RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
There was no getting to bed early for some of the top teams at PGF Nationals and we were there for the 14 hours of competition!
First we started at 12U in Fountain Valley, then over to Huntington Beach Sports Complex for 14U, then back to Fountain Valley for the Winner’s Bracket action at 2:45 pm and finally back to Huntington Beach to check out the great action in the evening!
Yes, it was a long day but we got to see a lot of great stuff including a perfect game!
Here are some of the highlights…
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14U RECAP
It was quite the day for Keagan Rothrock (2023, Florida), the outstanding pitcher for TN Mojo – Fisher.
In the first Winner’s Bracket game of the day all she did was pitch a perfect game with 15 strikeouts to beat the Central Cal Dirtdogs 2-0, but it didn’t come easily.
Facing a standout pitcher across the field in Ryan Maddox (2022, uncommitted), the Mojo were only able to get five hits offensively and didn’t score the game’s first run until the top of the 7th inning.
Taylor Pannell (2022, Auburn) and Maci Bergeron (2022, LSU) singled and Pannell came around to score on an Angelee Bueno (2023, Florida State) RBI single. An error brought home the second and last run of the game.
In the second Winner’s Bracket game of the day, Rothrock quickly saw her perfect day come to an end as the leadoff hitter for Firecrackers-Brashear 2022 singled, but she looked to be cruising as her offense staked her to a 5-0 lead in the second inning.
However, the Firecrackers scored two runs in the bottom of the 3rd and 2 more in the bottom of the 4th courtesy of an efficient bunting game and finally tied it in the bottom of the 7th.
The game would go to the 11th inning before Pannell would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the winning run.
Rothrock gave up seven hits and three earned runs but did strike out 15, including several in key spots in the extra innings.
Asked afterwards what she was thinking, she responded: “I just wanted ice cream, I keep thinking during the entire game how I could go for some Baskin Robbins ice cream!”
*****
The Mojo will face at 10:15 am PST the Oklahoma Hotshots which defeated a talented OC Batbusters – Stith squad 5-4 despite being outhit 11-to-4.
The key to the win for JC Yeatts team was the pitching of Ashanti McDade (2022, uncommitted), who came in the 4th inning when the Hotshots were trailing 3-0; she threw four innings giving up just one unearned run while striking out five Batbuster players until her team could win it in the bottom of the 8th.
“It was nerve-racking,” the pitcher admitted after the game. “Honestly, I’m tired right now. It was just an amazing game.” She would later add, “I might have looked focused, but I was really nervous.”
Bella Cabral (2023, uncommitted) scored the winning run after getting a bunt single to start the inning. She also had a two-run home run to help the Hotshots score four runs in the bottom of the 5th inning.
