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2012 Hall of Fame Classic tournament report

 

 

2012 "Hall of Fame Classic"

 

 

Kissimmee, Florida 

 

April 19-22

  

32 of the top Nationwide Insurance Conference USSSA teams traveled to Kissimmee, Florida to play in the annual Hall of Fame Classic (HOF) Men's Major slow pitch tournament this past weekend.   The 4 days of softball consisted of two separate double elimination tournaments which were played at 8 fields at two different parks.  The first was the Houston Astro's spring training facility called Heritage Park and the primary field was the Osceola County Stadium with field dimensions of 330 down the lines, 390 to the gaps, and 410 to center field.  For the most part the big winner's bracket games were held at the Stadium or behind the stadium on baseball fields and the loser's bracket was held over at Fortune Road softball complex.

Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth based out of Winterhaven, Florida went 6-0 to win the first dual event.  Resmondo, the #1 ranked team in the nation coming into the tournament and defending Major World Series champions did not cruise to the title as Buzinisports.com/BWW/Worth (B), SBS/Combat (B), Taylormade/TM Sports/Mizuno (A), and Team 454/Emerald/Worth (A), all made Resmondo play 7 innings to beat them by a combined score of 76-52.  In fact they needed a walk off home run by Howie Krause to beat SBS/Combat 16-14.  In the winner's final and championship though, Resmondo beat Laser Vision/Annihilation/Supreme/D2E/Easton (a major team) by a combined run total of 42-11.

The parity in the dual events was the best it has ever been, as the 'C' and 'B' teams competed toe to toe with the 'A' and even the Major teams and each other.  The way this tournament played out any team could have beaten any other team.  Lower level teams have a ton of talent that have been around the Major teams enough that they are no longer "in awe" of them.

In the second tournament, the "fresh" teams that played less games in tournament #1 came to the forefront.  This charge was led by Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton (Major) who went 6-0 to sweep the event.  After finishing tied for 17th place in the first tournament they knocked off Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns (B) 30-29 on a walk off flyball/single by Brett McCollum.  Then in the championship game, Nordkap/Desert Falls came from behind to knock off Laser Vision 26-25 on a bases loaded single by J.D. Genter. 

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Nordkap/Desert Falls comeback win over Laser Vision in the 2nd dual

The real story of this second tournament were all the upsets.  Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite and TYJA-Suncoast Reebok knocked off the mighty Resmondo.  Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns knocked off Laser Vision.  Nordkap winning their second event of the year (Vegas).  Resmondo pitcher Andy Purcell suffering a broken pinky that could keep him out 7 or 8 weeks.  The heart that Laser Vision showed by winning 5 straight in the loser's bracket after a long week of ball and nearly forcing an "if" game.  TYJA-Suncoast Reebok still playing great ball into their 14th game of the long weekend.  There was a lot of great ball, a lot of clutch performers, and a lot of good hustle out of some players that had nothing left in the tank.

A rumor is that the Dual will be reduced to a single tournament in 2013 which would be good for the game.

A note to teams that finished 2-4 or worse.  Remember there were no "filler" local teams at this event to soften a bad weekend.  This was the best of the best so hang in there, you'll be fine.

——————————————————

I take a lot of abuse on my tournament preview picks.  But you can't argue with my picks for this one:

Final picks HOF #1:
 1) Resmondo
 2) Team 454
 3) Nordkap/Desert Falls
 4) Laser Vision

 Final picks HOF #2:
 1) Nordkap/Desert Falls
 2) Laser Vision
 3) Resmondo
 4) TYJA/Suncoast

My 'B' team pick to click is Demarini/Dirty

So in the first tournament I picked the winner and 3 of the top 4 correct.
In the second tournament I picked the winner and second place correct and 4th place correct.  🙂

—————————————————–
The Conference USSSA slow pitch season is off to a huge start.  The first weekend in Vegas was probably the best regular season West Coast tournament since the 1990's and this Florida dual was the best regular season tournament in a long, long time.  This weekend things slow down a little bit with some smaller Conference events in Kansas City and Phoenix.  They are smaller because they are after the dual event and players are banged up.  In the future there should be an off week after the dual (if the dual continues).

Tournament #1 Kissimmee bracket

  Tournament #2 Kissimmee bracket  

2012 Nationwide Insurance Conference Schedule
 
  

Nordkap's Anthony Dress hits against SBS/Combat pitcher Joshua Pack 

Nordkap/Desert Falls Brett McCollum smashes a big home run in the comeback vs Laser Vision in the second Dual

 

Shoppe upsets Resmondo by the run rule 36-21 

 

CA Sports outfielder Brian Farrar swings away at a pitch from D2E's Leslie Griffis back on field #2 with the storms threatening

 

Threatening rain really only stopped play once in 4 days

  

Demarini/Dirty pitches to Shoppe over at Fortune Road

 

The biggest outfields in the game

 

I posted this picture and a video clip of it as a warning to pitchers to use a helmet.  Greg Connell did absolutely nothing wrong.  He hit it far away from the pitchers rubber but the pitcher filled the hole.  The ball did not hit the pitcher, it went over him.  BUT – his arms did not react in time to stop it if it did.  Please use a helmet.  This is a public service announcement brought to you by All-OutSports.com…

YouTube Preview Image 

 


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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Includes Headhunters comeback vs Demarini, Howie Krause's walk off homer to beat SBS, Haglunds 415 shot, and random other clips.

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Includes Cory Franklins grand slam to give B&B the lead vs Laser Vision in the 7th and Bryson Bakers walk off hit to beat them in the bottom half.

 


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

YouTube Preview Image

Demarini/Dirty's comeback vs CA Sports and Nordkaps comeback over Demarini/Dirty with Santanas homer. Pay no attention to my commentary I didn't know the exact situation from so far away. lol. I was watching two good games at once. Also it didn't matter that the Dirty outfielder dropped that last ball because the winning run was on third.

 


The Mojo Masher of the week conference "newbie" is Kyle Pearson of BaughFord

 

Baugh Fords Kyle Pearson is my masher of the week.  He was 17-20 with 8 homer's in Vegas and at one point in Florida he had 3 straight homer's

 




 

"Dual One" Tournament Awards and Final Standings:

Player Tournament Awards
Players Name
Plays For
Tournament MVP
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
Offensive Tournament MVP
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
Defensive Tournament CO-MVP
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
Defensive Tournament CO-MVP
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Team 454/Emerald/Worth
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Team 454/Emerald/Worth
All Tournament Team
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team
TaylorMade/TM Sports/Mizuno
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
TaylorMade/TM Sports/Mizuno
All Tournament Team
TaylorMade/TM Sports/Mizuno
All Tournament Team
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
 

Place
State
Team
Team
Class
Wins
Loses
Ties
Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
1
FL
SPMensMajor
6
0
0
118
63
19.6
10.5
9.16
24
300
2
NYU
SPMensMajor
5
2
0
141
114
20.1
16.2
3.85
33
225
3
VA
SPMensA
6
2
0
144
117
18
14.6
3.37
26
200
4
VA
SPMensA
4
2
0
120
59
20
9.83
10.1
29
175
5
NYD
SPMensA
4
2
0
138
80
23
13.3
9.66
30
155
5
IA
SPMensA
3
2
0
78
90
15.6
18
-2.4
24
155
7
TN
SPMensA
4
2
0
127
96
21.1
16
5.16
31
130
7
CAS
SPMensA
4
2
0
127
103
21.1
17.1
4
30
130
9
MS
SPMensB
3
2
0
87
96
17.4
19.2
-1.8
27
210
9
WA
SPMensMajor
3
2
0
106
92
21.2
18.4
2.8
29
110
9
CAS
SPMensB
2
2
0
78
67
19.5
16.7
2.75
26
210
9
MI
SPMensC
2
2
0
59
83
14.7
20.7
-6
26
210
13
GA
SPMensB
2
2
0
67
67
16.7
16.7
0
29
170
13
GA
SPMensB
2
2
0
68
66
17
16.5
0.5
21
170
13
GA
SPMensB
2
2
0
86
66
21.5
16.5
5
38
170
13
FL
SPMensB
2
2
0
65
67
16.2
16.7
-0.5
25
170
17
NYD
SPMensB
1
3
0
64
84
16
21
-5
23
140
17
MI
SPMensB
1
2
0
61
59
20.3
19.6
0.66
24
140
17
UT
SPMensMajor
1
2
0
44
54
14.6
18
-3.3
16
40
17
FL
SPMensC
1
2
0
48
42
16
14
2
24
140
17
GA
SPMensC
1
2
0
42
54
14
18
-4
19
140
17
WA
SPMensC
1
1
0
21
44
10.5
22
-11.
20
140
17
MI
SPMensB
1
2
0
48
63
16
21
-5
28
140
17
CAN
SPMensB
1
2
0
45
56
15
18.6
-3.6
22
140
25
AL
SPMensB
0
2
0
18
67
9
33.5
-24.
10
140
25
TXN
SPMensC
0
2
0
38
49
19
24.5
-5.5
23
140
25
NC
SPMensB
0
2
0
28
31
14
15.5
-1.5
16
140
25
OHC
SPMensB
0
2
0
15
55
7.5
27.5
-20
10
140
25
MA
SPMensB
0
2
0
26
45
13
22.5
-9.5
15
140
25
OHO
SPMensC
0
2
0
16
50
8
25
-17
9
140
25
OHO
SPMensA
0
2
0
33
48
16.5
24
-7.5
22
40
25
TN
SPMensA
0
2
0
15
44
7.5
22
-14.
9
40

 

Resmondo's Jimmy Salas was MVP of tourny #1
 
"Dual Two" Tournament Awards and Final Standings:
 

Player Tournament Awards
Players Name
Plays For
Tournament CO-MVP
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
Tournament CO-MVP
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
Offensive Tournament MVP
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
Defensive Tournament MVP
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
TYJA – Suncoast Reebok
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2/Easton
All Tournament Team
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
All Tournament Team
TYJA – Suncoast Reebok
All Tournament Team
Demarini/Dirty/3N2/ATWLDesigns
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
UT
SPMensMajor
6
0
0
126
91
21
15.1
5.83
30
300
2
NYU
SPMensMajor
7
2
0
216
141
24
15.6
8.33
42
225
3
FL
SPMensB
4
2
0
126
107
21
17.8
3.16
29
300
4
NYD
SPMensA
5
2
0
157
112
22.4
16
6.42
38
175
5
TN
SPMensA
3
2
0
102
111
20.4
22.2
-1.8
39
155
5
TN
SPMensA
3
2
0
111
74
22.2
14.8
7.4
36
155
7
NC
SPMensB
4
3
0
131
138
18.7
19.7
-1
29
230
7
FL
SPMensMajor
3
2
0
127
81
25.4
16.2
9.2
35
130
9
MA
SPMensB
3
2
0
88
83
17.6
16.6
1
19
210
9
AL
SPMensB
3
2
0
81
112
16.2
22.4
-6.2
28
210
9
CAS
SPMensA
3
2
0
101
112
20.2
22.4
-2.2
30
110
9
GA
SPMensB
2
2
0
72
69
18
17.2
0.75
35
210
13
GA
SPMensB
2
2
0
77
71
19.2
17.7
1.5
25
170
13
IA
SPMensA
2
2
0
69
67
17.2
16.7
0.5
24
70
13
FL
SPMensC
2
2
0
69
53
17.2
13.2
4
21
170
13
MI
SPMensC
2
2
0
43
57
10.7
14.2
-3.5
20
170
17
OHO
SPMensC
1
2
0
34
47
11.3
15.6
-4.3
14
140
17
OHO
SPMensA
1
2
0
60
60
20
20
0
36
40
17
GA
SPMensB
1
2
0
26
61
8.66
20.3
-11.
14
140
17
VA
SPMensA
1
2
0
60
58
20
19.3
0.66
25
40
17
OHC
SPMensB
1
2
0
74
75
24.6
25
-0.3
33
140
17
MI
SPMensB
1
2
0
34
48
11.3
16
-4.6
19
140
17
MS
SPMensB
1
2
0
58
54
19.3
18
1.33
28
140
17
VA
SPMensA
1
2
0
65
60
21.6
20
1.66
24
40
25
NYD
SPMensB
0
2
0
14
36
7
18
-11
8
140
25
WA
SPMensMajor
0
2
0
18
32
9
16
-7
11
40
25
MI
SPMensB
0
2
0
25
41
12.5
20.5
-8
17
140
25
GA
SPMensC
0
2
0
9
36
4.5
18
-13.
6
140
25
WA
SPMensC
0
2
0
12
18
6
9
-3
8
140
25
CAN
SPMensB
0
1
0
4
24
4
24
-20
4
140
25
CAS
SPMensB
0
2
0
33
61
16.5
30.5
-14
18
140
25
TXN
SPMensC
0
2
0
19
51
9.5
25.5
-16
12
140
 

 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

Teams listed in order of winning percentage for the most part


Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth  GTGGNo Nolkjdsa;lkajsdlkgajaljn

Conf 'M' from Winter Haven, FL  9-2 Record


  

Resmondo survived some early sluggishness against lower level teams and used a walk off homer by Howie Krause to get past SBS/Combat.  Then they annihilated Laser Vision in back to back games to take their first tournament of the season.  An overturned home run call in the first game led to a bench clearing – chest pounding incident with Laser Vision after pitcher Andy Purcell and Howie Krause somehow escaped being tossed from the game while arguing with the umpire.  Lets leave the arguing to the managers, remember games on the stadium field are being broadcast to the world on the internet in HD.  Resmondo got to play their first 9 games on the stadium field while the rest of the top teams had to play at least half of their games back on diamonds 1 and 2 where the lighting at night is not very good.  In the end the home run overturn was the correct call but the mechanics of the overturn were not done correctly and any reasonable person can understand why Laser Vision would be upset.  This is two years in a row the stadium field has had a fight or near fight between the top teams but I have been told that the umpires are like a team and Rick is their coach and it is the coaches responsibility to put the best umpires with the best teams.

Resmondo faltered a little in the second tournament when Pure Romance/Easton, a 'C' team, took them 7 innings, and then Shoppe run ruled them 36-21.  In the loser's bracket Resmondo travelled to Fortune Road where the director there moved a more experienced umpire to their game when that umpire was all ready to do the D2E vs B&B game.  This did not sit well with teams in the league and was later admitted by USSSA as a mis-communicaton.  Resmondo beat Team Demarini 36-18 then came back to Field #2 behind the stadium where the lighting late on Saturday night has never been good.  Subsequently Andy Purcell was hit by a line drive on the glove hand and broke his pinky finger.  TYJA who held the lead throughout the game, finished off Resmondo 13-11.

One of Resmondos new players, Bubba Mack, looks like the next coming of Greg Connell.  The teams pitching and defense is still at the top and if they can overcome the injury to Purcell they should be fine.  The free agent pitching market is not real deep and with the new player contracts, players can't move from team to team as easily as they have in the past.


 

Krause hits another bomb  

 

Everyone wants to know how Bubba Mack did at middle infield.  He was solid. 

Andy Purcell broke his pinky on his glove hand against TYJA late on Saturday night

Resmondos left side has changed in the past 365 days.  Salas, Jr, Mcdonald or Mack

 


 

Nordkap/Desert Falls/Easton  GTGG

Conf 'M' from Riverton, UT  7-2 Record


Nordkap/Desert Falls just did get by B&B Sears in their opener 14-12, but needed a walk off home run by Joey Formosa to do so.  Then they dropped consecutive games to R&M Metals and Buzinisports.com.  Double plays, lackluster play, and some hot opponents did them in as they finished tied for 17th.

With the entire day off on Friday to think about it, Nordkap/Desert Falls came out ready to play on Saturday morning in the second tournament as they beat SBS and Line Drive by a combined 36-9, then went on a 4 game run where they won 3 of the 4 by one run.  These are great confidence builders as they beat TYJA-Suncoast 16-15, Shoppe 18-13, Demarini/Dirty 30-29 on a walk off fly/single by Brett McCollum in the winner's championship, and a walk off bases loaded single by JD Genter to beat Laser Vision 26-25 in the finals.

Nordkap/Desert Falls wins their second tournament of the year, showed some heart in the second tournament and show that they can win on the baseball fields.  Congratulations to this team as they fight for the #1 ranking.  This team has the look and feel of a major team and have handled themselves in a professional way between the lines.

 

Nordkap/Desert Falls manager Mark Meersman is pulling all the right strings in 2012

  



Laser Vision/Annihilation/Supreme/D2E/Easton GTGG

Conf 'M' from Cicero, NY  12-4 Record


Laser Vision had some real ups and downs during the long weekend, but in the end they score some major points with two 2nd place finishes.  In the first tournament it took everything they had to knock off TYJA-Suncoast 33-30 in the 3rd round but otherwise they did well against 'A' teams R&M Metals and Taylormade.  Their nemesis Resmondo got in their heads a little bit in the winner's final and championship games and beat them by a combined score of 42-11.  At one point over the two final games, Laser Vision put up 6 consecutive zero run innings.  "Pucker" factor?

In the second tournament Laser Vision used a walk off triple by Bryson Baker to beat B&B Sears 22-21 and then were tripped up by a fired up Demarini/Dirty team 26-3.  In the loser's bracket they made an incredible run by winning 5 straight, including a revenge run rule of Demarini/Dirty 24-5 and forced Nordkap to score in the bottom of the 7th in the championship game.

This team has a decision to make on pitching.  Get a backup pitcher so Billy Messina can manage the game properly, or make Billy the backup and pick up a manager.  The team won't finish higher than third without this move.  And the stalling of pitcher Geno Buck in non game winning situations cannot be helping the defense who has to stand out there forever.  It might be time for a pitching box and charged conferences when pitchers walk off the mound.  These games were being broadcast.  I don't think pitchers would be doing this at the Border Battle on ESPN?

Laser Vision picked up Marty Malloy.

 

Laser Visions Jason Kendrick looks revitalized at age 40 something.  He set the table for the top of the rack and had some big hits down the stretch.

Laser Visions Kevin Kennington hit some creatures

This catch by CF Rick Baker in the dual #2 championship nearly forced an "if" game 

YouTube Preview Image

Left side of the Laser Vision defense – Beggs, Kennington, and B. Baker

 


 

TYJA/Suncoast Reebok  GTGG

Conf 'A' from Great Neck, NY  10-4 Record

 The merger of TYJA and Suncoast Reebok is a success.  This team is playing loose, free, and fast.  The team was led this weekend by 3rd baseman Dennis Rulli who pretty much did whatever he wanted with the softball as he place hit it all over the field for extra base hits.  In the first tournament TYJA/Suncoast run ruled Magic, Monster, Buzini, and Team Demarini and lost a 33-30 game to Laser Vision and did get beat down by Team 454.  But they did finish 5th.

In the second event they handled Major League and Team DeMarini again before dropping a one run game to Nordkap 16-15.  On Saturday night they sent home Baugh Ford, Resmondo (13-11), and CA Sport 38-19 before losing to Laser Vision on Sunday morning 42-21 although they fought hard.  Win's over Resmondo only occurred 8 times in 2011 and most of those were to GTL.  This is a big win for TYJA/Suncoast.

 

TYJA/Suncoast is loose and having fun this year (shown hanging with Filby and Pokraka) 

TYJA/Suncoast has a new attitude and they won't be backing down from anyone in 2012

Terry Rosenbalm pounded 4 homer's in one game in the stadium

 

Jeff Wallace was reduced to assistant manager duty as he comes back from knee surgery

 


 

TaylorMade/TM Sports/Mizuno  GTGG

Conf 'A' from Williamsburg, VA  7-4 Record

 

 

Taylormade had some long games in wins over Blitz and Linedrive to start the first tourny.  Then they stumbled against Resmondo but did last 7 innings before making a huge run through the loser bracket knocking off Team Combat, Shoppe, R&M Metals, and Team 454.  Wow.  The who's who of the 'A' division.  Then they ran out of gas against Laser Vision.

In the second tourny a tired Tmade team looked pretty good in a win over P&P and dropped a one run game to CA Sports before being upended by TG United.

Taylormade's young players have stepped up and answered the call.  Their new players looked good and Mike Rhines was blasting away to power the offense.  This is a young team with some good speed and defense to give the 'A' division fits.  And how about the point start to Taylormades season this year compared to last year?
  

Center fielder Brian Logan

Mike Rhines blasting away

Branden Blake has taken over shortstop for Taylormade.  Hard to believe he wasn't picked up by someone last year.  Chris Kirian also pictured at 3B.

 

 


 

Shoppe/Team TPS/Elite GTGG

Conf 'A' from McKenzie, TN  7-4 Record


 

 SHOPPE!  is back.  A 7th place finish, a 5th place finish, and a siganture win over Resmondo by the run rule 36-21.   After their opening round loss to P&P in the first tournament, Shoppe played pretty well all weekend and had some great defensive plays until their game against Nordkap late on Saturday night where they fell apart.  On a given day this team can play Major+ level defense.

Shoppe is poised to return to the top of the 'A' divison.  More offensive and defensive consistency will go a long way.  oNOND

oNASDLFJSDALKJD

Robert Blackburn back at home playing with Shoppe and playing the game the right way while healthy

Softballs Centers "most popular player" – Lee Powers

 


 

Team Demarini/FamousSports.com  GTGG

Conf 'A' from Santa Clarita, CA  7-4 Record


   
 

Team Demarini has just a 1-3 record now against the 'A' division as TYJA/Suncoast tripped them up twice at the Dual.  They did handle the 'B' teams well though and had a nice win over Team 454 to send them home.  Chris Larsen was moved to SS.   Baseball fields might not be this teams strength although the power part isn't a problem.

Demarini's Bryce Oliviera is off to a hot start

 


 

Demarini/Dirty/3n2/AtwlDesigns  GTGG

Conf 'B' from Orlando, FL  6-4 Record


 

Demarini/Dirty almost stole the show with their huge win over Laser Vision 26-3 and their one run loss to Nordkap in the winner's championship of dual tourny #2.  This team is led by the top of their order with Chris Wilson, Nick Santana, Adam Rockoff, and Stevie Allen.  A fun team that is not a "flash in the pan" by any means.  They were one inning away from quite possibly winning a conference event that had 32 league teams!  Wow.  They did this without one of their best players Steven Loyd (sick according to an oldscout post).

This team beat Team 454, Blitz, Laser Vision, and CA Sports in consecutive games.

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Demarini/Dirty celebrates their impressive 26-3 trouncing of Laser Vision

After their big win over Laser Vision, Demarini/Dirty took Nordkap to the 7th inning and nearly won the winner's bracket finals! 

Adam Rockoff's aggressive offensive style and approach to the game rubbed off on his team

"Rockoff Jr" – Stevie Allen was mashing and playing a great center field.   I cannot believe the 'B' World offensive MVP was not picked up by an 'A' team

Demarini/Dirty was this close to winning the winner's bracket championship of the 2nd dual tournament 

 

Demarini/Dirty pitcher Tony Elrod has slayed a few dragons in his time.  A truly underrated veteran upper level pitcher. 


 

Team 454/Emerald/Worth  GTGG

Conf 'A' from Glen Allen, 6-4 Record


Team 454 took care of business by beating Pipe, Headhunters, and TG United to start the weekend.  Then they let one get away in a loss to Resmondo 15-12.  Demarini/Dirty upset them to start the 2nd tourny and they went 1-2.  454 will drop down in the rankings and didn't get as many points as they needed from the Dual.  Jeff Hall was present but recovering from shoulder surgery and won't be available until Euless, TX.

 

 

 

 


 

The Rest of the Conference Teams:

 

R&M Metals/Troupe/Pipac/S&R/Easton (5-4) – Some injuries and a lack of bench slowed R&M as they finished 5th and 13th.  They won their first 3 games over good teams before dropping 2 in a row.  An up and down week, but they solidified themselves into the top 4 'A' teams.

R&M lead off man Joe Gordon sets the table


Down2EarthSports.com/SBC/Worth (4-4) – Dropped their opener to TG United then rebounded to beat 'B' peers Baugh Ford and The Scene.  In the second event they knocked off R&M Metals 15-12 over at Fortune Road when they got a strikeout with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th. 

D2E's Chivas Clark hits one about 420 


TG United (4-4) – TG United comes out of nowhere and beats D2E, Team Combat, The Scene, and Taylormade.  I was only able to see them once against Shoppe where they played poorly but this team got some quality wins and won't be an easy out the rest of the Conference season.

B&B/Sears/N&N Finishing (4-5) – This team has picked up some nice offensive punch since last season.  They took Nordkap to the bottom of the 7th as well as Laser Vision and they knocked off Primetime, Buzini, Westshore, and D2E.   A quality addition to Conference USSSA's 'B' division.

B&B's Cory Franklin hits a grand slam against Laser Vision in the 7th

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Primetime/Easton (4-4) fared ok against their 'B' counterparts and avoided the big boys.  When the sun when down they put up some nice scores. 


BuziniSports.com/BWW/Worth (4-4) – Buzini opened with Resmondo and but for a couple of errors and close calls could have pulled off a huge upset.  They regrouped and beat Nordkap, Primetime, and B&B Sears to finish 9th and 17th.

 


 

CA Sports/Miken/Creative Stucco/Mojo (3-4) –  CA took it on the chin in the first tournament going 0-2 but recovered by winning their first 3 games in the second over Pipe TaylorMade, and D2E before Demarini/Dirty came from behind and knocked them out.  A middle of the road 'A' team for now that gained some valuable experience in the Conference although half of their players are Conference vets.  They just need to learn to finish teams.


 

Team Combat/Pacific Headwear (3-4) – an unacceptable 25th and then a 9th place finish.  Team lost 3 in a row to end the long weekend.

Sal Formosa joined Combat for the second tournament 

Combats RF Brandon Perry

Combats CF Davis Bilardello

 


 Westshore Pizza/TPS (3-4) – 0-2 v 'B' and 1-1 vs 'A'  they get up for the bigger teams.  Defensively they held 3 teams to 7 or less in their 3 wins.  Interesting.


Magic/S&S/TYJA/Easton (3-4) – Magic has definitely pieced together their best Conference team.  New players like Matt Tindell, Todd Pease, Dale Zwack, and Aaron Guido seemed to stand out in their big win over Team Combat.  Still middle of the road 'B' but poised to take the next step.

Zwack, Tindell, Guido, and Pease among others are some nice pickups

 


BaughFord.com/Logo Express/Advantage (3-4) overall but just 2-6 on the year against upper teams.  Baugh started with 2 blowout losses but recovered to beat Pipe and hit a walkoff grand slam to beat R&M Metals.  So they ended the weekend pretty good.


Headhunter/Cancooker/SHSsports.com (3-4) – A great come from behind win over Demarini 13-12 to open their week fizzled a little with only 2 more wins over 'C' teams.  Stock may have dropped some, but they know they can compete and are fun to watch.

What is a Cancooker?  Answer Cancooker.com

Headhunters Carlton Griffin extends the game with a 2 out hit in their bottom of 7 rally to beat Demarini/Famous

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West Coast Doerflinger – Easton (2-4) – Two wins in a row to start the weekend but then they couldn't break the 20 mark in runs and dropped 4 straight for various reasons.


Line Drive Sportz/SSS Softball (2-4) – no stand out wins.  need to find the 2011 early season magic


SBS/Combat (1-4) – nearly had Resmondo but then couldn't get away from the big teams.  Bad draws and bad luck.

SBS was this close to the unthinkable

 

 


Blitz/Weller/Watanabe/K&G/Easton (1-4) – lots of pool time and nothing to write home about

Columbus Pipe/DSS Bats/Easton (1-4) – lost 3 straight to start the tournament and never found a rhythm.  This team is much better than this.

 

Pure Romance/Easton (1-4) – Lasted a little while against Resmondo.  Offensive outages.  At least I made a new aquaintence with Feichtner.

Mike Foulks is back to manage PRI


The Scene/Easton (2-4?) the usssa site has them 1-5 which isn't possible.  Not much to see here right now.  Arredondo went over the big net twice though.  That was their only highlite.  No really it was the only one…

          I remember The Scene's Chris Arredondo going over the big net in left field on diamond #1 – twice!          


P&P 333/Suburban/Larrys/AOS/Combat (1-4) – Unleashed an offseason of energy on Shoppe in a huge 28-23 win then disappeared for 4 games.

 

P&P upsets Shoppe in their opener


Monster Energy/Team Combat (1-4?) – again usssa website has some games incorrect.  1, 4, and 8 in their last 3 games.  A slow start here, but they had cool uniforms.

 

 

Major League Dynasty/D2E/Adiktiv (1-4) – I didn't see the hard nosed Major League style ball here but then they were buried over at Fortune most of the time.  4, 6, and 3 to end the tournament.  They should have played Monster in a best of five…


Miken Mafia / ASPNation.com (0-4) – on the bright side you scored more than Monster and Major League.  Some young talent here.

 

 


Hot Links section brought to you by:

I will be in Phoenix Saturday for the Major there.  Also send corrections to dw@softballcenter.com

Link to all the photos from HOF that SoftballCenter has taken

Link to broadcast video of games by USSSALive.com when they are posted

Link to SoftballCenter.com broadcast archive

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Kansas City bracket link

 Phoenix bracket link

2012 Conference USSSA Schedule

Link to the 2011 Las Vegas Tournament Report

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

Team pictures link

Team photos from this link were taken by Stafford Connor of USSSAToday magazine.

Email stafford.connor@usssa.com to get an original copy of your team photo and check out his publication at USSSAToday.com

 

 



Some more pictures for you:

 

Field #2 

 

Baugh Ford pitcher Jeremy Holmes? before the broken pinky.  Same injury as Andy Purcell

Ask yourself this.  If Doc and Tony are not a great umpiring crew, then why are conference events in Vegas and Seattle asking them to come out?

 

Looks like a big phone number exchange.  Throw down or get off the field next time.

"Softball Guy" picture of the week is John Robinson.   There were no lower level teams to pick on so I picked on John for the double arm thingy look… 

I was going to use this pic, then I realized McCollum is playing grab ass and Filby probably would get upset…

TYJA's Luis Reyna shows bunt

 

 


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