Arriana Espinoza pitching for the 10U Team Velocity. Harris photo.

TUCSON, AZ - Once again, on April 5th and 6th, it was time for the ASA’s Spring Shootout in Tucson. With 37 teams over-all the action was non-stop.

There were 17 teams in the 14u bracket alone.

The Casa Grande Heat kicked off the day in the 10U bracket with a 16-0 shutout of Velocity 99 while the El Paso Rams easily handled the East Valley Pride South with a 13-3 score. Next up, the Scramblers crushed the Suncats 20-1 while the AZ Cats 97 blanked the East Valley Pride Gonzo 12 to zero.

The tournament was beginning to look more like the Spring Shutout than the Spring Shootout, especially when the Casa Grande Heat destroyed the Bandits 15 to nothing in the next game.

Four teams were left and the match-ups proved to be a little more competitive. The Arizona Cats defeated the El Paso Rams 15-4 while the Casa Grande Heat escaped with a 3-1 win over the Scramblers to set up the championship game in the 10U division. The Arizona Cats took the championship by the score of 14-6 over a feisty Casa Grande Heat team.

In the 12U bracket, things started off with the Desert Ice defeat over the New Mexico Sundancers 11 to nothing, and a 16-1 victory over the Sierra Vista Diamonds by the Arizona Cats 96. The Tucson Heat went down in defeat to Velocity 96 in their match-up by the score of 7-4.

In the second round of action Desert Thunder 96 crushed the Tucson Aztecs 16-3 and Scottsdale Fever blanked the Desert Ice 16 to nothing. Also, the Arizona Cats 96 defeated the Marana Storm and the Casa Grande Heat moved on with a 9-2 win over Velocity 96.

This set the stage for the final four to play to decide who would compete in the championship game of the 12U bracket. The talented Scottsdale Fever team shutout the Arizona Cats 96 by a 14-0 score. Desert Thunder 96 had a tougher time with the Casa Grande Heat winning 7-4. In the final, Scottsdale Fever took home the trophy by defeating Desert Thunder 96 in the 12U championship game 7-4.

In the 14U bracket the Pro Blues were defeated by the Arizona Aces 15-0 while Arizona Adrenaline downed the Bandits 14-0. The Casa Grande Heat defeated Elite Art 10-4 and Velocity 93 got past the Scramblers 8-4.

Next up, the Lady Bat Cats were blanked by the Arizona Hotshots 12-0, Tucson Blitz got by the Tucson Vipers 7-4, Desert Thunder 93 defeated the Arizona Aces 7-3 and Havoc squeaked by Impulse 93 for the 7-6 victory. The Arizona Cats 94 had an easy time with Fahrenheit defeating them 9-1. There were just eight teams left in the next round.

The Bandits took out the Casa Grande Heat 16-4 and Velocity 93 sent the Arizona Hotshots home with a 8-2 score. Desert Thunder 93 defeated the Tucson Blitz 7-3 and the Arizona Cats 94 crushed Havoc 13-1. This set up a couple of back to back games which would decide who played in the championship game.

Velocity 93 had an easy time with the Bandits sending them home with an 11-1 throttling. Then, the Desert Thunder 93 defeated the Arizona Cats 94 in a much more closely contested game by a 4-1 score.

When things were all said and done in the 14U bracket, it was Velocity 93 over Desert Thunder 93 by the score of 10-5.