FAIRFIELD, CA - With a chance to compete in the National fast pitch softball tournament, teams from across California converged in Fairfield on June 20-21. Over 1,200 players ranging from the 10 and under age group to the 18 and under age group, their families and fans, made Fairfield the girls fast pitch softball capitol of the state. The first and second place finishers in each of the age brackets have earned berths to the National Tournament where the best in each state will meet. This is the third year in a row that Fairfield / Vacaville have hosted the Nor-Cal Junior Olympic "A" State Championships. A.S.A. Junior Olympic Commissioner Mike Blondino added, " We are thankful to the staff in both cities for handling the local arrangements."

Ron Collins Sports Manager for the City of Fairfield commented, "It was a great three days of softball action in Fairfield for the 2004 Nor-Cal Championships. The caliber of competition and the level of play was top rate as some tremendous athletes and teams competed for the opportunities to advance to the next level. We were extremely pleased to have had the opportunity to host this major sporting event."

Competition was fierce in all of the age brackets. The 10U bracket had three teams, 12U bracket had six teams, 14 U bracket had 24 teams, 16U bracket had 20 teams and the 18U bracket had 16 teams. In this double elimination tournament, the finalist in the 10U age group were Salinas Storm, State Champions, second place the San Jose Lady Sharks and the third place finisher was the California Tornadoes.

The Storm and the Lady Sharks will travel to Tulsa Oklahoma to play for the National Championship, which opens on August 2nd and runs through August 8th. The Storm defeated the Lady Sharks 8-0 and the Tornadoes 8-0 in their three team round robin tournament. Third place finisher California Tornadoes move on to the regional tournament in Elk Grove California, where they have a chance to earn the last berth to the Nationals.

In the 12U age group, the State Champions were the California Tornadoes. The Tornadoes went undefeated in their double elimination tournament. In their first game they sent the San Jose Lady Sharks to the s´ bracket with a 4-2 victory. In Saturday’s championship game, the Tornadoes blanked the Star Maker Blitz 3-0.

Second place went to the San Jose Lady Sharks. Head Coach Andea Teefy said, "The Lady Sharks added the 12U team to their organization this year. It’s great to be able to come out, play hard and make the Nationals your first year out."

California Tornadoes and San Jose Lady Sharks will compete in the 12U National Championship that is being held in Moline, Illinois August 2-8. The 3rd -8th place finishers in the 12U bracket met in Roseville California for the regional tournament on July 9-11.

The 14U State Champion was the Salinas Storm while second place went to the San Jose Sting Purple. Both teams will journey to Midland Texas for the 14U National Championships. The third through sixth place finishers competed in the regional tournament held in Chula Vista California July 9-11.

Coming out on top of the 16U bracket were the Salinas Storm who defeated Nor-Cal Elite 2-1 for the Championship. The second place finisher was the San Jose Sting.

It took a combination of two pitchers for the Salinas Storm to pull out the victory over the Nor-Cal Elite. In this tiebreaker game, Lauren Passafuime went the first 7 innings and Theresa Cardinale pitched the eighth." Lindsay Campana, whom I consider my number one pitcher, had an excellent semi final game against the San Jose Sting," said coach Tom Cardinale. Trailing the Sting by a score of 6-3, Ashley Elsemann tripled with the bases loaded to bring in three runs to tie the game. That was enough to get the storm rolling, who won the contest 7-6. When asked about the Nationals, coach Cardinale said, "We are totally thrilled to be going to Indiana. The majority of the girls have been together for a long time and they couldn’t be happier about making the Nationals." Bloomington Indiana will host the 16U National Championships. Both the Salinas Storm and the San Jose Sting will compete for national honors on Aug. 2 -8. Third through eighth place teams went to Las Vegas, Nevada July 9-11.

Playing in the hot sun of Vacaville, the 18U State Champions were the Salinas Storm. Second place went to Cal Haze. Head coach of the Cal Haze, Jerry Briggs, said,"It was obviously an exhilarating experience for our team," when asked how the team felt about going to the nationals. Cal Haze 18U, from Petaluma, CA. went 4-0 in the winner´s bracket to get to the championship game against an always-tough Salinas Storm. The Salinas Storm defeated Cal Haze 3-1 to win the championship. These teams will vie for the National title on August 2-8 in Clovis California. The 3rd-8th place finishers travelled to Pleasanton California for the Regional tournament.