by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

The Claremont Fastpitch 14-and-under All-Star team soared to remarkable heights this summer, securing a bid to the Western National Tournament in Lynwood, Washington for the first time in its history, and a state tournament appearance for the first time in about 15 years.

A five-game losing streak in Washington provided a sobering conclusion for the 14U team, capping their 9-19 postseason run.

“We didn’t do as good as we planned,” said manager Nick Barbosa, who said lackluster defense was one of the reasons for the team’s early national tournament exit. “We went 0 and 5 and you could put an asterisk on one because a team that was in our pool [Oregon’s Northwest Bullets] was a travel ball team that eventually got disqualified.”

Claremont began nationals July 24 with a 9-6 loss to the Dixon (California) Destroyers before getting blown out, 17-3, by the Bullets later that day. North Torrance (California) then defeated Claremont, 10-2, on July 25. The loss put the team into the double elimination loser’s bracket. They would eventually fall to Sierra Madre (California), 18-3, on July 26, before packing for home following another loss to Dixon, 12-6, July 27.

“We were guaranteed five games, we did five games, but we wanted to do at least two more,” Barbosa said. “We should have had one win due to that disqualification.”

Claremont 14U Fastpitch All-Star Dani Hernandez makes contact with a pitch from a Sierra Madre (California) pitcher during the team’s 18-3 loss on July 26 at the Western National Tournament near Seattle. Photo/courtesy of Nick Barbosa

Before the team could even think about qualifiers, it played in local tournaments to get their footing. From May to early June, the team won four and lost 10.

But they seemed to have showed up when it mattered.

On the road toward nationals, Barbosa’s team participated in the USA Softball Eastern District Tournament June 21-22 at Frisbie Park in Rialto. Claremont opened with a 14-3 loss to Corona on June 21, but kept their state qualifying dream alive with a 7-6 win over Ontario Fastpitch the next day. Despite another loss, 9-1 to Menifee, the team finished eighth in the tournament, earning a trip to the USA Softball 14U State Tournament in Palmdale and Lancaster June 28-30.

In that tournament, Claremont fell to Coronado, 18-10, on June 28, but responded with three straight victories the following day to qualify for nationals as one of the competition’s top six teams. The wins included a 12-2 drubbing of San Diego’s seemingly close cousin, Clairemont Fastpitch, a 5-3 victory over Corona GSA, and a narrow 4-3 victory over their biggest rivals, the Upland Hilltoppers. The girls finished the state tournament with a 7-2 loss to Crescenta Valley on June 30.

“That [Upland victory] was probably the best win that the girls needed all season,” Barbosa said. “Every time we played Upland it was a battle and it came down to errors and we would always lose by a couple of runs, so to beat them by one run and to qualify for nationals was a huge, huge deal for this team.”

The team faced West Covina on July 13 in preparation for nationals and won 7-2.

Across district, state and national play, the team went 4-9.

Reaching the state or national tournament was never on the team’s radar.

“Let me tell you this, in the beginning of the season … if you would have told me that this team was going to be in the state’s — state’s alone — I would have been laughing because coming into this program, a lot of these girls were just there to socialize,” Barbosa said. “Fundamentals were there. [But] they couldn’t even warm up throwing 10 feet away from each other without hitting the floor or throwing over their head.”

Claremont 14U Fastpitch All-Stars (L-R) Riley Hadjis, Lucia Guerrero, Sedia Guannu, and Allison Arellano at The Gum Wall at Pike Place in Seattle, during downtime at the 2024 Western National Tournament. The girls went 0-5 at the tournament, which was won by Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Crush. Photo/courtesy of Nick Barbosa

But as the season progressed, the team jelled and its fundamentals improved with the help of Barbosa and assistant coaches Armando Arellano, Javier Guerrero, Nick Hadjis and Gentry Robertson. First-year Claremont Fastpitch President Jessica Edwards commended the team’s success and hard work.

“As a league we are so proud of them and it was just incredible to see that and back them up,” Edwards said.

The 2024 14U all-stars consisted of Francesca Alari, Allison Arellano, Charlie Barbosa, Ivy Barlow, Ruby Barlow, Lily Elliott, Sedia Guannu, Lucia Guerrero, Riley Hadjis, Dani Hernandez, Olivia Jimenez, Alanah Marcy, Raya Robertson, Marcela Sepulveda and Luca Tungate.

While some are set to age out of Claremont Fastpitch, and Barbosa’s daughter Charlie expressing an interest in golf, Barbosa is unsure if he’ll return to coach Claremont Fastpitch in the fall. At the very least though, he said he wants to continue cultivating the new crop of players coming up.

In addition to the 14U all-stars, three other Claremont Fastpitch All-Star teams competed over the past several weeks at the 8U, 10U and 12U levels. Download GameChanger on iOS or Android and search for Claremont All-Stars to see results.