8:00 AM:  -  This morning the 14U's lost to PQ Lightning.  Overall the team had played the most games of any team in the Nationals.  (According to the tournament official no team had ever played this many games - ever, a total of 11 games...in the losers bracket.)  They were 5th in the tournament overall - a great showing for PGSL!  We are proud!  They are bringing back a very large trophy about the size of New York! Pretty good deal!

9:00 PM:  -  I have been in consistent contact with Dave Cataldo and he says this is has to be one of the finest days in PGSL history.  If you know Dave, it takes quite a bit to get him excited AND HE IS!  They have won 8 (or 9) games after losing early.  They need to win ~5 games tomorrow to take it all.

Running through the losers bracket is tough duty, but as Dave says, "We don't do anything the easy way."

After all the heat and humidity, Dave told me he is ready for a shower and a few cold ones!

They are one of the top 6 teams left.  We should all be proud (especially George Bender!).

6:30 PM:  -  I just heard from Kathy B. (she's at the Hamburger Factory and doesn't have internet access there) and she told me that they won tonight!!!! The Poway Diamonds beat Synergy 6-3 and will be playing PQ Lightning tomorrow morning at 8am (Texas time).  If I read the brackets right it seems as though there are only 6 teams left in the tournament tomorrow and Poway is one of them,  YEAH!!!

4:30 PM:  -  As you may already know by now the 14 U Poway Diamonds won three games today! At 10am they played the Wave from Half Moon Bay. They won the game 1-0.

At lunchtime, the team wanted to take care of business fast so they could eat! They played the Nebraska Jazz and won that game 5-0.

After lunch and a short (I do mean short) break, the 14 U team beat Paramount, the team that took first place at our state tournament in Lancaster on July 3rd. The score was 1-0. That run was made in the first inning and our girls held them for the entire game. Bill (Bevill) said the defense was extremely strong for the entire game! The Paramount team (1st in state) and the Fullerton Hills team (2nd in state) are out of the National Tournament now. They have both lost two games.

The 14 U's were getting ready for their 4th game of the day against a California team, Synergy. (He thought they came from Atwood, somewhere by the Bay Area) They were set to play at 5:45pm (Texas time), but they were still waiting for the field to be readied when I spoke to him at 3:43pm (our time). Once again, send them some good luck!

9:00 PM:  -  Well the 14 U Diamonds won both their games tonight.  At 6pm they played the Texas Dragons.  Brittany H. pitched most of the game with Gabrielle S. relieving her towards the end.  Diamonds won 9-4.

At 8pm, the Diamonds played the Minnesota Windstars.  Gabrielle S. pitched this game.  Everyone hit very well and the ending score was 16-0 with Poway the victors!  (PQ Lightning came to cheer the girls on.)

The 14 U Diamonds are getting some much needed rest (and watching some lightning, no, not the PQ team, the real stuff!) in order to prepare for the 10:00am game tomorrow morning.  Keep sending them your good luck.  It seems to be working for them!

I see you are getting updates from Fern and Bill.  Sorry that I haven't been able to contribute much, but the team has been our number one focus.

We lost our first game to Fury of Texas, 4-7.  From their coach I learned that they had only lost two games their entire season, both in the Texas State Championships to take 2nd place in the Texas tournament.  Their third loss of the season will be from us if we meet them again here.

Our Game 2 here was against Rage, State Champions of Central California with a 42-2-0 record.  It was a 1-0 win for Poway.  They're now 42-3-0.

Game 3 was storm-delayed from last night.  This morning it was an 8-0 win for Poway over the She Devils of Texas.  They've now been knocked-out of the tournament by two southern California teams, PQ 1-0 and Poway 8-0.

Next two games tonight at 6 and 8 pm.

7:30 AM:  -  Well their game last night was postponed (only half an inning before the storm hit) until this morning at 8am, Texas time. They played the Texas She-Devils and won, 8-0. They mercied them. This was the team that PQ had beat 1-0 on Tuesday night.  Gabrielle S. pitched a 1-hitter in this game. Poway Diamonds looked very strong. The team plays again this evening at 6pm, Texas time. They are playing another Texas team called CV Synergy. Wish them luck!

10:00 AM:  -  I just spoke with Bill (Kathy's husband) and the 14U team is about to play another California team. They weren't sure which one because the first game is still going on. The girls lost yesterday after leading in the first inning 4-0. They just couldn't seem to get the bats moving after that. The score was 7-4. Bill said the team was the Texas Fury. They had placed 2nd in their state tournament. I'm sure I'll hear from Bill after their game.

The weird thing was that if they lose, they would rank better than if they win. It's a topic that all of the coaches were talking about. Makes NO sense whatsoever! The infield for our team today will not be our usual infield. George is giving them a rest. Who knows if they will win or lose with that strategy. If they win, they play at 8 pm tonight, if they lose, they play tomorrow (or something like that).

2:00 PM:  -  The 14 Us just finished their game. They played a team from Fresno. Even with playing people in different spots, they still won 1-0. The 14 Us will play tonight at 8pm (Texas time). The team they will play is from Texas and PQ beat them 1-0 last night. Who knows what we'll do.

If the 14U's lose, they are out because the first game on Tuesday will count against them. But get this, if they had lost today, they would have still been in it. They would have been able to get 3 losses before they are out. This is totally confusing.

8:00 PM:  -  Okay, so right now the game was delayed after half an inning due to lightning/rain. Bill called and said they were waiting it out, but if the storm continues, they will have to play tomorrow. I'll e-mail again when I hear from him. They were supposed to play at 8pm Texas time, so it might just be too late for them to finish it up til tomorrow.

From Fern - 9:17 PM:
well today we slept in and got the trading bags together...went to practice and we actually had to stop due to the alarms going off for the possibility of lightning.....we started practicing again and the siren went of again..stopped and all of a sudden it was a down pour...the fields were flooded.....the girls and equipment were soaked....everyone dried up and went to the pin exchange and bbq.....early night practice at 8am game at 10:30.......we didn't get a bye so no opening ceremonies for us... :( ..........

From Fern - 4:49 PM - College Station Time:
OK.....Most of us have arrived in College Station.....we are waiting on one player to arrive and all of the team will be here.....we had to wake up at 4 AM to start this trip...so just a bit tired....those that drove...were exhausted yesterday.....we shall survive......write to you soon!!

I have my laptop... we just got back from practicing.....showers, showers and more showers please.....hey say this is not as bad as last year but boy it is muggy....