After Friday’s full day of matchups at the Patriot Games in Colorado, we are now set for Saturday’s run to the championships in the age divisions of 18U, 16U and 14U.

Let’s look at the top teams in each age group and pool based on record heading into Saturday’s finale with the championships to be played at 4 pm MST across each age division:

18U:

• Pool A: Athletics – Mercado (3-0)
• Pool B: Bombers Gold – Jacoby (3-0-1)
• Pool C: Texas Bombers Gold (3-0)
• Pool D: Top Gun National (3-1)

16U:

• Pool A: Impact Gold – Jazz & Athletic – Mercado/Hovermale (3-1)
• Pool B: Arizona Storm – Appel (4-0)
• Pool C: Texas Bombers Gold (4-0)
• Pool D: Texas Glory (3-0-1)

14U:

• Pool A: Athletics – Mercado/Tidd, Aces Fastpitch & Impact Gold 2K9 (3-1)
• Pool B: Athletics – Mercado/Hovermale (4-0)
• Pool C: Texas Bombers Gold & Impact Gold – Siegel (3-1)
• Pool D: Corona Angels – Tyson (4-0)

Not surprisingly, there were team and player highlights and, with all that was going on, my assistant Shannon and I were only attend the 18U and 16U games at the Future Legends Sports Complex in Windsor, Colo. (but we’ll have reports on Saturday’s action in 14U as well).

This immense facility included fastpitch games in The Dome, an indoor facility that includes a softball field on turf as well as basketball and volleyball turf fields as well as a soccer field.

More on that in a second… as mentioned earlier, Saturday is Championship Day and it promises to be an eventful, exciting day.

Recapping Friday, here are some team and player highlights which were watched by a gazillion college coaches… OK, maybe just a bazillion but you name a major college program and odds are high they’re in town.

*****

Game of the Day:

Remember The Dome mentioned earlier?

The best game we saw all day took place there and it was good it was inside as a lightning delay pushed back the outside games for a few minutes.

*** For the scores and pool standings, click HERE ***

This game was a battle of two outstanding 16U teams as the Dirtdogs – Vaquez squad would top a talented Georgia Bombers team 8-7.

The Bombers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and 6-3 after three but came back with two in the top of the 4^th and three more in the top of the 5^th on this massive 3-run homer by catcher Karmen Vazquez sent to us via her father, Head Coach Marco Vazquez:

Kudos to the Georgia Bombers, too, as this team is loaded with big bats and will win a lot of games this summer.

Interestingly, we ran a pic yesterday of former Michigan State great Ebonee Echols in the Day 1 write-up and how she’s coaching in the Bombers organization—it’s the Georgia Bombers team and she was the third base coach.

While talking about the Bombers 16U team, it has a tremendous catcher in 2027 grad Aspen Kitowski but she wasn’t available to play this weekend so the team brought in two outstanding young backstops from the Texas Bombers 16U National teams.

These two, Julianna Cox, a 2026 catcher who hit an impressive two-run homer in The Dome during this game, and Riley Hall, a 2027 catcher who is 6-foot-2 and looks athletic and smooth, are both stars in the making and should be heavily recruiting in their classes.

And talk about your college coaches scouting this game; we saw in attendance the following teams among the many others: Florida, Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Nebraska, Stanford, Arizona State, Oklahoma and UCLA.

As I was talking to Coach Vazquez tonight, he had to cut our call short because an SEC coach was reaching out to him.

Why were many of them there? No doubt to see Karmen, who went 1-for-3 in the game with a walk, but also clean-up hitter and middle infielder Alexys Busch, a good hitter who went 1-for-2 and is also coveted for her outstanding glove and arm in the infield.

Player of the Day

Player of the Day, yes, but Goose Hutchins, a 2027 third baseman for the Iowa Premier made a strong case for herself as a Player of the Summer candidate.

The 15-year-old from Oklahoma is a Top 15 player—and perhaps the No. 1 overall prospect—in her class and she is a future star—shoot, by the way she looked today, she’s already one now.

Her head coach, Greg Dickel, called her a “generational player” meaning a once-in-a-generation player and with all of the players on his team committed but her, it’s understandable why there’s not a team roster sheet being handed out at the games.

You can bet, though, that college coaches know well who she is.

Continue below to read more about Goose and more News & Notes from today’s Patriot Games action…