Wednesday March 27th, 2024
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2010 USSSA Conference Smoky Mountain Classic Recap

 

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2010 Conference USSSA


"42nd Annual Smoky Mountain Classic"

 

Maryville, TN 


July 9-11

 

 

Sunday morning at the Smoky Mountain Classic Championship – Resmondo's Don Dedonatis leads off with a single

The "42nd Annual Smoky Mountain Classic" was held this past weekend in Maryville, Tennessee outside of Knoxville.  In true Smoky tradition the top teams dominated as Resmondo and Dan Smith finished 1st and 2nd.  Resmondo "run ruled" their way through their first 4 Conference opponents and never let up more than 14 runs in a game enroute to the finals on Sunday.  Things changed in the Championship game on Sunday though when a Dal Beggs homer for Dan Smith capped an incredible 17 run bottom of the first inning after Resmondo had put up 7 in the top.  Then Resmondo left the door open by leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 3rd and trailed 17-15.  In the 4th inning, Dan Smith right fielder Ryan Robbins made a great running catch in the gap on a ball hit by Scott Striebel to keep the game tied at 21-21.  Resmondo took the lead for the first time in the 5th on a Jeff Wallace 3 run homer to make it 24-23.  Then in the top of the 7th with Resmondo leading 31-30, some poor defense by the Dan Smith infield allowed Connell, Fulk, Striebel, Bryson Baker, and Jeff Wallace to all get a chance to hit homer's and they buried Dan Smith with a 13 run inning and won 44-33.  Connell's homer was a BOMB which made the Smoky crowd "aaahhhh" as it cleared the left field trees and most likely the stream behind them.  Resmondo wins their 3rd Smoky in a row and 6th in the last 8 years.


Here is a list of Smoky Mountain Champions:

2010 Resmondo Specialty Tank Phonemasters, Winter Haven, FL   
2009 Resmondo/Specialty/Worth from Winter Haven, FL
2008 Resmondo/Specialty Tank/Worth from Winter Haven, FL
2007 Bell Corp/Belcher/TAI/Easton
2006 Resmondo/KME Softball – Winter Haven, Florida
2005 Bell Corp/Backman/Taylor/Easton – Tampa, Florida
2004 Resmondo/Hague/Taylor/Sunbelt
2003 Hague / Resmondo / Taylor Brothers
2002 Dan Smith / Backman / Menosse / Easton
2001 Long Haul / Taylor Bros. / Shen Corp. / TPS
2000 Team TPS/Louisville, KY
1999 Team TPS, Louisville, Kentucky
1998 Sierra/TPS, Reno, NV
1997 Ritch's/Superior/Tri Gems/Beloli/TPS, Windsor Locks, CT
1996 Sunbelt/Easton, Centerville, GA
1995 Ritch's/Superior/TPS, Windsor Locks, CT
1994 Ritch's/Superior/TPS, Windsor Locks, CT
1993 Ritch's/Superior, Windsor Locks, CT
1992 Bell Corp, Tampa, FL.
1991 Bell Corp, Tampa, FL.
1990 Steeles Silver Bullets, Grafton, OH
1989 Superior-Apollo, Windsor Locks, CT
1988 Starpath Systems, Monticello, KY
1987 Steeles Sports, Grafton, OH
1986 Steeles Sports, Grafton, OH
1985 Elite Coatings, Gordon, GA
1984 Elite Coatings, Gordon, GA
1983 Elite Coatings, Gordon, GA
1982 York/Ken Sanders, York, PA
1981 Howards Western Steer, Denver, NC
1980 Jerry's Caterers, Miami, FL.
1979 Campbell's Carpet, Concord, CA
1978 Dave Carroll Sports, Sherrills-Ford, NC
1977 Howards Furniture, Denver, NC
1976 Howards Furniture, Denver, NC
1975 Nelson Painting, Oklahoma City, OK
1974 Howards Furniture, Denver, NC
1973 Rudder Construction, Knoxville, TN
1972 Card's Carpet, Chattanooga, TN
1971 Scott County Merchants, Stamping Ground, KY
1970 Trailways, Knoxville, TN
1969 Eastern State, Knoxville, TN

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Resmondo's Greg Connell hits a long homer


The Smoky crowds which are legendary, seemed to be down a little from the past two years.  The unlimited homers and 80 foot bases actually played pretty well and games were more competitive after the non-conference teams were eliminated on Saturday afternoon.  Down2EarthSports.com being the only non-conference team that did anything.  Down2Earth knocked off FBI 27-22 and would have to be considered the biggest upset of the tournament.  Non-conference teams were 3-20 against conference teams overall.

This is Sandy Springs field #3.  Legend has it that some Smoky bombers have hit the ball over these tennis courts.   I watched a few hit the middle of the 2nd court but none over it.

The show field bows out to 350 in center field

The weather was warm, but the vast amount of shade trees near the main diamond kept things tolerable.  The infields made for some treacherous hops especialy on the 2nd and 3rd bounces.  The ball used was the standard conference ball and played fair, homer's were down, but the big boys like Greg Connell still awed the crowd with some LONG homers.

The Maryville College baseball field – 330 – 382 – 400 dimensiions

 

A picture of the short porch fence on Sandy Springs diamond #4

Suncoast outfielder Jason Branch climbs the wall

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Bucket bat testing was in effect for the last 6 games or so  

"Smoky" Tournament Awards and Final Standings:

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Tournament MVP Bobby Hughes ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
Offensive Tournament MVP Brian Wegman Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney
Defensive Tournament MVP Don DeDonatis III ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
All Tournament Team Ryan Robbins Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney
All Tournament Team Rick Baker Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney
All Tournament Team JD Genter Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney
All Tournament Team B J Fulk ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
All Tournament Team Bryson Baker ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
All Tournament Team Scott Striebel ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
All Tournament Team Jeff Wallace ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
All Tournament Team Tony Mack Albicocco's/The Scene/Worth
All Tournament Team Howie Krause ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters
All Tournament Team MIKE TAYLOR TEAM COMBAT / LASER VISION
All Tournament Team Kevin Gillott TEAM COMBAT / LASER VISION
All Tournament Team Rick Sills Albicocco's/The Scene/Worth
All Tournament Team Steven Lloyd Albicocco's/The Scene/Worth
All Tournament Team Geno Buck Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney
All Tournament Team Andrew Purcell ResmondoSpecialtyTankPhoneMasters

 

Place State Team Team
Class
Wins Loses Ties Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
USSSA
Points
1 FL resmondospecialtytankphonemasters SPMensMajor 5 0 0 153 76 30.6 15.2 15.4 44 150
2 CAN Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney SPMensMajor 4 2 0 148 109 24.6 18.1 6.5 33 110
3 NYD albicocco's/the scene/worth SPMensA 6 2 0 178 138 22.2 17.2 5 32 180
4 WA team combat / laser vision SPMensA 4 2 0 153 128 25.5 21.3 4.16 37 160
5 TN jean shoppe-easton-down2earthsports SPMensA 4 2 0 149 112 24.8 18.6 6.16 30 140
5 MI sinister/line drive/sss/worth/mojo SPMensA 3 2 0 77 83 15.4 16.6 -1.2 26 140
7 FL ajs/easton/supreme/mike foulks/mojo SPMensB 4 2 0 151 111 25.1 18.5 6.66 35 160
7 TXN Wood Law/Miken SPMensA 3 2 0 134 114 26.8 22.8 4 36 120
9 GA down 2 earth sports/ worth SPMensC 3 2 0 122 101 24.4 20.2 4.2 38 100
9 VA aubrey's/taylormade/mizuno SPMensA 3 2 0 94 92 18.8 18.4 0.40 29 100
9 GA LOGO EXPRESS SPMensB 3 2 0 122 113 24.4 22.6 1.8 37 150
9 FL Suncoast / Reebok SPMensA 2 2 0 85 50 21.2 12.5 8.75 23 100
13 SC fowl ball sports/gas-it/easton SPMensB 2 2 0 66 73 16.5 18.2 -1.7 22 140
13 AR fence brokers/gametime supply/worth SPMensB 2 2 0 85 80 21.2 20 1.25 27 140
13 OHO blitz/watanabe/weller/minges/easton SPMensB 2 2 0 73 67 18.2 16.7 1.5 23 140
13 IN MidWest Swing SPMensB 2 2 0 73 81 18.2 20.2 -2 32 140
17 VA Virginia Selec Softball SPMensC 1 2 0 54 57 18 19 -1 26 40
17 TN southeastern electrical contractors SPMensC 1 2 0 28 35 9.33 11.6 -2.3 15 0
17 TN Jonesboro Selec SPMensC 1 2 0 39 54 13 18 -5 25 40
17 OHC mwc/pipe/mojo/dss bats/easton SPMensB 1 2 0 67 68 22.3 22.6 -0.3 34 40
17 TXS Texas Softball Club/Miken SPMensB 1 2 0 54 73 18 24.3 -6.3 28 40
17 FL Art Explosion/drash SPMensB 1 2 0 50 68 16.6 22.6 -6 29 120
17 TN FSI/Gene Ownby Paint SPMensC 0 2 0 28 53 14 26.5 -12. 20 0
17 TN chuck ward real estate investments SPMensC 0 2 0 5 36 2.5 18 -15. 3 40
25 WI Wisconsin Worth SPMensA 0 2 0 35 52 17.5 26 -8.5 25 0
25 TN Slow Motion/BC Lockdown SPMensE 0 2 0 10 56 5 28 -23 9 0
25 TN Havoc/Stoneville/SPSS SPMensC 0 2 0 19 71 9.5 35.5 -26 13 0
25 TN DBO SPMensC 0 2 0 14 38 7 19 -12 8 0
25 TN JB Sporting Goods/Elite SPMensD 0 2 0 14 57 7 28.5 -21. 13 0
25 OHO a&k tile/3rd street financial SPMensB 0 2 0 13 47 6.5 23.5 -17 7 0

 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

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1st  GTGG Resmondo / Specialty Tank / Phonemasters 

Conf 'M' from FL,  5-0 Record

Resmondo wraps up the 2nd leg of the "New Era Grand Slam" as they add the Smoky title to their Dudley title from last month.  Resmondo wins their 7th tournament of the season and continue their dominance over the Conference.  They played without left fielder Brian Rainwater but didn't miss a beat as my pick for MVP Greg Connell relentlessly hit bomb after bomb into the trees.  When it comes to defense, Resmondo infielders are just flat out better at fielding the hard smashes and completing throws and double plays.

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Resmondo's Purcell hits run rule walk off to beat Dan Smith in Winner's Bracket Championship


Lineup:
SS Don Dedonatis Jr
2B Greg Connell
MI Bryson Baker
C  Jeff Wallace
3B Dennis Rulli
P  Andy Purcell
RF BJ Fulk
CF Bobby Hughes
1B Howie Krause
LF Scott Striebel

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Fulk hits a big homer late in the championship game

LOOKOUT!  When you see Resmondo's Jeff Wallace close that top hand

Resmondo's Fulk hits a bomb against Wood Law

 


 

2nd  GTGG Dan Smith / Menosse

Conf 'M' from CA,  4-2  Record

Dan Smith played without one of the leagues leading hitter's Brett Helmer (bad back) and first baseman Ryan Thiede (leg?).  I believe they used a 10 man lineup? most of the tournament and showed some life against Resmondo by scoring that incredible 17 run first inning in the Championship which should give them some confidence going forward.  Of course most of that inning was homeruns.  The Dan Smith defense needs to tighten up all the way around.   Rumor is they will be a late scratch from the Cincinnati tournament this coming weekend.

LF Brian Wegman
CF Rick Baker
3B JD Genter
1B Denny Crine
P  Geno Buck
2B Jeremy Isenhower
C  Scott Brown
RF Ryan Robbins
MI Dal Beggs
SS Brett McCollum 
  

 

 

More 'D' like this by SS Brett McCollum is needed for Dan Smith to compete with Resmondo

Dan Smith's Brian Wegman was offensive MVP

Rick Baker celebrates a 17 run 1st inning


 

3rd  Albicoccos / The Scene / Worth

Conf 'A' from NY,  6-2  Record

Albicocco is a surprise 3rd place finisher in the Classic.  I didn't think they had the power to hang in an unlimited tournament but some players that don't normally hit the homer's, stepped their game up a notch.  They scored a solid 2nd round win over Fowl Ball Sports Friday night.  On Saturday morning on the show field they used some timely DP's and a great catch by Denarra Jackson in right field against the fence to keep Combat close but fell short 17-14.  In the loser's bracket they knocked off HALF of the 'A' division, beating
Aubrey's, Wood Law (27-26), Sinister, and revenging their loss to Combat (26-24).  In the Combat game (loser's semi-final) they scored 11 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win on homer's by Gulash, Donaldson, Moyer, a single by Tony Mack, and an incredible walk-off homer by Steven "The Kid" Lloyd.  In the loser's championship Albicocco showed some heart early by taking a 7-0 lead after the first but fatigue and a solid thumping by Dan Smith took over and they lost 28-11.

Albicocco is an entertaining team.  Their outfield of Chris Wilson, Steven Lloyd, and Denarra Jackson is surprisingly athletic and their infield with Roberts, Stillwell, and TMack make some great plays.  This team had a ton of clutch hitting all weekend long and teammates picked each other up after mistakes.

1B Rich Gulash
2B Rhodney Donaldson
EH Kyle Moyer
MI Tony Mack
CF Steven Loyd
RF Denarra Jackson
LF Chris Wilson
C  Randall Boone
3B Robin Roberts
SS Brad Stillwell
P  Rick Sills

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Albicoccos Kyle Moyer hits a big homer to tie the game vs Team Combat 24-24

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Albicoccos Steven Lloyd caps an 11 run inning with a walk off homer!

 

 


 4th  Team Combat / Laser Vision 

Conf 'A' from WA, 4-2  Record

Team Combat winds up with a nice 4th place finish and a much needed points weekend.  They came from a double digit deficit to knock off AJS 37-35 Friday night in the second round.  Then they knocked off Albicocco's 17-14 after an 11-3 first inning lead on the show field Saturday morning.  In the semi-finals they were run ruled by Resmondo 24-9.  Late Saturday night in the loser's bracket they had Shoppe 20 run ruled until some errors and a big inning by Shoppe let them back in it.  Combat held on 35-28.  On Sunday morning in the loser's semi final, Combat left some Conference points on the table when Albicocco revenged their earlier loss to Combat and scored 11 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win.

Combat played without the injured pitchers Bill Honeycutt (hamstring) and Robert Sena (hand) as well as utility man Robert Blackburn (foot).  They definitely battled this weekend and the free swinging helped them.  They brought Kevin "Gator" Gillot out of semi-retirement to pitch and he did a great job.

Lineup:
RF Jason Kendrick
LF Johnny McCraw
3B Rusty Bumgardner
EH Vince Bisbee
MI Joey Formosa
2B Seth Stephens

 

Cooper and the boys at Combat had some walking wounded.   Thats Robo out with the broken foot.

Mike Taylor was the new CF for Team Combat.  He chipped in nicely with 13 homer's and a .731 onbase

Kevin Gillot was brought in for Combat as an emergency Smoky pitcher

 


Tied 5th  Sinister / Linedrive / SSS / Worth / Mojo 

Conf 'A' from MI, 3-2  Record

Sinister won the low scoring game of the tournament in an 8-2 victory over Southeastern Electrical.  Then later on Friday night they beat Blitz solidly 26-17 on the show field.  On Saturday in the quarterfinals they came from a 17-9 deficit in the 5th against Suncoast and won on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Todd Joerling 20-19.  In the semi finals they were soundly beaten by Dan Smith 19-7 and in the loser's bracket they lost to Albicocco 26-16.

Left hand slugger Casey Rogowski returned from his Dudley knee injury.  The team as a whole just didn't put up big runs and definitely seemed low on power for the unlimited homer format.

Lineup:
SS Jeff McGavin
LF Rick Sedlacek
EH Kevin Filby
3B Todd Joerling
1B Casey Rogowski
C  Brian Puckett
2B Chris Kirian
CF Brandon Dillon
RF Doug Shanyfelt Jr
P  Billy Barrett
MI Willie Allen

  

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Sinisters game winning hit by Rick Sedlacek vs Suncoast was this close to being an out

Casey Rogowski was back from his Dudley knee injury and looked to be moving pretty good

 

 


Tied 5th   Jean Shoppe / Easton / Down2EarthSports 

Conf 'A' from ,  4-2  Record

Jean Shoppe used a huge first inning to beat Midwest Coast/Columbus Pipe over at the big college baseball field 26-5 then run ruled Logo Express at Everett Park 28-13, both on Friday.  In the quarter finals they were handled by Dan Smith 25-15 and sent to the loser's bracket.  There, they knocked off Down2EarthSports soundly 22-10, AJS 30-24, and then were knocked out by Team Combat 35-28 after being down over 20 runs.

Shoppe played looked pretty good this weekend but still needs to play better defensively and someday knock off a Major team (2-22 vs Major last 3 years).

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Matt King hits a homer vs AJS on Sandy Springs field #4


Lineup:
1B Eric Thompson
C  Tim Cocco
3B Lee Powers
DH Shane Hatfield
LF Brad Reckart
MI Sean McDonald
CF Matt King
SS Earl Bryant
2B Travis Lane
RF Kyle Cowart
P  Scott Nastally

Tim Cocco is still leading the nation in HRF for Jean Shoppe

Shoppe SS Earl Bryant throws out a CPipe runner


Tied 7th  AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo 

Conf 'B' from FL, 4-2  Record

AJS lost the "game of the night" Friday 37-35 to Team Combat in a shootout.  In the loser's bracket they beat Conference foes Fowl Ball and Suncoast before exiting against Shoppe and a 7th place finish.  Another competitive weekend where they solidified their 11th place in Conference points and they had the honor of being the highest finishing 'B' team.

 

 

 


 

Tied 7th  Wood Law / Miken

Conf 'A' from TX,  3-2  Record

Wood Law beat Virginia Selec t in their opener then when I arrived at Everett Park late Friday night they were down 15-11 to FBI before a barage of Wood Law homer's ended the game 34-15.  In the quarter finals they took their beating from Resmondo 29-14 then recovered to beat Logo before losing to Albicocco by one.

Wood Law picked up former Tri-State outfielder Ryan Parfitt who played great and is definitely one to watch with his speed, defense, and hiting.

 

Wood Law enjoys their appearance on the show field Saturday

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Wood Law's Justin Valenti robs a homer

Wood Law left fielder Ryan Parfitt was a nice addition from the disbanded Tri-State


 

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The Smoky Mountain Championship game between Resmondo and Dan Smith can be viewed here:

http://www.knoxivi.com/index.php/news-a-sports/smoky-mountain-classic

A local news station broadcast the game.

 


A big thanks to my sponsor's – USSSA, Down2EarthSports.com, GameTimeSupply.com, and MojoSportsGear.com

Thank you also to tournament director's Chris Clark and Joe Huff.    I appreciate the hard work and the hotel room very much.

As always send your questions, comments, and error fixes to dw@softballcenter.com  

If anyone in Cincy has a laptop with a firewire port I could probably try broadcasting the Championship game this weekend from the balcony there by the main field.

I will be in Cincinnati this Saturday for the next tournament.

Link to the rest of my Smoky pictures

Link to the Smoky Bracket/Stats

Link to the tournament in Cincinnati when ready

Link to the USSSA Point Standings and Stats

Here are some other pics from The Smoky:

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Aubrey's Brian Justice hits a homer over at the Maryville College baseball field

Suncoast center fielder Jason Branch

Charlie Brown in the Griffin uniform celebrates a homer and he pitched for Suncoast

#63, Texas Softball Clubs Ray Cowart takes on Landon Helm? of Suncoast who was wearing a full chest protector.  Good to see

Fowl Ball Sports

It was the Hatfields and the McCoys when Shoppe met Pipe.  McCoy won a few battles but Hatfield won the war.

 

It was good to see the old Columbus Pipe team back on the field

 

Bass Bats Long Haul bomber Todd Pease made an appearance with Midwest Coast/Columbus Pipe

The shortstop and leadoff hitter for Wisconsin Worth looked like a future talent

This center fielder for Texas Softball Club was covering some big time ground and hit a couple homer's

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Ball chaser's were out of breath when Wood Law smashed a bunch of homer's vs FBI over at Everett field

The championship game was broadcast via knoxivi.com

Next week the Conference moves to Cincinnati


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