Club Championship: PGF 16U Premier Title Sees Georgia Impact – Caymol Top Beverly Bandits – Conroy Thanks to Stellar Pitching & One Key Hit (July 30, 2022)

The PGF 16U Premier Championship held Saturday morning at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine, Calif. on Saturday essentially came down to one big play: a bases-clearing triple in the top of the fourth inning that would spark Georgia Impact – Cayol to an eventual 5-2 over Beverly Bandits – Conroy.

The Bandits put the first runs on the board in the bottom of the 3^rd inning on a two-run double by leadoff hitter and centerfield Addie DeLong but the Impact answered right away when Taylor Pipkins, the 2024 infielder, came to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs courtesy of three straight walks in the top of the 4^th.

Taylor said she knew, down 2-0 at that point, that this was a crucial point in the game.

“It felt good when I hit it,” she said of the triple that was stroked closely down the right field line, close enough that the Bandits used a review to challenge the call. “But I was a little nervous when they were reviewing it.”

The key hit was upheld and that quickly changed the course of the game as the Impact would finish the inning up 4-2 after Pipkins scored courtesy of a sac fly to right field that allowed her to scoot safely home when the throw was up the third base line.

The rest of the game was in the capable hands of righty pitcher Erin Numer, who shut down the powerful Bandits for the rest of the game as she only allowed four hits over her seven innings in the circle.

She said she started with a drop ball but made a switch after the first inning that was critical to her success.

“I switched to my rise ball,” she explained, “and that helped me settle in, plus I had my defense behind me to make plays.”

The Impact got an insurance run in the top of the seventh when, with one out, third baseman Emily Caron singled and was replaced by designated runner Edy Gavin.

Edy got the sign to steal and did much more than that—when the throw to second rolled into the outfield, she sprinted to third and then, without hesitating, headed for home where she would score easily.

“I think the coach gave me the stop sign,” she admitted, “but I was pretty sure I would score.”

The final out came courtesy of a pop out and the celebration began for the Impact team, which clinched a third national championship this summer alone for the organization, which also had teams win the USA/ASA Nationals and the TCS Southeast title in addition to today’s PGF Nationals.

For Head Coach Teo Caymol, the title game win was the closing chapter on a satisfying summer season that begin with a spring training which would run 10 to 12 hours long.

“We worked hard and a lot of pieces had to come together but they did,” he continued. “We had kids from six different state, I think we only had four actually from Georgia, but the kids worked hard to get everything they earned.”

Coach Caymol was also quick to point out the contributions of pitcher Carter Wachtel from Wooster, Ohio, who actually pitched more innings during the team’s PGF run than Nuwere and helped in four of the Impact’s eight wins.

“It’s been amazing,” the 2024 pitcher commented. “I recently joined the team and it’s been the best experience of my softball career. I can’t wait to get back and do it again with this team.”

Here’s a short clip of the final out that gave the Impact the PGF 16U Premier title: