Big Night for Lodi's Elliiot Christian!!

As a former High School Basketball Coach, the Spot has a soft spot in his heart for teams teams he enjoyed coaching against way back when (ok ok....so the Spot just stopped the coaching gig after this past season...you still get the picture!).  One of those teams he has a soft spot in his heart for happen to be Lodi's very own Jim Elliot Christian Eagles.  Always a class act both on and off the court (or, when playing at Elliot Christian, the carpet), the Spot always looked forward to seeing them on the schedule.

Well, last night happened to be a rather big night on the national radar for Elliot Christian.  Long known as a small school powerhouse when it comes to Softball (I've lost count of how many Section Title's they've won!) they have sent many a student-athlete on to continue their education...and playing careers, at four year colleges and universities.  One of those standout student-athletes, Kaila Schull, just happens to be the starting Catcher for the UCLA Bruins as they take on the University of Arizona Wildcats for the College World Series Championship.

Every championship needs a hero, and on Monday, Shull provided her share of championship heroics.  Helping UCLA to 6-5 extra innings victory over the Wildcats in game one of the Championship series, Shull came through big for her Bruins not once, but twice, on Monday Night.  Not only did she score the go ahead run for the Bruins in the 6th inning...after falling behind in the top of the 7th (and final regulation inning in College Softball), Shull then stroked a two out double with two outs in the bottom of the 7th to send the game to extra innings, and an eventual victory for her Bruins.  Shull's heroics not only helped make the game ESPN's game of the night, it earned Shull a highlight and shout out on every one's favorite...Sportscenter (DA-DA-DA...DA-DA-DA).

Congrats and good luck to Kaila Shull and her UCLA Bruins as they seek to close out their best of 3 series and win their 11th National Championship in Softball at 5pm on ESPN2.  With a win, who knows, maybe the whole town of Lodi will be doing the UCLA 8 Clap!