TORRINGTON – The Torrington Twisters 14-and-under softball team has two tournament titles under its belt this season, and now that the Twisters are a second-year 14-and-under team, they are looking to ride that wave into the rest of the season.
The Twisters first joined the 14-and-under division last season, where they posted a 36-17 record. In the month of July last year, Torrington went 4-3, suffering three losses by a combined score of 21-10. The Twisters were able to flex their might toward the end of the season last year, winning the four games in July by a combined score of 49-7.
“Our experience last year and the year of development will definitely help this year,” coach Dan Fox said. “The maturity is there and they are a bit bigger and stronger. It may be our turn to dish out some lumps.”
“We’ve gotten a lot better from last year,” first-baseman Paityn Homan added. “We always had the potential to be good but we never knew how good we could be. I think this year, already, we have found that. We won two tournaments already without having much practice so we have really big things ahead of us.”
The Twisters have taken that edge as a second-year team and carried it into this season. In October, the team went 6-0 on its way to winning the Cousssa Fall Classic, followed by a 5-1 record and a tournament win at the Chinoock Tournament on March 24-25.
“I thought it’s been pretty effective so far,” pitcher Avery Fox said. “We’ve grown compared to the October tournament. We’ve won more tournaments than we did last year. The amount of improvement that everyone has been gaining is really showing.”
So far this season, the Twisters have averaged 11.27 runs per game, with several home runs over the two tournaments. Those big hits have come from several girls throughout the Twisters’ lineup.
“Each girl on this team can step up in a big way with the stick,” Dan Fox said. “We feel like we can bring a roster of nine girls and the other team doesn’t know where the superstar comes from.”
Defensively, the Twisters have allowed only three runs per game, in large part due to the pitching and the defensive unit.
“If our defense is there, our hitting will come,” Avery Fox said. “The strong defense will get us through every game.”
The Twisters have a trio of pitchers that have toed the rubber for the team for several innings in Fox, Brylee Dean and Calysta Trevino.
“With pitching, we are good, but we can be inconsistent at times,” Dan Fox said. “All of our pitchers will get better as time comes. We go to Avery a lot in a big game, but we can go to whoever has the hot hand.”
Defensively, at the plate and on the mound, the Twisters have put together a solid beginning to the season with an 11-1 record and two tournament crowns. They are heading into the grind of the season as the 24th-ranked team in the country, according to USSSA’s power rankings. They are the only team from Wyoming ranked in the top-25 nationwide.
A big key to Torrington’s early-season success is their strength on Sundays, during the bracket portion of each tournament. They are 6-0 on Sundays so far this season, marching through two brackets to get two titles.
“With our Sundays, we definitely finished the grind more than we did last year,” catcher A.J. West said. “I think that we would be intimidating on a Sunday, or even a Saturday.”
Another aspect of the Twisters this year is their bond as a team. Many of the players have been together for 3-4 years. The Twisters are comprised of five girls from Torrington, two from both Gering and Scottsbluff, Neb. and one from both Morrill and Alliance, Neb. Although the entire roster is not made up of girls from the same community, the familiarity grown over the years is still there.
“We’re always together and we just love each other to death. We are inseparable during softball,” third-baseman Emily McGaugh said. “We can turn a double play without even talking almost. I think it’s because we have all come to learn and know each other’s personalities so well that we’ve just adapted to it.”
Torrington returns to action in search of their third title in as many tournaments this weekend, when they head to Loveland, Colo. for the George Callan Memorial Tournament. The Twisters kick off the weekend with pool play Saturday with games against Rocky Mountain Rush, USSSA Jr. Pride and Colorado Next Level.
Regardless of who takes the diamond against the Twisters, the team looks to continue to rise to the occasion.
“We’ve been rusty the two tournaments this year, but we are doing very well,” outfielder HeLena McGaugh said. “Everyone’s really skyrocketing this year in their stats and how they’re performing out on the field.”
