Friday March 29th, 2024
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A look back at the 2018 USSSA 6th Annual B.A.T.S. Columbus Major tournament report!

2018 Nationwide Conference USSSA

 

6th Annual B.A.T.S. Major

 

Columbus, Ohio

 

August 3-5

Argen Dodds from Dan Smith hammers another homer in a 22 run 6th inning against Pure Sports in the finals!

SoftballCenter Columbus Major picture album link

 

2018 Columbus Major bracket and results link

 

2018 Columbus Major stats link

 

2018 Columbus archived live stream game links

 

The Lou Berliner Park in Columbus, Ohio will have 30 turf infields in 2019.

They currently have 11.

The Columbus "Last Chance" Major was loaded from top to bottom with the countries best teams and they took to the baseball quad at Lou Berliner park hitting the Conference Dudley Classic M ball in hot and humid conditions.  This made for low scoring games and upsets!  On Friday night all the regional non-conference 'B' teams (Floors Unlimited, Old Bag, Tropics, and Titans) all lost.  So, the round of 16 out of the 29 teams (22 Conference) was all Conference teams and they played the 2nd round on Friday night.  TDB/FAI/Klutch/Miken (NC-AA) knocked off Rapid Fire Athletics (VA-A) 17-10 which is a team TDB has had trouble with this year.  Pure Sports/Monsta (SC-AA) run ruled Nightmare/Miken (MO-AA) 31-15 after a slow start.  Dan Smith (CA-M) knocked off Seminoles (OK-A) 24-16 in a sluggish performance with the wind blowing in on field #16.  Precision (IL-AA) beat Baugh Ford (AL-A) by 14.  And Newbreed (WA-AA) run ruled Riot Sports (FL-AA) 25-10.  Then came the upsets as Ohio 'A' team Pauer Sports put it on #1 Resmondo leaving them on the field in the 6th inning with a 2 out barrage of hits 42-27.  Resmondo played very poor defense and had bad home run management.  Then shortly after that Premier, another Ohio 'A' team, shocked #2 Smash It Sports 12-11 when Ryan Disbennett doubled, Uckotter singled, and Chuck Lack singled with two outs to win the game in the bottom of the 7th.  The last game of the round of 16 was played Saturday morning at 10 AM as Racks/Worth Astros (IN-AA) shut down Xtreme (MN-AA) 16-2.

On Saturday as the temperatures climbed into the mid 80's with high humidity and the balls became "mush" the final 8 took to the field at 1 PM.  Dan Smith shut down Precision 20-6 on field #15 where the outfield bows out to 350 feet very quickly on both sides and Precision just did not have the horses against pitcher Mike Nino.  On the show field Premier behind the entertaining pitching and defense of Rocky Staton and a big home run by Clay Norton upset Newbreed 15-14.  In the 2:30 PM games Pure Sports dominated arch rival TDB 18-1 on the "valley of death" field #15 and Pauer Sports shocked Racks Astros 24-15 on the show field.

In the semifinals which were played back to back at 6 PM and 8:30 PM, Dan Smith run ruled Premier 32-17 (Dale Brungardt was 6-6 and Bilardello and Collins each had 7 RBI), and Pure Sports shut down Pauer Sports 21-6.  In the winner's bracket finals as the temperatures cooled off some and the ball started to fly a little bit, Dan Smith handled Pure Sports fairly easily 34-16 as Argen Dodds went 5-5 with 4 HR, 6 runs scored, and 6 RBI.

In the loser's bracket it was the two Major teams Resmondo and Smash It Sports "surviving and advancing" as they each won 5 games over those poor 'A' and 'AA' teams who were trying to get those last 10 points to make it into the top 16.  Resmondo knocked off Smash Its 'A' team 23-6, Xtreme 25-5, Precision 16-15 on a walk off hit by Bryson Baker, Newbreed 29-17, and Pauer Sports 28-13 to make it to Sunday.  And Smash It Sports beat Bay Area 27-6, Riot Sports 25-13, TDB 25-20, Baugh Ford 27-11, and Premier 33-15 to make it to the final 4.

On Sunday at 8 AM Smash It Sports jumped out to a 27-11 lead after breaking an 11-11 tie with a 16 run 3rd inning against Resmondo.  But Resmondo answered back and tied the game at 30-30 going into the bottom of 5th.  Then Smash It got a big 2-out 2-run homer from pitcher Andrew Vitcak to "roll the top" and that led to a 12 run lead and they held on to win 46-36.  In the loser's bracket finals Smash It Sports and Pure Sports were tied at 15-15 in a game that moved rather quickly as the ball started to soften up in the increasing humidity.  Then in the top of the 6th Pure Sports grabbed a 24-19 lead and increased the lead to 28-19 going into the bottom of the 7th.  In that final half inning Pure Sports let up a 2-run homer and got an out to start the inning.  Then Smash It loaded the bases and with one out Kyle Pearson who had dominated the tournament (31-41) hit a sharp grounder through the 5-6 hole, but somehow 3rd basemen Chente Granados made a diving stop and from his knees backhanded a throw all the way to 2nd base where Ryan Mcclanahan released it to first base about as fast as anyone in the game and they got the double play to end the game!

The championship started around noon when the temperatures were in the 80's with high humidity.  Dan Smith was the undefeated team and both teams traded some smaller "crooked numbers" and some zeroes through the first 4 innings.  But when Pure Sports blanked Dan Smith in the top of the 5th and scored 9 runs themselves in the bottom of the 5th, it looked like they would force the "if" game.  But Dan Smith didn't give up and batted for 20 minutes in the top of the 6th and scored the biggest inning of the tournament – 22 runs and ended up beating Pure Sports 36-18 and winning the Columbus Major!  Steven Lloyd was 5-6 in the championship with 5 RBI.  Dodds was 5-6 with 3 home runs.  And Collins, Bennett, Spaulding, and Dunn all had 4 hits apiece.

They normally use the "bad batch" stadiums on the Columbus baseball quad, but went with the Dudley Classic M ball this year.  I thought as a fan we really got to see some pure softball on the big fields with the Classic M.  There were many players that did not hit a home run in Columbus and only the real home run hitters hit them which made for interesting games and adjustments.  The humidity really mushed up the ball and gave new meaning to the believers that think "anyone can hit a homer".  

There was a full contingent of Conference Umpires and the tournament ran without any weather delays.  A great weekend all the way around.  Pauer Sports and Premier played their way into the top 16 knocking Bay Area Legends out.  And Nightmare and Rapid Fire hung onto the #15 and #16 spots.

Team Breakdown:
29 Teams Overall
23 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
3 Major Teams
8 'AA' Teams
10 'A' Teams
7 'B' Teams

 

Championship coin toss…

 

For some reason I decided to write down quotes of softball sayings I heard around the park this past weekend.  Here they are:

"I guarantee those two have a van with painted windows" – unknown voice about Barnes and Scott

"You ain't winning the batting title" – Mcclanahan to Bilardello after snapping him off

"Solos are outs" – Helmer

"Somebody come give me a hug" – Connell after hitting a big homer against SIS

"Nice play, wish you seen it" – Tropics

"Who's up after Z?  …  The other team" – Smash It A team

"Hit the one in the middle" – beer league

"Are we losing? … Despite your best efforts no" – Smash It A team

"You're not pitching this game, so you have to hit" – can't remember who said it

"There is no strike two" – Resmondo

Justin Mucciarelli at pitcher, Zach Messer at SS, and Ryan Mcclanahan at shortstop could make a case for being the best defensive trio in the conference?

In the loser's bracket championship 3rd baseman Chente Granados makes an incredible 1 out bases loaded stop of a hard grounder, back hand flips it all the way to 2nd base where middle man Ryan Mcclanahan turns the game ending double play and Pure Sports advances to the championship!

 

My pano of the championship game

Pure Sports and Dan Smith battle in the winner's bracket finals Saturday night

Smash It right fielder Kyle Olsen robs a home run from Payne

Pure Sports Jared Hunt hits another one for extra bases against SIS

Premier's Chuck Lack gets a 2 out game winning hit Friday night to beat Smash It Sports in the 1st round!

Pauer Sports John Radich hits a walk off run rule single against Resmondo Friday night in the 1st round.

Field #16 has that mini "Green Monster" in left field

340 Greenlawn Ave, Columbus, Ohio – Central 43223

The 4 main fields at the Lou Berliner Park are baseball fields #14-17 and are of varying fence distances.  These fields although they are baseball fields they play more like the Smoky main field at Sandy Springs Park in that they are high school sized baseball fields and not MLB sized baseball fields.

Approximate Field Dimensions
#14 305-330-350-353-296 (Main Field – upper right in picture)
#15 307-359-359-356-312 
#16 295-334-355-359-297 
#17 314-358-359-357-313

 


 

Oldscout pollers had Resmondo to win 50% 

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

 

2018 USSSA Columbus Major video clips

Sights and sounds of the final Saturday night and Sunday games.

Lots of great plays and hits and middle shots. 

At the end I grabbed some highlites from the livestream.

 

Saturday clips of various teams/games

 

Friday night featuring the Premier and Pauer Sports upsets of the Major teams

 


 

Long Bombers of the Week

Smash Its Kyle Pearson won the season long Conference batting title and hit the most home runs.

Pearson had the best numbers for the Columbus tournament .756, 19 HR, 50 RBI

Dan Smith's Argen Dodds had a 4 home run game and hit some impressive shots into the wind on Friday night on Field #16.

 

Jon Nelson hit a bomb on Friday night and Dan Kirkwood hit one over the road on Field #17.  Over the road at its shortest distance is 428 feet.

Premier's Cory Boothe hit the building on field #16.  At the shortest distance on google earth from home plate to the building is 440 feet!

 


 

 Columbus Major Final Standings and Awards

Dan Smith pitcher Mike "Nino" Echeverria pitched every game and was tournament MVP!

Dan Smith CF Ben Dunn was Defensive MVP of the tournament

 

Pure Sports Jared Hunt and Donnie Hammonds were Co-Offensive MVP's

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

 

1st Place – Dan Smith/Menosse/Steven Smith

Conf Major from CA  5-0 Record

Dan Smith rolled through undefeated and finished on Sunday while missing pitcher Losson White, outfielder Ryan Stovall, Lee Powers who has missed most of the year, and their new addition Kevin Kennington who will be with the team at the Conference Championships.  When pressed in the first championship game by Pure Sports and down 1 run going into the 6th inning, Dan Smith turned it on and scored 22 runs to put the game away.  They were led offensively by Argen Dodds who was 20-26 with 13 homers and 21 RBI and the pitching of MVP Mike Nino who held down Pure Sports to just 24 runs total in their two meetings.  Going into the Conference Championships if Dan Smith were to pull off a tournament win there, then Resmondo would have to finish 2nd otherwise Dan Smith is your #1 seed for the Major!

Trending Up!

Dan Smith Sunday Lineup:
2B Steven Lloyd
RF Davis Bilardello
3B Dale Brungardt
LF Andrew Collins
C Argen Dodds
SS Joseph Bennett
MI Jordan Spaulding
1B Eric Kanaby
CF Ben Dunn
P Mike Nino

 

Brungardt at 3rd base and Jo Jo Bennett at SS

Andrew Collins (akn AC03, Ron Burgundy, and Lil Cheesy) hits a bomb in the winner's final

 

Davis Bilardello came up short in his bid for the batting title.  Lefty Erik Kanaby

Middle infielder Jordan Spaulding

2B Lloyd, 1B Kanaby, RF Bilardello

 

 

The management and sponsorship crew Hector Pagan, Steve Smith, Dan Smith, Pat Dalsanders, John Rector, Ed Menosse, and Bobby Nifong

 


 

2nd Place – Pure Sports/Monsta

Conf 'AA' from SC  5-2 Record

 

Pure Sports played the best defense of any team in the tournament and got some big offense out of Co-Offensive MVP's Donnie Hammonds 28-33, 13 HR, 31 RBI, and Jared Hunt 26-31, 6 doubles, 6 triples, 6 HR, and 28 RBI.  Justin Mackey also hit 10 HR.  The defense though was spectacular as Messer and Mcclanahan made some full out diving stops.  Mcclanahan and Mucciarelli stabbed some balls up the middle.  And Chente Granados came up with that spectacular double play to end the Smash It Sports threat on Sunday morning.  Pure wraps up the #1 seed for the USSSA 'AA' Worlds as long as TDB doesn't win the Conference Championships and Pure finishes last.  

Trending Up!

 

Pure Sports Sunday Lineup:
SS Zach Messer
LF Jason Branch
C Donnie Hammonds
1B Justin Mackey
RF Jared Hunt
3B Chente Granados
P Ryan Mcclanahan
LF Lee Payne
2B Heath Barnes
CF Bradley Scott

Mucciarelli pitched most games but had to catch flight during championship.
Carlsen injured his foot in his first game and sat out the rest of the event.

 

Jason Branch does this weeks "JC Phelps imitation".  Lee Payne hits one out.

 

Ryan Mcclanahan is one of the defensive stars in the conference at middle infield and pitcher.  He made some of the most amazing diving stops of the year in Columbus.  Also pictured is Justin Mackey who is having a huge year offensively and how about that diving stop he made at 1st base on Sunday!

 

Messer played shortstop with a bad hand/wrist.  Center fielder Bradley Scott makes a diving catch.

 

"One, two, three DW/three blind mice" – lol

 


 

3rd Place – Smash It/Thunder/Backman/TDB/S&S/Miken

Conf Major from NY  6-2 Record

 

Smash It played without Purcell who's suspension ends soon.  Smash It was upset by Premier when they could only come up with a tying run in the top of the 7th against Premier.  They did show some great resilience coming through the loser's bracket and finding ways to win and then putting pressure on, and beating Resmondo Sunday morning by scoring a couple of key double digit innings.  The defense made some errors in the Pure Sports game and they looked to be out of gas as far a lack of adrenaline offensively in that last game.  They go into the post season with just 2 tournament wins compared to 9 in 2017, so they go in as the underdogs for possibly the first time in Andy and Jr's last decade of playing. 

Trending Even

Andrew Vitcak pitched the whole tournament for Smash

Ryan Harvey

 

Josh Riley hits a two out, two strike, solo homer to tie the game in the 7th against Premier.

Vitcak pitching, Williams at 3B, Dedonatis SS, Washington LF

 


 

4th Place – Resmondo/RDD/H.Auto/All In/Sprizzi/Easton

Conf Major from FL  5-2 Record

 

Resmondo struggled offensively in a tournament they were heavily favored in.  A baseball field tournament using a softer ball, the Dudley Classic M, should have been to their advantage and on artificial turf to help them on the defensive side.  But they got smashed (run ruled) by Ohio 'A' team Pauer Sports in their opener and at times struggled through a long hot loser's bracket into Sunday at one point using a walk off hit by Bryson Baker to beat Precision 16-15.  On Sunday morning at 8 AM vs Smash It Sports when they could have rolled over and lost by the 15 run mercy rule but they fought all the way back and nearly caught up but lost 46-36.

Trending Even

Mack 3B, Rettenmeier SS, Bazat MI, Connell 2B

Pitcher Travis Clark was in the running for the batting title

 

Connell and Wegman also had an outside shot at the batting title

Brad Reckart has been one of the league leaders all year in batting average calculated without home runs

 


 

Tied 5th Place Pauer Sports/JBL/Tailgaters/B&E

Conf 'A' from OH  3-2 Record

Pauer Sports tweaked their roster in July and then shocked the softball world last Friday night when they run ruled #1 Resmondo 42-27.  On Saturday, needing one more win to qualify for the USSSA Major World Series, they knocked off 'AA' power Racks 24-15!  Welcome to the Major!  Pauer Sports was led offensively by Tim "bye bye" Bowser .750, 7 HR, 15 RBI, John Radich, and Mike Mallory.  They picked up some new faces in Frankie Andriola and Pitcher Kyle Jamison who helped.  But that offensive performance Friday night against Resmondo is worth watching on the archives as they left Resmondo on the field in the bottom of the 6th.

Trending Up!

 

Bowser leading with the bat

 

New Players

 


 

Tied 5th Place Premier/Easton/HDLNS

Conf 'A' from OH  3-2 Record

Premier was the other Ohio 'A' team that shocked the softball world with a 12-11 win on the big field #15 against #2 ranked Smash It Sports Major team.  They held down Smash It in the top of the 7th with some great pitching and then Ryan Disbennett doubled to lead off the bottom of the 7th and Chuck Lack hit the game winning single with two outs to seal the upset.  On Saturday they clinched their spot in the USSSA Major World Series with a 15-14 win over Newbreed with the entertaining Rocky Staton doing the pitching.  Premier is 2-1 vs Smash It Sports in 2018 and it is fun to see teams earn their way into the show!

Trending Up!

Rocky Staton has been learning to pitch and always had that ability to get under the opposing teams skin

I still don't know these guys well enough to list their names.  But we will learn at the World Series!

Ryan Disbennett doubles to leadoff the bottom of the 7th vs SIS

Another big hit in the 7th

Premier has a little bit of old school fire.  Reminds me of another Cincinnati team from the past, Mike Foulkes Auto Body!

 


 

Other top finishing Conference teams

 


 

Tied 7th Place – Baugh Ford/Pure Sports/Kincaid

Conf 'A' from AL  4-2 Record

 

Baugh Ford climbed the conference points ladder all the way to 10th with wins over Cheap Suits, Floors Unlimited, Seminoles, and a one run win over Racks in a game they turned a triple play in.  Baugh was on a roll early in the season, then disappeared for two months before winning the Cajun last weekend and now having this mini run in Columbus.  They will be the #1 seed for the USSSA 'A' Worlds!

Trending Up!

  

Ian Sidebottom who was the MVP of the Cajun Classic last week and pitcher/sponsor Tommie Baugh hitting

 

Ty Cobb hits an inside the park homer where his head first slide took his pants off…lol

 


 

Tied 7th Place – Newbreed/Steel Sports/Demarini

Conf 'AA' from WA  3-2 Record

Newbreed made it to the final 8 with what appeared to be easy wins over Insane Sports 29-9 and Riot Sports 25-10.  After being upset by Premier by a run, they fell to the loser's bracket and beat Nightmare 29-17 before Resmondo sent them packing 27-12.  They were 2-0 vs 'AA' teams on the weekend.

Trending Up!

 

Newbreed picked up two more bats before the deadline in Eli Aguilar and Steven Lopez
 

Everett Williams played some MI and Victor Cordova drives a ball against Premier.

Chris Stamper did the pitching for Newbreed after Cole Patterson left the team after Colorado

 


 

Hot Links section brought to you by:

I would like to thank all of my sponsors, USSSA, and the SoftballCenter advertisers for their support!

Send corrections to dw@softballcenter.com

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Link to all 2009 to 2018 Tournament Reports and Previews

Nationwide Conference USSSA Points and information link

 


 

Some more pictures for you:

Tied for 9th – Nightmare/Miken (MO-AA) 3-2 – Tommy Melton came up short in his bid for the batting title.  Nightmare lost to Pure Sports Friday night in the final 16 and then beat T&W and TG Brand in the loser's bracket before Newbreed sent them packing.

 

Tied for 9th – TDB/FAI/Klutch/Miken (NC-AA) 2-2 – TDB lost to rival Pure Sports 18-1 in the final 8 of the winner's bracket and lost 25-20 to Smash It when they dropped into the loser's bracket.  The team looks to regroup at the Conference Championships where they had their most success in Viera, Florida this year.

 

 

Tied for 9th – Racks/Worth Astros/Klutch/Troupe (IN-AA) 2-2 – Racks won late Friday over T&W by 20 runs and then beat Xtreme 16-2 on Saturday morning.  But was upset by Pauer Sports 24-15 in the final 8 and then in the loser's bracket dropped a 10-9 decision to Baugh Ford.

Racks middle man Brian Faria shows proper foot work on the take it yourself DP.

 

Tied for 9th – Precision/3rd Street/Bull Dawg (IL-AA) 2-2 – Houseman hits a bomb. 

Precision beat Baugh Ford to make the final 8, but only scored 6 and 15 against Major teams Dan Smith and Resmondo.  In the Resmondo game they led 15-13 going into the bottom of the 7th.

 

 

Tied for 13th – Riot Sports/Broughton/Beckham/Worth (FL-AA) 2-2 – Riot played short handed without Sanchez, Nichols, and Langford.  Their shortstop Patrick Donahue pitched and newly acquired Chris Costantino played 3rd base.  They had the unfortunate luck of meeting Smash It Sports early in the loser's bracket.

 

Tied for 13th – Seminoles/TPS/NACSF.INC/Easton (OK-A) 2-2 – Seminoles had a big win over Bay Area Legends and played fairly well against Dan Smith Friday.  They also beat La Famiglia.

 

 

Tied for 13th – Xtreme/Miken/ASP/Athlon (MN-AA) 2-2 – Dirk Updike and Austin Green did the pitching

 

Tied for 13th – TG Brand (MI-A) 1-2 – TG Brand did not make the major even though they finished 2nd in Chattanooga and 3rd in Chicago.

Jeff Hague donated the score board which mysteriously wasn't used.

How about those 27 World Championships!

The 1994 AA Hague was DW's favorite team of all time.  Joe Foley, Tim Linson, Steve Dickinson, Ron Fields, Burbrink, Tommy Thompson, and many others.  Great team!

 

Clif Williamson was picked up by Cheap Suits

Finally got a picture of Smash It Sports 'B' team after all the roster changes

Filip Washington seemed to get away with a half swing which was outlawed in 2017

Bay Area lost their opener to Seminoles and dropped into the loser's bracket to meet Smash It's Major team.  That bad luck knocked them out of the top 16.

It was not La Famiglia's tournament

This slide prompted a discussion about whether slides through the base or to the inside or outside of the base should be made illegal?

T&W appealed back to 'B'

Cory Newman for Racks again had an incredible home run rob in center field.  I couldn't find the clip in the archives…

An impossible call, looks like a tie

Mooch did the "Karate Kid" so AJ Montano did the same

John Rector, one of the great power hitters of all time Howie Krause, and Mike Cornell

Columbus very own Doug Reed and Demarini's Mike Cornell (who showed up late)…

 

North End Dogs from Toledo had veterans Mike Rose who used to play with Jean Shoppe and John Simpson who used to run center field for Maroadis in their heyday

Conference Umpires!

These two players were exchanging barbs back and forth and Tony made them hug it out…lol

A bunch of Texas players and Nino

Uncle Stro buying the ice cream

For all my "fans" I decided to wear my Mooch "cookies and rings" shirt and my Resmondo hat while working on the report

 

 

 

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