Not a cloud in the beautiful blue sky… check.

Perfect temps in the high 60’s… check.

Great travel ball softball games at the AZ Last Blast… double check.

The interesting thing about the tournament was, though, that even colored with the red-rock mountains in the Phoenix area in the background, the finals were all colored black and white thanks to the uniform colors of the impressive Athletics – Mercado teams which won titles in three of the four championships at the 14U, 16U and 18U levels.

That’s not to say they came easily… not at all!

Here’s a recap of the games as they were played in order on Sunday…

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12U

An exciting game kicked off the championship Sunday as the Mojo – Harkness/Holland defeated Arizona Storm – Beach in a thriller that went extra innings in a back-and-forth battle.

At the end of nine innings, the Mojo pulled out the exciting 11-10 victory.

The game was tied 10-10 in the top of the 9^th when pitcher Kenna Scott drew a bases-loaded walk to push ahead the go-ahead—and eventual—winning run by a final of 11-10.

In the victory, the Mojo had 11 hits to the Storm’s seven.

Both TN Mojo Ramsey/Holland 12U and Arizona Storm Beach had their offenses going on Sunday, but TN Mojo Ramsey/Holland 12U eventually prevailed 11-10. TN Mojo Ramsey/Holland 12U collected 11 hits, while Arizona Storm Beach had seven.

The Mojo scored first in the game with two runs in the top of the 1^st but the Storm put three on the board to lead 3-2 after two innings.

The Mojo then took the lead 5-2 in the top of the third inning after Scott singled down the right-field line followed by another single, but the Storm tied the game in the bottom of the 5^th inning 7-7 setting the stage for an exciting end to the game.

In the top of the 6^th inning, Mojo broke the tie and pitcher Mia Barreto held on to get the win after allowing just three hits and six runs.

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14U 

In the first of three games held at Arizona State’s Farrington Softball Stadium, the Athletics – Tidd 2010 spotted the Wildcats a run in the 1st inning but put the game out of reach with two runs scored in the 2^nd inning, three in the third and five runs in the 5^th enroute to the final score of 10-3.

Makayla Encinas, a 2028 centerfielder, helped put the game away with a two-run double in the top of the 5^th, which was the last inning because of the time rule.

It was no secret to what helped the A’s win the title: the first four batters—all 2028’s—were productive all weekend as centerfielder Kendra Nelsen, outfielder Makala Encinas, middle infielder Sophia Hernandez and infielder Nia Talatiana each batted over .400.

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18U

The third game of the day—and second of three at Farrington Stadium—was a repeat of a pool match-up in which the Athletics – Mercado/Smith defeated the Arizona Rising 2-1.

In today’s title game, the Rising put the game’s first run courtesy of a home run blast to left-center by DP Kaelyn Moffit that cleared the 210 fence at ASU’s stadium.

The Rising threated with runners on second third in the top of the 2^nd but Mia Valbuena, the starting pitcher in the circle for the A’s, got the third out via strikeout.

The Athletics tied the game in the bottom of the 2^nd on a no-doubter home run over the left field wall by outfielder 3B/1B Sinalei Talataiana that went an estimated 215 feet to tie the game 1-1.

In the bottom of the 3^rd, the A’s put up a run when Kiel’e Ho-Ching doubled and came around to score on a one-out dropped ball down the first baseline.

In the bottom of the 4th, first baseman Torryn Slaughter doubled and went to third on a ground ball single that outfielder Peyton Valentine beat out at first. With one out, outfielder Karsyn Norton hit a deep fly out to center that allowed Slaughter to come home to tie the game 2-2.

The A’s, however, took the lead in the bottom of the 4^th thanks to a mammoth home run blast over the right-center wall by shortstop Bailey Goldberg that put the score at 3-2.

Lefty pitcher Goose Goodwin, who was recently named to the USA Softball 18U team, started for the Rising and was replaced in the bottom of the 4^th by Macee Jackson as the A’s put runners on first and third with one out.

However, the A’s called a suicide squeeze that was missed and led to the runner on third getting caught in a rundown before a groundout ended the threat.

Athletics pitcher Coral Williams closed out the five-inning 3-2 nail-biter by getting two quick outs before Taylor Hampton singled and Torryn Slaughter walked to put the potential tying win in scoring position.

However, Jackson got the third out via a ground out third to preserve the win and make it 2-for-2 on the day for the Athletics – Mercado organization on the day.

The A’s did get to bat in the bottom of the 5^th due to the time limit rules but the win was already decided, making it a second straight Athletics title for the day.

A final interesting note: Rising Head Coach Steve Appel had won the 16U the last three years with the Arizona Storm and after today has a runner-up finish with his current team.

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16U 

Brian Tidd’s Athletics team was looking to do something unprecedented—help the organization complete a 3-for-3 day—winning all three older age titles in the three championship games for the Athletics organization.

Ironically, the A’s had previously won the 18U and 14U titles at AZ Last Blast in the same year but lost the 16U finale.

For the Lady Magic – Munoz it was an impressive run to the championship by Ernie and Lindsey’s team which started 1-2 in Pool B play but then captured every game in bracket competition to make the finals.

The Magic jumped on the board wheb Kendrick Jobe hit a leadoff double off the centerfield wall and went to third on an infield single by leadoff outfielder Caelyn Campos.

With two outs, Natalie Brozaitis crushed a three-run homer down the right field line to make it a Magic 3-0 game in the middle of the third inning.

The A’s came back and put two on the board after a two-out walk and then an error put a runner on second before then back-to-back RBI doubles by Eva Bustamante and Bree Carlson, hitters No’s 2 and 3 in the order, to make the game 3-2.

The Magic doubled its lead in the top of the 4^th when Naiyli Calvo hit a lead-off triple when the leftfielder dove for the ball, but it escaped her glove allowing the ball to roll to the wall. Outfielder Catalina Medina then hit a deep flyout to right field to bring Calvo home to make the score 4-2.

The A’s got two quick outs in the bottom of the inning before third baseman Leighton Gray smashed a long single off the base of the centerfield wall but the Magic pitcher closed the inning with a strikeout.

The Magic put four more runs on the scoreboard in the top of the 5^th courtesy of a two-run home run by Morgan Carlson and then a two-out two run blast by Niayli Calvo to put the score at 8-2 with all eight runs coming collectively in the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th innings.

But Tidd’s team, despite trailing by six, showed why it had been so dominant

The A’s put the leadoff runner on in the bottom of the 5^th courtesy of a walk by 9-hole hitter Elizabeth Brown and then leadoff hitter Hayden Huerta singled Brown home to cut the lead to 8-3.

A scary moment with one out as A’s three-hole hitter Bree Carlson was hit in the helmet by a pitch and fell to the ground where she remained for a few nervous seconds. She was able to walk off and put runners on first and second for the Athletics before a walk loaded the bases.

A pitching change brought starter Finn in again with one out and nowhere to put any additional runners. On her first pitch, she threw a wild pitch to the backstop that narrowed the lead to 8-4.

A flair single to left field by Honesty Romero brought home another run to suddenly put the potential tying run at the plate but a great diving catch in left field led to the second out.

Leighton Gray hit a single to left and put the game-tying runner on the bases, but Finn was able to induce a groundout to the mound to end the 5^th inning, but not before the A’s scored four to narrow the lead to 8-6.

The Magic looked to score again, but a great throw by the centerfielder to third base closed out the inning.

In the last inning due to time constraints, Elizabeth Brown for the A’s singled over the Magic shortstop’s glove to put the tying run at the plate.  Hayden Huerta, the leadoff hitter, then singled to right field and with no outs putting the tying run at second with the winning run at the plate.

Eva Bustamante then singled to right field to tie up the game 8-8.

A sac bunt by Savannah Gonzalez put Bustamante on second base with one out. Charlize Masingale was intentionally walked bringing up Honesty Romero.

The game ended on a crazy play as an A’s hitter lined to third but the try for a double play at first base led to an errant throw which allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate giving the Athletics a hard-fought 9-8 victory after trailing just three innings before by a score of 8-2.

And the Athletics an amazing three-for-three tally in the 2025 AZ Last Blast.

We’ll have more interviews and our Line Drive All-Tournament team coming up soon!

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball