Ashlynn Hamacher recently turned 13, which means she has pitched for more than half of her young life.
Her parents, Bobby and Brittany Hamacher, mentioned she has pitched since she was 6 with former Arizona standout Taylor McQuillin as a coach. Ashlynn has also worked with Devyn Netz and Butch Burnette, and is currently being trained by Brittany Strebing, Empire High School’s pitching coach.
The fruits of Ashlynn’s labor were obvious in her performance for Sunnyside’s Little League team in the District 12 tournament that culminated Friday night with her team winning the title with her in the circle.
The hard-throwing right-hander showed proper delivery and ability to mix pitches, tallying 10 strikeouts in the 11-1 win in four innings over Copper Hills at Anamax Park at Sahuarita.
In Sunnyside’s three wins in the tournament, Ashlynn pitched in two of them, compiling 25 strikeouts and three walks in nine innings. She pitched five innings of hitless relief with 15 strikeouts and one walk in Sunnyside’s 5-3 win over Copper Hills in the first game of the tournament Tuesday.
“She is a one-of-a-kind, for sure, especially at this age,” said Sunnyside coach Leo Valenzuela. “I remember when she was 10. She was with another team at that time, and she threw crazy fast at that time.”
Ashlynn, bashful in what will be one of the first of many media interviews in her softball career, said, “It feels nice to get this win.”
She added that she likes the “energy” of her teammates.
That energy was never more apparent than in third inning against Copper Hills on Friday, when Sunnyside scored eight runs to pull away to a 10-1 lead.
Sunnyside sent 12 batters to the plate in the third inning. Ashlynn was one of five players who hit a single during the rally. Four others reached on walks.
Ashlynn’s single was misplayed in the outfield, and she and Jaylissa Mejia (who walked to lead off the inning) scored on the play.
Aryanna Madrid, Eva Lopez and Myrani Valencia each had RBI singles and Noelle Valenzuela had a two-run single in the inning. The other run scored on a fielder’s choice groundout hit by Daeyah Burton.
Noelle also hit a two-run single in the second inning that put Sunnyside ahead 2-1. She finished with four RBIs. She was 4 for 7 with seven RBIs in Sunnyside’s three games in the district tournament.
“It’s really challenging, in my opinion, because there’s a lot of pressure to get on base and do what you have to do, but I feel my team really pulled me up,” Noelle said of her performance.
Now it’s on to the Little League state tournament that begins July 5 at Verde Valley, located in Cottonwood, which is close to Sedona.
Leo Valenzuela can turn to other pitchers in addition to his ace Ashlynn. They include Sophie Clark, Regina Alcaraz (winning pitcher in a victory over Southwest in the District 12 tournament) and Viany Toledo.
“We have a full arsenal,” he said. “All of them throw hard. All of them throw strikes.”
Hamacher is also dangerous at the plate as the leadoff hitter.
She went 5 for 9 with seven runs and two RBIs in the three games in the district tournament.
She comes from a softball family. Her grandfather Bob Hamacher started the Arizona Roadrunners softball club of which Ashlynn is part of with the 14U team.
Ashlynn’s mother posted on Instagram that her daughter has reached 60 mph with her fastball.
“Just do the best I can,” Ashlynn said when asked how she will handle the role of being Sunnyside’s ace against the state’s best starting July 5.
Alani Parra knocked in Copper Hills’ lone run Friday night in the first inning on a fielder’s choice ground out that scored Blake Moreno, who walked to lead off the game.
Sunnyside reached the mercy-rule limit of a 10-run lead in the fourth inning after Ashlynn singled, moved to second base on a passed ball, and then scored by aggressively running home on a ground out by Alcaraz to shortstop.
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