July 18, 2024
BY BOB JUDSON
OGDEN—Pool play softball games wrapped up Wednesday afternoon in the Triple Crown 14u World Series, staged at four venues throughout the Ogden area.
There are 49 teams entered in this year’s tournament from all over the country.
Bracket play begins Thursday morning with the best teams record-wise squaring off in the Gold Championship bracket, and the final scheduled on Saturday afternoon at Fourth Street Park.
Top teams at the end of pool play include Boise Blast Cole (Pool A), Crossfire Fastpitch Griggs (Pool B), High Desert Renegades-14U (Pool C), Oregon Thunder Huson 14A (Pool D), NW Vandals 14A Woods (Pool E), Athletics Mercado Spinner 14u (Pool F), NW Vandals 14A Hollen/Smith (Pool G), Utah Fury Fastpitch (Pool H) and Quakes 14U Placencia (Pool I).
Oregon Thunder Huson 14A, NW Vandals 14A Woods, Athletics Mercado Spinner 14u, NW Vandals 14A Hollen/Smith, Utah Fury Fastpitch and Quakes 14U Placencia all finished undefeated in pool play.
The top two teams in each pool qualify for the Gold bracket, while other lower brackets include Silver and Bronze.
Utah Fury Fastpitch is one of the more local teams, playing out of Payson, Utah and earned a first-round bye because of its perfect 4-0 record in pool play, opening against Arizona Cats 2010 Boone at 11:30 a.m. at Ben Lomond High on Thursday.
Coach Damon Bohn said Utah Fury plays around 120 games a year and “wins most of them” so he likes his team’s chances heading into bracket play.
“We always expect to be 4-0, but you never know. Bracket play can be really hard because every team is as good or better than us, so whoever brings it that game is probably going to win,” Bohn said.
The Utah Fury won its four games by scores of 15-6, 11-1 (Tuesday), 6-4 and 8-5 (Wednesday).
“There was a Las Vegas team…The first two games weren’t as close, but the two games today were really close. They were kind of nail-biters right here,” Bohn said. “We were just hoping the time would run out on this one (8-5 game against MT Avalanche 14u). We didn’t want to play another inning. Time ran out with two outs in the inning and we were the home team. They had a little bit of momentum.”
Having a one-game bye and being a local team helps with less wear and tear on players, but with temperatures near 100 degrees every day, not playing in the excessive heat also has its advantages.
“I have heard that these teams that come from Washington, California and Montana complain about the heat and we’re used to this, so a little bit of a home-field advantage,” Bohn said.
Traveling teams have to book and stay in approved Triple Crown hotels, while Utah Fury is within an 80-mile radius and is able to go home every night after its games.
But, the visiting teams definitely provide an economic boost to restaurants and such in the Ogden area.
Now, the losing teams start to drop out of the brackets, while the winning teams live to play another game.
