Pennsylvania teams begin pool play at U18 Junior Olympic Cup
The Junior Olympic Cup 18-and-under girls softball tournament got underway Monday in St. Louis with two teams that have local player connections in the 32-team field.
One is Rock Gold-Waye, which was coming off winning a national championship over the weekend in Texas. The other is a Pennsylvania Chaos squad that includes two Colonial Valley Conference players.
As might be expected from a team that had just played 12 games in five days, Lower Bucks County-based Rock Gold-Waye team looked a little sluggish and split a pair of games in pool play.
Meanwhile, with a roster that includes Highstown’s Allie Bridgman, Notre Dame’s Ashley Giampolo and Northern Burlington’s Haylei Archer, the Pennsylvania Chaos went 2-0 on opening day.
Both teams will wrap up pool play Tuesday before swinging into double-elimination action on Wednesday at the 32-team national tournament.
In its first game, Rock Gold fell to Tennessee Mojo, 9-5. Rock Gold started its No. 3 pitcher Kylie Kenney and came up short despite a double by Danni Farley and two hits from Meghan Sheehan.
Rock Gold then rebounded to top the Ohio Outlaws, 9-6. Rock Gold pulled away with six runs in the second on a double by Natalie Rios, RBI singles by Elena Gonzalez, Sheehan and Zoey Jones, and an RBI double by Bre Brant.
Kenney was the winning pitcher for Rock Gold, working three innings and giving up two hits while striking out two.
The PA Chaos, meanwhile, got its tournament underway with a 13-3 win over Tennessee Mojo. Archer pitched 3.2 innings and gave up four hits and two runs. A junior this upcoming school year at Hightstown, Bridgman singled and doubled out of the clean-up spot in the order.
The Chaos also defeated the Louisiana Voodoo, 9-0. Bridgman drove in a run and four different pitchers shared the the Chaos pitching.