What was a field of 68 on Tuesday in 16U Premier has dwindled to a mere eight in bracket play for Friday and then the Championship on Saturday.

The most notable teams to be sent packing were Georgia Elite-Hoover, Georgia Impact-Gibson, and Corona Angles-Slye—FloSoftball’s No. 1, No. 6, and No. 9 ranked teams, respectively.

While some teams’ national title hopes disappeared after play Thursday and some slipped into the seemingly bottomless ocean that is the loser’s bracket, still others emerged unbeaten and looking like strong contenders for the title:

*** Georgia Impact-Jeffery cruised through its bracket play Thursday on the shoulders of their ace Gabby Sprang (2017, University of Tennessee).

The 6-foot southpaw hurler led her team to a decisive 8-2 victory over the So Cal Beverly Bandits and a 4-1 win over Southern Force, rewarding the Impact with much needed rest going into its game on Friday against the Birmingham Bolts at 10:15am.

*** The Ohana Tigers also won both of its games handily, relying on the long ball in each game to clinch the win. Janelle Rodriguez (2017, Cal State Fullerton) played the role of hero the first game with a two-run home run that proved to be the difference maker in the 3-1 win over Firecrackers DFW Greenwell.

“It was a change-up,” Rodriguez explained of the ball she crushed over the centerfield fence. “She had thrown me some earlier at my bats and I was looking for it.”

Rodriguez tossed the second game for a win behind the stick of Sam Kennedy (2017, Cal State Fullerton). Kennedy’s go-ahead two-run home run with the game tied 2-2 clinched the win for the Tigers and advanced them to Friday’s 10:15am game against Tulsa Elite.

*** Perhaps the most electric team of the day was the Birmingham Thunderbolts. Its first win of the day came against a tough Corona Angels team. Kayla Boseman (2018, Mississippi State) threw a two-hit, complete game.

When asked about the game, Boseman, a PGF rookie, commented that, “They [Angels] are a good-hitting team. There was a wide strike zone and I just kept spinning the ball and hitting my spots.”

The Bolts outhit the Angels 11-2 but managed to leave 11 base runners stranded throughout the contest.

The Bolts’ second win of the day came against Texas Glory-Naudin in dramatic fashion primarily at the hands of Alex Wilcox (2017, Mississippi State).

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th, Wilcox stepped to the plate and tied the game with a two-run homerun, forcing the game into extra innings. Wilcox came through at the plate again as she ripped an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th to finish off the Glory.

“I had been 0-for-2 before my third at bat [in the 6th], Wilcox explained. “I just wanted to put it in play somewhere so we could score.”

Both Wilcox and Head Coach Jay Roberson cited pitching as the saving grace for the Bolts Thursday.

Coach Roberson commented on game 1 and game 2 winning pitchers saying, “Kayla shut them [Angels] down” and “Megan Robertson [2018, uncommitted] is a competitor. She is good and tough as nails.”

14U Premier

The 14U PGF Winner’s bracket saw two very different games happening adjacent to each other.

The So Cal Athletics Mercado needed just four innings to send the Firecrackers-Brashear into the loser’s bracket with a score of 11-1.

During the brief contest, the Firecrackers changed pitchers three times.

This Athletics is that the 14U team that is comprised primarily of the same girls who won the PGF National Championship last year as a 12U team.

When Coach Dave Mercado was asked about what makes his team so good he replied, “We don’t have just one key player and we’re getting hot at the right time. We’re certainly not expecting to run-rule anyone out here. Everyone is good.”

At the same time (5:30 pm PST), a nail-biter between two rivals, Corona Angels Tyson and Georgia Impact Lewis, was taking place.

Head coach Rick Jeffreys of the Georgia Impact 16U team described the game as one that would “make for a good championship game.”

It certainly drew quite the crowd as the three-tiered stands were nearly standing-room only by the end of the game.

The Angels were leading 3-2 going into the bottom of the 6th when the Impact tied the game before Madison “Skittles” Koepke (2019, Auburn) stepped up to the plate and drove a hanging change-up over the left-center fence, giving the Impact what would be the decisive runs of the game.

“Since I was a pinch-hitter, I hadn’t hit against her so I just listened to what my teammates were saying,” Koepke revealed. “They said she was throwing high and inside-out. She left a change in and over the plate and I hit it.”

Impact head coach Patrick Lewis tipped his hat to the reigning PGF 14U champion Angel team and their coach saying, “Marty Tyson [Angels’ Head Coach] has been the gold standard for a while. They beat us last year in pool play and sent us to the loser’s bracket. I told the girls that if they want to be the best, they need to beat the best.”