Monday March 25th, 2024
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Finally done with the report —> 2015 USSSA Hall of Fame Classic Tournament Report!

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

2015 Nationwide Conference USSSA

 

Hall of Fame Classic

 

Kissimmee, FL

 

April 16-19

 

Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com taking on Smash It Sports/Compound Athletics/H Auto/Laservision/ASP/Easton in the first dual championship Friday


 

 

2 games were shown on CBS Sports Network the Tuesday after the tournament!

For any players that need to know how to do an interview on tv, use this template… "First I'd like to thank my (enter wife/girlfriend) for letting me play this game we love, my sponsors (enter sponsor name) for putting a great team on the field, USSSA for providing a great place for Major softball, and SoftballCenter.com for promoting the game!"  Then answer whatever question they ask.

Don Dedonatis Jr gets a game tying double as Resmondo takes on SmashItSports in the 2nd Dual Championship!

 


 

Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the HOF #1

 

 

Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the HOF #2

 

 

USSSA HOF #1 tournament info and bracket link

 

USSSA HOF #2 tournament info and bracket link

 

Watch full games on USSSAToday youtube channel here (there are 13 games)

 

The 2015 Hall of Fame Classic "dual" tournament is over and Smash It Sports (formerly known as Laservision) and Resmondo, the top two teams coming into the tournament each won one tournament.  The 5 day long softball event began on Wednesday night as the power hitters of the Conference met to hit in the charity Home Run Derby at the beautiful Osceola County Stadium.  The winner was Ryan Harvey from Backman.  The other finalists were Travis Clark from Smash It Sports, Jermaine Flythe from Semper, Kevin Filby from Smash It, and Jason Branch from Reds Astros.  Then on Thursday morning bright and early at 8 AM, the first Dual tournament began with action on 7 fields every hour and a half.  The big upsets of the first tournament came early and often as KG/Slayer a 'B' team from Indiana knocked off the top ranked 'A' team Precision/Easton/DO from Illinois 15-7.  Xtreme a new 'A' team from Minnesota knocked off 4 The Fallen a Major team based out of Arizona 23-8.  Encompass a 'B' team also out of Minnesota and known as H. Auto back in 2014 knocked off the 'A' team based out of Wyoming – Team Racks/Easton 22-19.  And New Breed a 'B' team out of the state of Washington smoked 3rd Street an 'A' team out of Ohio 17-2.  Those games were all over at the Fortune Road Athletic Complex where the fence distances were 310-325-325-325-310 and used the normal Conference Dudley ZN .40 core ball.  Meanwhile at the baseball complex where the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball play their spring training games, most of the games were won by the higher seeded team with the exception of the biggest upset of the tournament.  VCH/Worth, a 'B' team based out of Texas hot off their 7-0 tournament win at the 64 team Houston Major knocked off 3rd ranked Backman/Shoppe/Louisville Slugger's Major team 18-17 on the main field in the stadium!  VCH was subsequently bumped to the 'A' division.

In the second round in the top half of the bracket KG/Slayer continued their upset ways by knocking off Pure Romance 19-18.  Fence Brokers took down Xtreme 38-23.  And Encompass upset Major team Albicocco who struggled most of the weekend 17-16.  So in the top half 3 of the 4 teams moving on were 'B' teams. Smash It Sports the #2 seed moved on easily as the only Major team in the top half.  In the bottom half of the bracket TG Brand came from behind to  give the hot hitting VCH Worth their first loss of the season 23-11.  CA Sports/Buzini an 'A' team out of Mississippi upset Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com a Major team 17-15 back on the big baseball field 1.  #1 seeded Resmondo moved on past Newbreed.  And OC Swats/Doerflinger/Miken/LCP a 'B' team out of southern California upset Red's Astros an 'A' team 22-14 over at Fortune Road.

In the final 8 Smash It Sports cruised past K&G/Slayer. Encompass used a walk off homer by lefty Patrick Ellwanger to beat Fence Brokers 11-10.  TG Brand battled and beat CA Sports 17-15.  And Resmondo took down OC Swats 22-11 in a rain shortened game.  These games were played as bad weather moved into the area and a storm came out of nowhere to dump a lot of water on the fields and washed out the rest of Thursday night's games.  At the beginning of the storm a massive lightning strike hit a light pole on Field #2 where VCH Worth was playing and knocked outfielder Zane Trammell off his feet and knocked him out.  His brother, middle infielder Jason Trammell going out to see what happened also was injured by the lightning strike that continued through the ground.  A scary moment for sure and both were checked out and tested at the hospital and it appears they will be alright.  All of us who have been taken off the fields at Disney at world tournaments for lightning within a 10 mile radius down there in Kissimmee now have a new respect for why they do that.

The first dual resumed on Friday morning as both Smash It Sports and Resmondo moved past Encompass and TG Brand respectively in the final 4 in low scoring games.  The low scores made it evident that something was up with the stadium ZN ball that normally fly's pretty well.  It turns out they had purchased a bad batch of balls and the home runs and run rule games were down because of it.  They then started trying to phase out the bad batch balls out of the tournament and for the second dual as much as possible.  Meanwhile in the loser's bracket Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com a Major team from Washington that had been upset on Thursday was making one of the greatest runs any team has ever made in Nationwide Conference USSSA history!  They knocked off Semper Athletics (B), 3rd Street (A), Fence Brokers (B), Backman (Major), TG Brand (A), then moved to the Stadium field and knocked off CA Sports (A), Resmondo (M) 18-12 in the loser's finals, and beat Smash It Sports (M) late Friday in the first game of the championship.  In the "if" game, Combat came up just short to Smash It Sports 22-19 in the final game.  Combats best tournament quite possibly in their 10 years of being in the Conference, all done basically in one day with almost no breaks.  For Smash It Sports it was their second Conference tournament win of the year as they won Las Vegas back in March.

 

Team Combat vs Resmondo loser's final Dual #1

Team Combat vs Resmondo Championship Game #1 Dual #1

Team Combat vs Resmondo Championship Game #2 Dual #1

Team Breakdown – 35 total

 6 Major
 12 'A'
 12 'B'
5 'C'

 

The second tournament began on Saturday morning at 8 AM with too many fields to keep track of playing simultaneously.  Semper Athletics/Demarini a military team run ruled Primetime/Easton in a bit of a rivalry game early Saturday morning.  You could feel the intensity at the start of that one.  Team Racks, and Red's Astros won games against fellow 'A' division teams.  4 The Fallen, CA Sports, Team Combat, Broughton, Xtreme, SmashItSports and Resmondo all advanced out of the first round against lower class opponents.  But the 1st round upsets were many once again. Deluxe Bakery a new Conference 'B' team out of New Jersey and last years 'C' champs knocked off Pure Romance in a "pillow fight" 9-8.  Combat/Northwest Athletics an 'A' team out of Washington knocked off Albicocco 35-25.  VCH Worth got hot again and beat OI Livingston and then Combat/NWA. Newbreed upset Precision, and Fence Brokers beat Classic Glass who had a bad weekend.

In the ensuing rounds Smash It Sports and Resmondo made their way to the winner's bracket final.  Smash It beating Semper, Racks, and Backman 47-39 in a great slugfest.  Resmondo cruising through Xtreme, FBI, and just getting past a feisty Newbreed team 19-15.  Newbreed in that game made a pair of errors in the top half of the 7th, otherwise Resmondo would have been up just 3 in the bottom of the inning.  Newbreeds last batter foul tipped for strike three showing how Resmondo pitcher Andy Purcell really throws some nasty knuckleballs in the clutch.

In the loser's bracket Team Racks made a late Saturday run.  They were on the field for 18 straight hours beating Team Combat (M) 18-17, 4 The Fallen (M) 20-10, Newbreed (B) 20-19, and Backman (M) 12-10.  That last game finished at 2:30 AM and put Team Racks in the CBS Sports Network telecast Sunday morning at 10 AM.  In that loser's bracket final against Smash It Sports, Team Racks gave everything they had but lost 27-20.  Shortstop A.J. "one eye" Montano made a pair of spectacular defensive plays as well as left fielder Buddy Wolf's diving catch and a catch near the fence in right field to keep them in the game.  Bryson Baker for Smash It Sports had 5 HR and13 RBI in the win.

In the championship the two heavyweight contenders Resmondo and Smash It Sports squared off.  These games were hard fought with huge offensive swings, great defensive plays, and unlike their winner's bracket finals the night before, there would be no easy wins.  Smash It had to beat Resmondo twice.  A tall task, and do it without their pitcher Travis Clark who was hit in the forearm the night before and had an arm too swollen for x-rays to be able to show whether or not there were any fractures.  Rick Robertson the Umpire in Chief told me the shot to Travis Clarks arm broke the cover on the ball.  Smash It scored 10 runs in the 2nd inning, 15 runs in the 4th inning, and 11 runs in the 5th inning to finally pull away and beat Resmondo 47-37 to force the "if" necessary game.  In that game Smash It led early as they went up 13-5 on a 3 run homer by Kevin Filby in their 11 run 3rd inning.  Resmondo answered with a Don Dedonatis Jr 3 run inside the park homer in their 14 run bottom of the 4th inning.  The game was delayed in the 5th by a hard rain storm.  Smash It and Resmondo battled back and forth all game long and Smash It used a 9 run 6th and a 2 run 9th to give themselves a 41-37 lead going into the bottom of the 7th.  Billy Messina pitching all day Sunday (8 hours) for the 3 final games doing great work on the mound at age 53 for Smash It Sports.  In the bottom of the 7th Smash It got a quick out.  Resmondos Andy Purcell singled up the middle.  Jimmy Salas hit a two run homer to make it 41-39.  Bubba Mack hit a solo homer 41-40.  Powers grounded out.  With two outs, Yates tripled just out of the reach of right fielder Mike Ortiz in right center field at the base of the wall and Don Dedonatis hit a clutch single up the middle which he turned into a double with his speed tying the game at 41-41.  With the winning run on 2nd base, Messina pitched around the left hand hitting Jeremy Isenhower and walked him to get to the Resmondo "rookie" and last batter Andrew Collins.  Collins was 3-4 with a walk in the game to that point with a double and a homer.  He took the last pitch from Messina DEEP to left for a no doubter 3 run walk off homer to win the tournament and we all got to relive it on Tuesday night when CBS Sports Network aired the game!
 

My video clip with the call of the homerun I had to be quiet because CBS Sports was in the next room broadcasting the games for TV.  I just wanted to explain was I was talking so quietly.  ðŸ™‚

The tournaments were long and grueling but very well played with the highest scoring games of the tournament at the very end of the tournament with the two top teams in the land slugging it out on CBS Sports Network!  Quite a show.

The tournament had just one real rain delay, the evenings were nice, the days were sunny and in the 80's with high humidity.  Scores were lower for the most part and home run hitters earned their pay in that first tournament.  The 20 umpires who came from all around the country did a good job and games were on time except for the late ones Saturday night.

Resmondo vs Smash It Sports Dual #1 Winner's Final

Smash It Sports vs Backman Dual #2 winner's semi final'

The first game of the championship that CBS Sports Network recorded will be online soon.

The loser's final and final game will be online after 30 days which is because of the CBS contract.

 

Resmondo's Andrew Collins hits a walk off 3 run homer to beat Smash It Sports!

Rain came heavy for a few minutes of the championship game Dual #2

Resmondos Dan Sanchez and the umpires acted as field crew for the championship after the rain

TG Brand takes on VCH/Worth back on field #5

Rain wiped out Thursday night, but the tournament easily caught up on Friday.

The battle of Illinois between Precision (red) and Compound Athletics (blue) was an upset as CA won!

 

The lighting on the baseball fields in the back of the Astros complex was finally fixed and it is awesome!

Thank you to whoever is responsible!

Biggest crowd I counted was 150…

 


 

 

Best uniforms of the week go to 4 The Fallen made by CA Gear with the detail of the pictures of the graves, and

Chris Walker's Fence Brokers created by Buzini I bet

 

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

Video Clips of HOF #1

Video Clips of Resmondo and Smash IT Sports mainly – Dual #2

Video Clips of HOF #2

 

 


 

Long Bombers of the Week

VCH power hitter Argen Dodds went over the batters eye 400+ feet and 30+ foot high fence!

He did it 3 times.  Once on F2 and twice on F1

Resmondos Greg Connell cleared the batter's eye on the stadium for what was most likely the longest homer of the tournament!

 


 

 Hall of Fame Classic Major Awards and Final Standings

DUAL #1 Awards/Finishes

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Tournament CO-MVP Brian Wegman Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
Tournament CO-MVP Travis Clark Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
Offensive Tournament MVP Chris Greinert Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com
Defensive Tournament MVP Kevin Bazat Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Brett Helmer Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Brian Titus Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com
All Tournament Team Bryson Baker Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Bryson Baker Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Greg Connell Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team JEREMY YATES Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team TOMMIE BAUGH Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com
All Tournament Team Filip Washington Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com
All Tournament Team Dale Brungardt Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Casey Rogowski Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com
All Tournament Team Kyle Pearson CASports/Buzini/Lockdown/Powerhouse
All Tournament Team Richard Buck CASports/Buzini/Lockdown/Powerhouse
All Tournament Team Brandon Dillon Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Michael Umscheid Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/
All Tournament Team Nicolas Santana Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
Place State Team Team
Class
Wins Losses Ties Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
USSSA
Points
1 NYU – Cicero, NY smash it sports/compound athletics/ USSSA-SPMensMajor 6 1 0 138 86 19.7 12.2 7.42 28 300
2 WA – KENT team combat/baugh ford/softball.com USSSA-SPMensMajor 9 2 0 212 130 19.2 11.8 7.45 29 225
3 FL – Winter Haven resmondo specialty tank worth USSSA-SPMensMajor 4 2 0 111 88 18.5 14.6 3.83 23 200
4 MS – Jackson casports/buzini/lockdown/powerhouse USSSA-Mens-A 5 2 0 126 83 18 11.8 6.14 34 175
5 MN – Champlin encompass / eurotech / easton / ca USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 87 107 17.4 21.4 -4 22 155
5 MI – Flint TG Brand USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 72 78 18 19.5 -1.5 23 155
7 CAS – Yorba Linda oc swats doerflinger/miken/lcp USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 83 83 16.6 16.6 0 22 130
7 IN – LAWRENCEBURG backman/shoppe/louisville slugger USSSA-SPMensMajor 3 2 0 108 77 21.6 15.4 6.2 28 130
9 IL – CHICAGO COMPOUND ATHLETICS/EASTON USSSA-Mens-C 3 2 0 57 62 11.4 12.4 -1 23 110
9 WY – Casper TEAM RACKS EASTON USSSA-Mens-A 3 2 0 83 72 16.6 14.4 2.2 23 110
9 IN – Lanesville kg/slayer/wilson/louisvilleslugger USSSA-Mens-B 2 2 0 47 69 11.7 17.2 -5.5 19 110
9 AR – Bryant fence brokers inc/buzini/worth USSSA-Mens-B 2 2 0 80 74 20 18.5 1.5 38 110
13 NJ – Jackson above all landscaping/evo9x USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 86 75 17.2 15 2.2 28 70
13 IL – Chicago Precision/Easton/DO USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 57 60 14.2 15 -0.7 20 70
13 OH – West Chester 3rd street/hubs pub/louisville slug USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 42 66 10.5 16.5 -6 22 70
13 OH – Cincinnati pure romance/foulks adjusting/headl USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 99 75 24.7 18.7 6 39 70
17 DC – Washington Semper Athletics/Demarini USSSA-Mens-B 2 2 0 63 74 15.7 18.5 -2.7 21 40
17 AZ – Anthem 4 the fallen/miken/ca gear USSSA-SPMensMajor 2 2 0 73 78 18.2 19.5 -1.2 27 40
17 MN – Dayton Xtreme/Miken USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 63 66 21 22 -1 23 40
17 TXN – Dallas VCH Worth USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 48 62 16 20.6 -4.6 19 40
17 IN – Indianapolis red's astros/louisville slugger USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 63 58 21 19.3 1.66 26 40
17 NC – Greenville broughton pharmacy/bad draw/worth USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 43 58 14.3 19.3 -5 23 40
17 NYU – Commack albicocco/the scene/easton USSSA-SPMensMajor 1 2 0 43 35 14.3 11.6 2.66 16 40
17 WA – Bothell newbreed/all american athletics/dem USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 37 40 12.3 13.3 -1 17 40
25 GA – Macon Primetime/Easton USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 43 42 14.3 14 0.33 17 40
25 MI – Dearborn rebel sports/linedrive sportz USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 16 34 8 17 -9 12 40
25 NJ – Runnemede Deluxe Bakery USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 13 36 6.5 18 -11. 10 40
25 CO – Colorado Springs peak / soco softball USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 5 34 2.5 17 -14. 3 40
25 AZ – Gilbert AZM/Easton USSSA-Mens-B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40
25 CAN – San Jose Classic Glass/Easton USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 28 54 14 27 -13 23 40
25 GA – Peachtree City oi livingston/tnt hauling/brother's USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 21 51 10.5 25.5 -15 17 40
25 MD – Baltimore CGR/House Money USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 18 30 9 15 -6 10 40
33 CAS – Orange toe 2 toe / power alley sports / pr USSSA-Mens-C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40
33 NC – Fletcher worshamathletics/klutchbrand/worth/ USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 28 33 14 16.5 -2.5 16 40
33 WA – Kent combat/northwest athletics USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 17 40 8.5 20 -11. 9 40

 


 

DUAL #2 Awards/Finishes

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Tournament MVP Greg Connell Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
Defensive Tournament MVP Don DeDonatis III Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Dennis Rulli Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Greg Connell Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Lawrence Wolf TEAM RACKS EASTON
All Tournament Team Andrew Collins Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Jimmy Salas Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Jeremiah Isenhower Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Lee Powers Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Samuel Christensen TEAM RACKS EASTON
All Tournament Team Donald Plaisance TEAM RACKS EASTON
Place State Team Team
Class
Wins Losses Ties Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
USSSA
Points
1 FL – Winter Haven resmondo specialty tank worth USSSA-SPMensMajor 6 1 0 216 140 30.8 20 10.8 44 300
2 NYU – Cicero, NY smash it sports/compound athletics/ USSSA-SPMensMajor 6 2 0 251 190 31.3 23.7 7.62 47 225
3 WY – Casper TEAM RACKS EASTON USSSA-Mens-A 6 2 0 140 141 17.5 17.6 -0.1 21 200
4 IN – LAWRENCEBURG backman/shoppe/louisville slugger USSSA-SPMensMajor 4 2 0 154 119 25.6 19.8 5.83 39 175
5 IN – Indianapolis red's astros/louisville slugger USSSA-Mens-A 5 2 0 125 88 17.8 12.5 5.28 35 155
5 WA – Bothell newbreed/all american athletics/dem USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 93 85 18.6 17 1.6 27 155
7 TXN – Dallas VCH Worth USSSA-Mens-A 3 2 0 93 78 18.6 15.6 3 30 130
7 AZ – Anthem 4 the fallen/miken/ca gear USSSA-SPMensMajor 3 2 0 105 101 21 20.2 0.80 33 130
9 GA – Macon Primetime/Easton USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 110 102 22 20.4 1.6 32 110
9 IL – Chicago Precision/Easton/DO USSSA-Mens-A 3 2 0 79 76 15.8 15.2 0.60 20 110
9 MN – Champlin encompass / eurotech / easton / ca USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 55 81 11 16.2 -5.2 23 110
9 AR – Bryant fence brokers inc/buzini/worth USSSA-Mens-B 2 2 0 72 86 18 21.5 -3.5 25 110
13 MI – Flint TG Brand USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 64 67 16 16.7 -0.7 19 70
13 NYU – Commack albicocco/the scene/easton USSSA-SPMensMajor 2 2 0 93 71 23.2 17.7 5.5 33 70
13 MI – Dearborn rebel sports/linedrive sportz USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 50 47 12.5 11.7 0.75 23 70
13 OH – Cincinnati pure romance/foulks adjusting/headl USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 47 51 11.7 12.7 -1 20 70
17 MS – Jackson casports/buzini/lockdown/powerhouse USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 65 56 21.6 18.6 3 30 40
17 NJ – Runnemede Deluxe Bakery USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 29 62 9.66 20.6 -11 12 40
17 WA – Kent combat/northwest athletics USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 62 69 20.6 23 -2.3 35 40
17 NC – Greenville broughton pharmacy/bad draw/worth USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 39 25 13 8.33 4.66 24 40
17 MN – Dayton Xtreme/Miken USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 40 71 13.3 23.6 -10. 20 40
17 DC – Washington Semper Athletics/Demarini USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 38 49 12.6 16.3 -3.6 26 40
17 WA – KENT team combat/baugh ford/softball.com USSSA-SPMensMajor 1 2 0 64 67 21.3 22.3 -1 25 40
17 IL – CHICAGO COMPOUND ATHLETICS/EASTON USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 35 45 11.6 15 -3.3 16 40
25 CAS – Yorba Linda oc swats doerflinger/miken/lcp USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 23 33 7.66 11 -3.3 11 40
25 NJ – Jackson above all landscaping/evo9x USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 47 46 15.6 15.3 0.33 17 40
25 OH – West Chester 3rd street/hubs pub/louisville slug USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 26 37 13 18.5 -5.5 14 40
25 IN – Lanesville kg/slayer/wilson/louisvilleslugger USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 18 55 9 27.5 -18. 11 40
25 NC – Fletcher worshamathletics/klutchbrand/worth/ USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 32 56 16 28 -12 23 40
25 CO – Colorado Springs peak / soco softball USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 36 53 18 26.5 -8.5 23 40
25 MD – Baltimore CGR/House Money USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 23 44 11.5 22 -10. 13 40
25 GA – Peachtree City oi livingston/tnt hauling/brother's USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 21 39 10.5 19.5 -9 15 40
33 AZ – Gilbert AZM/Easton USSSA-Mens-B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40
33 CAN – San Jose Classic Glass/Easton USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 21 36 10.5 18 -7.5 16 40
33 CAS – Orange toe 2 toe / power alley sports / pr USSSA-Mens-C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:


 

Teams were placed in order by average finish

 

NY Smash It Sports/Compound Athletics/HAuto/Laservision/ASP/Easton – Major
Overall Record 12-3
Average Finish 1.5
HOF #1 1st  6-1
HOF #2 2nd  6-2
'A' and Above Wins: Broughton, Resmondo, Combat, Racks, Backman, Racks, Resmondo
'B' and Below Losses: None

 

Smash It Sports won the first Dual and came within one out of winning the second which would have given them a 180 point lead in the Nationwide Conference USSSA point standings.  Instead they have a 100 point lead and come out of the Dual more than a little banged up with Dale Brungardt nagging injuries and pitcher Travis Clarks swollen forearm.  Travis is a warrior and should be ok.  Smash It racked up big wins over Resmondo twice, Combat, and Backman.  Most of those were knock down dragem out wars.  Clark (.782, 13 HR, 49 RBI for the year) is off to a huge start and he and fellow Wisconsin native utility man Mike Umscheid (.747, 22 HR, 77 RBI) have now extended an already deadly lineup.  Umschied has more RBI than Greg Connell.  WOW.  Brungardt is also pulling a .740 onbase with 17 HR.  We already know Smash It has the best infield defense in the country and now their lineup is starting to have that look of being the best as well.  The future looks bright for Smash It as they will continue to make the finals each weekend.

Trending Up!

Smash It Sports Stadium Lineup
#4 RF Bryson Baker
#12 LF Brian Wegman
#30 C Kevin Filby
#10 1B Scott Kirby
#1 2B Steven Lloyd
#11 3B Mike Umschied
#13 EH Dale Brungardt
#3 CF Brandon Dillon
#21 SS Luis Reyna
#14 MI Kevin Bazat
#8 P Billy Messina
P Travis Clark played til he got hurt
EH Brett Helmer played half the time

 

Travis Clark in a sling after being hit in Dual #2 winners final Saturday night will be ok I am hearing.

 


 


FL Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth – Major
Overall Record 10-3
Average Finish 2.0
HOF #1 3rd  4-2
HOF #2 1st  6-1
'A' and Above Wins: TG Brand, Smash It, Smash It
'B' and Below Losses: None

 

Resmondo was tripped up in the 1st dual by Smash It in the winner's final 22-16 after not playing well most of the tournament.  They were the home team down 6 in that one.  Earlier they were losing to TG Brand in the semi-finals 12-5 before putting up maybe the biggest inning of the tournament with 16 runs to win.  In the loser's final they were ousted in the loser's bracket by Combat 18-12 to finish 3rd.  In the second dual they recovered and used a good draw with upsets on their side of the bracket to cruise to the semi-finals where Newbreed gave them everything they could handle but Resmondo won 19-15 having to hold off Newbreed in the bottom of the 7th.  Then they run ruled Smash It Sports 24-8 after Smash It pitcher Travis Clark was injured in the 1st inning.  On Sunday in the CBS finals they lost game one of the championship in a slugfest with Smash It 47-37 but revenged the loss with a bottom of the 7th game tying hit by Don Dedonatis and a walk off homer by Andrew Collins.  The defense had its problems at times mainly with throws, the outfield was shaking the rust off and LF Jeremy Yates was banged up and CF Nic Santana severely sprained his ankle.  Yates had the hot stick early on in the first dual but it was Greg Connell who had the monster weekend and in the second dual he was on 31-35 .886 with 14 HR and 40 RBI all on the stadium field.  Wow. Connell was MVP of the 2nd dual and Don Dedonatis was Defensive MVP.  Connell, Yaes, and Rulli as well as backup pitcher Dan Sanchez all are carrying a .700 plus onbase percentage into the Columbus major. 

Trending Even!

Resmondo Stadium Lineup
#9 MI Dennis Rulli
#14 2B Greg Connell
#19 P Andy Purcell
#24 3B Jimmy Salas
#25 1B Bubba Mack
#30 LF Jeremy Yates
#12 EH Lee Powers
#3 SS Don Dedonatis
#2 RF Jeremy Isenhower
#03 CF Andrew Collins
Nick Santana was CF until he sprained an ankle

 

Resmondo takes on OC Swats

Andy Purcell wearing a helmet.  This was good to see.

 

Defensive star Jeremy Yates almost robs Wegman

 


 

IN Backman/Shoppe/Louisville Slugger – Major
Overall Record 7-4
Average Finish 5.5
HOF #1 7th  3-2
HOF #2 4th  4-2
'A' and Above Wins: 4 The Fallen, Red's Astros
'B' and Below Losses: None

Backman had a solid week.  They probably came up one win short in both tournaments losing a one run game in the first dual to Combat and they lost an entertaining slugfest to Smash It Sports in extra innings in the 2nd Dual.  They also lost there first game when they were upset by VCH in the first round 18-17.  So some tough losses led to less than stellar results but nevertheless solid finishes in the top 7 of both tournaments.  They played without their leading hitter Brian Rainwater who was out sick.  Kevin Kennington (.795, 25 HR, 71 RBI for the year) had another big tournament.  Terry Baggs and Neil Haglund continue to swing hot sticks, and Ryan Harvey is second in the Conference with 27 HR.  He hit 4 in one game against Smash It on the stadium. 

Trending Even!

Backman Stadium Lineup
#2 CF Brian Logan
#48 1B Terry Baggs
#11 2B Kevin Kennington
#9 RF Neil Haglund
#35 EH Ryan Harvey
#5 3B Sam Lopez
#13 MI Orlando Castillo
#12 C David Kessler
#10 SS Jonathan Lenz
#22 P LC Watson
#25 LF Kyle Cowart

Backman left side Sam Lopez, Jonathan Lenz, and Orlando Castillo

 


 

WY TEAM RACKS EASTON – A
Overall Record 9-4
Average Finish 6.0
HOF #1 9th  3-2
HOF #2 3rd  6-2
'A' and Above Wins: Broughton, PRI, 3rd Street, Red's Astros, Precision, 4 The Fallen, Backman
'B' and Below Losses: Encompass, OC Swats

Team Racks lost their first game of Dual #1 to Encompass by 3 runs.  Then they ran off 3 straight wins including beating Broughton and PRI but then exited Dual #1 with a loss to OC Swats.  They were down on power with Kyle Moyer out injured and Buddy Wolf having to work.  Wolf came in for the 2nd tournament and Racks started to click.  They knocked off 3 'A' teams, Newbreed, and 2 Major teams including Backman 21-13 at 2:30 AM Sunday morning to make it to the loser's bracket finals on CBS.  Most of their damage was done in the loser's bracket with 4 straight wins.  They got incredible defense out of AJ Montano at SS and Wolf in RF, and pitcher Donald "Buckshot" Plaisance continues to pitch, defend, and clutch hit with the best.  Racks is now 3rd in the computer rankings!

Trending Up!  Incredible second tournament

Team Racks Stadium Lineup
#7 CF Cory Newman
#94 RF Buddy Wolf
#1 C Stuart Snell
#3 MI Aaron Martinez
#23 2B Brett Rettenmeier
#6 LF Nick Price
#16 3B Sam Christensen
#33 P Donald Plaisance
#13 1B Kevin Ballard
#4 UT Dan Bean
#12 SS AJ Montano

Racks center fielder Cory Newman makes a diver

Newbie second baseman for Team Racks Brett Rettenmeier celebrates a homer

 


 

MN Encompass / Eurotech / Easton / CA – B
Overall Record 6-4
Average Finish 7.0
HOF #1 5th  3-2
HOF #2 9th  3-2
'A' and Above Wins: Racks, Albicocco, Team Combat
'B' and Below Losses: None

Encompass racked up some quality wins and had no losses to their peers in the 'B' division.  They somewhat quietly had an unbelievable tournament.  Beating two good Major teams and Racks and winning games against FBI and OC Swats.  Their left handed outfield duo of Colin Baartman (.721, 11 HR, 38 RBI on the year), and Patrick Ellwanger (.661, 23 HR, 47 RBI on the year) have sparked the offense, and with underrated players like SS Tim Nielson, MI Brandon Newman, and pitcher Allan Ouellette up the middle this team has made a stake as one of the top 'B' teams in the country.  Encompass continues the trend of playing "up" to their competition as they did the last two years under the H. Auto sponsorship.

Trending Up!  Best 'B' team so far

Encompass Stadium Lineup
#6 SS Tim Nielson
#17 RF Patrick Ellwanger
#15 C Justin Barber
#5 EH Blake Williams
#33 CF Colin Baartman
#18 1B Chris Olson
#9 3B Joe Ehnstrom
#5 2B Cory Hines
#23 MI Brandon Newman
#00 LF Ryan Hassler
#22 P Al Oullette

Patrick Ellwanger walks off FBI

 


 

WA Team Combat/Baugh Ford/Softball.com – Major
Overall Record 10-4
Average Finish 8.5
HOF #1  2nd  9-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: 3rd Street, Backman, TG Brand, CA Sports, Resmondo, Smash It,
'B' and Below Losses: Newbreed, Encompass

Combat wins 10 games at the Dual backing up their 2nd place finish at Las Vegas with a 2nd place finish at the first dual, proving they are the real deal.  To top it off they beat Backman, then 2 good 'A' teams and Resmondo and Smash It Sports all in a row!  Combat is now 5-3 vs the Major division and 4-1 vs the 'A' division to start 2015, their best start in many years.  That loser's bracket run in the first dual was one of the greatest runs in Conference history and all done in one day.  LF Filip Washington had a bit of a coming out party (.630, 4 HR, 19 RBI).  Showing great range, an endless motor, and a great combination of speed and power.  Pitcher Tommie Baugh who usually pitches every other game was hit by a line drive in the foot.  They thought it might be broken so lefty Brian Titus pitched in the last 5 games in a row in the first dual and was quite the warrior up the middle while also chipping in some big hits (.571).  Chris Greinert (.688, 11 HR, 37 RBI) was tabbed for the offensive MVP of the first dual.

Trending Up! 

Team Combat Stadium Lineup
#05 CF Brian Zirkle
#33 C Chris Greinert
#27 LF Filip Washington
#5 1B Casey Rogowski
#16 3B Brian Lipman
#15 MI Kyle Pearson
#7 2B Cameron Cox/Bryce Oliviera
#1 SS Jeff McGavin
#28 RF Nick Manganaro
#23 P Brian Titus / Tommie Baugh
#14 EH/OF Nick Sansone

Greinert lines one out of F1 which isn't easy to do

 

After Tommie Baugh (Right) was hit in foot by a linedrive, lefty Brian Titus pitched 5 games in a row.

What a gamer.  Titus will probably be defensive MVP of the first dual when the awards come out.

 


 

MI TG Brand – A
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 9.0
HOF #1  5th  2-2
HOF #2 13th  2-2
'A' and Above Wins: VCH, CA Sports, 3rd Street, CA Sports
'B' and Below Losses: Primetime

TG Brand didn't play a lot of games but did beat 4 'A' teams and led Resmondo at one point 12-5 in a winner's semi final.  I was impressed with shortstop Josh Masden's defense.  Might have to start classifying him in the Montano/Sullivan level on defense.  This team has some big sticks.

Stats for the year so far.

Rank

Name

G

OB-PA

R

2B

3B

HR

HRF

RBI

BB

OBA

1 Adam Kaminski 16 50-64 41 7 3 10 5.100 40 13 0.781
2 Justin Evans 16 48-64 41 4 2 7 7.143 27 14 0.750
3 John Radich 16 45-65 40 8 3 15 3.867 42 7 0.692
4 JOEY DORTON 16 41-60 41 2 0 13 4.231 39 5 0.683
5 CHRIS HOFFER 15 37-55 30 7 2 20 2.700 59 1 0.673

Trending Up!

TG Brand Stadium Lineup
#22 CF Ryan Morrow
#0 C John Radich
#33 EH Joe Dorton
#11 2B Justin Evans
#23 1B Adam Kaminski
#20 RF Ryan Disbennet
#9 LF Chris Hoffer
#4 MI Steve Whaley
#24 3B Ryan Noe
#2 SS Josh Masden
#16 P Faron Miller

TG Brand left side Ryan Noe, Josh Masden, and Steve Whaley

 


 

AR Fence Brokers Inc/Buzini/Worth – B
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 9.0
HOF #1 9th  2-2
HOF #2 9th  2-2
'A' and Above Wins: OI Livingston, Xtreme, Classic Glass, Broughton
'B' and Below Losses: Encompass

Quality wins over 4 'A' teams, 2 in each tournament, is a good week for FBI pushes them to 12th in the Conference points but 17th in the computer rankings.  Their offense this year is being led by veteran Ricky Robbins (.750, 8 HR, 25 RBI for year) and Tim Bowser (.717, 15 HR, 47 RBI).  If they can get their outfielders going offensively, look out…

Trending Up!

Fence Brokers Stadium Lineup
EH Tim Howard
#00 P Alex Henry
#35 1B Tim Bowser
#99 RF Ricky Robbins
#7 2B Brian McBryde
#03 C Chris Walker
#11 3B Jake Mays
#22 LF BJ Thomas
#15 MI Chris Smith
#8 SS Pat Burton
#20 CF Gavin McCauley

FBI left side Jake Mays, Pat Burton, Chris Smith

 


 

MS CA Sports/Buzini/Lockdown/Powerhouse – A
Overall Record 6-4
Average Finish 10.5
HOF #1  4th  5-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: Team Combat
'B' and Below Losses: None

CA had a nice run in the first Dual, knocking off Team Combat 17-15 but then when you really look at it their other 5 wins were against 'B' or lower teams.  But they did get a nice 4th place finish, played fairly well and gathered some nice points towards the major world series.  Kyle Pearson, Jeff Payton, and Sid Stephany continue to swing hot sticks.

Numbers are for the season 

Rank

Name

G

OB-PA

R

2B

3B

HR

HRF

RBI

BB

OBA

1 Lyf Nimmo 4 4-4 1 1 1 0 0.000 2 1 1.000
2 Kyle Pearson 19 68-84 49 7 4 15 4.600 55 15 0.810
3 Jeff Payton 8 25-31 18 2 0 1 18.000 10 13 0.806
4 SID STEPHANY 19 52-70 40 7 3 9 7.111 48 6 0.743
5 Richard Buck 19 56-81 40 12 0 13 5.615 36 8 0.691

Trending Up some

CA Sports Stadium Lineup
#66 2B Billy Maggard
#13 MI Vic Cordova
#1 EH Dustin Roberts
#16 C Vince Bisbee
#34 P Geno Buck
#6 LF Colby Hughes
#99 SS Matt Crawford
#8 3B Jason Williams
#21 CF Justin Stuart
#11 RF Sid Stephany

Vic Cordova celbrates with Jason Baxter.  It was great to see Baxter at the fields as he rebuilds his strength.

 


 

IN Red's Astros/Louisville Slugger – A
Overall Record 6-4
Average Finish 11.0
HOF #1 17th  1-2
HOF #2  5th  5-2
'A' and Above Wins: Combat NWA, TG Brand, Pure Romance, VCH
'B' and Below Losses: OC Swats, Above All

First time in good weather probably hurt this team some, but they got it going in the second tournament.  They beat 4 'A' teams and battled to a late night 5th place finish in the 2nd dual.  Looks like they played in some of those "bad batch" ball games.   Jason Branch (.771, 8 HR, 20 RBI) and Chad Mullins (.739, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 13 walks) had big weekends.  I believe we will see this team battle in Chattanooga in two weeks.

Trending Up some

Red's slugger Chad Mullins

 


 

IL Precision/Easton/DO – A
Overall Record 5-4
Average Finish 11.0
HOF #1 13th  2-2
HOF #2  9th  3-2
'A' and Above Wins: Classic Glass, Xtreme, Broughton, Albicocco
'B' and Below Losses: KG, Compound, Newbreed

Some quality wins, some bad losses.  Dropped one to in state rival Compound Athletics on the stadium.  But overall a decent first outing.  Really didn't get to battle the big boys like we all wanted to see after last seasons magical run…

Trending Even

Precision Stadium Lineup
#17 SS Keith Laski
#01 3B Chris Geron
#21 1B Brett McCollum
#31 2B Seth Burgmeier
#3 RF Dan Kirkwood
#35 MI Denis Fisher
#27 LF Davis Bilardello
#18 P Andy Vitcak
#79 C Frank Fracek
#23 CF Bryan Porter

 

Precisions pitcher Andy Vitcak and SS Keith Laski

 


 

 

WA Newbreed/All American Athletics/Demarini – B
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 11.0
HOF #1 17th  1-2
HOF #2  5th  3-2
'A' and Above Wins: 3rd Street, Precision, Team Combat, VCH
'B' and Below Losses: None

A nice weekend by Newbreed as they came within a half inning of playing in the winner's bracket championship against Smash It Sports and being guaranteed a television appearance.  They beat 4 'A' teams on the weekend and gave Resmondo all they could handle in a 19-15 semi-final loss.  Newbreed scores some nice points eventhough they aren't really playing a schedule condusive to making the Major World Series.

Trending up!

Newbreed Stadium Lineup
#26 Sean Bagley
#4 1B Donovan Pokraka
#21 EH Charles Cunningham
#22 3B Mitch Johnson
#14 C Roland Rodriguez
#1 CF Kaeo Rubin
#24 LF Kori Brede
#19 Ryan Raagas
#13 2B Chuck Garman
#47 P Dan Connell
#6 RF Geo Miller

 

Pokraka and Cunningham were late season signings for Newbreed

 


 

AZ 4 The Fallen/Miken/CA Gear – Major
Overall Record 5-4
Average Finish 12.0
HOF #1 17th  2-2
HOF #2  7th  3-2
'A' and Above Wins: OI Livingston, CA Sports
'B' and Below Losses: None

4 The Fallen had an up and down weekend.  They got smoked by Team Racks to start the Dual and later by Backman.  But in between they collected some solid wins and overall are off to a better start than normal but not the start they wanted.  Joey Formosa is off to a hot start .813, 20 HR, 45 RBI and veteran Johnny Bailey .769, 11 HR, 42 RBI.

Trending Even

 

Johnny Bailey came out of retirement and Denny "Long Haul Bomer" Crine

 


 

TX VCH Worth – A
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 12.0
HOF #1 17th  1-2
HOF #2  7th  3-2
'A' and Above Wins: Backman, OI Livingston, Combat NWA,
'B' and Below Losses: Newbreed

VCH hot off their Houston title shocked the softball world again by beating Backman by a run on the stadium to start the first dual.  Their 9th win in a row to start the season!  Then they had a lead on TG they ended up losing to.  And in their Thursday evening game against 3rd Street the Trammell brothers were injured by a nasty lightning strike and the games were post poned until Friday with VCH winning.  When the game resumed 3rd Street came from behind and won on a Magnum walk off homer.  VCH did come back in the 2nd tournament with two more nice wins over OI and Combat NWA but lost to Newbreed 13-12 to go to the final 4 with the bats in their hands.  In the loser's bracket they had a fun 30-26 win over Primetime late Saturday before bowing out to Red's Astros.  Another great weekend for VCH who is now 5th in the points and 4th in the computer rankings.  Isaac Gonzalez putting up big numbers to start the season .698, 15 HR, 45 RBI.

Trending up!

VCH Worth Stadium Lineup
#1 MI Jason Trammell
#24 2B Isaac Gaonzales
#31 3B Ryan Roppel
#51 LF Zane Trammell
#6 P Wes Newell
#22 C Argen Dodd
#7 EH Spencer Foley
#14 1B Steve Zemanek
#3 RF Brian Daniel
#5 SS Jesse Solomon
#11 CF Josh Kirsten

The Trammell brothers were hit by lightning but it appears they are alright and back in action!

 


 

IL COMPOUND ATHLETICS/EASTON – C
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 13.0
HOF #1  9th  3-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: Albicocco, Precision
'B' and Below Losses: None

Compound got to play Smash It in the stadium and put up a zero.  But then recovered on the weekend to win 4 games, beat Albicocco, and rival in state Illinois 'A' team Precision on the stadium!

A good weekend for this new team.  Welcome to the show!

Trending up!

Compound Athletics Stadium Lineup
#12 MI Zach Messer
#3 RF Brad Lunda
#26 3B Preston Spurlin
#23 C James Kersten
#27 2B John Howard
#21 1B Andy Shiltz
SS Grant Grimmett
LF Ross Huebner
#9 CF Ryan Czyz
#11 P Jason Wilkins

 


 

OH Pure Romance/Foulks Adjusting/Headlines – A
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 13.0
HOF #1 13th  2-2
HOF #2 13th  2-2
'A' and Above Wins: Classic Glass, 4 The Fallen
'B' and Below Losses: KG, Deluxe Bakery

PRI played a lot of games.  Won and lost some pillow fights.  It seems them, Reds, and Precision, all teams that haven't really played in warm weather yet sort of struggled. Newcomer Jacki Corn led the hitting .686, 8 HR, 21 RBI.

Trending Even or maybe a little Up.

Pure Romance Stadium Lineup
#11 SS Nick Mazur
CF Butch Castor
#9 3B Brandon O'Neal
#34 C Jon Jamison
#14 RF Jackie Corn
#18 EH Stacy Mizelle
#44 1B Brock Morrison
#17 LF Ben Cosgrove
#28 2B Brandon Bellamy
#10 MI Rocky Staton
#8 P Brandon Jonas

Cosgrove and Feichtner!

 


 

NY Albicocco/The Scene/Easton – Major
Overall Record 3-4
Average Finish 15.0
HOF #1 17th  1-2
HOF #2 13th  2-2
'A' and Above Wins: OI Livingston, Xtreme
'B' and Below Losses: Encompass, Compound

Another team with lots of rumors swirling.  They just did not perform, its as simple as that.  Work hard, come back in Chattanooga and Columbus.

Trending Down

Albicocco Stadium Lineup
#00 3B JD Genter
#11 LF Cory Large
#7 RF Ryan Parfitt
#22 C Chris Larson
#8 SS Brad Reckart
#40 EH Shaun Ballard
#3 1B Phil White
#23 MI Jeff Flood
#21 CF Lee Payne
#1 2B Brian Faria
#27 P Justin Mucciarelli

Larsen hits one deep for Albicocco

 


 

CA OC Swats Doerflinger/Miken/LCP – B
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 16.0
HOF #1  7th  3-2
HOF #2 25th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: Red's Astros, Racks, Classic Glass
'B' and Below Losses: Above All, Encompass

Swats was another up and down team.  They did knock off 3 'A' teams but their offense disappeared in the second dual.  Steven Lopez is on it again this year with a .719 onbase average.  Mike Brambilla has 16 HR and 40 RBI.  

Not trending up or down.

OC Swats Stadium Lineup
#8 1B Steve Lopez
#15 LF Eli Aguilar
#8 P Tyson Steele
#34 C Mike Brambilla
#3 MI Chente Granados
#12 CF Westy Guill
#24 EH Ed Vega
#43 RF Dave Nowak
#9 SS Carlos Vasquez/Matt Fox
#26 2B Ryan McClanahan
#2 UT Pilar Amaya

Fox, Amaya, and McClanahan

Nowak, Nuber, and Camarillo

 


 

 

GA Primetime/Easton – B
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 17.0
HOF #1 25th  1-2
HOF #2  9th  3-2
'A' and Above Wins: Combat NWA, TG Brand
'B' and Below Losses: Above All, Semper, Semper

Primetime lost to their rival Semper twice.  They did knock off two 'A' teams to finish 9th in the second dual.  They had a chance to beat VCH late on Saturday night but came up short.  Primetime is off to a better overall start this year no question.

Primetime was winning their opener against Above All before dropping 17-12

 


 

DC Semper Athletics/Demarini – B
Overall Record 3-4
Average Finish 17.0
HOF #1 17th  2-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: None

A fun new 'B' team in the conference with a military feel.  Semper won 3 games but their run production tailed off as the tournaement went on.  They have some great players, look for them to do well in the smaller major tournaments.  They did beat rival Primetime twice.  Mike Jenkins went .792, 3 HR, 12 RBI and Jermaine Flythe was one of the finalists in the HR derby.

Trending Even

Semper Athletics Stadium Lineup
#4 CF Trenton Simms
#8 MI Tommy Melton
#21 C Josh Wiggs
#21 EH Mike Mallory
#43 RF Jermaine Flythe
#24 C Dexter Avery
#12 3B Mike Jenkins
#14 LF Travis Wollison
#08 2B Kenny Turlington
#10 SS Sherwin Lockridge
#9 P Cam Byars

#24 "Captain America" Dexter Avery is back in the Conference!

 


 

 

IN KG/Slayer/Wilson/Louisville Slugger – B
Overall Record 2-4
Average Finish 17.0
HOF #1  9th  2-2
HOF #2 25th  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: Precision, PRI
'B' and Below Losses: Rebel

KG beat Precision and Pure Romance back to back to start the duals.  Impressive.  Then they averaged less than 10 runs a game the rest of the way.  Florida free agent pickup Mike Cirillo led the team in hitting (.684, 1 HR, 7 RBI).  Josh Fryman had 16 RBI.

Trending Even

KG/Slayer Stadium Lineup
#7 EH Billy Dennis
#30 LF Mike Cirillo
#19 2B Josh Fryman
#22 3B Kenny Geiersbach
#8 CF Matt Rogers
#87 RF Ryan Love
#18 1B Gillie Melton
#33 SS Brandon Bartels
#2 2B Buddy Welsh
#20 P Chad Marchend
#4 C Corey Jackson

 


 

MN Xtreme/Miken – A
Overall Record 2-4
Average Finish 17.0
HOF #1 17th  1-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: 4 The Fallen
'B' and Below Losses: FBI

Xtreme didn't play great.  They did run rule 4 The Fallen out of the gate and played Precision ok, but in the 2nd Dual ran into Resmondo and dropped to the loser's bracket to face Albicocco.  Shannon Smith joined Xtreme.  Lefties Andrew Miller (.689, 7 HR, 14 RBI) and Mark Harvanko (.674, 11 HR, 31 RBI) lead the team offensively.

Trending Even

Xtreme Stadium Lineup
#32 2B Kyle Decker
#5 1B Andrew Miller
#99 EH Dustin Palm
#88 MI Mike Rhines
#22 3B Shannon Smith
#4 C Todd Newton
#10 LF Matt McGowan
#9 SS Chris Bauer
#11 CF Dan Skelly
#33 RF Alex Bremer
#21 P Mark Urbain / #20 Aaron Lewicki

 


 

NC Broughton Pharmacy/Bad Draw/Worth – A
Overall Record 2-4
Average Finish 17.0
HOF #1 17th  1-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: FBI

I didn't see much of Broughton but no quality wins and some really low scores I know isn't what they were expecting.

Trending Down

Broughton Bad Draw Stadium Lineup
#7 2B Shawn Bridger
#17 1B Eric Thompson
#2 C Adam Rockoff
#99 RF Matt Tindell
#28 MI CJ Jacinto
#15 EH Cory Franklin
#8 CF Freddie Bynum
#4 SS Robert Knoblauch
#11 3B David Forbes
#1 P Danny Lopez
#16 LF Matt Bunn

 

Broughton has veterans Eric Thompson and Adam Rockoff

 


 

NJ Above All Landscaping/EVO9X – B
Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 19.0
HOF #1 13th  3-2
HOF #2 25th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: Red's
'B' and Below Losses: None

An up and down weekend for Above All.  They battled though in most of their games.  Solid team.

Trending Even

Willie Allen filled in at SS for Campanelli who was starting a new teaching job

 


 

OH 3rd Street/Hubs Pub/Louisville Slugger – A
Overall Record 2-4
Average Finish 19.0
HOF #1 13th  2-2
HOF #2 25th  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: VCH
'B' and Below Losses: Newbreed

3rd Street didn't do a lot of scoring.  Did beat VCH on a walkoff by Jason Magnum after the overnight rain delay.

Trending Down

It was great to see Jayson Scott back from a season ending injury a year ago

 


 

MI Rebel Sports/Linedrive Sportz – C
Overall Record 2-4
Average Finish 19.0
HOF #1 25th 0-2
HOF #2 13th 2-2
'A' and Above Wins: Combat NWA
'B' and Below Losses: Encompass

Offense came alive for two wins against PRI and KG/Slayer.  Drew Smith is off to a nice start with a .732 onbase and 9 HR.  They added Shannen Green who hit well in Florida.

Trending Even

Rebel Sports Stadium Lineup
#21 CF Drew Smith
#4 SS Zach Hartle
#7 MI Mike Newsted
#5 C Tom Luna
#20 3B Shannen Green
#27 LF Jake Morton
#40 EH Brian Goins
#34 1B Sean Rihcardson
#45 2B Alajandro Castellon
#14 RF Kevin Raisor
#18 P Justin Bishop

Justin Bishop

 


 

NJ Deluxe Bakery USSSA-Mens-B
Overall Record 1-4
Average Finish 21.0
HOF #1 25th  0-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: PRI
'B' and Below Losses: Compound, Primetime

42 Runs in 5 games won't get it done.

Trending Down

Dale Zwack

 


 

WA Combat/Northwest Athletics – A
Overall Record 1-4
Average Finish 25.0
HOF #1 33th  0-2
HOF #2 17th  1-2
'A' and Above Wins: Albicocco
'B' and Below Losses: Primetime, Rebel

Combat NWA had no offense out of the gate.  Did beat Albicocco in the 2nd Dual but lost to Rebel.  Rough weekend.

Trending Down

Rebel Sports Stadium Lineup
#21 CF Drew Smith
#4 SS Zach Hartle
#7 MI Mike Newsted
#5 C Tom Luna
#20 3B Shannen Green
#27 LF Jake Morton
#40 EH Brian Goins
#34 1B Sean Rihcardson
#45 2B Alajandro Castellon
#14 RF Kevin Raisor
#18 P Justin Bishop

Team Combat NWA gathers before their 8 AM game with Red's Astros.  It was a rough start.

 


 

 

GA OI Livingston/TNT Hauling/Brother's – A
Overall Record 0-4
Average Finish 25.0
HOF #1 25  0-2
HOF #2 25  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: FBI

OI Livingston 0-4 makes no sense.  This team will try to regroup and I know they can.

Trending Down

There weren't too many photo opps for OI Livingston who went four and out

 


 

Peak / Soco Softball – B
Overall Record 0-4
Average Finish 25.0
HOF #1 25th  0-2
HOF #2 25th  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: Above All

Peak gave Backman a run for their money.  One fan told me they thought Peak was really good.  No wins, a learning experience for Peak.

Trending Down

Peak shortstop Wes Tallon

 


 

MD CGR/House Money – B
Overall Record 0-4
Average Finish 25.0
HOF #1 25th  0-2
HOF #2 25th  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: Compound

Didn't come up with any big wins.  I watched them take a nice early lead on 4 The Fallen before letting up a ton of runs.  CGR some work to do here from a veteran group.

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CGR Stadium Lineup
#8 MI Ryan Fant
#6 CF Ryan Rabon
#3 RF Derek McCloud
P Eric Curry
#4 LF Donnie Myett
#22 Greg Rush
#19 Adam Warfield
#55 Chris Isennock
#5 SS Matt Mills
#7 1B Patrick Riporti
EH Nick Cantrell

CGR celebrates a quick early big lead over 4 The Fallen which didn't last…

 


 

CA Classic Glass/Easton – A
Overall Record 0-4
Average Finish 29.0
HOF #1 25th  0-2
HOF #2 33th  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: FBI, OC Swats

Classic Glass 0-4 I never would have guessed that.  This team is too goo not to compete weekly.

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Classic Glass first baseman Sean Boldt

 


 

NC Worsham Athletics/Klutch Brand/Worth – C
Overall Record 0-4
Average Finish 29.0
HOF #1 33th  0-2
HOF #2 25th  0-2
'A' and Above Wins: None
'B' and Below Losses: Semper, Primetime

I didn't get to see Worsham play so no pictures, sorry.  Hopefully catch you in Tennessee or Atlanta.

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Worsham Stadium Lineup
#22 CF Chris Cooper
#8 2B John Dotson
#17 1B Jason Martel
#51 EH Nick Clary
#4 3B Tim James
#77 C Steve Hildebran
#19 LF Phillip Parrish
#7 MI Jason Walker
#3 Delmetrius Hornesbuger
P Brandon Patzig
RF Chuck Koone

 


 

More pictures below

 


 

Hot Links section brought to you by:

I would like to thank all of my sponsors, USSSA, the SoftballCenter and Oldscout advertisers!

Send corrections to dw@softballcenter.com

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

HOF #1 Stats Link

HOF #2 Stats Link

Link to the 2015 Tournament Reports

Link to the 2014 Tournament Reports

Link to the 2013 Tournament Reports

Link to the 2012 Tournament Reports

Nationwide Conference USSSA Points Link

 


 

Some more pictures for you:

 

Three sponsors that love the game – Herb Price, Doug Reed, Jon Kilburn

Huge outfields in Kissimmee.  Heard one fan say he could bat 1000 against Resmondo because how big the OF's are.  lol

Some of the games mysteriously used a different ball.  The "BA" ball.  And it did not fly like the regular stadiums.

 

A look at field #2 where the lightning struck

DW's view from the score booth

The back of Travis Clarks arm after he was hit by a hard shot.  

I am hearing Travis is alright and the middle war is over.

Combat NWA player Olivier Moreau lost his daughter Kianna to a tragic accident this week.

Go Fund Me link to donate to this family

 

 

One response to “Finally done with the report —> 2015 USSSA Hall of Fame Classic Tournament Report!”

  1. Clay Dickey says:

    That is one heck of a report DW.

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