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2012 Columbus, Indiana Major tournament report

 

2012 Columbus, Indiana

  

Major

 

May 11-13

 

 

Demarini/DirtySportswear.com/3N2, a new Conference 'B' team out of Orlando, Florida shocked the softball world this past weekend by travelling to Columbus, Indiana and winning the 31 team Major tournament.  They did so in dramatic fashion starting in the winners bracket semi-finals when they scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning, 7 of them after the 2nd out was made, to beat Laser Vision/Annihilation/Supreme/D2E/Easton 34-33.  This put them in the winner's bracket championship game against Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton.  In this game late on Saturday night Demarini used the gloves in the bottom of the 7th, especially relief pitcher Tony Elrods glove, as he stabbed two hard shots up the middle to end the game with a 27-25 win.

Meanwhile in the loser's bracket Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite was sending home 5 straight teams to make it to the Sunday final four after losing their second game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday morning Shoppe knocked off Laser Vision 43-31 in a game they led most of the way.  Their defense came through with some big plays all day on Sunday.  In the next game, the losers bracket championship, Blitz jumped out to a 28-5 lead on them and Shoppe came all the way back to win 37-34.  Then in the first game of the championship Shoppe came from 12 down to beat Demarini 32-29 and force the "if" game of the championship.

In the final game, Shoppe led by 10 in the 4th, and both teams used their allotted 8 home runs by the 5th.  But Demarini/Dirty came back and scored 4 in the top of the 7th inning to take a 1 run lead.  In the bottom half Shoppe failed to score and lost 32-31.

There were upsets early and often as P&P lost on Friday night to a 'C' team.  Then on Saturday morning within about 5 minutes of each other, Blitz beat Shoppe when Shoppe had 2 on and 2 out with the bat in their hands.  And R&M lost to Reds Astros in the same fashion.  Then Demarini/Dirty knocked off TYJA when TYJA hit a bunch of solos in the first inning and PRI upset CA Sports.  Suddenly 4 of the 5 'A' teams were in the loser's bracket.

The tournament was played in near perfect weather conditions on Saturday and was delayed slightly at the start on Sunday morning due to heavy rains overnight.  There were 31 teams overall from 12 different states.  15 of the teams were from the Nationwide Insurance Conference USSSA.  1 Major team, 5 'A', 10 'B', 12 'C', and 3 'D' teams.

There was full bat compression testing, a nice compliment of conference umpires, and the regular conference ball was used on all 5 of the symmetrical 300 foot fields.  

Robo hitting for Shoppe against Blitz on Sunday morning was offensive MVP if one had been selected.  He was on 51-62 (4 BB) with 10 HR, 29 RBI, and 39 runs scored.

Tim Cocco also could have been selected, he was on 47-62 (1 BB) with 19 HR, 54 RBI, and 41 runs scored.

Here is a poll about whether or not the Conference should play on Mother's Day?  Link to poll

20% said Yes

56% said No

24% said to have the championship on Saturday night

 

Lincoln Park main diamond #4. 

Above Laser Vision pitches to Demarini/Dirty in the winner's bracket championship game.

  Below LineDrive takes on Precision.

 

P&P pitches to TG United over on diamond #2

Columbus, Indiana tournament bracket

2012 Nationwide Insurance Conference Schedule

There were lots of bats failing compression testing but the majority of the 90 bats were from non-conference teams.

We need to start randomly selecting from these failed bats and begin cutting them open.

 


Larry Q won Cheeze's Reebok bat raffle which raised $500 for Gordy "The Old Scout" Heagles health recovery bills.

Thank you to everyone that donated!

Tournament director Charlie Reinbold picks a fan to draw the winning ticket

 


Remember to email pictures or scans of your stat sheets to dw@softballcenter.com for posting in a picture album and to be used to verify totals. Stats without pictures/scans of each score sheet will be removed from the USSSA site.


Video Highlites brought to you by:

 

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 Random video highlites


 

7th Inning Comeback of the week brought to you by:

The comeback of the week was nearly Shoppe winning 9 in a row but they came up just short so we are giving the comeback of the week to Demarini/Dirty/3N2 who scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning against Laser Vision (half with two outs) to beat them 34-33 in the winner's bracket semi-finals.  I apologize for the quality of the video, the internet was so slow I had to use the lowest possible quality setting on the broadcast.

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Loyd singles
Baggs Grounds out hard to SS
Wrenn HR
Moore Grounds out hard to SS
Elrod pinch hit single
Castillo HR
Wilson single
Santana HR
Allen single
Rockoff double
Collins single
Loyd intentionally walked
Baggs game winning single

 


 

The Mojo Masher of the week conference "newbie" is Andrew Collins

Demarini/Dirty catcher/outfielder Andrew Collins has been mashing all year long, picking up Rockoff's left overs from the 5 hole

 


 

Columbus, Indiana Tournament Awards and Final Standings:

 

Player Tournament Awards
Players Name
Plays For
Tournament MVP
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
Defensive Tournament MVP
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
Defensive Tournament MVP
SHOPPE / TEAM TPS / ELITE
All Tournament Team
Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton
All Tournament Team
SHOPPE / TEAM TPS / ELITE
All Tournament Team
SHOPPE / TEAM TPS / ELITE
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
SHOPPE / TEAM TPS / ELITE
All Tournament Team
SHOPPE / TEAM TPS / ELITE
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
SHOPPE / TEAM TPS / ELITE
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
 

Place
State
Team
Team
Class
Wins
Loses
Ties
Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
1
FL
SPMensB
6
1
0
202
157
28.8
22.4
6.42
34
300
2
TN
SPMensA
9
2
0
337
240
30.6
21.8
8.81
43
225
3
OHO
SPMensA
4
2
0
162
112
27
18.6
8.33
34
200
4
NYU
SPMensMajor
3
2
0
171
124
34.2
24.8
9.4
39
175
5
MI
SPMensB
5
2
0
131
132
18.7
18.8
-0.1
34
155
5
IN
SPMensB
3
2
0
92
108
18.4
21.6
-3.2
26
155
7
TN
SPMensA
4
2
0
143
121
23.8
20.1
3.66
34
130
7
MI
SPMensB
3
2
0
111
101
22.2
20.2
2
30
130
9
IL
SPMensB
3
2
0
132
103
26.4
20.6
5.8
38
110
9
NYD
SPMensA
2
2
0
109
73
27.2
18.2
9
44
110
9
OHO
SPMensC
2
2
0
80
64
20
16
4
28
110
9
MA
SPMensB
2
2
0
90
123
22.5
30.7
-8.2
29
110
13
KY
SPMensC
2
2
0
74
81
18.5
20.2
-1.7
25
70
13
OHS
SPMensC
2
2
0
63
54
15.7
13.5
2.25
19
70
13
IA
SPMensA
2
2
0
93
72
23.2
18
5.25
31
70
13
MO
SPMensB
1
2
0
46
68
15.3
22.6
-7.3
18
70
17
IN
SPMensC
1
2
0
49
74
16.3
24.6
-8.3
26
40
17
IN
SPMensD
1
2
0
49
77
16.3
25.6
-9.3
29
40
17
KY
City Boys Qualified
SPMensC
1
2
0
40
60
13.3
20
-6.6
23
40
17
IN
SPMensD
1
2
0
39
61
13
20.3
-7.3
18
40
17
MI
SPMensC
1
2
0
75
83
25
27.6
-2.6
42
40
17
OHO
SPMensB
1
2
0
62
68
20.6
22.6
-2
35
40
17
OHC
SPMensB
1
2
0
42
57
14
19
-5
23
40
17
OHO
SPMensC
1
2
0
41
52
13.6
17.3
-3.6
25
40
25
KY
Good Guys/Combat Qualified
SPMensC
0
2
0
27
55
13.5
27.5
-14
21
40
25
OHO
SPMensC
0
2
0
26
45
13
22.5
-9.5
24
40
25
IN
SPMensC
0
2
0
58
80
29
40
-11
41
40
25
IN
SPMensC
0
2
0
35
43
17.5
21.5
-4
20
40
25
WI
SPMensB
0
2
0
31
47
15.5
23.5
-8
21
40
25
OHS
SPMensD
0
2
0
8
63
4
31.5
-27.
4
40
25
IL
KBI
SPMensC
0
2
0
29
49
14.5
24.5
-10
15
40
  

Demarini/Dirty second baseman Adam Rockoff got the MVP.   Adam is an underrated infielder and clutch performer with the stick.

Demarini/Dirty's Sean Jones was selected Defensive MVP
Shoppe's Tony Mack was also selected Defensive MVP

Team by team notes brought to you by:

 


1st Place – Demarini/Dirty/3n2/AtwldesignsGTGGNo Nolkjdsa;lkajsdlkgajaljn

Conf 'B' from Orlando, FL   6-1 Record


  

Demarini/Dirty isn't done shocking the softball world.  When the computer rankings come out later this week, they will be #1 in the nation by .07 over Nordkap!  After beating two 'C' teams to start the tournament, Demarini made better use of their home runs in a run rule win over TYJA, had the miracle come from behind win to beat Laser Vision in the bottom of the 7th, outplayed Blitz down the stretch, and came from behind to beat Shoppe in the final game.  4 huge wins for a team that came so close at the Hall of Fame #2 when they lost to Nordkap in the winner's bracket finals by a run.  The line drive hitting of this team top to bottom, the willingness to put their body in front of hard grounders, and the team speed and range mixed with a never say die attitude has elevated this team to #1 in the nation.

This team may have been put together in the offseason as a 'B' team but when you look individually at the players, each player is far from a rookie at the upper level.  Leadoff hitter and left fielder Chris Wilson was the lead off hitter the whole year in 2010 for Albicocco's 'A' team and he was lead off for the 'B' runner up 1st Step team last year.  Two hitter Nick Santana is a young up and coming outfielder who has played the 'C' circuit in Florida for a few years now.  The three hitter and center fielder is Steve Allen who was bumped with 1st Step to 'B' last year then was named offensive MVP of the 'B' world.  In the offseason he was picked up by the Major team GTL before they folded unexpectedly.  The four hitter and 2B is Adam Rockoff who won the Conference batting title in 2010 and is currently on the Major players list.  The 5 hitter is Andrew Collins who was bumped to 'B' with Daves Place in 2011.  The 6 hitter is Steven Loyd who played CF for Albicoccos 'A' team in 2010 and had some big homer's in the final 4 Sunday games at the Smoky Mountain Classic that year, was with Dave's Place last year and has been on the SoftballCenter top 10 Major prospect list for 2 years.  The 7 hitter is Terry "Chitty" Baggs who played with Daves Place and hit a walk off homer in the 'A' Worlds last summer.  The #8 hitter is Dave Moore who mashes and played with 1st Step last years runner up at the 'B' Worlds and has played with AJS in the Conference in the past.  Tony "the ball magnate" Elrod is a Conference veteran pitcher with an 'A' rating on GoSoftball.com and the rest of the players have all had a taste of the upper level here and there.  But almost all of them are from Florida and they play great together so I'm sure they look at it as an honor if they get bumped.  Their offense reminds me of AJS from two years ago, but this team has the ability to play A+ level defense at times as well.  It will be interesting to see if this team has peaked, or if the best is yet to come?

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Veteran pitcher Tony Elrod stabs two line drives to hold off the Blitz comeback in the winner's bracket championship game

 


  
Demarini/Dirty first baseman Mike Wrenn brings a healthy enthusiasm to the team

Demarini/Dirty RF Nick Santana robs a home run and saves a passing car

Demarini/Dirty 3B Dave Moore bats like 8th in this lineup.  Can you say STACKED!  He also made some tough picks down at third base


 

2nd Place – Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite  GTGG

Conf 'A' from McKenzie, TN  9-2 Record

 

Shoppe had the bats in their hands in the bottom of the 7th against Blitz and controlled their destiny but came up short 22-20 in the second round.  In the loser's bracket Shoppe went on one of the longer runs in Conference history as they knocked off two 'C' teams by a combined score of 53-10.  Then they knocked off 'A' rivals TYJA 29-24, CA Sports 35-20, and Conf 'B' team Reds Astros 31-20 late on Saturday night.  On Sunday morning they led most of the game in a win over Laser Vision 43-31, then came from a 23 run deficit to beat Blitz 37-34, and forced the "if" game against Demarini/Dirty.  Both were close games but Shoppe came up an inning short of winning the Indiana Major.

Shoppe's infield defense led the way and they changed to a 10 man lineup and moved Lee Powers to lead off.  The changes seemed to work and Shoppe went on their major roll.  The wins and second place finish will bump Shoppe close to the top of the 'A' division teams.  The only question from the Indiana Major left is whether or not Tim Cocco set a new record for home runs in a Conference event?  He had a pile of them and made the 300 foot fences look like a little league park for much of the weekend.

Shoppe's Cory Boothe gets arm thingy of the week…oh wait thats a tattoo!

 



3rd Place – Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton GTGG

Conf 'A' from Cincinnati, OH   4-2 Record

Blitz won their first 4 games, 3 by run rule, before squandering a potential win against Demarini/Dirty in the winner's bracket championship.  Then in the loser's bracket championship they blew a 23 run lead against Shoppe.

Blitz plays well like many teams close to home in the Conference and score a solid points weekend.  Noone is going to confuse their defense with the best in the league, but the team has some visible chemistry, they pretty much know their roles, and they are good enough to slip into the bottom of the top 10 before the year is out.

Blitz LF Dan Bean made all tournament


 

4th Place – Laser Vision/Annihilation/Supreme/D2E/Easton  GTGG

Conf 'M' from Cicero, NY   3-2 Record

Laser Vision didn't capitalize on their momentum from the Kansas City Major win.  They handled 3rd Street and Magic fairly easily, although they had help from each of those teams poor defensive plays.  Then in the semi-finals they were shocked by Demarini who scored 9 runs on them in the bottom of the 7th.   Then after drubbing Plumbers late Saturday night they never did match Shoppe's level of play on Sunday morning in a 43-31 loss.

The problems are the same.  No backup pitching, long innings in the field with unexplainable delays revolving around "setting the defense", and of course they have a huge bullseye painted on their backs as opponents who are left in the game after 5 innings gain the confidence needed to upset them.  Much like Resmondo, there are not a lot of answers out there.  Better pace, better play, more pitching options or continue to struggle at times with a league that has young teams that are getting better with every inning.

 

Brian Wegman launches a game changing home run against Magic

Laser Vision pitcher Geno Buck can use some help from a backup pitcher.  The lengthy stalling in close games out on the mound isn't helping the inconsistent defense behind him either

 


 

Tied 5th – P&P 333/Suburban/Larrys/AOS/Combat  GTGG

Conf 'B' from Lansing, MI   5-2 Record

P&P made a nice run in the loser's bracket after losing to Kentucky 'C' team City Boys 23-16.  That was P&P's 5th loss in a row in the conference after their shocking win over Shoppe at the Hall of Fame opener.  But P&P salvaged the weekend by gutting out 5 straight wins including wins over conference rivals TG United, Pure Romance, and Linedrive before dropping big to Laser Vision late on Saturday night.

This is another team that I need to sit down and watch a whole game of theirs to get to know this team better.  Chicago I promise!


 

Tied 5th – Red's Astros/TPS/Sports Den GTGG

Conf 'B' from Indianapolis, IN   3-2 Record

 

Reds escaped the Friday night 'C' upset by getting past Sportsco 26-25.  Then the defense held in the bottom of the 7th against R&M Metals with the winning run at the plate 19-17.  Then they came out flat against PRI down 6-1 before a Doug Martin grand slam gave them a 10-6 lead and the defense shut down PRI the rest of the way.  Blitz had their number early in a 29-14 loss where Blitz scored 11 in the first and Reds was knocked out late Saturday night by Shoppe 31-20.

In my opinion this is the most underated 'B' team in the Conference.  They have power, defense, veterans, young players, and pretty much everything they need except Conference experience.  Because they didn't play the Dual in Florida they probably won't have the points to make the major world series but could use 2012 as a stepping stone to a big 2013.

Reds CF Wally Maybriar nearly robs a PRI player of extra bases

Reds Astros pitcher was Levi Wright who used to pitch for Hubs Pub

Reds Astros SS Travis Dale is my pick for Defensive MVP.  Wait til you see this kid play D! 

Reds middle infielder Troy Krider has one of the fastest turns at 2nd in the game

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 Reds OF Wally Maybrier gives them the lead


 

Tied 7th – CA Sports/Miken/Creative Stucco/Mojo  GTGGied 7th

Conf 'A' from Smyrna, TN   4-2 Record

 

CA Sports could have made a nice little run in the winner's bracket but stumbled defensively in the second round against PRI.  In the loser's bracket they picked up two solid wins over R&M Metals and Magic before running into the Shoppe buzz saw.

I didn't get to see a whole lot of CA.  They had Curtiss Wilson pitching for the first time and he was banged up.  This team reminds me of Reds Astros.  Some vets, some good young players, and some time needed to tweak and learn the Conference.

 

CA Sports brought in Curtiss "Wolf" Wilson to pitch

 

 


 

Tied 7th – Line Drive Sportz/SSS Softball  GTGG

Conf 'B' from Warren, MI   3-2 Record

 

Linedrive had the easiest draw of any conference team.  They knocked off the first two teams like they were supposed to but didn't compete with Blitz like last years Linedrive team would have and lost 23-8.  In the loser's bracket they were all but beat against Precision after leading 21-0 but pulled out a 25-24 win before P&P sent them home 34-22.

This years Linedrive team needs a little of last years spunk.  Where did it go?  A little swagger, a little momentum?  Or maybe they just need to dominate a local B/C NIT and get moving in the right direction.

The much talked about CF for Linedrive, hailing out of Texas, Cory Large

Linedrive 3rd baseman Matt Rear


 

The Rest of the Conference Teams:


 

TYJA and Suncoast Reebok are big supporters of SoftballCenter.com!

Tied for 9th – TYJA – Suncoast Reebok – was headed for a big weekend before they ran into the red hot Demarini Dirty team and hit 3 solos in the first inning.  TYJA then dropped into a bad spot of the loser's bracket and lost to Shoppe 29-24.  Wallace was back.  Perry Hensley was pitching and new outfielder Matt Bunn played LF while Neil Haglund moved to 1st base.


Tied for 9th – Pure Romance/Easton upset and out played CA Sports on Saturday morning 24-11and got off to a 6-1 lead on Reds Astros in the quarter finals before losing 13-6.  A good start to the tournament ended with a 25-22 loss to P&P.


 

Tied for 9th – Magic/S&S/TYJA/Easton – gave away about 15 unearned runs against Laser Vision or it could have been the big weekend Magic needed.  Pictured is Magic's Matt Tindell.  Man I still don't know all of the players on Magic.  Sorry.

 


Tied for 13th – R&M Metals/Troupe/Pipac/S&R/Easton – R&M lost to Reds because Keith Anderson had a broken finger/hand?, plain and simple…

 


Tied for 17th – TG United – I need to get to know these TG United players.  They are very young and talented.

 


Tied for 17th – Columbus Pipe/DSS bats/Easton dropped two in a row to TYJA and Hubs Pub.  I still like this team a lot but they need a spark against the 'A' teams they play.


Tied for 25th – Wheelhouse/Spiderz/Game Time Supply was out before I could get a picture.  Sorry.  Will get you next weekend in Nashville

 


More pictures below


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I would like to thank all of my sponsors for their support, USSSA, and the tournament directors as well!

I will be in Gallatin, TN Friday through Sunday next weekend for the Music City Classic!

Send corrections to dw@softballcenter.com

Link to all the photos from Indiana

Link to SoftballCenter.com broadcast archive

(support the amateur broadcasts by paypal dale_weiser@yahoo.com or email for an address)

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Music City Classic tournament bracket link when ready

2012 Conference USSSA Schedule

Link to the 2012 Tournament Reports

As always send dw@softballcenter.com any errors you see in the report or links that do not work. Thanks.

 



Some more pictures for you:

 

It was good to see TYJA's Perry Hensley back after a short retirement.  You know pitchers can't retire.

Lossen White returned to R&M and played first and pitched

EAP usually plays well in Indiana and Cincinnati but they didn't do so well this year.  0-2

Hubs Pub knocked off Columbus Pipe in an ugly 11-8 win, but lost to fellow non-conference 'B' teams 3rd Street and Precision

3rd Street Financial will be back to play next weekend in Nashville

 

Collins tries to talk the umpire into a strike call

I think this guy tried to get "softball guy" picture of the week

Above would have been the view of field #3 on the broadcast, below field #1.  Not the greatest view for those that wanted me to move the camera 

 


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