TX Premier bursts barriers with two Sparkler Juniors wins

By Kyle Koso

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- One inning into their afternoon game Tuesday, the 12u Texas Premier 06 (Temple, TX) squad cracked the door open slightly on offense, which didn't quite get the job done.

So a little later, they just decided to bust off the hinges and leave no doubt.

Texas Premier scored eight runs in the top of the third inning against Nemesis Elite-Slater after giving back all of a 3-0 lead, propelling the team to a 12-4 run-rule win to give it two victories at the start of 12u pool play at the Colorado Sparkler Juniors event. Starting pitcher Madyson Updyke reined in Nemesis (Downey, CA) after the first inning, and Zee Edmunds pitched a 1-2-3 fourth to cap the win.

"You just have to believe in your team and don't think about it too much. Just pitch and throw the ball, and let the defense get to work," said Edmunds, who put Premier up 4-3 with a perfect bunt in the third and opened the floodgates. "It always feels good to start the rally. At the end, I just wanted to throw strikes and remember my mechanics."

"It was kind of upsetting (to lose the lead), but the team will pick you up and have your back," Updyke said. "If the other team hits it, that's OK, that's what you have the defense for. All the runs gave me confidence; I was able to throw more strikes and know we had some runs to spare."

Jerica Henry and Aubrey Cortez punched in with RBI singles, and Kaidence Quinn pushed one across on a fielder's choice. Premier put the ball in play enough to push a few runs across on errors, with the final RBI of the frame coming off a single by Iliana Buitron.

Edmunds is typically a starter for Premier, but the staff wanted her to get a few throws in before the tournament heats up; she did a nice job spearing a line drive to the circle for the second out of the fourth inning.

Premier head coach Jason Yepma mirrored his team by not being too bothered about losing the early lead, what with all the capable bats and aggressive baserunning just waiting to get unleashed.

"Our bats are going to come alive, and we'll score runs. I trust the defense; we may give up a run here or there, but the bats will come through for us," said Yepma, whose team beat TX Cyclones Elite, 14-4, earlier Tuesday. "We're a team that, like the first game, we'll hit it out. Second game, we'll put bunts down. We can play power ball and small ball, and we are not a one-dimensional team."

Giana Butler drove in a run for Nemesis, as did Ava Galvan.

​Pool play for the 12u Sparkler Juniors continues Wednesday.