The first of three days of elite club ball took place Friday in Irvine, California as the So Cal Athletics Invitational kicked off with 17 games matching the a Who's Who of the elite programs in the 18U division.



The top eight teams ranked in the FloSoftball 18U preseason rankings took the field: No. 1 Firecrackers-Rico, No. 2 OC Batbusters-Stith, No. 3 All American Sports Academy (AASA), No. 4 Beverly Bandits-Conroy, No. 5 Cal Cruisers-Sievers, No. 6 So Cal Athletics-Richardson, No. 7 Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier and No. 8 Corona Angels-Tyson.

Five more teams in the top 16-- No. 11 So Cal Choppers, No. 13 Texas Glory-Shelton, No. 14 DeMarini Aces, No. 15 Jersey Intensity-KOD, No. 16 Explosion mean that 13 of the top 16 programs played on one of the three Harvard Athletic Park fields on Friday along with No. 19 Georgia Impact-Lewis, No. 30 PA Chaos Gold and the Irvine Sting.

You can see why this is an event that host Bruce Richardson of the So Cal A's is so coveted to be part of and he has to turn away over 50 programs every year.

So what did we see from Friday's action?

A ton of talent that, in some ways, was rusty.  For example, the two combatants for the PGF 18U National Championships--the victorious Firecrackers-Rico team and the runners-up California Cruisers--collectively went 0-4.

Worried? Yea, right. Last year at this time, Tony Rico's Firecrackers looked a bit shaky but we know how that ended. And you can count on Mel Sievers' Cruisers being a force at PGF Nationals behind the arm of one of the top pitchers in Texas-bound hurler Chloe Romero.

​Pictured: Skylar Wallace of Georgia Impact who had a home run and five RBI in two games.

You knew it would be an interesting opening day when two of the elite pitchers in the nation--Gabby Sprang, headed to Tennessee and a PGF All-American, and Brooke Vestal, the No. 1 ranked prospect in the FloSofball 2018 Hot 100, gave up 10 runs in the first three innings for the Georgia Impact and Firecrackers, respectively.

It looked like the offenses would dominate the day, but that was soon put to bed when one of the most impressive teams of the day, the Beverly Bandits, saw senior pitcher Kenna Wilkey, headed to Northwestern, pitch a no-hitter.

She was aided by some great defensive plays including a horizontal diving catch by fellow Rachel Lewis and a great over-the-head catch by Mac Dunlap; both seniors will also be playing this fall in the Big Ten for Kate Drohan and staff, who has to be pumped to be bringing in such Bandits' talent.

Speaking of college coaches, they were out in full force including head coaches like Ralph Weekly (Tennessee), Rachel Hansen (Stanford) and Kenny Gajewski (Oklahoma State) and assistants from programs like UCLA and Notre Dame who all had players committed to them.

Almost all the players of the 16 teams were committed, but there were a few that weren’t. One that isn’t, but had Power 5 Conference schools watching her closely was 2019 pitcher Makenna Kliethermes who threw in the mid-60’s and, new to the DeMarini Aces, wowed scouts with her pitching and hitting as she gave up just one run against the powerhouse So Cal A’s while driving in three runs.

“As you can tell, they are kind of good,” Kliethermes told Carlos Arias of SoCalSidelines.com said of her new teammates. “I was kind of nervous, actually, joining this team. I was wondering like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I’m good enough to be on this team. These are some great athletes.’ And here I am … I guess I did pretty good I thought.”

The tall right-hander led her Balir Oaks High team of Jefferson City, Missouri to the Class A state finals where she lost to fellow Aces pitcher Madison Preston. At least one major college coach indicated a campus visit “as soon as possible” for Kliethermes is in order.

Friday was pool play and free substitution so, in essence, the games didn't mean as much as they will late Saturday when the last game will be the first bracket contest in the single-elimination tournament.

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Here are the game scores from Day 1 with some impressive performances and highlights:

Georgia Impact 7, Firecrackers 5
Skylar Wallace (Alabama) went 2-for-3 with 4 RBI including a walk-off two-run double.

Georgia Impact 7, Jersey Intensity 2
Wallace added a home run and Ashley Morgan's (Tennessee) three-run double broke open a close game in the fifth.

Jersey Intensity 2, Firecrackers 1
Lexie Blair (Michigan State) and Amanda Ayala (Tennessee) blasted homers and Lauren Mathis (Georgia) pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts for the winners.

DeMarini Aces 3, So Cal A's 1
Pitcher Makenna Kliethermes (2019, uncommitted) was the "discovery of the day" as she delivered three RBI and held the A's to a run on seven hits using a riseball, curve and change. ​She's pictured on the right with coach Ryan Taylor.

AASA 5, DeMarini Aces 1
Molly Millar (Stanford) and Madison Papenhausen (Utah) combined on a four-hitter while Hope Brandner (Oregon State) hit a first inning two-run bomb.

Corona Angels 6, PA Chaos 0
Oregon State-bound pitcher Mariah Mazon (Angels) had 5 strikeouts and no runs allowed.

Beverly Bandits 6, PA Chaos 0
Ariel Carlson (Oregon) went 2-2 with an RBI single for the victors. Pitcher Kenna Wilkey (Northwestern) threw a no-hitter.

Corona Angels 5, California Cruisers 1
Amani Bradley (Georgia Tech) went 3-3 with two singles and a double for the Angels. Pitcher Megan Faraimo (UCLA) had 9 strikeouts in the win.

Beverly Bandits 4, Explosion 2
Lauren Burke (Oregon) went 1-2 with a walk and a double for the Bandits while Sam Stanley (Northwestern) went 2-3 with two singles and a walk for Explosion.

Explosion 4, California Cruisers 1
Pitcher Jessica Ross (Ohio State) continues to impress as she scattered three hits and didn't allow an earned run in six innings.

Birmingham Thunderbolts 3, Texas Glory 1
Illinois Gatorade State Player of the Year Chardonnay Harris struck out nine and gave up just three hits in six innings for the visitors from Alabama.

OC Batbusters 6, Texas Glory 3
PGF All-American Jocelyn Alo (Oklahoma) hit a double and triple and knocked in three RBI to spark the Batbuster offense.

OC Batbusters 17, Irvine Sting 0
Alo was on fire as she hit a grand slam in a run-shortened game.

So Cal Choppers 0, Birmingham Thunderbolts 0
Brooke Yanez (UC Davis) and Grace Fagan (Mississippi State) combined for the shutout on the Choppers side. Fagan, a tall lefty had 10 K's.

Watch the So Cal A's Invite LIVE through Sunday, June 18.