FRESNO, CA - The Central California ASA hosted the Clovis 18U National Qualifier over the recent July 4th weekend. Twenty of the top 18U squads from the greater Central and Northern parts of California converged on Clovis, CA for a battle to determine supremacy and a berth to the national finals later this summer.

The tournament, sanctioned by the CCASA, was a double elimination format where winning early would be a key to the tournament’s winning teams’ ultimate success.

The California Chaos 18U squad from Chico, CA got off to that all important hot start, The Chaos were able to win their first four games by a combined score of 24-2, including two shutouts to place themselves in winner’s bracket final where they would wait for their opponent to come through the loser’s bracket side of the draw.

The CA Pirettes, who found themselves in the loser’s bracket after a second round loss to the Chaos 4-1, had to forge their way through five straight opponents before meeting up with the Chaos again in the championship game. The Pirettes, however, would need to sweep two games from the Chaos to win the tournament hardware.

The Pirettes were able to maintain their momentum through the first game against the Chaos as they edged out a tough defensive 3-1 victory to send the two teams into the ‘IF’ game.

At this point the Pirettes were 7-1 for the tournament and obviously slightly more worn down than the less weary Chaos, who were 4-1 at this point. The championship ‘IF’ was an exciting race to the finish as the teams put together offensive rallies and made fine defensive stands when necessary to close the door on potentially big innings.

When it was over, the California Chaos eeked out a dramatic 5-4 victory over the California Pirettes and secured the 18U title and the national finals berth.