Athlete of the Week: Selis rips game-winner for Poway U8 Diamonds

By Michael Bower

Poway Girls Softball League player Jessica Selis was not sure what to do.

Poway U8 softball player Jessica Selis smashed a walk-off, two-run double to lead the team to the Summer Heat Classic U8 Silver Division title on Sunday. Photo by Anna Berquist

The pitcher and shortstop, who recently turned 9 years old, had just stroked a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning in Sunday’s championship game of the under-8 Silver Division at the Summer Heat Classic Tournament.

She watched from second base in confusion as the defense trotted off the field and into their dugout.

“She was trying to figure out if somebody got out and if it was the third out,” Poway under-8 coach Carol Detamore said. “She didn’t know that we had just won the game. Then I held my arms up and she ran and jumped into me and hugged me and kept asking, ‘Did we win the game? Did we win the game?’”

Indeed, Poway had won the game and its first championship trophy. Selis doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs, as Poway defeated Rancho Penasquitos 11-10 with the walk-off hit. It was the fourth come-back win of the tournament for the team.

For her efforts, Selis is the Toyota of Poway Athlete of the Week.

“It was absolutely huge because my girls had never won any type of bracket place before,” Detamore said. “We have been eliminated in past tournaments. It was pretty exciting for us.”

What made the game-winning smash even more impressive for Selis is how she rebounded from an earlier at-bat in the game.

“She struck out the time up before and I could tell she was extremely frustrated after that,” Detamore said. “I pulled her aside and told her she will have another at-bat and to go take it out on the ball.”

As the No. 4 hitter in the lineup, Selis had no trouble punishing the softball with the double to the left-center field gap. Detamore felt confident with Selis coming to the plate and the game on the line.

“If anybody could do it, I knew Jessica could do it,” Detamore said. “If something was going to happen, she could make it happen.”

Selis started playing early with the under-8 team three years ago. She will be moving on to the under-10 team shortly. She will certainly bring some strong qualities to go along with her softball skills to the next level.

“She is a hard worker when you ask her to be and her confidence is truly one of the things she brings to the team,” Detamore said. “She is very calm and not one to get rattled by the pressure.”

No related posts.

Short URL: http://www.pomeradonews.com/?p=25945

Posted by Michael Bower on Jun 20 2012. Filed under Athletes of the Week, Community, Featured Story, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry