Suiting up for the Trans-Valley League year-end tournament on Oct. 21 at Micke Grove Golf Course in Lodi, Escalon came away with a solid second place finish.
All seven TVL teams were present, said coach Chris Casazza, and going into the tournament, Hilmar was in first place with a decent lead over Escalon.
“We had second place and a good lead over Ripon, who held third, thanks in part to our head-to-head victory at home against them the week before. Ripon Christian trailed in fourth,” explained Casazza. “We had an outside chance of catching Hilmar if they had a bad day, as we had a good day. But my biggest concern was having a team score solid enough to hold onto our second place seed.”
The team did exactly that; unable to catch a strong Hilmar squad, but playing their way to a solid score.
“Our previous team score at Micke Grove was 425 at the TVL mid-year tournament. I was hoping we could match that,” the coach said.
But his team did even better, scoring a 413, a nice improvement over the last time.
“It showed they can really perform under a bit of pressure,” Casazza noted. “The 413 ended up being good enough for second in the tournament behind Hilmar, which in turn locked us into second place overall in the TVL, also behind Hilmar.”
It also gave Escalon a berth in the Division 5 tournament.
Scores for Escalon were Elizabeth Allan, 92; Genevieve Casazza and Rose Percey, 100; Samantha Bruns, 121. Not counted was the 125 carded by Taylor Bruns.
Allan’s 92 was good enough for third overall. Team scores were Hilmar, 387; Escalon, 413; Ripon Christian, 420; Ripon, 424; Hughson, 440; Sonora, 482; Orestimba, 568.
Final standings for the TVL were Hilmar, first; followed by Escalon, Ripon Christian, Ripon, Hughson, Sonora and Orestimba; Hilmar, Escalon and Ripon Christian all qualified for the D5 tournament.
“Although I had high hopes of going from worst to first this year, I was really happy with our end result,” Casazza said. “It’s the absolute next best thing. It’s an amazing turnaround considering we finished in last place last year, with only one win and last place in both TVL tournaments. It’s quite the accomplishment and the girls should be incredibly proud of themselves. I know I am.”
