Many of the top 14U, 12U & 10U teams in the country are at PGF Nationals July 31-Aug. 6 in Orange County, CA. Here are Sunday’s highlights:
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The Birmingham Thunderbolts organization had its third team of the weekend playing in a PGF national championship game and Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2026-Thompson came away with a 7-1 victory over Atlanta Vipers 08-Tamborra in the 14U Premier final on Sunday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, CA.
“This title is very special.” Bolts coach Ryan Thompson said. “This is the pinnacle of our sport. PGF is a dream we’ve been chasing since 10U. The Shea family loves and invests in the players completely. They were with us every step of this process. Rocky Thompson, Shane Cahalan and Giselle Juarez provide these Bolts players with the best development out there. We are proud to represent the Bolts family and all those that paved the way for us.#BoltsBoom.”
2026 RF Laci Martinez walked, 2026 RHP Leah Byrd sacrificed her to second and she scored on 2026 P Jordynn Parnell’s grounder to short that went for an E-6, giving the Vipers a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning.
That seemed like that might be enough with Byrd pitching. She has been lights out all tournament, but the Bolts broke the game open in the bottom of the 3rd inning.
The Bolts loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 3rd inning, then 2026 RF Corey Goguts, 2026 1B Alexis Kierstead and 2026 C/UT Mcartney Harrington had RBI singles and they got two more runs on an E-6 for a 5-1 lead. 2026 C/OF/UT Riley Reynolds added a sacrifice fly to drive in another run for a 6-1 advantage.
Birmingham picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the 7th inning to make it 7-1.
2027 Haylen Ayers went 2 for 4 with two runs, 2027 SS Aspen Boulware went went 1 for 3 with a run, Boguts went 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI, Kierstead went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI, Harrington went 1 for 3 with an RBI, 2026 Kylee Swain went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and 2026 LF Sanayah Weaver went 1 for 2 with a run.
2026 P Missy Odom worked 7.0 innings, allowing two hits, no earned runs and striking out none to record the complete game victory.
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BSC BENGALS WIN FIRST PGF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The BSC Bengals organization has only been around since 2021, but BSC Bengals-CKM won its 101st game of the season, beating Arizona Storm National-Kobasew, 8-0, in the PGF 12U Premier national championship on Sunday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, CA.
It was the first PGF national championship for the BSC Bengals organization.
“(A) national championship is huge for the Bengals organization as it is our first as an organization that is still fairly new,” Bengals coach Paul Caffrey said. “Our teams from 18u down finished 13th, 3rd place, 12th place and a national championship. We feel the Bengals organization is definitely on the map and we are happy to be a part of the family. (I) can’t wait for the future!(It’s a) great time to be a Bengal.”
2028 P Emily Yoon pitched a five-hitter with four strikeouts in 5.0 innings to record the victory for the Bengals in a game that was shortened by the run-rule.
OF 2028 Makenna Caffrey went 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI, 2029 P Erica Martin went 2 for 3 with a run and 2028 C Eliana Corona went 2 for 2 with a triple, a run and two RBIs for the Bengals in the championship game.
“It says a lot about everything we’re trying to build,” Bengals co-founder Roseann Briggs said. “Its not just about softball, we’re trying to build strong young ladies. It’s a family atmosphere.”
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BOLTS CAPTURE 10U NATIONAL TITLE
2030 P Aaliyah Hayes pitched a two-hitter with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings and went 2 for 3 with a double and four RBIs to help Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2030-Wilkerson to an 8-0 victory over SoCal FireByrds in the PGF 10U Premier national championship game on Sunday at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, CA.
It was the first PGF 10U Premier national title for the Bolts organization, which also won PGF championships in 2022 (twice), 2021, 2019 and 2018 and also reached the finals in, 2023 (three times), 2022 (three times), 2021, 2029, 2018, 2017 (three times) and 2016.
“This is huge for the organization as it continues to confirm how elite the Bolts organization is,” Bolts coach Jeff Wilkerson said. “Our 2027 team got runner-up, 2024 team got third last week and our 2008 team is playing for the title today. Our 18U Premier team won it all last year. This is also a great way for my kids to end their 10U careers. We now move to 12U and look forward to competing in that division as well.”
Hayes went 2 for 3, 2030 C Lily Poland went 1 for 3 and 2030 3B Khayla Glover went 1 for 3 to lead Birmingham’s offense.
Hayes faced 18 batters, gave up only two hits zero runs and struck out six in a game that was called after 5 innings due to the run-rule.
“(I’m) overwhelmed at the success this team earned,” Wilkerson said. “It’s very exciting to win championships in any sanctioned body, but winning PGF Nationals is on a whole different level. I’m more than proud of our young ladies and how hard they played this week. We run-ruled six of the nine games we played. We scored 99 runs for an average of 11 runs per game. We only gave up 12 runs all week for an average of 1.33 runs per game.”
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PGF NATIONALS
AT ORANGE COUNTY, CA
(Sunday, Aug. 6, Results)
CHAMPIONSHIPS
14U PREMIER
- Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2026-Thompson 7, Atlanta Vipers 08-Tamborra 1
12U PREMIER
- BSC Bengals-CKM 8, Arizona Storm National-Kobasew 0
10U PREMIER
- Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2030-Wilkerson 8, SoCal FireByrds 0
(Saturday, Aug. 5, Results)
14U PLATINUM
- Tampa Mustangs 09-Pynes 3, Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 2027-Alford 2
12U PLATINUM
- Firecrackers Medina 3, So Cal Athletics-Kim/Romero 2
— Carlos Arias, Dugout Chatter (Follow Carlos on Twitter @Los_Stuff and Threads @los_stuff)
