PGF National Championships (18U/12U/10U)Aug 18, 2016 by FloSoftball Staff
#TBT: Brooke Vestal in the PGF National Championship Game
#TBT: Brooke Vestal in the PGF National Championship Game
At the beginning of the summer, the Firecrackers-Rico team didn't look like they would go far in PGF Nationals. After an up-and-down performance leading up
At the beginning of the summer, the Firecrackers-Rico team didn't look like they would go far in PGF Nationals. After an up-and-down performance leading up to the main event, Tony Rico's team began to gel and it all came together in late July as the Firecrackers won the PGF 18U Premier National Championship over the California Cruisers.
Ace pitcher Brooke Vestal, ranked as the No. 1 player in the 2018 Hot 100 by FloSoftball, admits that the summer got off to a rocky start and, in this first person blog, she recaps how she and the team came together to end the club season as champions.
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
***
By Brooke Vestal
No matter how cliché, I can honestly say winning a PGF title is unreal!
Even though it's been a couple of weeks since we took the field, it has not hit me yet that I played for a team that won a National Championship.
Our summer started off shaky and I can see why many ruled us out as winners, but we came together as a team when it mattered.
The road to a championship this summer really started in January for me. It began with a high school season where I struggled mentally and physically to gain control, so the idea of going to California for the summer was terrifying.
My teammates made the difference when they welcomed me day one. Their friendship and incredible defense allowed me to settle in on the mound when it counted.
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
Of course winning PGF Nationals was a dream come true, but with or without the trophy my experience this summer was life changing. It was incredible playing for a team that was brought together by hard work and wanted to win and do what it took to win.
Most importantly, over the summer I grew not only as a person but as a teammate.
Throughout my softball career, I've been blessed with amazing coaches, but the coaches I had this year with Tony Rico, Rob Weil and the rest of the staff were a special group. They brought out a new side of me as a competitor and athlete.
My experience this year at PGF was different from my first three years competing there in Huntington Beach and one key was mindset of this team: my teammates had the expectation for themselves to be playing on the final day and that's what we did.
The beginning of the week at Nationals I felt a lot of pressure to help keep our team in the Winner's Bracket, but it helped knowing that as long as I kept the ball in the park, my defense would make great plays behind me.
Our first game in bracket play, we quickly fell behind and before I knew it, I found myself on the mound chasing a 5-3 deficit against a very strong Diamond Hot Shots team. Fortunately, our offense started to come alive and all I had to do was keep it close. With the help of an incredible defense behind me, we came back with an 8-5 win to stay in the Winner's Bracket.
The rest of our bracket games were similar in that I had to go out and keep the games close because I knew our offense would get the runs we needed. Trusting our offense and defense that allowed me to pitch comfortably and in control.
All week our defense was amazing and I never once felt panicked in tight situations or like I had to do it all by myself. It was a complete team effort to get every win.
The championship game came sooner than I expected. There I was standing in the circle about to play in the biggest game of my life!
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
I took the ball and threw the first pitch...a few pitches later shortstop Sis Bates made a great over the shoulder play and kept their lead-off hitter off first. That was a game changer for me as it allowed me to settle into the game without a rabbit on first with no outs.
I took the game one pitch and one deep breath at a time. My main focus against an excellent Cruisers team was to stay calm and keep my composure so that I could successfully do my job to help our team. When my team's making amazing plays behind me all I want to do is be my best for them.
A key moment came in the bottom of the fifth inning when we had a 2-0 lead and a bunt was hit back to me. There was a runner at first and I rushed the play and bobbled it. I decided to not to make the throw and after another bunt hit suddenly the bases were loaded with one out.
Coach Rob came out to the circle and asked, "Hey are you okay?" I said, "I'm okay, but I'm a little hungry." He said, "I was just thinking about that, what are you all thinking for dinner?" We gave off some options on what sounded good, some suggested pizza! And then Rob looked at us and said, "Let's get this over with so we can go eat!"
We then went out and got a pop up to the catcher and on a 3-2 count I threw a riseball and the hitter grounded out to Eliyah Flores, a fellow Sooner commit, and we were out of the inning. Two innings later it was over and we won 2-0!
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
As a team, we got to that game to win it all. We came out and all did our jobs. It was amazing to be in such a competitive atmosphere playing with and against such talented players.
Honestly, it was sad to see such an awesome summer come to end but I was so proud of our team and what we accomplished: we finished as National Champions!
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
Ace pitcher Brooke Vestal, ranked as the No. 1 player in the 2018 Hot 100 by FloSoftball, admits that the summer got off to a rocky start and, in this first person blog, she recaps how she and the team came together to end the club season as champions.
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
***
By Brooke Vestal
No matter how cliché, I can honestly say winning a PGF title is unreal!
Even though it's been a couple of weeks since we took the field, it has not hit me yet that I played for a team that won a National Championship.
Our summer started off shaky and I can see why many ruled us out as winners, but we came together as a team when it mattered.
The road to a championship this summer really started in January for me. It began with a high school season where I struggled mentally and physically to gain control, so the idea of going to California for the summer was terrifying.
My teammates made the difference when they welcomed me day one. Their friendship and incredible defense allowed me to settle in on the mound when it counted.
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
Of course winning PGF Nationals was a dream come true, but with or without the trophy my experience this summer was life changing. It was incredible playing for a team that was brought together by hard work and wanted to win and do what it took to win.
Most importantly, over the summer I grew not only as a person but as a teammate.
Throughout my softball career, I've been blessed with amazing coaches, but the coaches I had this year with Tony Rico, Rob Weil and the rest of the staff were a special group. They brought out a new side of me as a competitor and athlete.
My experience this year at PGF was different from my first three years competing there in Huntington Beach and one key was mindset of this team: my teammates had the expectation for themselves to be playing on the final day and that's what we did.
The beginning of the week at Nationals I felt a lot of pressure to help keep our team in the Winner's Bracket, but it helped knowing that as long as I kept the ball in the park, my defense would make great plays behind me.
Our first game in bracket play, we quickly fell behind and before I knew it, I found myself on the mound chasing a 5-3 deficit against a very strong Diamond Hot Shots team. Fortunately, our offense started to come alive and all I had to do was keep it close. With the help of an incredible defense behind me, we came back with an 8-5 win to stay in the Winner's Bracket.
The rest of our bracket games were similar in that I had to go out and keep the games close because I knew our offense would get the runs we needed. Trusting our offense and defense that allowed me to pitch comfortably and in control.
All week our defense was amazing and I never once felt panicked in tight situations or like I had to do it all by myself. It was a complete team effort to get every win.
The championship game came sooner than I expected. There I was standing in the circle about to play in the biggest game of my life!
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
I took the ball and threw the first pitch...a few pitches later shortstop Sis Bates made a great over the shoulder play and kept their lead-off hitter off first. That was a game changer for me as it allowed me to settle into the game without a rabbit on first with no outs.
I took the game one pitch and one deep breath at a time. My main focus against an excellent Cruisers team was to stay calm and keep my composure so that I could successfully do my job to help our team. When my team's making amazing plays behind me all I want to do is be my best for them.
A key moment came in the bottom of the fifth inning when we had a 2-0 lead and a bunt was hit back to me. There was a runner at first and I rushed the play and bobbled it. I decided to not to make the throw and after another bunt hit suddenly the bases were loaded with one out.
Coach Rob came out to the circle and asked, "Hey are you okay?" I said, "I'm okay, but I'm a little hungry." He said, "I was just thinking about that, what are you all thinking for dinner?" We gave off some options on what sounded good, some suggested pizza! And then Rob looked at us and said, "Let's get this over with so we can go eat!"
We then went out and got a pop up to the catcher and on a 3-2 count I threw a riseball and the hitter grounded out to Eliyah Flores, a fellow Sooner commit, and we were out of the inning. Two innings later it was over and we won 2-0!
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)
As a team, we got to that game to win it all. We came out and all did our jobs. It was amazing to be in such a competitive atmosphere playing with and against such talented players.
Honestly, it was sad to see such an awesome summer come to end but I was so proud of our team and what we accomplished: we finished as National Champions!
(Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)