​By Jason Hanes

Coming in with her team down 3-0 in the first inning, pitcher Jordyn Partain slammed the door for the rest of the way, allowing only a single and a walk while retiring 11 in a row at one point to help Atlanta Vipers Gold 18U Holbrook to a 9-3 win over Prospex Gold 18U in 18U Elite Bracket Play at the Triple Crown Southeast Regionals.

“They win together as a team, and they lose together as a team,” head coach Jason Holbrook said. “They’ve really come together at the right time during the summer. They’ve really been putting in the time hitting, the pitchers have been putting in the extra time pitching. I think they’re hopefully peaking at the right time.”

Nine of the 11 outs Partain recorded consecutively were on balls put in play by Prospex batters. Partain, a University of Georgia commit, was backed by solid defense all over the diamond, with eight of the outs on balls in play coming on ground outs. “I was just trying to get outs in any way I could. A strikeout is great but a ground ball is even better. My defense is great. I really trust them.”

Partain entered after a three-run homer to right-center by Karsi Lentz gave Prospex the early advantage. RBI singles in the bottom of the first by Gatorade Georgia High School Softball Player of the Year Megan Bloodworth and University of Louisiana signee Mackenzie White brought the Vipers back within a run after a frame.

In the second, the Vipers loaded the bases and tied the game on a walk to Ole Miss signee Natalie Ray. White would then lift a sacrifice fly to score the go-ahead run, and when the throw to the infield got away, another run would come in to make it 5-3.

The score stayed the same until the bottom of the fifth, when a throwing error gave Vipers Holbrook a run, and an infield hit by UGA commit Jaydyn Goodwin ended the game with two runs scoring as the time limit expired on the contest.

Partain’s streak of retiring batters ended in the fourth with a walk, but a smooth double play turned by her defense erased the runner from the base. Then, Kyndall Bailey made the defensive play of the game when she dove forward and made a stunning catch in right field to end the inning.

“A play like that just hypes me up,” Partain said. “That would have been a hit if she hadn’t caught that. So I was like, Yes!”

The win gives Atlanta Vipers Gold 18U Holbrook a 10 a.m. contest against EC Bullets 18 Gold – Schnutte. “We just need to be patient at the plate and not chase pitches,” coach Holbrook said. “They’re going to have to be aware of situations. We’ve got to score runs, so they’ve got to have good situational hitting.”

“I feel like we’ve done really well,” said Partain. “We’ve been hitting the ball really well. Our pitching has been doing great. We’ve only given up [eight] runs so far. We just have to keep playing good if we want to keep winning.”

By Jason Hanes

​Some teams don’t play well early in the morning, but Firecrackers Bowen isn’t one of those teams. The 16u squad handled the early wake-up call on the first day of the Triple Crown Southeast Nationals with aplomb, defeating Intensity National KOD/Bodell 4-0 in the opening game before turning around and topping Lady Blues Miller 10-2 in the second half of the Pool L doubleheader.

“We always have the eight o’clock game, so we’re used to it,” said head coach Jessica Bowen. “They always come out early in the morning ready to go. I challenge them with that. Usually it starts with hitting, and everything else follows.”

“I think we’re all just really proud and just really excited,” said catcher Breonn Newbille. “We all want to win, but we had a lot of fun the last two games.”

After a shutout based on pitching and defense in the opener, Firecrackers Bowen scored in every inning of the second game, plating six in the fourth to put the game out of reach. “What I was most impressed with my team was that they weren’t swinging at balls,” Bowen said, “but whenever the balls were pitched in there, we weren’t watching a lot of strikes.”

After manufacturing a pair of runs in the first to hold a 2-0 lead, Firecrackers Bowen would allow a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 2-1. A one-out single in the second made it 3-1, and then a two-out knock by Caitlyn Hall in the third would make it 4-1. 

The fourth inning would see Firecrackers Bowen put the game out of reach with six big runs. The most exciting play came on what seemed to be a harmless pickoff move to first with the bases loaded. Instead, Ava Gurule sprinted home and beat the throw for a straight steal of home.
“Sixty feet is key,” Bowen said. “We work on taking extra bases in practice because an extra 60-feet can make the difference in a ball game.”

“Every tournament we play, we just try to get better with the things we’re struggling [with],” Newbille said. “The last few weekends, we’ve been focusing on trying to get our hitting up, and we have. We all had each other’s backs today. If one person messed up or if one person did good, we all helped each other and told each other we did good. We really fed off of each other hitting-wise.”
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The wins allowed Firecrackers Bowen to win Pool L and move into the Elite Bracket at the Southeast Nationals. “I’m proud of them. I want to play the best competition we can because if we don’t play the best, that’s not good enough for me,” said Bowen. “I wanted them to be in that top bracket.”

TC Fastpitch World Series: 16u/18u Roundup

SAN DIEGO, CA – After two days of action at the Triple Crown World Series, a handful of teams are showing early muscle as the 18u Gold Brackets A and B take shape.
 
After Wednesday’s games, there are four teams on the highest perch with 4-0 records: West Coast Wolverines (Lincoln, CA), Team Velocity (Tucson, AZ), Arizona Storm Westover (San Tan Valley, AZ) and Athletics Jendro Premier (Wildomar, CA).
 
Teams will fight it out through Friday for a spot in the eight-team Championship Bracket, with the title game scheduled for Saturday at 1:15 p.m.
 
In the 16u division, there are some impressive 4-0 squads, including AZ Steel 05/06 (Marana, AZ), WA Angels (Kennewick, WA), Vendetta AZ (Gilbert, AZ), EC Bullets CA (Temecula, CA), EC Bullets Aguirre (San Diego, CA), Firecrackers Leles (Sacramento, CA), USA Phenom (Oak Park, CA) and Batbusters Cougoule (Los Gatos, CA).
 
The title game for the 16’s is also at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday. One of the hottest hitters in the group is Mackenzie Nervis of Batbusters Gomes Ching, who has two home runs and 13 RBI in just 10 at-bats.

16/18u Schedule & Scores
AthletesGoLive Leaderboard
 
TC Fastpitch World Series:14u Roundup
 
PARK CITY, UT – Undefeated teams through two days of pool play dot the brackets, including Explosion Rollin (Salt Lake City, UT), Heat 06/07 (Springville, UT), AASA Johnson (Roseville, CA), Sno Shock (Snohomish, WA), Dynasty 07 (Santee, CA), Firecrackers Workman (Burbank, CA), Colorado Angels (Erie, CO), Utah Heat (Alpine, UT) and the Vegas Valkyries (Las Vegas, NV).
 
The Gold Bracket championship game is slated for Saturday at 1:15 p.m.

14u Schedule & Scores
AthletesGoLive Leaderboard

​Proving that the sports world is hungry for a return to normalcy, and also on the hunt for something special, Triple Crown Sports will welcome a record 1,000 teams to Colorado’s Front Range for the 4th of July (Sparker/Fireworks) event, slated for June 25-July 4, 2021.
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Stretching from the northern communities of Fort Collins and Greeley all the way down the I-25 corridor through Denver to Colorado Springs, the 4th of July tournament has rebounded fiercely from the pandemic-related disruptions of 2020 to once again welcome age groups 12u through 18u. The nation’s most competitive and high-achieving club programs will arrive in droves as the TCS fastpitch division puts 33 complexes and 155 fields in motion.

The event has long been a prized destination for college coaches and programs as they look for talent to fortify their rosters. Showcase games as well as tournament play will put athletes in front of more than 500 coaches; added value comes through a series of camps and clinics directed by the coaching staffs from national D-I powerhouses through NAIA and JUCO programs.

New to the 4th of July menu is the TC International Challenge, which kicks off the excitement from June 25-27 at the Christopher Fields complex in Westminster. These 23 teams were built on rosters that give players a unique opportunity to represent their nationalities and will be another recruiting highlight on the schedule.

Tournament officials are gearing up for two powerful convergence moments during the event, on the evenings of June 30 at Christopher Fields and July 1 at Aurora Sports Park. Both nights will feature all-star and power pool games to be broadcast by FloSports along with multiple vendors, food and merchandise options – thousands of people are expected to attend each location.

Other key numbers revolving around the Colorado 4th of July event include:

• 150+ hotel properties
• 50,000+ hotel room nights
• Five umpire assignors
• Nearly 500 umpires
• Over 4,000 games scheduled
• Nearly 15,000 athletes
• 47 states represented 
• 1,400 players in college camps
• 2,000 players in all-star games
  
  

The 12u and 14u Sparkler Juniors brackets will play out in Colorado Springs and north of Denver, respectively. Championship day for all age divisions is Sunday, July 4.
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“Even as the pandemic sidelined so many teams and kept Triple Crown Sports on hold for months, we kept in contact with our customers and resolutely prepared to make the 2021 4th of July event everything it could be,” said TCS fastpitch event director Stephanie Klaviter. “To welcome back so many loyal customers and break participation records is enormously exciting. We’ve missed the competition and the opportunity to help grow the sport, and we will put all our effort into making these 10 days a powerful, memorable experience for players, parents and coaches.”

“We are pleased to welcome Triple Crown Sports back to our community. There is no question about the significant economic effect that tourism brings, and tournaments such as the Colorado 4th of July add a large boost to our city at a time we so desperately need it in the aftermath of COVID,” said Juliet Abdel, president and CEO of the Westminster Chamber of Commerce. “Attendees spend dollars in gas, food, lodging and retail. This is pivotal to key areas of job creation, revenue for the betterment of our community’s infrastructure needs and our economy, which will ensure business doors stay open and families are taken care of.”
 
“Loveland is thrilled to welcome back the Colorado 4th of July tournament for 2021,” said Chris Bierdeman, group sales coordinator for Visit Loveland. “With the majority of the pandemic restrictions now lifted, we look forward to sharing the beauty of Loveland and northern Colorado with the thousands of players, families, coaches and staff visiting from all over the U.S. The economic impact from an event of this magnitude for a small city like Loveland is huge — that is especially true for our hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions, which really struggled over the past 14 months.”