Blast pleased with '98

     By W.G. Ramirez
     View staff writer
      The 14-and-under Las Vegas Blast traveling softball team has plenty to be proud of when looking back on 1998.
      "What's been exciting is the kids, the way they've got along all year," said Blast coach Rich Gonzales. "It's been a rewarding experience."
      The Blast followed this summer's seventh-place showing in the Amateur Softball Association 12-and-under National Championships, with a .973 winning percentage as a 14-and-under squad during the fall season.
      Using a four-run first inning two weeks ago in the 1998 Blast Fall Classic at West Flamingo Park, the Blast moved its fall record to 36-1 by defeating the Las Vegas Impact, 5-1, in the title game.
      "It's good for the kids and a good way to end the year," said Gonzales, whose team concluded the tournament with an unblemished mark of 5-0. "We're ready for a break, but we'll be ready for the '99 season when it comes around."
      The Impact finished the tourney 4-2.
      Members of the Blast are Southwest residents Kristin Gonzales, Nikki Ortiz, Alecia Williams, Jessica Wadsworth, Shannon Crisp, Amy Gleicher, Heather Bravo and Kimi McCormick; Summerlin residents Jeremee Peters and Lisa Curran; and Green Valley's Trina and Nikki Dorn.
      The Blast, which will compete in one more tournament before taking a month off, is coached by Gonzales, Benny Gleicher and Jim Crisp.
      Against the Impact, both Gleicher and Wadsworth went 2-for-4 to pace the Blast, while Crisp didn't allow an Impact player to hit the ball out of the infield. In four of the seven innings, Crisp retired the side, and following a first inning walk, she retired 20 of the next 24 batters she faced while striking out six.
      "She (Crisp) has probably been our MVP the whole way through," Gonzales said. "She's a competitor and she'll pitch five in a row if you ask her to. She dominated in St. Louis (at Nationals) and she dominated here."
      Aside from Crisp, and fellow-pitcher Peters, Gonzales said defense and timely hitting has paced the team's success.
      Both Peters and Crisp said '98 was a learning experience and a perfect opportunity to develop new friendships.
      "Forming a new team this year and playing with new players," Crisp said, "that's been exciting for me."
      Added Peters, regarding the team's upcoming time off: "School has been putting a lot of pressure on, so this will give us some time to rest."
      Other local teams in the 14-and-under bracket included the Diamonds, which finished with a 3-1 mark, the Legacy (3-1), the Voltage (3-2-1), the Rage 12s (2-2), the Venom (2-4), the Gamblers-White (1-3), the Rage (1-3) and the Gamblers-Red (0-3).
      In the 16-and-under championship, the Blast-Red was handed a 9-0 drubbing by a nationally ranked 14-and-under Tuff-E-Nuff squad, out of Chino Hills, Calif.
      "That's why we asked them to come up and that's what we got," Blast coach Tony Dyer said of his team's defeat in the title game. "We had gotten a little complacent and needed a little something to look up to."
      Tuff-E-Nuff won the 1997 ASA 12-and-under National Championship, and finished tied for fifth this past summer in the ASA 14-and-under nationals.
      Despite the margin of victory, Dyer said the slim 1-0 lead Tuff-E-Nuff carried into the fourth inning gave his girls hope by competing against one of the nation's better teams.
      It wasn't until late-inning errors that turned the tight final into a blowout.
      "What we have now is something to aim for -- another goal," Dyer said. "It's where they want to be, we want to design our organization around something like theirs."
      Other local teams that competed in the 16-and-under bracket were the Venom, which finished with a 3-1 mark, the Blast-Blue (3-2), the Rage (2-2), the Gamblers-White (1-3) and the Gamblers-Red (0-4).