By Manny Alvarez

21 Runs for the Win

Everyone who played, coached and watched the game thought the same thing: "This is the craziest game I have ever seen!"

And it was.

In a back-and-forth slugfest, Corona Angels-Marty (Corona, Calif.) eventually pulled out a 21-15 extra-inning thriller over the Tampa Mustangs-TJ (Myakka City, Fla.) in the semifinals of the PGF 14U Premier Nationals on Friday night at the Fountain Valley Sports Complex in Fountain Valley, Calif.


(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)

Taylor Peck went 2 for 5 with a double and four RBI, Sydnee Huff went 2 for 4 with three RBI, Kalena Burns went 2 for 3 with a second-inning home run and two RBI, Bella Rocco went 2 for 5 with two RBI, Jada Cody went 2 for 5 with two RBI, Madison Gurgian went 2 for 2 with two RBI and Tessa Magnanimo got the win in 4.1 innings of relief as she had to step up this week with the Angels other star pitcher --- Sarah Ladd --- out with an injury this week.

"We had to back up our pitching," Peck said. "That was our main thing. We were having difficulties with our pitching with our pitcher hurt. We had our pitcher, who is our ace, who has thrown a lot of innings. Our thing was to score runs, so she can have a little cushion room when she was on the mound."

Taylor Woodring had a home run and four RBIs. Kali Reis went 3 for 6 with a double and two RBIs. McKenzie Clark went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI. Kaia LoPreste went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Jada Smallwood went 2 for 4 with two RBI. Faith Miller went 2 for 5 with two RBIs. Gracie Mullett got the loss in relief for the Mustangs, who went through four pitchers in the game.  

"That was our fourth game of the day," Mustangs coach TJ Goetz said. "All our pitchers are on fumes. I think we threw everybody in that game. We threw a couple pitchers a couple of times. We figured it was going to be a high-scoring game. We felt our bats could compete. Did I think there would be 36 runs scored? No way. But I loved that we came out. We scored six, they scored eight. We kept fighting and we kept going through it. I loved that we competed. Marty does a great job with that team. We know that they can hit. I think if we can stop a few things here and there, then maybe this doesn't happen. I'm proud of the girls. I think that they will be back and they will be hungry." 

Tampa got off to a 6-0 lead in the first inning before the Angels responded with eight runs in the second inning. It was 15-9 in the bottom of the fifth before the Mustangs tied it up at 15 in the bottom of the seventh. Corona added six more runs thanks to Pack's double off the right-field wall to finally put a nail in the high-scoring game.

"They came out on us and scored six in the first," Corona Angels coach Marty Tyson said. "Just to have a unit for the kids to not give up, these kids battled back and made it 8-6. We came back and scored eight. Burns hits a home run. The offense was getting united. I was going to save Tessa for the next game, but once I realized I was nine outs away from getting it done with a six-run lead, I brought her in to get the next nine outs. It didn't work out that way. To extend her, that was a huge win for her to close it out. We went into international and Taylor Pack hits one to the fence. Everybody did their job. Kids posted bunts, got on, it was a crazy situation that everybody came in and followed the plan to the T in the end. It was an incredible ride. I've never seen nothing like it. I've been coaching 20 years and I've never given up 15 runs in a game...ever. Not once. This has been just crazy. We gave up 15 runs and we won."

The loss eliminated the Mustangs, but they didn't leave without a fight in a game that will be talked about for quite a while as one of the best games in PGF history. 


(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)

"This is a special team," Goetz said. "They're young and I don't know if they even realize it. That's the cool thing about them. They don't realize how big of a game it is what they are playing for. They just come out and play and they compete. To sit there and come back the way that they did so many times in that game against a great club...the Corona Angels are a great club. These are the team that we want to play. I believe that we are a national program and we can play at that level. I'm so proud of these girls, their heart, their desire and the way that they compete. It's almost like they just always believe that we can do something and come back like we did in the end. It might have been too much to try and come back there when they scored six runs. A few things went their way there. That's OK. We'll be back and we'll learn from it. We'll get better." 

The Corona Angels will have to get back to reality when they face the So Cal Athletics-Mercado/Smith (Corona, Calif.) for the PGF 14U Premier national championship at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Deanna Manning Stadium at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif.

"We have to be perfect," Tyson said. "That's the reality of it. We have to play a clean game. If we play a clean game, put pressure on them and work from there, from this whole year, I don't even know where we were ranked or who did what, I don't really know a lot about it. Like I said, for what these girls have done, it's unbelieveable." 

Watch all of the PGF Nationals Championship action on FloSoftball Saturday, August 6 starting at 10:30 AM PST

In other PGF 14U Premier games:

So Cal A's-Mercado/Smith (Corona, Calif.) 2, OC Batbusters-Campbell (Cypress, Calif.) 0

UCLA-commit Lexi Sosa struck out nine in a complete game four-hitter to send the A's to the PGF 14U National Championship game. Jasmine Perezchica went 3 for 3 with three stolen bases, Quincee Lilio had two RBI and Kinzie Hansen had the other hit for the A's, who face the Corona Angels for the national title.


(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)

"I just had to slow the game down," Sosa said. "They're a good hitting team, their defense and offense are good. I just went after my pitches, my spots and I also had to work on my off-speed to get them off guard. This is a great feeling, but we aren't done yet. We have to work 10 times harder than we did today. We're ready for the W."


Farrah Steffany threw six innings and gave up four hits to take the loss. Janelle Meono, Jadelyn Allchin, Sharlize Palacios and Aleia Agbayani had a hit each as the Batbusters had to fight and win eight games in the loser's bracket to get to the semifinals after losing their opening-round game.


(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)

"I'm happy," Batbusters coach Mark Campbell said. "Sosa pitched a good game and we should have made some adjustments that we didn't make. I'm not sure how much of that was fatigue of all the games we had to play. The problem you have when you go down to the loser's bracket like we did as early as we did and the way the teams were grouped was that a lot of good teams fell in that bracket. We could have got some of those players some rest. If we're playing those teams, we couldn't. It turned into a grind. I'm happy with the way they played. We just came up short. To come back and win eight straight games, I'm good with that." 


(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)

Corona Angels-Marty (Corona, Calif.) 1, So Cal Choppers-Fausett (Valencia, Calif.) 0

Tessa Magnanimo threw a two-hit shutout to lead the Angels to the semifinals. Taylor Peck drove in the lone run of the game with a double. Kalena Burns went 2 for 3 with a double, while Sydnee Huff hit a double as well for the Angels.

"I just kept the ball where they can't hit it," Magnanimo said. "I noticed they couldn't get the inside pitch, so I just kept throwing it there. I was getting ahead of the count, so I could get them with the rise ball. That really stopped them. We just have to find whatever our next opponent's weakness is, while our defense stays strong. The clutch hitting will get us there. As long as we can keep the score up and keep them off the basepath, we will be fine."

Emily Tinkham and Lauryn Carter each got a hit for the Choppers and Jessie Fontes threw six innings and gave up five hits with only one walk to take the loss. 

OC Batbusters-Campbell (Cypress, Calif.) 6, So Cal Choppers-Fausett (Valencia, Calif.) 4 (9 innings)

Zaida Puni hit two home runs with three RBI, including the go ahead two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning, to push the Batbusters into the semifinals. Maya Brady had two RBI, Valeria Pero drove in a run and Alanna Thiede got the complete game victory for the Batbusters.

"I think we did a very good job holding them," Puni said. "We didn't hit well until the last innings. I think Maya did a great job in tying the game for us in the seventh inning. We just have to work on our hitting and improve on defense. We have to have our pitchers' backs."

Esperanza Coe went 2 for 4 with a three-run blast in the second inning, Isabella Dayton went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Jessie Fontes threw 7.2 innings with 11 Ks to take the loss for the Choppers, who were eliminated with the loss. 

So Cal A's-Mercado/Smith (Corona, Calif.) 9, Birmingham Thunderbolts-Dorsett (Trussville, Ala.) 0

Lexi Sosa went 2 for 3 with a double and three RBI, while throwing 4.1 innings on two hits with six strikeouts to lead the A's to the semifinals. Matalasi Faapito drove in two runs, Kinzie Hansen went 3 for 4 and Alyssa Garcia went 2 for 4 for the A's.


(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)

"We obviously needed quality at-bats," So Cal A's coach Dave Mercado said. "She has a good drop and a good rise. We had to work in the zone a little bit. We had to make adjustments every pitch, (which) has been the key for us. We did a good job of that and had a little bit of success. We're happy about that. We're going to have to play a perfect game, no doubt about it. They're (OC Batbusters-Campbell and So Cal Choppers-Fausett) both very good teams and they're both capable of double dipping anybody. We know that and we have to play the best we have had all week." 

Madison Webber, Abby Allen and Presley Leebrick each got a hit for the Thunderbolts, while Shelby Lowe threw four innings in the loss.

Tampa Mustangs-TJ (Myakka City, Fla.) 4, Birmingham Thunderbolts-Dorsett (Trussville, Ala.) 1

Devyn Mulligan threw 5.2 innings of one-hit ball to help the Mustangs knock out the Bolts. Faith Miller went 2 for 3 with an RBI, while Alexis Moy and Kaia LoPreste each went 2 for 4. Kali Reis, McKenzie Clark, and Bailee Leistl each drove in a run for the Mustangs.

"I had to hit my spots," Mulligan said. "I had to work my corners, not let them be able to hit the ball or slow down the pace of the game. I just have to keep hitting my spots and have great defense. I have to believe in myself and work hard."

Brylie St. Clair got the lone hit for the Bolts and Shelby Lowe threw a complete game four Ks for the Bolts, who were eliminated with the loss.