The cliché says getting to the top is easy… staying there is the hard part.  If that’s the case, then the So Cal Athletics have built a castle on the top of the mountain and don’t look like they’re willing to come down anytime soon after winning their fourth straight PGF 18U Premier National Championship earlier this month.

We spoke with Head Coach Bruce Richardson about his team and about each player and what it is about the A’s that makes them the undisputed top dog in club softball’s highest division.

“I don’t know if this was our most gifted team,” he began, “but it’s probably the best team we’ve had.  The other kids felt that they had each others’ back and when that happens it makes everyone’s job easy.”

Richardson continued that it wasn’t just the physical talent between the lines that made the A’s the premier club 18U team in recent history.

“This last four years the chemistry has been unbelievable,” he explains. “There’s so much trust and they play for each other.  The team never thinks they’re going to lose and never gives up.  The girls have a special heart and they pass it down from year to year and the returning players keep passing that down. It makes my job that much easier because there’s strong leadership—sometimes it’s not loud—but it’s there.”

Some believe the A’s have an intimidation factor going on and some teams are mentally defeated before the first pitch is thrown. Coach Richardson’s not sure about that—he thinks it’s more of his team rising to the occasion when it counts.

“I guess if I think about it I could find some instances where that happens,” he admits. “I don’t really look at it that way, though; I don’t see it as a game of intimidation.  I think it’s just that we’re prepared and we’re very comfortable playing big games.  I know there are teams that we match up well against and there are teams that don’t want to see us.  On the field it comes down to the fact we’ve had great pitching and that we’ve been on a mission when we got ahead so it was tough to come back.”

We asked the coach about the pending merger of the Batbusters and Team Mizuno programs and what that might mean, having two of the top teams recently, combining into one “super” team as we highlighted a few days ago in an article called Major Club Powers Merging.

“I saw your article and I guess we’re playing for second now,” he laughs. “Well, if anything we now have something to put on our bulletin board.  We’ll see… we’ll keep quiet on this side of town and do what we’ve always done. That news, though will give us somewhere to start in getting motivated for next year.”

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We asked the coach to give us his thoughts on each of his championship caliber players… here are his comments (players listed alphabetically :

OF/2B Faith Canfield (Michigan, 2015)
Coach Richardson: “She’s a very quiet person and is just steady.  Faith is going to be a very, very steady ballplayer at Michigan and she fits that mode well.  She’s good and is getting better and better.  Faith is versatile and can play anywhere for us—she played shortstop at one point when needed and I don’t fear putting her anywhere on the field.”

P Hayley Copeland (South Carolina, 2014)
Coach Richardson: “Hayley’s a funny one for me to figure out, if you watch her for a couple games she only has one or two hits that are squared on.  She has good spin and the hitters never seem to square up on it.  It’s the strangest thing to watch, they just can’t seem to hit her solidly. She’s going to be very good.”

OF Megan Geer (Tennessee, 2013)
Coach Richardson: “Megan is probably the most athletic, strong kid you’ll ever want to meet. She has, like, zero body fat and is one of the most amazing physical specimens you’ll meet in softball.  At the plate she smokes the ball because of her strength.”

P Delanie Gourley (Florida, 2013)
Coach Richardson: “If Delanie was a pro player you’d say she’s the ultimate professional.  She was very successful at a young age and has gotten better every year to the point I think she’s going to be an outstanding college pitcher.  Delanie is going to be outstanding and she’s one we’re really going to miss and will be hard to replace.”

OF Jessica Johnson (UC Santa Barbara, 2014)
Coach Richardson: “Jess is one of the kids who’ll lull you to sleep and then bite you.  She’s kind of skinny, but watch out. She also has a terrific throwing arm and can run.”

3B/1B Taylor Koenig (Tennessee, 2013)
Coach Richardson: “Taylor struggled at times and I was very proud of how she came together and got some key hits.  She’s mentally strong and I was glad to see her hold it together for the summer.”

2B Brooke Marquez (Northwestern, 2014)
Coach Richardson: “Brooke has a whole lot of grit, energy, enthusiasm and determination in that little body.  A true ballplayer, she’ll run through a wall if that’s what it takes to succeed.”

SS/3B Mo Mercado (Arizona, 2013)
Coach Richardson: “Mo was my four year shortstop.  It’s going to be weird to put someone else’s name on the scorecard next year.  She was the most gifted shortstop to every play for us, with the fluid hands and the moves like a major league shortstop.  She has great instincts and is a good hitter too. Mo was the glue that held things together in the infield.  When she came back (from injury), everyone else relaxed and knew everything was good to be all right.”

1B/2B Kolby Romaine (Missouri, 2015)
Coach Richardson: “Kolby is kind of quiet and unassuming.  She’s a very natural hitter and gifted, but hasn’t realized her potential yet. What’s interesting is she gets in a rhythm and can go four or five games where she’ll have two hits in all of them, yet you don’t know it at the time because she does it quietly.”

C/1B Rachel Sellers (Pacifica, 2014)
Coach Richardson: “At certain times in the fall Rachel was probably our No. 1 catcher.  She improved so much from her sophomore year and was hitting five and six (in the line-up) before she hurt her knee in Colorado.  We had a rough time with her going down, she was very valuable and we can’t wait until she gets back.”

1B/C Kaylea Snaer (South Carolina, 2013)
Coach Richardson: “She’s the rock, the foundation.  Kaylea had 62 home runs the last two years and pretty much carried this program.  She hit .510 with 20 homers just in the fall season with another 16 this summer.  She got herself in great physical shape and hit No. 4 in our lineup.  I never thought about putting someone else in that spot, it was always her. Kaylea’s a great kid too.”

3B Tannon Snow (Arizona State, 2015)
Coach Richardson: “Tannon was hurt all summer and didn’t start to swing bat until just before nationals so she missed most of the summer, but she should be starting at third base next year.  We expect a lot out of her.”

P Selina Taamilo (UCLA, 2014)
Coach Richardson: “Selina needs to be our Delaney next year and as a power pitcher she’s had to learn how to pitch some more and she’s done a great job with it.  We, along with UCLA, expect her to lead us.   She’s also a good hitter and had 3 home runs at (PGF)Premier.  We normally don’t have pitchers who hit, but we were short-handed because of injuries and let her hit and she showed what a good athlete she is.”

OF Brooke Vines (Stanford, 2015)
Coach Richardson: “Brooke’s getting better and better and is a budding superstar in the sport.  She’ll take it as far as she wants in softball.  Brooke has grown by leaps and bounds and only going to be a junior. The best is yet to come with her.”

C Carlee Wallace (Arizona State, 2014)
Coach Richardson: “Carlee’s come a long way for us, she was looked at as a gifted kid at a younger age group and recently has matched those expectations.  We expect a lot from our catchers—we’re tough on them—and Carlee had a lot to live up to.  Towards the end, she figured out how to do it.  She’s a big league player.”