My trip to the Long Haul Bombers finals in St Paul Minnesota!

November 4, 2013 by DW —No Comments ↓

Originally I was unable to post video or pictures of the 2013 Long Haul Bombers finals until the final Softball360 show aired. So here is my trip to the finals in St Paul, Minnesota.

Video of most of the finals

St. Paul, Minnesota

August 23, 2013

Midway Stadium
1771 Energy Park Drive
Saint Paul, Minnesota

Midway Stadium Field Dimensions

305-375-400-380-317

The Bombers waited until the end of the Independent league baseball game to finish which had plenty of onfield entertainment for the large crowd.

Brett Helmer does an interview for the Softball 360 TV show under the stadium while waiting to hit.

The Evil .47 core softball is used at all Long Haul Bomber events.

The baseball game finally ended. It was entertaining and high scoring.

A large crowd remained to see the Bombers hit and stuck around for the fireworks afterwards.

Softball veteran Gary Jost warms up before the derby starts

Donovan Pokraka of Team Demarini hit first. The first three hitters – Pokraka, Kirby, and Brungardt were hitting for the team title portion of the event so they went first. Donovan hit just 2 of the first 6 but hit 3 in a row in the middle of his 15 swings and ended up with 7 homers.

Eastons Scott "Turbo" Kirby hit second. He hit 5 of his first 6 pitches out and 9 of the first 11 and finished with a big score of 11 points.

Demarini's Dale "Bubba" Brungardt hit third. This guy really swings from his heels but never got a real good rhythm going and wound up with 7, hitting every other pitch or every third pitch out.

2011 Long Haul Bomber champ Chris Larsen hitting for Demarini led off the 6 hitters who would hit for the Individual title. His score also counted in the team finals against Easton. Larsen hit 4 homers in a row in the middle of his 15 swings and wound up with a respectable 9 homers. Larsen's parents came in from Ohio to see the finals.

Easton's Brian Wegman was next. Wegman was hot out of the gate hitting 7 of his first 8 pitches out. Then after a lull, recovered to hit the last 3 out for a 10 point total which was good enough for the lead in the individual championship.

Easton's perennial contender Brett "The Hitman" Helmer was next. There was some real focus from Helmer as he launched 9 of his first 10 pitches and wound up with 12 points and the Individual title lead!

Some of the bombers admire Helmers 12 spot!

Mikens Denny Crine was next. He looked to be out of the running when he hit just 2 of his first 5 pitches for homers. Then he caught fire and hit an amazing 10 straight homers to tie Helmer with 12 points!

Chris Greinert of Reebok was next. After a slow start, Chris hit 8 straight in the middle of his round but wound up with 9 points.

Defending 2012 Long Haul Champ Kevin Filby hitting for Miken went last. Filby hit every other ball out at the start and then would hit 2 in a row before a miss and the inconsistency led to a 9 point output.

Final Scores – Easton won the team championship and Helmer and Crine tied for the individual title at 12 points each and would have to have a hit off.

Hitter's participating in Manufacturer's Cup only:
Scott Kirby 11
Donovan Pokraka 7
Dale Brungardt 7

Hitter's participating in Individual Championship:
Denny Crine 12 (4 more in hit off)
Brett Helmer 12 (3 more in hit off)
Brian Wegman 10
Chris Larsen 9
Chris Greinert 9
Kevin Filby 9

Manufacturers Cup:
Team Easton (Helmer 12, Kirby 11, Wegman 10) – 33
Team Demarini (Pokraka 7, Larsen 9, Brungardt 7) – 23

In the "hit off" each player could take as many pitches as they wanted but would get only one swing. Helmer and Crine each hit homers on their first 3 swings, alternating back and forth to see who would miss first. Then in the 4th round of overtime Helmer missed and Crine sent the final championship winning homer out of the park.