Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Finally done with report —> 2016 USSSA Las Vegas Major tournament report!

 
 
 

 

 

2016 Nationwide Conference USSSA

 

6th Annual "Sin City" Classic

 

Las Vegas, NV

 

April 1-3

 

Smash It Sports Travis Clark pitches to Resmondos Andy Purcell in the championship game in Las Vegas

 

Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the Las Vegas Major

 

2016 Las Vegas men's bracket link

 

2016 Las Vegas women's bracket link

 

The 6th Annual "Sin City" Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada opened the 11th year of the Nationwide Conference USSSA league.  There were 38 teams in attendance and 17 Conference teams including 11 of the top 20 teams in the country.  The tournament was played in perfect softball weather, sunshine, and for the first time in Las Vegas no real wind to speak of.  In the early rounds on Friday night and Saturday morning all of the Conference teams won except for Nightmare/Miken an 'A' team from Missouri who was upset 32-28 by former Conference 'C' team BigTen out of Colorado.  Also Team Adiktiv from the Conference lost that 6:15 PM game with the sun directly in the batters face to Bay Area Legends 21-6.  11 of the 16 1st round games were won by the run rule.  Former Conference 'C' team Midwest Swing played Conference 'AA' team Xtreme to an 8 run loss was about as close as any of the games were.

The Major teams played a second game Friday night in the 2nd round of the winner's bracket.  All 4 Major teams won – Smash It Sports beat Thunder/BlowoutPicks.com/Empire a new Conference 'B' team from New York 34-14 but Thunder put up a fight for a while.  Backman knocked off a new Conference 'B' team Stars/Garretson/Global Logistic from Colorado 33-13.  Team Combat used their 12 homer's they got to hit against 'AA' team Eurotech-Elite Media Design-Easton better and held off Eurotech 34-28 in a game which easily could have gone the other way had Eurotech hit less solo homers.  And Resmondo cruised through the Bay Area Legends by the 20 run rule.

On Saturday morning the round of 16 continued in the winner's bracket at 9:20 AM Pacific time with the non-Major teams playing.  It quickly became evident that Newbreeds 'AA' team was playing very well as they knocked off upset minded Big Ten 30-9.  3rd Street 'A' upset Team Racks 'AA' 33-30 after 3rd Street put up 20 early on and Racks slowly came back to take the lead late in the game before losing by 3.  The Racks infield defense in this one kept them in the game.  Xtreme/Miken 'AA' knocked off Classic Glass 'A' 30-28.  Xtreme led most of the way but Classic never gave up.  And Line Drive Sportz 'AA' crushed OC Swats 'AA' 33-8 when they put on a hitting clinic early in the game and OC Swats only answer was 8 runs on 7 homers.  Swats just could not adjust to the small fields and get base hits.

In the final 8 of the winner's bracket it was all 4 of the Major teams winning.  Smash It Sports barely squeaked by Newbreed 37-35 on a Kevin Bazat walk off homer.  Newbreed had scored a bunch to tie the game in the top of the 7th but Smash It had wisely used their 12 homers and had one left for the bottom of the last inning.  But this one was basically a win for Newbreed "mentally" to show they could play with anyone.  Ryan Goodman the 2nd baseman for Newbreed known for his glove made the best play of the tournament on a grounder up the middle which he barehanded and threw out the runner in one motion.  It was spectacular and helped keep the game within reach.  Elsewhere Backman overpowered 3rd Street 34-17.  Team Combat started to show that their new pickups were the real deal in a 36-16 trouncing of Xtreme.  Team Combat had a 25 run inning in this game.  And Resmondo run ruled Line Drive 34-16 back on the Dodger field.  Line Drive leaving a bunch of homers on the table in this game.

In the final 4 of the winner's bracket the cream came to the top as Smash It Sports outslugged Backman 53-40 in a game that was 20-15 after the first inning!  The game had huge offensive innings and some great defensive plays but in the end Smash It out base hit Backman to go to the finals.  In the other semi-final Resmondo got revenge on Team Combat for their loss to them in 2015 in Las Vegas and beat Combat 38-16 in a game that featured a mini middle war.  In the winner's bracket finals Saturday night Resmondo pulled away late and held on to a 38-30 win over Smash It to go into Sunday undefeated.

Meanwhile in the loser's bracket Tac a non-conference team knocked off Thunder 16-15 in an upset.  MyAutoJack a non-conference team won 4 straight in a soft part of the loser's bracket but a very nice run nevertheless.  Nightmare beat Stars in a nice battle of A/B teams.  Classic Glass knocked off Eurotech in the "sun in batter's eye" game 29-19.  Non-Conference Tunie Sports won 3 straight including sending home Bay Area Legends 23-18 and Midwest Hearing won a couple of games.  Note, the first 4 rounds of the loser's bracket used a gold dot ball as they underestimated the number of balls needed and were lost due to the new home run rules in the Conference.  Major vs Major is 16.  A and AA teams play with 12 HR no matter who they are playing.  And B and below vs B and below is 8.

In the later rounds of the loser's bracket the heavy hitting AA teams started their games later on Saturday.  Newbreed sent home OC Swats 29-14.  3rd Street knocked off fellow 'A' team Classic Glass 30-23 in a good match up.  Team Racks won 4 straight in the loser's bracket with nice wins over Nightmare, Xtreme, Line Drive 32-31, and then shocked Backman 29-23 to finish 4th!  And Newbreed continued their winning ways with a nice 37-17 win over Team Combat and made it to Sunday with a 41-11 win over Racks after midnight.  A game where they scored over 20 runs in one inning.

On Sunday the games were very good as Newbreed battled with Smash It step for step even led early on after grand slam homers from lefties Nick Mangannaro and Victor Cordova in the first two innings and a big 3 run homer from Adam Rockoff in the 3rd gave Newbreed an 18-15.  The lead could have been more except for Smash It center fielder Ryan Parfitts in the sun catch and left center diver in that same inning.  But it was all Smash It after that and they base hit their way to an impressive 34-19 win, scoring 19 of the last 20 runs.

In the championship it was a familiar sight with Smash It Sports taking on Resmondo, although former Smash It infielder Luis Reyna was over on the Resmondo side.  ðŸ™‚  Smash It Sports got off to a huge 21-4 lead with a great mix of base hitting line to line and pretty good use of their 16 home runs.  Resmondo meanwhile was hitting too many solo homers and a Dale Brungardt diving stop and throw out at first for Smash It Sports helped keep their mental edge on both sides of the ball.  To Resmondos credit though they never gave up and made a very slow comeback to make the final score respectable 43-35.  That of course forced the dreaded "if" game.  In the final game Smash It was visitors again.  Great sliding catches by Smash It outfielders Brian Wegman in left field and Ryan Parfitt in center field helped hold down the Resmondo offense.  Resmondo trailed Smash It Sports 26-10 going into the bottom of the 3rd where they scored 12 runs to climb back into it.  Both teams at this point had hit 9 homers a piece.  In the 4th Resmondo pitcher Andy Purcell hit a big 3 run homer but again their offense was shut down when Smash It middle infielder and 2015 Conference Defensive MVP made a full dive on a hard grounder up the middle, popped to his feet and got the ball to 2nd base where they turned a double play.  Both teams continued to score and Smash It got another great diving stop of a liner by 1st baseman Kyle Pearson in the bottom of the 6th.  With the score at 43-35 both teams were out of home runs.  In the bottom of the 7th Resmondo started in the middle of their order and base hit their way to within 3 runs.  Andy Purcell hit a clutch two out gapper into right center field where Ryan Parfitt made a spectacular sliding stop of the ball and held Andy to an rbi single.  Then with runners on 1st and 3rd and two out Bubba Mack hit a sizzling line drive to right center field which even pitcher Travis Clark ducked on but the ball still went out of the park for an out to end the game.  

Smash It Sports wins the first tournament with 3 great games on Sunday but let's be honest it was Las Vegas where the fields are not big so it's hard to gauge any teams progress.  It is a start though and a good tune up for the big Hall of Fame Classic in two weeks which will feature as many as 34 of the top teams in the nation.  Smash It Sports defense was the difference in this one as they made great plays on hard shots.  Resmondos defense was good but didn't get the opportunities as often to make the great plays.  The weather was spectacular in Las Vegas this year, the facility second to none with its 6 artificial turf fields, and with all the offense and home runs hit I felt the great defensive plays were the highlight of the weekend.

Most of the final two games from the livestream archive

Team Breakdown:
38 Teams Overall
17 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
 4 Major Teams
 6 'AA' Teams
 4 'A' Teams
 5 'B' Teams
14 'C' Teams
 5 'D' Teams

Las Vegas BLD Field Dimensions
Yankee (main field) 285-308-290-286-286
Fenway 274-303-308-297-256
Angels 285-289-305-272-270
Wrigley 287-295-300-291-286
Dodger 275-305-321-304-274
Crosley 274-283-301-280-275

 

Smash It center fielder Ryan Parfitt knocks down Purcells 2 out hit in the "if" game

Resmondos Bubba Mack hit a line drive that could have won the game or at least tied it.  But it went over the fence for an out.

As both teams had already hit all 16 of their home runs

 

Backman vs Smash It in the semi finals was 20-15 after 1 complete inning

Newbreed gave Smash It all they could handle in the loser's bracket finals before Smashit put up a huge 6th inning

Adam Rockoff hits a big homer for Newbreed against Smash It

Newbreeds Victor Cordova samurai swords one into center field.

3rd Streets Tommy Melton beats a throw in their upset win over Racks

The Yankee field walls are just the blue part which is like 6 feet high

Crowds were fairly good Friday and Saturday night

 


 

Oldscout pollers felt one of the "Big 3" would take it

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

 


 

Long Bombers of the Week

Greg Connell hit the furthest ball I witnessed.

He was also onbase 38-41 .927 with 19 HR and 35 RBI

 


 

Las Vegas Major Awards and Final Standings

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Tournament MVP Kyle Pearson Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
Offensive Tournament MVP Nicolas Santana Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
Defensive Tournament MVP Kevin Bazat Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
All Tournament Team Brad Reckart Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
All Tournament Team Victor Cordova Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
All Tournament Team Andy Purcell Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Greg Connell Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Travis Clark Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
All Tournament Team Buddy Wolf Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
All Tournament Team Tyson Steele Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Dale Brungardt Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
All Tournament Team Jeff Flood Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
All Tournament Team Stuart Snell Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Ryan Parfitt Smash it Sports/ASP/H.Auto/Mr.Wiggl
All Tournament Team Daniel Kirkwood Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Luis Reyna Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Jon Gastineau Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
All Tournament Team Nick Utley Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
All Tournament Team Ronald Mack III Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Jeremy Isenhower 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 NY – Cicero smash it sports/asp/h.auto/mr.wiggl USSSA-SPMensMajor 7 1 0 311 242 38.8 30.2 8.62 53 300
2 FLS – Winter Haven resmondo specialty tank worth USSSA-SPMensMajor 5 2 0 258 173 36.8 24.7 12.1 44 225
3 WA – Bothell newbreed/gts/beus excavation/dirtys USSSA-Mens-AA 6 2 0 275 174 34.3 21.7 12.6 47 200
4 WY – Casper Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's USSSA-Mens-AA 6 2 0 234 211 29.2 26.3 2.87 43 175
5 WA – Kent TEAM COMBAT/BAUGHFORD.COM USSSA-SPMensMajor 3 2 0 139 132 27.8 26.4 1.4 36 155
5 IN – Aurora backman shoppe louisville slugger USSSA-SPMensMajor 3 2 0 162 114 32.4 22.8 9.6 40 155
7 OH – West Chester 3rd street/louisville slugger USSSA-Mens-A 3 2 0 147 140 29.4 28 1.4 36 130
7 MI – Warren Line Drive Sportz/Easton USSSA-Mens-AA 3 2 0 157 123 31.4 24.6 6.8 40 130
9 AZ – Glendale myautojack.com/miken USSSA-Mens-C 4 2 0 139 109 23.1 18.1 5 39 135
9 CAS – Yorba Linda oc swats doerflinger / miken USSSA-Mens-AA 3 2 0 114 87 22.8 17.4 5.4 37 110
9 CAC – San Jose Classic Glass/Easton USSSA-Mens-A 3 2 0 126 107 25.2 21.4 3.8 29 110
9 MN – Medina Xtreme/Miken USSSA-Mens-AA 2 2 0 109 121 27.2 30.2 -3 36 110
13 AZ – Gilbert Tunie Sports USSSA-Mens-C 3 2 0 94 92 18.8 18.4 0.40 26 70
13 CAN – Madera TAC/ Water Connection USSSA-Mens-C 3 2 0 107 115 21.4 23 -1.6 28 95
13 MO – Branson Nightmare/Miken USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 116 119 29 29.7 -0.7 34 70
13 MN – Minneapolis eurotech-elite media design-easton USSSA-Mens-AA 2 2 0 105 77 26.2 19.2 7 34 70
17 KS – Wichita Midwest Hearing/SYNDICATE USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 95 109 23.7 27.2 -3.5 37 65
17 CAS – Ontario Elite Sports USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 77 91 19.2 22.7 -3.5 34 40
17 CAN – San Jose L & S Glass USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 76 74 19 18.5 0.5 27 40
17 CAN – Hayward Bay Area Legends USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 52 61 17.3 20.3 -3 21 40
17 CO – Denver stars/garretsons/dh global logistic USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 62 78 20.6 26 -5.3 27 40
17 NY – Wading River thunder/blowoutpicks.com/empire USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 60 60 20 20 0 31 40
17 CO – Denver big ten / infamous / miken USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 53 72 17.6 24 -6.3 32 65
17 CAS – SoCal toe 2 toe /a3/demarini/hang rite USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 58 77 19.3 25.6 -6.3 29 40
25 NV – Las Vegas ERX / TRIBAL WHIPS USSSA-Mens-D 1 2 0 60 81 20 27 -7 31 40
25 AZ – Phoenix SLM/ALPHA SOURCE USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 42 76 14 25.3 -11. 23 40
25 CAS – Palm Springs No Limit USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 53 69 17.6 23 -5.3 22 40
25 CAS – South El Monte Magz Premier USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 56 50 18.6 16.6 2 26 40
25 CAN – Fresno DTA USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 55 87 18.3 29 -10. 31 65
25 UT – Salt Lake City CSC/NFI/Salt Riot USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 36 77 12 25.6 -13. 22 65
25 CAS – SO CAL JK INC/MIKEN SPMn40OMaj+ 0 2 0 44 81 22 40.5 -18. 23 40
25 CAN – Morgan Hill wc groove/miken/smash it sports USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 39 69 19.5 34.5 -15 25 40
33 CAC – Bakersfield Chosen few USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 22 50 11 25 -14 15 40
33 CAS – Corona The Show/Classick USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 46 63 23 31.5 -8.5 35 65
33 FLP – Pace team adiktiv/energy system/worth USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 22 42 11 21 -10 16 40
33 NV – Las Vegas Hit Deez USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 32 70 16 35 -19 25 40
33 WA – Kent SquatchNation/Combat USSSA-Mens-B 0 2 0 26 65 13 32.5 -19. 16 40
33 NV – Las Vegas Chemistry USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 25 46 12.5 23 -10. 16 65

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:


 

 

 

1st Place Smash It Sports/ASP/H Auto/Mr Wiggles/Easton

Conf Major from NY  7-1 Record

Smash It Sports left it all on the field and came up with just enough defense and base hitting to win the Las Vegas Major again.  They knock off their nemesis Resmondo and take an important 40 point lead into the Hall of Fame Classic next week and since this year they are seeding based off of this years points after the Hall of Fame Classic that means this win was even bigger.  Newcomers Kyle Pearson 1B, Buddy Wolf RF, and Brad Reckart 2B all fit in nicely.  Pearson was MVP with a .872 onbase percentage 16 homers and 47 RBI.  He was 41-47 onbase with 25 extra base hits.  He was a hitting machine.  The defense though won the tournament with big defensive diving plays on hard shots.  Bazat was deserving of defensive MVP as his full out diving stop of a hard grounder up the middle and subsequent double play was one of the top 10 plays of the tournament and came at a crucial time.  Wegman chipped in double digit doubles (11) and 7 players has over a .700 onbase percentage.  And Bazat also had that walk off homer to beat Newbreed in the round of 8.

The team looks good, everyone seems healthy although I don't think pitcher Travis Clark is 100% still slowed some by the foot injury he suffered last year.  Parfitt was a machine in CF making some great plays.  With Reckart at 2B, Pearson at 1B, and Umschied at SS they have 60% of a new infield.  Brungardt at third also hit the ball well and made a great diving play in the championship.

Trending Up!

Smash Its new first baseman Kyle Pearson is setting up for a run at the 2016 Conference batting title and was MVP.

Smash Its new second baseman Brad Reckart made this diving catch against Resmondo in the winner's final

Smash It Center Fielder Ryan Parfitt and Right Fielder Buddy Wolf made some big plays

Super utility man Mike Umschied is now the starting shortstop

 


 

2nd Place – Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth

Conf Major from FL  5-2 Record

 

Resmondo added teal to their uniforms giving them a slightly different look.  They were playing without BJ Fulk (baby-congratulations) and Howie Krause (work).  They were also without manager Frank Webb and statistician Saul Simpson who are dealing with some serious health issues.  On the field Resmondo played well except maybe the beginning of the first championship game.  Connell, Purcell, Collins, Salas, and Mack all hit double figure homers and Santana was tabbed offensive mvp  at .806 with just 3 HR which is very impressive for the BLD fields.  Resmondo rolled through most of their games and even in the championship when they realized they were up against a very good Smash It team they didn't roll over when down big but came back and fought to the end.  There is talk every year about Dedonatis and Purcell getting older but both still have the reactions to play at the very top of the Major division and Purcell played the best defense of any pitcher making hard line drive stab after hard line drive stab. 

Trending Even

 

Resmondo middle infield was Dedonatis SS, Reyna MI, and Connell 2B

Resmondo's new left fielder Lee Payne can't quite rob this homer

Luis Reyna played middle infield for Resmondo in his first tournament with them

Resmondo has added a teal to their uniform scheme.  Miami Dolphin'ish

 

 


 

3rd Place – Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtySportswear

Conf 'AA' from WA  6-2 Record

 

Newbreed lived up to the offseason hype.  Remember a subset of these players won the ASA 'B' then the prestigious USSSA Toys for Tots over Fence Brokers aka Resmondos offseason team.  Then they went undefeated 8-0 in the 40 team Kings of the Northwest unlimite homer tournament (which should be a conference event by the way).  In Vegas they averaged a whopping 34.37 runs per game and almost beat Smash It Sports in their second game.  In the loser's bracket they sent home OC Swats, Team Combat, and Team Racks all by the mercy rule.  And they knocked off 3rd Street who was playing very well.  On Sunday morning they came out of the gate "playing the game" well with some big 3 and 4 run homers but couldn't answer a late run by Smash It Sports and lost 34-19.

The speed of leadoff man Donald Hollingsworth and the "Parfitt like" motor of Jon Gastineau in the two hole set the pace and tone for this team.  Jeff Flood in the 3 hole had the best weekend offensively and defensively of any player in this tournament very reminiscent of what he did in Chattanooga for Albicocco a year ago.  Rockoff and Cordova are major players with a rejuvenated spirit and 2nd baseman Ryan Goodman was striking the ball to the gaps with the best of them.  Plus that barehanded play on the grounder and some other great diving stops were highlite reel material.  Mike Powers is steady at 3rd base, Nick Utley made all tournament, and the whole team seems to be buying into manager Ryan Lekness.  Nick Manganarro seems to have found a new home.  Cole Patterson pitched well and backups like infielder Charles Garmon and left handed stick Rolando Rodriguez, veteran hittter Chris Hoshaw, and back up pitcher Danny Connell all contributed.

And they played without Donovan Pokraka who got married – congratulations from DW and the whole Newbreed team who were upset they had to miss the wedding.

Trending Up!

Newbreed pitcher Cole Patterson battled all weekend

 

Newbreeds Victor Cordova and Nick Mangannaro hit grand slams vs Smash It Sports

Newbreed middle man Jeff Flood is my pick for this tournaments MVP.  

I realize the MVP goes to the winning team in Conference USSSA but Flood was the MVP in my opinion offensively and defensively.

Left side of the Newbreed defense 3B Mike Powers, SS Nick Utley, and middle man Jeff Flood

 


 

4th Place – Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's

Conf 'AA' from WY  6-2 Record

 

Team Racks played well yet again in Las Vegas finishing 4th.  They lost a tough 2nd round game to 3rd Street 33-30 after being down over 20 runs.  But they came back through the loser's bracket run rulling L&S Glass, sending home Nightmare (A), Xtreme (AA) 29-27, Line Drive Sportz (AA) 32-31, and upsetting Backman (Major) 29-23 before losing late Saturday night.  A nice run.  Racks infield defense basically features 4 shortstops in SS Brett Rettenmeier, MI Aaron Martinez, 2B AJ Montano, and 3B Sam Christensen.  Steve Lopez, Brian Lipman, Dan Kirkwood, and Stuart Snell pace the offense.  And pitchers Tyson Steele and Brendt Newbill split the pitching duties.  I didn't see Kevin Ballard at the tournament.  And it was good to see Sonny Pilcher the manager/sponsor back in the dugout.

Trending Up!

Racks middle man Aaron Martinez tries a double play

Sammy Christensen and Brett Rettenmeier at 3B and SS for Racks

AJ Montano at 2B for Racks

 


 

Tied 5th Place – Team Combat/BaughFord.com

Conf Major from WA  3-2 Record

Team Combat came out of the gate looking really good with 3 straight wins, 2 over the Minnesota Conference teams who were itching for an upset.  But Combat scored 36-34-36 in their first 3 games and met Resmondo in the semifinals for the second year in a row.  Last year they upset Resmondo but this year lost 38-16.  That just isn't competing.  Then they dropped a 37-17 game to upstart Newbreed.  Combat has a lot of talent but needs to find that mental edge that is so needed at the top level of the game.  Bring it every inning of every game and never take a play off.  Combat could be in for another long year but lets see how they do on the stadiums before we write them off…

Sorry I didn't get a lot of Combat pictures…too many night games when the pictures don't come out.

P.S. hearing they signed Dennis Rulli and released Frank Yeilding

Trending down some

 

Tommie Baugh and Jason Wilkins did the pitching for Combat

Team Combats Billy Maggard makes a diving stop against Resmondo in the semi finals

 


 

Tied 5th Place – Backman Shoppe Louisville Slugger

Conf Major from IN  3-2 Record

The new Backman was the talk of the offseason and this team like Combat came out of the gate firing on all cylinders.  They won their first 3 games by the run rule outscoring their opponents 99-32.  Then they squared off against Smash It in the highest scoring game of the tournament but came up short 53-40.  In the losers bracket back on Yankee field they dropped a 29-23 loss to Racks.

The new lineup is stacked and built for stadiums.  Lee Powers leads off, new LF Yates batted 3rd.  You have Kennington, Harvey, Castillo, Haglund, and Baggs who powered Backman last year.  And new 2B Steven Lloyd.  This lineup is DEEP and POWERFUL.  Lets see how they do at the Hall of Fame Classic.  I was also impressed by Ryan Stovall at shortstop the few plays I watched him get he was legit with the glove and had a .696 onbase percentage.  Castillo, Baggs, Powers, Logan, Yates, and Kennington were all close or over .800 onbase percentage.

Trending down some

 

Backman newbies Steve Lloyd 2B and Jeremy Yates outfield add some more speed to the team

Larry Q and John Backman discuss strategy

 


 

 

Other top finishing Conference teams

 


 

Tied 7th Place – 3rd Street/Louisville Slugger

Conf 'A' from OH  3-2 Record

3rd Street travelling from the midwest for the first time to Las Vegas was the best in class 'A' team as they knocked off Team Racks 33-30 in a marathon game where they put up big runs early and had to come back without hommers late.  They lost to Backman but then beat Classic Glass 30-23 before losing to Newbreed 37-31.  The best showing by a non-major team against Newbreed.  3rd Street is deep on talent and have a good mix of youth and veteran experience.  A couple of good pitchers in Cam Byars and veteran Bobby Noeth, and some good power with Tabler, Matusik, Kessler, and Magnum.

A fun team to watch and a successful Vegas trip which isn't easy to do for midwest teams used to driving to tournaments.

Trending up!

 

Jason Matusik and David Kessler are a good 1-2 pop in the 3rd Street lineup

 


 

Tied 7th Place – Line Drive Sportz/Easton

Conf 'AA' from MI  3-2 Record

 
Linedrive Pitcher Faron Miller, 3rd baseman Adam Kaminski, and shortstop Pat Burton

Line Drive Sportz crushed 'AA' rival OC Swats in every facet of the game early in the Vegas tournament 33-8.  They couldn't muster an upset attempt though against Resmondo.  Late in the tournament they lost to Racks 32-31 when their comeback bid came up short in the top of the 7th.  Youth, talent, good management and sponsorship and this team will have a successful season.  Can they move to the top of 'AA' or are they just an also ran?  Will be fun to see.

Trending Even

 


 

Tied 9th Place – OC Swats Doerflinger/Miken

Conf 'AA' from CA  3-2 Record

OC Swats couldn't hit singles.  But then they are built for Fortune Road and the Smoky and maybe even some baseball fields.  But they need to work on the mental side of the game and team chemistry to take the next step this year.  They beat some lower level teams and lost to the two top 'AA' teams.  Ryan Mcclanahan was impressive at middle infield making highlite reel plays after Nick Mitschke was moved to center field to help out the outfield.  There wasn't a lot of positives.  Forget about this tournament and put in the work to make the next one a success.

Trending even

OC Swats first baseman Mike Brambilla and 2B Pilar Amaya

 


 

Tied 9th Place – Classic Glass/Easton

Conf 'A' from CA  3-2 Record

The more I watched Classic Glass the more I liked. This years team has a lot of "no name" but talented players being exposed to the 'A' level for the first time.  They are legit and had nice wins over Magz, Toe 2 Toe, and a big win over Eurotech 29-19.  They battled 3rd Street but came up short after their starting pitcher Sheedy broke his arm and the backup Gooding was hit in the well you know.  This team grows on you, will be fun to see if they can continue to improve. 

Trending Up!

Right side of Classic Glass defense

Pitcher Larry Sheedy got hit by a line drive and broke his arm.  Classic is looking for pitching help.

 


 

 

Tied 9th Place – Xtreme/Miken

Conf 'AA' from MN  2-2 Record

Won two then lost two.  Got big weekends out of Ben Dunn .833 and Seth Brown, Shannon Smith, and Alex Bremer were all over .720.  The teams infield defense probably needs to play better to be successful against the other 'AA' and Major teams.

Trending Even

Timmy Nielson is with Xtreme this year

 


 

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USSSA Las Vegas tournament info link

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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:

 

The sun was a factor but not the normal wind in Vegas

 

Outfieilders duck for cover with a record amount of homers hit

The sun was rough on batters at Yankee field at around 5:30 PM

Nightmares Zane Trammell hit 10 homers

 

Thunder played well for stretches

Stars played ok.

Bay Area Legends (above) and Adiktiv (below) will have to quickly learn how to win in the Conference

 

Westy and Weakley from Adiktiv

Big Ten pulled off that big win over Nightmare

Midwest Swing looked pretty good with a couple of wins

Tunie Sports played well.  Tarwater as usual showing big range at middle infield.

MyAutoJack won 4 games in the loser's bracket

West Coast legend Ronni Salcedo

Doc and the boys were a little short as Tony is out with a knee injury

L/S Glass outfielder attempts a home run rub at Wrigley

Chris Larsen is looking at his options

Derby Girls/ASP/Combat won the Women's Major over TKO/More Sports/Miken/Rockwell

Women's Major finals between TKO (batting) and Derby Girls at Fenway Park! 

Men's and Women's teams please send your team selfies and team photos to DW@softballcenter.com to get put in the picture album

One of these guys is a hall of famer

This is softball not math class

Premier does nice uniforms

Adrian and the Premier family

Name that shadow?

 

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