2015 USSSA Michigan Major tournament report!
2015 Nationwide Conference USSSA
"Last Chance" Michigan Major
Detroit, MI
August 14-16
Resmondos Jimmy Salas homers against Smash It Sports in their winners bracket finals victory 43-34!
Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the Michigan Major
USSSA Michigan tournament info and bracket link
Resmondo finishes off Smash It Sports in the winner's bracket final 43-34
The "Last Chance" is really the "second last chance" these days for teams to qualify for the USSSA Major World Series as there is the Conference Qualifier where the highest finishing non-qualified team can pick up the #17 seed. However it is the last chance for teams to qualify in the top 16 in regular season points. The tournament began on Friday night with all of the favorites winning their opening games. VCH coming from 14 down to beat P&P 333. Then the home run derby followed with 32 participants and was won by Mike Umschied of Smash It Sports who beat teammate Dale Brungardt in a one pitch hit off. On Saturday morning the 1st round of games continued as Compound Athletics came from 10 runs down to beat a good local 'C' team called 22 Below 31-13.
In the next round home town TG Brand upset Xtreme/Miken 30-17, and Reds, Backman, Precision, Resmondo, and Smash IT Sports all won easily. Also Team Combat came from 14 down including 6 down with two outs to beat VCH Worth 29-28 on a Chris Greinert walk off homer, and Pure Romance upset Albicocco 29-28 on a walk off single by Jackie Corn.
The round of 8 started at noon with Red's jumping out to huge leads on Slugger rival Backman and ended up walk off run ruling them 36-20 on a Jason Branch homer. Resmondo rolled quickly through Pure Romance 23-3, Precision fought past Team Combat 25-23 with a late offensive surge and Combat almost came back down 7 in the bottom of the 7th, and Smash It Sports beat TG Brand 29-14.
In the final 4 at 8 PM Saturday Resmondo scored big early against Reds in a 40-10 shellacking and Smash It Sports handled a very good Precision team 40-24 by jumping out to a 13 run 1st inning lead. In the winner's final Resmondo and Smash It battled back and forth with big innings early and it was tied 18-18 at one point. Dedonatis and Purcell had some big defensive plays for Resmondo to shut down Smash It in the 4th inning and Resmondo maintained a solid lead late and won by 9 runs 43-34.
In the losers bracket there were some crazy games like Albicocco who "flip flopped" P&P333 but only won by 2. And Broughton who had to beat VCH to have a chance at qualifying for the Major did so in a battle 33-24 in a game that featured a diving catch by Broughton right fielder Evan Jarman and a number of close plays at the plate that went to Broughton. But Broughton would come up 10 points short in their bid to qualify when they lost to Backman 31-18. At the end of a long day of hard fought wins and well played softball, especially defensively, it was Reds Astros, Precision, and Smash It still in the loser's bracket and Resmondo standing undefeated.
On Sunday the games started at 8 AM with Precision jumping out to a very impressive 18-1 lead on Red's Astros after 1 inning. Precision led 23-11 after 3 innings and shut down Red's enough to win 24-16 with some great defense by Seth Burgmeier and pitcher Andy Vitcak. In the loser's bracket championship game Precision gave Smash It all they could handle when they scored 12 runs on 5 homers in the top of the 1st inning but Smash It came back and needed just 1 run to tie with 4 home runs left in the bottom of the 7th but could come up with just one solo homer by Scott Kirby to tie. In extra innings though Brungardt homered in the bottom of the 8th and Luis Reyna hit a game winning gap shot to score Ryan Parfitt and Smash It Sports advanced to the championship game 27-26.
In the finals a fresh Resmondo team jumped out to a dominating 34-2 lead and flip flopped Smash It Sports and eventually finished them off 35-15 in impressive fashion. The defense, offense, and the way they played the game showed a renewed attitude in the Resmondo team from top to bottom.
Sunset on the Nationwide Conference USSSA regular season! Can't believe its already over
Post season here we come!
Michigan Major Team Breakdown:
28 Teams Overall
19 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
4 Major Teams
5 'A' Teams
10 'B' Teams
4 'C' Teams
5 'D' and 'E' Teams
Championship game Resmondo vs Smash It Sports
Red's Astros defend Precision in the first game Sunday morning playing for 3rd place
Smash It Sports Luis Reyna gets the walk off gapper to beat Precision in the bottom of the 8th
JBL pitches to Joel Ramos of Broughton on Friday night.
Joel Ramos is the "Robert Horry" of softball they were saying, because he always finds his way onto championship teams.
In a must win game to keep their Major World Series hopes alive #17 Broughton/Bad Draw/Worth beat #16 VCH Worth
on a number of close plays at the plate.
Oldscout pollers were wrong
Video Highlites brought to you by:
Long Bombers of the Week
The prestigious Michigan home run derby only had 32 participants as bad weather threatened on Friday night. But in the finals it was Smash It Sports/Eastons Mike Umschied who won in a hit off over teammate Dale "Bubba" Brungardt to win the event.
Here is video of the finals…
Michigan Major Awards and Final Standings
Player Tournament Awards | Players Name | Plays For |
Tournament CO-MVP | Andy Purcell | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
Tournament CO-MVP | Jeremy Isenhower | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
Offensive Tournament MVP | Brian Wegman | Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/ |
Defensive Tournament MVP | Don DeDonatis III | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Dennis Rulli | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Bryson Baker | Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/ |
All Tournament Team | Kevin Bazat | 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 | Dale Brungardt | Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/ |
All Tournament Team | Ryan Parfitt | Smash it Sports/Compound Athletics/ |
All Tournament Team | Jimmy Salas | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Billy Fulk | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Lee Powers | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Jason Branch | Red's Astros/Louisville Slugger |
All Tournament Team | Walter (Wally) Maybrier | Red's Astros/Louisville Slugger |
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 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 170 | 71 | 34 | 14.2 | 19.8 | 43 | 300 |
2 | NYU – Cicero, NY | smash it sports/compound athletics/ | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 4 | 2 | 0 | 172 | 149 | 28.6 | 24.8 | 3.83 | 40 | 225 |
3 | IL – Chicago | Precision/Easton/DO | USSSA-Mens-A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 157 | 135 | 26.1 | 22.5 | 3.66 | 35 | 200 |
4 | IN – Indianapolis | red's astros/louisville slugger | USSSA-Mens-A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 155 | 122 | 25.8 | 20.3 | 5.5 | 36 | 175 |
5 | MI – Flint | TG Brand | USSSA-Mens-B | 4 | 2 | 0 | 143 | 133 | 23.8 | 22.1 | 1.66 | 39 | 255 |
5 | IN – LAWRENCEBURG | backman/shoppe/louisville slugger | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 3 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 117 | 25.6 | 23.4 | 2.2 | 34 | 155 |
7 | WA – KENT | team combat/baugh ford/softball.com | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 3 | 2 | 0 | 152 | 130 | 30.4 | 26 | 4.4 | 40 | 130 |
7 | OH – Cincinnati | pure romance/foulks adjusting/headl | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 123 | 130 | 24.6 | 26 | -1.4 | 34 | 230 |
9 | NYU – Commack | albicocco/the scene/easton | USSSA-Mens-A | 3 | 2 | 0 | 122 | 108 | 24.4 | 21.6 | 2.8 | 32 | 110 |
9 | IL – CHICAGO | COMPOUND ATHLETICS/EASTON | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 132 | 105 | 26.4 | 21 | 5.4 | 31 | 210 |
9 | NC – Greenville | broughton pharmacy/bad draw/worth | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 112 | 120 | 22.4 | 24 | -1.6 | 33 | 210 |
9 | WA – Kent | combat/northwest athletics | USSSA-Mens-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 94 | 89 | 23.5 | 22.2 | 1.25 | 30 | 110 |
13 | NJ – Jackson | above all landscaping/evo9x | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 80 | 102 | 20 | 25.5 | -5.5 | 27 | 170 |
13 | TXN – Dallas | VCH Worth | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 111 | 87 | 27.7 | 21.7 | 6 | 31 | 170 |
13 | MN – Dayton | Xtreme/Miken | USSSA-Mens-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 75 | 23 | 18.7 | 4.25 | 32 | 70 |
13 | WA – Bothell | newbreed/all american athletics/dem | USSSA-Mens-B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 62 | 18.3 | 20.6 | -2.3 | 24 | 170 |
17 | MI – Center Line | SandBaggers/Mush Qualified | USSSA-Mens-D | 1 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 55 | 8.33 | 18.3 | -10 | 11 | 40 |
17 | MI – Lansing | p&p333/suburban/larry's tire/cmt/va Qualified | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 76 | 67 | 25.3 | 22.3 | 3 | 28 | 40 |
17 | MI – Holland | 22 Below Qualified | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 64 | 16.6 | 21.3 | -4.6 | 21 | 65 |
17 | MI – Portage | honey badgers/ advanced auto and tr Qualified | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 69 | 13.6 | 23 | -9.3 | 23 | 40 |
17 | GA – Macon | Primetime/Easton | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 140 |
17 | MI – Dearborn | rebel sports/linedrive sportz Qualified | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 54 | 6 | 27 | -21 | 8 | 140 |
17 | OH – West Chester | 3rd street/hubs pub/louisville slug | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 46 | 18.5 | 23 | -4.5 | 19 | 140 |
17 | OH – Kent | jbl/tailgaters/b&e | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 48 | 17 | 24 | -7 | 22 | 65 |
25 | MI – Sterling Heights | linedrive/shattered shirts Qualified | USSSA-Mens-D | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 2.5 | 15 | -12. | 5 | 40 |
25 | MI – Sterling Heights | Great Lakes Smoke Qualified | USSSA-Mens-E | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 50 | 3.5 | 25 | -21. | 6 | 40 |
25 | MI – Tory | Michigan Made Military Qualified | SPMnAFA | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 68 | 12.5 | 34 | -21. | 13 | 40 |
25 | MI – Sterling Heights | Bright Horizon / DO Qualified | USSSA-Mens-E | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 42 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 14 | 40 |
Team by team notes brought to you by:
1st Place Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
Conf 'M' from FL 5-0 Record
Resmondo rolled through the Last Chance Major going 5-0. They beat 5 Conference teams including Above All, Pure Romance, and Reds Astros all by the run rule only giving up a total of 16 runs in those 3 games combined. They did it with big offensive innings, defense, and 2 and 3 run homers. Resmondo positions themselves to have a chance if they win the Conference Championships to again be the #1 seed for the USSSA Major World Series. Don Dedonatis at SS will probably be the defensive MVP fielding hard shot after hard shot and making strong throws. Greg Connell wrapped up the league batting title and the Triple Crown (leader in on base percentage, homers, and RBI).
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Resmondo Lineup:
MI Dennis Rulli
2B Greg Connell
P Andy Purcell
3B Jimmy Salas
C BJ Fulk
1B Lee Powers
SS Don Dedonatis Jr
LF Andrew Collins
EH Jeremy Yates
RF Jeremy Isenhower
CF Nic Santana
Shortstop Don Dedonatis Jr and middle man Dennis Rulli
Remsondos Jimmy Salas and Greg Connell having monster seasons
2nd Place – Smash It Sports/Compound/H Auto/Laservision/ASP/Easton
Conf 'M' from NY 4-2 Record
Smash It Sports played without pitcher Travis Clark who is still hobbled by a deep bruise on his foot. Brungardt did the pitching and did ok battleing Resmondo in the winners final on Saturday night from behind most of the way. Smash It was solid. Reyna, Lloyd, and Brungardt all made some highlite reel plays. Smash It could have shut the door on Resmondo as far as points with a win but now it will come down to the Conference Championships to see who the #1 seed is. Smash It did win the Nationwide Conference USSSA points battle for the regular season. Congratulations!
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Smash It Sports Lineup:
C Bryson Baker
LF Brian Wegman
EH Kevin Filby
1B Scott Kirby
2B Steven Lloyd
3B Mike Umschied
P Dale Brungardt
RF Mike Ortiz
CF Ryan Parfitt
SS Luis Reyna
MI Kevin Bazat
Dale Brungardt did the pitching with Travis still hobbled by a foot injury
Brungardt fielded the middle with athleticism backed by SS Reyna and MI Bazat
Smash It outfielder Mike Ortiz stepped up with some of the regulars rotating
Umschied beat Brungardt in a hit off at the HR Derby Friday
Umschied recieves his prize money from director and hall of famer Tony Dedonatis.
3rd Place – Precision/Easton/DO
Conf 'A' from IL 4-2 Record
Precision continues to play Major level ball even taking Smash It Sports to extra innings in their final game on Sunday morning. Precision had good wins over a who's who of the top 6 teams in the country – Team Combat, Backman, and Red's and battled Smash It twice. Rear sets the table at the top of the lineup and has become one of the top third basemen in the country. Laski, McCollum, Stewart, and Bilardello provide a lot of the power. Kirkwoods glove and line drive hitting along with veteran Denis Fisher have lengthened the lineup, and the specialists like Porter, Keske, Vitcak, and Reimolds have all picked up their games offensively. Burgmeier was back as well and looks healthy and they added left handed power hitter Mark Holstein to the roster.
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Precision/Easton/DO lineup:
3B Matt Rear
SS Keith Laski
1B Brett McCollum
C Curtis Stewart
RF Dan Kirkwood
LF Davis Bilardello
MI Denis Fisher
EH Seth Burgmeier
P Andy Vitcak
2B Tristan Reimolds
CF Bryan Porter
As usual others played as well since Precision has a deep bench and they use it
Precisions Keith Laski sports the "EWS" style p-stache
Precision left side Matt Rear, Keith Laski, and Denis Fisher
Precision second baseman Seth Burgmeier flashed some good leather this weekend
4th Place – Red's Astros/Louisville Slugger
Conf 'A' from IN 4-2 Record
Red's Astros has now finished in the top 4 of the Last Chance for 4 consecutive years. They knocked off a good Compound Athletics team as well as TG Brand, they run ruled fellow Louisville Slugger team Backman and came from an 18-1 deficit against Precision to at least make a game of it on Sunday never giving up. Red's played without pitcher Brendt Newbill and Rob Roop and Justin Aldora handled the pitching. Steve Edwards was also limited to pinch hitting with a bad back.
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Jason Branch walk off run rules Backman
Tied 5th Place – TG Brand
Conf 'B' from MI 4-2 Record
TG Brand playing on their home turf had their best tournament of the year possibly "peaking" going into 'B' Worlds? They beat Xtreme, Albicocco, and Team Combat in a marathon game before losing to Red's Astros late on Saturday night. A team effort, no one in particular stood out to me as they have so many up and coming players and just played solid softball all weekend long. They also cracked out the Kansas City Royals throw back uniforms.
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Shortstop Josh Masden made some nice plays
Tied 5th Place – Backman/Shoppe/Louisville Slugger
Conf 'M' from IN 3-2 Record
Backman beat lower level teams like Newbreed, Broughton, and squeaked by Pure Romance 34-33 but lost to Red's and Precision? There is a rumor Haglund could be ready for the Major and another rumor Kennington got hurt? Sorry didn't have time to investigate these further. They have a month to get healthy and we know from last year they are capable of making a run at Resmondo.
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Sam Lopez, Jeff Lahair, and Orlando Castillo on the left side of the Backman defense
More pictures below
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Some more pictures for you:
Xtreme tied for 13th. 0-2 vs Conference teams
Broughton came so close (1 game) to making the major
Broughton
CF Bridger
MI Bynum
C Rockoff
LF Tindell
RF Jarman
SS Jacinto
1B Forbes
2B Ramos
P Lopez
3B Bunn
Xtreme second baseman Mike Rhines had one of the best diving plays of the weekend vs 22 Below.
Also not pictured Pure Romance third baseman Brandon Oneal had a great diver on a hard shot in the Albicocco game.
Pure Romance hitter Jackie Corn gets the game winner against Albicocco.
Almost looks like the runner was out at the plate though
Albicocco finished a lackluster season with a 9th place finish.
Joe Paturzo is a nice addition to the Above All Lineup
Team Combat left side Yeilding, McGavin, Oliveira. Combat played some long games with mixed results.
They may need to get back to the big fields to find their early season success.
VCH controlled their own destiny with the points but came up short against Broughton and needed Backman to beat Broughton to stay in the #16 spot.
Here is the left side Roppel, Solomon, and Gonzalez. Gonzalez was hitting some consistent homers all weekend.
VCH
Daniel
Kirsten
MI Gonzales
2B Zane Trammell
Melton
1B Zemanek
3B Ryan Roppel
EH Tom Crump
P Wes Newell
SS Jesse Solomon
#9
New Breed/All American Athletics came all the way from Seattle, Washington to try and get a berth!
Compounds new defensive stars CF Ben Dunn and SS John Sullivan
22 Below is one of those top 50 C teams across the nation that can get hot
Softball Guy of the week was between these two
Drinking and softball can lead to fun games…
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