2012 Bash for Cash tournament report
11th Annual Jim Wessel Memorial
"Bash for Cash"
March 16-18, Hebron, KY
Rivershore Sports Complex
Rivershore Sports Complex – Field #1 is the right side of the 4 field wheel. Field #3 opposite on the left of the wheel.
The 11th Annual WSL Bash for Cash began on Friday night as it always does with the JC Phelps Memorial Home Run Derby! The list of hitters below put on a good show in front of hundreds of local fans. The Rivershore complex has a 4 field "wheel" with the high concrete steps around each field to sit on, much like Softball World in Euless, Texas and it was just as packed as the Friday nights there. The "local" hitters were matched up against the "out of towners" in a bracket style derby. The favorites were Major World Series champ and local Kentuckian Tim Cocco and 2 time Bash champ and more recently the derby champ at the Boone's tournament Robert "Robo" Blackburn. As they eliminated the competition it also became clear that local Shane Hatfield was using a nice easy swing to put up solid scores like 6 out of 8 and 7 out of 8, and Rusty Bumgardner and Brian Wegman were advancing as well with tie breaking "hit offs". The rules were 8 swings out of 10 pitches and after the first round it took a score of 6 or more to advance without having to use the one pitch hit offs. Most of the contestants chose veteran pitcher Kevin Johnson to be their pitcher.
In the late rounds Tim Cocco matched up against Shane Hatfield and put up a nice score of 7 homer's. Then Hatfield shocked the crowd with an 8 out of 8 to send Cocco packing. Meanwhile Bumgardner beat Robo in a hit off after. In the finals Bumgardner got out of sync and Hatfield took the win.
Tim Cocco's 7 out of 8 homer's isn't enough to beat Shane Hatfields perfect round!
LOCALS
1. Brian Wegman (Laservision / Easton)
2. David Kessler (Tyja/Suncoast/Reebok)
3. Brad Tabler (Blitz / Watanabe / Easton)
4. Terry Rosenbalm (Tyja/Suncoast/Reebok)
5. Brad Reckart (Blitz/Watanabe/Easton)
6. Shane Hatfield (Blitz/Watanabe/Easton)
7. Dan Feichtner (Pure Romance/Easton)
8. Tim Cocco (Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite)
OUT OF TOWNERS
1. BJ Fulk (Resmondo / Worth)
2. Rusty Bumgardner (Team 454 / Worth)
3. Chris Moon (Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite)
4. Ryan Robbins (Ca Sports/Miken/Creative Stucco/MOJO)
5. Brett Helmer (Laservision / Easton)
6. Mike Rhines (Taylormade/TM Sport/Mizuno)
7. Corey Boothe (Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite)
8. Travis Clark (Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton)
9. Robert Blackburn (Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite)
10. Bill Rhew (Team 454 / Worth)
11. Dustin Roberts (Tyja/Suncoast/Reebok)
12. Keith Anderson (R&M Metals/Easton)
13. Chris Gerron (R&M Metals / Easton)
14. Jason Baxter (Ca Sports/Miken/Creative Stucco/MOJO)
15. Landon Helm (Ca Sports/Miken/Creative Stucco/MOJO)
Hundreds of fans on tap for the HR Derby Friday night
Field #1 – Bubba's batting against Creative Stucco in the winner's championship game with the Ohio river in the background
Field #1 at night for the Championship game with Bubba's batting against Creative Stucco
On Saturday the tournament began with each of the 5 teams in the A/B (Open) division playing 2 games each to get the seeding for the double elimination bracket. The great thing from a fans perspective was that each and every game was a good matchup. There were no filler teams or 'C' and below teams in this one.
WSL A/B division rules:
– 8 Home Run Limit then HR's are outs
– Hit your own WSL stamped, Trump Stote, 44 / 375
– Pitching is 6' to 10' no faking, may use floating rubber up to 56'
Pool Play results
14 Mid America Ballyard vs Red's/Astro's/Sports/TPS 6
Mid America Ballyard beat R&M Metals/Easton in 9 innings
22 Creative/CA Sports/TPS vs Bubba's 2
28 Creative/CA Sports/TPS vs Red's/Astro's/Sports/TPS 24
29 Bubba's vs R&M Metals/Easton 4
Links to all the homerun videos and games
Click here for Bash for Cash pictures link
The bracket play was good. There were plenty of great defensive plays and home run robbing going on. The players with the younger legs were hustling out of the box. Bubba's Excavating out of Chicago, Illinois got into a nice offensive rhythm in all of their games and didn't panic when they were down, used their home runs well, and had some timely hits and defensive plays to beat the rest of the field. Between the pool play and the bracket they did beat 3 of the other 4 teams in the tournament.
Bubba's came from behind in both the winner's bracket championship and the championship game against the same team – Creative Stucco/CA Sports/TPS based out of Ohio and Tennessee. 3rd place was Red's/Astros/Sports Den/TPS out of Kentucky. 4th was Brian Wegman's all star team – Mid America Ballyard and last was R&M out of Iowa.
Highlites of the Bash for Cash
Bubba's celebrates their great defense
Bubba's celebrates a big homer in the chip
Creative's Danny Rickman hits a walk off homer against Reds Astros in the first bracket game
Reds center fielder Wall Maybrier missed the game winning homer by that much
Rickmans walk off on video
Team by team notes brought to you by:
1st Place Bubba's Excavating GTGG
from Chicago, IL 4-1 Record
Bubba's was beat 22-2 in their opener and then crushed R&M 29-4 in their 2nd game of pool play. They earned the 3rd seed in the bracket and came out with an impressive 14 run 1st inning against MAB and followed that with a 10 run 4th to win 26-11. In the winner's championship against Creative they came from a 24-13 deficit after 4 innings and scored 7, 10, and 7 to win 37-28. In the rematch in the championship game, Bubba's was down 13-5 going into the bottom of the 3rd and scored 11 runs to take the lead and added 7 in the 6th to win 26-18.
Bubba's had the younger team with fresh legs as they pounded the ball gap to gap and line to line and used their homer's more efficiently than their opponents. The 2nd half of their lineup had some new players getting their shot at the upper level like right fielder Antoine Williams and shortstop Hobie Nieves who both contributed with some timely hitting and great defensive plays.
Lineup of a random game:
P Travis Clark
CF Brian Zirkle
3B Bruce Rhines
EH Dustin Roberts
LF Corey Boothe
OF David Kessler
MI Terry Rosenbalm
1B Josh Hearn
C Gary Lofton
RF Antoine Williams
2B Todd Ankney
SS Hobie Nieves
Jay Hearn
Brian Ahern
Travis Clark is my pick for MVP. He hardly made an out all day, mostly extra base hits, and stellar glove work at pitcher
Taylormades new pickup Mike Rhines played 3rd base locked down the 3 hole for Bubba's
Dustin Roberts batted 4th
Kessler was running the bases all day long and was tabbed for the MVP as he only made 2 or 3 outs the whole day.
Corey Boothe launches a homer in the championship game
Terry Rosenbalm played with Bubba's and will be with Reebok this year
Josh Hearn behind the WSL umpire (I kindof like the WSL umpire uniforms)
I didn't ask but I think 2B Todd Ankney had something to do with putting this team together
Hobie Nieves did a nice job at SS for Bubba's
2nd Place Creative Stucco/CA Sports/Miken GTGG
from Nashville, TN 4-2 Record
Creative put together a nice team. Some local pickups mixed in with a core of players from the CA Sports Conference team for 2012. In pool play they went 2-0 as they crushed Bubbas 22-2 and beat Reds Astros 28-24 earning the #1 seed for the bracket play. In their first game they knocked off Reds Astros 11-9 on a walk off homer by Danny Rickman. In the winner's championship they squandered a 24-13 lead to Bubba's and lost 37-28. Then they won the loser's bracket by run ruling Red's Astro's in a shootout 33-18 on a 16 run 2nd inning. In the Championship they used a 7 run 2nd to take a 10-5 lead but ran out of gas with two zero's in the 4th and 5th innings and lost 26-18.
It was nice to see some of the CA Sports players and the impressive defense by Ryan Robbins, Brian Blount, and Chris Moon at 3B. A nice team top to bottom with some good contributions from CF James Shootman and RF Danny Rickman. Pitcher Drew Pinkley was a tough out as well. CA Sports/Creative Stucco will be a great addition to Conference play this year.
Lineup of a random game:
LF Ryan Robbins
C Kevin Filby
3B Chris Moon
EH Landon Helm
1B Jason Baxter
MI Brian Blount
SS Mattie Crawford
2B Josh Riley
CF James Shootman
RF Danny Rickman
EH Nate Holcomb
P Drew Pinkley
Pitcher Drew Pinkley was a tough out at the bottom of the lineup
Landon Helm provided some power for Creative Stucco
LF Ryan Robbins was defensive MVP with a number of homerun robs
Brian Blount had the defensive play of the tournament on a ground ball in the hole between middle and SS
First Baseman Jason Baxter
Kevin Filby left and manager Doug Reed of Creative Stucco
3rd Place Red's / Astros / Sports Den / TPS GTGG
from Duckhead, KY 2-4 Record
Red's lost to MAB 14-6 and Creative Stucco 28-24 in pool play and had to play the "play-in" game in the double elimination bracket. They beat R&M in the opening game of bracket play on a walk-off homer by Wally Maybrier (19-17) when R&M left a couple of homer's on the table in the top of the 7th. Then Red's lost to Creative Stucco 11-9 on a walk off homer and dropped to the loser's bracket. There they made MAB pay for some late inning errors by batting around the lineup and pushed their way into the loser's bracket finals 35-25. Against Creative Stucco both teams scored 7 runs in the first but Red's whose offense was solid all game couldn't keep up with Creative's 16 run 2nd inning and lost 33-18.
Red's had a great team led by shortstop Travis Dale who's extra base hits and solid play in the infield and middle infielder Troy Krider kept the team competitive in most every game. Red's will be a tough game for any of the Conference teams this year and they have some big hitters in Doug Martin, Jake Stambazze, Wally Maybrier, Steve Kingsolver, and Tony Henry. Tim Cocco only played the first couple games for Red's and will be playing with Shoppe for the regular season.
Lineup of a random game:
#5 Travis Dale SS/OF
#32 Doug Martin OF
#42 Jake Stambazze 3B/SS//MI/2B
Tim Cocco C/EH/1B (Shoppe/TPS)
# 8 Wally Maybrier OF
#11 Troy Krider IF/OF
#25 Steve Kingsolver C/EH/1B
#6 Tony Henry 1B/3B/OF
#21 Rob Roop P/3B/1B
#30 Chris Lane OF
#35 Josh Fryman 3B/MI/2B (KY Steel Erectors)#5 Travis Dale SS/OF
#32 Doug Martin OF
#42 Jake Stambazze 3B/SS//MI/2B
Tim Cocco C/EH/1B (Shoppe/TPS)
# 8 Wally Maybrier OF
#11 Troy Krider IF/OF
#25 Steve Kingsolver C/EH/1B
#6 Tony Henry 1B/3B/OF
#21 Rob Roop P/3B/1B
#30 Chris Lane OF
#35 Josh Fryman 3B/MI/2B (KY Steel Erectors)#5 Travis Dale SS/OF
#32 Doug Martin OF
#42 Jake Stambazze 3B/SS//MI/2B
Tim Cocco C/EH/1B (Shoppe/TPS)
# 8 Wally Maybrier OF
#11 Troy Krider IF/OF
#25 Steve Kingsolver C/EH/1B
#6 Tony Henry 1B/3B/OF
#21 Rob Roop P/3B/1B
#30 Chris Lane OF
#35 Josh Fryman 3B/MI/2B (KY Steel Erecto #5 Travis Dale SS
#32 Doug Martin LF
#42 Jake Stambazze 3B
Tim Cocco C
# 8 Wally Maybrier CF
#11 Troy Krider MI
#25 Steve Kingsolver EH
#6 Tony Henry 1B
#21 Rob Roop P
#30 Chris Lane RF
#35 Josh Fryman 2B
SS Travis Dale
Pitcher Rob Roop
Reds 3B Jason Stambezze
Reds middle infielder Tony Krider
4th Place Mid America Ballyard GTGG
from Cincinnati, OH 4-2 Record
The MAB team was loaded with talent but didn't really play well together defensively and wasn't always able to match their opponents big innings. In pool play they knocked off Reds Astros 14-6 and then beat R&M in 9 innings. Entering bracket play at 2-0 they had the #2 seed but put up a 0 in the bottom of the 1st inning against Bubba's who put up 14 in the top half and never really climbed back into the game losing 26-10. In the loser's bracket they got by R&M 17-14, but opened the door to a big inning late against Reds Astros and lost 35-25.
Lineup of a random game:
CF Rick Baker
RF Robert Blackburn
SS Brian Wegman
1B/P Rusty Bumgardner
3B Bill Rhew
MI Brad Reckart
2B Shane Hatfield
1B Andy Mazzier
LF Richie Jones
IF Jayson Scott
P Kevin Johnson
C Dale Roe
Rusty pitched some
Shane Hatfield who won the homerun contest by knocking out Cocco and Bumgardner
Rhew played 3B and had an adventure in CF
Wegs played SS
Kevin Johnson
There was a Dale Roe sighting
Tied 5th Place R&M Metals/Easton GTGG
from New London, IA 0-3 Record
R&M was crushed by Bubba's in their opener 29-4 and lost to MAB in 9 innings in their last pool play game. They didn't fare much better in bracket play when they left homer's on the table and lost to Red's Astro's 19-17 and fell to MAB 17-14. They did have a chance to win in most of their games and were missing over half of their regular team. Hopefully they are shaking some of the rust off.
Some of the R&M Roster
Kyle Yerkes
Scott Zaciewski
Brandon Dillon
Keith Anderson
Mike Umschied
Chris Geron
Ken Geiersbach
Nate Staats
Biggons got some pitching work in
The ball was looking like a beach ball to R&M's Keith Anderson
I will be in Las Vegas, Nevada two weeks (March 30 – April 1) for the opening of the Conference USSSA season
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