Davis helps Batbusters grind past Nebraska Gold

On a Tuesday morning in which the defending champion Firecrackers Rico were sent to the loser’s bracket, another tournament favorite was in trouble.

The O.C. Batbusters Stith never had a moment to breathe easy, but they found a way to navigate through a tough second game in PGF Nationals.

Maya Brady had the go-ahead single in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Batbusters defeated Nebraska Gold Unzicker, 3-2, in an 18U Premier bracket game at Huntington Beach Sports Complex.

“Every game is a new game,” third baseman Ivy Davis said. “It’s not so much dodging a bullet as it is grinding through another one.”

Brady wore out the left side of the infield in going three for four. She went to the opposite field again for her third hit, which drove in Janelle Meono for the winning run.

“We always talk about going with the pitch, and I’ve excelled at that level the last couple of weeks,” Brady said. “Once I saw the pitch coming outside, I knew that I was going to take the pitch and hit it.”

A pair of errors yielded the second run for Nebraska Gold in the top of the fourth. Alanna Thiede’s throw to first eluded Colleen Sullivan, allowing Emma Kauf to score the tying run.

From that point forward, the Batbusters were in a nail-biter. Thiede, who came on in relief of Olivia Rains with one out in the third, was performing a dance with Pandora’s box.

The left-hander from Carlsbad (committed to Oklahoma) got out of bases-loaded threats in back-to-back innings. In the fifth, she got in on the hands of Courtney Wallace, inducing a weak ground ball to Brady at second. In the sixth, she reared back for her best fastball and blew it by Olivia Ferrell for the strikeout.

“I just know that my team has my back and everyone is going to fight until the end,” Thiede said. “(I wanted to) jam them on their hands because then I would get a ground ball to Maya or a ground ball to Ivy, and I know that they can get them out at first.”

Nebraska Gold mounted a rally one more time in the seventh. Singles by Kauf and Wallace put the tying run in scoring position with one out, but Courtney Sandell struck out and Lauren Wobken lined out to Davis to end it.

“The wins are going to come, but it still comes down to them performing their job for each other,” Batbusters coach Mike Stith said. “That’s what they did. It wasn’t pretty. They weren’t sharp today, but here again, we won. It’s nice to win when you’re not sharp.

“These guys have done a real good job over the last few weeks about playing for each other, understanding their role, and executing their role.”

Davis, the Daily Pilot Softball Player of the Year, made her presence felt in the game. Although she batted from the right side her entire senior year at Huntington Beach High, she has returned to slapping from the left side with the Batbusters. She went two for three.

In the field, she made four putouts, including a double play that saw her step on the bag at third before firing over to Sullivan to get Payton Huscroft.

Also in the 18U Premier bracket

San Jose Sting 2, Firecrackers Rico 0: The defending PGF national champions were shut out on Tuesday. The Firecrackers Rico will try to fight their way through the loser’s bracket, beginning Wednesday with a game against the winner of Firecrackers Arizona and the Chicago Cheetahs.

Illinois Sparks 5, Firecrackers Lutterloh 2: After going undefeated in pool play over the weekend, FC Lutterloh was eliminated quickly in dropping its first two games of bracket competition. They fell to Alabama Southern Force, 2-1, on Monday.

In the 18U Platinum bracket

Artesia Punishers 3, Firecrackers Stream 1: San Jose State commit Chrys Hildebrand threw a complete game with 10 strikeouts, but the Firecrackers could not muster much to support her on offense. They managed just two hits as a team.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner