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 Tuesday’s highlights:
*****
It happens every year. Some highly-ranked team always falls in the early rounds of the PGF Nationals. That’s how tough and competitive the tournament is.
This time it was Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier, the reiging PGF 18U national champion. NW Vandals-Vasas/Scott was the team delivering the upset.
Uncommitted 2024 RHP Payton Burnham, the Gatorade State Player of the Year in Oregon, threw a fantastic game for the nW Vandals, recording a one-hit shutout with one walk and seven strikeouts in seven innings.
Utah Tech-committed 2024 C Kinley Pappas came through with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 7th inning to give NW Vandals-Vasas/Scott a 1-0 victory over Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier in the second round of the PGF 18U Premier Nationals on Tuesday at Huntington Beach Sports Complex in Orange County, CA.
“Both pitchers (were) throwing well, a few hits here and there, but nothing strung together and defense made plays on both sides,” NW Vandals coach Marie Scott said. “We had our 3-hole Pappas coming up and after having two strikeouts on the day she felt good coming up to the plate. She is a solid hitter and threat at the plate, regardless of previous at-bats. It was just one of those moments where as a team we had seen a lot of pitches and it just felt right. The plan was to sit on a first-pitch fastball and she delivered. Pretty exciting.”
The NW Vandals face LLG DPS-Corn in the third round on Wednesday. The Birmingham Thunderbolts drop down to the loser’s bracket.
NW Vandals are based out of Oregon and feature players from Portland, Grants Pass, Eugene and Salem.
“It’s a great win for our team,” Scott said. “Most of these girls have played together since they were little, so our small little team has grown together, go to high school together and are truly the definition of family. Nice to win together, especially as the seniors graduate. We’ve come a long way since 12U and are hoping to keep the energy going.”
In 18U:
Washington-committed 2024 RHP Morgan Reimer (4.0 IP, 2 hits, 7 Ks) and Georgia-committed 2024 RHP Ella Troutt (2.0 IP, 5 Ks) combined on a shutout and 2025 C/3B/1B Kendall Wells went 3 for 4 with four RBIs as Georgia Impact-Sampson/Gusaeff beat Athletics Mercado SD-Kubiski/AJ, 6-0, in the second round. …
Eastern Kentucky-bound RHP Victoria Byrum allowed four hits, four walks and struck out 13 in seven innings to get the complete game win as Cal Cruisers-Sievers beat Washington Angels Gold, 4-1, in the second round. …
South Florida-bound 3B Jamia Nelson went 2 for with a double, a homer and three RBIs and Lehigh-committed 2024 P/SS Maddy Clark went 2 for 2 with a homer and two RBIs in PA Chaos Gold-Spina’s 12-2 win over Arizona Suncats in the second round. …
Harvard-bound RHP Nicolette Hunter pitched a six-hitter with six strikeouts in So Cal Choppers-Ashley’s 4-0 second-round win over Prolific Fastpitch. …
2023 RHP Chelisa Newsome allowed zero earned runs and struck out nine in 7.0 innings to get the complete game victory as Georgia Impact National-Caymol beat Sorcerer-Gabales/Rodriguez, 3-2, in the second round. …
UC Santa Barbara-bound RHP Samantha Stoll gave up eight hits, one walk and struck out three to get the complete game victory, Saint Mary’s-bound OF Grace Carpenter went 2 for 3 and UC Davis-committed 2024 P/MIF/OF Alyssa Dethlefson went 1 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs as AASA-Merrida defeated Georgia Impact Premier-Caymol, 3-1, in the second round. …
North Florida-committed 2024 OF Kennedy McQuillan went 3 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs as Team NC-Hinde upset So Cal Athletics-Richardson, 8-0, in the second round. …
Missouri-bound RHP Marissa McCann tossed a shutout to lift Select Fastpitch-Jones over Sorcerer-Ricks, 2-0, in the second round. …
North Carolina State-bound RHP Carly Maxton pitched a one-hit shutout, Florida State-bound LHP/CF/1B Ashtyn Danley went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs, Florida State-bound 1B Angelee Bueno went 2 for 2 with a double, a sac fly and three RBIs and East Carolina-committed 2024 OF/C Jenna Krol went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs as Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher beat Lady Magic-Boykin, 10-0, in the second round. …
In 16U:
2027 MIF Hunter Quentel and 2025 MIF/UT McKenna Rinewalt homered as Texas Riptide used a 12-hit attack to defeat Lady Magic 07-Walling, 8-1, in the third round. …
*****
PGF NATIONALS
AT ORANGE COUNTY, CA
(Tuesday, July 25, Results)
18U PREMIER
BRACKET A
WINNER’S BRACKET
FIRST ROUND
- Wildcats-Weil 5, Universal Fastpitch Gold-Tatro 4
- Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher 5, Explosion Premier 0
- Sparks Softball 1, Illinois Chill Gold 0
- So Cal Athletics-Richardson 3, Alabama Thunderbolts 2023-Sherman/Burke 1
SECOND ROUND
- NW Vandals-Vasas/Scott 1, Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 0
- LLG DPS-Corn 10, Nemesis Elits Gold 9
- Wildcats-Weil 2, Ohana Tigers-Quarles 1
- Cal Cruisers-Sievers 4, Washington Angels Gold 1
- So Cal Choppers-Ashley 4, Prolific Fastpitch 0
- Tennessee Mojo-Danley/Fisher 10, Lady Magic-Boykin 0
- PA Chaos Gold-Spina 12, Arizona Suncats 2
- Georgia Impact-Sampson/Gusaeff 6, Athletics Mercado SD-Kubiski/AJ 0
- Hotshots National-Nelson 13, Jersey Intensity Premier-KOD 1
- Georgia Impact National-Caymol 3, Sorcerer-Gabales/Rodriguez 2
- Beverly Bandits Premier-Conroy 9, Sparks Softball 1
- Wildcats Chicago 6, Texas Blaze United 2
- Atlanta Vipers-Tamborra 5, Carolina Cardinals-Chandler 2
- Team NC-Hinde 8, So Cal Athletics-Richardson 0
- Athletics Jendro Premier 9, Breakers Labs-Bobby 0
- Breakers Labs-Carter 9, Lady Dukes-Sergio 1
BRACKET B
WINNER’S BRACKET
FIRST ROUND
- Minnesota Force-Powers 8, Sorcerer-Bigley/Everett 7
- BC Peppers-Wallace 3, Top Gun National 1
- Carolina SC Elite National-Genovese 8, So Cal Choppers-Fausett 7
- Nebraska Gold National 1, USA Athletics Gold 0
SECOND ROUND
- Select Fastpitch-Jones 2, Sorcerer-Ricks 0
- Arizona Storm National-Mathis 5, AASA-Nelson/Mortimer 0
- LTG Lions-Henderson 1, Minnesota Force-Powers 0
- Rock Gold-Manetta 5, Firecrackers-TJ 0
- AASA-Merrida 3, Georgia Impact Premier-Caymol 1
- Georgia Bombers Gold-Lewis 7, BC Peppers-Wallace 0
- Washington Ladyhawks Gold-Miller 13, Unity National-Betsa/Hebert 12
- Strykers National-Esparza 3, Minnesota Renegades National 1
- NW Bullets-Campos 2, Hotshots National-Jones 0
- Cal Nuggets-Woods 4, Select Fastpitch-Alvarado 2
- New Lenox Lightning Gold 8, Carolina SC Elite National-Genovese 1
- Beverly Bandits Premier-Dorsey 7, USA Athletics-Embrey/Mortensen 1
- So Cal Choppers-VC 13, BSC Bengals-Briggs 3
- Lady Dukes-Lamar/Burgess 2, Nebraska Gold National 0
- Rock Gold-Garvey 3, Tri-State Thunder Gold 0
- Texas Sudden Impact-Leach 4, Rhode Island Thunder Gold National-Lotti 0
*****
16U PREMIER
BRACKET A
WINNER’S BRACKET
THIRD ROUND
- LTG Lions-Henderson 3, Sparks Premier-Harvey 0
- I-5 Softball-Snyder/Fitz 6, BSC Bengals-Greene 0
- Texas Sudden Impact-Jones 2, Velocity National 1
- Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2024-Kaplan 4, Mojo 2024-Abernathy 2
- Texas Blaze United-Robertson 8, Carolina SC Elite National-Fusatti 0
- Texas Riptide 8, Lady Magic 07-Walling 1
- Sorcerer-Gann 2, D1Vision Softball National 1
- Universal Fastpitch-Macias 7, Beverly Bandits Futures-Page 0
LOSER’S BRACKET
FIRST ROUND
- California Grapettes 06-McNair 4, Carolina Cardinals Nationals-Garner 1
- Wildcats CHI 3, Top Gun National-JS 0
- Ohio Hawks National 2024-Joseforsky 6, Prolific Fastpitch 5
- Breakers Labs Gold-Vega 8, Fury 2024 Premier-Sewell 7
- So Cal Choppers-Fausett 2, PA Chaos National 1
- Rhode Island Thunder National-Lotti 4, Empire State Huskies National 1
- Wildcats-Holcomb/Knight/Kingery 5, I-5 Softball-Fitz/Boshae 1
- Top Gun National-MC 4, BSC Bengals-Nichols 0
SECOND ROUND
- California Grapettes 06-McNair 8, USA Athletics-Rogers/Gunnar 0
- Jersey Intensity Premier-BOD 12, Wildcats CHI 6
- Ohio Hawks National 2024-Joseforsky 8, NWS Vandals-Trickel 3
- Unity-Smith 1, Breakers Labs Gold-Vega 0
- LLG Elite-Corn 3, So Cal Choppers-Fausett 0
- Georgia Impact-Holcombe 7, Rhode Island Thunder National-Lotti 0
- Wildcats-Holcomb/Knight/Kingery 2, 5 Star PlayMakers-Siofele/Mulipola 1
- Top Gun National-MC 3, Ohana Tigers-Quarles 0
BRACKET B
WINNER’S BRACKET
THIRD ROUND
- Tampa Mustangs-Seymour 4, Beverly Bandits Premier-Freeland 3
- BSC Bengals-Briggs 6, Georgia Impact-Caymol 3
- Sox Fastpitch National 8, Wisconsin Lightning 2024 7
- Virginia Unity-Johnson/Ross 5, Beverly Bandits Premier-Moran 2
- Select Fastpitch-Salazar.McCoy 2, Georgia Impact Premier-Maher 0
- Illinois Chill Gold 6, Hotshots National-Nelson 0
- Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2025-Kemp 3, Empire Fastpitch Premier Elite 0
LOSER’S BRACKET
FIRST ROUND
- Firecrackers-Wallace 2, Newbraska Gold National-Anderson 1
- Texas Thunderbolts Premier-Whiddon 4, Rogue FC 25/26-Kaye 1
- LK Black Hawaii 12, Cal Cruisers-Caouette 0
- Arizona Storm Premier-Captain/Monte 13, Lady Dukes Premier-Vega/Lamar 0
- Power Surge-Berndes/Trammell 5, Fury Premier 2025-Moyer/Perry 1
- Atlanta Vipers Gold-Tamborra 4, AASA-Bryson 0
- Warrior Academy-Gutierrez 6, Washington Ladyhawks-Seeley 1
- So Cal Athletics Premier-Thomas/Grimm 3, Finesse-Langlois/Depaulis 1
— Carlos Arias, Dugout Chatter (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff and Threads @los_stuff)
