PGF Ultimate ChallengeOct 3, 2015 by Brentt Eads
Live Blog from PGF Ultimate Challenge (Saturday)
Live Blog from PGF Ultimate Challenge (Saturday)
Pictured: Hailey Finn waits on the pitch she would drop for a game-winning infield single in the first round of Single Elimination.The top softball event of
Pictured: Hailey Finn waits on the pitch she would drop for a game-winning infield single in the first round of Single Elimination.
The top softball event of the weekend kicked off Friday night with a first round of games followed by a coaches’ dinner and blind draw for the single elimination games which began Saturday night.
FloSoftball is streaming the games this weekend which includes many of the top teams and programs in the country including three PGF National Champions from this summer.
Join Now to see many of the top players in the country!
We’ll also be blogging Sunday through the Championships Games start at noon PST for the 18U and 16U finalists and 2 pm PST for the 14U team.
***
UPDATED 10 PM PST
Game of the Day: Explosion Goes ITB
At 6 PM PST, the first of the two rounds of Single Elimination games started Saturday night—10 games setting up the action for the 17 games to be played on Sunday.
The most exciting game of the day had to have been the big comeback of Explosion-Denio/Wilson pushing the NW Bullets to ITB—even though it was the 7th inning because of time constraints—and it went down to the last play…
… and one of the shortest walk-off hits you’ll ever see.
The Bullets, who won the TC/Nationals this summer, jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Explosion chipped away with a run in the second and then tied the game on an RBI hit by Morgan Parsons (2017, Hawaii) in the fifth.
And then the fun began.
The game went into ITB in the 7th and the Bullets bunted a runner to third with one out but Carly Cutler (2016, UConn) got a fly out for the second inning and then closed the door without a run being scored.
Explosion looked like it would go down the same way: the second out was a flyout after a runner reached third before 2016 shortstop Haley Finn came to the plate. The senior North Carolina State commit had the added pressure of batting in front of a Wolfpack coach and, oh by the way, needed a hit or the game would stretch into another inning.
But Finn came through, hitting a soft flair that found the no-man’s land between pitcher, first and second to give the Explosion a heart-pounding 4-3 win in the bottom of the 7th and a ticket to play on Sunday.
It was, Finn would admit, the shortest walk-off hit of her career.
“I didn’t even know where it went, I didn’t see it” she said after the team celebrated. “I just started running and hoping I’d beat it out."
Coaches Jim Wilson and Bret Denio were thrilled by the way the team bounced back after trailing early by three runs due to an error that plated two for the Bullets.
“Adversity is our friend,” Wilson said and Denio added, “This is why we play these games, the single elimination format allows us to play in pressure situations. We didn’t want to come here and play three games on Saturday and then go home.”
“We hadn’t been hitting well earlier,” the head of the Explosion organization continued, “although we scored eight in our second game, so for us to battle and come back to win was great for us and hopefully will set us up for a good day Sunday.”
*** Two of the other favorites in the 18U age group won with football-like scores: the So Cal Choppers advanced to Sunday play with a 14-0 win and the OC Batbusters exploded for a 14-2 victory (after scoring 15 runs in the last game of Pool Play).
Those weren’t surprises.
What was, however, was the victory of AASA over the So Cal A’s-Richardson team in the first round of Single Elimination.
Not that AASA isn’t a strong team—they finished in the Top 10 of PGF Nationals and Boulder IDT—but the A’s looked tough after scoring seven runs in each of their two Pool Play wins while allowing only two runs in 14 innings.
However, infielder Hope Brandner (2017, Syracuse) hit a three-run homer in the first and later had an RBI single while pitcher Nerissa Eason was throwing heat and keeping the ball down to stymie one of the best offenses in the country.
Add AASA to one of the favorites to win it all Sunday…
UPDATED: 5:30 PM PST
*** All the Pool Play games are over and in 30 minutes the Single Elimination fun begins.
If you were seeding each division, here are teams we think could win based on competition from Saturday:
18U
All American Sports Academy with Nerissa Eason (Oregon State) pitching looks good and the So Cal Choppers are playing well, although they tied the second game. The OC Batbusters lost last night and this morning but exploded for 15 runs in the finale of the day… they could be dangerous event though the team is still gelling. But watch out for the So Cal A’s: in two games, Bruce Richardson’s team scored 14 and only gave up two and seem to have the balance to go all the way.
Predicted Winner: So Cal A’s-Richardson
16U
Could be another Batbusters/A’s battle as both teams win 2-0 today with the Batbusters scoring only three runs in each game but giving up just one run all day. The A’s have the offense—13 total runs—and the pitching to boot with a shutout and two-runs allowed win. Explosion also won both games, though allowing 10 runs so the pitching will have to tighten up. The CA Breeze and LTG Lions could surprise as each has the talented to pull off upsets.
Predicted Winner: OC Batbusters-Smith
14U
Two big wins by Universal Fastpitch makes them an interesting team to follow as the team scored 17 runs today while allowing only three. The LTG Lions also went 2-0 as did the So Cal Choppers, which won the TC/USA Nationals and have the bats to club you to death. But it’s hard to go against the OC Batbusters-Campbell/Stith team which won PGF 14U Nationals last year and has been impressive all weekend including a win Friday night and two more Saturday.
Predicted Winner: OC Batbusters-Campbell/Stith
*** Here’s something you probably didn’t know: the Salinas Sports Complex hosted the US National Team in 2008 and played a bunch of college standouts beating them 10-0.
Salinas wasn’t originally one of the venues chosen to host an exhibition game but it got to because a very important person pushed for it: Monica Abbott.
Abbott went to North Salinas High, about three blocks from the Salinas Sports Complex, which hosted the 2015 ASA Nationals and the PGF Ultimate Challenge this weekend.
According to Warren Wayland, who started the Salinas Storm which is hosting this weekend’s event and was the club team Abbott played on, over 4,000 people came out to watch the exhibition game back in 2008, the final year softball was in the Olympics (Japan topped the U.S. that year which ironically could be the key to getting the sport back into the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.).
Abbott is currently playing in Japan—another fact that could help the Olympic movement—after having a standout NPF campaign.
According to Wayland, the 6-foot-3 pitcher will be back in Salinas in a month before getting ready for another year in the pro league.
One final note: Wayland not only founded the Storm club organization, he’s a key figure in youth sports in the city and from what we hear has been instrument.
*** When it comes to recruiting, it’s all about timing and playing your best when being watched.
The MVP of Clutch Hitting today – at least so far – would have to be Bella Gargicevich-Almeida of Explosion-Greg, a 2018 shortstop/UT player who had, in two wins, a three-run homer, a double and six RBI.
That was not only good for the team, but good for her recruiting stock as colleges like East Carolina and North Carolina State were in attendance watching.
Don’t be surprised if BGA walks away with an offer or two after this weekend.
So why the Carolina connection to the Explosion team clad in Carolina (as in Tarheel) blue?
It’s because the team coached by Greg Borzilleri has a nice pipeline to schools in the area; for example, North Carolina State has had success getting standout players from the Explosion like 2016 infielder Haley Finn and 2017 catcher Lily Bishop.
Bishop got dinged up with a knee injury and may miss the rest of this weekend unfortunately.
*** The NW Bullets from Oregon look strong even though they lost a huge chunk of players to graduation, but one newcomer that is very impressive is 2016 SS/3B Maggie Gallagher who is a Washington commit.
She committed last year and is from Seattle, but her story is one of the best of the year and one we’ll explore in a full story soon.
Let’s just say this: Maggie was born in China but was abandoned as a newborn and grew up in an orphanage. An American couple from Seattle adopted her at at 18 months and now, in something that a Hollywood script writer would find too good to be true, will be playing softball for the Huskies just 15 minutes from home!
Maggie is a lefty who has great bat control and lined a shot to right center in a win over the Salinas Storm today.
Can’t wait to write this story… one of the most touching stories we’ve come across recently!
UPDATED: 11:30 AM PST
*** Watch out for the So Cal Choppers… both the 18U and 14U are looking very strong and the 14U team lost by just one run. According to Dean Fausett, the difference in his 18U team—and the organization overall—is depth.
“We finally have pitching,” he said this morning. “We have pretty much the same strong team as last year [editor: finished 17th at PGF Nationals) but we have pitching depth and down through the younger teams we’re deep too.”
Pictured: Taylor Dockins, who shutdown the powerful OC Batbusters Saturday morning.
The ace on the staff right now is Taylor Dockins, a 2016 commit to Cal State Fullerton, who looked strong shutting down a good OC Batbusters-Haning/Stith team. A new pitching addition to the Choppers is Caylan Arnold, who had pitched with Tennessee Fury and is a 2016 signing with the Univ. of Tennessee.
The way she got connected to the Choppers is interesting: one of the top 2018’s in the country is catcher Ally Shipman, whose father, Bill, is one of the assistant coaches on the Choppers and Ally is one of the premier players on the Fausett-led team.
Ally’s older sister is Madison Shipman, the Tennessee All-American now in the NPF, and through her the Arnolds met and Caylan expressed an interest in playing with Ally and with the California team.
Reminiscent of how last year’s Vols current freshman Matty Moss ended up with the So Cal A’s-Richardson team and helped the Athletics make it to the PGF National Championship game.
Chopper fans hope Arnold can bring similar magic.
*** More Choppers: congrats to 2016 infielder Laura Delgado, who just recently committed to St. John’s
*** A lot of teams are missing players because of campus visits (both official and unofficial), taking the SAT or other reasons.
Some teams are missing as many as five players, even 14U teams.
One of those is the California Breeze-Warren 14U team which is missing several key players including 2019 outfielder Hannah Dardano. She’s taking an unofficial to the Univ. of Arizona.
*** The West Coast Intensity team, coached by Dennis Gomes who was with the California Grapettes for over 20 years, is tied into the Jersey Intensity program led by Kevin O’Donnell.
Pictured: Mia Camuso, an Oregon commit, hits a double for the West Coast Intensity.
The team has picked up some good players including one of the top 2016’s in the nation, Mia Camuso, an infielder who played last year with Sorcerer Gold.
Camuso is headed to Oregon and all she does is hits the ball hard. She had a mammoth three-run homer in a game at TC/USA Nationals that is still going and last night hit a homer and in a morning game hit a double to the fence.
She will be one of the stars on the Intensity which also includes the Fresno State-bound twins Kindra and Madison Hackbarth who play outfield and catcher, respectively.
*** Watched some of the So Cal A’s-Richardson team which has added pitcher Maddy Dwyer, a 2017 commit to Stanford, and she threw three shutout innings today.
Alyssa Gonzales, a 2016 first baseman, hit a two-run double in a win for the A’s, which look loaded with tons of 2016 and 2017 talent. Barring a collapse or some major upsets, look for the A’s to make another run to the PGF National Championship next summer.
*** All-American Sports Academy coached by Bryan Merrida was one of the top 10 club teams last year with high finishes at PGF Nationals and Boulder IDT.
The team looks strong again led by ace pitcher Nerissa Eason (formerly Nerissa Long but recently adopted by her step-father; we’ll have more on her this week). Nerissa is a 2016 going to Oregon State.
This is the team that has Jr. National Team Member pitcher/UT Bubba Nickles (2016, UCLA).
Congrats to Kailey Rossiter, a 2016 outfielder/1B who just committed to Northern Kentucky.
Only two uncommits are left: Maia Radar, a 2018 SS/CF who is being recruited by Oregon State as is 2018 C/IF Bailey McLaughlin who recently also took an unofficial to Ole Miss.
UPDATED: 8:30 AM PST
***
The are 40 games scheduled for Saturday and another 17 for Sunday so a lot of softball to be played this weekend at the Salinas Sports Complex in Salinas, Calif. located in the Monterey Bay area of the Central Coast of Calif.
Located about 50 miles from San Jose, the Sports Complex is an impressive venue with six softball fields including a stadium that has a press box. There’s also a football field and even a rodeo stadium!
***
Six games took place Friday night, the scores are located below.
The opening matches were more friendlies but there were some impressive performances.
--- Even though the OC Batbusters-Stith/Haning team lost its opening game (note that ace pitcher Mariah Lopez is on an official visit to Oklahoma this weekend), 2017 catcher Jocelyn Alo, who is committed to Cal, had a strong game going 3-for-3 with two doubles in the loss.
Terra McGowan, a 2018 catcher/outfielder committed to Arizona State and a new addition to the team added a home run.
--- Speaking of the Batbusters, bad news from the organization as FloSoftball was told by several parents of players on the team that Alyssa Palomino, who helped lead the team to the last two PGF 18U National Championships and starred for the U.S. Jr. National Team this summer, reportedly tore an ACL in her knee this week at the Univ. of Arizona. We were told she will have surgery in 6-8 weeks.
We’ll try to learn more today, but assuming this is true that is a terrible blow to one of the most fun, vibrant and talented players you’ll ever meet.
--- Had a chance to watch the Explosion-Greg team who we talked about a bit in our Recruiting News & Notes column from Wednesday.
Two standouts to keep an eye on that shined in the Explosion’s win Friday night were Maddie Ruffin, a 2019 outfielder who went 2-for-2 with a triple and 2019 corner infielder Anissa Alatorre, who coaches are already raving about.
Ruffin isn’t big but she’s a play-maker and should go somewhere big. Alatorre is a strong hitter and coaches are saying she should be a Hot 100 player in her class.
--- Remember the name McKenzie Barbara, also a 2019 Hot 100 candidate.
She plays for the So Cal Choppers-Fausett 14U team which is coached by Gary Fausett and won the TC/USA Nationals this summer.
Barbara went 2-for-3 Friday night with a double and Coach Dean Fausett raved about her as a “pure hitter” who is dangerous.
Nicknamed “Tank” because she’s a gym rat who can dead lift three 45 pound plates on each side of the bar, Barbara is a catcher/first baseman who knows the game as her father, Don, is the head baseball coach at St. John Bosco High in Southern Calif.
She’s also 5-foot-9 and is a lefty hitter with good grades.
FRIDAY RESULTS:
SATURDAY SCHEDULE & RESULTS
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
The top softball event of the weekend kicked off Friday night with a first round of games followed by a coaches’ dinner and blind draw for the single elimination games which began Saturday night.
FloSoftball is streaming the games this weekend which includes many of the top teams and programs in the country including three PGF National Champions from this summer.
Join Now to see many of the top players in the country!
We’ll also be blogging Sunday through the Championships Games start at noon PST for the 18U and 16U finalists and 2 pm PST for the 14U team.
***
UPDATED 10 PM PST
Game of the Day: Explosion Goes ITB
At 6 PM PST, the first of the two rounds of Single Elimination games started Saturday night—10 games setting up the action for the 17 games to be played on Sunday.
The most exciting game of the day had to have been the big comeback of Explosion-Denio/Wilson pushing the NW Bullets to ITB—even though it was the 7th inning because of time constraints—and it went down to the last play…
… and one of the shortest walk-off hits you’ll ever see.
The Bullets, who won the TC/Nationals this summer, jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Explosion chipped away with a run in the second and then tied the game on an RBI hit by Morgan Parsons (2017, Hawaii) in the fifth.
And then the fun began.
The game went into ITB in the 7th and the Bullets bunted a runner to third with one out but Carly Cutler (2016, UConn) got a fly out for the second inning and then closed the door without a run being scored.
Explosion looked like it would go down the same way: the second out was a flyout after a runner reached third before 2016 shortstop Haley Finn came to the plate. The senior North Carolina State commit had the added pressure of batting in front of a Wolfpack coach and, oh by the way, needed a hit or the game would stretch into another inning.
But Finn came through, hitting a soft flair that found the no-man’s land between pitcher, first and second to give the Explosion a heart-pounding 4-3 win in the bottom of the 7th and a ticket to play on Sunday.
It was, Finn would admit, the shortest walk-off hit of her career.
“I didn’t even know where it went, I didn’t see it” she said after the team celebrated. “I just started running and hoping I’d beat it out."
Coaches Jim Wilson and Bret Denio were thrilled by the way the team bounced back after trailing early by three runs due to an error that plated two for the Bullets.
“Adversity is our friend,” Wilson said and Denio added, “This is why we play these games, the single elimination format allows us to play in pressure situations. We didn’t want to come here and play three games on Saturday and then go home.”
“We hadn’t been hitting well earlier,” the head of the Explosion organization continued, “although we scored eight in our second game, so for us to battle and come back to win was great for us and hopefully will set us up for a good day Sunday.”
*** Two of the other favorites in the 18U age group won with football-like scores: the So Cal Choppers advanced to Sunday play with a 14-0 win and the OC Batbusters exploded for a 14-2 victory (after scoring 15 runs in the last game of Pool Play).
Those weren’t surprises.
What was, however, was the victory of AASA over the So Cal A’s-Richardson team in the first round of Single Elimination.
Not that AASA isn’t a strong team—they finished in the Top 10 of PGF Nationals and Boulder IDT—but the A’s looked tough after scoring seven runs in each of their two Pool Play wins while allowing only two runs in 14 innings.
However, infielder Hope Brandner (2017, Syracuse) hit a three-run homer in the first and later had an RBI single while pitcher Nerissa Eason was throwing heat and keeping the ball down to stymie one of the best offenses in the country.
Add AASA to one of the favorites to win it all Sunday…
UPDATED: 5:30 PM PST
*** All the Pool Play games are over and in 30 minutes the Single Elimination fun begins.
If you were seeding each division, here are teams we think could win based on competition from Saturday:
18U
All American Sports Academy with Nerissa Eason (Oregon State) pitching looks good and the So Cal Choppers are playing well, although they tied the second game. The OC Batbusters lost last night and this morning but exploded for 15 runs in the finale of the day… they could be dangerous event though the team is still gelling. But watch out for the So Cal A’s: in two games, Bruce Richardson’s team scored 14 and only gave up two and seem to have the balance to go all the way.
Predicted Winner: So Cal A’s-Richardson
16U
Could be another Batbusters/A’s battle as both teams win 2-0 today with the Batbusters scoring only three runs in each game but giving up just one run all day. The A’s have the offense—13 total runs—and the pitching to boot with a shutout and two-runs allowed win. Explosion also won both games, though allowing 10 runs so the pitching will have to tighten up. The CA Breeze and LTG Lions could surprise as each has the talented to pull off upsets.
Predicted Winner: OC Batbusters-Smith
14U
Two big wins by Universal Fastpitch makes them an interesting team to follow as the team scored 17 runs today while allowing only three. The LTG Lions also went 2-0 as did the So Cal Choppers, which won the TC/USA Nationals and have the bats to club you to death. But it’s hard to go against the OC Batbusters-Campbell/Stith team which won PGF 14U Nationals last year and has been impressive all weekend including a win Friday night and two more Saturday.
Predicted Winner: OC Batbusters-Campbell/Stith
*** Here’s something you probably didn’t know: the Salinas Sports Complex hosted the US National Team in 2008 and played a bunch of college standouts beating them 10-0.
Salinas wasn’t originally one of the venues chosen to host an exhibition game but it got to because a very important person pushed for it: Monica Abbott.
Abbott went to North Salinas High, about three blocks from the Salinas Sports Complex, which hosted the 2015 ASA Nationals and the PGF Ultimate Challenge this weekend.
According to Warren Wayland, who started the Salinas Storm which is hosting this weekend’s event and was the club team Abbott played on, over 4,000 people came out to watch the exhibition game back in 2008, the final year softball was in the Olympics (Japan topped the U.S. that year which ironically could be the key to getting the sport back into the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.).
Abbott is currently playing in Japan—another fact that could help the Olympic movement—after having a standout NPF campaign.
According to Wayland, the 6-foot-3 pitcher will be back in Salinas in a month before getting ready for another year in the pro league.
One final note: Wayland not only founded the Storm club organization, he’s a key figure in youth sports in the city and from what we hear has been instrument.
*** When it comes to recruiting, it’s all about timing and playing your best when being watched.
The MVP of Clutch Hitting today – at least so far – would have to be Bella Gargicevich-Almeida of Explosion-Greg, a 2018 shortstop/UT player who had, in two wins, a three-run homer, a double and six RBI.
That was not only good for the team, but good for her recruiting stock as colleges like East Carolina and North Carolina State were in attendance watching.
Don’t be surprised if BGA walks away with an offer or two after this weekend.
So why the Carolina connection to the Explosion team clad in Carolina (as in Tarheel) blue?
It’s because the team coached by Greg Borzilleri has a nice pipeline to schools in the area; for example, North Carolina State has had success getting standout players from the Explosion like 2016 infielder Haley Finn and 2017 catcher Lily Bishop.
Bishop got dinged up with a knee injury and may miss the rest of this weekend unfortunately.
*** The NW Bullets from Oregon look strong even though they lost a huge chunk of players to graduation, but one newcomer that is very impressive is 2016 SS/3B Maggie Gallagher who is a Washington commit.
She committed last year and is from Seattle, but her story is one of the best of the year and one we’ll explore in a full story soon.
Let’s just say this: Maggie was born in China but was abandoned as a newborn and grew up in an orphanage. An American couple from Seattle adopted her at at 18 months and now, in something that a Hollywood script writer would find too good to be true, will be playing softball for the Huskies just 15 minutes from home!
Maggie is a lefty who has great bat control and lined a shot to right center in a win over the Salinas Storm today.
Can’t wait to write this story… one of the most touching stories we’ve come across recently!
UPDATED: 11:30 AM PST
*** Watch out for the So Cal Choppers… both the 18U and 14U are looking very strong and the 14U team lost by just one run. According to Dean Fausett, the difference in his 18U team—and the organization overall—is depth.
“We finally have pitching,” he said this morning. “We have pretty much the same strong team as last year [editor: finished 17th at PGF Nationals) but we have pitching depth and down through the younger teams we’re deep too.”
Pictured: Taylor Dockins, who shutdown the powerful OC Batbusters Saturday morning.
The ace on the staff right now is Taylor Dockins, a 2016 commit to Cal State Fullerton, who looked strong shutting down a good OC Batbusters-Haning/Stith team. A new pitching addition to the Choppers is Caylan Arnold, who had pitched with Tennessee Fury and is a 2016 signing with the Univ. of Tennessee.
The way she got connected to the Choppers is interesting: one of the top 2018’s in the country is catcher Ally Shipman, whose father, Bill, is one of the assistant coaches on the Choppers and Ally is one of the premier players on the Fausett-led team.
Ally’s older sister is Madison Shipman, the Tennessee All-American now in the NPF, and through her the Arnolds met and Caylan expressed an interest in playing with Ally and with the California team.
Reminiscent of how last year’s Vols current freshman Matty Moss ended up with the So Cal A’s-Richardson team and helped the Athletics make it to the PGF National Championship game.
Chopper fans hope Arnold can bring similar magic.
*** More Choppers: congrats to 2016 infielder Laura Delgado, who just recently committed to St. John’s
*** A lot of teams are missing players because of campus visits (both official and unofficial), taking the SAT or other reasons.
Some teams are missing as many as five players, even 14U teams.
One of those is the California Breeze-Warren 14U team which is missing several key players including 2019 outfielder Hannah Dardano. She’s taking an unofficial to the Univ. of Arizona.
*** The West Coast Intensity team, coached by Dennis Gomes who was with the California Grapettes for over 20 years, is tied into the Jersey Intensity program led by Kevin O’Donnell.
Pictured: Mia Camuso, an Oregon commit, hits a double for the West Coast Intensity.
The team has picked up some good players including one of the top 2016’s in the nation, Mia Camuso, an infielder who played last year with Sorcerer Gold.
Camuso is headed to Oregon and all she does is hits the ball hard. She had a mammoth three-run homer in a game at TC/USA Nationals that is still going and last night hit a homer and in a morning game hit a double to the fence.
She will be one of the stars on the Intensity which also includes the Fresno State-bound twins Kindra and Madison Hackbarth who play outfield and catcher, respectively.
*** Watched some of the So Cal A’s-Richardson team which has added pitcher Maddy Dwyer, a 2017 commit to Stanford, and she threw three shutout innings today.
Alyssa Gonzales, a 2016 first baseman, hit a two-run double in a win for the A’s, which look loaded with tons of 2016 and 2017 talent. Barring a collapse or some major upsets, look for the A’s to make another run to the PGF National Championship next summer.
*** All-American Sports Academy coached by Bryan Merrida was one of the top 10 club teams last year with high finishes at PGF Nationals and Boulder IDT.
The team looks strong again led by ace pitcher Nerissa Eason (formerly Nerissa Long but recently adopted by her step-father; we’ll have more on her this week). Nerissa is a 2016 going to Oregon State.
This is the team that has Jr. National Team Member pitcher/UT Bubba Nickles (2016, UCLA).
Congrats to Kailey Rossiter, a 2016 outfielder/1B who just committed to Northern Kentucky.
Only two uncommits are left: Maia Radar, a 2018 SS/CF who is being recruited by Oregon State as is 2018 C/IF Bailey McLaughlin who recently also took an unofficial to Ole Miss.
UPDATED: 8:30 AM PST
***
The are 40 games scheduled for Saturday and another 17 for Sunday so a lot of softball to be played this weekend at the Salinas Sports Complex in Salinas, Calif. located in the Monterey Bay area of the Central Coast of Calif.
Located about 50 miles from San Jose, the Sports Complex is an impressive venue with six softball fields including a stadium that has a press box. There’s also a football field and even a rodeo stadium!
***
Six games took place Friday night, the scores are located below.
The opening matches were more friendlies but there were some impressive performances.
--- Even though the OC Batbusters-Stith/Haning team lost its opening game (note that ace pitcher Mariah Lopez is on an official visit to Oklahoma this weekend), 2017 catcher Jocelyn Alo, who is committed to Cal, had a strong game going 3-for-3 with two doubles in the loss.
Terra McGowan, a 2018 catcher/outfielder committed to Arizona State and a new addition to the team added a home run.
--- Speaking of the Batbusters, bad news from the organization as FloSoftball was told by several parents of players on the team that Alyssa Palomino, who helped lead the team to the last two PGF 18U National Championships and starred for the U.S. Jr. National Team this summer, reportedly tore an ACL in her knee this week at the Univ. of Arizona. We were told she will have surgery in 6-8 weeks.
We’ll try to learn more today, but assuming this is true that is a terrible blow to one of the most fun, vibrant and talented players you’ll ever meet.
--- Had a chance to watch the Explosion-Greg team who we talked about a bit in our Recruiting News & Notes column from Wednesday.
Two standouts to keep an eye on that shined in the Explosion’s win Friday night were Maddie Ruffin, a 2019 outfielder who went 2-for-2 with a triple and 2019 corner infielder Anissa Alatorre, who coaches are already raving about.
Ruffin isn’t big but she’s a play-maker and should go somewhere big. Alatorre is a strong hitter and coaches are saying she should be a Hot 100 player in her class.
--- Remember the name McKenzie Barbara, also a 2019 Hot 100 candidate.
She plays for the So Cal Choppers-Fausett 14U team which is coached by Gary Fausett and won the TC/USA Nationals this summer.
Barbara went 2-for-3 Friday night with a double and Coach Dean Fausett raved about her as a “pure hitter” who is dangerous.
Nicknamed “Tank” because she’s a gym rat who can dead lift three 45 pound plates on each side of the bar, Barbara is a catcher/first baseman who knows the game as her father, Don, is the head baseball coach at St. John Bosco High in Southern Calif.
She’s also 5-foot-9 and is a lefty hitter with good grades.
FRIDAY RESULTS:
| Games | Time | Field 1 | Field 2 | Field 3 | Field 4 | Field 5 | Field 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08:00 AM | Lady Magic vs LTG Lions (14U) | Explosion vs AASA (16U) | WC Intensity vs So Cal Choppers (18U) | Cal Breeze vs Explosion (18U) | Grapettes vs OC Batbusters (16U) | Cal Breeze vs Universal Fastpitch (14U) |
| 2 | 10:00 AM | Sorcerer vs OC Batbusters (14U) | So Cal A's vs AASA/Explosion (16U) | OC Batbusters vs WC Intensity/So Cal Choppers (18U) | AASA vs Cal Breeze/Explosion (18U) | So Cal Choppers vs Grapettes/OC Batbusters (16U) | Nor Cal Firecrackers vs Nuggets (14U) |
| 3 | 12:00 PM | 14U Semifinal | 16U Championship | 18U Championship | 14U Semifinal | ||
| 4 | 02:00 PM | 14U Final |
SATURDAY SCHEDULE & RESULTS
| Games | Time | Field 1 | Field 2 | Field 3 | Field 4 | Field 5 | Field 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08:00 AM | Lady Magic vs LTG Lions (14U) | Explosion vs AASA (16U) | WC Intensity vs So Cal Choppers (18U) | Cal Breeze vs Explosion (18U) | Grapettes vs OC Batbusters (16U) | Cal Breeze vs Universal Fastpitch (14U) |
| 2 | 10:00 AM | Sorcerer vs OC Batbusters (14U) | So Cal A's vs AASA/Explosion (16U) | OC Batbusters vs WC Intensity/So Cal Choppers (18U) | AASA vs Cal Breeze/Explosion (18U) | So Cal Choppers vs Grapettes/OC Batbusters (16U) | Nor Cal Firecrackers vs Nuggets (14U) |
| 3 | 12:00 PM | 14U Semifinal | 16U Championship | 18U Championship | 14U Semifinal | ||
| 4 | 02:00 PM | 14U Final |
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
| Games | Time | Field 1 | Field 2 | Field 3 | Field 4 | Field 5 | Field 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08:00 AM | Lady Magic vs LTG Lions (14U) | Explosion vs AASA (16U) | WC Intensity vs So Cal Choppers (18U) | Cal Breeze vs Explosion (18U) | Grapettes vs OC Batbusters (16U) | Cal Breeze vs Universal Fastpitch (14U) |
| 2 | 10:00 AM | Sorcerer vs OC Batbusters (14U) | So Cal A's vs AASA/Explosion (16U) | OC Batbusters vs WC Intensity/So Cal Choppers (18U) | AASA vs Cal Breeze/Explosion (18U) | So Cal Choppers vs Grapettes/OC Batbusters (16U) | Nor Cal Firecrackers vs Nuggets (14U) |
| 3 | 12:00 PM | 14U Semifinal | 16U Championship | 18U Championship | 14U Semifinal | ||
| 4 | 02:00 PM | 14U Final |