Evening Heroics, Statement Wins Open Super Regionals at Alliance Championship Series

The Super Regional round of the Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series began on Wednesday.

Despite its name, the round differs slightly from the collegiate format in that four teams in total compete in each Super Regional. One winning team from each will advance to the AFCS Elite Eight.

Teams played twice on Wednesday; winners bracket games determined who would stand just one win from advancing, while losers brackets eliminated one-fourth of the field by the close of business on Wednesday.

In the 18U division, Batbusters – Stith made quick work of their pair of games to move into the driver’s seat of their Super Regional. The Batbusters outscored their opponents by a cumulative 15-3 score in two games. Impact Gold – Jackson 18U also quickly dispatched their opponents, starting their Super Regional stay with a 9-1 win over the PA Strikers and advancing through the winner’s bracket after a 5-2 victory over Firecrackers Brashear.

Marty Tyson‘s Corona Angels and the Aces Fastpitch squad, each the top-ranked squad in their respective Super Regionals, also advanced through the winner’s brackets, with the Angels scoring 22 runs in two games to advance while the Aces picked up a pair of hard-fought wins on Wednesday evening.

On the opposite side of the 18U bracket, Fury Platinum X Higdon picked up a tight 1-0 victory over Athletics-Mercado/Smith to advance in the winner’s bracket of their Super Regional. The tight game saw Fury Platinum score one run in the bottom of the first inning, then no one scored again in the game. Pitcher Jazzy Francik, a 2024 committed to Florida State, allowed just two hits and collected six strikeouts in the pitcher’s duel.

Also advancing through and into the winner’s brackets in the 18U division were Iowa Premier Gold – Dickel, Texas Glory, and Firecrackers Rico, all of whom now sit one win away from an Elite Eight berth.

Pitching was a strength for Firecrackers Rico on Wednesday, with San Diego State-committed CeCe Cellura throwing a complete game against Louisville Lady Sluggers-Huecker to open the Super Regional. Cellura allowed one run and notched eight strikeouts. In the winner’s bracket game against Bownet Sports Academy, 2024 Stanford commit Zoe Prystajko threw a five-inning no-hitter, collecting eleven strikeouts along the way.

One of the day’s most surprising results came on Wednesday evening, when Bownet Sports Academy 18U picked up a 7-4 win over Texas Bombers Gold. The Bownet squad was down 4-3 in the late-goings, but a bases-loaded double and an insurance run in the seventh clinched their victory over the slugging Bombers.

16U

The same four-team Super Regional format is taking place in the 16U bracket, with games in Rosetta Canyon.

Top-overall-seeded Oklahoma Athletics-Madden/Clemmer picked up a 9-0 shutout win to start their Super Regional stay, then pulled off a 4-2 win to advance through the winner’s bracket.

Athletics-Mercado Hovermale picked up a dominant 9-0 win over Fury Platinum X Hutchins in the winner’s bracket game to advance to the Super Regional championship game, set for Thursday, while Iowa Premier 16U National and Corona Angels Slye 16U also sit in the driver’s seats of their respective brackets.

On the other side of the 16U bracket, Texas Glory 16U Naudin dominated the Williamsburg Starz in a 12-3 winner’s bracket victory, putting the Naudin squad one win from an Elite Eight berth of their own.

Impact Gold Jazz 16U, Firecrackers Brashear, and the Texas Bombers Gold 16U squads all advanced through the winner’s bracket to sit one win from an Elite Eight berth.