The tournament pool continues to narrow as teams fight to stay alive at the 2021 USA Softball GOLD Nationals in Salem, Virginia.
Saturday will be packed with action including semi-final and Championship play for both the 16-Under and 18-Under divisions.
The final six teams in each division will duke it out until there are only two teams left standing to square off in a Championship match-up.
16U
Atlanta Vipers 04 Palazzo and Finesse 16U Dreher/Lesko are the two teams in the 16-Under division that remain undefeated in bracket play going into Saturday’s competition.
The additional four 16U teams who will advance to Saturday are Carolina Elite SC – Fusetti, Turnin2 Pezz, Ohio Hawks 16U National Hutchinson, and Florida Gold John.
Noteworthy performances:
* With a 3-0 shutout victory, Atlanta Vipers 04 Palazzo sent Carolina Elite SC – Fusetti to the loser’s bracket in their first and only game of the day.
Ryley Kutter (Atlanta Vipers 04 Palazzo) threw the complete game for the Vipers, only letting up three hits in seven innings of work. Her offense backed her up by getting on base and scoring key runs, adding to their 42 total hits in the tournament. The Vipers have been on fire at the plate this week averaging approximately 10 hits per game.
* Finesse 16U Dreher/Lesko pulled off a scrappy win against Turnin2 Pezz on the fifth day of the tournament. The teams were locked 4-4 through seven innings of play until Finesse walked it off in the bottom of the eighth.
Macy Irelan (Finesse 16U Dreher/Lesko) and Megan Nuechterlein (Finesse 16U Dreher/Lesko) were solid in the circle and combined for the 5-4 win over Turnin2 Pezz.
Finesse 16U Dreher/Lesko recorded seven hits in the contest to make their hit total 46 in the tournament so far. Kelsey Nader (Finesse 16U Dreher/Lesko) accounts for 10 of her team’s 46 hits.
18U
Florida Storm-National Shepherd and Rock Gold-Waye remain in the winner’s bracket and will go head-to-head in the semi-finals to claim a spot in the title game.
The four 18-Under teams who will attempt to work their way up through the loser’s bracket on Saturday are: Lady Lightning Gold Elite Jones, NJ Gators Biasi, Windermere Wildfire 18U – Paulson, and Clearwater Lady Bombers Mason – Gold.
Noteworthy performances:
* Windermere Wildfire 18U – Paulson played four games today and ended with a win to keep their hopes for a trophy alive. In their final game of the day, Windermere Wildfire pulled off an 8-6 upset against Ohio Hawks 18U National. Ohio Hawks had been hot at the plate all day, winning their last two games by scoring over 10 runs, but Windermere Wildfire managed to cool them off and limit them to six runs with a solid defensive effort.
Windermere Wildfire’s offense also came alive with Emily Allen’s (Windermere Wildfire 18U – Paulson) two-run home run in the fourth that put her team ahead 8-4. Allen’s two-run homer gave Windermere Wildfire 18U – Paulson the insurance runs they needed to come out victorious against the Ohio Hawks.
* Clearwater Lady Bombers Mason – Gold also pulled off an impressive win on Day Five.
Down 2-1 to Virginia Unity 18U Linder in the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Bombers sparked a rally to take the game 4-3 and move on to Saturday.
The participating teams earned a berth to their respective GOLD National Championship through a network of qualifying tournaments and through berths awarded by USA Softball’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Both the 16-Under and 18-Under divisions will finish out bracket play on Saturday with semi-final and loser’s bracket games.
The Championship duels for both divisions will also take place tomorrow, July 24, at 3 p.m. ET with the “if-necessary” games at 5 p.m. ET. Live stats and video coverage will be available all week long at USASoftball.com.
Here’s more info on the event as provided by USA Softball:
2021 USA Softball 16-Under & 18-Under
GOLD National Championships
July 18-24, 2021 | Salem, Virginia
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