Barstow Hosts national tournament

BARSTOW — When the Barstow Dust Devils began playing softball nearly a year ago, the team sputtered in their attempts to play against other teams.

The Dust Devils, who will be participating in the under-14 American Softball Association Western National Tournament at Robert A. Sessions Memorial Sportspark today and Sunday, lost virtually every game the team played. Their coach, Joe Arizaga, said they would lose by 10 runs or more against other experienced teams.

“We were losing big time,” Arizaga said. “We were playing some top dog cities, and we just had trouble gelling. We weren’t gelling like the other teams.”

The team’s fortune appeared to turn from bad to worse when the team was forced to move up a level, after three of their players turned 13.

However, nearly half way through the season, the Dust Devils went from losing by 10 to losing by one or two. The changing of leagues, and increased experience was the transformation of the team Joe Arizaga said.

“I think that was the turning point of our season,” Arizaga said. “We knew it was going to happen, and we were always very positive with the girls. Every coach that we would play said that we had the talent to be able to do it.”

The tide dramatically shifted for the team entering the Northern California United States Specialty Sports Association softball Tournament. The Dust Devils placed fifth in the tournament of 12 teams and raised eyebrows with the teams they beat. They defeated teams from Northern California like the Salinas team that finished third in the tournament, and the Tracy team that lead the USSSA in points.

“The coaches that played us have been very impressed. They just kept telling us to hang in there when we first started playing,” Arizaga said. “And now we are to the point where we are competing in every game.”

The Barstow tournament will have several teams from different areas and three different age brackets participating in the tournament this weekend. They will have an under-14, and a under-16 division beginning at 8 a.m. at Robert A. Sessions Memorial Sportspark.

City of Barstow Superintendent of Barstow Sportsparks Terri Peralta said they estimate over 3,000 people coming in from all over the state of California to participate in this tournament.

“This is part in effort to really try to establish more tournaments in Barstow,” Peralta said. “For the city it brings a lot of people to our area, and really boost the economy.”

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