Wednesday March 27th, 2024
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Smoky Mountain Classic Preview

Mens Major Slow Pitch Softball


The "42nd Annual" Smoky Mountain Classic


30 Teams — Double Elimination


This years Smoky Mountain Classic features 17 Conference USSSA teams and 30 teams overall.   2 'Major',  7 'A', 10 'B',  10 'C',  1 'E'.   The tournament, as it is every year, will be played at 6 fields spread over 4 different parks in and around the city of Maryville, Tennessee.

As is the norm for most Conference events in 2010, the tournament really doesn't get started until the 2nd round games begin.   This is because most of the 14 first round games are Conference vs local 'C' and lower teams.   The second round matchups and beyond though will be great games worthy of Smoky tradition.   The first two rounds of the Smoky are always played on Friday beginning at 4 PM and teams that win their first two games will find themselves playing on the Show Field Saturday in the Final 8 of the winner's bracket.

The Smoky Mountain Classic also features unlimited homeruns and non-standard 80 foot base lengths.   This 80 foot base length on softball fields makes for games that usually only contain singles and homer's.  The doubles and rare triples are reserved mostly for those quick top of the lineup guys.   Doubleplays are also a staple of the Classic.

The way to watch the Smoky Mountain Classic is to go to the main fields (Sandy Springs Park) on Friday night for the 4 PM and start of the 5 PM games there.   Then head over to the Maryville College baseball field to see Jean Shoppe take on MidwestCoast/Columbus Pipe.  From there, head over to Everett to see FBI vs A&K and Logo vs Havoc.   Then barring any upsets at 8 PM at Everett you can stay and watch Shoppe vs Logo and at 9:30 PM FBI vs Wood Law OR catch the Team Combat vs AJS game back at the main complex OR head back to the college for Suncoast and Aubrey's.   Wherever you choose to go from 8 PM – 10:30 PM, if you haven't watched enough softball, you can head back to the main field and watch Blitz and SInister in the 10:15 PM start for the night cap.

On Saturday, park your chair in the shade at the show field and watch the top 8 teams battle it out all day long…

 

Sandy Springs Park (Fields 3 & 4) (Main Complex)
702 Best Street
Maryville, TN 37803

Everett Park (Fields 1 and 2) (around 300 ft fences)
702 Burchfield Street
Maryville, TN 37804

Maryville College (Field 5) (College Baseball field)
502 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy.
Maryville, TN 37804

Springbrook Park (Field 6)
1537 Dalton Street
Alcoa, TN 37701


        


#1 Ranked Team    [FL] RESMONDO SPECIALTY TANK PHONEMASTERS – They get a bye in the first round and play at 7:45 PM Friday on the show field.  Resmondo should dominate the show field for much of the weekend until their much anticipated showdown with Dan Smith.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Andrew Purcell 43 164-202 141 48 152 21 0.812
2 Greg Connell 43 174-220 138 62 218 6 0.791
3 Bobby Hughes 11 45-56 39 11 36 8 0.804
4 Bryson Baker 43 162-211 140 43 125 31 0.768
5 Howie Krause 35 115-150 100 39 93 23 0.767
6 Don DeDonatis III 43 171-228 146 10 76 40 0.750
7 B J Fulk 42 139-192 117 55 154 18 0.724
8 Dennis Rulli 29 105-141 80 14 58 23 0.745
9 Brian Rainwater 42 136-197 119 42 147 11 0.690
10 Jeff Wallace 42 141-202 127 47 140 18 0.698
11 Vernard Morency 5 7-11 7 0 3 0 0.636
12 Scott Striebel 38 107-156 90 14 64 27 0.686
13 Greg Hartwick 27 63-98 54 22 64 7 0.643
14 Dale Roe 5 9-14 6 1 4 1 0.643
15 Bryan King 23 21-31 17 0 21 7 0.677
16 Michael Rhines 28 72-118 59 22 60 12 0.610

 


#2 Ranked Team    [CA] DAN SMITH/MENOSSE/CHANEY – They get a bye in the first round and play at 9:30 PM Friday on the show field.  Dan Smith as a team has more power than any team in the nation as they sport most of the Long Haul Bomber tour hitters.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Brett Helmer 46 169-214 142 56 133 33 0.790
2 Brian Wegman 52 186-249 151 54 141 21 0.747
3 RYAN THIEDE 46 154-205 125 47 146 21 0.751
4 Rick Baker 51 179-241 160 39 142 21 0.743
5 JD Genter 53 190-253 158 49 156 34 0.751
6 Mark Urbain 16 27-36 20 4 19 5 0.750
7 Dal Beggs 52 158-217 128 52 140 20 0.728
8 Denny Crine 53 163-225 132 32 122 23 0.724
9 Geno Buck 41 128-179 112 48 133 13 0.715
10 Jeremy Isenhower 51 155-220 130 35 106 24 0.705
11 Brett McCollum 50 143-210 132 43 126 12 0.681
12 Scott Kirby 20 46-67 35 6 29 11 0.687
13 Scott Brown 30 73-114 62 29 92 9 0.640
14 Chris Greinert 28 40-67 36 13 37 3 0.597
15 Ryan Robbins 42 87-143 77 32 73 16 0.608
16 John Gallegos 15 15-26 12 1 8 3 0.577




Here are the 1st round matchups and a look at the teams:

Game #1 Fri 4:00 PM Sandy Springs #3 (Show Field)
[FL] ART EXPLOSION/DRASH Conf-B vs [TN] CHUCK WARD REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS 'C'
– Art Explosion is a struggling Conference 'B' team that should handle the local 'C' team Chuck Ward in the first round.   Game will most likely be low scoring in the heat and the winner gets the pleasure of being hammered by number one seed Resmondo at the 7:45 PM Friday night game on the show field.   Art Explosion is led by Conference veterans Jeff Turnbow, Will Watson, and Chad Bryant.   The local Chuck Ward team from Knoxville doesn't seem to have much USSSA experience this season.   

 Art Explosion's Jeff Turnbow (batting) and Will Watson on first 

 


Game #2 Fri 8:00 PM Everett #2
[AR] WOOD LAW/MIKEN Conf-A vs [VA]  VIRGINIA SELEC 'C'              
– Wood Law (ranked #9) makes the trip from Texas and gets a Virginia Selec team that looks like they haven't played much utrip.   V Selec has played a lot of championship caliber ball at the lower divisions but Wood Law should handle them with the power of Dennis Shrum and Mark Dennis leading the way.   The game starts around 8 PM so the ball may start to fly a little better in this one.   The winner should get a hot FBI team at 9:30 PM immediately following the game.  Note: the web editor I am using won't let me put the 't' on the word Selec_.  lol

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Dennis Shrum 25 73-105 59 31 77 12 0.695
2 Matt Arlett 23 50-71 35 6 37 11 0.704
3 Doug Wood 16 31-46 18 1 14 5 0.674
4 Mitch Mabe 25 69-107 54 10 41 5 0.645
5 Brad Eubanks 5 11-18 10 2 9 0 0.611
6 Timothy Mattox 18 51-76 31 8 28 12 0.671
7 Derek Perkins 24 65-104 46 8 42 8 0.625
8 Mark Dennis 25 65-100 42 15 45 14 0.650
9 Mike Martin 13 32-48 26 8 24 9 0.667
10 John Dutch 25 63-100 41 11 40 10 0.630
11 Justin Valenti 25 59-96 40 12 34 13 0.615
12 Greg Barrios 5 9-16 4 0 3 1 0.563
13 Randall Poplin 25 53-99 36 8 39 4 0.535
14 Rodney Fail 14 16-31 8 1 9 1 0.516
15 David Lewis 2 1-2 0 0 0 0 0.500
16 Justin Mucciarelli 7 11-23 8 0 6 1 0.478
17 Kirk Stafford 12 18-33 11 6 12 6 0.545
18 Christopher Larsen 7 13-27 10 4 12 3 0.481

 


Game #3 Fri 6:30 PM Everett #2
[AR] FENCE BROKERS/GAMETIME SUPPLY Conf-B vs [OH] A&K TILE/3RD STREET FINANCIAL 'B'              
– FBI (ranked #7) gets a Cincinnati 'B' team in the first round over at Everett Park #2.   A&K Tile hasn't played much upper level this season.   Outfielder Ben Moerlein is one to watch on A&K.   FBI should handle A&K with sluggers John Glidewell (30 HR's), Tim Bowser (27 HR's), and Zach Keene (26 HR's) leading the way.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 John Glidewell 34 115-154 92 37 107 17 0.747
2 Zach Keene 29 80-113 62 28 71 17 0.708
3 Tim Bowser 33 87-128 70 30 79 9 0.680
4 Pat Burton 26 68-103 49 10 52 2 0.660
5 Brent Gigerich 30 87-136 65 20 54 11 0.640
6 Gary Don Farrar 34 89-137 65 7 57 15 0.650
7 Tim Howard 34 95-154 75 24 98 5 0.617
8 Chris Walker 20 39-61 29 8 30 10 0.639
9 Matt Pennington 27 52-81 29 3 19 14 0.642
10 RAUL CARDENAS 34 78-138 59 10 55 7 0.565
11 Brock McCorkle 32 68-115 50 3 43 17 0.591
12 Perry Hensley 34 79-138 59 18 50 28 0.572
13 Chad Walker 20 33-61 28 1 13 9 0.541
14 Mike Lowrey 11 13-25 13 2 8 3 0.520
15 Roland Pennington 11115 6-13 5 0 2 1 0.462

Game #4 Fri 4:00 PM Sandy Springs #4
[FL] AJS/EASTON/SUPREME/MIKE FOULKS Conf-B vs [TN] JONESBORO SELEC 'C'

– AJS, the 13th ranked team in the country takes on Jonesboro Selec from Johnson City, Tennessee in the early game at Sandy Springs.   AJS is a fun team to watch with their hard nosed in your face line drive style.   They are led by knuckleball specialist TJ Thompson and the leagues leading hitter Adam Rockoff (.822 onbase, 45 HR).

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Adam Rockoff 33 120-146 101 45 122 8 0.822
2 Scott Zaciewski 33 111-144 88 29 95 2 0.771
3 TERRY ROSENBALM 33 114-151 96 25 87 2 0.755
4 Nicholas J Masur 26 73-104 52 6 45 4 0.702
5 David Kessler 33 94-133 71 19 70 11 0.707
6 blake williams 19 49-74 37 21 58 1 0.662
7 Billy Moore 33 105-154 83 14 56 12 0.682
8 kyle yerkes 33 89-137 65 18 66 2 0.650
9 Joel Ramos 21 43-66 31 2 26 5 0.652
10 DAVID GARCIA 33 88-140 69 14 71 3 0.629
11 Chris Firebaugh 6 13-19 6 2 9 5 0.684
12 RICH MUELLER 10 23-37 16 1 14 5 0.622
13 Jose Santiago 15 34-54 23 4 25 11 0.630
14 T.J. Thompson 25 40-73 22 0 13 4 0.548
15 J.R. NOCERA 7 15-26 11 2 9 5 0.577

Game #5 Fri 5:00 PM Everett #1
[WA] TEAM COMBAT / LASER VISION Conf-A vs [TN] SLOW MOTION/BC LOCKDOWN 'E'
– Look for Team Combat (ranked #14) to run rule the 'E' team early.  Combat is led by veteran Smoky legends Rusty Bumgardner, Johnny McCraw, Jason Kendrick, and Vince Bisbee.   Bisbee was last years homerun derby champ.   Be sure to check out the defense of the youngster Chente Granados at SS.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Seth Stephens 28 98-125 75 21 74 7 0.784
2 Robert Blackburn 24 76-103 60 19 78 9 0.738
3 Michael Dill 33 107-145 88 18 59 19 0.738
4 Rusty Bumgardner 36 120-166 102 39 114 22 0.723
5 Vince Bisbee 36 121-172 94 27 70 25 0.703
6 Wade Casey 25 64-97 45 8 39 3 0.660
7 Joey Formosa 22 67-97 57 26 83 14 0.691
8 Johnny McCraw 36 109-163 98 41 110 17 0.669
9 Mario Granados 36 99-154 70 1 35 13 0.643
10 Robert Sena 34 77-122 47 3 40 9 0.631
11 Jason Kendrick 34 101-153 77 19 63 30 0.660
12 Vincent Granados 36 83-141 59 15 71 8 0.589
13 MIKE TAYLOR 10 25-41 22 6 18 6 0.610
14 William Honeycutt 19 24-42 19 2 18 7 0.571
15 Ryan Wood 10 2-6 3 0 0 0 0.333
16 Donald Cooper 1 1-4 1 0 0 0 0.250

 


Game #6 Fri 5:30 PM Everett #2
[SC] FOWL BALL SPORTS/GAS-IT/EASTON (Conf-B) vs [GA] DOWN 2 EARTH SPORTS/WORTH 'C'
– This is probably the most even matchup of the first round.  Down 2 Earth and veteran Derek Jones has some Smoky experience and have played very well in Conference tournaments this year.   Fowl Ball has done a nice job competing in most Conference games but may be a little short on power.

Fowl Ball Sports


  Down2EarthSports.com



Game #7 Fri 6:30 PM Sandy Springs #4
[NYD] ALBICOCCO'S/THE SCENE/WORTH (Conf-A) vs [TN] THE HITTER'S CLUB 'C'
– Albicocco (ranked #15) has had a couple weeks off since the Dudley and should be ready to go.   They are still affected by injuries to Rich Gulash and Steve Lloyd but should handle the local 'C' team Hitter's Club in the first round.



                       
Game #8 Fri 5:00 PM Sandy Springs #3
[OHO] BLITZ/WATANABE/WELLER/MINGES Conf-B [TN] DBO 'C'
– Blitz from Cincinnati pulls the 5 PM game on the show field.   Look for Blitz to struggle some with the local 'C' team in the heat.

 

1 Jon Jamison 6 24-32 24 9 22 2 0.750
2 Richie Jones 10 24-33 18 6 15 2 0.727
3 Jason Roesch 20 61-85 50 13 39 7 0.718
4 Brad Tabler 20 48-70 35 16 41 1 0.686
5 JAYSON SCOTT 20 58-82 45 8 30 7 0.707
6 Jimmy Carter 20 58-84 48 20 63 3 0.690
7 Justin Foust 10 24-37 16 6 19 1 0.649
8 Michael Rogers 20 57-87 54 16 41 4 0.655
9 Ryan Minges 16 42-66 31 14 40 6 0.636
10 Rob Menke 20 41-66 23 2 26 6 0.621
11 Bob Noeth 16 25-46 14 2 13 0 0.543
12 Larry Wert 15 29-50 21 8 174 5 0.580
13 Chris Ashley 11 12-22 12 0 8 1 0.545
14 Frank Gruber 16 27-51 20 4 14 5 0.529
15 Jeff Click 13 18-47 13 1 13 2 0.383


Game #9 Fri 6:15 PM Sandy Springs #3
[MI] SINISTER/LINE DRIVE/SSS/WORTH Conf-A vs [TN] SOUTHEASTERN ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS 'C'
– Sinister's (ranked #10) been in a bit of a tailspin since they were double dipped in the championship game by Logo in Atlanta.   They should use a nice seed to win their first two games over SEC and Blitz. 

 

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Casey Rogowski 30 83-113 67 25 88 1 0.735
2 Kevin Filby 37 115-153 87 34 128 14 0.752
3 Jeff McGavin 33 109-150 85 7 51 18 0.727
4 Todd Joerling 15 43-66 36 12 40 1 0.652
5 Rick Sedlacek 36 109-163 85 15 63 18 0.669
6 Chris Kirian 35 92-145 66 7 56 12 0.634
7 Brandon Dillon 37 87-143 74 35 106 4 0.608
8 Doug Shanyfelt, Jr. 15 31-52 24 9 30 1 0.596
9 William Allen 32 71-114 49 3 32 15 0.623
10 Brian Puckett 31 66-110 52 16 58 9 0.600
11 Rob Partain 24 40-68 29 4 16 5 0.588
12 Billy Barrett 29 58-99 37 10 50 8 0.586
13 Nick Musselman 17 38-63 24 7 19 8 0.603
14 Jeff Graus 22 36-62 24 4 20 6 0.581
15 Joshua Frank 21 35-66 24 7 24 4 0.530
16 Jason Crain 33 58-106 38 1 15 14 0.547

Game #10 Fri 8:00 PM Maryville College
[FL] SUNCOAST / REEBOK Conf-A vs [TXS] TEXAS SOFTBALL CLUB/MIKEN 'B'
– This ia an interesting matchup over at the College Baseball field where they usually get to hit the stadium ZN's.   Suncoast is in desperate need of a good points weekend as they are currently outside of the Major World standings.   They open against Texas Softball Club which is a veteran team led by former Long Haul bomber Ray Cowart.   From what I've seen of TSC, they are not going to be a good fit for the baseball field.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Jason Branch 13 42-60 34 5 23 3 0.700
2 Kris OHara 13 40-54 24 4 16 13 0.741
3 Dustin Roberts 13 35-52 22 7 38 4 0.673
4 Dan Dillingham 13 31-48 22 8 27 2 0.646
5 Johnny Dykes 13 31-48 23 10 27 5 0.646
6 Nathan Holcomb 9 16-27 10 4 14 0 0.593
7 Mike Overholt 9 20-32 14 2 7 3 0.625
8 Marty Malloy 11 25-41 18 3 12 3 0.610
9 Lee Trotter 12 30-49 20 4 22 5 0.612
10 Brent Griffin 12 28-47 21 5 16 4 0.596
11 Hank Garris 10 27-44 17 5 26 6 0.614
12 Jaime Nelson 13 29-52 24 5 30 3 0.558
13 Greg Zayas 8 4-8 5 1 3 0 0.500
14 Luis Reyna 4 8-14 7 1 4 3 0.571
15 joey michals 3 2-4 0 0 1 1 0.500
16 Chuck Koone 6 1-4 3 0 0 0 0.250

 


 
Game #11 Fri 6:30 PM Maryville College
[VA] AUBREY'S/TAYLORMADE/MIZUNO Conf-A  vs [WI] WISCONSIN WORTH Conf-A?
– A tough draw for Wisconsin Worth and more than likely an early exit as Aubrey's has too much firepower, range, and veteran stadium hitter's.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Brandon Jonas 4 12-12 6 0 8 2 1.000
2 Brian Justice 29 101-126 75 28 87 12 0.802
3 Stacy Bolton 27 84-111 73 22 76 6 0.757
4 RICK LEITH 6 11-15 8 4 16 2 0.733
5 Chad McLamb 27 94-126 75 6 38 23 0.746
6 Jonathan Dotson 5 9-13 6 0 6 1 0.692
7 Bryan Goins 12 31-46 18 5 23 2 0.674
8 Cory Boothe 27 71-106 58 21 70 5 0.670
9 Eric Byrum 7 9-14 9 2 9 0 0.643
10 John Bailey 23 63-94 50 16 43 8 0.670
11 Bill Kugler 26 69-101 47 12 41 13 0.683
12 BRIAN FLOYD 28 83-117 69 18 62 26 0.709
13 Chris Calcutt 27 71-108 62 10 50 13 0.657
14 CHYENNE BROOKS 28 72-111 45 8 49 11 0.649
15 Kevin Rye 10 27-42 24 5 28 4 0.643
16 Kevin Bazat 27 54-95 43 3 36 3 0.568
17 Cory Franklin 19 36-65 25 9 34 0 0.554
18 Brian Logan 7 14-27 9 1 4 0 0.519

 


Game #12 Fri 5:30 PM Maryville College
[TN] JEAN SHOPPE-EASTON-DOWN2EARTHS Conf-A vs [OHC] MWC/PIPE/MOJO/DSSBATS/EASTON 'B'
– Under normal circumstances I'd say this would be the best first round matchup.   However Columbus Pipe has suffered a number of season ending injuries and player losses that lead me to believe the baseball field will be too much for them and Shoppe (ranked #11) should cruise through this one.  Columbus Pipe does have a few players from the team that knocked off Resmondo in St Louis back in 2008 and have Conference experience.  Any good free agents out there looking for a team to finish the season with should email me at
dw@softballcenter.com and I'll forward your info to Columbus Pipe management.

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Shane Spicer 10 15-18 11 2 10 2 0.833
2 Tim Cocco 25 82-110 75 44 110 5 0.745
3 Matt King 28 85-112 66 26 53 17 0.759
4 Eric Thompson 30 102-140 74 8 43 21 0.729
5 Shane Hatfield 27 92-133 67 25 73 9 0.692
6 Lee Powers 26 53-76 31 10 43 7 0.697
7 Earl Bryant 29 77-115 63 27 73 3 0.670
8 Sean McDonald 30 82-119 68 20 69 14 0.689
9 Travis Lane 25 63-97 46 15 46 5 0.649
10 Scott Nastally 29 66-101 39 3 38 8 0.653
11 Kyle Cowart 30 69-109 57 9 47 8 0.633
12 Dan Bean 29 76-123 62 6 40 9 0.618
13 Brad Reckart 30 89-135 67 18 52 25 0.659

 


 
Game #13 Fri 6:30 PM Everett #1
[GA] LOGO EXPRESS Conf-B vs [TN] HAVOC/STONEVILLE/SPSS 'C'
– Logo Express (ranked #3) is a Conference team with an impressive resume of wins this season.   Most recently they double dipped Sinister to win the Atlanta tournament.   Look for Logo to knock off Havoc in the first round and battle Jean Shoppe in the second to try and earn a berth in the final 8 on Saturday.

 

 

Rank Name G OB-PA R HR RBI BB OBA
1 Brandon Murray 17 50-70 43 16 41 8 0.714
2 Robert Canceran 23 64-94 45 14 51 2 0.681
3 Brian Autry 23 65-99 49 21 60 5 0.657
4 Matt Bunn 23 60-94 47 13 46 1 0.638
5 Kevin Johnson 21 41-63 27 0 13 4 0.651
6 Frank Allen Yeilding 18 46-74 36 11 41 1 0.622
7 JESSE HARRISON 23 63-104 45 6 45 3 0.606
8 Phillip White 23 61-97 45 13 47 10 0.629
9 Matt Blanton 23 53-87 45 11 38 8 0.609
10 Lee Daniels 20 53-90 45 7 35 6 0.589
11 Ricky Haymans 20 42-69 24 2 18 9 0.609
12 Andy Urban 13 27-50 25 6 20 1 0.540
13 EDDIE MACHADO 15 25-48 12 0 15 2 0.521
14 Jason Snider 2 1-3 1 0 0 0 0.333

Game #14 Fri 5:00 PM Sandy Springs #4
[IN] MIDWEST SWING Conf-B vs [TN] FSI/GENE OWNBY PAINT 'C'
– Midwest Swing is playing in their first Smoky I believe.  They get a 5 PM start against FSI, a local 'C' team.   Midwest looks to build upon their breakthrough tournament in Chicago where they finished 5th.   Look for Midwest Swing to get by FSI and then try and hang for 7 innings with Dan Smith (unlikely).

 


 

Here are DW's Picks: (just for fun)

2nd Round:
Resmondo run rules Art Explosion

FBI continues their hot streak over Wood Law

AJS uses hustle and defense to knock off Team Combat which ruins a showdown
between Team Combat and Resmondo

Down2Earth or Fowl Ball upsets Albicocco

Sinister knocks off Blitz late on Friday night

Aubrey's over Suncoast in a good matchup over at the College baseball field

Jean Shoppe over Logo – possibly the best potential 2nd round matchup

Dan Smith run rules Midwest on show field with some majestic bombs

3rd Round:
Resmondo over FBI

AJS over Down2Earth

Aubrey's over Sinister

Dan Smith over Shoppe

Semi-Finals
Resmondo over AJS big

Dan Smith over Aubrey's

Championship
Dan Smith over Resmondo in both the winner's final and Championship to win
leg 2 of the "New Era Grand Slam"

 


 


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