The pop Marlie Giles’ bat made as it connected with a pitch about belt-high had forecasted the inevitable. With a single swing, Giles mashed a two-run homer over the left-field wall, sealing the Birmingham Thunderbolts PGF 18U Premier national championship.

Select Fastpitch and the Birmingham Thunderbolts have emerged from the bevy of outstanding clubs in the PGF National Championships 18U Premier division.

Find the 2021 Tulsa Elite Summer Invite softball photo gallery. Photos by Rob Ferguson of USA TODAY Sports.

Every year since 2011, the weekend following the NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series marks the pilgrimage of some of the top travel softball teams in the country converging in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to compete in the Annual Tulsa Elite Summer Invite. That first year, 16 teams took to four fields, and today the event has grown to become one of the nation’s top recruiting events of the year. From Wednesday-Sunday, well over 100 college coaches attend the tournament held at Arrowhead Park, offering a single 12-field complex allowing for maximum exposure.

OKLAHOMA CITY – With double-elimination bracket play well underway for both the 16-Under and 18-Under divisions at the 2020 USA Softball GOLD Nationals, a number of teams inch closer to a spot in the Championship finales, set for Saturday at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City and Arrowhead Park in Broken Arrow.

June 24-27 Top Club National will stream LIVE on FloSoftball featuring 120 teams in the 14U-18U divisions competing for a chance to win prize money as the last team standing.

Select Fastpitch Jones photos taken at the 2020 Tulsa Elite Summer Invite by Brett Rojo from USA Today Sports/Imagn.

Softball is back.