Sunday was the conclusion of the 2026 PGF Nationals and, boy, were they amazing!

We will be recapping the National Championship games in a three-part series based on the trio of games that were played on Sunday at Deanna Manning Stadium in Bill Barber Park, Irvine, Calif. per this schedule:

14U Platinum Championship (9 am PST)

— Firecrackers Hawaii vs. Birmingham Thunderbolts – Wilkerson

12U Premier Championship (11:30 am PST)

 — Athletics – Mercado – Greg vs Lady Magic – Munoz

14U Premier Championship (2:30 pm PST)

— Hotshots National – Torres/Seneca vs. LTG Henderson/Buck

Today, we look at the initial game of the day, which featured two teams roughly 4,400 miles apart in straight line distance!

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14U PLATINUM CHAMPIONSHIP:

Firecrackers Hawaii vs. Birmingham Thunderbolts – Wilkerson

Two years ago the Birmingham Thunderbolts coached by Jeff Wilkerson won the PGF 10U Premier Nationals (consisting of a majority of the players on this year’s 14U Platinum team) and then last year the team finished as runners-up at the 12U Premier level.

Moving up for the third year in a row, the Bolts 2030 team captured its second national title in three years and will look to make it three in four years next year when the team moves up to 14U Premier.

What makes today’s championship—a 6-1 victory of Firecrackers – Hawaii—even more impressive is that Wilkerson and his coaching staff did it shorthanded, as four key players suffered injuries and took the initial roster of 16 down to as few as 11 active players at times.

But a lot of that angst can be offset when you have an equally quality offense and pitching corps, and that was the theme in today’s championship win.

The offense totaled eight hits including a game sealer in the bottom of the fifth when first baseman Ella Chester crushed a two-run shot over the left center field fence that extended the lead to 5-0 and would finish with each team adding a run in the 7^th to complete the scoring.

“I knew it when I hit it,” Ella said after the win. “I was looking for an inside curve and that’s what I got.”

The talented 2030 power hitter added it felt good for another reason.

“I had been struggling a bit,” she admitted, “but that helped me feel like I was helping my team.”

The Bolts essentially put the game out of reach in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff hitter Heidi Harrison reached on an error and then stole second to immediately get into scoring position.

Jaz Skanes, an outfielder hitting in the No. 2 spot, hit a flair to centerfield for a single pushing Skanes to third.

Firecrackers starting pitcher Alyssa Espinzoa was able to get two outs, but shortstop Abby Bethea hit a deep fly to center that escaped the centerfielder and rolled to the wall along Harrison and Skanes to put the first two runs on the board.

That would be all Bolts starting pitcher Aaliyah Hayes would need.

In the top of the second inning, she struck out the side and would go to on to total 12 strikeouts in the seven-inning complete game win with only one hit allowed.

She was effective in mixing speeds on her curve, dropball and a change-up—so much so that Aaliyah had Firecrackers lunging at pitches that were coming in so slow you could measure them with a sundial.

The 14U Platinum championship stayed at 2-0 until the bottom of the 4^th when the bolts DP Emmy Kate Grosvenor hit a fly ball that dropped in safely between the infielders allowing her to scoot to second in the confusion.

Then, with two outs, leadoff hitter Heidi Harrison ripped a triple to right field plating Grosvenor to make the score 3-0.

In the bottom of the 5^th, the Bolt effectively put the game out of reach when first baseman Ella Chester smacked a two-run homer to make the score 5-0 after five innings.

The Firecrackers did have their chances, though.

In the top of the 4^th inning, catcher Kaiya Fujishige walked—the first baserunner for the Firecrackers—and with a walk to first baseman Briell Hong, the visitors from the Islands had runners on first and second before Hayes got her sixth strikeout of the game and ended the threat.

In the top of the 6^th, leadoff hitter and shortstop Jazmine Medrano doubled—the only hit allowed by Hayes all game—and a subsequent error put runners on the corners with one out.

Infielder then grounded to Keke Calizar but the throw home was late to make the score 5-1 with runners on first and second.

Hayes, however, turned up the intensity to get a strikeout and a harmless fly out to end any chance of a Firecrackers comeback.

And, suitably, the last out of the game was Hayes’s 12^th strikeout to make the Thunderbolts a National Champion once again.

Here’s the clip of the final out of the game…

Here’s what Coach Wilkerson and his pitching star Hayes had to say about the impressive title victory right after the game….