2011 USSSA 'B' World Tournament Preview!

 Tournament Preview

2011 USSSA 'B' World Bracket Link

The USSSA 'B' World Tournament will be played this coming weekend in sunny Florida at the Fortune Road Softball Complex.   The bracket this year features 28 teams, 24 of which are classed 'B',  1 'C', and 3 'D'.    If you think about it the economy did take its toll on some teams.   Pace, Bulshippers, Turano, RFC, DMC, Golds Gym, ATS, AZM, Bingo Longs, BBS, and Blockers are all teams you would have thought would be present.  Thats another 12 quality teams that started the season.

2010:  26 Teams, 22 'B', 4 'C

2009:  30 Teams, 21 'B', 7 'C', 2 'D' 

Note: I will have the broadcast running here on SoftballCenter.com with chat room from 5 PM eastern time Friday through the championship game on Sunday!

Fortune Road Softball Complex features 4 beautiful fields with 325 foot homerun fences.   Infields are slightly small in size forcing infielders that play deep to have to contend with the lip of the grass/dirt on hard grounders.   The lighting is ok and the outfields are excellent.   The dugouts on the other hand are like dungeons.   I think its time to bulldoze those things.   The Dudley Classic M ZN ball doesn't normally carry well during the heat of the day.   The USSSA 'B' division plays with a 4 HR limit.

Typical Florida weather expected.   Bring sunblock, gatorade, and a large supply of dry batting gloves.  

Link to the 2011 'B' World Participants

(B) 8-3  Down2EarthSports.Com/Worth from Baxley, Georgia – has the number one seed, a nice Conference resume of wins against the 'A' and 'B' divisions, and the best defensive outfield in the division.  So what is their flaw?  Their flaw is they haven't had to "manage" games (meaning pitching changes, pinch hitters/runners, and defensive substitutions) all year because they show up with the minimum necessary to play (not always by choice).  To win 'B' worlds I feel you have to have a bench with some speed, some power, and some pitching.  Their offense may be the best in the 'B' division and their defense is capable but with little to no bench and varying weather conditions I don't think Down2Earth is where they need to be.  The 8-3 mark against 'B' teams may come in handy though.  Playing Pipe in their first game doesn't make things any easier.

(B) 10-4 Doerflinger/TSC/Pro-Coat/Combat from Seattle, Washington – This team was built to win the 'B' world but hasn't necessarily shown the consistency to do so.  Manager Strojan Kennison won it 3 years ago with Northwest Combat so he knows what it takes and has the team to do it.  Doerflinger is a little light on power I feel, but the 10-4 record vs 'B' teams shows they have the resume to rattle off 5 in a row.

(B) 8-6  Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/MAB/Easton from Cincinnati, Ohio – Blitz needs to hold serve on their first two games and bring it on strong against the Scene in the quarter finals.  This is a typical Blitz team, similar to past years but with only an 8-6 record against the 'B' division I question whether they can string together 5 in a row.

(B) 7-8  MidWest Swing / Miken from Evansville, Indiana – I think this team picked up Eric Byrum at pitcher which should help.  The chemistry hasn't been there since their breakout start at the Hall of Fame Classic back in April.  Noonan, Geiersbach, Potter, and the Mazzier brothers have had some moments but not enough to string together the necessary wins here.

(B) 5-2  Linedrive/Triple sSs Sportscards from Sterling Hts, Michigan – Built to win the 'C'.  Bumped to 'B' midseason, and tweaked to win the 'B'.  This team has all the tools – multiple pitchers, leadership, chemistry, and oh ya, they picked up Tyler Beuerlein and Brian Puckett.  Linedrive has to be one of the favorites in this tournament.  I believe they are missing a few key regulars but should use a nice seed and a soft first quarter of the bracket to give themselves a shot on Saturday night.

(B) 8-4  The Scene/Easton from Fort Myers, Florida – This team just went 3-0 at the 'B' Conference championships a week ago on the same Fortune Road fields.  I think they have a nice mix of 'A' class veterans that apparently no other teams wanted.  The top of the Scene order is as good as it gets in 'B' this year and this team finally has some momentum on their side.  I like their spot in the bracket and look for them to make the final 4.

(B) 6-3  Fence Brokers/Gametime Supply/Worth from Bryant, Arkansas – My top pick for 'B' worlds from a year ago has completely changed over their roster to conform to be able to play 'B' again this year.  From big expectations last year to very little this year, FBI should be right in the mix as they will send the Venezuelen team home in short order and battle Primetime to a win.

(B) 6-7 Magic/National Gold/S&S/TYJA Sports from Plymouth, Massachusetts – Magic has played a lot of USSSA this year and even ventured into Canada to play the PIF.  Can the experience pay off here at the end of the year?  Chris Carr, John Hickey, and McGoogan will need to be offensive machines to pull off a couple of wins.

(B) 4-5  Team Demarini from Santa Clarita, California – This team looks to be in a nice rhythm coming off a 2nd place at the ASA 'B' Nationals.  I know they have high hopes for this weekend but the 4-5 record vs 'B' teams doesn't bode well for them.  They should be able to handle anyone that comes at them in the first two rounds though.

(B) 10-8 Texas Miken Softball Club from Pearland, Texas – this is the darkhorse of the divsision.  I've not been around this team enough to know what they are capable of, but we will find out soon.

(B) 4-3  PrimeTime/Easton from Macon, Georgia – If Primetime stays focused and gets some momentum going, I know they can get to where they want to get.  And that is a 2 PM showdown with D2E on Saturday.  Primetime is led by middle infielder Earl Bryant and first baseman Lee Daniels and they have placed runner up at the USSSA and BSC black worlds the past couple of weeks.

(B) 13-10 T's 13/Easton from Omaha, Nebraska – Losing early at tournaments put T's in a position to play a lot of 'B' teams.  I'm thinking 2-2 here.  Lets see some fire.  Its worlds after all.

(B) 2-0 25-10 Deluxe Bakery from Runnemede, New Jersey – Made a great run in the North Carolina Major and is one of the few non-conference teams that could string together 3 wins in a row to make some noise.

(B) 7-2 DavesPlace/Sports55/Miken from Orlando, Florida – This team was bumped to 'B' after the state tournament.  They are legit 'B' and came through the loser's bracket to win the WSL 'C' last weekend.  They are in a great spot in the bracket playing Checking to open and a potential matchup with Midwest Swing if they win.  Dave's could easily make a run at the top of the bracket.

(B) 8-11 Zamora's All Out Sports/Team TPS from Houston, Texas – Zamoras usually stays close to the house in Texas.  Venturing out to the 'B' Worlds could be a rough trip as they play KTI in the first round with the winner playing Doerflinger.  They have a slim chance at beating KTI but I know they can't knock off both KTI and Doerflinger.  They have a dedicated long time sponsor that deserves some success but a tough draw.

(B) 6-3 Pipe/Players Warehouse/DSS/Easton from Columbus, Ohio – Pipe has to play A&K from their home state in their first game which was a mistake in bracket creation.  The winner of this game gets a late night date with the #1 team in the 'B' division D2E.  Pipe is capable, and with some Conference veterans like Mike Malesko, Brian Blount, Steve Edwards and Roger Bias on the bump, you never know.

(B) 3-5 ChecKing/Worth from New Haven, Connecticut – this team was a bump to the 'B' division after their impressive runner up finish to Team 454 at the Connecticut Major.  Fact is they are a true 'B' team with veteran uppper level players throughout the lineup.  Checking plays a 50/50 game with Daves Place but the winner has a real chance of upsetting Midwest Swing.

(B) 1-4 1st Step/ DCS from Pompano Beach, Florida – We know what 1st Step is capable of when we watched them score 20 runs in the 7th to beat Jean Shoppe at the 'A' Worlds.  The team has veteran conference talent and should compete well with T's 13 in the first round.

(B) Wiley's/Supreme/Combat from Haines City, Florida – Wileys has a chip on their shoulder from being bumped to 'B' for their successful run at the Atlanta Major back in May.  Unfortunately that run was made with a number of players that are no longer with the team.  Wiley's plays a confident Team Demarini in their first game which should be a good one, because Wiley's is a tough out.

(B) 2-5 A & K Tile/3rd St. Financial/TPS from Cincinnati, Ohio – This team comes to the 'B' world every year and got a bad draw having to play Pipe in the first round considering the two teams are from the same State of Ohio and just an hour away from each other. 

(B) 3-3 KTI/Cartel/DeMarini Jeremy Pierce from Tacoma, Washington – KTI was just an inning away from knocking off Desert Falls in the 'B' Worlds last year but they don't have Brendt Newbill pitching.  The Yusko brothers and veteran Chris Breer should keep this team in the game.  The big test is getting by Doerflinger.

(B) 11-5 DocA's Team Combat from Niceville, Florida – A roster with a few remnants of the 2005 Kirby team that won the 'B' Worlds.  Docs struggled to score runs at the WSL 'B' last week so confidence can't be real high here.  Docs hasn't played a 'B' team in USSSA this year but did win the 'B' Northern States in Florida.   Doc's gets to welcome Texas Miken to Florida but I don't look for an upset.

(B) Latinos de Venezuela from Caracas, Florida? – Is this team really from Florida or is this an international invite?  Either way, 2 and q.

(C) Westshore Pizza From Tampa, Florida – They play Primetime in their opener Friday which could be interesting for 3 innings…

(D) JOELS PIZZA/REEBOK from Tampa, Florida – Another "host" team, look for Joel's to go 2 and q.

(D) PNH Softball from Orlando, Florida – this is the team that has Troy Nance and some good offensive talent that we watched play at the 'A' Worlds.  They gave Dave's Place a run at the 'A' in the first round but 0-2 is more likely here at the 'B' as they get ready for 'D' Worlds.

(D) Team Evo from Kissimmee, Florida – obviously a local "host" team to even out the field to 28 teams so that only the top 4 teams could get bye's.

My picks: I'm not sure why I bother, with so many toss up games this is the most even year in the 'B' division that I can remember and I've been to the 2002, 2003, and 2007-2010 'B' Worlds.  The division just doesn't have that complete 'B' #1 seed type team like the 2007-2009 winner's Showcase, Bud Light, and NW Combat.  And none of these teams have the sheer determination and in your face offense and depth of last years AJS team.  So its wide open.

1st quarter of bracket – ChecKing over Midwest Swing.  Linedrive over Texas Miken.  Linedrive over ChecKing.

2nd quarter of bracket – Demarini over Gas It.  Doerflinger over KTI.  Doerflinger over Demarini.  Kindof sad that Doerflinger, Demarini, and KTI all from the far West are all in the same area of the bracket.

3rd quarter of bracket – I like Blitz over Deluxe Bakery.  The Scene over T's 13.  And The Scene over Blitz.

4th quarter of bracket – FBI over Primetime.  D2E over Pipe.  FBI over D2E.

Final 4
I'll take Doerflinger over Linedrive and The Scene over FBI, with Doerflinger over The Scene in the winner's championship.

1) Doerflinger
2) Linedrive
3) The Scene
4) Down2Earth
Tied 5th) Blitz
Tied 5th) Texas Miken

AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo, the 2010 'B' World Champs

 Northwest Combat, the 2009 'B' World Champs