The 2026 Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series (AFCS) started Monday, July 13 in the Indianapolis, Indiana metro area with 10U and 12U teams checking in and runs through Sunday, July 26 with the 16U and 18U championship games wrapping up that day.

This week, we’re excited to have Kallaway Crenshaw, a pitcher/outfielder ranked No. 11 national in the Line Drive Media 2031 HOT 100 and a member of the Atlanta Vipers – Kotula team, blogging for us as her team competes in the AFCS 12U Nationals.

From Cartersville, Ga., Kallaway will provide us with behind-the-scenes coverage from the ground in Indiana, including daily recaps, mic’d-up players, highlights, and everything that goes into competing at AFCS.

This week features 16 regions of four teams with the top two teams from each region advancing to the Tier 1 Super Regionals and, from there, the highest finishing pair of teams in each of the four Super Regionals advance to the Championship Series.

There, the Elite 8 battle through a double-elimination bracket with the last two teams competing in a best of three Championship Series to determine the National Champion.

Here’s what Kallaway had to share after Day 1—Tuesday, July 14—at the 2026 AFCS!

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Day 1 Recap

Day 1 at the AFCS ended with a 10-3 victory for us over the California Smoke team.

Our offense put together a strong performance, finishing with a .355 team batting average, highlighted by six singles, four doubles and a triple.

In the circle, our pitching staff was outstanding. Over seven innings, they faced 32 batters, allowed just five hits striking out 12 and held our opponents to a .192 batting average against.

After the game, we headed straight to the Home Run Derby, where Cam Algeo and I were selected to represent Atlanta Vipers Kotula.

With just 30 seconds on the clock, we competed to hit as many home runs as possible and I think we did a great job representing our program!

Looking forward to Day 2!