HS & Club Softball

18U Championship Bracket: USA Elite Select WFC

The Championship bracket play started on Saturday morning for all divisions in the USA Elite Select World Fastpitch Championships. Moving venues, teams gathered at the Kansas City Urban Youth Complex. Due to an early weather delay, games were pushed back to later times but still produced a great display of softball. Coming into Saturday’s 18U competition were the final four teams OC Batbusters Stith, Demarini Aces 18U, Texas Glory, and Tulsa Elite 18U Jacks. The Texas Glory were crowned the 18U USA Elite Select World Fastpitch Champions at the end of Saturday.

18U Championship Game: OC Batbusters – Stith vs. Texas Glory

On a warm summer night with the lights on in Kansas City, a suspenseful Championship game was played. The OC Batbusters and Texas Glory battled until the last inning when the Glory posted three home runs in a row to knock off the undefeated Batbusters. The final was 4-1.

The Glory leaned on pitcher Mattie Boyd (Oklahoma State) for three innings. Boyd displayed speed, delivery, movement, and kept the Batbusters on their toes while she painted the zone. Jaycee Cook finished off the game for the Glory, throwing hard and hitting her catchers glove wherever she put it. We got to see the speed of the Glory squad and their passion for the game. The game was tied 1-1 from the beginning, but the last inning was where the Glory got to have some fun with three back-to-back home runs. LSU commit, Hayden Brown started it off with a solo shot to center to make it 2-1. Lindsay Edwards (Louisiana Tech) came up next putting hers over the center field fence making it 3-1. Then Gracie Morton came up after a pitching change to send another over the wall to tally their fourth and final run in the last inning. Even after the home runs, Trinity Cannon and Claudia Ware both found their way on-base with a single each. On defense for the Glory, Sidney Sikes showed her strength by throwing out the Batbusters lead-off runner and known speedster Jordan Strange. Tulsa commit, Haley Morgan, also held her ground in the field at second fielding ground balls behind second and catching fly balls behind first.

The Batbusters came into the Championship game with a perfect record. Being the team to beat was not a new feeling for the team. Vanessa Foreman started in the circle for the Batbusters using the whole zone and appearing extremely controlled. With a rotation of pitchers for the night, Madi Elish made an appearance in the fourth with a mixture of speeds to keep the batters off balance. Elish was in until the seventh inning when Olivia Rains stepped in for two outs and Alanna Thiede for the last. At the plate, Maya Brady Jasmine Perezchica, and Terra McGowan each managed a hit each. Tiare Jennings also displayed her consistency on defense starting the turn of a double play in the first inning.

 

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