2013 USSSA ‘A’ World Tournament Report!

2013 USSSA 'A' World Tournament

Kissimmee, FL

Aug 16-18

USSSA 'A' World finals is under way with Nordkap pitching to Reds Astros!

Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the A World

USSSA A World tournament info and bracket link

Championship Game #1

Championship "if" game

Nordkaps Chris Greinert gets one past Albicocco pitcher Dan Sanchez

Benches clear in the first game Sunday morning between Nordkap and Line Drive Sportz

MVP Scott Zaciewski hammers another nail in the Reds coffin!

Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok celebrates the final out!

Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok is your 'A' World Champion as they navigated a field of 9 stacked but evenly matched 'A' teams to win the tournament.  Nordkap lost in the winner's bracket semi-finals 29-25 to Red's Astros before making a 5 game run to the title including wins over Sonnys, Line Drive, Albicocco, and Reds Astros twice!  Red's looked to be in the driver's seat after besting third place Albicocco in the winner's bracket championship in extra innings 27-23 but were unable to score when needed in the top of the 7th of the "if" game against Nordkap and lost the championship 22-21.

A great weekend of softball started on Friday night and under the threat of rain all 3 days.  A few showers here and there delayed the tournament but all games were played in full in 90 degree heat and humidity on the bigger than normal 310-325-325-325-310 fenced fields.  The wind blew in on diamonds #2 and #3 and blew out on field #1 and #4 consistently most of the weekend.

After Friday's games all 9 'A' teams remained undefeated as the lower class 'B' and 'C' teams fell to the loser's bracket.  On Saturday starting at 11 AM the heavy weight battles 'A' vs 'A' battles began as Albicocco beat GTL by one in a great game on the show field, Demarini won a low scoring 10-9 game over Sonnys with the wind blowing in, Red's Astros jumped out to an 11-2 lead on Line Drive and held on 20-13, and Nordkap crushed Baugh Ford 27-9.  In the semi-finals Albicocco's Dan Sanchez hit a walk off homer to beat Demarini 29-27 and Red's Astros beat Nordkap 29-24 in a spirited game with plenty of action and big home runs.

Then Red's pulled off some huge defensive plays in the last two innings to beat Albicocco in the winner's bracket championship 27-23 and Nordkap came through the loser's bracket to meet Red's again and pull off the impressive "double dip" with some aggressive offense scoring near double figure innings in all 4 of their Sunday wins.

The tournament featured a full set of Nationwide Conference USSSA umpires and used the Dudley ZN Classic M ball.

Final game highlites:

 – Grand Slam by Nordkaps Jason Baxter bottom of the 1st.  6-1 Nordkap lead.

 – Travis Dale 3 run HR top 2.  Kingsolver 2 run homer 8-6 Reds lead. Nordkaps Brian Zirkle great catch.

 – NordKap puts up a zero in bottom of 2nd.

 – Ryan Joiner 2 run homer 10-8 Reds top 3rd.

 – TJ Thompson rbi single for Nordkap ties at 10-10.
 – Scott Zaciewski 3 run knuckleball bomb! 13-10 Kap.  
 – Reyna rbi triple 14-10 Kap.

 – Top 4 Reds Chad Mullins 2 run HR  14-13.

 – Bottom of 4th Brian Zirkle and and Andrew Collins rbi doubles 17-13.
 – Scott Zaciewski rbi single  18-13.  Travis Dale great play in the hole at SS.
 – Chris Greinert 2 run HR 20-13.  Reds Krider upended at 2B.

 – Top 5th
 – RBI Doug Martin
 – Sac Travis Dale 20-15
 – Sac Chad Mullins 20-16 Reds trailing.

 – Bot 5th
 – Ryan Joiner backhand play at pitcher.
 – Andrew Collins 2 run HR, Kap up 22-16.

 – Top 6th
 – Justin Aldora RBI double
 – Sacrifice fly by Ryan Joiner. 18-22
 – Krider 2 run triple. 20-22
 – Travis Dale RBI single 21-22.

 – Bot 6th
 – Diver by Travis at SS

 – Top 7th double play by Reyna at SS ends it.

Albicocco vs Demarin winners semi-final game

Winner's final – Red's Astros vs Albicocco

More games coming (I hope) on USSSA Today youtube channel

Nordkap vs Albicocco (loser's final)

Red's Astros middle infielder Troy Krider has turned a ton of double plays the last two weekends.

The "if" game of the Championship is under way with TJ Thompson pitching to Red's lead off man Travis Dale!

It was the same scene Saturday night in the semi finals with Thompson pitching to Dale 

Fortune Road Park

Video Highlites brought to you by:

 USSSA 'A' World Final Standings & Awards

Team by team notes brought to you by:

1st Place – Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok

Conf 'A' from MN  7-1 Record

Nordkap wins the men's A World Tournament with true grit and determination in the Florida heat and humidity.  Nordkap opened Friday night with a tough Valley Motors team that had them tied at 11-11 on the show field mid way through the game.  Then Kap caught fire and homered their way to a 29-11 run rule win.  On Saturday Kap crushed Baugh Ford 27-9 Saturday around 11 AM and then was upset by Reds Astros 29-24 on Saturday night.  In the losers bracket they won an amazing 5 straight games, including 4 in a row on Sunday, vs the top 'A' teams in the country and won the title.

On Sunday they beat Line Drive and Albicocco by the run rule and then broke open a close game in the first game of the championship against Red's to win 36-20.  In the second game the defense came alive late and a couple of great stops by infielder Luis Reyna on both sides of the diamond gave Nordkap a 21-20 win and they didn't have to bat in the bottom of the 7th!

From the consistent line drive hitting of MVP third baseman Scott Zaciewski, to the raw power of their twin monsters Chris Greinert and Jason Baxter, the timely pinch hit homers of Cory Boothe, the shut down relief pitching and timely hitting of TJ Thompson, and the extra base hitting of Brian Zirkle, Luis Reyna, and Jason Branch it was a true display of team work on both sides of the ball.  Also it was a testament to good hydration and experience playing in the Florida heat on the big fields.  Nordkap played mostly with a 10 man lineup as catcher Dustin Roberts was knocked out of Friday nights game and most of the weekend with a dislocated toe on a play at the plate.  Matt Crawford was turning the DP's, Anthony Dress was steady at 2B, and Andrew Collins kept the team fired up with some big homers. A great comeback story and a well earned 'A' World Title.  It's unfortunate they didn't get to celebrate a whole lot because of a rain storm that came through right after the game ended.   Nordkap averaged an impressive 25.6 runs per game.

Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok "powered by" Chris Greinert!

Lead off hitter Scott Zaciewski and Jason Branch

Jason Baxter and Luis Reyna

Matt Crawford and Andrew Collins

Brian Zirkle

Brian Higginbotham and Cory Boothe

Johnny Gallegos

Chris Greinert 1B, Anthony Dress 2B, Matt Crawford MI

The Olsons celebrating their 'A' World Championship!

2nd Place – Red's Astros/Slugger/Stucco/Dirty

Conf 'A' from IN  4-2 Record

Red's won their first three games, a 40 minute game 18-2 over S2S scoring big in the first inning.  An impressive 20-13 win over Line Drive as they scored 11 runs in the first inning.  And a 29-24 win over Nordkap, again scoring big in the first inning.  Then in the winner's bracket championship they kept an 17-17 tie in the bottom of the 7th when they held Albicocco scoreless because of a line out/throw em out double play caught by 2nd baseman Fred Lawson.  In the top of the 8th they scored an amazing 10 runs and held on to win by 4.

Needing to be beaten twice in the finals on Sunday, they came out and played a close game with Nordkap until Kap separated late in the game and won big 36-20.  Then in the "if" game the Red's squandered multiple bases loaded situations but still had a chance in the top of the 7th needing just one run to tie but grounded into an out and a double play to end it.  Red's was the "feel good" story of the tournament and came up just short of a story book ending.  Reds has no players on the Major list while Nordkap has 4 or 5.  But you would not have known it if you watched the 3 games that the two teams played.

Reds showed some great heart and talent and should be a top 'A' team for years to come after being bumped to the 'A' division earlier this season.  Reds have been playing their best ball the last two weeks and its been fun to see.  Also impressive has been the power displayed by pitcher Ryan Joiner who had some big homer's in this tournament.

Travis Dale and Rob Roop

Sponsor Herb Price and his wife celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary with a winner's bracket championship!

Red's gets the double play in the bottom of the 7th all tied up

3rd Place – Albicocco/The Scene/Easton

Conf 'A' from NY  3-2 Record

Albicocco trailed 17-16 to 4 The Fallen in their Friday opener when Fallen hit a bunch of home runs in the bottom of the 6th to take the lead. Then Albicocco rallied in the top of the 7th with a couple of homers and held Fallen scoreless in the bottom of the inning to win 21-17. In their second game which was on Saturday Albicocco was down 16-12 to GTL, but scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 6th and won 21-20. Dirty Sanchez, Steve Allen, and Kevin Ballard had some big homers and the left side of the Albicocco defense made the tough plays that the GTL team did not.  On Saturday night after the rain delay, Albicocco beat Demarini/Dirty 29-27 on a walk off homer by pitcher Dan Sanchez which sent them to the winner's bracket championship game.  In the winners final Albicocco was the home team and in the driver's seat when they held Red's scoreless in the top of the 7th and went into the bottom half tied at 17-17.  Albicocco used a couple of all out diving plays by SS Robert Knoblauch and middle infielder Tony Mack to hold down Red's.  Needing just one run to win it, they got a runner on and one out and hit a low liner towards second base that was caught just above the ground and was used to double off the runner at first base for the third out.  In extra innings, Reds beat Albicocco 10-6 and Albicocco dropped to the loser's bracket. On Sunday in the loser's bracket they just never could match Nordkaps offensive performance and lost 25-9.

Albicocco let a golden opportunity and probably an 'A' World title get away from them late in that winner's final.

Chris Moon, Robert Knoblauch, and Tony Mack all made some incredible plays during the weekend

Mack tries to improvise

The "16" on the sleeve is in remembrance of Ryan "Psycho" Robbins

who recently passed away and was going to play with Albicocco in 2013.

Albicocco center fielder Evan Gallmeier climbs the fence yet again

4th Place – Line Drive Sportz/SSS/Miken

Conf 'A' from MI  4-2 Record

Line Drive put on a hitting clinic which impressed the USSSA leader Don Dedonatis Sr who was in attendance all weekend.  They painted the lines and the gaps to a 29-13 win over Head Hunters on Friday night.  In their second game against Red's Astros they let up 11 runs in the first and made one comeback run at Reds, closing the gap to 14-11 before losing 20-13.  Line Drive showed some "humanness" in the loss as they struggled offensively against an inbound wind on a big field.  In the loser's bracket Line Drive found a soft spot as they beat Headbangers and 3rd Street by a combined 45-15 and then out hit Demarini 28-25 in an entertaining game to make it to Sunday.  On Sunday they did what most of the Sunday finishers did against Nordkap and just plain got beat 25-5 after scoring the first 5 runs in the top of the first inning?  Line Drive played without outfielder Dan Hall.

Tarz Nation tries to get it going in the loser's bracket against Demarini

Line Drive's Jason Ferguson on Sunday morning

Tied 5th Place – Sonnys

Conf 'A' from WY  3-2 Record

Aaron Martinez and Brian Faria

Sonnys beat Adiktiv 20-10 in a game which had a quick start but only Sonnys continued the scoring.  Then Sonny's let their tournament slip away when they went into the bottom of the 7th needing just 3 runs against Demarini/Dirty and left the tying run on 2nd or 3rd base and the winning run at the plate twice.  In the loser's bracket they dispatched of Head Hunters 15-7 and jumped out to a lead and held on to beat GTL 17-14 before Nordkap sent them home 17-13.  Pesso played SS which moved Martinez over to 2B.  And they played without infielder Manny Liriano.

Sonny's picked up SS Matt Pesso

Tyson Steele pitched most of the innings for Sonny's

Tied 5th Place – Demarini/Dirty/ExtremeAthletics

Conf 'A' from FL  2-2 Record

Demarini/Dirty run ruled the Headbangers 20-4 on Friday night when Larsen and Brungardt were trying to see who could hit the ball the furthest (just kidding).  On Saturday they held onto a 10-9 win over Sonny's when Sonny's had two shots to hit walk offs.  Good pitching by Shawn Jones.  Then in the winner's bracket semi-finals they let up a walk off homer to Albicocco in a 29-27 loss, and went home late on Saturday night when Line Drive outslugged them 28-25.  Dirty had all of their players and were so close to that Sunday finish.  They could still be a dangerous team at the Major where the softball world needs some of these top 'A' teams to gang up on the Major teams and give them a run.

Left Side 3rd Baseman Dale Brungardt and SS Orlando Castillo

More pictures below

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Some more pictures for you:

Nordkaps Matt Crawford hits one through the legs of Reds pitcher Ryan Joiner

Scott Zaciewski didn't slide on this dive

A select group of the top Nationwide Conference umpires came in to do the 'A'

"Cheese" and his legion of softball super fans!

Softball Guy picture of the week is between Josh Olson (above) coaching the bases with batting gloves on 🙂

and this Demarini Headbangers players who hit with his grandmas gardening gloves on?

Laservision's Kevin Kennington watched a few games and is recovering from a broken ankle

Albicocco's Ryan Goodman helps the grounds crew

These two Norkap fans were doing the heavy lifting

Rachel from USSSA is leaving.  We wish her the best of luck in the future.

The lone ranger heads for his horse!