Photos by Joel Lauterbach

The Minnesota Irish 18 Gold had a strong showing at the Louisville Slugger Independence Day Tournament in Boulder, Colorado. Despite going 4-2 in pool play, they won three in a row in single elimination play including a stunning 2-1 victory over the defending ASA 18 Gold National Champion California Sorcerers. The Irish also defeated Illinois Chill before losing 3-1 to New Jersey Pride in a tough game.

In the victory over the Sorcerers, Jadyn Spencer got leadoff hits with Brittany Lauterbach sacrifice bunting and Myriah Rodgers hitting both RBI”s. Other highlights of the tournament included a 2-home run game for Jadyn Spencer against California”s Case Batbusters, and Brittany Lauterbach”s home run against the tournament”s runner-up California Lady Magic.

Eight Irish batters had extra base hits in the tournament. Jadyn had 2 home runs and 3 doubles. Brittany had 1 home run, a triple, and 2 doubles. Jenna and Myriah had 3 doubles while Lauren and Miranda had 2 with Kirstin and Rachel having 1.

Jenna led the team with 13 hits, Jadyn had 10, Kirstin and Emily had 9.

Jenna also led the team in runs scored with 8, with Jadyn plating 7 times and Kirstin 5 times. 11 players crossed homeplate.

Lauren led the team in RBIs with 7 in just 5 games played, with Jadyn driving home 5 and Brittany and Myriah with 4. 10 players had RBIs.