For 16 of the field of 64 at the ASA/USA 18U GOLD National Championship in Oklahoma City, they went to bed Wednesday night excited that they were in the Sweet 16 of the winner’s bracket.

Of this group, there are three each from Florida, Georgia and the St. Louis area, so kudos to these spots for producing teams contending for the championship.

Here’s a look at these teams who will play today at 5 pm CST and how they got to this point…

Note that the order listed is how they appear on the bracket, meaning the top two teams will face each other, No’s 3 and 4 will play Thursday, etc.

 

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Sarasota Heat (Fla.)
The Heat scored all 10 of their runs in the first four innings including a six run 2^nd inning to run-rule RBA West Team Louisville 10-0. Leading the charge in the big second inning was Carly Rosa (2015, Florida Atlantic) and Kylie Holton, both of whom had two-run doubles. Holton ended up with four RBI on a 2-for-4 night.

 

Houston Power Gold-Glowacz (Texas)
The Power put up five runs in the sixth to shorten the six inning game and pitcher Lindsey McLeod was on her game, giving up just two hits and not giving up a walk while striking out six.

 

Southern Force Gold (Ga.)
The Force beat a good Louisiana Voodoo-Brignac team 3-0 Wednesday with all three runs coming in the bottom of the first. Alyssa Worden had an RBI on a groundout in the first and also was the star in the circle allowing no hits with only two walks in her four innings of pitching.

St. Louis Gamers Gold (Mo.)
In the 11-5 win over Wagners/3N2, it was actually a 3-3 tie going into the top of the 6^th when the onslaught began as the Games scored three in the 6^th and five more in the 7^th. Allison Knopp led the offense as she went 2-for-3 with three RBI.

 

Wagners Gold-Dunn (Fla.)
Wagners Gold-Dunn scored five runs in the 3^rd inning and added three more in the 5^th to shorten the game and record a 9-0 win over THZ Softball. Highlighting the offense in the 3^rd was a two-run single by Brittney McGuire (2014, Florida Gulf Coast). Another offensive standout was Ashley Swiderski (2014, Central Florida) who went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI.

Georgia Power-DeMarini Gold (Ga.)
The Power beat Austin Storm 5-4 despite being outhit 9-7. The key was the fact the Storm stranded 10 runners. Casey Durham was the hitting star for the Power going 2-for-3 and hitting a home run in the 4^th inning.

 

Atlanta Vipers-Loveless (Ga.)
The Vipers topped Florida Storm 18 Gold 3-1 Wednesday night but it didn’t come easily as the Storm had eight hits but stranded 10 runners. Savannah McHellon (2014, Georgia) got the win as she pitched three scoreless innings. She also had a single, stole two bases and came in to score.

 

American Pastime Gold (Calif.)
The only Calif. team in the Sweet 16 beat the St. Louis Esprit-Heifner 7-1 but it was a close game until the bottom of the fifth when Larry Farnworth’s team padded a 1-0 lead with two runs and then added four more in the sixth to open up the lead. Highlighting the sixth was a two-run triple by Kaitlyn Jennings.

 

D-BAT Tulsa Shootout Gold (Okla.)
One of the tightest games of the night came in the Shootout’s 1-0 win over Strikeforce Softball 18 Gold. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Mykaela Wallace got a fielder’s choice RBI. Pitcher Andee Tiffee gave up only two hits in her seven innings to notch the shutout win.

 

Blue Angels Gold (Miss.)
The Angels trailed until the sixth inning when the Mississippi team put up the eventual tying and winning runs to beat Texas Aces Gold-Jacoby 2-1. Parris Ladner hit a pair of doubles including the game winner that plated two in the sixth. Nicole Fullilove scattered nine hits but only the one run to pick up the win.

 

Gators Gold Flannery (Fla.)
The Gators are 5-0, but it didn’t come easy as last night’s game took eight innings to put away Newtown Rock-Amendolara 4-3. Amanda Blanchard picked up the win as she went eight innings and gave up only one earned run. Alex Arciola was the hero as she hit the RBI single in the top of the eighth that proved to be the game winner.

 

Beverly Bandits-DeMarini (Ohio)
One of the top pitchers in the country, Taran Alvelo (2015, Washington) also showed she’s pretty good at the plate as she provided the offense for the Bandits in the 2-0 win over the Wichita Mustangs. Alvelo hit a fifth inning two-run homer which was the only offense of the game. In the circle she allowed just two hits while striking out seven and giving up no walks in three innings of work.

 

Lil Rebels 96 (Nev.)
The Rebels scored a pair of runs in the top of the second and never trailed in its 4-1 win over Ohio Nightmare 18U Gold. Jacquelyn Sertic (2014, North Dakota State) allowed just one earned run – a home run in the third to Ashley Raush (2014, Toledo) – while recording six strikeouts and no walks.

Louisiana Patriots Gold (La.)
In a five inning run-ruled game, the Patriots scored two runs in the 1^st inning, four in the 3^rd and three in the 4^th to put the game out of reach.   Jolie Trahan (2014, McNeese State) was in total control allowing just one hit and a walk over the five innings while striking out six. Brittany Case (2015, USC Upstate) was the offensive star, hitting a three-run homer.

 

STL Academy Gold (Mo.)
The Academy broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the 3^rd and another pair in the 4^th to open up a lead it would never relinquish in a 5-2 win over Texas Bombers Gold HTX. The Bombers stranded eight runners on base but Anna McKee pitched out of several jams and Aimilia McDonough (2014, Ole Miss) helped her on offense by hitting a home run and recording three RBI.

 

St. Louis Chaos-Beatty (Mo.)
The Chaos was unstoppable on offense in its 12-4 win over Team Kansas Gold, recording 15 hits and scored in each of the first four innings including five in the 3^rd and four in the 4^th innings. Seven players had RBI including catcher Jenny Schaper (2015, Kentucky) who went 3-for-3 with two runs knocked in. You can see this game live streamed at 5 pm CST here.