Young, Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar win 18U USSSA West Coast National Championship

Kendall Young of St. Marys and the California-based Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar softball team were back in action in the USSSA West Coast National Championship in Perris, California from July 20-23, winning the championship in the 18U division.

Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar opened pool play on July 20 in Pool B. They defeated the Tucson Scramblers 2-0 and Team Freeman 9-4. On Wednesday, The Factory handed Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar their first loss, 3-1.

Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar finished pool play with a 2-1 record.

Bracket play got underway Wednesday evening, with Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar winning 8-0 against CV Vengeance 16U. In the quarterfinals of the winner’s bracket on Thursday morning, Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar won 2-1 over Washington Freedom Gomez 18U.

Advancing to the winner’s bracket semifinals later Thursday afternoon,

Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar suffered their first loss of bracket play as they were defeated by Ohana Tigers Sanchez/ Younger by a score of 4-2.

Dropping into the loser’s bracket, Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar needed to play and win a total of five games on Friday in order to win the championship.

The team opened play on Friday with a pair of one-run victories. They defeated Firecrackers Kimura – Callison by a score of 5-4 in their opening game of the day and then won 3-2 over AZ Force-Doran in their second game.

CV Vengeance 18U lost to Ohana Tigers Sanchez/Younger in the final of the winner’s bracket on Friday afternoon, and Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar had to face them in the final of the loser’s bracket to earn a spot in the championship game. Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar won the game 6-3.

Advancing to the championship, Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar needed to beat Ohana Tigers Sanchez/Younger twice in order to win the championship. They won the first game by a score of 5-3 and then the “if necessary” game by a score of 6-2 to claim the USSSA 18U West Coast National Championship.

While statistics for individual players were not available for the competition, Young pitched in several games for

Firecrackers Brashear – Gollihar throughout the tournament to help them win the championship.