MORENO VALLEY, CALIF. — It is the bottom of the seventh inning and the Ravens, a local 14-U select fastpitch team, is down one run. The team has two runners on as Kendal Peiguss comes to the plate in the game, held Aug. 7.

A well-placed hit puts the Ravens into the top 15 in the West for its age group — and Peiguss delivers with a leftfield hit that scores both runners for the win. The play sealed the team’s first visit to the Westerns National Tournament, going 3-4 in its games and bringing home to Poulsbo a top-ranked finish to cap the summer season.

“Great team, great season,” said Ravens’ coach Joe Schiel. “These girls … found out that they can play fastpitch with anyone in the nation.”

The team opened play last Tuesday and Wednesday with the St. Louis Crush and the San Carlos Force but lost to both, 6-5 and 6-4, respectively. On Thursday, the team went into the bottom of the seventh down three runs — but with the bases loaded — versus the SW Velocity, out of Las Vegas, Nev. But the Velocity turned a double play to win 6-3 and put the Ravens’ on the verge of elimination.

The team rebounded Friday versus both the Bakersfield Blast and the Texas She-Devils, winning 5-4 and 10-0, respectively. That led to the Ravens’ chance Saturday to sneak into the top 15 for fastpitch teams west of the Mississippi. And following Peiguss’ bottom of the seventh hit, the Ravens had a 5-4 win over California team Escondido and a chance to continue on in the tournament. But a loss to Chino Hills, Calif. on Sunday bounced them from the tournament by an 8-2 score.

=