California, here they come.

Emma Brandstetter will be an eighth-grader at Knoch this fall while Maya Borghol is entering eighth grade at Freeport. But the two are making a little side trip first.

Both play for the first-year Outlaws PA 03 12-under team that has qualified for the Premiere Girls Fastpitch Softball National Championship July 23-29 in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Brandstetter and Borghol are the only two on the 11-player roster who live north of Pittsburgh. The Outlaws have played more than 100 games in the past year — going 79-18-4 — and have won tournaments in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York, along with finishing runner-up in Indianapolis.

“The Outlaw Association has teams in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, but did not have a U-12 team here,” Outlaws PA 03 coach Dino Sciullo said. “Myself and another coach were tasked by the organization to put one together.

“We wanted to put together the best U-12 team in Pennsylvania, but these girls have exceeded that. They’ve played teams in the Midwest and Northeast and have been very competitive. We think they can be a national team. That’s why we’re going to California.”

The Outlaws PA 03 is one of 56 teams nationwide invited to this tournament. Teams from California, Texas, Iowa, Illinois and Alabama have already accepted.

The Outlaws won a qualifying tournament in Rootstown, Ohio, to earn their bid.

“I’m very excited about this,” Borghol said. “We have a good chance of doing well because we’ve won some tournaments against 14-under teams this year.

“The teams from California will be very competitive, though. It will be fun.”

Brandstetter shares her teammate and good friend’s confidence.

“We’ve finished first or second in almost every tournament we’ve been in,” she said. “We’re used to playing against girls from Ohio, Indiana and around here.

“Playing and meeting a bunch of kids from California will be pretty cool.”

Brandstetter, a third baseman-outfielder, bats third in the Outlaws lineup and is hitting .392. She leads the team with seven home runs and is second with 55 RBI.

Borghol plays center field and right field and bats lower in the lineup. She is hitting .276 with 32 hits on the season.

“She’s a slap hitter and we call on Maya to bunt and move runners along quite a bit,” Sciullo said. “That’s her game. She’s very good at it.”

Borghol lives near an elementary School and practices her slap hitting technique on the diamond there.

“My mother has practiced with me on that field and a coach, Jim Welsh, works with me once a week on the technique,” Borghol said.

Brandstetter and Borghol have been fastpitch softball teammates for three years. They played for the Pittsburgh Passion the past two years before deciding to try out for the new Outlaws team.

Approximately 25 players from three different travel teams were invited to try out and 11 received spots on the team.

“We had seen the Outlaw teams play before and they were very good,” Brandstetter said. “We decided to go and try out together.”

“We didn’t want to leave each other’s side,” Borghol said, chuckling.

But when this team plays ball, it’s no laughing matter.

“We wanted to put the best team on the field we possibly could — and those two are a big part of it,” Sciullo said.