The Southern Oregon Coast Softball 18-and-under team finished second at the Junction City tournament over the weekend, combining strong hitting and strong pitching to gain momentum for this weekend’s NAFA Nationals in Newberg.

SOCS won three of its four games and was competitive until the final inning of the championship game, when three errors led to five runs in a 7-0 loss to Willamette Valley Fast Pitch of Salem.

“(We had) lots of improvement in our hitting and keeping the errors to a minimum except in the last game,” said Jeri Young, one of the coaches for SOCS. “Other than that one inning, we were competitive the entire weekend and played an awesome tournament.”

Molly Hockema and Alyssa Bergquist led SOCS both on the mound and at the plate.

Hockema pitched a five-inning no-hitter against Central Oregon Wildfire of Bend in the opening game, which SOCSwon 8-0, and Bergquist followed with a two-hitter in a 13-1 win over Blue Rage of Albany and Lebanon in the second game.

The two combined on a one-hitter in a 3-0 win over Central Oregon Wildfire in the semifinals on Sunday before losing in the championship game.

Two of the runs in the semifinals came courtesy of solo home runs by Bergquist and Jessica Ott.

At the plate, Hockema hit .636 with three doubles, three runs and eight RBIs. Bergquist batted .385, with two home runs, two doubles, three runs and six RBIs.

Among other standouts, Lauryn Lesina hit .300 and had a .538 on-base percentage, scored five runs and hit a home run. Ott hit .455, including a home run, and scored twice. Brittney Young hit .385 with two doubles and scored three times.

As a team, SOCS hit .300 and had 24 runs, to eight for their foes. SOCS had 27 hits for the weekend and gave up just 11.

The NAFS tournament starts tonight.

“Again, the competition will be tough,” Jeri Young said. “Hopefully, we can carry over the success of this past weekend and continue playing as we are. If we can do that, we’ll do very well.”

Saturday’s Games

SOCS 8, Central Oregon Wildfire 0

SOCS    000    53    —    8    4    0

COF    000    00    —    0    0    1

Molly Hockema and Lauryn Lesina; Fedoris and Bent. 2B—SOCS: Hockema 2, Alyssa Bergquist.

SOCS 13, Blue Rage 1

SOCS    140    35    —    13    12    2

Blue Rage    001    00    —    1    2    4

Alyssa Bergquist and Lauryn Lesina; Amber Boys and Denise Vera. 2B—SOCS: Molly Hockema, Deirdra Stuart; BR: Frazier. HR—SOCS: Bergquist, Lesina.

Sunday’s Games

SOCS 3, Central Oregon Wildfire 0

SOCS    000    011    1    —    3    6    2

COF    000    000    0    —    0    1    1

Alyssa Bergquist, Molly Hockema (5) and Lauryn Lesina; Fedoris and Branden. 2B—SOCS: Brittney Young. HR—SOCS: Bergquist.

Willamette Valley Fast Pitch 7, SOCS 0

SOCS    000    000    0    —    0    5    4

WVFP    100    015    x    —    7    8    0

Molly Hockema and Lauryn Lesina; Erin Hento and Geretta Bennett. 2B—SOCS: Brittney Young, Bergquist; WVFP: Walsh 2.