PGF Nationals… Champions Crowned in 14U and 12U Platinum Games; Matchups Set for Sunday’s 14U, 12 and 10U Premier Contests

The weekend in Southern California means championships are awarded and Saturday at Irvine’s Bill Barber Park saw the Platinum titles give in 14U and 12U while the Premier brackets saw finalists set for Sunday’s action.

Here’s a look at the Platinum championships and the matchups set for Sunday and how they got there…

First, the championships which were quite the contrast to the 18U and 16U Premier titles last Saturday that went down to the final plays; tonight’s action was unexpectedly one-sided in both contests…

Here are the details:

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PGF 14U Platinum National Championship: Birmingham Thunderbolts – Kemp 11, Impact Gold National – Smith 0,

Two teams who have played each other previously this summer matched up in the 14U Platinum championship and, though the Bolts had to come through the loser’s bracket and win the IF game, Brandon Kemp’s team looked sharp out of the gate.

The Bolts got the leadoff batter, Daigle Wilson, on after being hit by Impact pitcher KG Favors.  The 2025 first baseman moved to second on a passed ball, before plating the first run of the game on a single by Olivia Tindell.

Favors got out of the early jam on a ground out and fly out the Bolts stranded runners on second and third.

The Bolts added another run in the top of the 2^nd when Haley Hart singled to left and then moved to third on a sac bunt and wisely advanced when no one covered the bag. Mazie Harmon hit a deep fly to right to bring her home to make the lead 2-0.

Wilson singled with two outs and ultimately advanced to third, escaping a rundown when the ball hit her, but a routine grounder by Tindell to short was bobbled allowing the run to score.

The floodgates opened when Kaileigh Byars doubled home Tindell to make the score 4-0 and then 2026 catcher/infielder Ava Hodo hit a two-run home run over left field to make the score 6-0, with five big runs added in the top of the second inning thanks to six timely hits and the one two-out error.

In the top of the 3^rd—for the third inning in a row—the Bolts tacked at least one run on the scoreboard and, again, with two outs the hitting was clutch.

After Hart walked with one out, Harmon stroked a double in the rightfield gab allowing Hart to score to make the tally 7-0.  O’Tindle singled to right field to bring home Harmon and the rout was on as the Bolts stormed out to an 8-0 lead.

But that wasn’t the end of the scoring: Byars drove the ball up the middle to bring home Wilson and Tindell and 2026 catcher/utility player Hannah Jo Sullivan singled home another run. By the time the inning had ended, the Bolts explosive offense had 11 runs with 10 hits at the end of three innings with seven different Thunderbolts players having at least one hit.

Bolts pitcher Madilyn Byrd, being staked to the double-digit lead, was able to relax and go the distance in the five inning run-rule 11-0 win as she scattered six hits while striking out three and giving up just one walk.

The final out came in the 5^th inning when Addyson Sheppard of Impact Gold doubled and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

Here’s video of the out and the subsequent celebration:

While Impact Gold uncharacteristically struggled on offense, the Thunderbolts bats were strong, collecting a dozen hits overall.

Amazingly, the top five hitters in the Bolts lineup all had two hits:

• Daigle Wilson was 2-for-2 with three runs scored
• Olivia Tindell was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored
• Kaleigh Byars was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored
• Ava Hodo was 2-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs and one run scored
• Hannah Jo Sullivan was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Additionally, Haley Hart was 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored and Mazie Harmon was 1-for-1, a double, which knocked in two runs.

For the Impact offense, Reagan Rohrlich was 2-for-3 in the leadoff spot and Trinitey Spencer was 2-for-2.

Here’s our interview with Coach Kemp and three of his standout players after the big win:

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*** Scroll down to read more from Saturday’s championships along with the one-run games that decided who’d play in the 14U Premier championship.

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