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MHK Prospects Gold wins USSSA 14A Southern National Championship | Sports | themercury.com

MHK Prospects Gold wins USSSA 14A Southern National Championship in TX

The MHK Prospects Gold 14U fastpitch softball team went 1-1 in pool play to earn a four seed and first round bye and won four straight games in the double elimination championship gold bracket to bring home the USSSA 14A Southern National Championship in Plano, TX on July 27.

Prospects Gold dropped their first match up 3-2 to Athletics Mercado Premier 28/29 (Ft. Worth, TX), despite outhitting the Athletics 5-1. The Prospects took a 1-0 lead in the first on a double steal with runners on first and third but surrendered three in the bottom of the frame on two walks, an error and one hit. Prospect Gold had a rally in the third with back-to-back singles from Olivia Enoch and Lexi Cook with no outs, but it stalled after a strikeout and a bunt pop out before Jovie Coon delivered a two out single to score Enoch for what would be the final Prospects run. Cook pitched one inning and allowed two earned runs on one hit, two walks and one strikeout in the circle for the Prospects. Allison Heidrick entered in the second inning and held the Athletics Premier hitless in three sharp shutout innings of relief.

Prospects Gold bounced back with a dominant 7-1 victory over Athletics Mercado Parrish (DFW, TX) in the second pool game. Aslyn Foveaux led off the second with a walk and stole second and Aria Rudisill laced a double to left with one out to make it 1-0. Enoch singled up the middle to score Rudisill to make it 2-0. Raegan Berger got things going in the third with a one-out single and Coon followed with double to left. A batter later, Brenna Prendergast ripped an 0-2 pitch to left for a two run double to make it 4-0 Prospects Gold. Haper Befort started the fourth with a single for Prospects Gold, reached second on an error and Enoch followed with another RBI single to make it 5-0. In the fifth, Foveaux ambushed the first pitch she saw with a missile over the left field fence for a solo homer. Prendergast, Rudisill, and Befort followed with three consecutive walks, and Enoch delivered the final RBI with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 7-0 to end the contest by run rule.

Heidrick started the game in the circle where she left off, with three hitless innings to go with four strikeouts and three walks to earn the win. Raegan Berger pitched a scoreless inning of relief, allowing just one hit that was erased as the next batter lined out to Foveaux at shortstop for a 6-3 double play to end the final opportunity for the Athletics.

Prospects Gold defeated Texas Elite National 14U (Grand Prairie, TX) in the first championship bracket game. Prospects Gold struck quickly in the first when Cook led off with a hit by pitch, and advanced on a passed ball. Berger sacrificed her to third with a perfect bunt and Foveaux drove her in with a hard-hit ground ball past the shortstop. Coon followed with a towering two-run homer to left to make it 3-0. Texas Elite National tripled and scored on an error in the second, but Prospects Gold starter Brenna Prendergast struck out the side to end the frame. Prospects Gold added four more runs in a big fourth inning as Allison Lyman led off with a hit by pitch, Cook laid down a bunt single, and Berger bunted and reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. Texas Elite nearly escaped the jam, but Rudisill blistered a two-strike pitch over the left fielder to score Lyman and Cook and make it 5-1. Berger scored a few pitches later on a wild pitch, and Prendergast followed with a two-out single to left to score Rudisill for the seventh Prospects Gold run.

Prendergast was overpowering in the circle in the four-inning complete game, as she allowed 0 ER, fanned seven batters and allowed just one hit in the bracket victory.

Prospect Gold rolled the Athletics Mercado – Robinson (Arlington, TX) in the semifinals of the winner’s bracket, tallying 11 runs on 11 hits to take it 11-3. Prospects Gold raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Berger drew a one out walk, Foveaux followed with a line drive single up the middle, and Coon ripped a single over the short stop to score Berger. Rudisill followed with an RBI ground out to score Foveaux. The onslaught continued in the second inning with a leadoff single by Heidrick, a bunt single by Befort, and an RBI single u by Enoch to make it 4-1. Cook lined a single up the middle, and Berger followed with ground out that resulted in two more Prospects Gold runs when the first baseman threw the ball away at third base, making it 6-1. Foveaux blasted a ground rule double to left center but was left stranded to end the second. In the third, Heidrick sacrificed runners to second and third and Befort delivered a line drive up the middle to plate Rudisill and that made it 7-1. Cook and Berger laced back-to-back singles and Foveaux walked to start the fourth frame, before Cook scored on a wild pitch and Coon dropped a single in to shallow center to score Berger. Rudisill grounded out scoring Foveaux, and Befort later drew a bases loaded walk for the 11th Prospects Gold run.

Prendergast was untouchable in three innings, allowing no hits, and no earned runs while striking out six and walking three to earn the win. Cook provided an inning of relief and allowed two runs on one hit and two walks with one strike out.

In the winner’s bracket final, Prospects Gold battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to walk it off in the bottom of the sixth inning in a dramatic 3-2 victory over Athletics Premier – Coleman (Piedmont, OK). The Athletics got on the board first with two walks and an error to load the bases with no outs and followed with a couple of groundouts to steal a 2-0 lead. Prospects Gold had opportunities with runners in scoring position in the second after a two out double from Heidrick, and again in the fourth after Foveaux singled and stole second but finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning. Heidrick led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Befort. Enoch followed with a single on a grounder to the left side and Cook ripped a sinking liner to left that got past the left field to tie the game at 2-2. After holding the Athletics scoreless in the top of the sixth, the Prospects looked to have hit into some bad luck after a Foveaux liner headed for extra bases was snagged by the second baseman but lucked turned back the way of the Prospects when the next hitter Coon hit a high infield popup that was dropped by the first baseman. Rudisill was hit by the next pitch, and with two outs Heidrick delivered a clutch line drive over the second baseman to score Coon for a walk off winner to send Prospects Gold into the championship game. Brenna Prendergast was phenomenal in the circle for Prospects Gold, spinning a six-inning no-hitter with six strikeouts.

Prospects Gold faced off against Athletics Premier – Coleman again in the championship game after the Athletics eliminated Renegades Baxter (Wichita, KS) in the loser’s bracket final. After a scoreless first, Heidrick reached on an error to start the second inning, and Rudisill followed with a rocket single off the third baseman. Addalyn Phillips hit a ground ball that scored Heidrick and reached on an error. Befort lined a single to left to push a runner to third, and then Lyman scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. Prospects Gold added three more in the third inning after Berger got things going with a lead off bunt single. Foveaux sacrificed her to second, and Coon singled up the middle to score Berger and take a 3-0 lead. Heidrick followed with a double to left center scoring Coon to make it 4-0. Rudisill singled and with Lyman running for her, the Prospects executed a first and third double steal to score Heidrick and plate a fifth run- more than enough for the Prospects Gold pitchers.

Prendergast continued her complete dominance in the circle with four shutout innings in the championship start, with just one hit allowed and struck out three to earn the win. Heidrick entered in relief and fanned two in two shutout innings without allowing a hit to seal the 5-0 Prospects Gold 14A Southern Nationals Championship victory.