The USA/ASA 18-under Fast Pitch National Championship tournament in College Station at Central Park featured games from the championship and loser brackets.

With more than 130 summer league softball teams starting in this tournament, the competition began to thin out as early as Thursday. The event began on July 29.

This tournament will be played at four different locations including Veteran’s Park, Central Park, Bryan Athletic Complex, and Texas A&M University’s Aggie Field.

The Athlete’s Connection provided on-site coverage for four different games at Central Park.

Brown Mill Lady Jackets (Lithonia, Georgia)  vs. The Next Level
The Brown Mill Lady Jackets blasted past The Next Level. Immediately the Lady Jackets put runs on the board when Jasmine Riley batted in a two-run RBI. Next Level struggled to maintain the Jackets as they continually kept runners on base and connected with the pitches.

The third inning brought more runs for the Jackets. Tamara Perkins snuck home from second as Riley was playing a game of chicken with the first and second basemen. The next inning was much of the same for the Jackets. Ayesha Famble and Brittney Brown were both struck by the ball to land themselves on base and were brought home from Denitia Carter's bunt. Carter crossed home plate after Tamara Perkins connected with Next Level's replacement pitchers' throw.

The Next Level did not give up, finally touching home plate in the seventh inning. Although their efforts were to late Ari Sanders and Samantha Starfiell put two runs on the board for their team. The Jackets took the win with a final score of 6-2.

Lady Jackets Head Coach, Richard Lee said, "We played very well today, we played
great defense and hit the ball well. In this tournament you have to be able to hit to win."

Washington MsStix (Seattle, Washington) vs. Americans (Glendale, Arizona)
Americans Brittany Huss got the ball rolling for her team early with solid hitting en route to a 3-1 victory over the MsStix.

Huss scored Kelly Fischer in the first inning with an RBI single. In the top of the second, Fischer’s RBI single brought home Sue Mehta. From then on there were plenty of hits, but no runs scored until the fifth.

Sara Byrne, of the Americans, would score the final run for the Arizona team in the top the fifth. In the bottom of the same inning, MsStix player Melissa Becker’s RBI single scored Kelsey Brown.

Americans pitcher Morgan Montermayor earned the win while Byrne earned the save.

STPS Ponies (Binghamton, New York) vs. American Pastime (Rancho Cucamonga, California)
Ponies pitcher Angie Sagnelli 5 2/3 innings and gave up one run on three hits to help the New York girls to 2-1 victory over Pastime. Up until the fifth inning the Ponies were not in the lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Ponies had back-to-back hits from Lauren Dahm and Kelly Schuldt to get things started. Liz Hauke and Danielle VanGorder scored the two runs.

Reliever Stephanie Geer retired four batters and earned the save.

Ohio Attack (Stow, Ohio) vs. Indiana Earthquake Orange (Evansville, Indiana)
In a hardcore defensive match up, the ‘Quakes recorded a 4.5 on the Richter scale with 2-0 victory over the Attack.

Pitchers Kayla Meny (Indiana) and Andrea Arney (Ohio) faced off for the evening. Catcher Krista Price got things fired up early when she blasted a home run over the centerfield wall. Fans raved the theme from ‘The Price is Right’ in honor of the earthquake player.

In the same inning, Brittany DeWeese’s RBI single scored Kelci Alsip. The Ohio girls got plenty of hits throughout the match up, but it never converted to runs.

Meny earned the win while Madeline Brink recorded the save.
 

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