PGF Ultimate Challenge 2016Oct 1, 2016 by Brentt Eads
PGF Ultimate Challenge Begins With Marquee Matchups
PGF Ultimate Challenge Begins With Marquee Matchups
The PGF Ultimate Challenge got underway Friday afternoon at the Salinas Sports Complex and featured a bevy of talented softball teams matched up against eac
The PGF Ultimate Challenge got underway Friday afternoon at the Salinas Sports Complex and featured a bevy of talented softball teams matched up against each other.
In a game featuring the SoCal Athletics and Beverly Bandits from Illinois it was the battery mates from Orange Lutheran High (Orange, Califorania) that proved key in a big victory.
Pitcher Maddy Dwyer (Stanford commit) threw 4 1/3 innings of one-hit softball and catcher Lauren Espalin (Cal) delivered a three-run double to lead the Athletics to a 5-1 victory over the Bandits.
SoCal Athletics was able to get the win over University of Michigan-bound pitcher Meghan Beaubien, who was the winning pitcher this summer for her Bandits team which won the PGF 16U National Championship.
After striking out twice in her previous two plate appearances against Beaubien, Espalin knew that if she got one more chance she was going to make the most of it.
"I needed to figure out a way to get the ball in play," Espalin said. "(Beaubien) is a great pitcher and I just knew where she was going to throw the ball. I was able square it up and get a piece of it and score some runs for us."
Runs were hard to come by in the first three innings as Dwyer and Beaubien gave up a combined four hits, all of which were singles.
But after getting one in the fourth the SoCal Athletics broke the game open with a four-run fifth inning.
Toni Camarillo (Bryant Univ.) reached after striking out and the ball getting past the catcher and Kelli Godin (UCLA) reached on an error. Ciara Briggs (LSU) followed with an infield sing before Espalin delivered the three-run double to center field.
"Just getting a great start is essential," the catcher, who recently committed to Cal, said. "You just build off it and hopefully we can take it into tomorrow's games and just keep winning."
In the circle Dwyer threw a gem as she compiled four strikeouts against only one walk.
"It's really nice to have someone that knows me so well," Dwyer said of Esplanin. "We work every week together and she's been my catcher since we were little so we have such great chemistry."
In other 18U action Arizona State commit Terra McGowan went 3-for-3 with a grand slam and five RBI to lead the OC Batbusters-Stith 18U team to a 7-4 victory over the Birmingham Thunderbolts.
With the Batbusters trailing by a run, McGowan came to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning and took the 2-2 pitch deep to left center field.
The Batbusters scored runs in all four innings of the game.
Elsewhere, Oregon State commit Frankie Hammoude accomplished something that had previously been done only once at the Salinas Sports Complex: she smashed a mammoth home run that went up and into the Rabobank Stadium, a football stadium that has a back side estimated to be four stories tall.
Hammoude's home run helped All American Sports Academy tie the Salinas Storm in a matchup that ultimately finished 6-5 in AASA's favor.
In 14U action, the OC Batbusters-Campbell team, one of the top-ranked 14U teams in the country, flexed its offensive muscles in a 8-1 victory over Sorcerer 14U.
Zaida Puni, ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the FloSoftball 2020 Hot 100, went 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Oklahoma-bound Tiare Jennings, ranked No., 17 in the 2020 Hot 100, went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and scored three times for the Batbusters.
--- Ryan Silapan
***
Here's a list of all the scores from the opening round of games live streamed by FloSoftball on Fields 1-4.
FloSoftball will continue streaming all the pool play action on these fields Saturday heading into single-elimination bracket play Saturday night.
In a game featuring the SoCal Athletics and Beverly Bandits from Illinois it was the battery mates from Orange Lutheran High (Orange, Califorania) that proved key in a big victory.
Pitcher Maddy Dwyer (Stanford commit) threw 4 1/3 innings of one-hit softball and catcher Lauren Espalin (Cal) delivered a three-run double to lead the Athletics to a 5-1 victory over the Bandits.
SoCal Athletics was able to get the win over University of Michigan-bound pitcher Meghan Beaubien, who was the winning pitcher this summer for her Bandits team which won the PGF 16U National Championship.
After striking out twice in her previous two plate appearances against Beaubien, Espalin knew that if she got one more chance she was going to make the most of it.
"I needed to figure out a way to get the ball in play," Espalin said. "(Beaubien) is a great pitcher and I just knew where she was going to throw the ball. I was able square it up and get a piece of it and score some runs for us."
Runs were hard to come by in the first three innings as Dwyer and Beaubien gave up a combined four hits, all of which were singles.
But after getting one in the fourth the SoCal Athletics broke the game open with a four-run fifth inning.
Toni Camarillo (Bryant Univ.) reached after striking out and the ball getting past the catcher and Kelli Godin (UCLA) reached on an error. Ciara Briggs (LSU) followed with an infield sing before Espalin delivered the three-run double to center field.
"Just getting a great start is essential," the catcher, who recently committed to Cal, said. "You just build off it and hopefully we can take it into tomorrow's games and just keep winning."
In the circle Dwyer threw a gem as she compiled four strikeouts against only one walk.
"It's really nice to have someone that knows me so well," Dwyer said of Esplanin. "We work every week together and she's been my catcher since we were little so we have such great chemistry."
In other 18U action Arizona State commit Terra McGowan went 3-for-3 with a grand slam and five RBI to lead the OC Batbusters-Stith 18U team to a 7-4 victory over the Birmingham Thunderbolts.
With the Batbusters trailing by a run, McGowan came to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning and took the 2-2 pitch deep to left center field.
The Batbusters scored runs in all four innings of the game.
Elsewhere, Oregon State commit Frankie Hammoude accomplished something that had previously been done only once at the Salinas Sports Complex: she smashed a mammoth home run that went up and into the Rabobank Stadium, a football stadium that has a back side estimated to be four stories tall.
Hammoude's home run helped All American Sports Academy tie the Salinas Storm in a matchup that ultimately finished 6-5 in AASA's favor.
In 14U action, the OC Batbusters-Campbell team, one of the top-ranked 14U teams in the country, flexed its offensive muscles in a 8-1 victory over Sorcerer 14U.
Zaida Puni, ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the FloSoftball 2020 Hot 100, went 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Oklahoma-bound Tiare Jennings, ranked No., 17 in the 2020 Hot 100, went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI and scored three times for the Batbusters.
--- Ryan Silapan
***
Here's a list of all the scores from the opening round of games live streamed by FloSoftball on Fields 1-4.
FloSoftball will continue streaming all the pool play action on these fields Saturday heading into single-elimination bracket play Saturday night.
| FRIDAY | Time | Field | FINAL | FINAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/30 | 5:00 PM | 1 | Sorcerer | 2 | vs | CA Grapettes - Kapp | 2 |
| 9/30 | 5:00 PM | 2 | AASA | 6 | vs | Salinas Storm | 5 |
| 9/30 | 5:00 PM | 3 | OCBB Campbell | 8 | vs | Sorcerer 14U | 1 |
| 9/30 | 5:00 PM | 4 | CA Breeze Warren | 5 | vs | SJ Sting Perales 16U | 4 |
| 9/30 | 6:30 PM | 1 | So Cal Choppers Fausett 14U | 4 | vs | CA Grapettes Guevara | 0 |
| 9/30 | 6:30 PM | 2 | So Cal Choppers Fausett | 1 | vs | NW Bullets | 2 |
| 9/30 | 6:30 PM | 3 | Birmingham Thunderbolts | 4 | vs | OC Batbusters Stith | 7 |
| 9/30 | 6:30 PM | 4 | CA Grapettes Cat | 4 | vs | Salinas Storm | 0 |
| 9/30 | 8:00 PM | 1 | So Cal A's McNee | 0 | vs | Sorcerer 16U | 4 |
| 9/30 | 8:00 PM | 2 | Explosion Denio | 4 | vs | NC Firecrackers Baisdon | 2 |
| 9/30 | 8:00 PM | 3 | So Cal A's Richardson | 5 | vs | Beverly Bandits | 1 |
| 9/30 | 8:00 PM | 4 | So Cal Choppers Ziese | 2 | vs | LTG Lions | 6 |
| SATURDAY | Time | Field | FINAL | FINAL | |||
| 10/1 | 9:30 AM | 1 | OCBB Campbell | vs | CA Breeze | ||
| 10/1 | 9:30 AM | 2 | AASA 18U | vs | NW Bullets | ||
| 10/1 | 9:30 AM | 3 | So Cal Choppers Fausett 18U | vs | salinas Storm | ||
| 10/1 | 9:30 AM | 4 | Cal Nuggets Woods | vs | AASA 16U | ||
| 10/1 | 11:00 AM | 1 | So Cal Choppers Fausett 14U | vs | CA Suncats | ||
| 10/1 | 11:00 AM | 2 | OCBB Stith | vs | NC Firecrackers Baisdon | ||
| 10/1 | 11:00 AM | 3 | Birmingham Thunderbolts | vs | Explosion Denio | ||
| 10/1 | 11:00 AM | 4 | Beverly Bandits | vs | CA Grapettes Kapp | ||
| 10/1 | 12:30 PM | 1 | So Cal Choppers Fausett 14U | vs | SJ Sting | ||
| 10/1 | 12:30 PM | 2 | OCBB Stith | vs | Explosion Denio | ||
| 10/1 | 12:30 PM | 3 | Birmingham Thunderbolts | vs | NC Firecrackers Baisdon | ||
| 10/1 | 12:30 PM | 4 | Sorcerer 18U | vs | CA Grapettes Kapp | ||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 1 | Universal Fastpitch Garcia | vs | So Cal A's Briggs | ||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 2 | LTG Lions 16U | vs | Salinas Storm 16U | ||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 3 | So Cal Choppers Ziese | vs | CA Grapettes Cat | ||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 4 | So Cal A's McNee | vs | SJ Sting Perales | ||
| 10/1 | 3:30 PM | 1 | So Cal Choppers Ziese | vs | Salinas Storm 16U | ||
| 10/1 | 3:30 PM | 2 | LTG Lions 16U | vs | CA Grapettes Cat | ||
| 10/1 | 3:30 PM | 3 | Cal Nuggets | vs | So Cal A's Briggs | ||
| 10/1 | 3:30 PM | 4 | So Cal A's McNee | vs | CA Breeze Warren | ||
| 10/1 | 6:00 PM | 1 | 14U A #3 Seed | vs | 14U B #4 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 6:00 PM | 2 | 18U A #3 Seed | vs | 18U B #4 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 6:00 PM | 3 | 18U B #2 Seed | vs | 18U C #2 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 6:00 PM | 4 | 18U C #3 Seed | vs | 18U A #4 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 PM | 1 | 14U C #3 Seed | vs | 14U A #4 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 PM | 2 | 16U A #3 Seed | vs | 16U B #4 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 PM | 3 | 16U B #2 Seed | vs | 16U C #2 Seed | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 PM | 4 | 16U C #3 Seed | vs | 16U A #4 Seed | ||
| SUNDAY | Time | Field | FINAL | FINAL | |||
| 10/1 | 8:00 AM | 1 | 14U A #1 Seed | vs | Winner B3/C4 | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 AM | 2 | 16U A #1 Seed | vs | Winner B3/C4 | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 AM | 3 | 18U A #1 Seed | vs | Winner B3/C4 | ||
| 10/1 | 8:00 AM | 4 | 18U B #1 Seed | vs | Winner A3/B4 | ||
| 10/1 | 10:00 AM | 1 | 14U Quarterfinal | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 10:00 AM | 2 | 16U Quarterfinal | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 10:00 AM | 3 | 18U Quarterfinal | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 10:00 AM | 4 | 18U Quarterfinal | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 12:00 PM | 1 | 14U Semifinal #2 | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 12:00 PM | 2 | 16U Semifinal #2 | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 12:00 PM | 3 | 18U Semifinal #2 | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 12:00 PM | 4 | 18U Semifinal #1 | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 1 | 14U Championship | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 2 | 16U Championship | vs | |||
| 10/1 | 2:00 PM | 3 | 18U Championship | vs |