Sakamoto Elementary School, South SAN JOSE CA, May 14, 2016 – The 2016 SGSL 12U Blue Jays had an incredible run to the Interleague Silver Bracket Championship. Having lost two of the three pool play games the prior week, the Blue Jays were, nonetheless, slated in a very high interleague bracket due to their close loses, and high run total in their only pool play win. As the fourth seed, the Blue Jays had to play the number one team in the bracket, the SSJ Adrenaline, on their home field. In an extremely close battle, both teams played nearly flawless softball with outstanding pitching, defense, and hard earned runs. The Blue Jays pulled away in the bottom of the fourth and held on with some outstanding defensive plays to secure the win.

The Championship game was between the Blue Jays and yet another SSJGS team, The Blue Angels, who were the number two seed in the bracket. This game lived up to what an expected Championship game is supposed to be – two of the best teams battling it out in a game for the ages. In a back-and-forth battle, the Blue Jays won a walk-off victory in the bottom of the fifth inning after time had expired.

A quick shout out the South San Jose Girls Softball League and teams for hosting an awesome event, and congratulations to the Blue Jays on a great season.

Bret Harte Middle School, Almaden Valley SAN JOSE CA, May 14, 2016 – The 12U SGSL Nighthawks team completed a great season by winning the 12U North Interleague Championship representing the highest level of 12U play. After winning all three of their pool tournament games against the LGCS Raptors, Almaden Valley Adrenaline, and Palo Alto, the Nighthawks qualifed for the tournament Gold Bracket. In the semi-final, they posted a come from behind victory over the Almaden Valley Black Diamonds in a 10-9 game decided by two international tie breaker innings. With two outs, two on, and down by 2 runs, Emily Guerra tied the game with a clutch double, and then Aimee Thompson hit the game winner on a 2 strike count. The Nighthawks went on to play the Almaden Valley Adrenaline in the final, and won by a score of 11-0 to secure the championship. Our thanks to the Almaden Valley Girls Softball League for hosting the final, and congratulations to the Nighthawks on a stellar 2016 rec season. Go Nighthawks!

Thanks to everyone in our SGSL community for making this another great rec season in Sunnyvale.

The season closing ceremony for 2016 rec season will be held at 5:45 PM Saturday May 14th at Ortega Park. Teams are asked to return to the outfield as they did at the opening ceremony once the Quakes game completes at approximately 5:30. The ceremony will start promptly at 6 pm with with opening remarks and singing of the National Anthem.

The ceremony will complete by 7pm, and the Quakes 14U championship game will follow at 7:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to stay and watch some great softball and enjoy some great snack shack end of season specials.

Thanks to all of those who tried out at the respective divisions, its always tough when we can’t accommodate all of those who wished to play. We do have relationships with other leagues and so if your player is truly interested in playing this summer, we will be sending out some options as they come available. The Shockwave committee would like to thank all of those coaches and Division Directors who helped volunteer on Sunday to conduct tryouts along with their time in team-formation meetings to help offer feedback and information to assist in the selection process. Sunnyvale Girls Softball has long been one of the more inclusive leagues when it comes to summer team formation, taking into consideration pitching and coaching to try to maximize the number of opportunities we have while balancing the fact that these are competitive teams playing in competitive tournaments all summer.

Due to field and eather conditions player evaluations have been further postponed anf will likely occur on a weekday. More details to follow.

SGSL is excited to announce Quakes Fastpitch, a new competitive fastpitch softball organization formed in association with Sunnyvale Girls Softball, Los Gatos Saratoga Cupertino Girls Softball, and Campbell Girls Fastpitch offering exciting, competitive fastpitch opportunities for girls aged 14 and older, Starting in 2016 Quakes Fastpitch will replace our traditional Shockwave 14U program. Shockwave will continue for 12U and younger divisions.

Quakes Fastpitch will form 16/18’s teams and 14’s teams for spring/summer 2016. Players interested in A ball should attend tryouts. Players wishing to play on B/C level summer teams in 2016 should sign up for spring rec as those teams will be formed later.

Click here for more information about Quakes Fastpitch including tryout information.

SGSL is excited to announce changes to our AAAAA/14U Division for the upcoming spring 2016 season and beyond.  In partnership with local leagues Los Gatos-Saratoga-Cupertino Girls Fastpitch and Campbell Girls Fastpitch we will be creating a larger combined 14U Division for both the regular season as well as summer all-star tournament teams.  With all three leagues facing questions of viability and participation at the 14U division in recent years, which puts the ability to form both regular season teams as well as summer all-star teams in question, our three leagues feel that by combining all the players into one 14U league we can improve the level of play and better ensure opportunities for a larger number of players to get both a quality rec-league experience, as well as a better likelihood of being selected to a summer all-star tournament team for their respective level of play.  The partnership would provide two immediate opportunities that SGSL on its own currently does not and given our numbers, most seasons could not provide its players.  First is the creation and pathway to an A-Ball team for those who are interested without having to leave the structure and familiarity of the league.  The leagues will likely form an A-Ball team shortly after the start of the Calendar year for the 14U group.  Second is the opportunity for summer teams at divisions older than 14U for the high-school aged player.  Due to a lack of numbers and infrastructure we have never been able to offer this level of play.  This partnership will provide SGSL players with these opportunities both in the 14U division and older teams during the summer in subsequent years.  Like all new things, this will not be free of challenges, but ultimately the goal of providing more, high quality opportunities for SGSL players to enjoy softball at a competitive level has a much higher level of being achieved through this collaborative effort.

If you have questions feel free to email them to [email protected]

Registration for the SGSL Spring 2016 Recreational Season is now open for all divisions. Registration will be open until January 11th, 2016, anyone who registers after this date will be wait-listed and not guaranteed to be placed on a team. Wait-listed players will be added on a first-come, first-serve basis, only when the league has confirmed such players will complete the expected number of teams or there are enough players to add an additional team.

* Early Registration Incentives.  

– All players who register by December 1st will be entered for a chance to win a new Composite bat.  The drawing will take place at Opening Day ceremonies.  Last years winner received a 2015 Demarini CF7 bat, a $250 value, which was ordered to her size specifications.  So register by December 1st and perhaps this year we will be calling your players name.

– All AAA, AAAA and AAAAA/14U players who register by December 15th will be eligible to participate in our free winter hitting groups.  Last year the groups met once per week at All Star Academy in Santa Clara for a one hour hitting session led by their coaching staff.

* Notable Changes for 2016 Season

– The Snack Shack buyout, which a large percentage of the 2015 registrants opted for in 2015 is included in the 2016 registration fee.  If you opt to work a snack shack shift, the buyout refunds will be processed within a couple weeks of the shift being worked.

– The AAAAA/14U Division is a new venture for SGSL. In conjunction with other local leagues Campbell Girls Fastpitch and Los Gatos-Saratoga-Cupertino girls softball, we will be offering a 14U division comprised of players and coaches from all three leagues.  More information on this division will be sent out to the families who have players that are league age eligible to participate in the 14U/AAAAA Division.

Click here to register online now.

Registration for the SGSL Fall recreation season is now under way. Our fall program is coordinated with surrounding South Bay softball leagues, and provides an affordable opportunity for girls to improve their softball skills and “play up” to the next level of play they will participate in the 2016 Spring season, but with a reduced time commitment. Based upon interest, teams may be formed at the 8U, 10U, 12U and 14U age groups. Click Here for more information on the fall recreation program and how to register.