A League of Their Own

A couple of years ago, Annie Wendorf watched a softball team practicing at a park and decided she wanted to try the sport.

Now, she and fellow Palisadian Alyssa Wallin are on their way to the Amateur Softball Association of America’s Western National Championships in Roseville, California.

The two girls play for Santa Monica’s 12U Gold fastpitch squad, which has qualified for the weeklong tournament that starts Monday just east of Sacramento.

“Softball was a random thing − it just kind of happened,” Wendorf admits. “My brother always played baseball but I was into other sports growing up.”

Wendorf played basketball at the Palisades Recreation Center from second through sixth grade, winning Minors and Majors division titles, and also played for the Pacific Palisades Volleyball Club. Her brother Henry plays in the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association and was on the Mustang 9U All-Star team that reached the PONY Super Region tournament this season.

“Alyssa and I weren’t really friends until this year,” says Wendorf, who lives in the El Medio bluffs and is going into eighth grade at Harvard-Westlake in Studio City. “What makes this team fun is that we have girls from all over. There’s a lot of diversity, a lot of camaraderie.”

Wallin bats lead-off and plays shortstop and center field. She likes running the bases most. Wendorf bats fifth and plays first base and right field. Her favorite aspect of the game is hitting.

“I’m not worried about our chances because most of the really good teams were at state and we’ve already played them,” Wendorf says. “Hopefully, we’ll draw teams from other parts of the country first.”

The top 12 teams at the state tournament (played over Fourth of July weekend in Lancaster) earned automatic bids to Nationals. Santa Monica finished 13th, but received an at-large bid. The field consists of 45 teams and is broken down into pool play. Santa Monica will use this weekend’s tournament in Encino as a final tune-up before heading north.

“I’m excited because we’ve practiced really hard for this,” says Wallin, whose brother Wylie plays on the PPBA’s Mustang Blue 10U All-Star team, coached by their father Bruce. “When I was younger, I practiced with my dad a lot.”

Wallin went to Palisades Elementary and enters eighth grade at Paul Revere Middle School in the fall with the intention of attending Palisades High after that. She has played softball since she was 8 and has played baseball even longer. In fact, she started playing tee-ball at the age of 5, joined the PPBA as a Pinto and played two seasons as a Mustang and one as a Bronco.

“I hope our games are earlier in the day because we seem to play better in the morning than at night,” Wallin says. “No matter what, if we play well we know we can win.” 

The team is coached by Jared Breuer, whom both Palisadians described as “pretty hardcore.”

“We practice very hard and often and we’ve played some really tough teams, so we’ll be prepared,” Wallin said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

No matter what happens, the two have become fast friends and that will last long after nationals.

Pali High sophomore Paulette Ely plays on the Santa Monica Patriots 16U team, which is headed to the national championships  July 30-August 3 in Gillette, Wyoming.