LINCOLN -- Brinkley Moreton pitched and hit her travel team to an 11&under open national championship as part of the Tulsa Elite NWA 06 in July at Des Moines, Iowa.
Twelve-year-old Brinkley is the daughter of Dax and Christina Moreton, of Lincoln. She turned 12 in July before the national tournament of which she was named MVP.
According to her dad, Dax Moreton, the cutoff date for turning 12 was Jan. 1, so she was well beyond that. Brinkley plays three positions: pitcher, third base and shortstop, as well as bats, but her primary role came within the chalked circle as a starting pitcher.
Brinkley's team emerged ranked No. 1 among 67 teams competing in the 2018 United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) National Championship fastpitch girls 11&under open. They posted an 11-1 overall record, scoring 96 runs while allowing 21, an average game differential of 8.0 to 1.8 on the scoreboard. They were the better team by 6.3-runs-per game with a high output of 27 runs in a single game and 596 total ranking points.
National Runner-up Indiana Dreams 06 - Loudermilk, out of Terre Haute, Ind., finished 8-2 in the tournament with 77 runs scored against 27 runs allowed receiving 425 ranking points.
Pool Play
"They started out in pool play and her team ended up in the highest seeded bracket there was," Dax Moreton said.
The tournament featured a six-game guarantee format. Teams were seeded into pools based on current USSSA ranking points and played a round robin. Each team played four pool play games.
Brinkley's team began pool play in the 70th game of the tournament on Thursday, July 12, with a scheduled start at 11:10 a.m. Tulsa Elite NWA 06 defeated Illinois Esprit 06 by a 10-0 score at Holiday Park, which was the setting for their first three games of pool play.
They were back on the field at 2:20 p.m. in Game 72 to face an Iowa squad, EDM ELITE 10U, which they bombed 27-0.
The next contest (Game 76) was played at 7:05 p.m. against an Illinois team, New Lenox Lightning 11&under, with Tulsa Elite NWA 06 winning 11-1.
In their final game of pool play, Tulsa Elite NWA 06 came back the next morning on Friday, July 13, at 11:10 a.m. to take on a Kansas team named Xplosion and won 3-1 at McAninch Sports Park.
Bracket Play
After pool play, teams were flighted based on their results into separate division brackets. Each Bracket flight was double elimination bracket.
Tulsa Elite NWA 06 began bracket play against Missouri Stealth Ramsey, which led to a 3 p.m. game against Finesse 11&Under (8-7) to advance into the bracket of 16 in Bracket A or the Red Bracket. Tulsa Elite NWA 06 beat Missouri Stealth Ramsey, 12-2. That game was scheduled for a 6:40 p.m. start on Friday, July 13, and Tulsa Elite NWA 06 would not play again until Saturday, July 14 at 11:40 a.m. against the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Blue Devils White squad. Tulsa Elite NWA 06 won the Red Bracket quarterfinal contest, 8-0.
The win placed Tulsa Elite NWA 06 into the Red Bracket lower semifinal against Oklahoma City, Okla., team Gametime 2024 on Saturday, July 14, with the first pitch slated for 5:10 p.m. at Kimball Field. Gametime upended Tulsa Elite NWA 06 by a score of 7-3.
Championship Drive
Once pool play was complete, Tulsa Elite NWA 06 began its championship drive with a "must win each game" sense of urgency in order to stay alive in the tournament. Saturday's loss dropped Tulsa Elite NWA 06 into a Red Bracket loser-out contest against Indiana Magic Gold 06 - Carmichael on Sunday, July 15, at 8 a.m. at Rodish Field.
Brinkley didn't start but pitched 3.0 innings in relief. She allowed 2 hits, but no runs and recorded a strike-out without giving up any walks. Tulsa Elite NWA 06 beat the Greenwood, Ind., team by a single run, 3-2, to advance.
Next they ran into a Jenks, Okla., team that would eventually place fourth, the Oklahoma Diamond Girls 06. The contest began Sunday, July 15, at 9:50 a.m. at Idso Park and Tulsa Elite NWA 06 won 5-2.
Brinkley again threw 3.0 innings in a start. She yielded 3 hits and 2 runs, both of which were earned with 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts.
Waiting for the Tulsa Elite NWA 06 was Red Bracket champion, Indiana Dreams 06 - Loudermilk, which had defeated Gametime 2024 by a 3-2 score in the Red Bracket final. At that juncture, Indiana Dreams 06 - Loudermilk was unbeaten in the tournament with a perfect 8-0 record.
Still, Tulsa Elite NWA 06 earned the right to play for a championship, knowing they had to win twice to claim the 2018 title. In the first game played Sunday, July 15, at 1:30 p.m. at Rodish Park they did just that by posting a 4-0 shutout.
The rematch or game two which would decide the finals began Sunday, July 15, at 3:20 p.m. at Rodish Park. Tulsa Elite NWA 06 ended the tournament with a 7-4 victory to wrap up a national championship.
"They had an unbelievable two games right there, and they had five games on Sunday to battle through all that," Dax Moreton said. "More than anything she's getting life lessons here. No. 1 - how to work with people. No. 2 - develop good relationships and work with friends; and No. 3 - develop a good work ethic."
Sports on 08/15/2018