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The 10th Year of the PGF Nationals will reveal the 18U and 16U champions on Saturday and the action on Friday to narrow each age division from eight teams to two was dramatic and unexpected.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from the day…
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18U
There were some great storylines but you can’t beat what happened Friday in Huntington Beach, California on Field 3 in the Huntington Beach Sports Complex.
First, let’s go back to last summer when Patrick Lewis’s 18U team won the title over the OC Batbusters 6-4.
That team had Kelley Lynch (2019, Washington) in the circle, Charla Echols (2018, Michigan State, now Florida) at third, Skylar Wallace (2018, Alabama) at shortstop and Julia Cottrill (2019, Florida) at catcher.
Those four all were gone from this year’s team either through graduation or being asked to play on the USA Softball U-19 team. Add in five other key players who graduated as well and the Impact only had key player return from last year’s champions, outfielder Ali Newland (2020, LSU), and it’s understandable why most didn’t give the Impact much of a chance this week.
Even its head coach.
“I’m in awe, (in) shock, really,” Lewis said after the team won its IF game against the So Cal A’s, the Winner of Bracket B. “We hadn’t been good all year, not good at all. We’ve sometimes been terrible.”
It didn’t help that the week before the team left for California, four players—for a variety of reasons—were unable to make the trip.
About a month ago, the Impact picked up pitcher KK Dismukes (2019, Auburn) who was a key addition to the pitching staff headlined by Alex Salter (2020, Alabama).
When the team arrived in Southern California, things began to click.
“This team, when we arrived in California, started buying into our culture—as happy for the team’s success as much as your own. They believed in each other, loved each other and fought their tails off. I’m so proud of them…. This is pretty cool.”
After losing in extra innings on Thursday to the Birmingham Thunderbolts, the Impact had to win four games today to advance and few expected the returning champs to be one of two left standing at the end of the day, not when teams such as the So Cal A’s-Richardson, OC Batbusters-Stith and Firecrackers-Rico/Weil—collective winners of seven of the previous nine PGF 18U champions—were all playing on the same complex.
The Impact first had to beat a solid Universal Fastpitch team it had already defeated earlier in the week in a close contest, 2-1. This time the Impact’s offense opened up and the team won 6-3.
Then came another rematch—this time against the Bolts squad that knocked the Impact into the Loser’s Bracket in an eight inning game. It was another nail-biter that went to ITB but this time the Impact blew open the game with five runs in the top of the 8th to move to the pair of games against the So Cal A’s.
The A’s had rolled undefeated into today thanks to the strong arm and bat of Devyn Netz, who once again was strong in the circle early on, but seemed to tire late in the first game as the Impact scored four in the top of the 8th to lock down the first game.
