Liberty clearly tops in tournament field

Most softball coaches would be satisfied with a run here, a run there, a 3-2 lead, maybe a win.

Not Kris Jensen.

Liberty's first-year softball coach -- and former baseball coach -- has brought some of his baseball swagger to the smaller diamond, and it has worked.

The Patriots won the Cowboy Classic Tournament on Saturday, defeating Valley 10-0 in the championship game at Hollywood Recreation Center.

Liberty pounded six extra-base hits, including Carson Cooper's fourth-inning two-run homer -- her second home run of the day -- and six Patriots had multiple hits.

These girls don't walk cautiously to the plate, timidly hoping not to strike out. They charge the batter's box, snarl and swing away.

"I've always approached these girls in a baseball style," Jensen said. "That's what I'm used to. So my approach to hitting here is very much like what I told my baseball players.

"And the great thing is, with my lineup, the eighth batter can hurt you just as much as my (second batter)."

That was true Saturday. Batting eighth, Brittney McKoy was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Batting second, Cooper smacked a Lorena Villamar pitch deep into the right-center field gap and coasted across home plate.

In between, Breanna English, Kristina Foti, Robin Lowery, Danielle Brock and Kelly Phillips all had two hits. No. 9 hitter Rhiannon Beck did her part, too, going 2-for-3.

"We have a couple slappers, and they're how we get ourselves pumped up," Cooper said. "The other team gets all flustered, and we get energy off that. Then someone comes up and pulls the ball and brings home the slapper."

Twice on Saturday, that someone was Cooper. Earlier in the day against Lake Oswego, she hit a solo homer.

She seemed as surprised as anyone about the power surge.

"I was just trying to get on base," Cooper said sheepishly. "I guess it just hit the right part of my bat. I got my bat around fast enough; it just made the right kind of connection.

• Liberty 13, Lake Oswego (Ore.) 0 -- Lowery hit a fifth-inning grand slam and also had two stolen bases and two runs for the Patriots.

Cooper was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Liberty's Breanna English allowed one hit and had 11 strikeouts.

• Valley 26, Chaparral 0 -- Mickayla Romero threw a no-hitter and was 4-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

Valley had innings of eight, seven, six and five runs on 22 hits.

• Valley 6, Cheyenne 5 -- The Vikings scored two runs in the top of the seventh to win.

Patricia Zambrano singled to lead off and scored on a single by Romero (3-for-4). Jasmine Villamar singled home sister Lorena Villamar (2-for-3) for the go-ahead run.

• Cheyenne 23, Desert Pines 2 -- The Desert Shields scored nine runs in the first inning and 14 in the second before the Jaguars forfeited prior to batting in the bottom of the inning.

Katelyn Barnum was 3-for-3 with a homer and six RBIs, Stephanie Vacca was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs and Alli Litner was 3-for-3 with a double and four runs.