The PGF Shootout was held Oct. 23-25 in Orange County, CA:

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18U: ATHLETICS MERCADO-SMITH 6, BSC BENGALS-BRIGGS 3

Athletics Mercado-Smith, #7 at PGF 18U Premier Nationals this past summer, held on to beat BSC Bengals-Briggs, 6-3, in the 18U championship game of PGF Shootout at 2:15 pm on Sunday at Huntington Beach Sports Complex.

Athletics Mercado-Smith won a 1st-place prize of $7,000 and BSC Bengals-Briggs, #9 at PGF 18U Premier Nationals this past summer, received $3,000 for 2nd place.

UCLA-committed 2027 RHP Coral Williams was great in the circle during bracket play, throwing 17 innings and striking out 19 while allowing one run.

Cal-committed 2027 RHP Daniella Boccanfuso threw 10 innings with 10 strikeouts and allowed four earned runs. UCLA-committed 2028 1B/3B/RHP Destinee Herrera threw three innings of high-pressure situations to close out the quarterfinals and finals.

Utah-committed 2028 OF/UT Kendra Nelsen hit .500 during bracket play, Michigan-committed 2028 OF/RHP/1B/UT Tatum Wolff hit .370 with a grand slam in the quarterfinals.

Arizona State-committed 2027 MIF Hayden Huerta led the team in RBIs with seven, followed by Texas A&M-committed 2028 OF/1B Jae Eteaki and Texas A&M-committed 2027 MIF Leighton “Sis” Gray with five RBIs apiece.

“(The) team is really starting to gel, getting contributions from the entire roster, lots still to work on,” Athletics Mercado assistant coach Mark Smith said, “but definitely moving in the right direction.”

Athletics Mercado-Smith defeated Breakers Labs Gold-Bobby, 3-0, Lady Magic-Munoz, 7-0, Arizona Storm National-Smith, 9-5, NW Bullets-Campos, 4-3, and BSC Bengals-Briggs, 6-3, in bracket games.

BSC Bengals-Briggs defeated Sorcerer-Walling/T/K. 2-0, Cal Nuggets-Woods, 8-3, Explosion National, 4-2, Extreme-Rios/Ching, 6-5, and lost to Athletics Mercado-Smith, 6-3, in bracket games.

The 14U and 16U Divisions got rained out.

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