It was a typically beautiful, sunny day in Orange County as Day 2 of the double-elimination bracket play at PGF Nationals took place.
And there were some big names that fell and some very good games that took place.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of the action from Tuesday in the Premiere age divisions. Remember: this week it’s 18U and 16U; next week it’s 14U, 12U and 10U.
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If there is one noticeable theme that was apparent on Tuesday, it’s that—with all the many club events taking place over the summer—teams are beat up, meaning there are several teams here this week who are fielding just 12, 11 and, in one case, 10 players!
Why?
It’s a combination of things, from players leaving to go play with the U-19 Women’s National Team (Greg Schnute’s East Cobb Bullets team lost two pitchers to play for USA Softball in Lexi Kilfoyl and Callie Turner) to the dreaded injury plague (the Bullets, for example, lost catcher Neely Peterson to a knee injury).
One top coach told us before getting here that his team was dragging, with aching injuries and fatigue.
Then there’s some players who left to go to college early, for academic reasons or to get a head start for school, and then, in a few cases, we’ve heard that some athletes just quit because it was all becoming too much.
It’s crazy, the best summer event in terms of talent might become a Battle of Attrition, meaning it will be who can survive and endure the club season gauntlet the best.
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Then there were the games and there were some great ones.
Many were saying that over in Fountain Valley where the 16U teams are playing is where you’d find the bulk of the college coaches, but we saw half the SEC represented at perhaps the most anticipated game of the day, the PA Chaos vs. Athletics – Mercado/Smith game.
The Chaos had just won the TC/US Nationals last week and featured perhaps the hottest pitcher in the country in Maddie Penta, the 2020 grad committed to Auburn.
The A’s had their own standout in Allison Royalty, a 2020 commit to Arizona State and the game, not, surprisingly was a pitcher’s duel. Only six hits were allowed between the two pitchers.