So Cal A's Invitational: Bracket Play Begins

Day 2 of the So Cal A's Invitational saw bracket play begin and a favorite in the tourney knocked out in just its first game.

Jun 18, 2017 by Brentt Eads

So Cal A's Invitational: Bracket Play Begins

Pictured: Shaye Bowden of the Birmingham Thunderbolts bats against Alanna Thiede of the OC Batbusters. Both teams will kick off action Sunday morning in their first-round bracket games.

Saturday at the So Cal Athletics' Invitational in Irvine, California saw the end of pool play and the beginning of bracket action as three teams saw their weekend end earlier than hoped.

One of those, a local powerhouse, fell despite its starting pitcher give up only two hits... ouch.

Under beautifully blue and sunny skies, the 16 teams at the event held at Harvard Athletic Park, kicked off with 8 am PST games on the three fields.

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One great thing about elite tournament like these--you get to see standouts you know about--like Jocelyn Alo, the Batbuster catcher who's headed to Oklahoma--show why she's one of the most feared hitters in the club scene as she crushed her fourth home run in as many games and has 12 RBI already.

Pictured right: Jocelyn Alo in action Saturday morning.

And then you get new talent who emerge and impress, like 2020 hurler Maddie Penta of PA Chaos, the same organization that produced Maggie Balint who shined at last year's A's Invitational. Penta is having a great weekend in Irvine and showing she belongs with the top players of any age group.

And another young and upcoming prospect to watch: 2019 Utah commit Madison Jacobus who put on a clinic at second base for the Firecrackers today, making one standout defensive play after another.

There was even news of note off the field, as one major college coach reported that former Missouri pitcher Parker Conrad announced today she will transfer to Oklahoma and compete with a strong stable of pitchers including Paige Lowary, Paige Parker, Maria Lopez and Nicole Mendes.

And catcher Carlee Wallace, who announced this week that she will be leaving Auburn with one season of eligibility left, was at the Invitational to support her club, the So Cal A's. Carlee says she is looking around and will take some campus visits in the next month as she looks to finish out her athletic career and begin looking at a possible medical career, perhaps as an Physicians Assistant.

Back on the field, it was one-and-done in the single elimination tournament for one out-of-state team and two from So Cal.

Here are the game scores from Day 2 with some of the more impressive performances and highlights...

8:00 AM GAMES

So Cal A's 5, Georgia Impact 0
Stanford-bound pitcher Maddy Dwyer gave up only two hits with seven K's in the shutout against the Impact, which won both of its games on Friday.

OC Batbusters 6, So Cal Choppers 3
Catcher Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma) slugged a pair of two-run homers--this following a home run and grand slam yesterday--to pace the Batbusters.

PA Chaos 3, Explosion 1
Maddie Penta (2020, uncommitted) pitched a complete game for the visitors from the East, allowing five hits in seven innings with four strikeouts.

10:00 AM GAMES

Firecrackers 5, DeMarini Aces 3
Jenna Kean (Arizona) went 2-for-2 with an RBI for the Firecrackers who were on fire on the basepaths: Emma Clark (Notre Dame) and Kaitlin Parsons (Tennessee) each had three steals as part of 10 overall for Tony Rico's

OC Batbusters 4, Birmingham Thunderbolts 3
Alanna Thiede (Oklahoma) pitched a complete game victory with 7 K's and six scattered hits. Bolts slugger Shaye Bowden went 2-for-3 with a HR for the Bolts.

Corona Angels 9, Explosion 2
PGF All-American Camryn Ybarra (Oregon State)--pictured right--got no sleep last night after going to grad night and showed up without sleep to go 2-for-3 with a two run homer. Catcher Lynnsie Elam (Oklahoma) also went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

12:20 PM GAMES

AASA 5, Georgia Impact 1
All American Sports Academy scored in its first three innings and pitcher Julia Jensen (Nevada) gave up just two hits in three innings of work for the Nor Cal squad.

Texas Glory 2, So Cal Choppers 1
Bella Dayton (Ole Miss) went 2-for-3 and Mariah Nichols (Memphis) knocked in a run and pitched a complete victory giving up seven hits while striking out two.

PA Chaos 8, California Cruisers 2
Devon Miller (uncommitted) allowed just one earned run for Chaos and Kylie Flagler (Coppin State) had two hits and three RBI to pace the offensive attack. Elaina Tsipouis (Brown) and Devon Losco (Hofstra), the Pennsylvania 5A Player of the Year, each added a pair of hits.

2:20 PM GAMES

Firecrackers 7, So Cal A's 2
Brooke Marquez (Notre Dame), Alyssa Pinto (Oregon) and Alex Perez (Cal) each had two RBI and second baseman Madison Jacobus (Utah) made several stellar defensive plays for the Firecrackers.

Birmingham Thunderbolts 2, Irvine Sting 1
Grace Fagan (Mississippi State) gave up 11 hits, but induced seven groundballs to help the Bolts win.

Corona Angels 1, Beverly Bandits 0
In a great pitching duel between two of the best hurlers in the nation, Megan Faraimo (UCLA)--pictured right--topped Alexis Holloway (Notre Dame) as she limited the Bandits to two hits while striking out nine in the shutout.

4:20 PM GAMES

Jersey Intensity 3, AASA 0
Pitcher Lauren Mathis (Georgia) was dominating as she hit her spots and mixed up her pitches, recording sevent strikeouts and giving up only three hits in the shutout win.

Texas Glory 5, Irvine Sting 0
Glory hurler Mariah Nichols (Memphis) allowed only two hits while striking out five as she painted the corners to lead Kevin Shelton's team the last game before bracket play.

Beverly Bandits 4, California Cruisers 2
Kenna Wilkey (Northwestern), who tossed a no-hitter yesterday, was strong again as she scattered six hits while striking out 10 for Bill Conroy's team.

6:40 PM BRACKET ELIMINATION GAMES

Georgia Impact 1, Corona Angels 0
The Impact broke through on a Savannah Stewart (LSU) RBI single in the 6th inning which proved to be the difference as the two starting pitchers--Ava Tillman (Ole Miss) and Mariah Mazon (Oregon State)--each only allowed two hits. Patrick Lewis's team will play the Chaos at 10 am on Sunday.

AASA 7, Irvine Sting 2
Alyse Rojas (UC Davis) had three hits and Sami Garcia (Cal St. Northridge) and Rachel Cid (Oregon) had two rbi for Bryan Merida's team which will play at noon on Sunday versus either the Beverly Bandits or Jersey Intensity, they team that knocked them off earlier today.

PA Chaos 2, Texas Glory 0
Maddie Penta (2020, uncommitted) struck out five and gave up only five hits to help the Chaos advance to play the Georgia Impact Sunday at 10 am.

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