Don’t mess with Texas… that was the theme on Sunday at the final day of the So Cal Athletics Invitational held at Los Alamitos (Calif.) High as two of the final four teams were from the Lone Star State.

More on them in a minute…

Once again the weather was perfect as two of the afternoon games were streamed live on Coaches Aid’s website with over 1,000 people watching. They got to see a blow-out and a one run game but there was one thing they didn’t get to see…

… a championship game.

After playing three grueling games, the semis saw the OC Batbusters escape with a back-and-forth 4-3 win over a battling Texas Glory team and another Texas team, Sudden Impact, represented well in stopping the East Cobb Bullets 5-1.

So, in effect, there were “co-champions.”

And why didn’t the Batbusters and Sudden Impact play for a title? As the afternoon went on, it was decided that most of the out-of-state programs had travel plans that would be more easily facilitated if there wasn’t a final game.

Plus, a couple coaches admitted that they had a long and productive day of play and were happy with three games at the most and didn’t need a fourth.

Event Director Bruce Richardson of the So Cal Athletics says that next year the format will be tweaked, perhaps having more time between games, setting match-ups in advance or considering playing the finals on a Saturday instead of Sunday.

In any case, the event was a huge success and every coach and player came away happy.

Here are some random notes from the day from my front row seat…

 

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— The OC Batbusters didn’t blow people out over the weekend like they did on Friday when they won two games with a 17-0 run discrepancy, but coming out of this weekend it would be difficult to not have them as the No. 1 seed going into the PGF Nationals based on how amazingly deep they are.

They have so many weapons to beat you; I’ve pointed out their three “aces” in the circle and any of the trio—Kaylee Carlson (2014, North Carolina), Taylor McQuillin (2015, Arizona) or Mariah Lopez (2016, Oklahoma)—can take the ball in a clutch game and win it for you.

But it’s the offense that keeps pounding away while the pitching holds the opposition at bay.

Today, Syd Romero (Oklahoma) looked impressive at the plate and Tannon Snow (Washington) hit another home run; if there was an All-Tournament team she would definitely make it based on this weekend’s performance.

The list of weapons is deep and I’ll mention them all I’m sure throughout the summer but let’s just say I’ve come up with a cute new nickname—the “A Team” based on the first names of two of the most deadly hitters in the country.

See next article for who they are… let’s just say the sun might have gotten too me a little!

 

— A tip of the hat to the Beverly Bandits… they played very well Sunday and could have easily advanced to the Final Four.

They knocked off the So Cal’s in the first round on Sunday, 5-4, and came a half inning from knocking off the powerhouse OC Batbusters but ran into the aforementioned “A Team”… Amanda Lorenz (Florida) hit a home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 7^th and then Alyssa Palomino (Arizona) hit a two-out single to plate the winning run.

The Bandits could be tough this year with two front-line pitchers in Taran Alvelo and fast rising 2016 Miranda Elish (Oregon) looking good after moving up from the PGF National Champion 16U Bandits team.

Interesting note: Alvelo was the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year; Elish the Indiana Gatorade POY. Just saying…

Jenna Lilley, the third baseman from Ohio with four state titles under her belt, looked awesome at the plate this weekend… every time I saw her she got on base.

“This weekend was pure softball,” she said as the Bandits were leaving to go home. “I had a lot of fun, it’s great to play against the best.”

And to be one of the best… I think the Bandits will be in the final rounds come PGF Nationals time.

 

— OK, time to talk Texas.

You can’t say the Texas Glory being good is a surprise as Kevin Shelton’s team finished tied for 3^rd at PGF last summer.

What you can say is this team executes well, is pretty fundamentally sound and is well coached.

To me, they’re fun to watch because they make you play their game. The Glory hitters always seem to be putting the ball into play and when they’re playing their front-line players can be competitive with anyone.

To me, the most under-valued pitcher of the week was Monique “Mo” Garcia, who’s going to North Texas and was the Texas 4A/5A player of the year. She typifies what this team is—not glitzy or flashy, just scrappy, effective, blue-collar players who get the job done.

One of my new favorite players is 2015 infielder Taylor Lynch, who’s committed to Oklahoma State. She battles and is intense, a great team leader and competitor. Put her with Vanessa Shippey of Explosion and in a few years OSU will have an outstanding middle infield (both were top 25 players in Hot 100 lists).

Speaking of Hot 100 lists, when the 2016 edition comes out this summer you can count on Maddison Kettler (Baylor) being out it. She is a tough out at the plate and does it in the field too.

Finally, hats off to 1B Daniella Chavez (2014, Kansas) who hit two mammoth home runs this weekend including one off Taylor McQuillin today.

 

— The surprise team of the tournament had to be Texas Sudden Impact and not just because they made it to what would have been the championship game.

No, they’re a surprise – at least to me – because of their youth including three of the top 2016’s I’ve seen who are stars in the making, if they’re not already there.

I’m a big fan as I wrote yesterday of P/OF Nicole Mendes (Oklahoma) who pitched four innings in the semi-final win over EC Bullets and only allowed one hit while striking out three.

The dominant player of the weekend, of any team though, may have been P/1B Shelby McGlaun (Baylor) who had a career game this afternoon as she had two home runs and a single for three RBI in a win over the dangerous Explosion team.

Then in the win over the Bullets she came back and had a double with two RBI.

Add another one in 3B/SS Alyssa Dalton (Oklahoma) who had a pair of doubles and two RBI in the Bullets win and you have one heck of a young trio to build around for the next few year.

But the junior class can’t be left out early: P Abby Langkamp (Baylor), IF Lexi Huffman (Purdue) and 2B/OF Aubrey Leach (Tennessee) are also players you can build around.

Langkamp pitched really well when I saw her, Huffman made some sparkling defensive plays at first and Leach is a table-setter that Ralph and Karen Weekly will love.

And I’ll say this about the Sudden Impact program… best vocal fans/family along with the most energetic bench.

Good job ladies…

Also, here’s a quote from Head Coach Glenn Bennett on the team’s success this weekend:

“It was phenomenal, we saw some of the best talent this weekend… it was a lot of fun. I feel our success came because we were really aggressive and put pressure on the other team.”

I asked if there’s anything he’d like the team to improve on.

“Our thinking,” he laughed. “We’ll work on defense as we made some mistakes but the talent of the opponents forced us into many of those.”

 

— Important note worth mentioning: this was a high-caliber event but teams pulled back and didn’t always play their front-line players.

For example, the Explosion lost to Sudden Impact big in a later game today but ace Brittany Finney didn’t pitch. Same with the East Cobb Bullets—they sat All-World hurler Kelly Barnhill against Sudden Impact (not to take anything away from the Texans success as SI played great all weekend).

The Batbusters sat Amanda Lorenz in the Texas Glory game too. And remember the key thing: teams flew in from as far away as Georgia, Florida and New Jersey because they wanted to face elite competition as a tune-up in preparation for Nationals in about a month.

It wasn’t about winning it all here; it was to get experience while staying injury free. For the most part, those goals were hit by all.

 

— Final note: back to the Explosion… Bret Denio’s team didn’t finish on its best foot but there was a happy note coming out of the baby blue-jerseyed camp: Assistant Coach Jim Wilson had to be smiling today as it was announced that his daughter Hallie made the USA Softball Women’s National Team!

Congrats to Hallie, Jim and the rest of the Wilson and Explosion families…

 

— Final note II: great job by the So Cal A’s organization in running the event all the way down to players like Montana Dixon (2016, Stanford) and Carlee Wallace (2014, ASU) who were passing out waters and getting balls to umpires.

I saw the good side of softball this weekend and more than a few people said they wished they had my job. I smiled and answered, “It’s not a job when you love what you do and the people you’re around.”

— Brentt Eads