc Stars 13th out of 36

The Lompoc Stars won three out of five at the under-10 Western Nationals Softball championships last weekend in Las Vegas to place in the top 40% of the field.


The Stars started out with an 8-6 victory over San Bruno by scoring three runs in the first inning and never trailing. Sydney Townes, Anastazia Garcia, and Madison McNamee rapped two hits each and McNamee pitched a complete game giving up one earned run and striking out five.


In their second game the Stars stopped the Vegas Heat 7-4 by coming from behind for five runs led by Cheyenne Marmolejo. McNamee fanned 13 in this one.


But in Game 3 the Stars met a great all-around team in Cerritos and fell out of the winners bracket 16-0. They rebounded gamely to down Vegas Majestix 5-1 as Lexie Barbosa stole three bases, Cierra Green laid down a perfect bunt single and McNamee struck out 10 but then were eliminated by Cypress 12-1.


The entire team posted statistics to be proud of. Center fielder Cheyenne Marmolejo had eight hits and pitcher Madison McNamee had a home run, six hits and six RBI's. She pitched 25 innings and gave up just 18 hits, and 10 earned runs, and struck out a whopping 39.


Shortstop Rylee Sager ripped six hits and sparkled defensively. Despite the heat catcher Marci Chavez caught all but two innings and had five hits.


Second baseman Sydney Townes batted leadoff and boomed a home run and three hits while third baseman/pitcher Lexie Barbosa played a great third base and led the team in walks and had three hits. She also pitched five innings.

Right fielder Anastazia Garcia collected three hits and made several great catches. First baseman Kinsley Edman played great defensively and added three hits.


Outfielder Cierra Green had three hits and bunted real well, according to her manager Craig McNamee. “Vianney Tamayo had a stolen base and played great in the outfield,” he added. “Carissa Sanchez had two hits and pitched three innings.


"These girls represented Lompoc very well,” said McNamee. “We as coaches are very proud of the way they played. With the heat at 111 degrees at times our girls handled it and never gave up."Special thanks to my coaches, Carl Sager, Muchie Marmolejo, Larry Barbosa, and Marc Townes. Their help made my job easier."





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Church Works Out

NEW YORK -- Similar to how it's been throughout RYAN CHURCH's attempt for a return to normalcy, another phase of an evolving plan has been set forth.


He'll leave for Port St. Lucie, Fla., and start working out Sunday and potentially participate in games through the week.


Here, there or anywhere, manager Jerry Manuel wants to see Church play. Although Church has sported a fine swing in the batting cages, Manuel doesn't expect to see Church at all next week, and he won't have to bide his time in right field. As it has been for much of the season, Church will stay out of Manuel's mind.






"He could run sprints out there all day," Manuel said. "For me, I want to see how he responds after playing in games. "We'll just see how he's doing. We'll probably evaluate him after three or four games, speed up the process, slow it down or whatever."






While the incumbent right fielder breaks himself back into shape with five-inning stints as a designated hitter and then running down fly balls in full games, Manuel will still maintain flexibility in the Mets' lineup. Fernando Tatis is solidly in place at both corners, and the hot play of rookie Daniel Murphy and a serviceable first-year player in Nick Evans has allowed Manuel to mix and match from game to game.