By Carlos Arias

SO CAL A'S STAGE AN EPIC COMEBACK

Beverly Bandits-Tyrrell/Conroy ace Miranda Elish owned So Cal Athletics-Richardson for 6.2 innings.

Once again, it was Arizona-commit Hannah "Peanut" Martinez delivering in the clutch as the So Cal A's rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to pull out a 3-2 victory over the Beverly Bandits in the third round of the 18U Premier Division winner's bracket on Wednesday at Huntington Beach Sports Complex.

"Coming into the big game today I knew the Bandits are great competitors and are always very loud and pumped up," said Martinez, who had a game-tying hit in the eighth inning of the So Cal A's 11-inning win over Oklahoma Athletics on Tuesday.

"My goal today was to just keep the team up and loud to make sure we stayed focused. We came out knowing what the pitcher throws because we faced her in Colorado. She threw hard and was trying to work that first pitch strike. Going into that last inning, we all were pumped and we believed we could do it ... all we had to do was show some heart."

The So Cal A's, ranked No. 2 in the nation by FloSoftball, gave up two unearned runs to the No. 3 Beverly Bandits in the bottom of the first to fall behind 2-0 early on.

The So Cal A's showed their resilience in the top of the seventh. Arkansas-commit Hannah McEwen hit a high fly ball to left-center field that was dropped by the Beverly Bandits center fielder with two outs in the top of the seventh. Utah State-commit MacKenzie Bolin drove in McEwen with a single and Martinez came through with a two-run double to give the So Cal A's a 3-2 advantage.

"Starting off with Hannah McEwen getting that double and then Alyssa Gonzalez and Kenzie Bolin getting amazing hits to keep it going with two outs was amazing," Martinez said. "Going up to bat I knew that I had to keep my swing simple and slow the game down. I knew the pitcher was working first-pitch strike and she left that ball up and middle out and I knew it was the one. All in all the comeback was awesome and it was definitely a team effort, and it just shows how much heart we all have. We are very close as a team and we all have each other's back. I knew we could do it. Now, we need to be ready again in the morning for another good team."

Arkansas-bound Autumn Storms pitched a perfect bottom of the seventh to put the finishing touches on a complete game victory for the So Cal A's. Storms allowed no earned runs, four hits and struck out one. Elish, the three-time Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year who is headed to Oregon, took the loss for the Beverly Bandits.

"First, it all starts off with Autumn Storms keeping us in the game and doing a great job on the mound, by hitting her spots and just getting us ground balls," Martinez said.

The So Cal A's play Nebraska Gold in the fourth round on Thursday at 8 a.m. at Field 3. The Beverly Bandits beat the Nor Cal Firecrackers in a loser's bracket game to stay alive. The Beverly Bandits face the Northwest Bullets-Campos on Thursday at 8 a.m. at Field 7 in an elimination game.

In other PGF Nationals 18U Premier Division Winner's Bracket games:

Cal Cruisers 7, No. 4 Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 5

The Cruisers fell behind early after Arizona State-commit Deanae Chatman, who had two homers, hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first, but the Cruisers fought their way back into the game. Rylie Seip had an RBI double and George Washington-bound Jenna Cone had an RBI single in the top of the fourth for a 6-5 lead as the Cruisers rallied from 4-0 deficit to upset the Thunderbolts.

"We could have put our heads down, but we kept pushing," Cruisers coach Mel Sievers said. "We haven't beaten them in three years."

The Cruisers face Texas Blaze Gold in the fourth round on Thursday at 8 a.m. on Field 4. The Bolts are still alive in the loser's bracket and face Lady Lightning Gold-Corn in an elimination game on Thursday at 8 a.m. on Field 8.

No. 5 Firecrackers-Rico 1, Texas Glory-Shelton 0

Notre Dame-commit Riley Wester led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and scored on Oklahoma-commit Eliyah Flores' walk-off bloop single to center field to give the Firecrackers the victory. Oklahoma-commit Brooke Vestal pitched a three-hitter with two strikeouts to get the complete game win for the Firecrackers, who face So Cal Pumas Black in the fourth round on Thursday at 8 a.m. on Field 2.

So Cal Pumas Black 4, No. 7 AASA 1 

Penn-commit Kayla Ketring drove in Valerie Gutierrez with a single to tie it in the bottom of the seventh before UC Santa Barbara-commit Danie East ended the game with a walk-off three-run homer to lead the Pumas, a first-year 18U team to the upset over AASA.

"I'm most proud of how hard they work, knowing they are a local team from Simi Valley, Calif., which works really hard to compete against the top teams in the country," Pumas coach CJ Gutierrez said. "Several of these kids have earned their PGF Premier berth at 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U and now have a returning berth for next year. We know Rico's team will be a challenge (Thursday), but our girls are excited to have an opportunity to compete against them."

So Cal Choppers 6, Washington Ladyhawks Gold 2

Arizona-bound Jessica Harper stayed red hot, going 3 for 4 with her fourth homer of the tournament with two RBIs. Notre Dame-commit Abby Sweet went 1 for 2 with a double, a run and two RBIs. UC Davis-commit Brooke Yanez allowed two hits, one earned run and struck out nine to lead the Choppers to the victory.

The Choppers face the DeMarini Aces in the fourth round on Thursday at 8 a.m. on Field 1. The Ladyhawks, who beat Lady Lightning Gold Midwest, 9-0, in a loser's bracket game, face No. 11 Sorcerer in an elimination game on Thursday at 8 a.m. on Field 5.

DeMarini Aces 4, OC Batbusters-Perez 0

Alabama-bound Madison Preston threw a complete game shutout, Drake-bound Abbie Buie had an RBI double, Nebraska-bound Lexey Kneib had an RBI and Missouri-commit Callie Martin homered to lift the DeMarini Aces. The Batbusters lost to Sorcerer, 4-0, and were eliminated in a loser's bracket game.

Texas Glory is still alive in the loser's bracket and faces the All American Sports Academy-KC Peppers winner in an elimination game on Thursday at 8 a.m. on Field 6.

Nebraska Gold 8, Northwest Bullets-Campos 4

Nebraska-commit Rylie Unzicker went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run while Nebraska-commit Madison Otte went 2 for 4. Nebraska-commit Olivia Ferrell was the winning pitcher and Nebraska-commit Payton Huscroft drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the seventh for Nebraska Gold.

No. 14 Texas Blaze Gold 6, Lady Lightning Gold-Corn 1

Missy Zoch allowed four hits, one run and struck out seven to get the complete game win for Texas Blaze.

PGF NATIONALS NOTES

Sorcerers won three consecutive games in the loser's bracket on Wednesday to stay alive, but No. 10 Explosion-Denio/Wilson and No. 6 Corona Angels-Tyson weren't so lucky. Explosion and the Corona Angels both won three games in the loser's bracket on Wednesday before running out of gas and losing their fourth games of the day. The Birmingham Thunderbolts knocked out the Corona Angels with a 9-2 win and Texas Blaze Gold defeated Explosion, 7-4.

OC Batbusters-Stith, the two-time defending PGF national champions, were eliminated by the Nor Cal Batbusters with a 4-0 loss on Wednesday afternoon. The Batbusters went 1-2 at the PGF Nationals.