2016 USSSA “Windy City” Chicago Major tournament report!
2016 Nationwide Conference USSSA
"Windy City" Major NIT
Carol Stream, IL
June 3-5
Backmans Ryan Harvey takes on Andy Purcell and Resmondo in the Windy City championship game!
Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album Windy City Major
2016 Windy City men's bracket info link
The Windy City Major started on Friday night with near perfect weather and very little wind and had 19 very good Nationwide Conference USSSA teams competing against 18 non-Conference teams in the first round. The Conference teams would have to get passed those traditional Friday upset attempts, win an early second round winners bracket game, battle through a Saturday late afternoon downpour, and then win some high scoring late Saturday games to even see the finish line on Sunday.
The hard hitting action started early on Friday with Tg/Reds, Precision, 3rd Street, Eurotech, and Thunder all cruising to the round of 16 with fairly easy wins. All of the Major teams won easily as well mostly by the run rule. Vivid, Bad Draw, TM Sports, Semper, and BHR all pulled out victories that were in question at some point. STL/Mizuno/TheSportsmanShop pulled off a shocking win over Line Drive Sportz by 1 run. Probably the biggest win for STL in a long time and Linedrive even had the hammer in that game, a "signature" win for STL. And All American a non-conference B team from Minnesota with a large contingent of ex-Xtreme players scored 9 runs in the top of the 7th to beat Newbreed 32-30 winning the game on a play by pitcher Aaron Lewicki who was filling the hole on the 2nd base side and took a line drive in the gut but stuck with the play and tossed out the runner at first base! Another upset bid was ASP Chicago a good 'C' team who had chances to beat Xtreme with the gloves and the bats in both the 7th and 8th innings but lost by a run.
The round of 16 in the winner's bracket started early at 9:30 AM on 6 fields. 4 of the fields at the complex had very nice large turf infields and all had 300 foot fences. The Classic M ball was being used and the tournament had a full contingent of conference umpires on hand. 3rd Street who was up 37-27 in the 5th barely held off BHR 37-36. Smash It Sports run ruled STL 48-21. Bad Draw hung with Resmondo as it was 11-11 at one point mid game but lost 40-23. Thunder upset Precision 30-13 over at the G1 field. All American Restoration outlasted Vivid 32-31 to advance to the final 8 after All American got off to a 20-1 lead. TG/Red's came from a 20-17 deficit to TM Sports to outscore them 16-7 in the late innings and win 33-27. And Semper was beating #1 seeded Backman until their 12 homers were out and then they wilted in the wind losing 45-30.
The "final 8" games in the winner's bracket were marred by a heavy downpour of rain. 3rd Street continued with the hot sticks and upset Smash It Sports 33-31. Resmondo beat Thunder by the run rule 26-11. All American beat their 3rd straight Conference 'AA' team with a 27-23 win over TG/Red's Astros. And Backman cruised through Xtreme Miken 36-16 in just 4 innings.
In the final 4 late Saturday night All American Restoration had leads of 5-1 after 1 inning and 12-1 after 2 innings against Backman but by the 5th Backman had taken control of the game 30-17 and won 42-21. Resmondo the #2 seed in the tournament went up 9-6 on 3rd Street after 1 inning and took control 38-15 mid game and won 42-23 to advance to the championship.
In the winner's bracket championship between Backman and Resmondo defense played a big part even though it was a high scoring game. Orlando Castillo the middle man "wheel" for Backman made a nice sliding stop and throw to from his right of 2nd base to first to get an out to end the 2nd inning with the score tied at 14-14. Later Backman would take a 21-18 lead with 1st baseman Kevin Kennington making a number of good picks on hard shots and scoops and tags at the base for big outs. But late in the game Backmans poor home run management led to a "goose egg" (zero) in the top of the 7th when Resmondo Defensive MVP Luis Reyna in the middle fielded all 3 outs and Resmondo with 4 homer's left came to the plate down 36-30. Greg Connell hit a solo homer to start the inning and then Andy Purcell hit a hard liner up the middle to the right of the pitcher's mound where Andrew Vitcak was moving to play defense at pitcher and was hit in the shoulder. Something was said from the stands (probably Andrew Vitcaks dad) and AP and the fan started yelling at each other and the benches cleared. At one point it looked like maybe one Resmondo player had Andrew Vitcak pinned up against the fence? After things calmed down and remarkably no players were ejected Resmondo resumed their chase for the win down 5. Bubba Mack hit a 2 run home, BJ Fulk singled, Jimmy Salas doubled, and Nic Santana hit a 2 run homer to tie the game. Luis Reyna then hit a no doubt homer to win the game!
Meanwhile in the loser's bracket Newbreed won 7 straight games starting at 8 Am in the morning beating a local team and finishing well after midnight beating All American 45-26 to make it to Sunday. And TG/Red's Astros knocked off Line Drive, BHR, and 3rd Street to make it to Sunday.
On Sunday morning in the loser's semifinals TG/Red's Astros used their home runs better to beat Newbreed 41-34 in a 2 hour contest where Red's had leads of 21-12 and 26-11. The game featured a lot of great diving plays by players like Red's Troy Krider and Newbreed 2nd baseman Ryan Goodman. Red's then lost to a fresher Backman team 43-26 setting up the 1 vs 2 championship matchup.
In the final game Backman again led most of the way and Backman had a 31-23 lead built off of some timely double plays and a couple of diving catches by center fielder Brian Logan. But Resmondo again shut down Backman late and outscored Backman 14-2 the rest of the way to win the Chicago Major and their 3rd tournament of the year. Resmondo has now beaten Backman 5 straight times going back to Euless, Texas.
Resmondos Luis Reyna hit the walk off to win the winner's final (this was not the walk off in the picture)
The coin toss winner has a distinct advantage in Conference games as home team.
Team List Breakdown:
37 Teams Overall
19 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
3 Major Teams
9 'AA' Teams
3 'A' Teams
5 'B' Teams
17 'C/D/E' Teams
Chicago the softball atmosphere was a bit of a sausage fest but pretty good
Newbreeds Mike Powers hits against TG/Red's Astros Rob Roop in the loser's semi finals
Newbreed takes on All American after midnight Saturday
Players laying hands and pushing other players in an aggressive manner.
Not sure how there weren't any ejections/suspensions?
The Classic M is so hard at night that Gastineau actually blew up the center fielder for an inside the park homer!
Resmondos BJ Fulk with another base hit. Big guys take note, you can be big and be the best base hitter in the game.
Riley was out at the plate against Precision
Precisions Seth Burgmeier flashing some leather
Backmans Andy Vitcak hits a homer against Xtreme in the winner's semis
Turns out when someone mashes the bucket its called "Shrummed"
Lots of players sliding on the wet turf were sliding so fast they would go off the other side of the base.
I want to wish one of my favorite players Matt Rear the very best in his recovery and rehab from a broken leg he suffered when he was slid into in a game Saturday night.
It is very rare to have the talent to play third base at the level Matt plays and be a lead off hitter on one of the best teams in the nation.
He has always had such a professional manner of play and I know he comes from a great family that will give him the support he needs in these trying time.
This is the ball that hit Matt Zurawel the Thunder pitcher in teh helmet direct on.
Street Kids pitcher Justin Aldora was hit in the forearm, I believe it ended up not being broken.
That is great news.
conference classic M is just too hard, we need to test new balls
Oldscout pollers nailed it
Video Highlites brought to you by:
Long Bombers of the Week
Connell and Purcell hit the same car in the parking lot which just happened to be Jon Killbombers rental car and broke the window.
The car was 451 feet away from home plate according to google earth.
Boothe and Jamison for Reds also hit some creatures and Tom Crump
Ryan Harvey Saturday night may have had the longest as the crowd reaction showed
Major Awards and Final Standings
Player Tournament Awards | Players Name | Plays For |
Tournament CO-MVP | Greg Connell | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
Tournament CO-MVP | Andrew Collins | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
Defensive Tournament MVP | Luis Reyna | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Andy Purcell | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Jon Jamison | TG/Red's Astros/Headlines/K&G/Worth |
All Tournament Team | Ryan Disbennett | TG/Red's Astros/Headlines/K&G/Worth |
All Tournament Team | Brandon BELLAMY | TG/Red's Astros/Headlines/K&G/Worth |
All Tournament Team | Jimmy Salas | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Robert Roop | TG/Red's Astros/Headlines/K&G/Worth |
All Tournament Team | Billy Fulk | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
All Tournament Team | Nicolas Santana | Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth |
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 | FLS – Winter Haven | resmondo specialty tank worth | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 6 | 0 | 0 | 218 | 150 | 36.3 | 25 | 11.3 | 42 | 300 |
2 | IN – Aurora | backman louisville slugger | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 5 | 2 | 0 | 269 | 186 | 38.4 | 26.5 | 11.8 | 45 | 225 |
3 | OH – Cincinnati OH & /Indianapolis IN | tg/red's astros/headlines/k&g/worth | USSSA-Mens-AA | 6 | 2 | 0 | 259 | 183 | 32.3 | 22.8 | 9.5 | 41 | 200 |
4 | WA – Bothell | newbreed/gts/beus excavation/dirtys | USSSA-Mens-AA | 7 | 2 | 0 | 316 | 217 | 35.1 | 24.1 | 11 | 50 | 175 |
5 | OH – West Chester | 3rd street/louisville slugger | USSSA-Mens-A | 3 | 2 | 0 | 151 | 154 | 30.2 | 30.8 | -0.6 | 37 | 155 |
5 | MN – CHAMPLIN | allamericanrestoration/unrl/combat | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 138 | 171 | 27.6 | 34.2 | -6.6 | 32 | 180 |
7 | TXN – Gladewater | bhr/coppermine lodge/asp/worth | USSSA-Mens-A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 167 | 137 | 27.8 | 22.8 | 5 | 36 | 130 |
7 | NY – Wading River | thunder/miken/blowoutpicks.com | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 123 | 25.6 | 24.6 | 1 | 41 | 230 |
9 | MI – Warren | Line Drive Sportz/Easton | USSSA-Mens-AA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 195 | 136 | 32.5 | 22.6 | 9.83 | 39 | 110 |
9 | TXN – Frisco | Vivid/Worth/Klutch | USSSA-Mens-AA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 179 | 135 | 35.8 | 27 | 8.8 | 40 | 110 |
9 | NY – Cicero | smash it sports/asp/h.auto/mr.wiggl | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 2 | 2 | 0 | 140 | 87 | 35 | 21.7 | 13.2 | 48 | 110 |
9 | MN – Medina | Xtreme/Miken | USSSA-Mens-AA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 97 | 118 | 24.2 | 29.5 | -5.2 | 32 | 110 |
13 | MI – Dearborn | rebel sports/ hang rite / miken | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 155 | 130 | 31 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 170 |
13 | WI – Janesville | ASP/Venom | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 146 | 119 | 29.2 | 23.8 | 5.4 | 39 | 170 |
13 | IL – Chicago | Precision | USSSA-Mens-AA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 88 | 100 | 22 | 25 | -3 | 29 | 70 |
13 | DC – Washington | semper/demarini/klutch/timbuktu | USSSA-Mens-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 133 | 146 | 33.2 | 36.5 | -3.2 | 41 | 70 |
17 | IN – South Bend | Streetkids/MSC | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 90 | 82 | 22.5 | 20.5 | 2 | 27 | 65 |
17 | WI – Appleton | elite/dockside/a+/demarini | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 66 | 73 | 22 | 24.3 | -2.3 | 27 | 65 |
17 | IL – Carol Stream | d&p construction asp nation | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 69 | 10.6 | 23 | -12. | 16 | 40 |
17 | IL – Oswego | polekatz/luscher's red hots | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 78 | 16 | 26 | -10 | 21 | 40 |
17 | MN – Minneapolis | eurotech-elite media design-easton | USSSA-Mens-AA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 76 | 75 | 25.3 | 25 | 0.33 | 31 | 40 |
17 | NC – Greenville | Bad Draw/Broughton/Worth | USSSA-Mens-AA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 74 | 94 | 24.6 | 31.3 | -6.6 | 28 | 40 |
17 | IN – Indianapolis | STL/Mizuno/Sportsmanshop | USSSA-Mens-B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 118 | 27.6 | 39.3 | -11. | 37 | 140 |
17 | NC – Wilmington | TM Sports/Mizuno | USSSA-Mens-AA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 76 | 82 | 25.3 | 27.3 | -2 | 35 | 40 |
25 | IL – Hoffman Estates | Demolition/Shirts & Logos frozen | USSSA-Mens-D | 1 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 69 | 14 | 23 | -9 | 26 | 40 |
25 | IL – Channahon | investment solution services | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 82 | 16.3 | 27.3 | -11 | 25 | 65 |
25 | IL – GRANITE CITY | Swiing Kiingz | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 76 | 18 | 25.3 | -7.3 | 24 | 65 |
25 | MN – SAINT PAUL | minnesota miracle foundation | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 69 | 16 | 23 | -7 | 22 | 65 |
25 | WI – Beloit | comatose / themshirts / spiderz | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 73 | 19.6 | 24.3 | -4.6 | 25 | 65 |
25 | MI – Detroit | Detroit Elite/Miken frozen | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 47 | 10.5 | 23.5 | -13 | 12 | 65 |
25 | IL – Chicago | ASP – Chicago | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 53 | 22 | 26.5 | -4.5 | 31 | 40 |
25 | IL – Joliet | KBI (Ken's Beverage) | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 60 | 13 | 30 | -17 | 19 | 40 |
33 | IL – Antioch | cartel/apc/bubba's excavating | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 63 | 4.5 | 31.5 | -27 | 9 | 65 |
33 | IN – franklin park | Hang Rite | USSSA-Mens-E | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 62 | 14 | 31 | -17 | 18 | 0 |
33 | IL – Aurora | bad intentions/mcbride's/asp frozen | USSSA-Mens-D | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 41 | 8 | 20.5 | -12. | 8 | 40 |
33 | IL – CHICAGOLAND | TEAM CHITOWN | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 52 | 13 | 26 | -13 | 19 | 40 |
33 | IL – Chicagoland Area | wincity/anthony's restaurant & pub | USSSA-Mens-D | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 53 | 8.5 | 26.5 | -18 | 16 | 40 |
Team by team notes brought to you by:
1st Place Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth
Conf 'M' from FL 6-0 Record
Resmondo has won two straight big tournaments and pulled to within 104 points of Backman. The defense was sound, the offense played their game and managed home runs better than most of their opponents. The team seems fairly healthy and ready to roll through the big summer events at the Dudley, Smoky, Cincy, and Michigan.
Trending Up!
Greg Connell ended the championship with a great diving stop at 2B.
Salas at 3B, Dedonatis SS, Reyna MI
2nd Place Backman Louisville Slugger
Conf 'M' from IN 5-2 Record
Still struggling on the 300's but as long as they continue to finish 2nd and maybe win one big tournament they should secure the #1 seed and be home team for the Major. Lloyd had a right wrist injury that was hurting his throws so he moved to 1st base. Harvey, Yates, and Haglund are starting to get past their leg injuries.
Trending Even
Brian Logan had multiple diving catches in CF would probably be my pick for defensive MVP
Lee Powers gloves one at 3rd in the championship game. Ryan Stovall at SS and Andrew Vitcak at pitcher
3rd Place TG/Red's Astros/Headlines/K&G/Worth
Conf 'AA' from IN 6-2 Record
TG/Red's was best in class, the team played well no matter who was in the starting lineup and Rob Roop did a great job pitching for the injured Brandon Jonas (toe). When the stats come out this team had a bunch in the high .700's and 800's.
Trending Up!
Boothe and Disbennett endangering cars in the parking lot
TG middle man Troy Krider makes a great stop up the middle
Player/Sponsor/Supreme uniform designer Ben Cosgrove
Bellamy went down looking on this one by did hit .800 for the weekend!
4th Place Newbreed/GTS/Beus Excavation/Dirty's
Conf 'AA' from WA 7-2 Record
Newbreed recovered from that Friday night loss, played great softball and is truly coming together as a team. Look for them to push for a win at one of the Seattle duals. Flood continues to have an MVP type season, Rockoff was moved to leadoff and that seemed to work. Team is looking good.
Trending Up!
Gastineau, Flood, Pokraka on Sunday
Mike Powers, Nick Utley, and Jeff Flood on the Newbreed left side
Patterson and Connell did the pitching for Newbreed
Tied 5th Place All American Restoration/UNRL/Combat
'B' from MN 3-2 Record
All American Restoration is the latest to shock the softball world with 3 straight wins over Conference 'AA' teams. Bauer, Lewicki, Connel with that leaping stab and others making great defensive plays. A hard nosed team with a lot of Conference experience never gave up.
All American takes on Vivid
Lewicki takes one in the gut filling the hole for to save the win for All American over Newbreed
Tied 5th Place 3rd Street/Louisville Slugger
Conf 'A' from OH 3-2 Record
3rd Street left side Rob Menke, Jesse Solomon, Tommie Melton
3rd Street continues to roll in every phase of the game as they picked up another siganture win this time over Smash It Sports in the rain. 3rd Street is top 10 in points and in the computer rankings.
Trending Up!
Cam Byars took another brutal beating with shots up the middle.
We need to try out some safer game balls in upcoming events.
Other top finishing Conference teams
Tied 7th Place – Thunder/Miken/BlowoutPicks.com
Conf 'B' from NY 3-2 Record
Thunder has voluntarily moved to the 'A' division after beating two more 'AA' teams, Precision and Vivid. They instantly become a top 'A' team. The offense reminds us of 3rd Street, the grit of pitcher Matt Zurawel reminds us of some of the Minnesota conference pitchers and the defense gets it done when it needs to but offense is the hallmark of this team.
Trending up!
Tied 7th Place – BHR/Coppermine Lodge/ASP/Worth
Conf 'A' from TX 4-2 Record
BHR had a bit of a break through weekend and picked up a big win over Xtreme to finish tied for 7th. They played without pitcher Dan Evans who's wife had a babay (congratulations).
Trending Up!
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Some more pictures for you:
Thomas Luna walks off TM Sports with a homer to give Rebel a break through win over a 'AA' team
TM Sports just 1-2, released Robo before the tournament, Langford injured before tournament.
Bad Draw just 1-2. Was missing Faria
We didn't see many home run robs. Here Jeremy Yates climbs the 6 foot high fence
Street Kids walk off hit vs Demolition
STL gets a big win
Would enforcing the batters box lower onbase percentages and scoring to reasonable levels?
That was the talk on theoldscout message board this past week.
Lossen White the Xtreme pitcher sticks his knee out to hit the ball which ricocheted to SS for the game winning out in extra innings vs ASP.
Reds hitter Chad Mullins gets the "sunset" pic of the week
The curvature of the backstop made it hard to put up the livestream camera in a good position
The new Hangrite shoes!
JJ Backman the future pitcher?
3 responses to “2016 USSSA “Windy City” Chicago Major tournament report!”
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Hey DW what the hell started the pushing and shoving after AP drilled Andy Vitcak? Why wassup Backman pissed off? Unfortunately if you pitch long enough, you’re going to get drilled. I honestly don’t think AP was trying to hit Andy on purpose. Middle is part of the game. Thanks for the insight.
Vitcaks dad and Andy P were arguing
Oh ok. Thanks bud