Beverly Bandits Ketelhut go all the way through losers’ bracket to win PGF 16U Premier crown

Heads may have boiled under the hot August sun, but no one was hotter than the Beverly Bandits Ketelhut over the last week.

After dropping their initial game of the Premier Girls Fastpitch Nationals, the Bandits steamrolled their way into the championship game by virtue of a 10-game winning streak.

The Bandits completed their marvelous tournament with a 10-1 win over the Athletics Mercado in the 16U Premier title game on Saturday night at Deanna Manning Stadium, a result that was as much a surprise as the team’s run itself.

“That doesn’t happen,” Bandits coach Eddy Ketelhut said. “That’s a great program over there. He (David Mercado) is legendary. Our bats just got going.

“With the longevity of all our games, I think the bats just got going. We just rode it out. It’s the old adage, ‘Hitting’s contagious.’”

The Bandits kept the line moving throughout the game, scoring in every inning except the first. They had 13 hits in the final, led by multihit efforts from Jayme Bailey, Avrey Steiner, Montana Fouts, Abigail Baez, and Macy Ratliff.

The game ended abruptly when Ashley Prange hit a walk-off two-run home run in the sixth, ending the contest by the run rule. Prange, an Ohio State commit, was asked if she could hear herself think after she hammered the ball over the television camera in center field.

“No,” Prange said. “I was just making sure that she (Lauren Bobowski) got to home because it meant we won. It was the best feeling in the world.

“It means everything. We battled so hard. We played four games on Thursday and five games on Friday. To make it this far was a blessing in itself. It’s just amazing.”

Fouts struck out eight in her six innings. She allowed just three hits, all singles, which were recorded by Kinzie Hansen, Paige Smith, and Matalasi Faapito.

“She’s the best in the country in 2018,” Ketelhut said. “I don’t care what anyone says. The kid’s gritty, she’s selfless, and she works harder than anyone. She put us on her back.”

So often, it is seen that the greats always feel that they have something to prove. Fouts, who is committed to Alabama, voiced dissatisfaction with her own performance when her name was mentioned with Alexis Holloway, the Beverly Bandits Conroy pitcher who masterfully handled the Corona Angels Tyson in the 18U Premier championship.

“I know that I can do better than that, especially with our defense working so hard behind us,” Fouts said. “I know that I can do better than that.

“(Holloway) did very good. I watched the whole game.”

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner