RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
Mike Stith’s OC Batbusters and Texas Glory Naudin 16U were crowned National Champions at the Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series in California on Sunday.
Stith’s Batbusters won the 18U Tier 1 championship, while the Glory squad took home the 16U Tier 1 title.
18U
In 18U, the Batbusters matched up against Aces Fastpitch. Both teams had performed well offensively this week, and things were likely going to come down to whose pitching held more firm.
Game one of the best-of-three 18U series was a tight one, ultimately finishing in a 1-0 result in favor of the Batbusters. A back-and-forth pitcher’s duel, the game’s only scoring came on an infield fielding error in the top of the seventh inning.
Allyssa Parker threw a respectable, quality game for the Aces, scattering six hits and notching seven strikeouts, but her counterpart in the circle saw her star shine the brightest. Sophia Bordi threw a no-hitter, the first ever thrown in the three-year existence of the Alliance, and allowed just two baserunners in total, both on walks. Bordi collected eight strikeouts and threw just 80 pitches in the game.
Needing just one win to be crowned champions, the Stith squad wasted no time getting things going once game two began. The Batbusters put up six runs in the first inning, a frame that sent eleven Batbusters to the plate. An Izzy Mertes grand slam was the highlight of the inning, with the Batbusters’ 6-hole hitter knocking the 1-out pitch over the wall.
The Batbusters added three more runs in the top of the fourth inning on a Kai Minor home run to increase their lead to 9-0. The designated home team for game two, after three quick outs in the top of the fifth, the game officially ended via the run-rule and the Batbusters were crowned champions.
Jada Villegas and Ryan Maddox combined for a 5-inning shutout, allowing just seven hits between them and collecting five strikeouts. Maddox was particularly impressive; having thrown in limited action this week, she faced eleven batters and struck out four.
16U
A battle of Texas-based teams would decide the 16U championship, with the Texas Glory taking on Impact Gold Jazz 16U.
Impact Gold took the win in game one to open the day, riding a solo home run from shortstop Addyson Shepherd to a 1-0 victory.
From there, though, it was all Glory.
In game two of the series, the Glory scored twice in the bottom of the first inning, on a 2-RBI base knock by Madox Mitchael. She was 3-3 at the plate on the day in addition to picking up both RBIs for her team.
It was a pitcher’s duel between EK Smith and Lucy Crowder, with Mitchael’s hit being the only run-scoring knock of the game. Crowder threw a gem of her own in the circle for the Glory, scattering six hits and collecting a pair of strikeouts while throwing just 81 pitches en route to the win.
The Glory win in game two set up the winner-take-all game three. The starting pitching matchup was Lauryn Soeken for the Impact Gold and, again, Lucy Crowder for the Glory. After Impact Gold scored a run in the top of the first, they carried that slim lead through the game until the fifth inning. In that fifth, the Glory came alive.
Eleven batters came to the plate in the fifth inning for the Glory, and by the time the dust settled – both literally and figuratively – a 1-0 deficit had turned into a 5-1 Glory lead.
Impact Gold made a pair of pitching changes in the frame, but the Glory hit well off of all three IG arms in the inning. It was Madox Mitchael, continuing her hot streak, whose bases-loaded RBI single tied the game.
The big blow came off the bat of Houston-committed Brooke Wells, when her two-RBI single to right field broke the game open and gave the Glory a 4-1 lead.
After their 5-run frame, Crowder held firm in the circle and the Glory finished off the chanpionship. The Central Arkansas-committed Crowder’s final line in the championship game was seven innings of work, allowing eight hits and one earned run. She struck out two, walked none, and threw an efficient 75 pitches in the complete-game effort.