By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Ripon Junior League softball all-stars capture Delta Section pennant
Ripon Junior Softball All-Stars
The Ripon Junior all-stars with their Delta Section championship banner last weekend in Martinez. COURTESY PHOTO

 MARTINEZ — The Ripon Junior League softball team swept Martinez on Saturday, 13-1 and 15-0, to win the Junior League Delta Section Championship at Hidden Lakes Park.

Kendall Alexander went the distance for Ripon in the second game,

Ripon Junior Softball All-Stars
Kendall Alexander fires the pitch for the Ripon Junior League all-stars. COURTESY PHOTO
throwing seven shutout innings, striking out 14 while giving up only three hits and two walks. She was a double threat, reaching base all seven times she batted in the tournament

Carrying a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning, Ripon sent all hitters in the lineup to the plate, breaking the game open with seven runs. Cadence Langmeyer crushed a pitch into the power alley for a three-run inside-the-park home run. Three batters later, Taya Christensen hit a two-run double. Ripon added the exclamation point in the seventh inning with six runs.

Teagan Osborn, Alexander, Abby Douglas, Raegan Colace, and Annabelle Hoff scored two runs apiece.

The game was scoreless until the third inning when Ana Shriver, who caught all 12 innings for Ripon on the day, used some aggressive base running to find a way to come home and score the first run of the game on an errant throw. With the ball was still rolling around, Osborn came all the way from second to give Ripon a 2-0 lead.

In the 13-1 five-inning mercy opener, Alexander got things started in the first inning with an RBI double. She would then score on a wild pitch to give Ripon a 2-1 lead after the first inning, and they would never look back the rest of the tournament. 

A seven-run second inning opened things up for Ripon. 

Osborn, Alexander, Douglas, and Mallorie Marshall all scored two runs for Ripon. Alexander and Hoff combined on the two-hitter. Alexander went four innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out eight. Hoff closed out the last inning, giving up a hit and getting a strikeout.

Next up for Ripon is the Northern California Softball Junior Tournament, taking place this weekend in Sacramento at the North Natomas Regional Ballfield Complex. Ripon’s first game will be at noon on Saturday.