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Added ANONYMOUS PICKERS PICKS —> 2015 Maryland Dual Major tournament preview!

 

 

 

"Battle on the Chesapeake"

 

Nationwide Conference USSSA!

 

June 11-14

 

Tournament Preview

 

2015 Maryland Dual #1 bracket link

 

2015 Maryland Dual #2 bracket link

 

The Maryland Dual Major has become a huge points tournament.  4 days of softball starts at 9 AM Thursday morning with the first tournaments last game starting on Friday at 4:30 PM.  The second Dual tournament starts Saturday at 8 AM and ends Sunday as usual.  Weather is going to be hot, the 6 fields at Bachmann Park are 300 feet but play about 285.  There will be some tired players at the end of this one.  Livestream will be up sometime around the first or second game as I am driving to the tournament early Thursday morning.  Only 3 or 4 fields will be available unless I find 2 more ipod cameras.  

If anyone has a spare ipod or iphone that I could use to stream field #5 or #6 let me know.  dw@softballcenter.com

With 32 teams, there is 150 + (32×4) = 278 points to the winner!  This tournament will make a big impact on the point standings.  There are no local teams to beat up on so its Conference vs Conference teams in every single game.  Home Run management will be the most important thing and fielding the ball on what are usually pretty hard infields.  Team Racks is rumored not to be coming so there may be some forfeits, we'll see.  

USSSALive.com livestream link

Chat Room link for Maryland Dual

2015 Computer Rankings link

2015 Roster Changes link

2015 Conference Points Standings Link

2015 Pickem Game link

 

The first dual was seeded on points.  Here is the current points standings before Maryland

The Anonymous Picker is on a role!  Here is his Maryland picks:

He has picked it perfectly right two weeks in a row!  Why even play the tournament when we know what the finishing order will be?  The guy must have a Delorian!

The Maryland Dual features 32 of the best that Nationwide Conference USSSA has to offer.  It's a dual event, there are only conference teams playing, and the top two teams in the country will be there.  Smash it Sports is fresh off a windy city double-dip, but Resmondo managed to get to the finals undefeated.  Will this weekend be "more of the same" or will a new threat rise to the challenge?  Let's get to the picks and find out!

Dual 1
The top half of the bracket has 3 of Conference USSSA's top B teams fighting it out to get to Backman Shoppe in the 7:30 game.  Encompass, Above All, and Compound Athletic are looking like 3 of the top B teams in the conference.  I like Compound to get through to Shoppe, but I may be overreaching after a nice top 5 finish on home turf.   Shoppe is a little banged up, but it should handle whichever team does get through.  Precision should be playing Smash It Sports in its second game.  I like SIS here, but Precision seems to have it figured out going into this game.  I like Smash it to breeze after Precision and face Shoppe in the top half semi-final.  Smash It should handle a banged up Backman team, but never count out Larry and the guys.  I expect this game to be closer than some may think.

The bottom half seems to be a little more wide open.  A lot of people were writing off Albicocco/The Scene a couple of weeks ago.  However, the additions of Denny Crine and Robert Blackburn have solidified a potent offense.  I like Albicocco to walk through and get Resmondo Specialty Tank in the 9pm game.  Sometimes when writing these I get a feeling to just go for the big upset and throw caution to the wind.  Then I remember that in almost every tournament they both play the winner's final ends up being Resmondo vs Smash It Sports.  I don't think this will be the week I go completely crazy.  Resmondo handles Albicocco and moves to the winner's final.

Resmondo vs Smash It Sports…Stop me if you've heard this one before!  Smash it has been the better team on 300 foot fields this year, and I don't see this weekend being much different.  I expect the game to be in the high 30's to low 40's and be a one or two run game.  However, in the end Smash It gets to the finals.  I think Resmondo beats Albicocco to get back to Smash it, but eventually lose out again.

Final Picks Dual #1:
1. Smash It Sports
2. Resmondo
3. Albicocco/The Scene
4. Precision (After a long run in the loser's bracket)

Dual 2
The top half of Dual 2 should feature tough Xtreme/Miken vs Albicocco/The Scene in the 5 pm game.  If that happens I really like Xtreme here.  Albicocco will be coming off a long tournament in the first tournament.  This is an upset waiting to happen.   If Xtreme gets through I see it playing Smash It Sports at 8pm.  Xtreme has a lot of power with guys like Andrew Miller and Shannon Smith, but I just don't think it's enough to get through.  The second tournament is the one that should have more upsets, but it's just too hard to pick against the big boys.

The lower half should have Resmondo breezing through to face the winner of Backman/Shoppe vs CA Sports/Miken.  I'm going with another upset here and I think the CA Sports guys can get through Shoppe to face off with Resmondo.  Resmondo will be too much, but this game may be a full 7 inning grinder.
Here we go again Resmondo vs Smash It Sports.  I really like Resmondo in the second tournament.  The team has the easier road, and I always like revenge games.  Rezzy finds a way to get this game and will win the second tournament.  Smash It should get back to them in the championship, but I don't see this going to an "if" game.  I'm taking my chances on some major upsets and going with 2 "A" teams in the top 4.  We'll see how this works out!

Final Picks Dual #2:
1. Resmondo
2. Smash It Sports
3. CA Sports
4. Xtreme/Miken

Windy City Classic – Chicago Results:        
Prediction:                      Actual:
1. Smash It Sports            1. Smash It Sports
2. Resmondo                    2. Resmondo
3. Precision                      3. Precision
4. Albicocco/The Scene    4. Albicocco/The Scene

Woah – 2 weeks in a row a 4/4!!!!

 

 


Bachman Park has 6 Fields – Dimensions are 300 feet all around on all fields
Bachman Park 600 East Ordanance Rd. Glen Burnie Md. 21090

 


 

Weather although hot, looks much better than last year!   🙂

 


 

2013 Maryland champions – Team Albicocco/The Scene/Easton

2014 Maryland Major Tournament Report

2013 Maryland Major Tournament Report

2012 Maryland Major Tournament Report

 


 

Past tournament results

2014
1 FL-M Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
2 NY-M Laservision/H Auto/JJ's/Easton
3 NY-A Team Albicocco/Scene/Easton/Elite
4 MI-A Line Drive Sportz/R&M Metals/Easton

2013
1 NY-A Albicocco/The Scene/Easton
2 VA-A Taylormade/TM Sports/Mizuno
3 OH-C Cash House ATM/Louisville Slugger
4 NJ-C AboveAllLandscaping/ACS/GWS

2012
1 NY-A TYJA – Suncoast Reebok
2 WA-M team combat/pacific headwear
3 NJ-C TNT SOFTBALL
4 VA-A taylormade/tm sports/mizuno

2010
1 TN-A jean shoppe-easton-down2earthsports
2 MI-A sinister/line drive/sss/worth/mojo
3 CT-A Darkside/TYJA
4 VA-A aubrey's/taylormade/mizuno

2009
1 TN-A jeanshoppe/chaneys/easton/sports55
2 VA-A taylormade / titan / pas / mizuno
3 MI-A bud light/tps/linedrive/sports55
4 MD-B diamondblade/angle inn easton

2008
1 CA-M dan smith/menosse/benfield/combat
2 TN-A Jean Shoppe/Easton
3 MD-B ANGLE INN EASTON
4 MD-A ABS/Easton

2007
1 GA-A aubrey's/elite sports/phone masters
2 TN-A JEAN SHOPPE / WORTH
3 VA-A TaylorMade / Mizuno
4 NY-A The Scene

2006
1 VA-M benfield/reece/shade/am las vegas
2 GA-A Aubrey's/MIT/Worth
3 MD-B ANGLE INN EASTON
4 MD-B ABS/TEAM LTP/EASTON

 

 

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