Get on board with Dugout Chatter’s regular feature, The Final Pitch!
We are scouring the Internet and Social Media and keeping our ears to the street for the latest going on in the softball community.
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Here’s our TFP for Wednesday, June 14, 2023:
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IT’S TEAM1 ELITE CLUB SUMMER INVITATIONAL WEEK
The Team1 Elite Club Summer Invitational is Thursday-Sunday, June 15-18, in Lenexa/Shawnee, KS. Follow the tournament online HERE.
The Tournament has teams competing in the 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U age groups.
Athletics Mercado-Smith (18U), Athletics Mercado-Hovermale (16U), Louisville Lady Sluggers-Wathen (14U) and Iowa Premier Black (12U) are the reigning champions.
The tournament started as a PGF Qualifier in 2013 and Aces Fastpitch Club coach Ryan Taylor and Iowa Premier coach Greg Dickel transitioned it into the Team1 Elite Club Summer Invitational in 2018.
“Traditionally, my 18U team traveled to the So Cal A’s Invite,” Taylor said. “With help, Greg stayed back and ran the tournament. During that time, my 18U team continued to travel out West. In 2020, that all changed for three reasons: continued growth, quality of teams and Covid.
“The continued growth of the event blew us away. We went from 40-50 teams to 150. Over 200 college coaches began to check in regularly. The quality of competition had grown so much it made sense to be here and play. The area was starved for great competition, high level umpires and national exposure.
“This year, we made the decision to reduce the amount of teams to make it even more exclusive. We are excited to see the level of play continue to increase with teams and college coaches from across the country. This week. in Kansas City (it) has been a less-spread-out Colorado. With the camp starting Wednesday and games on Thursday, it truly is one of the best opportunities to play high-level teams offering great exposure.”
The Team1 Elite Club Invitational has turned in to the place to be for top club teams looking for tough competition in the Midwest during the summer season.
“Greg and I are very appreciative of all the people that make this week great for so many teams,” Taylor said. “We get countless thank yous from players and coaches who got recruited right here in Kansas City at Team 1.”
Here are the Team1 Elite Club Summer Invitational all-time champions:
— 2022 —-
18U: Athletics Mercado-Smith
16U: Athletics Mercado-Hovermale
14U: Louisville Lady Sluggers 07-Wathen
12U: Iowa Premier Black
— 2021 —
18U: Aces Fastpitch Club
16U: East Cobb Bullets 04-Mayfield
14U: Oklahoma Athletics 2004
12U: Aces Fastpitch Club
— 2020 —-
18U: Oklahoma Athletics-Yeatts
16U: Aces Fastpitch Black
14U: Iowa Premier
— 2019 —
18U: Iowa Premier
16U: Nebraska Premier
14U: Aces Fastpitch Club
— 2018 —
18U: Iowa Premier
16U: Illinois Force
14U: Aces Fastpitch Club
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NEWS & NOTES
***The So Cal A’s Invitational is Friday-Sunday, June 16-18, at Harvard Park in Irvine, CA. Follow the tournament online HERE.
AASA-Merrida, Arizona Storm National-Mathis, Beverly Bandits Premier-Conroy, Breakers Labs-Bobby, BSC Bengals-Briggs, Cal Cruisers-Sievers, Cal Nuggets-Woods, Explosion Premier, Firecrackers-TJ, Irvine Sting, Jersey Intensity Premier-KOD, Lady Magic-Boykin, LTG Lions-Henderson, Ohana Tigers-Quarles, So Cal Athletics-Richardson, So Cal Choppers-Fausett, Sorcerer-Gabales/Rodriguez and Wildcats-Weil are the 18U teams competing in the event.
Arizona Storm National-Mathis is the defending champion.
***The Top Gun Invitational is Thursday-Sunday, June 15-18, in Shawnee, KS. Follow the tournament online HERE.
The Top Gun Invite holds events for the 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U age groups with the top-tier teams competing in the Maverick Division.
Texas Riptide (14U), Beverly Bandits-Dorsey (16U) and Tennessee Mojo-Danley (18U) are the defending Maverick Division champions.
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HSOTD
The Hype Song of The Day is …
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BTITW
Today’s Best Thing In The World is …
James Gunn says the first DCU character is #BlueBeetle https://t.co/5hex180Bz1
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) June 13, 2023
— Carlos Arias, Dugout Chatter (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff)
