By Manny Alvarez

Janessa Jasso threw a five-hit shutout with eight strikeouts to lead the Grapettes-Guevara (Stockton, Calif.) to a 2-0 victory over the Birmingham Thunderbolts-Dorsett/Burt (Helena, Ala.) to capture the 2016 PGF 14U Platinum National Championship on Saturday at Bill Barber Park's Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine, Calif.

Tristyn Guevara and Katherine Arceo each went 2 for 3 and Mikaela Ward went 2 for 3 with a double and a triple. The Grapettes scored both their runs on overthrows to third base. That was all Jasso needed to shut down the Bolts, who left nine runners on base.

"The credit goes to my team," Jasso said. "They got the hits every other inning and our defense really backed us up in making the key plays. They stopped their offense from scoring. This feels amazing. I've never thought we would make it here, let alone win the entire thing, so it feels good."

Brantley Bonds went 2 for 3 with a double for the Bolts, while Maddie Katona added a double as well. Avery Barnett threw a complete game, while only walking two in the loss for the Bolts in a week where the Bolts used her in every game.

"We had a few errors defensively," Bolts coach Taylor Burt said. "We didn't hit the ball like we have all week. We've been hitting the ball great like we have all week. We didn't get those clutch hits like we have been all week. Runners in scoring position with two outs, we have been getting those hits this week. We didn't get those hits today and that was the difference today."

With runners on first and third in the third, Ward scored on an overthrow at third base. In the sixth inning, Tatum Hayes was at second base with one out when she decided to steal third base and she scored on another overthrow at third base to make it 2-0.

"We just told them to play their game," Grapettes coach Richard Guevara said. "We're an aggressive base running team and we take advantage of every little situation. If you blink your eyes, we might be at third. We look for every single mistake the opponent makes and we were able to capitalize on those two errors. That was the big difference of the game. We sure didn't want to go into extra innings. That's a pretty good team."

It has been a long week for the Bolts, especially for their pitcher, but they can be proud of their efforts.

"I can't say enough about these kids," Burt said. "We came out here in a tough situation. We made it this week with only one pitcher. Avery Barnett threw every single ball game, every single inning. You can't say enough about that. That's a long week and she had a great day today. She did her job here, but we failed on a few things here. Overall, this week they showed up. They had a rough day today, but every day this week they have done exactly what we have been working for all summer long. I'm very proud of them."

The Grapettes will be returning home to Northern California with the PGF 14U Platinum National Championship title.


(Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)

"I'm getting emotional here," Guevara said. "I've been around this game for 20 years. This was our goal. It feels amazing that we can keep the championship here in California, especially for Northern California. We're bringing it back to NorCal. It's just an amazing feeling. I can't think of words to describe the feeling right now."