The P5 Patriot Games in Colorado kicked off Thursday with mostly 14U play… that is, when the weather wasn’t being difficult.

Here’s a recap of the opening day of the four days of the Patriot Games featuring many of the top 18U, 16U and 14U teams across the nation…

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Rain, Rain Go Away…

If there was a “winner” on the Opening Day of the 2026 Patriot Games, it was Mother Nature.

According to locals, Colorado hasn’t had rain for 6-8 weeks and was in somewhat of a drought… until last night and today.

Spectacular thunderstorms lined the sky last night and did serious damage to travel plans (I know—my direct flight from Boise to Denver got cancelled and I had to fly to San Diego (!) before connecting to Denver).

This morning, rain delayed the opening games one-to-two hours and then the skies opened up again mid-day forcing many games to be cancelled.

… but there was still some good stuff going on.

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Team to Beat in 14U?

It’s hard to make a quick judgement after just two games, but when you see how dominating the opening games were for the Texas Bombers 14U team, you have to think that this could be the team to beat in 14U.

Why?

Because the team looks loaded on offense and in pitching, winning its first two games by scores of 13-0 and 22-3 for a collective 35-3 total.

Certainly a team to watch on Friday in its pair of games at the Barnes Complex set to be played at 2 pm and 6 pm.

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My Player of the Day

 Granted, it was a sporadic day with all the weather impacts going on, but, wow, was Trinity Hargrett, the infielder for Impact Gold – Holmes, amazing today.

The 2029 grad ranked last month at No. 4 in the Line Drive HOT 100 hit for the cycle in the opening game today with a home run and three RBIs, a big 17-1 win, and then came back in Game 2 to do something I’ve never seen before.

On a pop-up in foul ground by first base, Trinity went over to make the catch and called off the infield.

However, she tripped over the umpire and fell on her back and, wouldn’t you know, the ball came down right onto her stomach and just rested there for the out!

Trinity covered it with her hands and then got up seemingly laughing and wincing at the same time.

She later said:

“I’ll have a bruise tomorrow!”

And, if that wasn’t enough, she started the bottom of the 1^st inning with a home run as the rain started to come down heavily again and the game was post-posted (at the time this is published, it will be played later Thursday evening).

But Trinity wasn’t alone in her prolific hitting; her teammates were right there with her:

Along with her going 4-4 and hitting for the cycle in Game 1, Analiese Holmes was 3-for-3 and hit two home runs, London Lambert was 3-for-4 with a home run, Leighton Ross was 3-for-3 with a home run and Sophie Hagan was 2-for-2 with a home run.

Here’s an interview I did with Trinity after Game 2 was put on hold:

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Speaking of Home Runs… Here’s One Caught on Video

A good match-up today in 14U featured the Firecrackers RTY Premier Red 2029 team versus a strong Beverly Bandits – Chow/Hardin team.

It also was postponed because of rain, but I saw a good hitting at-bat going on with Katelynn Serratos, a 2029 outfielder with the Firecrackers, so I started videoing it with my phone.

After fouling off several pitches, Katelynn hit a shot over the left field fence… here’s the clip of the home run:

… and here’s a brief interview with her after the game was held up due to excessive moisture!

Interview:

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College Coaches on Scene

I didn’t see many today, probably because it was 14U’s plus the weather, but I did see Notre Dame head coaches Kris Ganeff and Oklahoma State head man Kenny Gajewski.

I had a nice chat with Florida State’s assistant coach Travis Miller and offered to buy Nebraska assistant coach Diane Miller’s umbrella for $10 but she wisely and politely declined.

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Others Who Impressed:

With 10 fields having games all at once on the Barnes Complex in Loveland, Colo.—not to mention the other five complexes fielding games—I certainly didn’t see everyone, but of the games I did, here’s some who impressed:

*** Lila Morris, a 2029 right-handed pitcher on the Corona Angels – Tyson 14U team, looked strong in the five innings I saw her.

She had six K’s in 5.2 innings using a combo of a change, rise and her drop—which she said was her “most dominant pitch” in Game 1.

*** Hannah Louis, a 2029 P/1B on the Select Fastpitch – Jones/Carr team, went 3-for-4 with a home run and looked strong in the circle with a drop, curve, change combo.

*** Also on Eric Jones’ team, Kathryn Carr, a 2029 middle infielder and sister of Abby Carr, went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

*** the catcher on that Select team, a young 2030 prospect in Paisley “Pip” Wright, caught my eye with her energy and getting her teammates involved.

*** A pair of players I liked on the OC Batbusters Legacy Sith BD team: 2029 OF Sammie Morris and 2029 pitcher Mia Moreno.

*** Camryn Young, a 2029 P/MIF for Indiana Magic Gold, impressed when she hit a two-RBI single in her opening game against the Athletics.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Media