Under beautifully sunny skies and 70-degree weather, the 2025 edition of the PGF Ultimate Challenge wrapped up on Sunday in Salinas, Calif. at the Salinas Sports Complex.

Here’s a look at the three championship games at the club tourney and how the title winners got it done to win a $10,000 check (the runners-up got a $2,000 check) plus individual rings for the players…

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18U Championship: Cal Nuggets – Woods 4, Lady Magic – Munoz 2

In the 18U Division, the Cal Nuggets led by Head Coach Haley Woods rode the arms of the team’s dominating pitching staff highlighted by a 4-2 win over a strong and deep Lady Magic – Munoz team.

After finishing 2-1 in pool play that included two shutout wins and a 3-0 loss to Dirtdogs Vazquez Friday night, the pitching corps led by Cal-Berkeley-bound senior Alanna Clincy, and Ava Lee, a 2026 grad headed to Lehigh, continued to dominate.

“I thought my curve and riseball were really working well this weekend,” Lee said, “but it was also important to have that screwball at a faster speed.”

In single elimination play, the Nuggets won 1-0 over Extreme – Rios, 2-1 over Warrior Academy – McDonald/Mullins and the championship victory over the Lady Magic.

In the six games, the Nuggets scored 10 runs while giving up just three runs over Saturday and Sunday’s play.

In the championship game, the strong pitching was supported by Mia Wong, a 2027 middle infielder, who hit a two-run home run.

“It was something inside,” she said of her big blast. “I had been chasing balls outside which aren’t my pitch so I was looking for the one inside I wanted to hit and I got that.”

The defensive play of the game—maybe the weekend—was turned in by Nisha Mehta, a 2026 uncommitted outfielder, who made a catcher over the right center fence to prevent a home run.

“The pitchers did their jobs all weekend and that was key,” Coach Woods said at the conclusion of the win.

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16U Championship: Warrior Academy – McDonald/Mullins 6, BSC Bengals – Briggs 5

The Warrior Academy – McDonald/Mullins team steamrolled through the 16U age group, scoring 29 runs in pool play without allowing a run and then rolling 8-1 in the opening game of single elimination.

The offense couldn’t be slowed down in the semis or the final, either, as the Warrior bats scored six runs in the one-run win (6-5) over LTG Henderson before pushing 11 runs across in the 11-5 championship win over BSC Bengals – Briggs.

The Warriors scored four runs in the Top of the 1^st inning to give Sadie Fernandez, a 2027 right-handed pitcher, some breathing room.

Outfielder Star Gutierrez, one of the top 2028’s in the nation, sparked the offense with four hits including a double and 2028 middle infielder Gia Ryan had two hits with three runs driven in.

Third baseman Leanna “Chu” Holguin, a 2029 grad, singled home two runs as did 2028 infield Ari Henriguez.

Defensively, 2027 catcher Malianna Liongitau came up huge all weekend and caught almost every inning for the 16U champs. She also had a pair of RBIs in the title game.

Gutierrez batted .600 for the weekend and Ryan hit .500 with a .550 on-base percentage. 2029 MIF/OF Natalie Sun hit .455 with a .538 on-base percentage and 2028 OF Madilyn Sekera and Henriquez both hit .400.

The other trio of pitchers who helped the Warriors to the championship on Sunday were all 2028 righthanders: Bianka Fisher, Mercedes Coller and Keimana Agnew.

Head Coach Ray McDonald praised the team’s balance after the team took home the trophy, the $10,000 check and individual rings for each player.

“The maturity of these athletes is unparalleled throughout the country,” he began. “They’re defending national champions in the 16-Under division. We had eight starters who were 14-Under eligible and won the 16U National Championship at Alliance.”

“Their attention to detail and team play while understanding their assignments individually in how to best help the team.”

“It’s about practice… we practice a lot, we talk about it a lot, we hit every day and we talk about winning every day and what we need to do to win. We look for players who have energy and a love for softball.”

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14U – LTG Lions – Buck 12, NW Bullets – Campos/Herman 0

LTG Lions – Buck took home the 14U title by going undefeated and outscoring its six opponents 42-to-12 including a 12-0 run-rule win against NW Bullets – Campos/Herman.

The Lions quickly jumped out to a lead it would never relinquish by scoring one run in the first inning and then two more in the second.

Elle Osborne, the 2029 catcher, singled for the first run of the game and 2029 right-handed pitcher Madelyn “Mad Dog” Benzler helped her own cause by hitting a two-run double. For the tournament she hit .400 with a .550 on-base percentage and a .950 OPS.

Bezler, from Elk Grove, Calif., used her 66-mph fastball along with an array of other pitches to keep the Bullets hitters off balance leading to the big win for the Lions.

“I think my riseball, curve and change-up were working well this weekend,” she commented. “When I start getting ahead with the curveball, I like to use my rises to get them off-balance.”

Head Coach Amanda Buck pointed to the team’s grit and heart for reasons the team went undefeated this Halloween weekend.

“They fight for the last out,” she explained. “They believe in themselves, but they believe in each other… they’re such a tight-knit group of girls. They’re there for each other. We have a roster of 16—we were missing two this weekend—but even when there’s the 16 of them.”

“We have the pitching staff, two catchers who do a great job, our defense is phenomenal and we find ways to score runs.”

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POOL PLAY HIGHLIGHTS

18U

After the completion of pool play, two teams finished unbeaten in 18U.

The NW Bullets – Campos squad from the Northwest outscored opponents by an amazing 33-to-1 margin to go 3-0. The wins were a 12-0 shutout of LTG – Henderson on Friday night, a 14-1 victory against Warrior Academy – McDonald/Mullins and a 7-0 blanking of Sorcerer – Gabales/Rodriguez.

Also impressive—the Lady Magic – Munoz team which beat up its trio of opponents by a 21-to-2 margin it its three wins (5-1 over Extreme – Rios, 8-1 against So Cal A’s – Richardson and 8-0 over California Grapettes – Merrida/Kapp)

Interestingly, the other pool winner, the Cal Nuggets – Woods team, had scored just three runs in its two wins (scores were 2-0 over BSC Bengals – Briggs and 1-0 over AZ Rising – Walling) while its loss came by a 3-0 score Friday evening to Dirtdogs – Vazquez

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16U

Warrior Academy – McDonald/Mullins and BSC Bengals – Briggs both went 3-0 in pool play at the 16U level and both had one impressive stat in common.

Their pitching didn’t give up a single run in the trio of games played Friday and Saturday.

Warrior Academy outscored its opponents 29-to-0 with the three wins being 10-0 over CA Storm – Troy,  6-0 against So Cal A’s – Colon and 13-0 versus Lady Magic – Munoz/Asia)

The BSC Bengals scored 15 runs while blanking opponents in its three wins (7-0 over Suncats – Jimenez, 5-0 versus Powersurge – Walling and 3-0 to defeat CA Thunderbolts – Hamilton.

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14U

Unlike in 18U and 16U, where two teams went 3-0 to capture their pools and another went 2-1, the 14U division saw the BSC Bengals, LTG Lions – Buck and Lady Magic – Allen teams all end up undefeated.

The BSC Bengals outscored its three opponents by an 18-to-4 margin, the LTG Lions scored 22 and gave up seven runs and Lady Magic scored 11 while giving up just three runs in its three wins.