2012 USSSA Major World Series tournament report!

USSSA Major World Series

Kissimmee, FL

September 19 – September 23

The championship game between Laservision and Resmondo at the Major World Series!

To all sponsors, managers, and players thinking about retirement – you should take a month off before making a decision about 2013.  Remember that only one team usually wins their last game of the season, so everyone is probably frustrated right now with their play to end the season. 

That being said, I would like to thank all of the sponsors, managers, players, umpires, directors, and associations that put their time, effort, and money into this 2012 season.  You made it the best upper level season in recent memory . 

In the words of Christan Dowling, these 5 days of the Major, C World, and Womens Worlds, were a "celebration of softball!"

USSSA has crowned a new champion at the Major World Series as #2 seeded Laservision/Annihilation/Supreme/D2E/Easton ended the #1 seeded Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth's 5 game run through the loser's bracket of the tournament, and also their 3 year run as Major champion, with a 27-25 victory!  Laservision did so in dramatic fashion, getting a walk off home run from MVP infielder Scott Kirby to win their second game of the tournament 25-24 over TYJA-Suncoast Reebok.  They also made a big push in the top of the 7th inning against Demarini/Dirty/3n2/ATWLDesigns in the winners bracket championship game to win 18-13 from behind.  In the championship game on Sunday, the drama continued against Resmondo as Laservision jumped out to a big lead 20-4 and were 1 out away from run ruling Resmondo 25-10 in the top of the 5th before Resmondo forced a 6th and 7th inning and pulled to within 2 runs before the final nail biting out.

Wednesday, September 19th
The Major began on Wednesday at 5:30 PM with a matchup between the 2011 runner up Taylormade and the highly seeded Demarini/Dirty.  The game was tied at 24-24 going into the 7th inning.  Taylormade took the lead on a 2 run homer by Billy Moran and scored 7 runs in the top half of the 7th.  In the bottom of the 7th the first two hitters for Demarini made outs and then they had 9 straight hits and 8 runs to win on a walk off double down the right field line by Nick Santana.

Wednesday night Demarini/Dirty and Taylormade/Mizuno get ready to put on a show to open the World Series!

#2 seeded Laservision then struggled but powered their way past Buzinsports.com 17-13.  The score at one point was 8-7 mid way through the game.   Also, #1 seeded Resmondo run ruled Primetime 23-3 in just 4 innings.

Wednesday night Laservision takes on BuziniSports.com

The nightcap game between Reds Astros and Nordkap/Desert Falls turned out to be one of the greatest finishes in World Series history as Nordkap looked to be cruising to an easy opening round win, leading 18-9 going into the top of the 7th inning.  Reds Astos catcher Chad Mullins hit a ball over the scoreboard and the team batted around and Chad hit a second homer off the scoreboard for a grand slam.  In the inning Reds scored 14 runs and took a 23-18 to the bottom of the 7th where they got two ground balls after 4 straight runs with no outs to end the game with a 23-22 upset win!

Nordkap and Reds battle late into the night on Wednesday

Thursday, September 20th
The winners bracket resumed on Thursday with seeds 5-12 squaring off in the morning and early afternoon.  TYJA-Suncoast Reebok separated from Down2EarthSports.com/SBC/Worth with an 8 run 4th and run ruled them 33-15.  R&M Metals beat Team Combat 9-6 in a rather poorly played contest at 10:30 AM.  Shoppe jumped out to a huge 15-3 lead on West Coast Doerflinger as Tim Cocco hit 2 homers including a grand slam in the first inning.  Then Shoppe finished off WCD 32-12 by the run rule in the 4th on a Steve Allen homer.  In the last game of the first round, at 1:30 PM, Team 454 scored 7 runs in the first inning and 9 runs in the third inning, and won by run rule over Linedrive Sportz 29-13 on a home run by Kevin Bazat.

Thursday morning at the Major Worlds about to get under way with D2E vs TYJA!

On Thursday evening the final 8 got under way and featured some of the best games of the tournament.  At 4:00 PM Reds Astros took on Team 454 and Chad Mullins and Wally Maybrier hit a couple of scoreboard homers, and then a couple of 454 errors late in the game led to Reds upsetting Team 454 31-27.  Both teams scored in every inning.

At 5:30 PM Demarini/Dirty was sparked by an Andrew Collins inside the park homer and an 8 run 4th inning to beat rival Shoppe/TPS 29-19.  At 7 PM TYJA-Suncoast Reebok scored 13 runs on 13 hits and 3 homers in the top of the first against Laservision.  But Laservision crawled back into the game with 8 runs on 4 homers in the bottom of the 5th.  Then Laservision, trailing 24-23 in the bottom of the 7th got homers from Brian Wegman and a walk off by Scott Kirby to win 25-24!  In the final game of the night R&M Metals broke an 18-18 tie with Resmondo in the bottom of the 6th with a 7 run inning.  The big blow was a Mike Umschied bases loaded triple!  Then they got Resmondo to put up a zero in the top of the 7th and won 25-18!  This was Resmondos first loss in their last 17 games at the Major.

Friday, September 21st
On Friday, the winner's bracket was down to the semi-finals which started at 4:15 PM with Laservision using the biggest offensive inning of the tournament, 16 runs, to put away the upstart Reds Astros 29-5.  This was followed by the home run derby which was broadcast on ESPN3.com.  The derby was won by Chad Durick and you can see the results and videos here.  After the derby it was the second semi-final game between R&M Metals and Demarini/Dirty, which was also broadcast on ESPN3.com.  In this game Dirty got off to a fast start with an inside the park homer by Nick Santana.  Then R&M came back with a grand slam by Brandon Dillon in the bottom of the 2nd and scored 10 runs total in the inning.  Terry Baggs answered that with a 3 run homer in the top of the 3rd for Demarini/Dirty and they added a 2 run homer by Adam Rockoff in the 6th.  In the top of the 7th, R&M Metals got a leaping catch by Brandon Dillon to keep the game close but came up 2 runs short 17-15 with the hammer in their hands in the bottom of the 7th.

Chad Durick of Team 454 won the home run derby on Friday night on ESPN3

Saturday, September 22nd
On Saturday, the only winner's bracket game was the winner's championship game where early offense by Laservisions Brian Wegman and Brett Helmer was matched by a two out homer by Demarini/Dirty's Andrew Collins.  The teams also turned in some great defense by Laservision shortstop Bryson Baker and Demarini/Dirty left fielder Chris Wilson.  With the game still in question in the 6th, Demarini put up a zero in the bottom half of the inning and Laservsion caught fire in the top of the 7th and won the game 18-13.

Winner's bracket championship – Laservision takes on Demarini/Dirty

Sunday, September 23rd
On Sunday the tournament brought back the final 3 teams.  At 9 AM Demarini/Dirty played Resmondo who had won 4 games on Saturday in the loser's bracket to make it to Sunday.  This was the first meeting of the year between the two highly ranked teams.  Demarini struck first with homers by Andrew Collins and Adam Rockoff in the top of the first.  Resmondo answered with 15 runs in the bottom of the first and 9 more in the bottom of the 3rd to go on to win 31-12!

Championship Game Highlites:
Top 1: Resmondo scores 2 runs (2-0)
  Andy Purcell homer
  BJ Fulk homer
 
Bot 1: Laservision scores 4 runs (2-4)
  Bryson Baker strikes out looking on a pitch that never crossed the plate
  Scott Kirby hits a 2 run homer off the scoreboard in center field
  Sam Lopez 2 RBI single
  Jeremy Isenhower makes a great diving catch to end the inning

MVP Scott Kirby hits a triple in the championship game

Top 2: Resmondo scores 1 (3-4)
  Jeremy Isenhower homer

Bot 2: Laservision scores 7 (3-11)
  Bryson Baker RBI double
  Brett Helmer long 2 run homer
  Scott Kirby RBI triple
  Geno Buck 2 run homer – scoreboard shot
  Sam Lopez homer – deep LC shot

Top 3: Resmondo scores 1 (4-11)
  Andy Purcell homer
  BJ Fulk grounds out backside to Helmer who makes a nice play
  Bryson Baker makes a nice play at SS to get Laservision out of the inning

Bot 3: Laservision scores 9 (4-20)
  Bryson Baker rbi double
  Geno Buck opposite field 3 run homer
  Nice sliding catch by Scott Streibel in LF
  Brian Rainwater 2 run homer to the opposite field
  Jason Kendrick homer

Top 4: Resmondo scores 6 (10-20)
  Jeremy Isenhower homer
  Connell hit a 3 run homer to the base of the flags in LF
  Andy Purcell homer
  BJ Fulk homer

Resmondo's Andy Purcell pitched great and hit 15 homers including 5 homers in the championship game

Bot 4: Laservision scores 5 (10-25)
  Intentional walk to Geno Buck to load the bases?
  Kennington 2 run double
  Sam Lopez 2 run double
  Rainwater RBI double
 
Top 5: Resmondo scores 11 runs after 2 outs (21-25)
  2 quick outs
  Bobby Hughes singles
  Sean McDonald pinch hit single
  Jeff Hall RBI single
  Greg Connell hits one through the top of the flags, 3 run homer
  Andy Purcell homers
  Bubba Mack homers
  Jimmy Salas homers
  Jeremy Isenhower homers
  Bobby Hughes 2 run homer

Bot 5: Laservision scores (21-27)
  Diving stop by Andy Purcell for an out
  Brett Helmer 2 out homer
  Brian Wegman homer
 
Top 6: Resmondo scores 1 (22-27)
  Andy Purcell homer
  Scott Kirby makes a great play at 2B
 
Bot 6: Laservision scores 0 (22-27)

Top 7: Resmondo scores 3 (25-27)
  Don Dedonatis single
  Bobby Hughes 2 run homer (kid on the hill makes a running and diving catch)
  Scott Striebel doubles
  Greg Connell RBI double

The tournament had great weather, close games, dramatic come from behind wins, massive home runs, and a new winner at the top!  A great way to end a great season!

Laservision celebrates their Major World Series Championship!

Championship game highlites

Team Combat takes on TYJA-Suncoast Reebok back on field #4

Brett Helmer of Easton hits his 102nd career homer at the World Series.  Thanks Brett for all you do for softball! 

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-obxevNK2YAk/UESodhMWCII/AAAAAAAASVY/XhtVBbism6k/s800/20120902081504%25281%252

Fri, Sep 21, 2012 – 6:30 PM
Usssa Men's Major World Series – Home Run Derby
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/618467/usssa-men-major-world-series-home-run-derby
 
Fri, Sep 21, 2012 – 9:15 PM
Usssa Men's Major World Series – Winners Bracket
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/618469/usssa-men-major-world-series-winners-bracket
 
Sun, Sep 23, 2012 – 11:00 AM
Usssa Men's Major World Series – Championship (Championship)
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/618471/usssa-men-major-world-series-championship-championship

Stadium Field archived games done by USSSA Live can be found here when available

All of the SoftballCenter archived games can be found here

Link to Softballcenter.com pictures of the Major

Link to some additional pictures that USSSA has taken

Video Highlites brought to you by:

Major World Series highlites

The "Mojo Masher" of the week is:

Christan Dowling of Combat Derby Girls!

Christan Dowling put on a display of power at the home run derby and hit two balls 400 feet!

Major World Series Tournament Awards and Final Standings:

Laservision's Scott Kirby was co-MVP 

Resmondo pitcher Andy Purcell was co-MVP

Laservision outfielder Brian Rainwater was Offensive MVP

 

 Resmondo shortstop Don Dedonatis Jr was Defensive MVP

 Laservision manager Dan Fruhwirth was manager of the tournament

The All Tournament team

Don Dedonatis of USSSA congratulates each of the Laservision team members

Most of the awards ceremony

 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

 

 

1st Place – Laservision/Anni/Supr/D2E/Easton;lkajsdlkgajaljnresmondo-specialty tank worthresmondo-specialty tank worth

Conf 'M' from Cicero, NY  5-0 Record

Laservision opened against Buzini on Wednesday night and out powered them 17-13 on 10 homers including 4 by middle infielder Kevin Kennington.  Then they beat TYJA-Suncoast Reebok 25-24 when they scored 8 runs in the 5th and 8 in the 6th.  They held TYJA scoreless for the last two innings and got homers from Brian Wegman and Scott Kirby in the bottom of the 7th to win it.  They really pulled this one out from the jaws of defeat with 4 nearly perfect innings of play to end the game and win by 1.

Against Reds Astros in their third game they used 5 homers, 2 by Brett Helmer and 2 by Kirby, to jump on Reds for 16 runs in the first inning and won easy 29-5.  Then in the winners final against Demarini/Dirty, Laservision again tightened up the defense late and opened up their own offense in the top of the 7th to win 18-13.

In the championship game, Laservision jumped out to a huge lead on their rival Resmondo 20-4 and just did get enough to win 27-25 and take the title.

Bryson Baker made some huge defensive plays in the big games, pitcher Geno Buck pitched his best ball of the season, and outfielder Brian Wegman and infielder Scott Kirby came up with all of the big hits when needed.  And they were needed, early and often. 

Congratulations to Laservision who's resume for the 2012 season definitely did not point to a Major World Series title but they did it against all odds and really gutting out wins against all of the top teams.  The TYJA, Dirty, and Resmondo games were some of the best games of the season.   I have been very critical of this team throughout the season and much like D2E a couple weeks ago, Laservision "stuck it in my eye".  You are 2012 World Champs and no one can take that away from you!

Laservision sponsor Pierre Alfred won his first ring!  This probably won't be the last time these two great sponsors battle it out.

Was this Jason Kendricks last at bat?  If so, thanks for the memories! (hearing he is playing with Combat, sweet)

Laservisions Brian Wegman picked the team up with some big hits all week long

Bryson Baker has now won 8 straight Major World Series titles…WOW!

2nd Place – Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth

Conf 'M' from Winter Haven, FL  6-2 Record

Resmondo played 8 games.  They cruised past Primetime in their opener on Wednesday 23-3.  Then lost to R&M Metals 25-18 after Bubba Mack had tied the game at 18-18 with a 2 run homer in the 6th inning.

In the losers bracket Resmondo beat Buzini 22-6 with homers by Purcell, Fulk, and Isenhower early on.  Then they beat Shoppe 21-17 with defense by pitcher Andy Purcell who made Shoppe make 6 weak outs in the game.  They also had a scoreboard homer by Greg Connell, and homers by Don Dedonatis Jr and Andy Purcell among others.

They then beat Reds Astros 29-13 on grand slams by Jeff Hall and Andy Purcell, and beat R&M Metals 17-8 late on Saturday night.  On Sunday morning to make it to the championship game, Resmondo hammered Demarini/Dirty 31-12 on a 15 run 1st inning and a homer by Greg Connell and some good defense by shortstop Don Dedonatis Jr.

In the finals Resmondo trailed Laservision 20-4 and made a dramatic comeback as discussed earlier in the report.  Andy Purcell hit 5 homers in the game but Resmondo lost 27-25.

Resmondo left fielder Scott Striebel makes a nice catch on the fence

3rd Place – Demarini/Dirty/3n2/ATWLdesigns

Conf 'A' from Orlando, FL  3-2 Record

Demarini opened the whole tournament at 5:30 PM vs Taylormade.  A Steven Loyd 3 run homer led to a 10 run Demarini/Dirty 1st inning.  Loyd struck again with a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 3rd.  Then a great diving catch by Mike Wrenn at first base in the 5th and a great play at shortstop by Loyd in the 6th kept the game close for Demarini.  In the bottom of the 7th, needing 8 runs, Demarinis first two batters made outs then they had 9 straight hits and 8 runs capped off by a game winning double by Nick Santana, and won 32-31!  There were 15 homers hit between the two teams in the game.

In their 2nd game on Thursday an Andrew Collins inside the park homer during an 8 run 4th led Demarini to a 29-19 win over Shoppe.  Next they beat R&M Metals 17-15 with an inside the park homer by Santana, a 3 run homer by Terry Baggs, and a 2 run homer by Adam Rockoff.  You can watch the replay of that game here on ESPN3.com.

In the winner's bracket championship game against Laservision, Dirty had Laservision right where they wanted them but failed to add runs in the bottom of the 6th and Laservision outscored Dirty in the 7th to lead to a Dirty loss 18-13.  In the loser's bracket Demarini/Dirty lost to Resmondo on Sunday morning 31-12 even though Rockoff had 4 doubles.  This team was very close, one good offensive inning away in that Laservision winner's final from being the undefeated team on Sunday!  wow

Demarini's Nick Santana caps an 8 run come from behind win over Taylormade!

Dirty celebrates another Andrew Collins homer to the opposite field

4th Place – R&M Metals/Troupe/Pipac/S&R/Easton

Conf 'A' from Waterloo, IA  3-2 Record

R&M Metals won their opener on Thursday 9-6 over Team Combat in an ugly low scoring game.  Then they took on Resmondo in the evening game.  They came out and got a double play to end the first inning to hold Resmondo to 1 run.  R&M scored 6 to take the lead in the 2nd inning and 6 more in the bottom of the 4th as Lossen White homered.  After Resmondo tied the game at 18-18 in the top of the 6th, R&M Metals answered with 7 runs in the bottom half when Mike Umschied hit a 2 out bases loaded triple and Reggie Schulte followed with a big homer.  R&M held Resmondo scoreless in the 7th on a nice play by 2nd baseman Richard Salazar and won 25-18!

In their next game late on Friday night they had to wait for a long rain delay and the game was broadcast on ESPN3.com.  In that game Brandon Dillon for R&M hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning and he made a great running/leaping catch into the center field fence in the 7th to keep the game close but R&M was unable to come back in the bottom of the 7th and lost 17-15.

In the loser's bracket R&M got homers from Anderson, Dillon, Gordon, Irvine, and a scoreboard shot by Schulte, and just did beat Team 454 13-12.  In their final game against Resmondo, R&M looked like zombies as they ran out of gas and lost 17-8.  Another great run for the 'A' World Champs!

R&M manager Rob Humphrey

 Schulte, Umschied, and Dillon were all tournament from R&M

Tied 5th Place – Team 454/Emerald/Worth

Conf 'A' from Glen Allen, VA  3-2 Record

Team 454 opened with a 29-13 win over Line Drive Sportz early on Thursday afternoon.  They had a 7 run 1st inning and a nice sliding catch by their outfielder Bryce Oliviera as well.  Then in the top of the 3rd inning they scored 9 runs and ended the game by run rule in the 5th with a walk off homer by Kevin Bazat.

In their second game immediately following the first, they had a 7-6 lead on Reds Astros in the first on a Bill Rhew 3 run homer.  Then they left them loaded in the bottom of the 2nd and had a rash of defensive errors in the 5th that lead to a 31-27 loss. 

In the loser's bracket Team 454 beat WCD 22-15 behind an 8 run 4th, some great defensive plays by left fielder Jesse Harrison, and a 9 run bottom of the 6th.  In their next game they sent TYJA packing 17-8 on homers by Chad Durick, Jesse Harrison, and 2 homers by Bryce Oliviera.  In their final game 454 lost 13-12 to R&M Metals after tying the game in the top of the 7th 12-12 on homers by Bryce, a scoreboard shot homer by Chad Durick, and the game tying homer by Kyle Moyer. 

Team 454/Emerald/Worth player/sponsor Bill Rhew with manager Tim "Tiny" Taylor in the background. 

454 Left Fielder Jesse Harrison made back to back great plays against WCD

Tied 5th Place – Reds Astros/TPS/Sports Den

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

Reds Astros played Nordkap/Desert Falls on Wednesday night at 10 pm.  Reds played like they were asleep for 5 innings down 13-2.  Then in the 6th they scored 7 runs to pull to within 13-9.  Nordkap added 5 in the bottom of the 6 but would of had more if not for a diving catch by Reds right fielder Chris Lane.  In the top of the 7th, down 18-9, Reds scored 14 runs!  Chad Mullins knocked the first homer of the tournament that went over the scoreboard.  Then Wally Maybrier peppered the scoreboard with a homer and the lineup batted around and Chad Mullins hit a grand slam into the scoreboard.  In the bottom of the 7th with Reds leading 23-18, Nordkap came back to within 23-22 when a double play won it for Reds. 

On Thursday Reds played Team 454 in the quarterfinals.  Chad Mullins again led the Reds first inning attack with a clock shot homer and Reds scored 6 runs.  454 answered with 7 runs of their own in the first inning.  Then in the top of the second, Reds two hitter Fred Lawson hit a 2 run homer, Mullins homered again, and Maybrier hit one to go 3 homers in a row.  In the third Rob Roop got into the home run action with a grand slam!  Both team scored in every inning but the difference was Reds shortstop Travis Dale making two big defensive plays in the 6th inning and Team 454 making some big errors in the 5th which led to 8 runs for Reds.  Reds won it 31-27.

In the semifinals against Laservision, Reds got hammered 29-5 by Laservision who scored 16 runs on them in the first inning.  Then in the losers bracket they ran into Resmondo who hit a couple of grand slams against them and Reds lost 29-13. 

4 hitter Wally Maybrier did some scoreboard bashing