COLORADO TRAVEL SOFTBALL RECAP – Area travel softball players back from Colorado, prepare for next wave of tournaments

July 9, 2025

By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X

Several travel softball players from the area have returned from the Rocky Mountain state where they participated in a combination of tournaments associated with the Triple Crown Fastpitch. The highlight was the granddaddy of all showcase tournaments, the Colorado 4th of July, which took place throughout the Denver metropolitan area from June 29-July 6. The event branches off into the Fireworks, Sparkler, Fireworks Power Pool, Supplemental Power Pool and Open Divisions. Some area players were also in the Louisville IDT Tournament in Boulder, CO and the P5 Patriot Games in Fort Collins, CO. Here’s a final recap of how they did.

18-Under National Power Pool, 64 teams

Malaia Huskey, Gahr High/California State University, San Marcos

(Huntington Beach) Explosion Premier

Huskey was hitless in three at-bats, one each against the (Humble) Texas Riptide, the (Fairfax Station) VA Glory and the (San Mateo, CA) Warrior Academy-McDonald as her team went 2-6. The Explosion Premier finished in a tie for 17^th place.

Peyton Kingery, Valley Christian High/University of North Texas commit

(Anaheim) BSC Bengals-Briggs

Lost both ‘D’ Bracket Box games before winning five of its next eight games.

Kingery played in seven games, going four of 13 with a pair of doubles and a home run, scored six runs, drove in three runs and was walked once. The home run came in a 10-3 win against the (Huntsville, AL) Sparks Elite-Stewart last Saturday, a solo shot leading off the top of the fifth inning. The BSC Bengals-Briggs finished in a tie for fifth place.

Montserrat Reyes-Cardenas, La Mirada High/San Diego State University

Corona Angels-Tyson

Playing at the Aurora Sports Park, the Corona Angels were in the 2025 Alliance Cup Series, Super Cup Championship Series Finals hosted by Triple Crown Sports. Reyes-Cardenas pitched in the first two games against the (Scottsville, KY) Louisville Sluggers-Wathen and the (Pearland, TX) Impact Gold-Jackson, pitching a combined six and a third innings, allowing six hits, an earned run while striking out three and walking three. The Corona Angels won both those games, then fell to the (Anaheim) Orange County Batbusters-Stith 11-0. After that, the team would win seven of its next nine games with Reyes-Cardenas pitching another three and two-third’s innings, allowing eight hits, six earned runs with three more strikeouts.

18-Under Fireworks Power Pool, 42 teams

Zoee Barrett, Valley Christian/Clark Atlanta University

(Downey) Nemesis Elite Gold

Second place, Pool H, 2-2

Barrett was swinging the hot bat in Colorado, going 10 for 21 in eight games with 12 RBI, seven runs scored, two doubles and two home runs. The first baseman went two for three with a bases-clearing double and a solo home run against the (Duncanville, TX) Firecrackers DFW-Martinez in a 9-8 loss on July 2. In a 12-8 win over the (Aurora) Colorado Angels-Quimby Gold last Saturday, Barrett drove in five runs on a pair of hits, one of them being a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning that tied the game. The Nemesis Elite Gold alternated wins and losses in the eight games played.

Alianna Calderon, Cerritos High/Long Beach City College

(Yorba Linda) BSC Bengals-Nichols

Second place, Pool C, 2-1-1

After losing to the (Aurora) Colorado Angels-Waller in the first playoff game last Friday, the BSC Bengals-Nichols won four straight games last Saturday, then knocked off the (Des Moines) Iowa Premier National-Yegge/Anthony 7-3, the (Houston) Athletics Mercado Academy-Herrera/Reyes 8-0 and the (Garden Grove) West Coast Lady Dukes 13-5 this past Sunday to win the Fireworks Power Pool championship. Calderon played in all 12 games, going 12 for 31 with 10 RBI, scored nine runs, had three doubles and two home runs. The first home run came in a 9-5 win over the (Loveland) Colorado Softball Academy last Saturday and the second one came in the second game this past Sunday, a three-run blast in the top of the first inning against the (Houston) Athletics Mercado Academy-Herrera/Reyes.

Angelyna Conde, La Mirada/Texas Tech University

(Garden Grove) West Coast Lady Dukes-Blanco

Tied for second place, Pool F, 2-1-1

Feeding off the energy of her Team Mexico squad winning the Silver Bracket Championship of the Triple Crown International Challenge, Conde went 12 for 24 with 15 RBI, 10 runs, drew four walks, hit three doubles and smacked three home runs in 10 games as her travel team went 7-2-1, winning five straight games before falling to the (Yorba Linda) BSC Bengals-Nichols in the championship game of the 18-U Fireworks Power Pool Championship this past Sunday.

The three home runs Conde hit came against the Firecrackers DFW-Martinez last Friday, a three-run dinger that made the score 13-0, a two-run shot in the top of the second in the next game, a 17-2 victory against the (Victoria, TX) Bombers Gold LS, making the score 9-0 at the time and in the championship game against the Bengals. A three-run round-tripper in the bottom of the first that put her team ahead 3-2.

16-Under Supplemental Power Pool

Zoe Corrales, Cerritos

(Westminster) USA Athletics-Mathis

Third place, Pool F, 1-2-1

Corrales appeared in the first pool play game on July 1 against the (Pinecrest, FL) Rock Gold-Manetta/Gabriele as a pinch hitter and did not have an official at-bat. The USA Athletics-Mathis defeated the (Troy, MO) Top Gun STL 13-3 last Friday in the first playoff game before falling in the next two games.

P5 Patriot Games

16-Under National Power Pool

Alison Ortega, La Mirada

(Hacienda Heights) Firecrackers Select RTY 16-Under

While her Team Spain was competing in the Triple Crown International Challenge some 65 miles to the south, Ortega was with her travel softball team in the P5 Patriot Games, which went 2-2 in pool play action before falling to the Firecrackers Select-Brashear 2-1 in the first playoff game on June 28. Ortega pitched in four of the five games, giving up 15 hits, eight earned runs, striking out eight and walking six. Then the Firecrackers Select RTY went to Denver where it was in the 16-Under National Power Pool, winning the first three games and eventually going 5-3 in the tournament.

Ortega pitched a six inning complete game against the (Gretna) Nebraska Gold National, scattering seven hits and not allowing an earned run in an 8-1 victory on July 1. She also struck out three in the game. In the first game the next day, Ortega went the distance again, this time allowing five hits and no earned runs in seven innings as her team defeated the (Orlando, FL) Tampa Mustangs-Rene/Pynes 4-1. She added five more strikeouts to her total.

Ortega would not pitch until the first game last Saturday morning when she went the distance again, this time yielding four hits and striking out five in a 10-0 victory over the (Riverside) BSC Bengals-Briggs 16-Under R. She then came back in the next game to get two outs on a total of 10 pitches in a 9-2 win over the (Castro Valley, CA) Extreme-Rios.

Louisville Slugger IDT

Choyce Chambers and Aubrielle Ramirez, Valley Christian

(Buena Park) USA Athletics-RML 16-Under

After going 1-1-1 on July 1, the USA Athletics-RML won its pool by taking five of the next six games. An 8-3 win over the (Plano, TX) American Freedom National last Saturday was followed by a 6-5 setback to the (Farmingdale, N.J.) Intensity BOD National later in the day.

In the 11 games played, Chambers went 12 for 22 with a double, a triple and a home run. She scored 11 runs and drove in five while walking four times. Ramirez also played in all 11 games, going five for 20, scoring six times, driving in a pair and collecting two doubles.

Isabella Gonzalez, Gahr

(Long Beach) USA Athletics Gold-Rogers

Gonzalez started four of the five games she appeared in, going 3-0 in 13 innings, giving up eight hits, four runs, struck out 19 and walked eight. Her best game came on July 1 when she pitched the first three innings against the (Orland Park, IL) Sparks Premier, striking out eight batters. The USA Athletics Gold-Rogers won the first 10 games before falling to the (Irondale, AL) BHM Thunderbolts Premier 6-0 last Saturday. The team outscored its opponents 85-21.

Kayla Martin, Valley Christian/Colgate University

(Mission Viejo) California Cruisers-Sievers Gold

In 14 at-bats over seven games, Martin picked up a pair of hits as her team split eight games played. But she drove in four runs and scored twice.

Rachel Zhang, Valley Christian

(Redondo Beach) USA Athletics-Phillips/Lehr

After representing Team Chinese Taipei/Taiwan in the TCIC in the last week of June, Zhang’s travel team was in Boulder where it won the first five games and finished going 8-2. She pitched in only two games in the Louisville Slugger IDT with her best outing coming against a 16-Under team, the (Kennewick) WA Angels Premier-Jager/Benson last Friday. Zhang pitched all five innings of a 5-0 win, scattering three hits and striking out three while walking one. In her other outing the previous day, Zhang faced four batters, walking a pair and striking out one while recording two outs in a 4-1 win over the (Bastrop, LA) Impact Gold National-Wilmore.