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July 24, 2026
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
It’s a journey that begins in September with tryouts, then the selection of teams at the different levels of an organization and carries through a plethora of showcase tournaments, friendlies and national tournaments to this point. Now that July is winding down, softball players are getting a chance to display their talents before either high school or college begins in a few weeks. Here’s a recap of how the area players did in the Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championships and The Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series.
PGF 18-Under Premier Division
(La Habra) Athletics Mercado-Chavolla
Alyssa Hurst (Norwalk High)
Pool play: 1-1-1
3/5, four runs scored, two runs batted in, one double in pool play action
Hurst and her travel team had their first playoff game this past Tuesday evening against the (Gilbert, AZ) Tennessee Mojo-Ramsey and was defeated 9-3. Hurst was hitless in one at-bat and drew a walk. The Athletics Mercado faced the (Westlake Village) this past Wednesday in a losers bracket contest and dropped a 12-3 affair. Hurst did not appear in the game that saw the Athletics Mercado allow eight runs in the top of the fifth inning.
(Yorba Linda) BSC Bengals-Briggs
Kayleigh Allen (Gahr High/University of Kansas commit), Peyton Kingery (Valley Christian High/University of North Texas)
Pool play: 2-1
Allen: 0/5, one run scored, one walk, one stolen base; Kingery: 1/4, one walk in pool play action
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Peyton Kingery (left) and Kayleigh Allen of the (Yorba Linda) BSC Bengals-Briggs.
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The Bengals began the playoffs this past Tuesday evening against the (Phoenix) AZ Storm National-Mathis and dropped a 10-5 decision, immediately falling to the loser’s bracket. Kingery, a catcher playing in one of her final pre-college playing days before heading off to Denton, Texas, did not disappoint the California crowd as she launched a first-pitch home run over the left center fence to begin the top of the third inning. She later added another solo shot in the sixth to make the score 10-5 and ended the game going three for four with three RBI and two runs scored.
“Just the competitiveness that she has,” said head coach Ken Briggs of his first thoughts of Kingery, when she joined the organization about four or five years ago. “She was a bigger kid, so she had the strength already, and she swings it. So, you put the competitiveness and the way she swings the bat together, you get a good player.
“She’s a captain this year, so she’s earned that right just on her work ethic alone,” he continued. “It was a no brainer for us to make her a captain on this team. But she’s just steady; there’s no lows, there’s no highs. She just kind of plays, which is what you want them to do.”
Allen, batting one spot below her in the lineup, Allen had a single two pitches after Kingery’s second home run as the BSC Bengals faced the (Madera, CA) Unity-Ricks this past Tuesday and stayed alive with a 2-0 victory. Kingery went one for three with a two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the first for the game’s first tally while Allen entered in the top of the fifth as a defensive replacement. This is Allen’s first season with the top team in the program, having played for the younger BSC Bengals teams in the past.
“She’s a good athlete; runs the bases the way we want the bases [to be run], and I think this year alone, she’s gone over the fence more times for us. She’s just that kid, and she’s going to hit. But both of them are mainstays in our lineup.”
The BSC Bengals faced the (Mission Viejo) California Cruisers Gold-Sievers to begin action on July 23 in a win or go home contest.
(Mission Viejo) California Cruisers Gold-Sievers
Mylah Burrowes (Gahr)
Pool play: 1-2
2/4, two runs, two RBI, two walks in pool play action
Burrowes went two for three, drove in a pair of runs and scored once against the (Tempe) Arizona Rising-Westover this past Tuesday afternoon in a 6-5 victory. After popping out to end the top of the first inning, she walked in the fourth to help her team begin that inning with runners at first and second with none out. In the fifth, she singled with two outs to bring in two runs and added her second hit in the seventh. This past Wednesday, the team dropped a 9-1 decision to the (Sacramento) Lady Magic-Munoz as Burrowes went hitless in three at-bats.
(Long Beach) USA Athletics Gold-Rogers
Isabella Gonzalez (Gahr/University of Nevada, Reno commit)
Pool play: 2-1
One and a third innings pitched, 1 hit allowed, 1 run allowed in pool play action
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Isabella Gonzalez of the (Long Beach) USA Athletics Gold-Rogers. Photo by Loren Kopff.
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Gonzalez got the start in the circle against the (Mocksville, NC) LLGDPS-Corn this past Tuesday evening and went the distance in a 4-2 victory, scattering four hits, striking out eight and walking one. It was her first complete game since shutting out the (New Canaan, CT) RI Thunder-LFC-Kane on July 4 where she yielded five hits over five innings and struck out seven while walking none.
Gonzalez, or Bella as she is affectionally known as, has been with the USA Athletics organization since she was 12, but on the Gold team the past two years. Rose Rogers, whose specialty is with the pitching staff and is a co-head coach with her husband Mike, a former Gahr head coach, thought she was mechanically strong when she saw Gonzalez for the first time.
“She is a super hard worker and works her butt off,” said Rose Rogers. “She got stronger and learned more pitches. Her softball IQ is really, really high and she understands her game and understands her role.”
The USA Athletics finished in the top 10 in last season’s PGF National Championships and Gonzalez was a bug part of that success. Rose Rogers said that Gonzalez consistently throws strikes and gives the team a chance to win. Against the LLGDPS-Corn, she tossed 90 pitches with 67 going for strikes.
“She’s not wild and you can trust her on the mound,” she added. “Plus, she can field. [Opponents] can’t bunt on her, they can’t hit off her, and she can field.”
The USA Athletics Gold faced the (Chicago) Beverly Bandits-Trackwell/Meredith this past Tuesday and was shutout 3-0. Gonzalez entered in the bottom of the fourth and pitched the final three innings, allowing four hits and an unearned run while striking out three. The USA Athletics Gold would face the (Santa Clarita) So Cal Choppers-Fausett in an elimination game this past Wednesday evening at press time.
PGF 18-Under Platinum Division
(Carson) Firecrackers-Chavez/Moreno
Leah Magana (Gahr)
Pool play: 1-2
The Firecrackers lost to the (Salinas) California Storm-Troy 7-3 this past Monday as Magana pitched two and a third innings, allowing five hits, two runs and striking out a pair. She was also hitless in one at-bat as a pinch hitter. The next day, the Firecrackers defeated the (San Mateo) Warriors Academy-McDonald/Nicholas 11-1 as Magana pitched all four innings, scattering four hits and striking out two. This past Wednesday, the team was eliminated by the (San Mateo) Eagles Fastpitch-Deke in a 17-9 setback. Magana was hitless in one at-bat and pitched another two and a third innings, giving up five hits, four runs while striking out three.
(Downey) Nemesis Elite
Maryah McElroy (Gahr)
Pool play: 1-2
Hitless in four at-bats in pool play action
The Nemesis edged the (San Jose) California Riptide-Zar 6-5 this past Monday as McElroy went hitless in three at-bats. This past Tuesday afternoon, she did not pick up a hit in two-at bats in a 6-0 loss to the (Sacramento) West Coast Wolverines-Pearson/Rios Gold. But the Nemesis bounced back this past Wednesday afternoon and knocked off the (Conyers, GA) Atlanta Vipers-Vaughn 7-5, minus McElroy. The Nemesis would face the (Castro Valley, CA) Extreme Rios late this past Wednesday.
(Buena Park) USA Athletics-RML
Choyce Chambers (V.C./Sacramento State University), Aubrielle Ramirez (V.C./Long Beach City College) and Rachel Zhang (V.C.)
Pool play: 2-0-1
Chambers: 3/6, one run scored, one RBI, one double, one walk in pool play action
Ramirez: 3/7, one walk in pool play action
Zhang: 2/6, two runs scored, one walk in pool play action
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TEAM: from (l-r), Choyce Chambers, Aubrielle Ramirez, and Rachel Zhang of the (Buena Park) USA Athletics-RML. Photo by Loren Kopff.
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The USA Athletics dropped a 2-1, 10-inning affair to the (Winston, GA) Athletics Gold-Tamborra/Freeman this past Monday as Zhang had two of her team’s four hits and Chambers scored the lone run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ramirez also had a hit in the loss as the V.C. stars, two of whom are off to college, took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning this past Tuesday morning against the (Castro Valley, CA) Extreme-Rios but surrendered two runs in the bottom half of the frame and were eliminated, 4-3.
On the first pitch of the game, Chambers slapped a bunt to reach base and scored on a two-out error. She would go one for three and was walked once while Zhang singled with one out in the top of the third and with two outs in the next inning, driving in the team’s second run. Ramirez went one for four as the trio have been nothing short of a pleasure as team members for the past several seasons.
“Both are just outstanding kids on top of outstanding athletes,” said assistant coach Hannah Beard of Chambers and Ramirez. “They both play hard with a lot of heart, [and] it’s been a pleasure to coach them the past three years I’ve had them. They have a lot of grit and get it; they know what it takes to go the extra [mile]. They are so fun to be around.”
Beard remembers when she first saw Chambers and noticed how raw of an athlete she was because she had just started to play the sport, but Beard was shocked in how chiseled of a softball athlete.
“She’s dynamic and she’s very athletic for a pitcher,” Beard said of Zhang. “She hits the ball pretty well and she has speed. She’s smart and analyzes that game so well; I feel like she always is a couple of steps ahead of where everybody is at.”
PGF 16-Under Premier Division
(Riverside) BSC Bengals-Briggs 16R
Juliana Rivera (La Mirada High)
Pool play: 1-2
Hitless in six at-bats in pool play action
Rivera and her team got off to a resounding start in the double elimination bracket, blanking the (Santa Clarita) So Cal Choppers-Fausett 10-0 this past Monday. Rivera appeared as a pinch hitter to lead off the top of the fourth, drew a walk and scored the team’s sixth run as part of a three-run home run from Kynalea Cacal. The win set up a matchup against the (Decatur, GA) Armor Elite Premier-ONeal this past Tuesday night where the Bengals posted a 7-0 victory as Rivera had a pinch hit single to lead off the top of the sixth. That was followed by an 8-3 win over the (Huntington Beach) Explosion-Kim 25/26 as Rivera went two for four, drove in three runs and scored twice. Both hits came as a courtesy of a two-run home run in the top of the second and a solo home run in the seventh.
The BSC Briggs would continue their trek through the winners bracket on July 23.
(Corona) The Vault Fastpitch-Howard
Elizabeth Biado (La Mirada)
Pool play: 1-1-1
The Vault was blanked by the (Atlanta) GA Impact Premier-Crenshaw/Burrell 3-0 this past Monday and edged the (Huntington Beach) Cruisers Fastpitch-Smith 4-3 this past Tuesday, setting up another elimination game against the (Des Moine) Iowa Premier National-Dickel this past Wednesday morning where the Vault fell 9-7.
16-Under Platinum Division
(Whitter) Firecrackers-Brashear/Ojinaga
Noelle Martinez (Cerritos High)
Pool play: 0-3
2/5, two RBI in pool play action
It felt like a football game when the Firecrackers faced the (Novato, CA) Nor Cal Fusion-Flores this past Monday as they dropped a 14-7 decision, falling to the loser’s bracket. Martinez drew a walk to lead off the game and scored the game’s first run on an error. She led off the third with a base hit and scored her team’s fourth run. In the next inning with the Firecrackers trailing 7-4, Martinez popped out to left and two innings later, she grounded out to first.
This past Tuesday, the Firecrackers were eliminated by the (Roseburg, OR) NW Bullets-McGee 7-3. Martinez began the bottom of the first with a double on a 3-1 count and scored the game’s first run on an error.
(Placentia) Firecrackers Premier RTY
Rylee Jackson (Gahr) and Skyy Saucedo (Gahr)
Pool play: 3-0
Jackson: Did not play (forehead injury)
Saucedo: 1/3, one double in pool play action.
The Firecrackers came out flat from the get-go as they were blasted by the (Phoenix) TN Mojo-Ramsey/Kalani 12-0 this past Monday, dropping to the loser’s bracket. Saucedo struck out in a pinch-hitting role in the bottom of the fourth. She did not play in the team’s 7-2 win over the (Beaverton, OR) NW Vandals-Larson this past Tuesday morning. That was followed by a 7-6 come from behind victory win over the Athletics Mercado-Trevino. Saucedo was hitless in two at-bats coming off the bench. The Firecrackers scored twice in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to erase a 6-3 deficit.
This past Wednesday, the Firecrackers were on the south end of a 10-8 contest to the (Leander) Texas Blaze Gold-Berryhill. Saucedo came in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the third and stole home, which was nullified as one of her teammates was caught stealing for the third out.
The Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series
(Anaheim) Orange County Batbusters-Stith
Reese Hilliard (La Mirada/Stanford University commit) and Riley Hilliard (La Mirada/University of Oklahoma commit)
The twin sisters helped their team to a 19-1 blowout win over the (Herculaneum) Missouri Bombers Gold this past Monday night and routed the (Star) Idaho Batbusters National-Dwyer 11-2 this past Tuesday morning. In the Tier 1 Supers, the Batbusters posted wins over the (Charlotte) Team North Carolina and the (Overland Park, KS) Aces by scores of 11-1 and 5-1, respectively, this past Wednesday.
(Laguna Hills) Firecrackers Select-Rico/Brashear
Alison Ortega (La Mirada/Duke University commit)
Ortega and her team posted an 8-0 win over the (Flower Mound, TX) Glory-Adkins Gold this past Monday afternoon and fell to the (Lakeville, MN) Midwest Speed National-Holt 12-7 the next day before edging the (Flower Mound, TX) Glory Adkins Gold 8-7.
The Firecrackers would also move to the Tier 1 Supers where they fell to the (Sugar Land) Texas Bombers Gold 11-1 this past Wednesday.
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