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It all came down to Thursday for the TC/USA Nationals produced by Triple Crown Sports as each of the age divisions—18U, 16U and 14U—had eight teams ready to fight for the trophy.
At the end of the day, three teams were left standing and forever can call themselves National Champions!
Here are the final recaps with photos courtesy of Triple Crown Sports…
*****
Right Moves Put PA Chaos in Right Spot to Claim 18U TC/USA Title
by Kyle Koso
CUMMING, Ga. — When a coach makes the right call on a reliever, every player becomes a believer.
The PA Chaos Gold squad certainly had contributors up and down the roster Thursday, but the team grabbed ultimate control in the TC/USA Nationals 18u title game when pitcher Madison Penta took over against Aces Express Gold-McCorkle. Penta kept the opposition in check, and the Chaos tacked on five late runs to polish off a 9-2 victory at Fowler Park.
Penta got the final out of the fourth inning as the Chaos held a tight 4-2 lead, and she went on to strike out six batters, including the final one in the fifth inning as the Aces mounted a charge. In the meantime, the Chaos extended their edge as leadoff batter Taylor Vitola (3-for-5, three runs) and No. 2 hitter Grace Jackson (on base five times) scored twice each in the later innings.
“We’re blessed with great pitching; Penta is a stud, and she’s carried us through the winner’s bracket here,” said Chaos coach Joe Spina. “(Starter) Haylei Archer did a tremendous job taking some innings and keeping Penta fresh so she could finish. It was our plan to get the ball back to Penta when it was time.”
“When it was 4-2, I was a little stressed, but I try to never let that get to me. I pitch my game, and I know I’ve thrown well prior to that,” said Penta, who will play at Auburn in the fall. “I knew as long as I gave it my all and the defense had my back, I would be just fine. We’ve practiced and we play to win. We were on a roll offensively and defensively, and as soon as I got here, I was ready to win it.”
The Chaos went ahead 4-0 in the second inning; Megan Herka doubled and scored, and Morgan Mesaros (James Madison) stole home as Vitola (UNC-Wilmington) drew a throw as she stole second base. The Aces countered with a solo home run by Sydney Hoyt (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) and a two-out RBI from Kaitlyn Morado (UT-San Antonio).
Vitola and Jackson (Princeton) came through with clutch hits to open up the margin, and Ava Franz drove in a run with a double in the sixth. Two more runs came across on an error.
“I like the leadoff position because it’s fun to have the challenge at the beginning of the game, to read the pitcher and see where the defense is playing,” Vitola said. “I knew I wanted to take some of the stress off our pitchers (late in the game), and I saw the defense creep up, so I looked to get it over their heads. It’s nice to have the pitching, and it makes our defense more relaxed, although when the other team puts it in play we have to be there.”
“We talked about it all week, just keep adding runs. When you’re at a national event like this playing great teams, they aren’t going to go away,” Spina said. “We had to keep putting pressure on them; the pressure mounts, and you end up cracking through.
“For the past five years, we’ve had good national level teams. We’ve had an aura about us and known we are as good as any team in the country. We talk about it all the time; we may not be the biggest group, but we have heart and we expect to win.”
*****
East Cobb Bullets – Biele/Heath Seal 16U USA Nationals title
By Thomas Hoffman
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Fueled by a final day loss two weeks ago at the Triple Crown Colorado 4th of July, East Cobb Bullets – Biele/Heath have been on a direct trajectory towards the 16u championship at TC/USA Nationals. Knocking off Fury Platinum and Nebraska Gold to reach the title game, East Cobb completed Thursday’s hat trick with a 2-0 victory over Glory Adkins – Locke to claim the crown.
“To win a national championship against the caliber of teams that were here in Georgia is probably the best thing that could happen to these girls,” said head coach JD Heath. “This just puts them on the top of everybody’s list, to win a championship like this. It brightens their futures so much for softball.”
While East Cobb charged by Nebraska Gold, 10-2, Glory Adkins needed extras to slide past Carolina Elite Gold, 10-8, setting up the all-Georgia final.
Even though it was the Bullets who showed its offensive prowess in the semifinals, Glory put the pressure on East Cobb early and often, placing runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings. Starting pitcher Lexie Delbrey was zeroed in from start to finish for the Bullets, though, especially in the game’s tense moments.
“I had to be dialed in for this game,” Delbrey said. “I wanted to win a national championship, so I did what I had to do.”
Sophia Voyles did her best to keep pace with Delbrey. Through her first three innings, Voyles only saw nine batters, striking out five.
“Glory is an amazing team and I knew the game was going to be decided by big hit or two,” Heath explained. “While we were waiting for them to finish up their semifinal, I decided to have a little home run derby with my girls to get them loose.
“In the middle of the game with us tied at zero, I started to think we were going to hit a long ball. I didn’t know who it’d be, but I felt it was coming.”
Heath’s premonition was vindicated in the top of the fourth inning when Katie Taylor stepped to the plate. Hitting from the bottom of the order, Taylor vaulted her team on top with a solo shot over the centerfield fence.
“I was just looking for a pitch to get contact and get something started,” Taylor said. “Since I was leadoff that inning, I just wanted to make a good swing on the best pitch possible. I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it.”
An inning later, Kenadie Cooper matched Taylor’s effort with a solo shot of her own, jumping on the first pitch of the at-bat. In a game where runs were coming at a premium, East Cobb’s 2-0 lead now loomed large.
“I just saw the first pitch come right down the middle,” said Cooper. “I was thinking, ‘this is an opportunity I don’t want to miss and I better take it.’ This was our last game of the tournament. I think I was really focused and dialed in because I wanted to do it for my team.”
Meanwhile, Delbrey continued to throw zeroes up on the scoreboard.
Tensions rose in the bottom of the sixth inning with Glory runners on second and third and just one out. Undeterred by the pressure-packed situation, Delbrey calmly ended the frame with a pop fly to third base and a strikeout.
“I don’t really think in the circle,” Delbrey said. “The runners really didn’t matter. I just told myself to keep them from hitting.”
In the seventh, Glory manage a two-out base knock but the last-ditch effort was soon short-lived. Delbrey forced the final groundout, handing the Bullets a 16u TC/USA Nationals title.
“To win this with all my teammates is awesome,” said Cooper. “We all love each other so much and we’re such a good team together. It means a lot.”
It took 12 games in the Georgia heat but at the end of the day coach Heath and Bullets can call themselves TC/USA Nationals Champions.
“I love this team so much,” Delbrey said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team to share this with.”
*****
Relentless Team North Carolina (Eaton) Takes 14U Championship
by Jason Hanes
Last year, Team North Carolina (Eaton) fell just short of the 14u championship game at the Triple Crown/USA Nationals. This year, with another year of strength and experience under their belts, the team that came in third last year made sure that they would not fall short.
Olivia Cainey went the distance in the circle, and a four-run second and a three-run third were more than enough offense for Team North Carolina to pick up a 7-1 victory in the 14U championship over Texas Bombers Gold Hybrid in Cumming, Ga., on Thursday afternoon.
The win capped an undefeated run through both pool play and bracket play for Team North Carolina. After a 2-0 win over Miami Stingrays Gold to start Thursday, a 10-2 win over Aces Express Futures led into the championship game. For four days in Cumming, Team North Carolina went 9-0.
“Last year, we got third, and Coach Nate was like ‘I’m not coming back here for third, we’re going to get first,’” Cainey said. “We all knew what we had to get done, and that’s how we got here undefeated.”
Cainey was helped by a solid defense behind her that helped bail the starter out of trouble when runners got on base. Texas Bombers would get runners into scoring position in the first and second innings, but Cainey and her defense kept the Bombers at bay.
“I’m just so thankful that my defense is there for me,” Cainey said. “They’re always there and always ready for me. We have very few errors, even in the outfield. I would say that I have the best infield in the nation.”
After seeing the first five batters go down in order to start the game, Team North Carolina saw the offense click into another gear with two out in the second. A single by Janelle Ilacquea was followed by a walk to Ellie Goins. Sylvia Burroughs then came through with her first big hit of the game as her double into left center scored Ilacquea to make it 1-0.
Following a walk, Skyler Harrelson laid down a perfect bunt 10-feet away from the plate on the first base side, allowing Goins to score to make it 2-0. Aleyah Terrell came through with the final blow of the inning, as her single through the right side drove in a run, then after the ball was misplayed, a second run came in to score on the play, making it 4-0.
“It starts with us with our speed game,” said Team North Carolina head coach Nate Eaton. “We have a lot of good hitters on this team, and we have a lot of good athletes. We have a lot of determined kids who know they’re playing for something a lot bigger than themselves. I think that’s what makes this team pretty special.”
In the third, a Goins sacrifice fly with two runners on plated a run to make it 5-0. Burroughs came up with a runner on second and a chance to put the game out of reach. She would hit a drive to left-center field that didn’t seem to have the distance to get out; however, it kept carrying through the Georgia heat and humidity for an opposite field homer, giving her side a 7-0 cushion.
“It took me a second too,” said Burroughs. “I was rounding second base and it kind of hit me that it went over. I knew I got good barrel on it, but I didn’t know I got that much of it.”
Texas Bombers would get on the board in the bottom of the inning. Caelee Clark would triple down the line in right to start the inning. She would score one batter later on a ground out to make it 7-1 and keep hope alive for her side.
However, from there, Cainey got into a groove and started setting batters down quickly and quietly. “She came out and was spinning the ball well and hitting her spots,” Burroughs said. “With our defense, that’s all we really need.”
“Through the offseason, our big thing was ‘Be Relentless’ and ‘Do Damage,’” said Burroughs. “We knew no matter how hot it was or how tired we were, we had to come out and do damage and be relentless.”
“I think it really started for us last year, when we came to Atlanta, we played 18 games in six days,” Coach Eaton said.
“We went into the offseason, and these kids grew a lot and got a lot stronger. We trained a lot and practiced a lot. I think that’s what makes us different than a lot of teams at this level is that we have a lot of dedicated parents who are willing to sacrifice and drive to get their kids to us to be able to train them. But they do a lot on their own, and I think that has a lot to do with what happened today and what’s going to happen with these kids in the future.”