Thursday March 28th, 2024
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2016 USSSA Seattle Combat Dual tournament report!

 

 

2016 Nationwide Conference USSSA

 

Combat Dual Major

 

Kent, WA

 

June 9-12

 

Scenes Davis Bilardello hits against Racks Tyson Steele at the Seattle Dual #2 championship game.

Interesting note, I took this picture on my iphone while watching the livestream.  ðŸ™‚

 

Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the Seattle Major

 

2016 Seattle men's bracket link #1

 

2016 Seattle men's bracket link #2

 

2016 Seattle women's bracket link

Dual #1 began on Thursday at 4:30 PM Pacific time at Kent, Washingtons Hogan Park on 5-300 foot fields under rainy conditions.  14 non conference teams played into the main bracket out of 23 teams.  In the round of 16 Goodfellas a recently bumped to 'B' team knocked off Conference 'B' team Stars from Colorado 18-10.  5 other Conference teams Scene, Bay Area, OC Swats, Newbreed, and Team Combat advanced easily but Team Racks won on a walk off hit over All American Athletics a 'B' team from Oregon 33-32 and upstart Synergy from Nevada with some all star pickups knocked off Classic Glass 40-25.  In the "round of 8" Scene beat Goodfellas by 40 runs, OC Swats powered past Bay Area Legends late to a 24-17 win, Newbreed outslugged Racks 37-30 late Thursday night, and Team Combat held off Synergy 21-14 to advance to Fridays "final 4".

On Friday in the winner's bracket semi-finals OC Swats jumped out to a 15-0 lead on The Scene and was in control 27-11 mid game.  But The Scene rallied back to tie the game at 27-27 after 6 innings and Swats SS Nick Mitschke made a diving stop to keep the game even.  OC Swats Mike Brambilla hit a 3 run homer in the 7th to give Swats a 33-27 lead but Scene used Erik Kanaby and Brandon Dillon homers to tie the game and go to extra innings after Mitschke made another diving stop to keep it close.  In extra innings it was The Scene winning 34-33 on a Chris Costantino walk off single to advance to the winner's final.  In the other semi-final Newbreed jumped out to a 10-8 lead on Team Combat with a grand slam by lead off hitter Adam Rockoff.  Then Combat came back to lead 23-19 after 3 innings.  In the top of the 4th a Jeff Flood homer gave Newbreed a 24-23 lead and Newbreed extended the lead to 41-25 going into the bottom of the 6th.  Combat was then down 47-27 going into the bottom of the 7th and scored 13 runs but lost 47-40.

In the winners final Newbreed led the Scene 16-1 after 1 inning and 20-11 early and 27-23 going into the 7th but Scene again pulled out a 27-26 victory!  In the loser's bracket Team Combat beat Classic Glass and Team Racks on a John Williams walk off homer to get back to the championship where they were demolished by Scene 34-14 in 4 innings.

Dual #2 began on Friday night with the play in games and resumed Saturday morning.  There was one upset in the round of 16 as All American put it on Classic Glass 40-22.  The other 7 Conference teams advanced with 6 run rules and only Stars beating GTS 21-15 was a close game.  In the final 8 The Scene smoked All American, OC Swats run ruled Team Racks 32-17and Bay Area Legends upset Newbreed 29-24 then held off Team Combat 29-26 to go to the winners bracket championship!  Meanwhile OC Swats got off to another big lead on Scene but failed to finish strong and Scene came back yet again with superior home run management and won 39-37. In the winner's final and championship Bay Area Legends and Team Racks kept things reasonably close but The Scene won their second tournament in a row and third of the year.

One of the funniest things in the tournament was Racks pitcher Brendt Newbill who was upset with the no warmup pitch rule if the manager doesn't come out to change pitchers.  So being upset because he couldn't get a warmup with the bases loaded he got an out then let up a homer.  Whats funny is Flood who was the first batter has a very long at bat "routine" where he walks down the 3rd base line almost 3 quarters of the way before coming back to the batters box and of course Newbill could have thrown about 3 or 4 warm up pitches in that time.  So the next time Newbill came up to bat he did Floods at bat "routine" himself down the 1st base line.  It was very funny but does highlight a problem in the conference where warmup pitches have been reduced to save time but nothing has been done about batters long "routines".  I do realize the rule was put into place because you could switch pitchers every pitch and no one wants warmups every time they switch.

The Conference umpires and west coast conference umpiring crews were strong.  14 bats that failed or broke will be cut open.  And the first tournament was marred by some downpours but all in all the games were played on time and to completion.  The 52 core ball was used which was great for making it harder to hit homers, pitcher safety, and lower scores in the cool weather but made the game look silly at times when infielders had no idea what it was going to do on the 2nd and 3rd bounce.  

Scene wins 1st Seattle Dual

Team Breakdown:
22 Teams Overall
8 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
1 Major Teams
3 'AA' Teams
2 'A' Teams
4 'B' Teams
8 'C' Teams
4 'D' Teams
1 'TBD' Teams

Scenes Chris Costantino hits a walk off single to beat OC Swats

Watson was out at 2nd unless Whaley's foot wasn't touching the base?

Bay Area Legends upsets Combat to go to the Semi Finals!

The 52 core Hycor ball was great for keeping scores down some in the cool weather and makes home run hitting a little bit more difficult.  

It is also great for safety but bounces way too much on hard infields and is dangerous to infielders.  

The conference needs a 52 core ball that doesn't bounce crazy.

 


 

Oldscout pollers were correct on the first bracket but not the second

 

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

 


 

Long Bombers of the Week

Combats Chris Greinert had some of the longer home runs.

OC Swats Mike Brambilla hit one near the apartment buildings Thursday night estimated around 400 feet on Field #5.

A number of players hit the building behind Field #4 which in LC past the light pole those are around 400.

And someone from Swats on the baseball field on F1 hit one over the baseball fence and it landed near the little tree by the walkway which is 400 feet.

 


 

Seattle Major Awards and Final Standings

Seattle Dual #1

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Tournament CO-MVP Keith Laski Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
Tournament CO-MVP Bill Pinkham Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
Defensive Tournament CO-MVP Jason Branch Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
Defensive Tournament CO-MVP Steve Whaley Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Brendt Newbill Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Alexis Ramirez Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Cory Newman Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Scott Rockwell  
All Tournament Team Donald Hollingsworth Jr. Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
All Tournament Team Adam Rockoff Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
All Tournament Team Davis Bilardello Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Chente Granados Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Erik Kanaby Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Chris Costantino Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Antonio Sepulveda Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/DirtyS
Place State Team Team
Class
Wins Losses Ties Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
USSSA
Points
1 NY – Commack scene/albicocco/worth/miken/monsta USSSA-SPMensConfTBD 5 0 0 171 95 34.2 19 15.2 45 300
2 WA – Kent TEAM COMBAT/BAUGHFORD.COM USSSA-SPMensMajor 5 2 0 201 180 28.7 25.7 3 40 225
3 WA – Bothell newbreed/gts/beus excavation/dirtys USSSA-Mens-AA 3 2 0 177 145 35.4 29 6.4 47 200
4 WY – Casper Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's USSSA-Mens-AA 4 2 0 204 165 34 27.5 6.5 46 175
5 CAC – San Jose Classic Glass/Easton USSSA-Mens-A 4 2 0 163 128 27.1 21.3 5.83 35 155
5 CAS – Yorba Linda oc swats doerflinger / miken USSSA-Mens-AA 2 2 0 104 98 26 24.5 1.5 36 155
7 NV – Las Vegas Synergy USSSA-Mens-D 3 2 0 140 148 28 29.6 -1.6 40 155
7 CAN – Hayward Bay Area Legends USSSA-Mens-B 2 2 0 105 97 26.2 24.2 2 34 230
9 WA – Puyallup GTS / SAVERS INC Qualified USSSA-Mens-C 3 2 0 132 131 26.4 26.2 0.19 34 135
9 WA – Kent Goodfellas/Doerflinger Qualified USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 34 84 11.3 28 -16. 18 135
9 CO – Denver stars/garretsons/dh global logistic USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 56 56 18.6 18.6 0 25 210
9 OR – Clackamas All American Athletics Qualified USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 88 82 29.3 27.3 2 32 135
13 WA – Enumclaw J&I/West Coast Qualified USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 98 77 24.5 19.2 5.25 34 95
13 UT – Salt Lake City CSC/NFI/Salt Riot USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 105 118 26.2 29.5 -3.2 37 95
13 WA – Bow Vortex/UTP/Ynot USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 58 79 19.3 26.3 -7 24 95
13 CAS – Palm Springs No Limit USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 46 75 15.3 25 -9.6 18 95
17 WA – Eatonville Hustle Qualified USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 56 68 18.6 22.6 -4 21 40
17 WA – Olympia MT/Charlie's B&G USSSA-Mens-C 1 2 0 29 54 9.66 18 -8.3 18 65
17 CAN – Morgan Hill Talamo Foods USSSA-Mens-D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 65
17 WA – Bremerton All New Again Qualified USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 15 43 7.5 21.5 -14 10 65
17 WA – Everett c&b painting llc/snoco softball Qualified USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 22 44 11 22 -11 21 65
17 WA – Bonney Lake Headcase Softball USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 44 58 22 29 -7 31 40
17 WA – Kent Combatants/Team Combat USSSA-Mens-A 0 2 0 50 73 25 36.5 -11. 35 0

 

Seattle Dual #2

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Offensive Tournament MVP Brett Rettenmeier Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
Defensive Tournament CO-MVP Chente Granados Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
Defensive Tournament CO-MVP Chris Costantino Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta
All Tournament Team Aaron Martinez Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team AJ Montano Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Frank Yeilding Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
All Tournament Team Jon Nelson Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's
Place State Team Team
Class
Wins Losses Ties Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
USSSA
Points
1 NY – Commack scene/albicocco/worth/miken/monsta USSSA-SPMensConfTBD 5 0 0 160 102 32 20.4 11.6 40 300
2 WY – Casper Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's USSSA-Mens-AA 6 2 0 231 158 28.8 19.7 9.12 42 225
3 CAN – Hayward Bay Area Legends USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 129 126 25.8 25.2 0.60 33 300
4 CAS – Yorba Linda oc swats doerflinger / miken USSSA-Mens-AA 3 2 0 145 116 29 23.2 5.8 37 175
5 CO – Denver stars/garretsons/dh global logistic USSSA-Mens-B 3 2 0 127 134 25.4 26.8 -1.4 36 255
5 WA – Kent TEAM COMBAT/BAUGHFORD.COM USSSA-SPMensMajor 2 2 0 116 103 29 25.7 3.25 33 155
7 WA – Puyallup GTS / SAVERS INC Qualified USSSA-Mens-C 3 2 0 94 84 18.8 16.8 2 26 155
7 WA – Bothell newbreed/gts/beus excavation/dirtys USSSA-Mens-AA 2 2 0 134 101 33.5 25.2 8.25 47 130
9 WA – Enumclaw J&I/West Coast Qualified USSSA-Mens-C 3 2 0 93 94 18.6 18.8 -0.1 29 135
9 CAC – San Jose Classic Glass/Easton USSSA-Mens-A 2 2 0 97 90 24.2 22.5 1.75 27 110
9 WA – Kent Goodfellas/Doerflinger Qualified USSSA-Mens-B 2 2 0 92 94 23 23.5 -0.5 32 135
9 OR – Clackamas All American Athletics Qualified USSSA-Mens-B 1 2 0 71 93 23.6 31 -7.3 38 135
13 NV – Las Vegas Synergy USSSA-Mens-D 2 2 0 65 72 16.2 18 -1.7 25 95
13 CAS – Palm Springs No Limit USSSA-Mens-C 2 2 0 72 85 18 21.2 -3.2 29 95
13 WA – Everett c&b painting llc/snoco softball Qualified USSSA-Mens-D 2 2 0 67 86 16.7 21.5 -4.7 21 95
13 WA – Kent Combatants/Team Combat USSSA-Mens-A 1 2 0 60 86 20 28.6 -8.6 29 0
17 WA – Olympia MT/Charlie's B&G USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 27 46 13.5 23 -9.5 19 65
17 CAN – Morgan Hill Talamo Foods USSSA-Mens-D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 65
17 WA – Bremerton All New Again Qualified USSSA-Mens-D 0 2 0 11 47 5.5 23.5 -18 6 65
17 WA – Eatonville Hustle Qualified USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 24 50 12 25 -13 13 40
17 WA – Bow Vortex/UTP/Ynot USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 40 49 20 24.5 -4.5 24 65
17 UT – Salt Lake City CSC/NFI/Salt Riot USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 45 47 22.5 23.5 -1 26 65
17 WA – Bonney Lake Headcase Softball USSSA-Mens-C 0 2 0 9 46 4.5 23 -18. 6 40

 

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

 

1st Place Scene/Albicocco/Worth/Miken/Monsta (NY-TBD)

Overall Record 10-0
Average Finish 1.0
Seattle #1 1st  5-0
Seattle #2 1st  5-0
'AA' and Above Wins: OC Swats, Newbreed, Combat, OC Swats, Team Racks
'A' and Below Losses: None

Scene wins both tournaments and beat all of the top teams in going 10-0.  They paced themselves nicely offensively and came on strong from behind to beat OC Swats twice.  Pinkham has taken over most of the pitching duties.  The lineup was consistent and productive.  Branch and Dillon continue to have monster years.  Branch and Costantino switched corner infield positions and Branch even had a ball where he "wore" a hard grounder and soccer kicked the ball to second base from third for the out.  I am hoping to fish that video out of the archives.  Lets not let the classification discussion get in the way of the accomplishments this team has done by solidifying themselves at 3rd in the points and winning both Seattle dual tournaments in their first year together. 

Trending Up!

Scene lineup:
3B Branch
C Kanaby
RF Bilardello
LF Dillon
SS Granados
MI Steve Whaley
CF Cory Newman
2B Keith Laski
1B Chris Costantino
P Bill Pinkham

Jason Branch and Erik Kanaby

 

Davis Bilardello and Keith Laski

 

Brandon Dillon and Chente Granados

 

Steve Whaley and Cory Newman

 

Pitchers Brian Titus and Bill Pinkham

 


 

2nd Place Team Racks/Miken/Sonny's (WY-AA)

Overall Record 10-4
Average Finish 3.0
Seattle #1 4th  4-2
Seattle #2 2nd  6-2
'AA' and Above Wins: OC Swats, Team Combat, OC Swats,
'A' and Below Losses: None

Racks beat Combat, OC Swats, and Bay Area Legends to finish 2nd in the 2nd Seattle Dual.  The team plays well "tired" which could be big at the 'AA' Worlds in September.  Racks didn't have all of their players in the first tournament because of work obligations and overall had a good 4 days of softball cracking the top 10 in Conference points.

Trending solid

Racks Sunday Lineup:
3B Frank Yeildingm (Lopez hammy)
1B Sam Christensen
C Brian Lipman
OF Dan Kirkwood
EH Stuart Snell
MI Brett Rettenmeier
P Tyson Steele
RF Jon Nelson
LF Nick Price
SS Aaron Martinez
2B Alexis Ramirez

Major list pitcher Brendt Newbill will pursue a work opportunity and not be able to finish the season with Racks

 



3rd Place TEAM COMBAT/BAUGHFORD.COM (WA-Major)

Overall Record 7-4
Average Finish 3.5
Seattle #1 2nd  5-2
Seattle #2 5th  2-2
'AA' and Above Wins: Racks, Racks, Newbreed
'A' and Below Losses: Bay Area Legends

A year ago Team Combat won both dual tournaments in Seattle.  This year they wind up with a 2nd and a 5th.  They continue to underperform some and will look to step it up in every phase of the game throughout the summer.  They are still a solid 5th in the points with some low scores they can drop.   Overall the team seemed healthy and capable, just didn't string together wins against the top teams.

Trending down some

1st dual final lineup:
Rulli
Washington
Pearson
Rogowski
Mcgavin
Maggard
Greinert
Messer
Williams
Zirkle

Combat middle infielder wore this grounder then picked it up and threw the runner out in extra innings vs Stars

Combats Brian Zirkle batting against Stars in a close game

Filip Washington hits a no doubter

Vito Messina pitches against Scene.  Interesting to see some of the same pitching mannerisms as his old man

 


 

4th Place OC Swats Doerflinger / Miken (CA-AA)

Overall Record 5-4
Average Finish 4.5
Seattle #1 5th  2-2
Seattle #2 4th  3-2
'AA' and Above Wins: Racks
'A' and Below Losses: None

OC Swats beat the teams they were supposed to beat and got out to big leads on Scene in both their meetings which could have set them up for at least one tournament win but faltered late in both games and come up with another "what if" weekend.  The team has to perform better in the loser's bracket and late in games.  They did get some great defense out of middle man Ryan McClanahan, outfielder Eli Aguilar, and 3rd baseman Sam Lopez to beat Racks.  Nick Mitschke also forced extra innings with The Scene after making a couple of diving stops in the game.  OC Swats as has been said is capable of great things in their first year of 'AA', they just need to believe in themselves and each other.  

Trending Even

Middle man Ryan Mcclanahan

Swats SS Nick Mitschke makes a diving stop

Sam Lopez hits a grand slam for Swats

Charlie Hinojosa played a lot of SS

 


 


Tied 5th Place Bay Area Legends (CA-B)

Overall Record 7-4
Average Finish 5.0
Seattle #1 7th  2-2
Seattle #2 3rd  5-2
'AA' and Above Wins: Newbreed, Team Combat
'A' and Below Losses: Classic Glass

Bay Area Legends continue to defy the odds of a new conference team made of primarily newer conference players.  No team is too big for them to take on and they play toe to toe with some of the best teams in the nation.  The gloves are solid, John Brown has been a warrior at pitcher, and they are a line drive hitting team that can adapt to different field sizes and weather conditions.  Bay Area Legends is being bumped to 'A' where they will instantly be one of about 5 or 7 favorites for USSSA 'A' Worlds come September.

Trending Up!

Bay Legends Sunday Lineup:
OF Rick Cornu
MI Dameon Smith
C Cal Ford
RF Luis Gonzalez
SS Carlos Vasquez
3B Jack Chapman
1B Corey Gilbert
EH Joel Gonzalez
Jeffrey Reno
P John Brown
Brandon Newton

Bay Legends Luis Gonzalez hits one over Jeff Flood of Newbreed

Bay Legends SS Carlos Vasquez has been gloving it for many years in the Conference

Manager and backkup pitcher Gary Perez finally bought the tarp after all the rain.

 


 


Tied 5th Place Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/Dirtys (WA-AA)

Overall Record 5-4
Average Finish 5.0
Seattle #1 3rd  3-2
Seattle #2 7th  2-2
'AA' and Above Wins: Racks, Combat,
'A' and Below Losses: Bay Area Legends, Stars

Newbreed was the only team that played in Chicago last weekend and came to Seattle too.  And I think the 9 games in Chicago then the dual weekend in Seattle took its toll on Newbreeds performance which wasn't bad but I think most expected them to be in at least one Championship game.  Newbreed was upset by Bay Area and Stars which are unusual losses for Newbreed. Just to touch on Newbreeds classification they do have 5 Major List players so picking up more impact players and staying 'AA' is unlikely for a team that is 10-3 in class.  But teams should never hold back their roster to play down.

Trending Even

3rd Baseman Mike Powers has moved up the lineup to 4th.

 


 


Tied 6th Place Stars/Garretsons/DH Global Logistic (CO-B)

Overall Record 4-4
Average Finish 7.0
Seattle #1 9th  1-2
Seattle #2 5th  3-2
'AA' and Above Wins: Newbreed
'A' and Below Losses: Goodfellas, Synergy

Stars had a break through win over Newbreed in the second dual event but left one on the table against Team Combat when they were down 1 run in the bottom of the 7th and bottom of the 8th with homers left and failed to win the game.  A devastating loss for a young team in need of a big tournament.  They did play better in the loser's bracket though beating Classic Glass and Newbreed so 3 quality games in a row.

Trending up some

Jon Gibbens formerly with OC Swats

Anthony Wehr did the pitching in Chad Loudons absence

 


 


Tied 6th Place Classic Glass/Easton (CA-A)

Overall Record 6-4
Average Finish 7.0
Seattle #1 1st  4-2
Seattle #2 1st  2-2
'AA' and Above Wins: None
'A' and Below Losses: Synergy, All American Athletics, Stars

Classic Glass took care of business against most of their non-conference opponents and beat rival Bay Area Legends but didn't come through with any "signature" wins over big AA or Major teams.  The team is still trying to find their way in Conference play this year but at least got to play 10 games over 3 days.

Trending Even

Left Side – Cameron Cox, Ricky Reavis, and Brandon Traylor

Adam Smylie leads Classic Glass in homers

 


 

​


 

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Send corrections to dw@softballcenter.com

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Link to all 2009 to 2016 Tournament Reports and Previews

Nationwide Conference USSSA Points Link

 


 

Some more pictures for you:

Team Combat takes on TKO in the womens winner's final Saturday

 

Women have an interesting way of celebrating home runs, check the video clips at the top of the report

Derby Girls won the Women's major going undefeated

One of the best softball managers in the country at any level Jose Sanchez was managing Washington Worth

 

Combats Chris Greinert was giving John Huffman the "business" before Huffmans at bat in a close game.

Telling him he was going to be on Softballcenter and youtube…Huffman was intentionally walked.

Brad Carlesen and the All American team wasn't an easy win for Conference teams

 

Todd Howell hit a walk off homer for C&B Painting in their win over CSC

MI/P Mike Nino of Synergy is a talented player

The shortstop for Synergy was getting rave reviews around the crowd for his defense

Combatants had a rough tournament but did pick up conference talent

Frank Henry, Bryan Lang, Jason Legault, and Matt Arlett

  

 

Temporary fence on F1

Elliot and Stro and crew

Ipod on F1

 

One response to “2016 USSSA Seattle Combat Dual tournament report!”

  1. Rider says:

    ZNs are just fine conference do not need to use 52 coreballs!!!

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