Roseville Heat’s Mack Driley flips the ball to first. Smedes photo.

SPARKS, NV – There were 36 teams that participated in the Team Appreciation/Mavis Heyward Memorial Tournament at Golden Eagle Regional Park on the May 15-16 weekend and winners were crowned in three age divisions. Teams played in round robin seeding games on Saturday and a single elimination bracket on Sunday.

Mavis Heyward coached for Sacramento’s Lady Magic and she passed away in April, 2010. “I think Mavis would be very proud of the support the teams provided in her memory,” said tournament director Gary Ybarra.

In the eight team 10U division the Mizuno All American-Garcia team faced the CA Grapettes in the final game. The CA Grapettes won taking the top spot. CA Breeze finished third and Nevada Lightning 99 were fourth.

In the 14 team 12U division CA Breeze 97 defeated CA Grapettes-Vasquez by a 5-4 score to open the tournament. The Grapettes were 0-3 in the round robin portion while the Breeze were 3-0. The two teams met up again in the finals to determine the winner with the Breeze once again coming out on top. Foothill Gold 97 were third and Reno Heat took the fourth spot.

Fourteen teams played in the 14U division with Nevada Lightning-Vargas facing the Roseville Heat in the final game. Nevada Lightning needed extra innings defeating Line Drive 12-4 to get to the championship. They scored nine in the top of the 7th inning to advance. In the final game over the Heat the Lightning scored first and never looked back to capture first place. Third place went to Line Drive Softball and in fourth were the Lady Magic.

“It was a memorable tournament,” said Ybarra. “We had incredible weather and the teams were competitive.”