Friday March 29th, 2024
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2011 Conference USSSA Indiana Tournament Report

 

 

 2011 Conference USSSA

 Columbus, Indiana

May 13 – May 15

 

R&M metals takes on Darkside back on field #5

The Columbus, Indiana Major held at Lincoln Park was never completed as rains swept in Saturday around 6 PM and never really let up the rest of the weekend.  This weather put a damper on a tournament which featured the best field of teams since the HOF Tournament back in mid April down in Florida.

On Friday night the games went as forecast with upsets by the local 'C' teams and close games throughout with the non-conference teams using the hard Conference ball to put a scare into some opponents.   TG/TPS/ELITE a 'C' team from Michigan knocked off RFC/Hubs Pub/Syndicate 26-25 and in the same part of the bracket Gutter Works/Easton from Tennessee knocked off Darkside/TYJA/Easton 27-26.   In the game Darkside pitcher Dan Sanchez was hit in the wrist which may be broken.   These two upsets led to a second round matchup between the two 'C' teams and TG/TPS/ELITE came out on top 28-27.   The 'C' teams in this tournament were outstanding with EAP knocking off Conference 'B' team DMC and Mojo out of Columbus, Ohio squandering a big lead in their opener against Magic.

When the rains came and the tournament had to be cancelled, it was Resmondo vs Shoppe and Linedrive vs Suncoast in the semi-finals of the winner's bracket that never did get played.    In the loser's bracket Blitz had beaten TG and Sinister had knocked off Red's Astros, and Columbus Pipe vs Hustler's, and EWS vs Combat/Pharmapar were games that never got finished/played.

This tournament for sure had some great matchups throughout and it would have been fun to see if Shoppe had anything for a red hot Resmondo team and to see if Linedrive could have kept up their great play against a Suncoast team that was poised to make their first winner's bracket finals in a while.   In the loser's bracket one wonder's if EWS had enough to come through the loser's bracket to finish final 4. 

32 Team breakdown:  2 – Major,   6 – 'A',  11 – 'B',  11 – 'C',  4 – 'D'

15 from the Conference

14 different states represented!

Note: I don't have the usual number of pictures or material because the most important games of the tournament were rained out.

Resmondo's Scott Streibel seems to have a renewed energy this season

Aerial of Lincoln Park

YouTube Preview Image

Random video clips from the tournament

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Columbus, Indiana Tournament Awards and Final Standings:

 

Place
State
Team
Team
Class
Wins
Loses
Ties
Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
1
FL
SPMensMajor
3
0
0
102
17
34
5.66
28.3
36
150
1
MI
SPMensC
3
0
0
89
73
29.6
24.3
5.33
32
300
1
FL
SPMensA
3
0
0
74
60
24.6
20
4.66
32
300
1
TN
SPMensA
3
0
0
81
41
27
13.6
13.3
34
300
5
OHO
SPMensB
4
1
0
127
69
25.4
13.8
11.6
32
140
5
WA
SPMensMajor
3
1
0
130
84
32.5
21
11.5
39
70
5
MI
SPMensA
3
1
0
111
55
27.7
13.7
14
38
140
5
IN
SPMensB
3
2
0
114
120
22.8
24
-1.2
30
140
5
IN
SPMensC
3
1
0
89
69
22.2
17.2
5
26
140
5
MI
SPMensC
2
2
0
89
116
22.2
29
-6.7
28
140
5
IL
SPMensA
2
1
0
91
61
30.3
20.3
10
40
140
5
OHC
SPMensB
2
1
0
66
66
22
22
0
35
140
13
OHO
SPMensC
2
2
0
81
92
20.2
23
-2.7
36
80
13
MO
SPMensB
2
2
0
83
81
20.7
20.2
0.5
33
80
13
OHO
SPMensB
2
2
0
91
112
22.7
28
-5.2
30
80
13
IA
SPMensA
2
2
0
95
88
23.7
22
1.75
32
80
17
IN
SPMensB
1
2
0
71
100
23.6
33.3
-9.6
31
40
17
WI
SPMensB
1
2
0
40
65
13.3
21.6
-8.3
18
40
17
KY
SPMensC
1
2
0
76
77
25.3
25.6
-0.3
27
40
17
KY
SPMensB
1
2
0
85
82
28.3
27.3
1
30
40
17
CT
SPMensA
1
2
0
70
87
23.3
29
-5.6
34
40
17
OHO
SPMensB
1
2
0
61
65
20.3
21.6
-1.3
37
40
17
MA
SPMensB
1
2
0
78
83
26
27.6
-1.6
35
40
17
KY
SPMensC
1
2
0
49
74
16.3
24.6
-8.3
27
40
25
KS
SPMensB
0
2
0
53
60
26.5
30
-3.5
28
20
25
OHO
SPMensD
0
2
0
27
54
13.5
27
-13.
15
20
25
OHC
SPMensC
0
2
0
54
62
27
31
-4
31
20
25
IN
Team KillzIt frozen
SPMensD
0
2
0
30
66
15
33
-18
15
20
25
OHO
SPMensC
0
2
0
10
44
5
22
-17
9
20
25
IN
SPMensD
0
2
0
33
66
16.5
33
-16.
18
20
25
MI
SPMensC
0
2
0
39
50
19.5
25
-5.5
23
20
25
IN
SPMensD
0
2
0
18
68
9
34
-25
15
20
 

Note: We have a give away contest on the SoftballCenter.com message board.   Prizes like batting gloves, t-shirts, and hats will be provided by DownToEarthSports.com

Team by team notes brought to you by:


Resmondo-Specialty Tank / Worth  GTGG 

Conf 'M' from Winter Haven, FL   3-0 Record

Resmondo was headed for another tournament championship as they won their first 3 games by a combined score of 102-17.   They played without BJ Fulk and a less than healthy Howie Krause but that didn't matter much as they used their number one seed to roll over everyone in their path.   With the near perfect weather for softball (until the storms came) I don't think Resmondo even broke a sweat. 

Resmondo's Bobby Hughes


    Resmondo outfielder Brian Rainwater   

 


Shoppe/Team TPS/D2E/Elite   GTGG 

Conf 'A' from McKenzie, Tennessee   3-0 Record

Shoppe played solid in a Friday run rule of Tyler Trucking.   Then a Saturday morning line drive battle with Magic 34-27 and a fairly low scoring but impressive win 19-11 over Sinister in a game where they really shut down the Sinister offense.   Shoppe's top of the order with Chad McLamb, Eric Thompson, and Tim Cocco was in a really a great hit-hit-homer rhythm.   Throw in a healthy Gordon and Matt King and this team is shaping up to be the contender they were meant to be.

 Shoppe's Eric Thompson and team congratulate Jamie Gordon on a homer

Leadoff hitter Chad McLamb 

Two hitter Eric Thompson


Power hitter Tim Cocco who is also hitting on the Long Haul Bomber's tour for TPS this year after two consecutive Major World Series homerun contest Championships


 Matt King was back and seemed to be healthy for Shoppe


 

Suncoast/Reebok   

Conf 'A' from Parish, FL   3-0 Record

Suncoast is the team I feel very bad for when the rains came.   They had what looked to be all of their players and were healthy.   They picked up former AJS warrior Terry Rosenbalm to play third base and pitcher Lossen White was holding teams down.   All of their games were close but a big signature win over EWS 22-15 gave them a shot at a winner's bracket championship matchup if they could get by Linedrive.   Suncoast doesn't venture outside of the Southeast much but picking the Columbus tournament looked like it was going to pay off with big points and in the end thats what they will get.


Suncoast's new third baseman is Terry Rosenbalm

It was good to see Nate Holcomb back at the fields after his recovery from off season injuries


 

Linedrive/Triple sSs Sportscards  GTGG 

Conf 'C' from Sterling Hts, MI   3-0 Record

Linedrive knocked off a very solid Red's Astros team 28-23 in their opener on Friday night.   Then they upset Combat/Pharmapar 29-28 when they pressured Combat from start to finish.   In their third game they were the recipient of a good draw caused by the earlier upsets in their part of the bracket and beat a good TG team 32-22 in a little bit of a Michigan grudge match. 

Linedrive's brand of softball is right along the lines of the old Hub's Pub and AJS style – we don't care who you are, we are playing our game every inning and we'll look at the scoreboard at the end of the game and see if we won.  Team play, picking up the guy that makes the mistake, and manufacturing runs.   Add to this the fact they are making some nice roster moves like grabbing Jason Ferguson.  Its hard to believe someone like that was available.

Linedrive's Richie "Cunningham" Davis one of the sponsor's looks on


Linedrive's new infielder Jason Ferguson launches a big homer in the Combat game 

Linedrive's shortstop Charlie Anderson 

 Linedrive pitcher Daniel Evans runs the bases.  Someone please show this guy what the internet is and how to navigate to SoftballCenter.com  🙂


Sinister/Pritchard/Miken  GTGG 

Conf 'A' from Livonia, MI   3-1 Record

Sinister run ruled two lower class teams in their first two rounds leading me to believe my prediction that they would beat Shoppe would come true.   It wasn't to be as Sinister sat on 7 runs most of the game and just could not get anything going offensively against Shoppe and lost 19-11.   Sinister picked up the "retired" Mike Rose to help with the pitching duties.   The rain cut short what I think would have been two more wins for Sinister.   Its too bad Sinister didn't have Houston on the schedule.   They are playing so well against lower class teams that I think they could have rolled through most of the Houston tournament and finished second to Resmondo and get some confidence going.


 

Former Shoppe pitcher Mike Rose came out of retirement to help Sinister

SS Jeff Payton and Left Fielder Reggie Schulte of Sinister


Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/MAB/Easton  GTGG 

 Conf 'B' from Cincinnati, OH   4-1 Record

Blitz lost a tough second round game 20-19 against Suncoast leaving the bases loaded early in the game.   Then in the loser's bracket they had some solid wins over Tyler Trucking, they absolutely crushed DMC when the rains came in and sent home TG.   This team is a gritty team who probably plays better in less than favorable field conditions.  Blitz has Mark Urbain on the mound along with career Blitz player Frank Gruber.   They have a new shortstop in Robbie Grinestaff and David "baby wegs" Kessler was mashing a homerun everytime I watched him.   Add this to the the normal team leaders Jayson Scott, Jon Jamison, Jason Roesch, and Jimmy Carter and you have a formidable B+ team that should do very well in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Michigan.   My initial impression is that they have their best Conference team that they have had in recent memory.   I think the only thing Blitz is lacking is confidence after a very slow start.

Blitz shortstop Robbie Grinestaff

  

Blitz pitcher Mark Urbain 

Click Wegs or Helmer for Easton equipment


 

The rest of the Conference Teams:

EWS Shortstop Brady Noll.  With the departure of Salas they moved Brett McCollum over to 3B.

EWS had a little addition by subtraction this weekend.   The chemistry was off all year and the disgruntled player's on the team evidently had enough and left.   Sam Lopez evidently did not like that manager Todd Ankney was starting some of the backups against a 'D' team on Friday night in Columbus and he picked up his bag and left.   As he was leaving third baseman Jim Salas and pitcher Loyd Watson followed him out.   This most likely was a planned move as these three have been rumored to be heading over to the Famous/Logo team for awhile now.   Make no mistake these are 3 of the best player's in softball but the way they left leaves a bit of a "Lebron James" feel to it in how they did it.   Trust me, I'm from Cleveland so I know.

In the end EWS will be better off.   Less talented, maybe, but will have a better team chemistry which is critical.   As for Lopez, Salas, and Watson, if they can get their release from the EWS (not likely without money) roster then whatever team gets them probably just moved up the rankings unless it causes a chemistry problem with the new team.  Either way I wish all parties the best.   Player's need to remember that upper level softball is a very small group and burning bridges often makes for a shortened softball career.

 

 

Combat/Pharmapar has another "what if" weekend.  If they had one or two more hits against Linedrive they would have pulled off a come from behind win and more than likely made it to the final 4.   Pictured above is Pharmapar center fielder Andre Francoer makes a nice play and below is Sal Formosa who was moved to shortstop.

 

R&M Metals/Troupe lost in the 2nd round convincingly to Columbus Pipe when they only used 3 of their homer's.   Then they smoked Darkside by batting around a couple times in the first two innings.   Then they were knocked out by a pesky Reds Astros team that just would not be denied.    R&M is still figuring out some things, most of it above the neck.   Higgy won't be back, they were missing Zirkle, and Decker in LF probably isn't the answer but I look for this team to rebound in Chicago although that tournament is beginning to look like a tough one – top to bottom. 

Wheelhouse beat Pure Romance 14-11, got hammered by Resmondo then lost a heart breaker 19-18 to Reds Astros.  Could be a long season for Wheelhouse but they seem like an improved team over last year.

Magic came from way down to beat Mojo 37-31 with the help of a controversial call on Friday night.  Then they dropped two hard fought games to Shoppe 34-27 and the upstart Hustlers 18-16.  Hustler's has a few guys that hit bombs. 

Midwest Swing picked up player/sponsor Doug Wood who brought with him third baseman Dennis Shrum (pictured above) and left handed hitter Bryan Goins.   An interesting mix that may take some time to get used to. 

DMC was tripped up by EAP on Friday night 19-12.   Hardly an upset considering how good EAP is every year.   In the loser's bracket DMC sent home Midwest Swing 33-19 before they lost big to Blitz in the rain.   I missed most of DMC's games and when they finally played a game I could watch, Blitz had them down like 20-0.

Darkside picked up CF Ryan Parfitt and played without Billy Moore.   Dan Sanchez broke his wrist when hit by a line drive Friday night and pitcher Oscar Shipley didn't seem to be in mid season pitching form when R&M sent them home with two big innings to start the game.   Darkside has to forget this tournament, dust off and get back on the horse in Houston.   If you need a backup pitcher think Billy Barrett, Billy Honeycutt, or Mike Kalinowski.


 

alt

Report Continued below  


A big thanks to my sponsor's – USSSA, Down2EarthSports.com, GameTimeSupply.com, MojoSportsGear.com, TPS, Easton, DSSBats.com, SoftballToday Magazine, BatReviews.com, and BPAthletics

I will be in Gallatin (Nashville), Tennessee next week. 

Also don't forget to click the "like" or "share" on facebook buttons for any articles you particularly enjoyed.  Thanks.

2011 Columbus, Indiana Major pictures link

Link to the  Bracket/Stats for the Indy Major

Link to the tournament in Nashville when ready

Link to the USSSA Point Standings and Stats


Here are some other pics from the Indiana Major:

Columbus Pipe has former GTL defensive star Brian Blount at middle infield

Pipe center fielder Darren Graham rips a double.  Pipe beat R&M but lost the "big dick" contest against Resmondo 36-6

Regardless of the outcome Pipe seems to have fun

 Reds Astros had a veteran laden linedrive hitting team

 TG pulled off a couple upsets and is one of the better C teams around


Gutter Works had Landon Helm

Cowboy and EAP have always done well in the Conference

Pure Romance where's pink because the sponsor is a women's adult toy store

A&K

 

 I don't ask, they don't tell

Uh oh, RFC – the heroes of the Kansas City tournament get the 2 and Q picture.   Ah, the ups and downs of Conference play.

 

As always send question, corrections, comments, and criticism's to

DW@softballcenter.com


 


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