RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Philip Belfield may have had one of the smallest rosters to ever win a PGF national title with just 12 available to take the field, but according to the head coach of the Stars National Gold 18U team, he had just what he needed.
“Coming from the East Coast, we don’t really have the luxury of bringing extra players to add depth to our pitching or to run bases,” he told Extra Inning Softball this weekend. “We brought the same players that have made up our roster the entire year and, actually, we were down a catcher as 2021 Charlotte signee Ciara Hanson did not make the trip due to an arm injury.
The Stars National team leaned on inexperienced players to catch pool games and bullpens to save the legs of 2022 Top 100 prospect, Sarah Gordon and the strategy worked out well.
Gordon led Stars National in most offensive categories throughout the week; hitting from the lead-off spot in bracket play, Gordon hit .543 with four home runs, seven doubles and 15 RBsI for the week.
“Our first bracket game, Sarah squared one up, it went up the middle, and from there it’s like the music started playing and our offense put on a show all the way through the championship,” added Coach Belfield.
How hot was the catcher from Lexington, South Carolina?
Gordon, ranked in the Top 65 of the 2022 Extra Elite 100, lead off three different games with a home run.
To win a national championship, you need more than one offensive standout and Belfield had a roster full of them (small in numbers though they may have been!). Overall,as a team Stars National put up a .375 batting average and scored 76 runs with nine home runs smacked over the week.
Here are some other noteworthy hitters and their numbers:
Kaylyn Belfield (2022 Lipscomb commit)
The coach’s daughter hit .571, collecting 16 hits on the week while displaying her ability to get on base in many ways. She had an on-base percentage of .625 and also stole seven bases.
Rachel Roupe (2021, Liberty signee)
Rachel hit .364 with two home runs and 12 RBI.
Alyssa Henault (2021 Campbell signee)
Alyssa batted .357 with nine RBIs, had six stolen bases and scored nine runs.
Kendall Owens (2021 Mercer signee)
Kendall batted .346 with one home run and two doubles but her homer was a key one: a monster three-run bomb in the semifinals.
Abbie Campbell (2021, James Madison signee)
Abbie batted .345 with three doubles and scored 10 runs.
Lauralee Scott (2021 Furman signee)
Lauralee batted .357 with 2 doubles.
The Stars National offense averaged 6.7 runs a game in the seven bracket games and Coach Belfield adds:
“That kind of offense, combined with the results from the pitching rotation, was the perfect recipe for a National Championship.”
Here’s a look at the pitchers who got the job done:
Morgan Hess (2021, Presbyterian College signee)
Morgan pitched 30.1 innings on the week and recorded 42 strikeouts. She threw all seven of the championship game innings against the Colorado Stars and, most notably, did not give up any runs in her 30-plus innings.
Summer Clark (2021, Syracuse signee)
Summer pitched 20.2 innings giving up just three earned runs on the week while recording 16 strikeouts. She induced 26 ground ball outs and picked up a key bracket win against the Colorado Stars earlier in the week. Summer also got the win in the semi-finals against So Cal Athletics – Jendro.
Defensively, Trinity Nichols put on an infield clinic at both shortstop and third base throughout the week, according to her coach.
“She made several high-level plays to prevent the So Cal Athletics from rallying in an intense semifinal game,” continued Belfield.
SEMI-FINAL WIN
The Stars National team faced its first deficit in the semi-final game, when Brian Jendros team took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. However, Stars National responded with four in the top of the second inning and in the bottom of the second, the Athletics loaded the bases bringing Kaitlyn Farley (2021 Ohio State signee) to the plate where she drew a walk to cut the lead the lead to 4-2.
The A’s seemed to be in striking distance when Jessica Dewitt (Farleigh Dickinson commit) laced a line drive into the right center gap.
Centerfielder Kaylyn Belfield made a game-changing diving catch to shut down the inning and Summer Clark entered the circle for the Stars in the third inning to slow down the strong Athletics offense.
Here’s video of the key play:
Stars National picked up the win in seven innings 9-4 as Roupe finished with three hits, Owens two and Gordon two.
CHAMPIONSHIP WIN
In the championship game, Stars National took the field first as the home team against the hot Colorado Stars – Sakamoto squad.
The Stars had worked their way through the losers bracket and defeated the Washington Angels twice to make the championship, a winner take all game format.
The only loss that the Colorado Stars had on the week was a 8-0 run rule against Stars National, a game in which Sarah Gordon had three hits and two RBIs and Rachel Roupe had four RBIs on a double and home run.
In the championship game—played Friday July 30 at 4 pm PST—Morgan Hess toed the rubber and gave up a lone single in the first but settled down and was effective using her variety of pitches.
Stars National struck early in the bottom half of the frame when Gordon singled to right field, followed by a Belfield base on balls. An Abbie Campbell sacrifice bunt and fielder’s choice by Rachel Roupe scoring Gordon gave the Stars National its first run.
Heads up base-running from Belfield a few pitches later gave Stars National a 2-0 lead and Alyssa Henault used her speed to leg out an infield single scoring Roupe to pushthe Stars National to an early 3-0 lead but they were not done as Nichols drove a double in the right center gap scoring Henault from first to complete a four run first inning.
Abbie Campbell singled to drive in Roupe in the fourth to stretch the lead to 5-0 and the right handed pitcher Hess went the distance, collecting the win and maintaining the shut out.
A GREAT ENDING… A NEW BEGINNING
Impressively, Stars National was the only team to remain undefeated throughout the PGF 18U Platinum division, going 4-0 in pool play and 7-0 in bracket play to claim the Premier Girls Fastpitch Platinum National Championship.
“I know every team has a story, but this is genuinely a great group of young ladies, on and off the field,” Belfield stated. “They all have wonderful families and the really love to play together. That was the motivating factor I believe. They knew this was it. We have 10 seniors all headed to play ball in college and this was their last travel tournament together.”
It all came together at the right time, the coach stressed.
“They oozed with confidence all week. They wanted to be in the box and they wanted the ball. They all understood they played an important role and were ready. I couldn’t be happier for these players and their families to go out as PGF National Champions,” Belfield finished.
Stars National made the announcement last Spring that Rachel Coleman, former the former DI coach at the University of Delaware, will take the lead of the organization in August.
Coleman and Belfield will co-coach the 18U Gold team and Coleman will also bring over her younger national teams from the EC Bullets in the New Jersey region to the Stars National organization.
South Carolina star player Kassidy Krupit will coach the 16U national team.
