Many of the top 16U & 18U teams in the country were in Orange County, CA, from July 22-29 for the PGF Nationals. Here are some of Friday’s highlights:
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In 18U:
Johnny Manetta led Rock Gold Manetta to a PGF 18U Platinum national championship last season and he’s doing it again this season, but this time on the biggest stage in the PGF 18U Premier Nationals.
Rock Gold beat Beverly Bandits Premier-Dorsey, 6-2, and Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher, 7-2, on Friday at Huntington Beach Sports Complex to reach the PGF 18U Premier national championship game.
Clemson-bound IF/P Julia Knowler hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd inning and Jacksonville-bound 1B Kassidy Pombriant had a two-run double, a wild pitch scored a run and Jax State-bound OF Megan Rasmussen had an RBI single to make it 6-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning against Bandits-Dorsey.
Pombriant had a three-run double in the bottom of the 2nd inning and she had an RBI single and Samford-bound 1B/C Katie Campbell had a three-run homer in the bottom of the 6th inning to lead Rock Gold past Mojo-Danley/Fisher.
“(The) girls came out swinging today from the start!” Manetta said. “Every time the opposing team scored, we had an answer.” …
Beverly Bandits Premier-Conroy got a perfect performance from South Carolina-bound RHP Sage Mardjetko in a 1-0 win over Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher, and defeated Arizona Storm National-Mathis, 4-2, to advance to the PGF 18U Premier national championship game.
Mardjetko tossed a perfect game with 15 strikeouts and Auburn-committed 2024 2B/UT AnnaLea Adams hit a solo homer to lead the Bandits past the Mojo.
“During today’s game, we knew we had to keep the ball around the zone and on the corners,” Mardjetko said. “Mixing a variety of speeds, locations and pitches (was) crucial for having success against the Mojo.”
Boston University-bound C Livia Christopher led off with a big single, then six lefties in a row all did their job as the Bandits beat Arizona Storm in the semifinals. Mardejtko got the complete game win.
Bandits coach Bill Conroy has led teams to PGF championships in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and to the finals in 2022. Bandits-Conroy faces Rock Gold-Manetta for the PGF 18U Premier national championship on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Bill Barber Park in Irvine live on ESPNU.
“I’ve never played Rock Gold Florida before and, obviously, they’ve got a prolific offensive team,” Conroy said. “But we also have our secret weapon, maybe not so secret anymore with Sage Mardjetko.” …
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In 16U:
Select Fastpitch-Jones reached the PGF 18U Premier national championship game last summer and this time it’s Select Fastpitch-Salazar/McCoy’s turn.
Select Fastpitch pulled off a 1-0 upset over Virginia Unity-Johnson/Ross, the Triple Crown Colorado 4th of July 16U Power Pool champion and Triple Crown Nationals champion, and Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2024-Kaplan, 6-5, on Friday at Fountain Valley Sports Park to reach the PGF 16U Premier national championship game.
“Today we had (2) great team wins,” Select Faspitch coach Jason Salazar said. “Scoring early and holding our opponents down was key today. Pitching was a premium today. Tomorrow’s key (is) being able to manufacture runs a little better. Of course, pitching and defense will be the most important factor.”
Uncommitted 2024 P/1B Kelsey Hoekstra drove in the lone run in the 1st inning and 2025 P/1B Peyton Hardenburger threw a five-hitter with three walks and five strikeouts to upset Unity-Johnson/Ross.
Kansas-committed 2024 C Bailey Amezcua had an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th inning to tie it, 5-5, and she hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 6th for the eventual game-winner as Select Faspith knocked off Bolts-Kaplan.
“This team is something special,” Amezcua said. “The chemistry we have is like no other. We’ve battled together all season for this moment. From the start of bracket, we just had this fire in us.” …
Sorcerer-Gann pulled off a 4-2 win over Texas Sudden Impact-Jones, the Longmont IDT champion, and a 1-0 win over BSC Bengals Briggs to reach the PGF 16U Premier national championship game.
Sorcerer faces Select Fastpitch-Salazar/McCoy for the PGF 16U Premier national championship on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Bill Barber Park in Irvinenlive on Fox Sports West.
2025 3B Rylee Banks hit a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the 7th inning to lift the NorCal-based team over Texas Sudden Impact.
2025 SS Jazmarie Roberts hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th inning and 2025 LHP Jaelyn Lee pitched a five-hitter with no walks and no strikeouts to record the shutout as Sorcerer defeated the BSC Bengals in the semifinals.
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PGF NATIONALS
AT ORANGE COUNTY, CA
(Friday, July 28, Results)
18U PREMIER
BRACKET A
WINNER’S BRACKET
SIXTH ROUND
- Beverly Bandits Premier-Conroy 1, Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher 0
LOSER’S BRACKET
SEVENTH ROUND
- Georgia Impact-Sampson/Gusaeff 5, Breakers Labs-Carter 2
- Hotshots National-Nelson 9, NW Vandals-Vasas/Scott 5
EIGHTH ROUND
- Georgia Impact-Sampson/Gusaeff 14, Hotshots National=Nelson 4
NINTH ROUND
- Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher 1, Georgia Impact-Sampson/Gusaeff 0
SEMIFINAL
- Beverly Bandits Premier-Conroy 4, Arizona Storm National-Mathis 2
BRACKET B
WINNER’S BRACKET
SIXTH ROUND
- Rock Gold-Manetta 6, Beverly Bandits Premier-Dorsey 2
LOSER’S BRACKET
SEVENTH ROUND
- Georgia Impact Premier-Caymol 9, Lady Dukes-Lamar/Burgess 4
- Arizona Storm National-Mathis 5, Georgia Bombers Gold-Lewis 3
EIGHT ROUND
- Arizona Storm National-Mathis 10, Georgia Impact Premier-Caymol 0
NINTH ROUND
- Arizona Storm National-Mathis 11, Beverly Bandits Premier-Dorsey 0
SEMIFINAL
- Rock Gold-Manetta 7, Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher 2
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16U
BRACKET A
WINNER’S BRACKET
SIXTH ROUND
- Sorcerer-Gann 3, Texas Sudden Impact-Jones 2
LOSER’S BRACKET
NINTH ROUND
- Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2024-Kaplan 4, Texas Sudden Impact-Jones 3
SEMIFINAL
- Sorcerer-Gann 1, BSC Bengals-Briggs 0
BRACKET B
WINNER’S BRACKET
SIXTH ROUND
- Select Fastpitch-Salazar/McCoy 1, Virginia Unity-Johnson/Ross 0
LOSER’S BRACKET
NINTH ROUND
- BSC Bengals-Briggs 2, Virginia Unity-Johnson/Ross 0
SEMIFINAL
- Select Fastpitch-Salazar/McCoy 6, Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2024-Kaplan 5
— Carlos Arias, Dugout Chatter (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff and Threads @los_stuff)
