Shortly before the summer club season started in earnest, we released the pre-summer Extra Elite Eighty 14U Club Rankings.
Of the Top 50, 22 of them are competing in the PGF 14U Premier Nationals which saw bracket play kick off today at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex under beautiful blue skies and 72 degree weather.
And, of course, that meant it was the perfect time for upsets to happen in the double elimination format.
Some Top 10 teams in the 14U rankings–#4 Beverly Bandits – Chow and #9 Virginia Unity – Johnson—suffered a loss in the opening day of bracket action meaning they’ll have to play more games and come through the Loser’s Bracket and, if they make it that far, will have to beat the Winner’s Bracket team twice.
Not an easy task, but it is doable!
Below you can see all the scores from the 14U Premier action on Wednesday; also, here are some highlights we picked up being at the games….
*****
Along with the top teams above that lost today, another one–#2-ranked Bimringham Thunderbolts – Burns, escaped narrowly, beating the Chicago Bandits 1-0.
The star of that game was pitcher/hitter Jayden Heavener who hit the winning home run in the top of the 7th and also tossed a 11-strikeout shutout.
My top of the 7th HR from today’s 1-0 win in our 1st bracket game. @Bolts2024 @KarenWeekly @GassoPatty @_TimWalton @UACoachMurphy @Jamie_Trachsel @deanAU_TigersSB @rittmanjohn @UGACoachTony @bethtorina @LLefty18 @ExtraInningSB @brentteads @PGFnetwork pic.twitter.com/rPpy5v86fJ
— Jayden Heavener (@JaydenHeavener) August 5, 2021
*** Scroll down to read about more top performances in Day 1 of bracket play at PGF Nationals…
