Line Drive Softball correspondent Grace White shares her thoughts on supporting her sister Esther who just completed a week of club competition at the Colorado Sparkler and shares her thoughts on the family’s upcoming trip to Southern California to compete at PGF Nationals.

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When I was told the ball flies in Colorado, I believed it, but I don’t think I truly understood the magnitude of that statement.

Over the course of five days, 11 games, and a third-place finish for Sparks Elite Ross/Stewart in the Sparkler, the team combined for over 30 home runs, and their opponents hit a bunch too.

I had never seen anything like it.

What would be long fly outs and mishits on any other field cleared the fence in Colorado, and what would be regular home runs turned into absolute moonshots.

Pretty much, unless the ball was hit on the ground, there was a chance that it could go out at any given time with the Colorado wind and elevation!

After winning the Top Club Nationals in Oklahoma City a couple of weeks ago, Sparks Elite continued their success at the Sparkler, going 3-0-1 in pool play and undefeated in bracket play until the semifinals in the Championship Bracket when they lost to Top Gun National 11-5.

In the championship game, Top Gun defeated Unity 18u Johnson/Ricks 18-12.

The shift in play that I saw from the first four days to the last day was very interesting. Sparks Elite scored only three runs in the quarterfinal game to beat Firecrackers Select Rico/Brashear by one. Then they were able to score just five runs in the semifinal game, which was not enough to overcome Top Gun.

When bracket play starts in the Sparkler, it is double elimination for everyone. However, if you are fortunate enough to make it to the Championship Bracket, it turns into single elimination, meaning one off game could send a team home.

I was talking to Coach Jay Ross of Sparks Elite, and he likes that format because it forces teams to be focused with the threat of being eliminated if they lose. Ultimately, Sparks Elite got eliminated by the eventual champions.

I’ve noticed that I get a lot more nervous during these Sparks Elite games than I did when I was playing. I live and breathe on each pitch, willing them to win because I know they have it in them.

My sister and her teammates have always been one of the best teams in the travel ball world no matter what name they wear across their chest, so it hurts when they do get beat.

It just goes to show how many talented athletes there are across the country, and I got to see teams full of them last week in Colorado. Most of the girls that I saw are already committed, several to Power 5 schools, such as Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee, etc.

It’s crazy to think that in just about a month some of these same players will be suiting up for their college teams for the first time. For years, they have played on the biggest stages in travel softball, including the Sparkler, and now with only one or two summer tournaments remaining, they step closer to playing on even bigger stages in college.

That’s where my sister Esther is at.

Her last travel softball tournament ever will be in a couple of weeks at PGF in California. I still remember way back in 2017 when she and her Fury teammates, three of whom she still plays with today, including Brinli Bain, McCall Sims, and Alexia Carrasquillo, brought home the 10U championship.

Back then, this summer seemed so far away. Playing college softball was still just a dream for them, and now it’s about to become reality. I guess the saying is true that time flies when you’re having fun.

Playing travel softball, especially at a high level across the country, isn’t for the faint of heart, and for these families, it has been their life for going on 10 years.

It isn’t something that will be easily replaced with all the fun had, friends made, and dreams realized. I know it’s going to be a difficult adjustment for my family once it’s over.

However, I’m going to try not to think about that right now. Instead, I want to look forward to everything about California from the plane ride to the Dodgers game to the intense softball competition. I haven’t been since 2019, which was the summer right before I started college.

I’m extremely excited to go back, and I hope the end result is walking away with a championship trophy like they did in 2017. I want them to finish the way they started, but even if that doesn’t happen, I will still forever be proud of my sister and her teammates for the women and athletes that they have become and thankful to them for letting me come along for the ride.

— Grace White/Line Drive Softball correspondent