The So Cal A's Invitational came down to four So Cal powerhouses reaching the semifinals and for the fourth year in a row no champion was crowned for the PGF-sanctioned event, which featured 12 of the top 15 club teams in the nation on Sunday at Harvard Park in Irvine, Calif.

If one of the five out-of-state teams had reached the finals, the championship surely would have been played, but with four So Cal teams very familiar with each other in the Final Four, they decided to wait for when things get serious in July at the Boulder IDT and the PGF nationals.

No. 5 Firecrackers-Rico and No. 6 Corona Angels-Tyson ended up sharing the So Cal A's Invitational after winning their semifinal games.

The Firecrackers, who have a number of talented out-of-state players combined with some of California's best, had struggled to find their rhythm last week at Zoom Into June in Hemet and throughout pool play at the So Cal A's Invitational, but they started to get in sync when the So Cal A's Invitational got down to single-elimination bracket play on Saturday night, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to beat Georgia Impact Premier, 4-2, in the first round and reaching the semifinals where they beat top-ranked OC Batbusters-Stith, 5-4.

Oregon-commit Mary Iakopo, who had a walk-off game-winner in the quarterfinals, smashed an opposite-field solo shot to right field to give the Firecrackers and early 2-0 lead. The Batbusters stormed back with four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead.

The Firecrackers responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to go ahead 5-4. Washington-bound Nicole Bates drove n a run with a bases-loaded squeeze, Cal State Dominguez Hills-bound Jade Loe drove in the tying run with a ground out to the pitcher and the Firecrackers took the lead for good on an unearned run.

"We're trying to build towards the end of the summer," Firecrackers manager Tony Rico said. "We don't have to win every single game right now. I see some teams doing that and they burn themselves out. We're trying to get better with each tournament and come together for nationals."

Washington-bound Sam Manti scattered five hits and struck out three to record a shutout and Georgia Tech-commit Amani Bradley went 2 for 3 with two stolen bases to lead the Corona Angels past the No. 21 So Cal Choppers 4-0 in the other semifinal.

In other So Cal A's Invitational games:

No. 1 OC Batbusters-Stith 4, No. 11 Sorcerer 3: Cal-commit Jocelyn Alo smashed a two-out three-run homer down the right-field line in the top of the sixth to give the Batbusters the come-from-behind victory over Sorcerer. Florida-commit Natalie Lugo went the distance and struck out nine to get the win in a first round game.

No. 6 Corona Angels-Tyson 6, No. 8 PA Chaos 1: Oregon State-commit Camryn Ybarra went 3 for 3 with a run to lead the Angels to a first round win.

No. 7 All American Sports Academy 2, No. 3 Beverly Bandits-Tyrrell/Conroy 1: Oregon State-bound Nerissa Eason of AASA and Notre Dame-commit Alexis Holloway of Beverly Bandits were locked in a scoreless pitching duel through seven innings, but Dartmouth-bound Calista Almer came through with an RBI single and Pacific-bound Sam Owen walked with the bases loaded to force in an insurance run in the top of the eighth and AASA held on for the first round victory.

No. 21 So Cal Choppers 11, No. 47 DeMarini Aces 1: Arizona-bound Jessica Harper went 3 for 3 with a home run and four RBI and Cal State-Fullerton-commit Taylor Dockins went 2 for 3 with two RBI and allowed three hits, one walk and struck out three to help the Choppers to the first round win.

No. 1 OC Batbusters-Stith 6, No. 4 Birmingham Thunderbolts 0: Nevada-commit Lauren Gutierrez went 3 for 3 with an inside-the-park home run, a triple, three runs and three RBI and Oklahoma-bound Mariah Lopez allowed six hits, one walk and struck out five to record the shutout for the Batbusters in the quarterfinals.

No. 6 Corona Angels-Tyson 6, Irvine Sting 0: UCLA-commit Megan Faraimo tossed a one-hit shutout, UCLA-commit Anna Vines went 2 for 3 and Iowa State-bound Frankie Tago drove in two runs to lead the Angels to the quarterfinal win.

No. 5 Firecrackers-Rico 5, No. 7 AASA 4: Oregon-commit Mary Iakopo singled off the pitcher's glove to score Utah-bound Alyssa Barrera for the walk-off in the bottom of the seventh in the quarterfinals.

No. 21 So Cal Choppers 4, No. 2 So Cal Athletics-Richardson 3: The Choppers advanced to the semifinals with the quarterfinal win over the A's.


Follow Carlos Arias on Twitter @OCSidelines.