Carrasquillo’s four hits, seven-run ninth give Tennessee Fury PGF 10U championship

IRVINE – Youth sports, more so than high school, have a way of accentuating the difference in kid’s growth patterns.

For someone setting eyes on Alexia Carrasquillo for the first time, they might have believed that the Tennessee Fury 2024 catcher was a 14U player.

In reality, she was just one of the players competing in the PGF Nationals 10U Premier championship game, but the towering backstop would have her say in the game.

Carrasquillo went four for four with a triple, two runs scored, and two RBIs, leading the Tennessee Fury to a 12-5 victory in extra innings over the Birmingham Bolts on Friday at Deanna Manning Stadium.

“I just thought that we worked together, and we all communicated very well,” Carrasquillo said. “That’s how I think we won the game.”

Extra innings sent the game into the international tiebreaker (ITB), a procedure that has each team start their offensive half of the inning with a runner on second base. Carrasquillo cashed in with the runner in scoring position in the eighth. Her line drive ricocheted off the shin of Bolts pitcher Mya Holt and into center field. Holt was down for several minutes, but she remained in the game.

An RBI-single by Olivia Faggard scored Ambrey Taylor, evening the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth.

The top of the ninth never seemed to end, as the Fury broke the game open with a seven-run frame. Carrasquillo was the most physical presence in the lineup, but it was Hallie Meeks that came up with a 10U rarity. The Fury first baseman punctuated the rally with a two-run home run over the wall in left field.

Meeks thought that her homer had not left the yard and that it would end up being a triple. As for the ninth-inning outburst, she said, “I was surprised. I was really nervous. I cried. I was really excited.”

While Meeks revealed that her nerves were high with the game tight in the latter stages, Carrasquillo tried to keep her teammates focused.

“I was like, ‘We got this,’ and everyone was really nervous a little bit,” Carrasquillo said. “I just thought that we got it, and we don’t need to be nervous.”

Carrasquillo, Meeks, Esther White, and Zoey Smith had multihit games for the Fury.

Mia Brown picked up the win for the Fury, reentering in relief after being the starter. She allowed two earned runs on two hits with three strikeouts.

Faggard had four hits, and Brantlee Wortham had two for the Bolts.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner