While much of the country is dealing with snow and frigid temperatures, the conditions were perfect for softball on Friday at the Arizona Last Blast tournament being held this weekend in the Phoenix area.

There are over 150 teams at the event, which is called the “Last Blast” because it’s the final big national tournament in club ball for the winter before most players across the nation begin high school play in the Spring.

“’Last Blast’ equals ‘last hurrah’ for these players,” Event Direct and Tennessee Mojo 18U Harkness/Fisher head man Ramsey Harkness said concerning this last event of the season.

My wonderful wife Shannon is with me covering the event and her duties, among others, are (half-kiddingly) to make sure I hit the “video” button instead of “photo” when doing interviews. The event features many of the top teams and players in club ball from ages 12U to 18U. The fields for the four age divisions are spread out so we stayed at the 18U fields today and were not disappointed. The initial day of three featured pool play all day; Saturday will conclude pool play and then start bracket play in the afternoon with the championships in each age group being on Sunday at Arizona State’s softball complex. Here are the results from day…

Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 – Day 1 at the AZ Last Blast… Pool Standings & Scores

• 18U
• 16U
• 14U
• 12U

The caliber of top teams here is impressive from East Coast (Newtown Rock) to West Coast (So Cal Athletics) and one of the teams that shined on Friday was Ramsey Harkness’s Tennessee Mojo 18U team also coached by Josh Fisher.

In the Mojo’s two games on the opening day—both wins—the team scored 14 runs and the pitching didn’t allow a run at at all. Equally impressive were Wisconsin Lightning (28 runs scored vs. 0 given up!) and Top Gun – Turner which scored 19 runs while giving up just two. Pitcher Hailyn Byas took the mound in the first game and was all but untouchable.

“We picked her up later last Fall,” Coach Harkness explained about the win,” and she’s a hard thrower who gets more comfortable each time we see her.

Here’s an interview we did with her after Game 1:

*****

The Rogue FC 18U squad coached by Randy Kaye went 1-0-1 and one of the fun stories of the day involved 2026 infield Emmy Raines. The Yale commit, who has a 4.93 GPA and 1500 SAT, celebrated her birthday on Friday in a big way as she went 2-for-2 in the first game including her final at-bat when she hit a 3-run home run to break a 1-1 tie against the Washington Ladyhawks and get the eventual win. In the second game, Emmy switched from third base to pitch and she pitched a complete 6-inning contest in which she struck out seven and held Newtown Rock Gold to two runs in a 2-2 tie. As for her birthday, Emmy said:

“I love spending my birthday at the field with my teammates, and to top it off, one of the other 2026 Yale commits, Heather Lloyd, came out to watch my last game!”

*****

An impressive sister act for the day was the play of sisters Julia and Lyla Morici who are two stars on the Mojo – Ramsey/Fisher team that went 2-0 on Friday. Julia is a 2025 standout committed to Georgia Tech and Lyla is a 2027 highly regarded pitcher in the 2027 class who has many Power 4’s following her closely. The younger sibling picked up the win in the second game as she only gave up one hit and no runs. It’ll be fun to watch Lyla’s progress and recruiting picture take off as she proceeds in her final three years of play.

*****

We had several coaches, when asked who impressed them in the 18U games they saw, mentioned another impressive 2027—Emmy Reynolds of Arizona Rising.

One of six kids, she comes from a very athletic family which includes older brothers who are college football players. Her father attended Arizona State where he played baseball and is currently a coach at Queen Creek (Ariz.) High, which is just five minutes from the Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa which is where the 18U’s played today. Emmy played varsity softball as a freshman last year and found time to do springs on the school’s track team. She’s not just a great athlete, Emma also carries a 4.0 GPA. With obvious physical school, Rising coach Eli Guinness adds:

“Emmy is a mental leader on her team and that’s one of her strengths at this young age. She has great game intelligence and, right now, we’re focused on getting her reps and experience.”

Here’s a quick interview we did with her after one game:

*****

Another cool story off the field involving the Mojo… While pitcher Hailyn Byas (above) pitched a shutout in the first game of the event for her team, the offense gave her great support. With the bases loaded, Luna Taboas, the team’s shortstop, smashed a single over third base bringing in a run. Centerfielder Anna Roman then followed up with an infield single to reload the bases, keeping the momentum going.

---

To learn more about this Alabama-bound senior, Click HERE to read our recent The Final Pitch (Jan. 9, 2025) spotlight on her.

---

Off the field, we learned something fun about Anna during her interview at the Clearwater tournament last year: she’s the face behind Eat Anna Roman, a growing TikTok channel where the foodie shares her love for all things food-related. Impressively, Anna has close to 50,000 followers and one of her food review clips has over a half million views!

On the softball side, the senior brings a fun tradition to every tournament she competes in, especially when she’s out West when she always stops at In-N-Out for her favorite “Flying Dutchman” onion-wrapped treat from the “not so secret” menu. This week, Anna plans to visit Cinnaholic in Gilbert, Ariz., to review its famous cinnamon rolls. Stay tuned in to her TikTok page for the full scoop!

*****

Finally, much respect to 2025 first baseman Kirsten Finalrelli from Pennsylvania who will play at Penn State later this year. The in-state Big Ten school is where her parents attended and says: “I love the atmosphere there.” Also a field hockey standout, Kirsten showcased her power on Friday as she hit three home runs in two games. Here’s what she said after stroking a pair of home runs in Game 2 of the day: — Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball A quick thanks to Shannon Eads who produced the trio of video interviews included in this article…