The 2026 Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series (AFCS) started Monday (July 13) in the Indianapolis 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.

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, is blogging for us at the AFCS 12U Nationals.

Kallaway is sharing 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.

You can check out previous reports by clicking on the links below:

• Day 1 (Tue. July 14)
• Day 2 (Wed. July 15)
• Day 3 (Thu. July 16)
• Day 4 (Fri. July 17)

… and here’s Kallaway’s report from Day 5—Saturday, July 18—at the 2026 AFCS which saw her Vipers team score a huge win over the age division’s No. 1 seed…

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Day 5 Recap

Day 5 of the AFCS was one for the books!

We started our day at noon in our final Super Regional game with a spot in the Elite 8 on the line.

We faced a tough Warriors team out of California and found ourselves down 0-2 after the first inning, but then our bats came alive!

 We scored nine runs on 15 hits to secure the win and punch our ticket to the Elite 8!!!

🔥Aria Brown went 3-for-3.
🔥 Ella Roche had 2 hits and 3 RBIs.
🔥 Caroline Blackburn had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.
🔥 Layla D’Amico earned the win in the circle, allowing 3 runs over 4 innings with 4 strikeouts.
🔥 Kallaway Crenshaw came in to earn the save.

With the win, we officially secured our spot in the Elite 8! We got our AFCS Elite 8 hats and headed over to add our name to the big bracket. 🧢🏆

Our first Elite 8 matchup was against the No. 1 seeded Texas Bombers Gold 12U. We found ourselves down 0-2 after two innings, but we weren’t going away quietly!

We scored one run in the third after Caroline Blackburn drew a walk and Kayla Gardner doubled. After a scoreless fourth inning, we came hungry in the fifth with time running out.

Caroline drew another walk, and Lily Gomez came in CLUTCH with an RBI triple to tie the game! Then Kayla Gardner stepped into the box and confidently executed a squeeze bunt to bring home the go-ahead run. 🔥

Time expired during our next batter, and just like that, we secured the 3-2 victory over the No. 1 seed! 🦾

Unfortunately, the weather got us again, so our next game has been moved to 11:00 AM Sunday.

Until then, get to know our team with a fun “Guess the Baby Picture” game! 👶🏼😂

We also had some familiar faces from the college softball world congratulating us on our run so far and wishing us luck the rest of the way. 🥎💓