We thought this article was worth sharing with you from the 16u A Nationals in Sioux Falls South Dakota. It was written by Dave Martin from the Sports Desk at the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls...  Congratulations to all teams that participated in this National Tournament particularly the Northwest Blaze out of Oregon and the Killer Bees out of Arizona... Sounds like the finals were everything you would want  in a national championship... Stop by The Softball Clinic travel ball page as we'll be updating all the national tournaments. 




Story by Dave Martin Sioux Falls Argus Leader Newspaper:

There could not have been much more drama to the finale of the ASA 16-under girls fastpitch national softball championship at Sherman Park on Sunday.

In the second title game, the Northwest Blaze was down 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh - and final - inning.

With lightning flashing in the western sky, time was running out, but the Blaze had their big bats coming up against the Arizona Killer Bees, who had built a 4-0 lead after three innings.

As storm clouds rolled in, leadoff hitter Alyssa Gillespie and Tara Glover rapped out back-to-back singles, setting the stage for third-place batter Kaitlin Inglesh, who won the first title game pitching relief and was working in relief once again.

On the second pitch, Inglesh launched a shot over the fence in right field for a three-run, walk-off homer and a 5-4 win, which set off a wild victory celebration by the Beavertown, Ore., squad.

"I just knew I needed to get a hit right then," she said. "She (Bees pitcher Olivia Bergman, who delivered a yeoman's work on the mound), was pitching me down the middle every time, so I figured after the first pitch, she would throw me another one - and she did."

At the moment Inglesh made contact, there was never a doubt it would leave the park.

The victory came in the 18th game of the tournament for the Blaze, who ended the season with a 57-3 record and a national championship in their sixth try.

The Killer Bees, from the Tucson area, ended 73-19 and nearly rallied to win the title in the first game.

The Bees tied that game at 4-4 with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh on RBI singles by Ashley Cruz and Darlene Valles.

But the never-say-die Blaze came up with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Krystin Jantzek with the bases loaded and no outs.

"Incredible. They were just unbelievable," Blaze coach Chris Kelly said of his squad's twin last-bat wins.

"After we finished seventh in the nationals last year, these kids said they wanted another shot - and this was the sixth time they've been to nationals, and they knew this was it. It was now or never."

 

After losing in the second championship bracket game earlier last week, the Blaze had no more room for error.

"We knew then it wouldn't be easy," Inglesh said, "but we also knew if anybody could do it, it would be us."

For Inglesh, it was her third strong pitching performance of the day.

"I wasn't tired. I used my curve a lot. I just wanted to keep them guessing and get them to pop up," she said. "I needed to show them I still had my best stuff."

The Blaze had 11 hits in the final game and 10 in the first, while the Killer Bees had 10 in each outing.

Catcher Elizabeth Brenner had a key two-run homer in the first game to give the Blaze a 4-1 lead before the Bees rallied late.

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