USA Softball GOLD National Championships… 18U Title Decided Saturday, 16U on Sunday Morning in Pair of Run-Rule Finals

The 2023 USA Softball GOLD National Championships saw the 18U team crowned Saturday night with the 16U title finale pushed Sunday morning in the “IF necessary format.”

Eventually, however, the travel ball tourney wrapped up with two happy squads in the Heartbreakers Gold National team seizing the 18U title Saturday night and The Epic National 07 team carrying home the 16U trophy after its victory Sunday morning.

It was a long week of competition for the 36 total teams in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex as pool play kicked off Monday for both age divisions with bracket competition starting Wednesday.

Overall, 36 teams battled for trophies in the 18U and 16U GOLD age divisions at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla., that came down to this weekend’s finales.

Here are the recaps of the championships with information and photos provided by USA Softball…

18U GOLD NATIONAL CHAMPION – HEARTBREAKERS GOLD

The Heartbreakers Gold National became the event’s 30th 18-Under National Champion with a 10-2 (five innings) run-rule win over Louisiana Blazers Elite.

Punching its ticket to the 18-Under GOLD National Championship game, Heartbreakers Gold National defeated Rock Gold Waye, 4-3, to add to its six-game win streak while Louisiana Blazers Elite also took down the Rock with a 4-0 shutout win in the loser’s bracket semi-final to clinch a spot in the Championship.

Louisiana Blazers Elite kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second with a pair of singles and two free passes – via hit by pitch and walk – followed by a fielder’s choice to put the Blazers up by two, after two innings.

Instantly responding with two singles and a triple in the top of the third, Heartbreakers tied up the ballgame before breaking it open with another single and a two-run shot to center field to pull ahead, 5-2.

The Heartbreaker defense took care of business in the bottom of the frame while keeping the foot on the gas offensively with three-straight singles in the fourth – setting the stage for a sac-fly to plate another.

A hard ground ball up the middle forced chaos to ensue as a defensive error by the Blazers allowed runners to advance, with the score landing at 8-2 after the dust settled. Looking to get something going in the bottom of the fourth, the Blazers manufactured two base runners with a walk and a single, but a strikeout and fly out would snuff the light once again.

Keeping things rolling — both with big swings and small ball — a solo home run followed by a double, sac bunt and a single gave the Heartbreakers two more runs as the game officially entered run-rule territory with a score of 10-2 heading to the bottom of the fifth.

The Blazers would put a runner on with two outs, but a pop up to the short stop would record the third out of the inning as the Heartbreaker squad sealed the 10-2 run-rule victory and the 2023 18U GOLD National Championship title.

Heartbreakers Gold National reigns as the newest GOLD National Champion after mowing down the competition with eight-straight wins (8-0 record for the week) and 60 runs scored while allowing a low of only 15.

Athletes from the Maryland squad pepper the leaderboard with Sydney Orndorff leading the tournament in both batting average and on-base percentage while Avery Neuman and Taylor Smith tied for second in home runs (2) with Smith also dominating in the circle with a tournament-leading 46 strikeouts.

Totaling a 7-3 record with 66 runs scored, the Blazers squad from Louisiana finished in the runner-up position with standout players ranking among the top of all GOLD Nationals participants, including Taylor Douglas leading the pack with three home runs while recording four doubles and 13 hits alongside Brilee Ford, with Chloe Magee tallying 14 of her own.

A two-way player for the Blazers, Douglas also posted impressive pitching stats throughout the tournament with a total of 28 strikeouts behind a team fielding percentage of over .900.

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16U GOLD NATIONAL CHAMPION – BUZZ GOLD

The very last game of the tournament, an IF Game, was a two-act play as the Epic 07 team jumped out to an 8-2 lead but the Buzz 16U Gold team roared back to take the lead 9-8 in the 4th inning before winning it by a score of 16-8.

A 10th 16-Under GOLD National Champion was crowned today in the winner-take-all game.

The 16-8 (five innings) run-rule victory came on Sunday morning after Buzz forced the “if-necessary” game with a 2-1 victory over Epic in Saturday night’s first Championship contest. Buzz 16u Gold entered the final contest with a 7-3 overall record – climbing out of the loser’s bracket to win five-straight elimination games en route to the 2023 GOLD National Championship title.

Contrary to last night’s defensive battle, Sunday’s Championship contest was full of offensive action with the two squads combining for 24 runs off 29 hits.

Epic 07 National jumped out to a quick start with a single and a stolen base followed by a line drive to left field to score a run in the first. Extending its lead in the top of the second, Epic strung together three base hits before forcing an error to plate two more with a 3-0 score heading to the bottom of the frame.

Buzz answered with four baserunners and two runs of its own before Epic struck again in the third – opening the floodgates with seven singles and five runs to move ahead 8-2.

Both sides remained quiet until the bottom of the 4th inning when a leadoff single followed by a walk sparked a rally for Buzz Gold, scoring three runs before a slick double play from the Epic third baseman looked to shut things down. Refusing to quit, though, Buzz responded with a single to left field to take back the momentum. Continuing to pressure the Epic defense, Buzz collected an additional base hit while drawing four walks – scoring four more runs to take the lead, 9-8.

𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 #GOLDNationals 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝟭𝟲𝗨 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🏆

Climbing out of the loser's bracket with five-straight victories — Relive the path to the natty 🤩 ↓

𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗣 🗞️ https://t.co/orYjLlmGig pic.twitter.com/K13d4R00oM

— USA Softball (@USASoftball) July 23, 2023

A leadoff walk and a two-out single in the top of the fifth gave Epic a chance to score, but the inning ended on the base paths before the squad could plate a run. With high energy and hot bats, Buzz Gold continued its scoring streak in the bottom of the fifth with a walk and a leadoff double to make it 10-8 before another double play from the Epic defense put two outs on the board.

Remaining unfazed, Buzz came back with five runs on five-straight singles to put them within one of the run rule. A hard ground ball up the middle would force an error, allowing the winning run to cross the plate for Buzz Gold as they sealed the 16-8 victory and the 16-Under GOLD National Championship title.

Buzz 16u Gold finished the tournament with an 8-3 overall record and five-straight wins in the loser’s bracket after getting off to a 1-2 start through its first three games. The squad tallied 79 runs while blasting 21 doubles and four triples in its 103 hits with the Buzz pitching staff combining for 26 strikeouts in the circle.

Ranking atop the leaderboard in quality at-bats, the Buzz lineup was highlighted by Journey Denton and Harper Haas – each with 13 RBI apiece – with Haas also recording one of the tournament’s highest batting averages while Lexi Rosillo led all athletes in doubles, reaching second seven times over the last week.

With a 7-2 record through the tournament, Epic 07 National’s only losses came in Championship play. Scoring a total of 61 runs through nine games, the Epic offense slugged 90 hits while the pitching staff recorded 27 outs in the circle via strikeout. Saige Bacon led the squad – and the tournament – in batting average and hits (17) while Taylor Clay followed closely with 13 of her own.

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2023 USA Softball GOLD National Championships – Participating Teams