Six Standout Club Teams From Alliance Open Nationals

The rolling hills and mountains could be the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the word “Chattanooga.” As the summer travel schedule reached its apex for many teams, a number decided to take that scenic route before returning to school.   This year's Alliance Open Nationals welcomed a number of teams from around the country in the 18U, 16U, and 14U divisions. A number of venues across the Chattanooga area were utilized, including Dalton's Heritage Point with its 10 astroturf infields.   We at Prep Softball were on hand for the festivities. Our post-Alliance coverage has focused on individual performances up to this point. Softball is, after all, a team sport, meaning it is fitting to put a lens on six club teams that had stellar performances in Chattanooga.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">Outlaws National Wolff/Shepherd 2029</h2>   Outlaws National Wolff/Shepherd 2029 would run the table for the entirety of the tournament, including in the 14U championship game where it defeated SoCal Athletics by a final score of 6-3.   In that 14U bracket final, Outlaws National Wolff/Shepherd was actually outhit by its opposition 7-5. It trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, but five runs, including a grand slam by Colonel Crawford HS 2029 Adalyn Bond, flipped the script for Sunday's bracket final.   Being in a spot to stage a late rally also means keeping the opposition's bats in check. Mackenzie Barker managed to do that as she gave her team two solid innings of relief.    Outlaws National Wolff/Shepherd 2029 made a statement that it would be one of the 14U field's teams to beat when it crushed TN Ballhawks Dotson 13U by a final score of 14-0. Kayla Reid only had to pitch two innings, but she struck out five in that pair of frames. She also helped her own cause with RBIs.   Mackenzie Johnson and Riley Nicely also chimed in with a combined seven RBIs—four from Johnson and three from Nicely.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">SoCal Athletics 2029 National</h2>   SoCal Athletics 2029 National likely asked itself what happened in that fifth inning of the 14U bracket final, but it can still be proud of the showing it had in Chattanooga. After all, there is one way to not lose a bracket final, and that's to not play in one.   The team went 9-2 throughout Alliance play. Scarlett King, Payton Earl, and Leah Grace Snellgrove each drove in runs in that bracket final.   The team showcased its ability to win in blowouts as well as to win in close games. An example of the former occurred during bracket play when SoCal Athletics defeated TN Mojo 29/30 Murnahan in a one-sided 13-2 get-together. Snellgrove and Earl combined for seven RBIs.   One name that especially stood out for SoCal Athletics 2029 National was Bailey Holderfield, who gave her team solid performances from the circle. Many of those outings occurred in bracket play, such as when her team matched up against Top Gun 29/30 IL. Holderfield tossed a complete-game, one-hit, 12-strikeout gem en route to a 6-1 victory.   Holderfield followed that up with a six-strikeout outing against Top Gun 29/30 Simmons Parker 14U and by fanning nine Dodgers National 29/30 14U hitters, which earned a berth into the 14U bracket final.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">Dodgers National 29/30 14U</h2>   Eight wins in 10 tries is not a shabby way to spend an Alliance weekend. That is what Dodgers National 29/30 managed to get accomplished at a tournament that was only a short trek from its home base in Nashville.   For most of this year's Alliance invite, Dodgers National 29/30 got the job done the hard way, as most of its games were close contests. The lone blowout it was part of took place on Thursday against Unity 13U Umansky, a 19-5 decision.   The team got three RBIs apiece from Lilly Wall and Alayla Malone. Wall, Malone, Allie Moore, and Bailey Brown also delivered home runs in that contest.   Brown had to come through in the circle when Dodgers National 29/30 14U's bats were held in check. This was the case when her team was held to only two hits against Gametime VS12 Premier 13U in bracket play. Brown pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, in which she struck out 12 Gametime VS12 Premier 13U batters.   The lone run of that matchup was unearned, as Malone reached home on an error by Gametime VS12 Premier 13U's catcher.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">Top Gun 29/30 Simmons Parker</h2>   Top Gun 29/30 Simmons Parker 14U was another of the top teams in what was a very competitive 14U field in Chattanooga. The Kentucky-based assembling returned to the Bluegrass State following an impressive 8-3 showing at Alliance.    Following a 1-1 start to its Open Nationals schedule, Top Gun 29/30 Simmons Parker reeled off five consecutive victories. One of those would be a 12-0 blowout at the expense of LD's Softball 14U. The team would benefit from five of its 14 hits being for extra bases. These included home runs from Carley Brey and Hadley Elkins as well as doubles courtesy of Addilyn Simmons, Kalie Kuzma, and Pacey Parker. Sadie Beauchamp also threw three innings of shutout ball from the circle.   The best of teams understand that they have to be built to win when the bats are hot and for when the bats are cold. An example of this occurred later in bracket play when Top Gun 29/30 Simmons Parker took on another Top Gun team in Top Gun 29/30 IL. The Kentucky team won 3-2 and two of its RBIs were courtesy of Brey.    Beauchamp came in as a relief pitcher and went four innings and a third while striking out four Top Gun 29/30 IL hitters.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">Firecrackers FL 29/30</h2>   When a team can say it played nine games and its only losses were to SoCal Athletics 2029 National and Top Gun 29/30 Simmons-Parker 14U, that team did something right.    Firecrackers FL returned to the Sunshine State following a 7-2 showing at this year's Open Nationals. Its final win of the weekend occurred against Wisconsin Lightning 2030 13U Calkins. It was an 8-0 shutout that saw the team tally six of its eight runs in the final two innings of play.   Firecrackers FL 29/30 benefitted from three RBIs off the bat of Addison Pleiss. She was also responsible for one of the team's three extra-base hits, which were all doubles. The other two were courtesy of Ava Shaffer and Noelle Lia Santiago.   Arguably, the most impressive victory over the weekend for Firecrackers FL 29/30 was against Unity VB 14U. At one point, the team trailed its adversaries by a score of 5-2 before tying the contest up at five runs apiece. A walk-off RBI hit from Pleiss in the bottom of the sixth would score the winning run.    In the bottom of the third, Bailey Seebeck delivered a two-run double, which closed the gap to one at 5-4.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size">Top Gun 29/30 IL</h2>   Top Gun 29/30 IL may not have put up the gaudy offensive stats others did at Alliance Open Nationals, but what matters is it did a lot of winning to the tune of a 6-2-1 record.   Its final victory of its time in Chattanooga occurred on Saturday against Tornado Athletics Select 2029 14U in a 7-2 result. Britta Rohrbach kept Tornado Athletics Select 2029 14U's bats in check, as she hurled five innings of two-hit ball.   Offensively, two RBIs each came from Violet Lehr (who hit a home run) and Teagan Reinburg. Three of the seven Top Gun 29/30 IL runs were scored by Eden Campanella, who also had one of the team's six extra-base hits. The others were doubles from Rohrbach, Ellisyn Townson, Laney Vancil, and Maggie Cluts.   Prior to that contest, Top Gun 29/30 IL was involved in a nail-biter with TN Mojo 29/30 Murnahan 14U. Entering the top of the third inning, the team trailed the Oklahoma-based squad 2-1 before pushing one across in the third and another in the fifth to eventually claim the victory.   Townson was responsible for both RBIs. The run in the third occurred off a Townson double, which scored Emelia Miller, who led off the frame with a single. The run in the fifth was the result of a Townson single, which scored Vancil, who walked after TN Mojo 29/30 Murnahan 14U retired the first two Top Gun 29/30 batters.

The rolling hills and mountains could be the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the word “Chattanooga.” As the summer travel schedule reached its apex for many teams, a number decided to take that scenic route before returning to school.