The die is cast, the finalists are, well, finalized and it’s time to play for the PGF 16U and 14U Premier and Platinum National Championships.
The games will be held at Bill Barber Park’s Deanna Stadium in Irvine, California starting at 9:30 am PST and finishing approximately 10 hours later after the fourth game is played, so there’s sure to be the usual amount of big plays, surprising outcomes and dramatic finishes.
First, let’s take a look back a year ago to some of the significant moments that happened the second week of PGF Nationals, meaning the highlights from the 16U and 14U age divisions:
- The Beverly Bandits-Ketelhut team beat A’s-Mercado/Smith 10-1 on a walk-off home run that created a run-rule 10-1 win in the 16U Premier game. Significantly, it gave the Bandits a first: the first time one organization won 18U Premier–the week before Bill Conroy’s 18U team beat the Corona Angels-Tyson team 2-0 behind the pitching of Alexis Holloway, now at Notre Dame.
- In 16U Platinum, the Firecrackers UT-Rollin team led by Coach Fred Rollin topped the Birmingham Thunderbolts 01 team 7-4. It was a dominating performance by Rollin’s daughter, Jazmyn Rollin, who ended up being a PGF All-American and member of the Louisville Slugger Hit Club last week after playing this summer with Explosion-Denio/Jackson.
- Perhaps the story of 2017 was the emergence of the Texas Dirt Divas, at the time a one-team wonder that made it to the title game where it beat Mark Campbell’s OC Batbusters squad 4-3, notable in that the Batbusters came all the way back from the Loser’s Bracket to make it to the title game.
- In the 14U Platinum game, the Firecrackers-Brashear/Oakes team defeated another Birmingham Thunderbolts team, the 2003 squad, 8-1, which makes it significant as the Bolts have a chance this Saturday afternoon to win a title in the final game of the day.
Let’s take a look at the four games taking place on Saturday and look at how the teams got to this point and what will be the keys for victory…