July 2, 2026
by Kyle Koso
LOVELAND — As you do when in Colorado for the Triple Crown Sports 4th of July softball event, the Mississippi Bombers 14u Premier Fuller team had their sights on a white-water raft trip later Wednesday afternoon.
But the first task to tackle — unleash a river of runs on the scorebook.
After watching the Firecrackers 14u VInes/Kelley take the lead in the fifth inning with a five-run outburst, the Bombers powered through 19 at bats and 14 runs in the top of the sixth, rolling to a 20-11 victory at Centennial Field. The Bombers (Ocean Springs, MS) paired it with a 13-8 win over Stickfire (Fort Worth, TX) to end a draining but successful Day 1 at the Sparkler Juniors piece of the tournament.
Leading 6-4 through four innings, the Bombers had wriggled out of trouble once, thanks to the strong throwing arm and tagging skills of catcher Ele Smith that defused a rally by the Firecrackers (Mission Viejo, CA) in the third inning. However, the Firecrackers regained their edge in the fifth and took a 9-6 lead — Meghan Domeracki tied it with a double and Sofie Markle secured the lead with another RBI double.
In the top of the sixth, eight Bombers batters reached before their first out. Bristal Webster knotted the game at 9-all with a single, and Lucy Welte then smoked a three-run double to right field, with many more runs to come.
“We were just really hyped, with really great organization,” said Webster, who had three singles and three RBI. “I was eager to get on base, and that’s what I did. We came out here to do a job, and we’re doing that job so far.”
“We felt down there a little bit (after the Firecrackers rally) but we knew we could come back and hit. That felt way better,” Welte said. “My plan was to just take the best pitch and tale it away.”
Three other players had three RBI for the Bombers in Hayden Culpepper, Eva Rose and Amelia Gruber. Gruber started in the circle and threw three innings. Smith had two doubles in the sixth inning.
“I told them they just need to calm down and make the plays. We’re up here, 18 or 20 hours away from home, there’s no pressure … let’s just go play softball,” said Bombers coach Tori Gum. “They love winning, and when the have pressure on them, they’re dogs, they love to fight and compete, and I’m so proud of them. We need to clean up the defense, make the little easy plays. Our pitchers will keep working hard, just have to clean some things up.”
Domeracki had four hits, three runs and two RBI for the Firecrackers out of the leadoff spot. Evie Shafiyoon drove in three runs, and Hailey Kelly had a double, triple, RBI and run scored.
