Holloway’s gem leads Beverly Bandits to PGF 18U Premier championship

IRVINE – When the term “life’s work” is used to describe something that a person has undertaken, it can be taken for granted that the particular project in question is a source of pride.

Although his program was often in the discussion as one of the top organizations in travel softball, one goal had continuously eluded Coach Bill Conroy and the Chicago Beverly Bandits – a Premier Girls Fastpitch 18U Premier championship.

On Friday evening, Conroy and company reached the pinnacle of their journey, crossing that goal off their list with a 2-0 victory over the Corona Angels Tyson in the title game at Irvine Bill Barber Park’s Deanna Manning Stadium.

Beloved by his players, they made sure that his contributions were not forgotten in the euphoria of their shining moment.

“To get him that one at the 18U level is huge,” starting pitcher Alexis Holloway said. “I know that he is on Cloud Nine right now, too. We couldn’t thank him enough for putting this organization together and for putting this team together.”

Holloway, a Notre Dame commit, was masterful in a championship game that pitted two of the best pitchers in the country against each other. She went to her changeup early and often in an effort to keep the Angels out of rhythm.

“She is such a smart pitcher,” Conroy said. “We knew that they were sitting on the drop ball, so we ended up going to the changeup more often and keeping them off balance a little bit.”

The Bandits starter wound up throwing a complete-game shutout. She allowed just two hits, striking out four and walking four. No Angels player made it past second base.

Where the Bandits had figured that the Angels would be sitting on Holloway’s drop ball, they made an adjustment of their own against Corona’s Megan Faraimo. Before the game, the Bandits practiced hitting against the rise ball from their hitting coach, and they were able to lay off it when it got above the strike zone.

Faraimo, a UCLA commit, was still quite effective. She allowed just three hits in the contest in a classic pitchers’ duel. The Class of 2018 standout allowed two runs (one earned) in a complete-game effort, striking out four against one walk.

The Bandits scored their first run in the third. Skyler Shellmyer ran out a bunt single with two outs in the inning. Ariel Carlson drew a walk. Then Shellmyer scored when Sydnee Huff bobbled a ground ball ranging to her left at second base.

In the fifth, the Bandits put up an insurance run. Madison Ebeling doubled off the glove of a diving McKenzie Wilson in the right-center-field gap. She advanced to third on a ground out.

Shellmyer attempted a squeeze bunt on the next play. Ebeling started home on the pitch, but Shellmyer did not get a bat on the ball. Caught in a rundown, Ebeling headed home after the ball was thrown to third. The return throw from Camryn Ybarra was high, allowing Ebeling to score.

Ebeling also won a championship last year with the Bandits at the 16U level.

“It’s insane,” she said. “It’s actually crazy. Two times in a row, there’s nothing like it. It’s an incredible feeling. We all did this. We all wanted our seniors to go out champs.”

The game, like the tournament, went by in a flash for the Angels. It was by far the quickest of the four championship games played on Friday. Faraimo, who had been stellar in the pitching circle all week, noticed the difference in this year’s run through PGF Nationals.

“It went by crazy fast, especially because we were undefeated,” she said. “We didn’t have that many games to play. It was a lot faster than last year’s tournament.”

Both teams recognized that runs would come at a premium in the game. A sure sign of that was the multiple diving efforts of Wilson in center field.

“She always goes all-out, and that’s what I really appreciate about her,” Faraimo said. “Even though the defense had a couple of errors, that’s going to happen in a ball game. It just (stinks) that it happened in the championship.”

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner