Poway 12U Gold All-Stars softball team wins championship

The Poway 12U Gold All-Stars team won the USA Softball Western National Championship after winning seven out of eight games in the playoffs.

The team of 13 girls ages 11 to 13 years old defeated other teams from 4S Ranch, Santa Monica, San Jose, Westlake, Ventura and Torrance to win the championship held in Moorpark July 23-27.

Chris Haase, the team’s assistant coach, said the players performed exceedingly well for their age group.

“It was extremely competitive,” said Haase, adding that they were competing against USA Softball teams from throughout the entire Western Region. “The teams were the top 1% of USA Softball. That’s the farthest the girls could have gone.”

The final game was against a team from Torrance, which the Poway 12U team defeated 18-3.

“They … blew them out,” said Haase, whose 12-year-old daughter, Caliana Haase, is on the team.

Other players on the Poway team are Abby Brown, Ashley Gunderson, Amaya Inouye, Hailey Kingsbury, Isabella Lazar, Rebecca Liao, Callie Marty, Finley Murphy, Penelope Ortega, Samantha Peralta, Charlotte Rinker and Daisy Zimmerman.

The team competes in the Poway Girls Softball League and most of their games are held at Aubrey Park.

To compete in the USA Softball Western Nationals, the girls played softball throughout the recreation league’s season in Poway and were then selected for the All-Star team. They qualified at the district level in San Marcos and then qualified at the state level in Irvine to enter the Western Nationals, Haase said.

“All told they played close to 50 games together over the summer and  most of these girls played over 130 games together going back to September of last year when most of this team first assembled,” he said. “The San Diego area is by far the most competitive for USA Softball so making it out of this region is really tough.”

The winners received a trophy, championship rings and a championship belt.

The coaching staff included head coach Brian Murphy, who is head of video production for San Diego State University’s football team. Murphy, who is aided by assistant coach Kevin Phillips, has volunteered in the league for more than 10 years with two children who went through the program.

Murphy said the win was an unusual victory.

“To see the girls after the final out was unreal,” Murphy said. “We were one of a handful of teams across the country that ended their season with a win. That’s pretty special.”

The team’s lead assistant Daryl Rinker has volunteered in the league for 10 years and has guided two of his own children through the Poway Little League. He was also president of the league last year.

“I’m just the new guy in town, here less than a year,” said Haase, who moved from Santa Barbara with his wife, Cassie, this year. “My daughter and I felt very lucky to be a huge part of something fantastic that’s only been done a couple other times in 50-plus years across all the age groups.”