March 5, 2025
Triple Crown Fastpitch drew another large crowd of competitive youth softball programs to the Bomber Shootout, a kickoff of sorts for the 2025 season taking place March 1-2 in College Station and Bryan, TX.
Over the 10u, 12u and 14u age groups, 90 teams took part – this was the 25th year TCS has hosted the Bomber Shootout, which has been run in partnership with the Texas Bombers club program since 2015.
14u Elite Gold – Athletics Mercado Christie/Zito (Houston, TX)
14u Elite Silver – Texas Glory (Plano, TX)
There were eight teams that came out of pool play with perfect 3-0 records; Athletics Mercado Christie/Zito survived the four-game trek to the championship, closing the day with a 4-2 victory over Hotshots National Torres (Georgetown, TX). Athletics Mercado jumped out to an early lead in the first inning when Kendall (KP) Peel singled to center field, followed by Coco Chapman grounding out to bring in two runs. Hotshots National Torres fought back, tying the game at 2-2 in the second inning, but Chapman came through again in the third, delivering a clutch two-run single to put Mercado back in front for good.
In the circle, Marley Peoples started the game, battling through 2.1 innings while striking out two. Bevin Kelm came in as relief and shut the door, allowing just one hit and zero runs over 2.2 innings, striking out two and securing the championship. Defensively, the team played a clean game, committing zero errors.
Other key contributors included Lila (LJ) Silman, who also recorded a hit, while Chapman led the team with two RBI. Head coach Christie Chapman-Rogelstad praised the team’s performance, saying, “Overall it was a huge team weekend, with everyone contributing to the final result along the way. This was a great test for us in our first weekend of the spring season. I’m really proud of how the girls stepped up. They stayed composed under pressure and made noticeable strides from game to game in terms of mentality and focus and that’s going to be huge for us moving forward in the season.”
12u Gold – Strykers National Williams (Pearland, TX)
12u Silver – DSTX Blaze National (Driftwood, TX)
Strykers National Williams pitched three straight shutouts in their three pool-play victories and allowed just five runs in their first two victories in the Sunday bracket. The team scored 10 runs to help survive a semifinal challenge against Impact Gold National (League City, TX) before bearing down and prevailing in a close title game, 4-3 vs. Wow Factor National (Humble, TX).
10u – HTX Bombers Gold (Richmond, TX)
HTX Bombers Gold were not in the group of three teams that swept their pool-play assignment, but the squad was dialed in during bracket play. Starting at 8 a.m., HTX Bombers Gold pocketed a 12-0 victory before holding on in a tight 2-1 victory over TX CF Intruders Needham (Stagecoach, TX). In the championship game, HTX Bombers Gold closed with a 9-0 victory vs. TX Crush (Sante Fe, TX); interestingly, TX Crush went 0-3 in pool play before their own dominant run through the bracket.
