PGF Show Me The Money brought another loaded weekend of softball to North Florida, with most of the event played at Champions Park in Newberry before the championship games moved to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville.
That setting fit the weekend.
Across 14U, 16U and 18U, the title games delivered three different kinds of championship stories. USA Prime National-Halstead 14U turned its final into a statement. Santa Fe Inferno Nowling 16U leaned on timely hitting, pitching and defense to finish off a tight 16U win. Georgia Impact Premier Taylor completed an unbeaten 18U run with a 7-1 championship victory.
Different paths. Same result. Hardware.
14U Championship: USA Prime National-Halstead Holds Off Tampa Mustangs Ohana
USA Prime National-Halstead 14U did not run away with the 14U championship at PGF Show Me The Money. They had to earn it.
Prime defeated Tampa Mustangs Ohana 14U, 5-4, in a tight championship game at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville after most of the weekend was played at Champions Park in Newberry.
The difference came in the third inning.
After two scoreless frames, USA Prime broke through with a five-run third. That inning ended up being enough, but barely. Tampa Mustangs Ohana answered with three runs in the fourth and pushed across another run in the seventh, turning what looked like a comfortable lead into a one-run finish.
Prime’s offense was balanced, with eight hits from seven different players. Ally Halstead led the way, going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Mackenzie Fritsch went 1-for-2 with a double, RBI, run scored and a walk. Avery Murphy added a double, RBI and run scored, while Mollie Anglin drove in a run and scored. Gia Gomez reached three times, going 1-for-1 with a double, two walks and a run scored.
Maddie Davis also added a hit, a walk and a run, while Ella Rackley chipped in a hit as Prime built just enough offense during its five-run third inning.
Tampa Mustangs Ohana made it interesting. Tayten Weber went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Grace McDaniel added a double, RBI and walk, while Dallas Esperas, Izabella Choquette and Lynlee Klinger each recorded a hit. Tampa finished with six hits and had the tying run in play late, but Prime held on.
In the circle, Zoe Velazquez started for USA Prime and worked 4.1 innings, allowing three hits, three runs, one earned run and striking out four. Ellouise Koester finished the final 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out two and keeping Tampa from completing the comeback.
It was not the cleanest path, but championship games usually are not about style points. USA Prime had one big inning, got key outs late and found a way to finish.
That is enough to cash the big check.
Final Score: USA Prime National-Halstead 14U 5, Tampa Mustangs Ohana 14U 4
Key Performers
USA Prime National-Halstead 14U
Ally Halstead: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
Mackenzie Fritsch: 1-for-2, double, RBI, run, walk
Avery Murphy: 1-for-3, double, RBI, run
Gia Gomez: 1-for-1, double, 2 walks, run
Mollie Anglin: 1-for-2, RBI, run
Maddie Davis: 1-for-3, run, walk
Ella Rackley: 1-for-3
Zoe Velazquez: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Ellouise Koester: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Tampa Mustangs Ohana 14U
Tayten Weber: 2-for-3, double, 2 RBI, run
Grace McDaniel: 1-for-3, double, RBI, walk
Dallas Esperas: 1-for-3, run
Izabella Choquette: 1-for-3, run
Lynlee Klinger: 1-for-4
Sophia Wiggs: RBI, walk
16U Championship: Santa Fe Inferno Nowling Holds Off Unity
Santa Fe Inferno Nowling 16U finished the job on one of the biggest stages in Florida softball.
Santa Fe defeated Unity Schultheis/Johnson 16U, 4-2, to claim the 16U title at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. It was not a blowout. It was not flashy just for the sake of being flashy. It was championship softball. Score a little, defend a lot, get a complete-game effort in the circle and make the other side earn every inch.
Santa Fe scored single runs in the first, third, fifth and sixth innings, building enough separation to survive Unity’s late push. Unity scored once in the fourth and once in the seventh, but Santa Fe never gave up the lead.
Braylee Rano helped set the tone at the top of the lineup, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Paityn Donalson added a hit and an RBI, while Baylee Gladden drove in a run and delivered a triple. Kamryn Pickering also added an RBI, giving Santa Fe production across the lineup instead of relying on one big swing to carry the game.
In the circle, Addison Allaire gave Santa Fe exactly what a team needs in a championship setting. She went the full seven innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out eight. Unity put the ball in play and made things interesting late, but Allaire worked through it and closed out the win.
Unity Schultheis/Johnson 16U did not go quietly. Adrianna Thorne went 2-for-4 with a run scored, Skylar Flack drove in a run, Lexi Medina added a hit and a run, and Kennedy Coplen came off the bench and recorded a hit. Unity finished with five hits and pushed a run across in the seventh, but Santa Fe had already done just enough.
After the win, Santa Fe head coach Jason Nowling pointed to the full-team effort it took to get through the weekend.
“Great weekend for this team and another testament to the organization being able to compete with the best in the country.
Timely hitting, solid defense, solid pitching and unselfish role players. We needed every bit of it to come out on top.
SMTM is always a fantastic tournament and we faced some really great teams. Eight of the 15 on this 16u roster helped us win 18u SMTM in the fall. Winning one is hard in itself but two in row for them just makes it really special.”
That last part matters.
Winning a PGF Show Me The Money title is hard enough. Doing it with a group that already had players from the fall 18U championship run adds another layer to what Santa Fe has built. The organization continues to show it can win across age groups, across formats and against high-end national competition.
For Santa Fe Inferno Nowling 16U, the formula was simple enough to say and difficult enough to execute: timely offense, clean defense, steady pitching and role players who embraced the moment.
That is usually how championship weekends are won.
Final Score: Santa Fe Inferno Nowling 16U 4, Unity Schultheis/Johnson 16U 2
Key Performers
Santa Fe Inferno Nowling 16U
Braylee Rano: 2-for-4, 2 runs
Baylee Gladden: 1-for-3, triple, RBI
Paityn Donalson: 1-for-3, RBI
Kamryn Pickering: 1-for-2, RBI
Addison Allaire: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Unity Schultheis/Johnson 16U
Adrianna Thorne: 2-for-4, run
Skylar Flack: 1-for-3, RBI
Lexi Medina: 1-for-3, run
Kennedy Coplen: 1-for-1
18U Championship: Georgia Impact Premier Taylor Completes Perfect Weekend
Georgia Impact Premier Taylor closed out a perfect weekend at PGF Show Me The Money with a 7-1 win over Top Gun 18 National - Turner in the 18U championship game.
With a box score unavailable, the details stay simple, but the result says plenty. Georgia Impact Premier Taylor went 9-0 on the weekend, finishing the event unbeaten and ending it with a six-run championship game victory.
Top Gun 18 National - Turner also put together a strong run, finishing 8-2 overall and reaching the final in one of the weekend’s premier divisions. But in the championship matchup, Georgia Impact Premier Taylor created enough separation to finish the job and leave with the title.
The 18U bracket at PGF Show Me The Money is never light work. Getting through the weekend without a loss takes depth, pitching, defense and the ability to handle pressure late in an event when teams are tired and every inning gets heavier.
Georgia Impact Premier Taylor handled all of it.
A 9-0 weekend, a 7-1 championship win and an 18U title at one of the summer’s major events is about as clean as it gets.
Final Score: Georgia Impact Premier Taylor 7, Top Gun 18 National - Turner 1
Weekend Records
Georgia Impact Premier Taylor: 9-0
Top Gun 18 National - Turner: 8-2
Final Thoughts
PGF Show Me The Money once again delivered the kind of weekend that makes it a major stop on the summer calendar. The event brought top competition to Champions Park in Newberry, then gave the championship games a fitting finish at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville.
USA Prime National-Halstead 14U overwhelmed the final with offense. Santa Fe Inferno Nowling 16U won with balance, toughness and a complete-game pitching effort. Georgia Impact Premier Taylor 18U finished the weekend unbeaten.
Three champions. Three different paths. One loaded weekend of softball in North Florida.
That is Show Me The Money.
