It was an all South final at the last day of the So Cal A's Invitational in Irvine, California as the Georgia Impact topped the Birmingham Thunderbolts 8-2 behind four pitchers--Ava Tillman (Ole Miss), Rachel Vaughn (South Carolina, Karly Heath (South Carolina) and Gabby Sprang (Tennessee)--who combined for the 21 outs.

Vaughn got the win in relief for the Impact, which benefited from having one of the deepest pitching staffs of the 16 teams in the tournament, which included out-of-state teams from New Jersey (Jersey Intensity), Illinois (Beverly Bandits), Missouri (DeMarini Aces), Texas (Texas Glory) and Pennsylvania (PA Chaos).

Playing some of the top California teams too--including the OC Batbusters, So Cal Choppers, Firecrackers-Rico, California Cruisers, All American Sports Academy, Corona Angels and Explosion--was one of the highlights for the winning team from the Peach State.

"I always love coming out here knowing that we are going to face really good competition every game which prepares us for PGF (Nationals)," said Sprang, the outstanding pitcher who was chosen as a PGF All-American this summer.

The title game saw the Impact offense continue to roll as catcher/third baseman Jordan Fabian (South Carolina) hit a solo shot in the 7th inning as part of her two RBI afternoon. Outfield Savannah Stewart (LSU) and multi-position athlete Skylar Wallace (Alabama) also drove in two runs each for the victors.

There was a bit of a controversy to the Impact's win, however; it was slated to be a semi-final game but the other semi was cancelled when the Beverly Bandits, after winning an exciting eight-inning battle versus All American Sports Academy, had to forfeit as several players had flights they needed to catch to return to the Midwest in the evening.

Pictured right: Ava Tillman, who had a key win on Saturday over the Angels, was one of four pitchers who helped the Impact win the title game Sunday.

The So Cal Choppers, the team the Bandits would have opposed in the semi, decided not to wait around for the final, but also choose to hit the road after a long weekend of softball. One reason, according to head coach Dean Fausett, was the two teams will face each other later this month in Boulder at the Independence Day Tournament.

Still, elevating the all-South semi to the championship game didn't do anything to detract from the Impact's impressive weekend and showing establishing them as one of the favorites to watch over the next month culminating with the PGF Finals.

Patrick Lewis's team started the event Friday with a 7-5 win over the defending PGF 18U National Champion Firecrackers and then beat Jersey Intensity 7-5 immediately after before losing twice on Saturday, including a 5-0 shutout by pitcher Maddy Dwyer (Stanford) and the host So Cal A's, before winning a 1-0 nailbiter 1-0 over the strong Corona Angels as Tillman gave up only two hits and Stewart knocked in the game's only run with a 6th inning RBI single.

There's a lot of softball to be played over the next two months, but this weekend's collection of top teams served notice that, like at the NCAA DI level, the South has some teams to be reckoned with...

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Here's a lot at the other bracket games that took place Sunday with all match-ups being single elimination as the winner's advanced to the afternoon championship...

12:00 PM: 3rd ROUND GAMES

So Cal Choppers 4, Cruisers 3
The Choppers trailed almost the entire game after Hunter Ava (BYU) of the Cruisers hit a two-run home in the top of the first, but Ally Shipman (Tennessee) hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. In the bottom of the 4th, Emily Tinkham (Ohio State) and Madison Paccini (Tennessee) had RBI's to tie the score 3-3 and in the bottom of the 5th--with time expired--the Cruisers suffered a heart-breaking loss when an infield grounder, which should have been the third out, bounced off the shortstop's glove to give Dean Fausett's team the win.

Thunderbolts 5, A's 3
The Thunderbolts jumped out to a 5-1 lead behind the standout pitching of Chardonnay Harris (Auburn) but the A's scored twice in the bottom of the 6th and loaded the bases before Abbey Swainey came in to shut the door, inducing a game-ending ground-out to shortstop.

Bandits 2, AASA 0 (ITB)
In a battle matching two elite pitchers, the Bandits came out victorious as Lauren Burke (Oregon) had a two-run single in the top of the 8th inning. Alexis Holloway (Notre Dame) went the distance with 9 K's for Bill Conroy's team from the Midwest. Julia Jensen (Nevada) allowed only three hits while striking out four for AASA.

10:00 AM: 2nd ROUND GAMES

DeMarini Aces vs. So Cal Choppers
The Choppers jumped out to a 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth behind an Ally Shipman (Tennessee) RBI double while fellow Vols commit Mikayla Allee also singled in a run. In the fourth, the Choppers blew it open with four runs highlighted by a two-run homer by Madison Paccini (Tennessee). The star of the game, though, was pitcher Brooke Yanez (UC Davis), who had 11 strikeouts and only two walks.

Georgia Impact 4, PA Chaos 1
The Chaos, despite missing five players including Megan (James Madison) , the #9 ranked player in the 2021 Hot 100 who tore her ACL last week and is lost for the summer, have played well the last couple games but hit the very talented Impact which is loaded with SEC-bound players. Patrick Lewis's team scored two in the rid and another pair in the fourth and used three pitchers who combined for 15 outs in the five inning contest. Gabby Teran (Syracuse) had two hits and scored twice.

Beverly Bandits 7, Jersey Intensity 3
Rachel Lewis (Northwestern) had a two-run home run and Mackenzie Dunlap (Northwestern) hit a solo HR while Madison Ebeling (Loyola) had a bases-clearing single to spark the Bandits' offense. Kenna Wilkie (Northwestern) had four strikeouts in the circle to help her team advance.

8:00 AM: 1st ROUND GAMES

Birmingham Thunderbolts 4, Firecrackers 2
The PGF 18U National Champion Firecrackers were ousted in the first game of bracket play Sunday as the Bolts from Alabama used the long ball to double up the So Cal team. PGF All-American Shaye Bowden (Oregon) and Denae Chatman (Arizona State, who both ironically call Arizona State home, each hit two-run homes to account for all the runs. Pitcher Grace Fagan (Mississippi State) went the distance for the Thunderbolts recording four strikeouts. Alyssa Pinto (Oregon) homered for one of the Firecracker runs.

So Cal A's 3, Explosion 2
In a game matching two So Cal teams that have already played each other multiple times this year, Bruce Richardson's Athletics' squad avanced as Naomi Hernandez (Long Beach State) drove in Hannah "Peanut" Martinez (Arizona) to break a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning. PGF All-American pitcher Maddy Dwyer (Stanford) shut down Explosion rallies in the fifth and sixth to help the host team advance.

California Cruisers 3, OC Batbusters 2 (8 innings)
The Cruisers 0-4 in the first two days at the So Cal A's invitational, but the PGF 18U Nationals runners-up put together a complete game to kick off bracket play as pitcher Chloe Romero (Texas) scattered five hits over seven innings while striking out seven, including two key swinging K's in the first ITB inning as the Batbuster batters couldn't catch up to her rise ball. In the bottom of the inning, the Cruisers benefitted with an illegal pitch that put the runner on third. Rylie Seip (2017, uncommitted), who went 2-for-3 with a run scored, lined a single to left that plated the winning run.

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