July 2, 2025
By Alissa Noe
WESTMINSTER — A little intrigue came into play during the bottom of the seventh inning in the Colorado 4th of July 18U National Power Pool championship at Christopher Fields on Wednesday afternoon, but once the eighth was set and done, the Iowa Premier pulled off the 12-11 victory over the Texas Bombers.
Earlier in the day, they were dominating the Bombers at every turn. Call it payback with a side of a heart attack.
“We played them like three times last summer, and they were the ones that kicked us out of nationals,” said Georgia Tech commit Gracie King. “We went to extra innings that game too, so it just felt good to kind of get back at them.”
The Premier provided highlight reel after highlight reel in the early innings with five home runs, building up as much as an 11-4 advantage by the end of the fifth, but the Bombers slowly crept their way back into contention. King provided two of those moonshots, both over the center field fence, in the first and the fourth.
Paige Rummans, Mataia Lawson and Goose Hutchens provided the others.
“I definitely think the second home run was a little Colorado air,” King quipped, “but hey, a home run's a home run.”
True to its name, Texas provided two bombs of its own when it needed it most. Brinley Ramirez led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run, then a three-RBI, right field floater from Elsa Morrison leveled the playing field at 11-11.
Iowa’s Brooklynn Danielson stepped into the circle to finish off the frame, and secured three straight outs to leave the Bombers’ potential game-winning run on third. King — who else? — played hero for the Premier in the top of the eighth thanks to an RBI base hit before Danielson and her defense took it home.
Nothing is ever easy during July 4th near the Mile High City.
“It's so difficult. You got this thin air,” Premier co-head coach Carlos James said. “The pitchers got to pitch a little bit different. You still want them to stay aggressive, but when they do, the hitters are so good, they can take advantage of it. No lead is ever safe here, and that's why we always talk about (how) we don't ever want to stop, we want to keep our foot down. True testament to the Bombers. They’re a great organization, great team.”
