With the exception of the third inning, SJ Geurin was unstoppable. Luckily for her, she had a Diamond Hotshots Gold lineup that backed her up -- mainly Maci Bergeron -- in their 5-2 victory over Firecrackers-Lopez in bracket play the PGF 12U Premier Nationals on Tuesday afternoon at Harvard Park in Irvine, California.



The Hotshots got off to a quick start in the top of the first inning with a single to right field from Kennedy Powell, who stole second and scored on Ashlyn Jones single to center field.

Powell and Jones came back in the third inning with back-to-back singles and stolen bases. Following a throwing error by Firecrackers pitcher Alyssa Rubalcava that put Kasidi Pickering on to load the bases, Bergeron delivered a bases-clearing double to the left field wall to make it 4-0. That was all Geurin needed.

"We had to play together as a team," Bergeron said. "We had to compete and not make any errors. We did have a few baserunning errors, but we came back from it. We have to keep pushing each other and staying together as a team. We just have to do what we do."

The Firecrackers had an opportunity in the bottom half of the first inning with a lead-off single to center by Amari Harper, followed by a single to right by Jaden Colunga, but Colunga's was tagged out on a late attempt to steal second base to end the threat.

The Firecrackers finally got on the scoreboard in the third inning after back-to-back singles from Alyssa Rebolledo and Harper. After back to back strikeouts, Mya Perez got to second on a throwing error from Geurin that scored Rebolledo. Rubalcava walked to load the bases and Harper scored on a hit by the pitch from Alexia Lopez to make it 4-2.

An inside-the-park home run by Evany Gonzalez in the fourth inning made it 5-2 for the Hotshots. Geurin retired 12 of the next 13 batters to close out the game for the Hotshots.

"In the end, it comes down to defense," Firecrackers coach Ryan Annett said. "We didn't make the defensive plays. They got on three times to start the game with singles past the infield and we didn't capitalize. Against a great team like this, you have to make every single play. With Savannah on the mound, she's dominant. She's a great pitcher. We didn't get our sticks going. That's a pretty good hitting team and we couldn't put things together. Give them all the credit though. They're a great team."

Powell went 3 for 4 with two stolen bases, Jones went 2 for 3 with an RBI and two stolen bases, Bergeron went 2 for 2 with two doubles, two walks and three RBIs, and Jules Currenta went 2 for 3 for the Hotshots. Geurin threw seven innings of four-hit ball while striking out a dozen batters after bouncing back from the third inning.

"I had to let my defense work," Geurin said. "I had to keep myself calm. I have been through this before. I just have to go out there and do it again. We just have to stay together and keep our bats hot."

Harper went 2 for 4 with two strikeouts and Colunga and Rebolledo each had a hit while Rubalcava threw six innings in the loss for the Firecrackers, who moved to the loser's bracket and take on Salinas Storm on Wednesday morning in the double-elimination tournament.

"We have a great team," Annett said. "We are confident that we can come out and make a run. In my opinion, it all comes down to pitching and defense. We have three great pitchers, a great defense and we have great sticks. We are going to come out and get ready to fight tomorrow and kick some butt. Hopefully, the ball lands where we need it to land and we come through with a couple of victories."

The Hotshots take on Corona Angels-Carter in the winner's bracket on Wednesday.

"We have to tighten up the defense," Hotshots coach Nathan Nelson said. "We have to eliminate the walks. We had three walks that game. It is very rare for Savannah to walk batters, but she did. We have to clean up the baserunning mistakes. We had baserunning mistakes where we got doubled up four different times in key situations in where it kind of changed the momentum and put it on their dugout. We had some adversity and hit the ball hard and our girls fought through it."

In other PGF 12U Premier games:

USA Athletics-Mathis 4, NorCal Firecrackers-Mettler 3
With the bases loaded and one out, Jaiden Lopez hit a single that scored Megan Sanchez to tie the game, 2-2. Haylee Orozco up to bat, Aimee Matz scored on a wild pitch, and Jayla Cadena scored on a passed ball to help USA Athletics with the upset victory.

Sanchez went 3 for 3, Lopez and Mathis each drove in a run, and Cadena threw a complete game five-hitter with eight strikeouts to get the win for USA Athletics, who take on East Cobb Bullets-Mayfield on Wednesday in the winner's bracket.

Madison Leung went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, Tiana Johnson went 2 for 3, Addison Mettler went 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI, and Ava Brown threw 5.2 innings in the loss for the NorCal Firecrackers, who take on OC Batbusters-Mascarenas on Wednesday afternoon in the loser's bracket.

Texas Intensity-Smith 3, All American Sport Academy-Ayala 1
Ashanti McDade gave up a run in the second inning thanks to a walk and two errors, but she was unhittable the whole way en route to a no-hitter and the victory for Texas Intensity-Smith.

McDade struck out 12 while going 1 for 3 at the plate. Townsen Thomas went 2 for 2 with a triple and Sidne Peters had an RBI for Texas Intensity, who moves on to the winner's bracket to face Firecrackers-Brashear/Allen on Wednesday.

Angelica Gonzales drove in the only run for AASA. Allyssa Williams threw six innings in the lost for AASA, which takes on OC Batbusters-Shockey on Wednesday in the loser's bracket.

Athletics-Mercado 4, So Cal Wicked 0
With the bases loaded in the third inning, Karis Ford doubled to center field to clear the bases. Jasmyn Burns drove in a run with an infield single to help lead the Athletics to victory.

Alyssa Hovermale and Alexia Rosales each went 2 for 2 and Alyssa Hernandez threw four innings to get the win for the Athletics thanks to the four-run third inning led by Ford. The Athletics take on Beverly Bandits-Pannell on Wednesday in the winner's bracket.

"I just had to swing hard," Ford said. "I had to make sure I didn't miss. I didn't want to come up to bat nervous because if I'm nervous, then I wouldn't be able to get that hit. We just have to cheer loud tomorrow and we need our bench to get good hits when we need it."

Skylar Limon, Grace Archuleta, and Mya Higareda each drew two walks for So Cal Wicked, who head to the loser's bracket to face Diamond Hotshots-Bailey on Wednesday.

Texas Impact Gold-Spencer 5, Explosion-Smith 0
Victoria Valdez went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs to lead Impact Gold to victory. Katherine Lott went 2 for 3 with an RBI, Seleste Coleman went 2 for 3 with two stolen bases, and Averi Paden threw six innings to get the win for Impact Gold, will take on Ohana Tigers-Garcia on Wednesday in the winner's bracket.

"We played as a team," Valdez said. "We worked together and we moved runners with our hits. We sacrificed ourselves for the runners. We have to keep playing as a team and get our bats going. We have to play defense."

Riley Whalen went 2 for 3 and Bethany Spurr went 1 for 2 with a walk as the Explosion went with four pitchers in the game. The Explosion will move to the loser's bracket to face Corona Angels-Powell on Wednesday.

Ohana Tigers-Garcia 2, American Pastime-Velasquez 1
Despite only recording one hit off of the bat of Kristalyn Romulo, the Ohana Tigers managed to score two runs in the sixth inning thanks to five errors en route to the win. Eddyanna Galvez threw a complete game victory for Ohana Tigers, who will take on Texas Impact Gold-Spencer on Wednesday.

Jazmine Najar had a double and Paige Cowley went 2 for 3 with a double while striking out 12 in six innings of work in the loss for American Pastime, which heads to the loser's bracket to face Northwest Bullets-Guile on Wednesday.

Follow Alvarez on Twitter @SoCalSidelines.

Get More From FloSoftball!

Sign up for the FloSoftball newsletter for instant access to: Breaking News, Live Streams, Rankings, Technique Videos and more!