2015 USSSA Major World Series Championship Saturday!

Note: the usual full tournament report will be up Monday at some point.

2015 USSSA Major World Series

Championship Saturday!

2015 USSSA Major World Series Bracket Link

2015 Major World Series pictures link

Game #29

Red's Astros Rob Roop singles off of Donald "Buckshot" Plaisance

In the first game Saturday morning Red's Astros played an Albicocco team that had just finished up losing to Smash It Sports in the winner's bracket semi-finals after 2 AM the previous night.  In the bottom of the 2nd Albicocco continued their offensive surge and solid ball striking as they put up 8 runs to lead 13-4.  In the top of the 5th Albicocco right fielder Sid Stephany ran a long ways on a high pop in towards the infield and made a full out diving catch, one of the best of the tournament!  In the bottom of the 5th Albicocco's Josh Riley hit a 2 run homer to end the game by the run rule 22-7.  Riley was 3-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI in the game.  Red's Astros did not homer and finished tied for 5th.

Albicocco finishes off Red's Astros!

Game #30

Compound Athletics Lyf Nimmo singles over Backman 3rd Baseman Sam Lopez

In the other 5th place game Saturday morning Compound Athletics jumped out to a 6 run lead in the first and Backman went down in order 1-2-3.  In the 3rd inning a nice relay from Compound center fielder Ben Dunn to the cutoff man got Backmans Reggie Schulte sliding at home plate.  In the top of the 5th inning big John Williams from Compound got a 2 out triple to give them a 9-8 lead and first baseman Kyle Pearson made a nice catch near the tarp to hold Backman down.  In the bottom of the 6th Ryan Harvey and Terry Baggs each blasted 2 run homers to give Backman their first lead 14-12.  In the top of the 7th Compound Athletics who never gave up and substituted their entire vast bench into the game at some point got a 2 out double from Lyf Nimmo down the 3rd base line to tie the game and a double from John Hopkins to take a 15-14.  The inning ended though on a full speed full out diving catch of a nice line drive in center field by Brian Logan – one of the best in the game!  In the bottom of the 7th Backmans Matt Crawford hit a game tying solo homer but Compound got a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to force extra innings.  In extra innings Compound was held scoreless and in the bottom half of the inning Backman middle infielder Orlando Castillo hit a walk off homer OVER the 45 foot high scoreboard in center field to win the game!!!

Castillo congratulated after hitting the game winning homer in the bottom of the 8th inning!

Game #32

Backmans Crawford was 3-4 with 2 homers in their run rule win over Albicocco!

Albicocco and Backman who both won games in the morning Saturday squared off at 1 PM in the loser's bracket semi-finals.  Albicoccos Sid Stephany and Backmans Sam Lopez traded 3 run homers early on and Albicoccos Lee Payne hit a 3 run inside the park homer in the top of the 2nd to take an 8-5 lead.  In the top of the 3rd inning Backman left fielder Reggie Schulte robbed a home run and teammate Terry Baggs hit a 3 run homer in the bottom half of the inning to keep the Albicocco lead to 1 run.  In the 4th it was the Backman defense again as Schulte threw out Lee Payne on the bases and center fielder Brian Logan robbed another home run.  In the 5th inning the Backman defense and offense finished off Albicocco when right fielder Ryan Harvey robbed a home run and in the bottom of the inning Billy Barrett hit a 3 run homer and Matt Crawford hit a 2 run homer to win by the run rule.  Backmans Terry Baggs and Reggie Schulte were each 5-5 in the game.

Winner's Final – Game #31

Resmondos Jimmy Salas hits against Smash It Sports Travis Clark

The heavyweight battle everyone was anticipating occurred at 3 PM Saturday and will be aired on CBS Sports Network at 8 PM on Monday night September 28th.  The action started in this winner's bracket finals in the top of the 1st inning when Resmondo middle infielder Dennis Rulli made a great diving stop behind the 2nd base bag and beat the runner to 2nd for the 3rd out.  Then in the bottom half Resmondo batted around the lineup scoring 9 runs highlited by Andrew Collins grand slam!  In the top of the 2nd Smash It Sports center fielder Ryan Parfitt hit a clutch 2 out grand slam of his own and Smash It led 12-9.  In the 3rd inning Smash It plated just 1 run and Resmondo went down 1-2-3 with the game tied at 13-13.  Smash It sports grabbed the lead with a Dale Brungardt 3 run homer in the top of the 4th inning and he hit a grand slam in the top of the 5th to give them a 22-15 advantage.  5 of the runs were unearned.  But Resmondo outscored Smash It Sports down the stretch 11-3 and had a 4 run lead going into the 7th inning where Smash It Sports failed to score and Resmondo advanced as the only undefeated team to the championship game!  Collins had 4 hits, 3 homers and 8 RBI in the win.

Bernie Guenther and Don Cooper doing a pre-game spot for the CBS Sports Network

Resmondos Andrew Collins and Smash It Sports Ryan Parfitt trade grand slams early in the game!

Loser's Final – Game #33

Backman hits against Smash It in the loser's final

The loser's final was an "instant classic"!  Backmans left fielder Reggie Schulte got things going early when he robbed Scott Kirby of a homer.  It was Reggie's 4th home run rob of the tournament.  Then he hit a 3 run homer over the scoreboard to cut the Smash It lead to 3 runs in the top of the 3rd.  Then the momentum went Backmans way when they scored 11 runs in the top of the 4th to take a 19-15 lead.  In the top of the 5th Backmans Ryan Harvey smoked a homer off the flags at the top of the hill in left field, Kevin Kennington went over the scoreboard, and Sam Lopez continued the home run barrage to the tune of 5 straight homers and a 27-20 lead!  In the bottom of the 5th inning Smash It Sports answered with 4 straight solo homers of their own and then 3 straight outs to trail 27-24.  Backman then plated 5 runs in the top of the 6th and 11 runs in the top of the 7th to extend their lead to 43-27 as the crowd got behind their offensive surge to what seemed like an insurmountable lead.  But Smash It with the heart they have shown for years started getting base hits, walks, and home runs and came all the way through the lineup with only 1 out and eventual co-MVP Scott Kirby hit a 2 run homer to tie the game at 43-43.  Smash It had scored 16 runs on just 1 out.  The next two batters however couldn't finish it and the game went to extra innings.  In the bottom of the 8th Smash It needed just 2 to tie and 3 to win and got solo homers from Brungardt and Parfitt and Kevin Bazat hit a walk off double to score Luis Reyna from first base for the incredible 46-45 win, snatching victory from what seemed a certain defeat.  Backmans Ryan Harvey was 7-8 with 5 homers and 12 RBI and Reggie Schulte was 6-7 with 3 homers and 10 RBI in the loss.  And Brett Helmer was 6-7 with 9 RBI and 6 runs scored and Scott Kirby was 6-6 with 5 homers and 9 RBI for Smash It Sports.

Championship Game #34

The Championship is set to start Saturday evening

The championship game which will also be aired on CBS Sports Network at 10 PM eastern on Monday, September 28th started on Saturday night with Resmondo needing to win one of two.  Resmondo came out of the gates quickly with a 9-5 lead after one inning on 3 run homers by co-MVP Bubba Mack and left fielder Jeremy Yates.  In the 2nd inning the two teams traded 3 run homers by Brian Wegman and Don Dedonatis Jr and Smash It Sports grabbed a lead in the 3rd inning 20-13 as Kirby and Brungardt hit 3 run homers with two outs in a 12 run inning.  In the bottom of the 4th Resmondos Andy Purcell hit a 2 out 3 run homer to give Resmondo a 24-22 lead.  In the 5th Smash Its Parfitt hit a 3 run homer, Resmondos Isenhower made a leaping catch against the right field wall, and Resmondo veteran slugger Howie Krause hit a clutch 2 out 2 run homer and Resmondo led 28-25.  In the top of the 6th Smash It Sports made a bid for a second game as they scored 10 runs on 3 run homers by Kirby and Clark and a 2 run pinch hit single by Kevin Filby but Resmondo answered with a big home run barrage and scored 11 runs to lead 39-35.  In the top of the 7th Smash It could muster only 2 runs and lost 39-37 and Resmondo won their 10th Major World Series title for head sponsor Travis Resmondo and Specialty Tank sponsor John Riccio!  Santana had 4 home runs and Dedonatis and Bubba Mack had 3 home runs each in the game for Resmondo and Scott Kirby had 3 home runs for Smash It Sports.

Saturday after the last game the All Tournament Awards were distributed