The PGF Shootout was held Oct. 25-27 in Orange County, CA:

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18U: ARIZONA RISING-APPEL 7, SORCERER-GANN 1

Steve Appel switched organizations after last season and he is already putting Arizona Rising on the map, leading Arizona Rising-Appel to a 7-1 victory over Sorcerer-Gann in the 18U championship game of the PGF Shootout on Sunday at Huntington Beach Sports Complex.

“As a new organization on the block,” Arizona Rising coach Steve Appel said, “this was big for us to establish that we are a team that will compete come Nationals next summer. #Riseup”

North Carolina State-committed 2026 MIF Karsyn Norton and Oklahoma-committed 2026 OF Payton Westra each had a two-run singles during Arizona Rising’s six-run outburst in the bottom of the 6th inning of the finals.

2026 2B/3B/IF/UT Kaelyn Moffitt had two of Arizona Rising’s nine hits, including a home run and Westra, Moffitt and Norton each had two RBIs.

Oregon State-committed 2025 RHP/OF Amelia Streuber was the starter, allowing fur hits, one run and striking out five in 5.0 innings. Northwestern-committed 2026 LHP Goose Goodwin gave up one hit and struck out two in one inning of relief to record the victory.

Arizona Rising, which previously was with the Arizona Storm organization, did not have an easy road to the championship, beating Universal-Macias, 8-0, Breakers Labs-Bobby, 7-1, USA Athletics Gold-Rogers, 1-0, Athletics Mercado-Smith, PGF 18U Premier national runner-up last season, 2-0, and Sorcerer-Gann, the PGF 16U Premier national champion in 2023, in bracket games.

“For the entire weekend,” Appel said, “the standouts were our entire pitching staff. We had a 0.40 ERA in eight games! Offensively, we hit nine home runs, led by (Texas A&M-committed 2025 C/1B/3B) Madison Sauni, (Texas A&M-committed 2026 3B/OF) Taylor Hampton and (Alabama-committed 2026 C/CF) Torryn Slaughter.”

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16U: LADY MAGIC-MUNOZ 8, ARIZONA STORM-MENDEZ 1

This Lady Magic-Munoz squad was a second-year 14U team in the summer, but they played up in 16U and were successful much of the time.

In the first major club softball tournament of the fall, Lady Magic-Munoz showed it will be a force in the 16U division this season by beating Arizona Storm-Mendez in the 16U championship game of the PGF Shootout on Sunday at Fountain Valley Sports Park.

“This was a great win for our team,” Lady Magic coach Ernie Munoz said. “The girls are in a great place right now and thriving. Our keyword going into this fall was ‘maturity’ and I see a lot of that in them right now. I’m proud of the way they are playing and we’re going to try to keep on rolling.”

Lady Magic’s pitching staff had a great day only allowing four runs in four games on Sunday. 2027 RHP Kameron Brannon led the way with 11 scoreless innings, including a complete game shutout in Game 1 against Warrior Academy-McDonald. 2027 Sloane Merrell had 12 strikeouts and gave up zero earned runs in 12 innings pitched. 2027 Micah Kennedy had 11 strikeouts in 11 innings and 2027 Mikayla Finn only allows four hits in nine innings.

Offensively, they had many contributors, including a huge Game 1 against Warrior Academy-McDonald from 2027 OF Morgan Carlson, who was 2 for 4 with a grand slam. Some other standouts were 2027 OF Alexis Weiler, who led the team with a .500 batting average, 2027 1B Tayler Jennings, who hit .423 with two doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. 2027 IF Niayli Calvo paced the team with three HRs and 11 RBIs. 2028 OF Caelyn Campos showed off her elite speed with three triples and was 4 of 4 in stolen bases.

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14U: EXPLOSION-KIM/SAUNDERS 6, ATHLETICS MERCADO-TIDD 2

Explosion-Kim/Saunders had the biggest upset so far early in the fall season with a 6-2 victory over Athletics Mercado-Tidd, the reigning PGF 14U Premier national champion, in the 14U championship game of the PGF Shootout on Sunday at Yorba Regional Park.

“The kids played hard from the first game to the last for each other, not for the cash prize,” Explosion coach James Kim said. “Going into that championship game, none of them had any idea there was money on the line. This is the type of team they are. It’s about playing the game the right way and competing at the highest level against the best. The championship is meaningful because they are the last team standing in an event full of the top 14U teams around and they accomplished this feat with an all-around team effort.”

2029 C Kaylee Mathews went 2 for 4 with three RBIs, 2-28 IF Lexi Avila went 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2028 P Karina Torres had four strikeouts in five innings to lead the Explosion in the finals.

2028 OF Emiko Saunders (.609 AVG, 14 hits, 4 SBs), 2028 P/OF Chaden Chatelain (1.47 ERA, 19 IP, 32 Ks and batted .500 with 9 hits), 2029 IF Callie Kissell (.381 AVG, 8 Hits, 10 RBIs) and Mathews (5 CS, 1 HR, 9 RBIs) led the Explosion for the tournament.

— Carlos Arias, Line Drive Media (Follow Carlos on Twitter @los_stuff)