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Midnight Suns softball team on tour in Oregon
- Klas Stolpe
- Jun 16
- 3 min read
12U girls place second in tournament, attend camp, prepare for more play
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Juneau’s Midnight Suns 12U girls softball team is on the road in Oregon and has left its mark on the base paths of one tournament so far.
Juneau placed second out of seven teams in the Sock Monkey Tourney in Newberg, Oregon, last weekend.
“They made a remarkable turnaround from the two Saturday round robin games to the Sunday bracket games,” Midnight Suns manager Nicole Adair said. “They faced temps in the low 90s both days, which they were not acclimated to.”
The team opened with pool play on Saturday and fell twice to tournament favorites Roseburg Rage 9-2 and NW Cure 7-6.
June Zepp and Gabrielle Rodrigo shared the pitching circle against the top seeded NW Cure. Zepp struck out four in 2.1 innings and Rodrigo three in 1.1 innings. NW Cure won the game on a walk-off single in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Midnight Suns scoring included a triple by Zepp in the top of the first inning that scored Cora Morris and Harper Yadao. Ashlynn Zura singled to score Zepp.
In the top of the second inning Thalea Headings doubled scoring Barbara Hernandez. In the top of the third inning Rodrigo bunted and reached base on an error that scored Morris. Rodrigo would score on another error.
Then in bracket tournament play on Sunday the Midnight Suns came to life, defeating Grizzlies 12U by the score of 5-1 and then defeated the top seed Roseburg Rage 10-8 to earn the championship game against NW Cure.
Against Roseburg, Juneau’s Zepp, Zura, Delilah Whiteley and Hernandez had two hits each. Zepp had three RBI, Whiteley two, Zura, Kinley Huff, Addison Lee and Hernandez one each. Morris, Thalea Headings and Lee had one hit each. Zura scored two runs, Morris, Headings, Harper Yadao, Zepp, Rodrigo, Huff, Whiteley and Hernandez had one run each. Cecilia Fox and Tearynn Ladd earned one walk apiece.
Yadao (1.1 IP, 1 SO), Rodrigo (1.0 IP) and Zepp (1.0 IP) shared the pitching circle.
Juneau would fall to the NW Cure 6-4 to earn the runner-up trophy.
In the title game Zepp and Zura led Juneau with one hit, one run batted in, one run scored apiece. Zepp added one walk. Morris and Hernandez had one hit apiece. Morris scored one run. Zura pitched five innings, allowing just five hits, walking two batters and striking out 10.
“Saturday was their first games together, and it showed somewhat with some costly errors early that they didn’t recover from,” Adair said. “They showed improvement in their second game. Sunday, they showed up a totally different team, made a turnaround and showed they have grit. They battled Sunday winning their first two bracket games, advancing to the championships, losing it 6-4.”
Currently the team is attending a softball camp at Portland State University and will be going to an Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) Professional softball game between the Portland Cascade and the Oklahoma City Spark at the Hillsboro Ballpark in Hillsboro, Oregon.
“I like the heart of this team,” Adair said. “They are such a fun and talented group of kids. They showed they have a fight in them and when it all comes together, they’re a force to reckon with. They are such a joy for us to coach!”
The Midnight Suns will play in the Valley Invite tournament at Portland Friday-Sunday.
The Midnight Suns roster includes Harper Yadao (5), Barbara Hernandez (7), Cora Morris (8), Cecilia Fox (9), Kinley Huff (10), Ashlynn Zura (11), Delilah Whiteley (13), Gabrielle Rodrigo (15), Addison Lee (16), June Zepp (18), Tearynn Ladd (25) and Thalea Headings (26). Aiding manager Adair are coaches Bryan Zepp, Trisha Lee and Asianna Mazon.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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