With one mighty swing of the bat, Hali Norris experienced the greatest moment in her young softball career. A day later, she experienced another thrill as her club team, the Santa Monica Patriots, won the Amateur Softball Association 16-and-under Western National Championship in Gillette, Wyo.
It was quite the two-step for Norris, a junior at Malibu High, as she and the Patriots overcame their chief rival on the biggest of stages during the 2014 Fast Pitch Girls’ Class B U16 Western national championships from July 30-August 4.
After going 1-1 in pool play, including a 6-1 loss to El Segundo, the Patriots regrouped and won their next three contests in bracket play by defeating the Gillette Blue Jays, 16-0, Colorado Adrenaline, 16-7, and the Belmont Blast, 15-6.
This set up a rematch against El Segundo, a team that eliminated the Patriots in the State Championships in Palmdale a few weeks prior and dealt Santa Monica its only loss in the National Championships.
Trailing 6-4 with two outs in the top of the seventh and final inning, Santa Monica had runners on second and third when Norris stepped into the batter’s box. Facing a 2-2 count and the game on the line, Norris drove a single up the middle, scoring two runs to tie the game.
“I find myself doing really well when I am under pressure,” said Norris, a second baseman for the MHS softball program. “I knew she would throw me a rise ball and I got my hands on top of it. I felt the crack of the bat and when I rounded first, I realized I scored the two runs. I was in tears because I was so happy.”
Santa Monica went on to win the game in an eight-inning international tie-breaker, 9-6. The Patriots advanced to the national championship game where they played El Segundo for the third time in the tournament.
Needing to beat Santa Monica twice in the double-elimination championship bracket, El Segundo was no match for the Patriots as Santa Monica rolled to the ASA Western National Championship with a 12-7 victory.
“It’s probably the greatest feeling I’ve felt in my life,” Norris said. “It’s like winning $1 billion in the lottery and you are just on cloud nine. Literally nothing can ruin your day, your mood or anything. Even to this day when I wake up it feels so good to be a national champion. Nothing is equivalent to that. It was such an amazing feeling and experience that it’s going to be hard to beat.”
Norris, 16, batted over .600 for the tournament including a sizzling .500 (5 for 10) in the final two games against El Segundo with three runs scored and three RBIs.
“Truly, no matter what you are thinking it comes down to heart and how much you want to win. It’s not about luck or anything else but just about heart. Anything is possible,” Norris said. “Without the support of my team, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did. I heard them cheering in the dugout and it brought me to a point in my mind where I had to do this for my team. I wouldn’t be there without them.”
Norris practices daily from 7 to 9 p.m. in Santa Monica, perfecting her game.
“Hali is a good example for the game of softball. I always tell my players you can always control two things in softball — your attitude and your effort,” Malibu coach Mark Cooley said. “Hali is constantly in control of her attitude and effort on the softball field. If you’re going to succeed in softball you have to practice all day every day and twice a day on Sunday. Hali is living it. This is a perfect example of you get out exactly what you put in.”
Cooley and his squad of Sharks now have a national champion to turn to for guidance, experience and leadership.
“She is a great team captain, a natural born leader, and a big part of the Malibu High School softball program,” Cooley said. “I am expecting big things from Hali her junior and senior years to come.”
