Saturday was championship day concluding Week 1 at the 2023 PGF Nationals with the 18U and 16U Premier titles on the line.
Here’s a look at how the latest PGF 18U National Championship was a huge comeback win for the eventual victory in the second the two title games in Deanna Manning Stadium at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif….
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PGF 18U Nationals Premier Championship: Rock Gold – Manetta 5, Beverly Bandits – Conroy 3
Both finalists in the PGF 18U Premier Championships, the Beverly Bandits- Conroy and Rock Gold – Manetta, swept through the winner’s bracket and didn’t need to play IF games to make it.
Both teams were unbeaten for the tourney heading into Saturday’s showdown and—behind the arm of South Carolina-signee Sage Mardjetko, who had pitched a perfect game on Friday and had won four straight games for the Bandits—the question was, could the Rock Gold hitters figure her out?
The game was scoreless until the 4th inning, when Samford-bound catcher Katie Campbell singled in the first run of the game.
It stayed that way until the top of the 6th inning when the Bandits put three on the board highlighted by a two-run double by Gabi Comia, a 2024 middle infielder committed to Florida, and it looked good for Head Coach Bill Conroy and his team to put the game away with Mardjetko in the circle.
The Rock Gold didn’t give up with six outs to go, however, but instead battled back from the 3-1 deficit to score four key runs in the bottom of the 6th to jump back on top 5-3 and then shut down the Bandits in the top of the 7th to win the National Championship.
Jasmine “Jazz” Jones, the middle infielder signed with Jacksonville, had the big blow for Rock Gold as she hit a two-run single to break the 3-3 tie, scoring Kassidy Pontbriant and Megan Rasmussen, both 2023s going to Jacksonville and Jacksonville State, respectively, who had singled before the big two-run game decider.
Here, Jones comments on the game-deciding hit and what was going through her mind prior to driving in the winning runs…
Rock Gold started Skylar Waggoner in the circle and gave up four hits and three runs over 5.1 innings and had four strikeouts. Zoe Yzaguirre finished the game for Rock Gold by throwing 1.2 innings giving up three hits but no runs.
For the Bandits, Mardjetko went six innings and gave up seven hits, five earned runs, struck out 12 and had one walk.
On the offensive side, second baseman Kirnan Bailey, a 2023 grad headed to the Univ. of Dayton, went 3-for-3 with a run scored for the Bandits while Rock Gold had seven different players get a hit.
It was an emotional victory for Coach Manetta who noted that he had coached several players since they were at 10U.
Here’s our interview with Coach Manetta immediately after the win:
And here’s a final shot, behind the screen on ground level, as Rock Gold gets the final out and celebrates in the circle…
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
