I’m did a live blog from Championship Day at the Boulder Independence Day Tournament on Sunday, July 5, at Stazio Fields in Boulder, Colo. Here’s how it all went down:

BANDITS STEAL THE SHOW

Bill Conroy’s Beverly Bandits (Ill.) organization had a huge week at the Boulder Independence Day Tournament, culminating with two of his teams winning tournament titles at the prestigious event at Stazio Fields in Boulder, Colo. The Bandits beat Chaos Gold (Pa.), 7-2, to claim the 18U Boulder championship and the Beverly Bandits Premier, who are coached by Cray Allen, rallied to beat Indiana Magic Gold, 7-3, to win the 16U Longmont title.

The Beverly Bandits had three teams in the 16U tournament to go along with the 18U team and they combined to go 34-6-2 for the week.

“I’m in my first year with the Bandits,” Allen said. “Mr. Conroy and I have been friends for a while. I just came over this year. Even though every team is competitive and wants to beat the (stuff) out of every single team, everyone is pulling in the same direction. When you get 100 kids and families pulling in the same direction, it makes it kind of fun, especially, when you can bring home a couple of pieces of hardware.”

The 18U Bandits stumbled out the gates earlier in the week in pool play and didn’t look like a team that would end up playing for the tournament title.

“We started off rough,” Conroy said. “We started 1-1-1 and were really playing poor defense. I thought our pitching was good, but our offense was stagnant. I thought we got a little wake-up call when we ended up losing to the Batbusters. We only gave up three hits, but we gave up some costly errors. It was Mark Campbell’s White Batbusters. I thought that gave me the opportunity to light them up a little bit. From that point on, they really responded. I was real happy with the kids. I thought our coaches did a really good job of making adjustments. The team came through clutch after clutch.”

Arizona State-bound Skylar McCarty, who hit three homers from the lead-off spot this week, sparked the Bandits’ offense with a single to lead off the top of the third in the finals. She eventually scored from third on a wild pitch and Miami of Ohio-bound Michaela Schlattman drove in Alexis Mack with a sacrifice fly to stake the Bandits to a 2-0 lead.

The Bandits added an unearned run in the fourth, James Madison-bound Jenny Behan hit a solo homer in the fifth and Schlattman added a three-run blast in the sixth to make it 7-0 to put the game out of reach.

Conroy alternated between Notre Dame-commit Alexis Holloway and Oregon-commit Miranda Elish throughout the entire tournament. Elish did a solid job to get the complete game win in the championship game.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the kids,” Conroy said of his pitchers. “They came through time after time.”

In the 16U title game, the Magic Gold took an early lead, but Maddie Banks’ two-run homer in the bottom of th fourth tied the game, 3-3, and got the momentum going the Bandits way. The Bandits brought in Amber Fiser as relief after the game was tied and she locked down the Magic Gold the rest of the way.

“We came out a little flat,” Allen said. “I don’t know why. We had a couple of hiccups. Indiana Magic were coming off an awesome game. They come out and score two quick runs on us. It was a little surprising, but we battled through it.”

FURY ’97 JUMPS ON OC BATBUSTERS

Fury ’97 (Tenn.) jumped on Ken Briggs’ OC Batbusters (Calif.) for a 7-0 lead by the third inning and they held on for an 8-4 win to capture the 18U Louisville title at the Boulder Independence Day Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Stazio Fields.

“I’m gonna say the first couple of innings set the tone,” Fury ’97 coach Randy Coppinger said. “We put pressure on them. They did make a few bad plays and we put some runs on the board early that really set the tone for us to do our thing.”

Coach Coppinger pointed to the solid job Tennessee Chattanooga-commit Jordan Fortel did in the circle to keep the OC Batbusters hitters at bay for most of the game. She gave up two late homers, but the game was already out of reach.

“I mean, she’s a bulldog,” Coppinger said of Fortel. “She don’t know when to quit. It was a team effort. I don’t want to single out one kid, but what she did on the rubber was outstanding.”

CHOPPERS TAKE 14U TITLE

Mckenzie Barbara went 2 for 2 with two walks and three RBI and Shealyn O’Leary scattered nine hits and struck out three to get the complete game win as Gary Fausett’s So Cal Choppers (Calif.) defeated the Corona Angels (Calif.), 7-2, to capture the 14U Broomfield championship on Saturday afternoon at the Boulder IDT.

BANDITS IN HUNT FOR TWO TITLES

Jenny Behan dropped a solo bomb on Chaos Gold to give the Beverly Bandits a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth in the 18U Boulder final. Meanwhile, on Field 3, Maddie Banks connected on a two-run shot that helped Beverly Bandits Premier tie Sorcerer, 3-3, in the bottom of the fourth in the 16U Longmont final.

Tennessee Fury ’97 leads OC Batbusters-Briggs, 7-2, in the bottom of the 18U Louisville final.

So Cal Choppers have a 6-0 lead over the Corona Angel in the 14U Broomfield final.

FINALS UPDATES

Beverly Bandits lead Chaos Gold, 2-0, in the top of the fourth in the 18U Boulder final, Tennessee Fury ’97 has a 7-0 lead over OC Batbusters-Briggs in the bottom of the third in the 18U Louisville final, Magic Gold has a 2-1 lead over Beverly Bandits Premier in the 16U Longmont final and So Cal Choppers have a 4-0 lead over Corona Angels in the 14U Broomfield final.

18U, 16U and 14U FINALS ARE SET

Maggie Balint tossed a one-hitter with four strikeouts and one walk to help the Chaos Gold (Pa.) take down Bruce Richardson’s So Cal A’s (Calif.), 3-0, in the 18U Boulder semifnals.

Chaos Gold plays the Beverly Bandits (Ill.) for the championship at 1 p.m.

Reva Alderman had a two-run double in the first, Anna Steinmetz had an RBI single in the sixth and Alex Viscusi went 2 for 3 with two runs to lead Chaos Gold’s offense.

Chaos Gold CF Spenser Gray made some fine plays in the outfield, including a running catch at the fence.

BTW, just saw Beverly Bandits outfielder Alexis Mack at the snack bar, which is wear I have press row set up at the condiments table. She got ahold of the South Carolina coach at about 12:30 a.m. and got permission to miss orientation today in Columbia, SC, so she could play for the Bandits on Championship Sunday.

“I’m so happy,” Mack said.

In the 18U Louisville semifinals, OC Batbusters-Briggs beat Louisiana Patriots Gold, 3-2, and Tennessee Fury ’97 knocked off Texas Sudden Impact, 7-2. Batbusters and Fury will meet for the 18U Louisville title at 1 p.m.

Beverly Bandits Premier (Ill.) beat Jen Tyrrell’s Beverly Bandits (7-4, and Magic Gold (Ind.) took out Sorcerer (Calif.), 6-0, in the 16U Longmont semifinals. Beverly Bandits Premier and Magic Gold will meet in the 16U championshp game at 1 p.m.

The Corona Angels (Calif.) defeated Southern Force (Ky.), 9-4, and Gary Fausett’s So Cal Choppers took down Victory USA (Calif), 3-0, to set up and all So Cal 14U Broomfield final between the Angels and the Choppers at 1 p.m.

BANDITS UPSET BATBUSTERS

Brooke Wilson had a pair of RBI singles to help the Beverly Bandits upset the OC Batbusters, 5-3, and earn a spot in the 18U Boulder finals.

Anna Steinmetz ripped an opposite field single to right to drive in run to give Chaos Gold a 3-0 lead over the So Cal A’s in the top of the sixth in an 18U Boulder semifinal.

Tennessee Fury ’97 punched its ticket to the 18U Louisville finals with a 7-2 win over Texas Sudden Impact. Fury plays the OC Batbusters-Briggs vs. Louisiana Patriots Gold winner for the championship at 1 p.m.

FINAL FOUR UPDATES

In the 18U Boulder semifinals, Chaos Gold (Pa.) has a 2-0 lead on So Cal A’s (Calif.) in the top of the fifth and the Beverly Bandits (Ill.) lead the OC Batbusters (Calif.), 4-2, in the tp of the fifth.

The OC Batbusters (Calif.) have a 3-0 lead over Southern Force (Ky.), in a 14U semifinal.

SO CAL TEAMS TRAILING

Beverly Bandits (Ill.) scored three runs in the bottom of the first and lead the OC Batbusters (Calif.), 3-0, in the bottom of the third of the 18U Boulder semifinals. Two of the runs were unearned, then Loyola University-bound Brooke Wilson hit a nice line drive over the shortstop to drive in the third run.

Chaos Gold (Pa.) has a 2-0 lead over the So Cal A’s in the bottom of the second in the other semifinal.

IT’S CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY

It’s Championship Sunday, the final day of the Boulder IDT. Elite 8 games were played earlier this morning and we’re down to the Final Four games n the 18U, 16U and 14U Brackets.

Chaos Gold (Pa.) knocked off All American Sports Academy (Calif.), 7-4, Bruce Richardson’s So Cal A’s (Calif.) blanked Texas Blaze Gold, 4-0, Mike Stitch and Gary Haning’s OC Batbusters (Calif.) rolled Joey Quarles’ So Cal A’s (Calif.), 9-0, and Beverly Bandits (Ill.) shut out Chill Gold (Ill.), 7-0, to form the 18U Boulder Final Four.

Chaos Gold takes on the So Cal A’s and the Beverly Bandits face the OC Batbusters in the semifinals right now.

The Final Four is set in the 16U Longmont Bracket with Jen Tyrrell’s Beverly Bandits (Ill.) taking on the Beverly Bandits Premier (Ill.) in one semifinal and Sorcerer (Calif.) facing Magic Gold (Ind.) in the other semifinal.

In the 14U Broomfield semifinals, the Corona Angels (Calif.) get the Southern Force (Ky.) and Gary Fausett’s So Cal Choppers (Calif.) do battle with Victory USA (Calif.).

BOULDER IDT

AT STAZIO FIELDS, BOULDER, CO.

SUNDAY, JULY 5, RESULTS

18U BOULDER BRACKET

QUATERFINALS

PA Chaos Gold 7, CA AASA 4

CA So Cal A’s-Richardson 4, TX Blaze Gold 0

CA Batbusters-Stith/Haning 9, So Cal A’s-Quarles 0

IL Beverly Bandits 7, IL Chill 0

SEMIFINALS

PA Chaos Gold 3, So Cal A’s-Richardson 0

IL Beverly Bandits 5, CA Batbusters-Stith/Haning 3

CHAMPIONSHIP

IL Beverly Bandits 7, PA Chaos Gold 2

18U LOUISVILLE BRACKET

SEMIFINALS

TN Fury ’97 7, TX Sudden Impact 2

CA OC Batbusters-Briggs 3, LA Patriots Gold 2

CHAMPIONSHIP

TN Fury ’97 8, CA OC Batbusters-Briggs 4

16U LONGMONT

SEMIFINALS

IL Beverly Bandits Premier 7, IL Beverly Bandits-Tyrrell 4

IN Magic Gold 6, CA Sorcerer 0

CHAMPIONSHIP

IL Beverly Bandits Premier 7, IN Magic Gold 3

14U BROOMFIELD

SEMIFINALS

CA Corona Angels 9, KY Southern Force 4

CA So Cal Choppers-GF 3, CA Victory USA 0

CHAMPIONSHIP

CA So Cal Choppers-GF 7, CA Corona Angels 2

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