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Photo courtesy of Erica Hull
Zaylen Tucker and Presley Hull helped the Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 18u team win PGF Nationals in July 2024. Photo courtesy of Erica Hull.
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Photo courtesy of Bella Foran
The Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 18u softball team won the PGF Nationals in July 2024. Photo courtesy of Bella Foran.
The Birmingham Thunderbolts Premier 18u travel softball team finished off its summer season by winning the prestigious PGF National Championship.
The Bolts organization is based out of Irondale, but features players from across the entire region, primarily Alabama and the Southeast.
Among the members of the Premier 18u team, Bella Foran of Hoover High School, Maggie Daniel of Spain Park, Zaylen Tucker and Presley Hull of Hewitt-Trussville, and Edith Kaplan of Mountain Brook helped bring the organization a national title.
PGF Nationals is held in California, and the Bolts won their final seven games of the tournament, including a 7-2 win over Athletics-Mercado in the championship.
Tucker had a standout championship game, racking up three hits, a run batted in and two runs scored. Tucker’s single in the second inning scored Hull to make the score 2-0 at the time. The Bolts would build a 5-0 lead through four innings.
“Finishing off the summer like that puts me in a really good position for school to have the mindset that hard work pays off,” said Tucker, who is entering her senior season with the reigning state champion Huskies program. “It sets a good example for all the little girls that are going to be Huskies in the future.”
In addition to her run in the championship game, Hull scored the game-winning run in the Bolts’ quarterfinal victory as well. She will be a sophomore at Hewitt this year.
“This year has just been surreal. Going from winning a state championship to a national championship to finish out my freshman year has been amazing,” she said. “Very few people get the opportunity to do either, so I feel truly blessed to be a part of two great teams and these moments are ones I will never forget.”
In the championship game, Foran had two hits, drove in two key runs and stole a base.
“It was so amazing to be able to bring the natty back home to Birmingham,” said Foran, who has signed to play college softball at Florida Atlantic University. She also had three hits and an RBI in the semifinals.
Daniel, who is off to play college ball at UCLA, had a pair of hits in the championship game. She was the key offensive player in a round of 16 win as well, registering a single and a double, picking up two RBIs.
“For Maggie and I and a few other girls, it was our last travel ball game ever. I remember thinking, ‘Is this real life?’ I get to end my last game ever with a win to be a national champion. It was a dream come true,” Foran said.
Kaplan is entering her senior year at Mountain Brook and was also part of the winning team. She registered a double in a matchup against the same Athletics-Mercado team earlier in the tournament.
