Amateur Softball Association: Gold National Championship

Gold National Championship Continues With Bracket Play

OKLAHOMA CITY---The quest for the crown began today with 64 games of bracket play being contested at the 2007 ASA Girl’s Gold 18-Under Fast Pitch National Championship at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex and at Wild Horse Park in Mustang. This championship, which has the top 64 girl’s fast pitch teams in the country, will continue tomorrow and will eliminate its first 24-teams during the elimination rounds in the morning.

The first day of double-elimination play in the 2007 ASA Girls’ 18-Under Gold Fast Pitch National Championship saw a rebound of sorts for several teams. Three teams who went 0-2 in pool play, contested Sunday and Monday, saw themselves 2-0 after the first day of double-elimination action.

The Beverly Bandits of Orland Park, Ill., So Cal Breakers of Encinitas, Calif., and the Atlanta Vipers of Marietta, Ga., all went winless in pool play only to reverse their fortunes in bracket play. The teams, along with 13 others, earned a day off before resuming winners’ bracket play on Thursday.

The So Cal Breakers edged the Polar Crush of Ashby, Mass., 6-3, before shutting out the Omaha Quakes Gold of Papillion, Neb., 5-0. Mariah Gearhart of San Diego, Calif., led the way with two RBI and three stolen bases in the win over the Polar Crush.

The Beverly Bandits reached the third round by defeating Strike Zone of Hayward, Calif., 1-0 and the Lady Gators of Lake Worth, Fla., 9-0. Sara Olson went 2-for-3 with four RBI to help her team prevail against the Lady Gators. Stephanie Kirkpatrick of Plainfield, Ill. added two additional RBI.

The Atlanta Vipers moved on by beating the Tulsa Eagles 2-0 and edging Victory USA of Fountain Valley, Calif., 3-2. Pitcher Emily Lenke of Alpharetta, Ga. shut down Victory USA and also aided her own cause with two RBI. Lenke allowed only one earned run in seven innings of work while striking out two.

Losers’ bracket play begins Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex. Forty-eight teams will be in action throughout the day, with sixteen heading home after reaching the pinnacle of ASA Junior Olympic softball. The Valley Breeze of Pacoima, Calif., which finished fourth in 2006 at this championship, will have to battle its way through the loser’s bracket after losing their opener to the KC Peppers of Olathe, Kan.

Up to date brackets as well as live play-by-play of all the remaining games can be watched by logging on to the tournament website at http://gold.asasoftball.com. Also fans can listen to all the games on the stadium field via internet radio. Just log on and click on the link for Radio Broadcast.