2010 USSSA 'B' World Recap
2010 USSSA 'B' World
Kissimmee, Florida
AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo – 2010 'B' World Tournament Champions!
The 2010 'B' World Tournament was full of upsets from the beginning as "top 20" teams were losing games almost on an hourly basis. The one team that stood tall was AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulk's out of Florida who went 5-0 and defeated FamousSports.com/Easton 25-11 in the Championship game. AJS continued to win throughout the tournament as they watched the favorite teams like FBI, EWS, and Pipac fall out of the tournament early. We never really were able to get to any of the big "top 10" matchups that were much anticipated.
Fowl Ball Sports beat Hubs Pub 20-19 after a big bottom of the 7th comeback. KTI knocked off EWS 18-15. Famous beat Pipac 24-19. Bestrans beat FBI 21-16. And all this happened on Friday night!
On Saturday the wind began to blow in on two of the fields and out on the other two since the Fortune Road softball complex is a 4 field wheel layout. The wind really affected the games and the teams that adjusted the fastest were winner's.
As Saturday turned to dusk, the two teams left in the winner's bracket were Desert Falls from Utah and AJS from Florida. Desert Falls quickly pounced out of the gate and put up 12 runs in the top of the first. AJS could do nothing right as they threw the ball around the field giving up extra bases. In the bottom half of inning one, AJS put up a zero. Desert Falls increased their lead to a whopping 20-1 in the 3rd with incredible momentum. AJS would not back down however and methodically put up a long 19 run inning as the night fell and the ball started to fly. The laser show lasted over 20 minutes. In fact I walked away to watch the other two close games that were going on at the adjacent fields and when I came back, I thought AJS had started a new inning they had batted so long. The 19 run inning put AJS back in the game and with a few homer's left, they actually grabbed the lead 32-28 going into the 7th and held off Desert Falls to win what is being termed "the greatest game in class 'B' history". I cannot disagree. The momentum shift and pure adrenaline that Desert Falls and AJS displayed was impressive and fun for all.
When the sun set on the 'B' Worlds on Saturday night, it was a heavyweight showdown between AJS and Desert Falls with Desert leading early 12-0
AJS slugger Jason Kreider hits a bomb in the winner's final comeback vs Desert Falls
This double play ended a bases loaded no out, 1 run inning for AJS vs Desert Falls and nearly swung the momentum back in Desert Falls favor.
The "Comeback" is complete, AJS wins 32-30 over Desert Falls in the winner's bracket championship.
On Sunday morning in the finals it was never really a game as AJS dismantled a FamousSports.com team, that may have run out of gas. Famous finished the tournament 6-2 and were led by all tournament choices – pitcher Danny Lopez, slugger Ed Vega, middle infielder Chris Hansen, and newcomer – left fielder Travis Thurman.
"Almost" – FamousSports.com/Easton – 2010 'B' World Runner Up
The ball used was perfect for the conditions, home runs were not automatic by any means and more than a few were left on the table on Saturday and Sunday. The 'B' division had a 4 homerun limit.
The Wing House promotional girls were looking for a top team to take a photo with. EWS and FBI had lost so they "settled", (insert laughter), for AJS.
The thing that makes predicting World tournaments so hard is that all the teams are from the same classification. Wind, travel and rosters all make a difference. Teams like Bestrans, Desert Falls, and Famous had their full team for basically the first time all season and a team like KTI tucked away up there in the northwest was an unknown to me and most of the 'B' division. In the end the top 8 teams were Conference teams, its just that maybe they were not the Conference teams that were expected to be there, which is good for the game. Congratulations to all the teams and the great sponsors without whom none of us would be able to play and follow this great game.
Fortune Road fields are perfect for the 'B' Worlds. 325 foot fences, 4 fields, great weather.
Manager's meeting before the Championship game
Pipac's Lossen White pitches to T's 13
Blitz takes on Elite in extra innings on Saturday morning.
Outfield fences were a solid 325. Weather was perfect although the wind blew hard in on diamonds #2 and #3 and out on #4 and #1 most of Saturday, which influenced game scores dramatically.
'B' World Tournament Awards and Final Standings:
Player Tournament Awards | Players Name | Plays For |
Tournament MVP | T.J. Thompson | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
Offensive Tournament MVP | Ed Vega | FamousSports.com/Easton |
Defensive Tournament MVP | Joel Ramos | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | TERRY ROSENBALM | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | DAVID GARCIA | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | Levi Wright | Hub's Pub |
All Tournament Team | Chris Hoshaw | Desert Falls/Elite/Miken |
All Tournament Team | kyle yerkes | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | Danny Lopez | FamousSports.com/Easton |
All Tournament Team | blake williams | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | Tyson Steele | Desert Falls/Elite/Miken |
All Tournament Team | Chris Hansen | FamousSports.com/Easton |
All Tournament Team | adam elliot | |
All Tournament Team | Samuel Christensen | Desert Falls/Elite/Miken |
All Tournament Team | Dustin Boone | Hub's Pub |
All Tournament Team | Billy Moore | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | Nicholas J Masur | AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo |
All Tournament Team | Travis Thurman | FamousSports.com/Easton |
Place | State | Team | Team Class | Wins | Loses | Ties | Runs Scored | Runs Allow | Avg Runs | Avg Allow | Avg Diff | Max Runs | USSSA Points |
1 | FL | ajs/easton/supreme/mike foulks/mojo | SPMensB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 62 | 25 | 12.4 | 12.6 | 32 | 650 |
2 | CAS | FamousSports.com/Easton | SPMensB | 6 | 2 | 0 | 123 | 110 | 15.3 | 13.7 | 1.62 | 27 | 350 |
3 | UT | Desert Falls/Elite/Miken | SPMensB | 4 | 2 | 0 | 130 | 93 | 21.6 | 15.5 | 6.16 | 30 | 300 |
4 | MO | Hub's Pub | SPMensB | 5 | 2 | 0 | 144 | 95 | 20.5 | 13.5 | 7 | 26 | 250 |
5 | GA | LOGO EXPRESS | SPMensB | 3 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 70 | 18.4 | 14 | 4.4 | 26 | 200 |
5 | CAS | elite sports u.s.a./combat | SPMensB | 3 | 2 | 0 | 108 | 100 | 21.6 | 20 | 1.6 | 26 | 200 |
7 | OHO | blitz/watanabe/weller/minges/easton Qualified | SPMensB | 4 | 2 | 0 | 111 | 89 | 18.5 | 14.8 | 3.66 | 23 | 150 |
7 | IL | EWS/SHIRTS and LOGOS | SPMensB | 3 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 79 | 18.4 | 15.8 | 2.6 | 22 | 150 |
9 | SC | fowl ball sports/gas-it/easton | SPMensB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 58 | 73 | 14.5 | 18.2 | -3.7 | 25 | 110 |
9 | WA | KTI/Cartel DeMarini Qualified berth | SPMensB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 63 | 56 | 15.7 | 14 | 1.75 | 22 | 110 |
9 | MD | Bestrans Qualified berth | SPMensB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 62 | 12.2 | 15.5 | -3.2 | 21 | 110 |
9 | OHC | mwc/pipe/mojo/dss bats/easton Qualified berth | SPMensB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 56 | 10.5 | 14 | -3.5 | 13 | 110 |
13 | NE | RFC/SYNDICATE/Elite Qualified berth | SPMensB | 2 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 62 | 14 | 15.5 | -1.5 | 26 | 70 |
13 | IA | Pipac/TCP/Easton | SPMensB | 1 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 44 | 17.3 | 14.6 | 2.66 | 28 | 70 |
13 | IN | MidWest Swing | SPMensB | 1 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 63 | 15.6 | 21 | -5.3 | 24 | 70 |
13 | CT | Darkside/TYJA berth | SPMensB | 1 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 52 | 12.3 | 17.3 | -5 | 15 | 70 |
17 | FL | quality vault/ guinns electric Qualified | SPMensB | 1 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 48 | 12.3 | 16 | -3.6 | 23 | 40 |
17 | CO | Peak Contracting/TLG | SPMensB | 1 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 57 | 15 | 19 | -4 | 22 | 40 |
17 | AR | fence brokers/gametime supply/worth berth | SPMensB | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 34 | 13.5 | 17 | -3.5 | 16 | 40 |
17 | AZ | ATS/LG/TYJA SPORTS/EASTON | SPMensC | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 48 | 22.5 | 24 | -1.5 | 25 | 80 |
17 | NE | T's 13 Qualified | SPMensB | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 53 | 13 | 26.5 | -13. | 19 | 40 |
17 | CAN | Classic Glass/Easton/DSS Qualified berth | SPMensB | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 4 | 14.5 | -10. | 7 | 40 |
17 | OHO | a&k tile/3rd street financial Qualified berth | SPMensB | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 53 | 8.5 | 26.5 | -18 | 12 | 40 |
17 | FL | martys boys Qualified | SPMensC | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 48 | 9.5 | 24 | -14. | 12 | 80 |
25 | FL | bsm sports Qualified | SPMensC | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 49 | 16 | 24.5 | -8.5 | 17 | 0 |
Team by team notes brought to you by:
1st GTGG AJS/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo
Conf 'B' from , 5-0 Record
Ajs/Easton/Supreme/Mike Foulks/Mojo is the 'B' World Champions for 2010. This team was a collaborative effort between manager Mike Foulks and Pete Campbell. They put all of the right players in place and used a team first, "play for the next guy" mentality.
The scores tell almost all of the story as the MVP was pitching specialist Trent Thompson. Except for the first two innings of the Desert Falls winner's bracket championship game, the AJS defense was near perfect and the pitching was superb.
AJS 22 Peak Contracting/TLG 2
AJS 21 Fowl Ball Sports/Gas-it/E 6
AJS 25 Elite Sports U.S.A./Comba 13
AJS 32 Desert Falls/Elite/Miken 30
AJS 25 FamousSports.com/Easton 11
Mike Foulks had the unenviable task of picking MVP's and All Tournament choices. I can tell you, the whole team deserved it, as they have played great ball all season long.
It would be fun to see AJS come out at the Major and win a game or two, unlike 'B' World Champs of the past few years.
A somewhat unlikely pair. Mike Foulks (left) and Pete Campbell (right)
Common Lineup:
C Billy Moore
MI Terry Rosenbalm
CF Adam Rockoff
3B Scott Zaciewski
EH Jason Kreider
RF David Kessler
1B Kyle Yerkes
LF David Garcia
2B Joel Ramos
SS Nick Masur
P TJ Thompson
Super Sub – Blake Williams, Jose Santiago, Jeff Turnbow, Anthony Elrod
"Play for the next guy" was the pre-game mantra.
Welcome to the 'A' division…….ding!…….you're free to move about the country.
Pitching specialist TJ Thompson was the unlikely tournament MVP
Like a ballerina, David Garcia made two ridiculous running catches in the gap in the championship game
I accidently left off AJS shortstop Nick Masur from the poll of "best 'B' defensive players". He may very well have won the poll if he was more well known. One of the quickest and strongest arms in the Conference.
2nd GTGG FamousSports.com/Easton
Conf 'B' from California, 6-2 Record
FamousSports.com/Easton ends the season a very impressive 14-11 against the upper level 'A' and 'B' teams. Friday night when the ball was flying they hammered A&K Tile 27-12 and upset Pipac 24-19. On Saturday with the wind blowing straight in on diamond #3 they won an ugly one over a hot Bestrans 9-3. In the winner's semi-final they had a west coast showdown with Desert Falls. Famous kept it close for half the game before putting up a string of zero's and losing 12-6. In the loser's bracket nobody seemed to want to beat Famous as Logo hit a walkoff HRO (homerun for an out) to end the game with the bases loaded. Hubs Pub dropped to Famous late Saturday night 19-14, and Sunday morning early, Desert Falls jumped out to a 10-2 lead and watched Famous come back to beat them 11-10. Just win baby. In the finals, Famous had nothing for AJS, but a great tournament for them nonetheless.
Famous played hard and let the chips fall where they may.
Famous had a solid 'B' team all year but the additions of SS Joey Urbanek and 2B Greg Collette from SaveSecond, and the addition of power hitter Ed Vega who earned Offensive MVP, filled in all the gaps. When you throw in the pitching of specialist Danny Lopez and a little luck, you have a winning recipe.
Common Lineup:
3B Chris Arredondo
MI Chris Hansen
CF Adam Elliot
C Ed Vega
EH John Gilmore
1B Sean Boldt
2B Greg Collette
SS Joey Urbanek
LF Travis Thurman
RF Nick Sansone
P Danny Lopez
Ed Vega for FamousSports.com was the Offensive MVP. He hit the hardest ball of the tournament on Saturday night vs Hubs Pub.
Player sponsor John Gilmore of FamousSports.com
3rd Desert Falls/Elite/Miken
Conf 'B' from Utah, 4-2 Record
Desert Falls/Elite/Miken had one long plane ride home. Most of the players reside in the northwest or California and they have to almost be stunned by what happened. Desert Falls crushed Marty's Boys Friday night, and cruised through a 28-15 win over the Conference Champion Darkside team early on Saturday morning. This set up a high noon grudge match with KTI from Seattle. Two teams that knew each other very well. KTI jumped out to a decent lead but the Desert Falls team came back and won 25-22 in what was really a great showing by both teams. Against Famous early Saturday evening, Desert led just 7-6 but had a 5 run top of the 7th to separate and win over Famous 12-6, and that set up the winner's bracket finals with AJS. In the AJS game, Desert scored as many runs in the first as they did in the entire Famous game. They eventually led 20-1 on an outpouring of emotion and momentum. AJS though came back, and beat Desert 32-30.
A shocked Desert Falls team seemed to regain focus on Sunday morning in the loser's final when they were cruising 10-2 over Famous in the top of the 5th. Then Famous came back to tie it 10-10 in the 6th and win it with one run in the 7th. Desert failed to score in those last 3+ innings and left homeruns and a runner on the table in the 7th when Dirty Sanchez struck out looking to end the game. Desert Falls leaves the worlds scratching their heads at what was, and what could have been as their second half of the game offensive melt downs cost them a 'B' World title.
Chris Hoshaw hits a big homer for Desert Falls
Common Lineup:
CF Nick Robertson
LF Eliseo Aguilar
3B Charles Cunningham
C Tyson Steele
RF Ryan Barabe
P Dan Sanchez
1B Chris Hoshaw
EH?Brian Fong
SS Sam Christensen
2B Cliff Williamson
IF Tim Pemberton
Super Sub: Kathem Martin – injured ankle, Josh Moore
Dirty Sanchez was back and was pitching great for Desert Falls. He had more than a few hitter's off balance.
Loser's bracket championship – Desert Falls Christenson doubles against Famous
Nick Robertson from Desert Falls hits a triple against Famous
4th Hub's Pub
Conf 'B' from Florida, 5-2 Record
Hub's Pub finishes a very respectable 4th place after losing their opener Friday night to Fowl Ball Sports when Hubs gave up a pile of runs in the bottom of the 7th to lose on a walk off sac fly, 20-19. Deep in the loser's bracket on Saturday morning, Hubs Pub just refused to go home as they basically stayed on the field from 2:00 PM until just after 11 PM. In that time, they had "BP" against A&K Tile 26-5, run ruled a rival Midwest Swing 23-8, sent home a KTI team 15-8 that had just come off a close loss to Desert Falls, knocked off last years runner up – Blitz/Watanabe 24-14, and scored 5 in extra innings to beat Elite 23-21 as the ball started flying again at night. In the final game of the night, Hubs tried but failed to come from down 13-6 to Famous and lost 19-14 in a hard hitting game by two tired teams.
A gutsy performance by Hubs who had their best tournament of the season. Hubs did qualify for the Major World Series which will be an entirely new experience for this teams players. Free swing it fellas and if you make oh say…2 great plays an inning you might just pull one out.
Hubs Pub regroups after a 23-21 win in the 8th inning over Elite
Tied 5th Logo Express
Conf 'B' from Georgia, 3-2 Record
LOGO EXPRESS crushed RFC in their opener on Saturday night 16-3. Early Saturday they let up a double figure inning to Elite and never recovered 16-26. In the loser's bracket they shut down Midwest Coast Pipe 19-5 with the wind blowing in and then sent home EWS 26-20 when they batted around midway through the game. In the late evening battle with Famous, they needed a handful of runs and loaded the bases with 2 out and the score tied when Philip White hit a no doubter homer. Problem was, Logo was out of homer's.
Logo played hurt and without a couple of key players like offensive leader Brandon Murray.
Philip White hits an accidental grand slam HRO to end the game and Logo's chances
Tied 5th Elite Sports/U.S.A./Combat
Conf 'B' from California, 3-2 Record
Elite Sports U.S.A./Combat won 3 straight in the winners bracket, knocking off BSM Friday night and Blitz Saturday morning in extra innings 20-19. Then they beat Logo Express 26-16 when they had one inning where they batted around with the wind blowing in. In the final 4, AJS shut them down 25-13 and in the loser's bracket they dropped to Hubs Pub in extra innings 23-21 in a shootout. Elite finished the season 8-5 against the upper level after they dropped from 'A' to 'B' and changed their roster completely around.
One thing about Elite is that they are all "softball" player types that love the game and they played well.
That is a "Gosh Darn P-Rod"
Julio Salazar played a nice middle infield for Elite. Julio congratulations on the upcoming wedding. I hope she likes softball.
Elite leadoff man Dan Schneider is a bit of a throwback to the old days of softball with his style of play.
Elite shortstop Rafael Robledo Jr. I just like trying to say the name.
Tied 7th Blitz/Watanabe/Weller/Minges/Easton
Conf 'B' from Ohio, 4-2 Record
Blitz/Watanabe/Weller/Minges/Easton opened Friday with a sound 19-11 win over Quality Vault and their group of ex-T&R Stucco players. On Saturday morning they gave away an extra innings game to Elite (twice) and lost 22-19. They recovered to send Marty's Boys home after a big early lead, then beat RFC 14-13 on a Rob Menke walk off homer. Then they run ruled Bestrans 22-7. In their final game they couldn't keep pace with Hubs Pub who beat them 24-14.
Blitz had all of their players and should have done more damage than they did. With all of the top teams in 'B' moving on for 2011, Blitz should have a title shot again next year.
Rob Menke turns two for Blitz
Blitz takes on Elite in extra innings
Tied 7th EWS/Shirts and Logos
Conf 'B' from Illinois, 3-2 Record
In their opener Friday, EWS/SHIRTS and LOGOS came from behind to take a 10-7 lead on KTI but gave it away 18-15 to drop to the loser's bracket early. They hung around most of the day Saturday in the loser's bracket, knocking off ATS in the 7th 22-20, Darkside 21-8 and Fowl Ball 14-7. Then they gave up a huge inning to Logo and could never fully recover in a 26-20 loss.
EWS just did not have the energy and defensive play they needed to shut down the 'B' teams whenever they themselves struggled offensively. They played true to their season 17-14 record against 'B' teams, showing that they do get fired up more for the 'A' division games where they are 11-7. Dustin Palm sat the majority of the weekend with some sort of leg injury and Tommy Thompson wasn't present either.
EWS Shortstop Tim Nielson tries to help the comeback effort against Logo Express
I want to give a quick, get well soon shout-out to Rusty Bumgardner and Nate Holcomb. Both giants of the game have had unfortunate accidents where they were severely injured. Your homeruns at the derby this week will be missed. Get well, rehab, and we'll see you back at the fields soon.
A big thanks to my sponsor's – USSSA, Down2EarthSports.com, GameTimeSupply.com, and MojoSportsGear.com
I will be at the Major this Thursday – Sunday and the winner's bracket games will be broadcast on usssa.com. I will attempt to setup my webcam in the press box to cover the loser's bracket games starting on Friday morning and I will leave a link to the webcast on softballcenter.com and theoldscout.com.
I will also have a Major World Series tournament preview up on Tuesday night.
As always send corrections, questions, and any softball talk to dw@softballcenter.com
Link to the rest of my 'B' World pictures
Link to the USSSA Major World Series tournament
Here are some other pics from the 'B' World:
I am giving Midwest Swing middle infielder Matt Alverado the play of the tournament on a full horizontal diving catch of a missile against Bestrans on Friday night.
Bestrans and star center fielder Brandon Becker looked to be on a roll when they knocked off Midwest Swing and FBI on Friday night. Then they died in the wind on Saturday when they couldn't score over on diamond #3.
Fowl Ball Sports had a center fielder with a bright future
A look of concern as FBI, my personal "pick to click", went 2 and Q
Bat testing was done on Friday night with bats kept in garbage cans and "lock and key" storage the whole weekend
Jon See couldn't help T's 13 pull off any wins
UIC Rick Robertson isn't going to like those shorts
Midwest Coast Columbus Pipe stumbled in their opener but sent home FBI and Pipac!
AJS gets their 'B' World hardware
"I wonder what the 'A' World trophy feels like?"
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