FloSoftball will be doing a live blog from Deanna Manning Stadium at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif., on Championship Friday where Premier Girls Fastpitch national champions will be crowned in the 12U Premier, 18U Premier, 10U Premier and 18U Platinum Divisions. Keep coming back to this page or refreshing your screen for scores and updates throughout Championship Friday.

OC BATBUSTERS WIN BACK-TO-BACK 18U PREMIER TITLES

Mike Stith and Gary Haning’s OC Batbusters (Calif.) entered the Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championships as the overwhelming favorites to repeat as 18U Premier Division champions, and with that came a giant bullseye.

But the Batbusters’ veteran-loaded lineup managed and even exceeded those lofty expectations, culminating with a 7-0 triumph over Bruce Richardson’s So Cal Athletics (Calif.) in the championship game on Friday afternoon at Deanna Manning Stadium at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif.

“Our team is an amazing team,” said Arizona-bound Taylor McQuillin, who shut out the So Cal A’s on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

“We know what we’re capable of, everyone else knows what we’re capable of and when it comes down to it we’re going to play. This is the last year for a lot of the girls on this team. This senior group is really well bonded. We knew what we wanted coming into it, we knew what we were going to walk away with and we were going to give it our all no matter what and today definitely proved that.”

McQuillin, Fale Aviu (Oklahoma), Morganne Flores (Washington), Amanda Lorenz (Florida), Natalie Peters (Michigan), Sophia Reynoso (Florida) and Tannon Snow (Washington) all started for the Batbusters in the championship game and all seven are moving on to college this fall. Most of them have been playing together during the Batbusters three straight appearances in the PGF 18U Premier national title game.

“I definitely think the adrenaline is running right now,” McQuillin said, “but for all the seniors it’s a bittersweet feeling. We’re so excited to be winning another national championship, we’re so excited for the team next year, but we’re really sad because we’re leaving and we’re all moving on, but we’re moving on to bigger and better things. This championship is just another steppingstone to the future.”

The Batbusters jumped on the So Cal A’s, who were making their fifth appearance in the finals in the sixth year of PGF’s existance, for three runs in the bottom of the third. Lorenz had an RBI single, Washington-commit Taylon Snow had a sacrifice fly and Tannon Snow added an RBI double to stake the Batbusters to a 3-0 lead.

The Batbusters scored two unearned runs in the fourth and Arizona-commit Dejah Mulipola came through with a two-run single in the fifth.

McQuillin got stronger as the game wore on, retiring 12 of the final 14 batters she faced to seal the So Cal A’s fate.

“I think every pitcher definitely feels a little more relaxed when her team goes out and gets her quite a few runs in an inning,” McQuillin said. “It just wasn’t one run, it was three, and the next inning it was two and the next inning it was two. Our team just stayed dominant throughout the entire game. I think that’s what we really needed.”

FIRECRACKERS WIN PLATINUM TITLE WITH WALK-OFF SQUEEZE

Caroline Saccacio’s walk-off squeeze gave Ben Pasco’s Lakewood Firecrackers (Calif.) a 3-2 victory over Iowa Premier Gold for the PGF 18U Platinum Division national championship on Friday night.

In ITB, Sam Saporito got an infield single with a chopper up the middle and stole second to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Iowa Premier intentionally walked Destini Peck to load the bases. Iowa Premier brought its center fielder in as an extra infielder, but Saccacio’s squeeze caught them off guard and gave the Firecrackers the win.

The Firecrackers struck first in the bottom of he second when Jasmine Melgoza singled down the right-field line and took third on an E-9. She scored on Gabriela Zabata’s single through the 5-6 hole for a 1-0 lead.

Eastern Michigan-bound Amanda Akles came inches away from a home run when she hit the top of the fence in right-center field in the bottom of the third. She settled for a double to drive in Destini Peck, giving the Firecrackers a 2-0 lead.

Iowa Premier got one run back in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Kendyl Lindaman and Brooke Sandstoe’s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh tied it, 2-2.

BATBUSTERS CAPTURE 12U NATIONAL TITLE

So Cal Choppers ’02 (Calif.) ace Jessie Fontes had been untouchable all week and she pretty much remained that way in the PGF 12U Premier championship game, but Toni Mascarenas’ OC Batbusters got a timely hit and strong pitching to pull out a 2-1 win to capture the title.

The Batbusters got two base runners on a walk and a hit batter in the bottom of the third and Emily Cazares delivered a bloop single to shallow center field that scored Sarah Willis and Giulia Koutsoyanopulos for a 2-0 lead.

The Choppers didn’t go quietly. Madison Mendez walked and Kayla Chavez and Alyssa Casteneda singled to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. Libbie McMahan drove in Mendez with a sacrifice fly to right to cut the lead to 2-1.

But Willis shut down the comeback attempt, getting back-to-back ground outs to end the game and secure the national championship.

Willis scattered five hits, walked three and struck out four to get the complete game win for the Batbusters, while Fontes allowed two runs, two hits, one walk and struck out nine to take the loss for the Choppers.

HOTSHOTS WIN INAUGURAL 10U CHAMPIONSHIP

Diamond Sports Hotshots of Texas rallied for three runs with two outs in the top of the seventh as Jaydyn Goodwin delivered an RBI triple and Kassidi Pickering added a two-run single for insurance to give the Hotshots an 8-5 victory over Texas Chaos in a game that featured multiple lead changes to decide the inaugural PGF 10U Premier Division national championship.

Here’s the schedule for the PGF National Championship games, which will be streamed live on PGF’s YouTube channel:

• 12U Premier Championship: CA OC Batbusters-Mascarenas 2, CA So Cal Choppers ’02 1
• 18U Premier Championship: CA OC Batbusters-Stith/Haning 7, CA So Cal Athletics-Richardson 0
• 10U Premier Championship: TX Diamond Sports Hotshots Gold 8, TX Chaos ’04 5
• 18U Platinum Championship: CA Firecrackers-Pasco 3, IA Iowa Premier Gold-Ringor 2 (8 innings)

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