EC Bullets - Schnute battle the Corona Angels

​Bailey Hemphill has established herself as one of the premier power hitters in the nation during her high school career and she showed why with her dramatic home run to lift Greg Schnute's East Cobb Bullets Gold over Marty Tyson's Corona Angels on Sunday afternoon at Diamond Valley Park at Triple Crown Sports' Zoom Into June Invitational in Hemet, Calif.

UCLA-commit Anna Vines drove in a run with a fielder's choice and UCLA-bound Aaliyah Jordan added an RBI single to stake the Corona Angels to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth.

Arkansas-commit Taylor Greene got one run back for the Bullets with an RBI single in the top of the sixth to cut the Corona Angels' lead to 2-1.

Meredith Milam got a one-out single to keep the Bullets alive in the top of the seventh. Hemphill, who had smashed everything from grounders to doubles in the gap all weekend, stepped to the plate with two outs against Washington-bound Sam Manti. Hemphill jumped on the first pitch she saw from Manti, launching it high and deep to left-center field for a two-run homer to give the Bullets a 3-2 advantage.

"I went in to pinch hit and she (Manti) struck me out (on the previous at bat), so I was like, 'Next time I'm going to be looking for one pitch,'" Hemphill said. "She came in on the first pitch and I was like, 'Hey, that's my pitch." I swung and it went over.

Hemphill also dazzled behind the plate on defense. The Corona Angels are known for their speed throughout the lineup and Hemphill, who has signed with Alabama, showed off a cannon-like arm by gunning down two speedy runners attempting to steal second base.

"I don't know, I heard runner and just threw it hoping to get her out and I did," Hemphill said. "Definitely, the adrenaline was up this game. We were very up in the dugout. We're very competitive and you want to compete, so when it's a close game like that, of course, you're going to be amped up and you're going to be like, 'I wantt to win.'"

Missouri-bound Parker Conrad and Ohio State-commit Skylar Hayward were solid in the circle all weekend for the Bullets and Conrad, who was throwing in the high 60s, got the complete game win over the Corona Angels.

"I think our pitching staff has been really amazing this weekend," Hemphill said. "I mean, we came in after only one practice together and we were trying to figure out everything. I think we really came together and now we know what we are doing." ...

Sorcerers 18G fall to EC Bullets

Earlier in the day, Sorcerer 18G fell behind 4-0 early against the East Cobb Bullets before storming back behind the all-around play of UCLA-committed shortstop Brianna Perez and left fielder Deijah Pangilinan to pull out a 9-4 victory.

Perez showed off her vast array of offensive skills when she slapped for a single, stole second and third base before scoring Sorcerer's first, then she drilled a game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the second. Sorcerer ended up scoring five runs, including four unearned runs, in the bottom of the fourth to pull away for the win.

"I was just looking for a good pitch, having a good at bat," Perez said. "Luckily, I got a good one and was able to hit it out."

Pangilinan, a 2019 outfielder who has committed to Oregon, was one of Sorcerer's top hitters all weekend and she showed off some pretty spectacular defense as well. She had two highlight-reel catches, one where she made a sliding catch to rob one of the Bullets of a hit and the other where she layed out on a diving catch in foul territory.

"We pretty much just go get the ball (on defense)," Pangilinan said. "We want to be really aggressive."

Perez believes her team got some great competition against some of the top teams in the nation at Zoom Into June, which she believes will help them as they prepare to make a run at the PGF nationals. Sorcerer will be in the loaded 15-team field at the So Cal A's Invitational next weekend in Irvine, Calif.

"These were our first games coming out all together and I thinkw e learned a lot," Perez said. "It was a good weekend for us. I thinkw e gained some confidence and got our chemistry together. It was good playing together.

Pangilinan said Zoom Into June was a big help in getting Sorcerer ready for the kind of pitching they will be seeing all summer on the club circuit.

"It's our first real big tournament since high school," Pangilinan said. "We're still trying to get used to the pitching because in high school the pitching is kind of slower and it goes slow. The girls don't really know what they are doing, so this tournament is us getting back to it. We're just trying to have fun and get back into our groove. I think this last game (against the Bullets) we got right back to it and we'll be ready for our next tournament." ...

Dwyer shuts out Firecrackers - Rico

Stanford-committed right-hander Maddy Dwyer, who got roughed up in Orange Lutheran's 8-2 loss to Santa Ana Mater Dei in last weekend's CIF Southern Section Division 1 title game, helped Bruce Richardson's So Cal Athletics close out their Zoom Into June in style, tossing a two-hit shutout to beat Tony Rico's Firecrackers, 5-0. ...

WRITTEN BY CARLOS ARIAS

ZOOM INTO JUNE INVITATIONAL AT DIAMOND VALLEY PARK, HEMET

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, RESULTS

18U OPEN

Courage-Weaver 7, Firecrackers-Young 2
Washington Ladyhawks Gold-Miller 3, AZ Hotshots Gold-Davis 1
San Jose Sting Gold 7, Firecrackers-AZ 1
So Cal Breakers 5, San Jose Sting-Rooney 0
Sorcerer 18G 4, TC Stars Gold 0
AZ Hotshots Elite-Gatti 3, Firecrackers-Wallace/Bennett 1
Lil Saints 18 Gold 7, Bears Gold 0
Nor Cal Firecrackers 18G 5, Oregon Blaze Gold 1
Washington Ladyhawks Gold-Miller 5, San Jose Sting Gold 3
Colorado Stars 6, San Jose Sting-Rooney 4
Sorcerer 18G 9, EC Bullets Gold-Schnute 4
TC Stars Gold 3, So Cal Breakers 3
Courage-Weaver 6, AZ Hotshots Elite-Gatti 1
Lil Rebels-Gordie 6, Lil Saints 18 Gold 2
Washington Ladyhawks-Nelons 5, Corona Angels Gold 4
AZ Hotshots Gold-Davis 10, Oregon Blaze Gold 5
Nor Cal Firecrackers 18G 9, Teamsmith-Ken/Mike 3
Firecrackers-AZ 6, Colorado Stars 1
EC Bullets Gold-Schnute 3, Corona Angels-Tyson 2
So Cal Choppers 4, So Cal Athletics-Richardson 4
Firecrackers-Rico 0, 18 Gold CA Raiders-Bruder 1
Firecrackers-Lucero 2, Firecrackers-Wallace/Bennett 0
Washington Ladyhawks-Nelons 5, Bears Gold 1
Minors Gold 6, Teamsmith-Ken/Mike 6
So Cal Breakers-Labs 10, OC Batbusters-Formerly Team Mizuno 2
So Cal Choppers 6, Firecrackers-Brashear 4
Corona Angels-Tyson 5, Aces Gold-Ashley/Creamer 0
Lakewood Firecrackers-Pasco/Guerra 4, American Pastime Gold 0
So Cal Athletics-Richardson 5, Firecrackers-Rico 0
The Next Level Gold 5, So Cal Pumas Gold 4
So Cal Fillys 11, Fury Softball-Goodacre 9
Nemesis Elite 18U Gold 4, Minors Gold 0
Corona Angels #2 7, So Cal Pumas Gold 0
San Diego Power Surge Gold-Berndes 8, So Cal Breakers-Labs 0
Firecrackers-Brashear 2, Aces Gold-Ashley/Creamer 0
Lakewood Firecrackers-Pasco/Guerra 7, So Cal Dirtdogs 18 Gold-Isbel 0
18 Gold CA Raiders-Bruder 6, San Diego Power Surge 18U-Martinez 0
The Next Level 7, HeyBucket Gold-Macias 3
The Next Level Gold 5, Fury Softball-Goodacre 0
Nemesis Elite 18U Gold 7, Teamsmith-Ken/Mike 1
Corona Angels #2 3, OC Batbusters-Formerly Team Mizuno 3
So Cal Breakers-Labs 5, American Pastime Gold 3
Aces Gold-Ashley/Creamer 4, San Diego Power Surge Gold-Berndes 0
Lakewood Firecrackers-Pasco/Guerra 3, So Cal Pumas Gold 0
So Cal Dirtdogs 18 Gold-Isbel 5, HeyBucket Gold-Macias 0
Batbusters/Team Mizuno-Jackson 4, The Next Level 3
So Cal Fillys 9, San Diego Power Surge 18U-Martinez 0