The first inning was a happenin’ one on Sunday in Indiana.
In the Tier I 16U finals at the Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series, Mojo-Lunsford rode first inning offensive breakouts to back-to-back wins and a national championship.
Eventual Tier 1 18U-champion OC Batbusters had some first-inning heroics of their own, en route to a doubleheader sweep and a national championship of their own.
16U Tier 1, Championship Series Game 1
Facing off against Iowa Premier-Lacina in the 16U championship, Mojo-Lunsford wasted no time in game one, scoring three times in the first inning. That was all the offense that the squad needed, as they held Iowa Premier at bay.
The Mojo enjoyed some stellar pitching in the outing; every time Iowa Premier seemed to be threatening to bring the game closer, the Mojo shut the door. Hailey Ferguson gave up eight hits and one run in the circle, as she notched the complete-game victory.
Game 1 of the 16U championship series ended in a 3-1 final score, in favor of Mojo-Lunsford. Then the 16s took a game break while the 18U championship series got underway.
18U Tier 1, Championship Series Game 1
Texas Bombers Gold 18U and the OC Batbusters had met once already, earlier in the Elite Eight round of the AFCS, and the Bombers had their way at that point en route to a 13-1 victory. On Sunday, the Batbusters had some revenge.
In game 1 of the 18U championships, the Batbusters wasted no time jumping on top. A 3-run first inning gave the Mike Stith-led club an early lead and the OC party was just getting started.
Oklahoma-committed Jocey Erickson hit a 2-run home run to nearly-dead center field, a moonshot that opened the Batbusters’ lead to 5-0. An RBI groundout and an RBI single helped extend the lead to 8-0 for the Batbusters. Then the comeback began.
An Abigail Savoy RBI single gave the Bombers their first run of the ball game, then Leighann Goode knocked another RBI single right off the padding in left field – a ball hit so hard, it nailed the wall on a line and ricocheted too quickly for Goode to advance any further.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, the Bombers put up their own 5-spot, buoyed by a 3-run home run off the bat of Destiny Rodriguez that cut the lead to 8-7.
Neither team scored in the 5th, then Taylor Shumaker added an insurance run in the top of the 6th on an RBI double that extended the Batbusters’ lead to 9-7. It was the first Stith-team scoring in three innings, and it would ultimately be the final run scored in the game as the Batbusters took home the 9-7 victory.
16U Tier 1, Championship Series Game 2
As was the theme of the day, Mojo-Lunsford used a big first inning to buoy their way to a 2-game sweep and a national championship.
The away team in Game 2, the Mojo came right out of the gate, scoring twice in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. It was all they would need, though they weren’t stopping there.
Iowa Premier-Lacina is a quality ball club, but the Mojo proved too powerful on Sunday. The squad notched three more runs in the fourth inning and a final insurance run in the top of the seventh en route to the 6-0 win and the title.
The Mojo held their foes to six hits in the game, while assembling five hits themselves and capitalizing on three Iowa Premier errors in the field.
18U Tier 1, Championship Series Game 2
If you’re sensing a theme on the first inning thing, there was a reason we led with that notation. When the Bombers and Batbusters returned to the field for their own game 2 of the day, both teams had some fun from the outset.
Three hits and two runs in the first was the Bombers’ way, opening an early lead. The frame included an incredibly-athletic slide at third base that saw the Bombers’ runner avoid a tag and reach the bag safely.
One half-inning later, in the bottom of the frame and buoyed by an Alexis Ramirez three-run shot, the Batbusters swapped places on the leaderboard, taking a 4-2 lead that they would not relinquish.
Longballs were the name of the game in the clincher, as the Batbusters hit a trio of roundtrippers in the championship finale. In addition to Ramirez, Taylor Shumaker added a solo shot in the 2nd inning while Jocey Erickson added a 3-run shot in the 4th.
After holding the Bombers off the board in the top of the 5th, the game – and the national championship – was official, and in run-rule fashion, to boot.
