2013 USSSA Las Vegas Major tournament report!

2013 Nationwide Conference USSSA

"Sin City Classic"

Las Vegas, NV

April 5-7

Laservision's Brett Helmer eyes up another cookie at Angel field in the winner's bracket championship game vs Nordkap

Link to Softballcenter.com picture album of the Las Vegas Major

USSSA Las Vegas tournament info and bracket link

Perfect weather, perfect fields, and for the most part – no upsets highlited the first Nationwide Conference event of the season.  Laservision/DesertFalls/Boombah/Easton is your champion.  After a  slow start against some of the lower competition in the first two rounds, Laservision caught fire and run ruled their last three opponents, knocking off Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok in both the winner's finals and finals.

The 3rd annual Louisville Slugger "Sin City Classic" opened on Friday night and found the higher seeded teams winning most every game throughout the weekend.  AZM, a 'B' team out of Arizona won a minor upset when they knocked off Ryno Ent/Monster/DT Sports.net 27-17.  Another minor upset was Tribal Whips who beat Conference 'C' team CSC out of Utah.  Also California 'B' team West Coast Miken lost to 'D' team Major Apparel 20-19 when the tying run was thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the 7th.

On Saturday it was more of the same as the higher seeds just about ran the table.  Linedrive came from behind to beat Famous in the quarter finals 10-9 after trailing the entire game.  Laservision overcame a 17-16 deficit to Classic Glass to win 28-17.  4 The Fallen handled AZM and Nordkap pulled away from OC Swats.

In the semi-finals Laservision broke a 9-9 tie and won by the run rule over 4 The Fallen with 4 The Fallen holding a flag ceremony after the game for two servicemen who were injured in Afghanistan   In the other semi-final Nordkap knocked off 'A' rival Line Drive Sportz 28-23.

In the winner's bracket championship game Laservision/Desert Falls game out blazin and smashed Nordkap 36-19.  Some great defense helped out as well from Sam Lopez, Kevin Kennington, and Geno Buck

In the loser's bracket OC Swats came from behind in the bottom of the 7th as veteran Dax Mamuyac, Julio Salazar, and Jason Kreider hit back to back singles to win the game by a run in a "grudge match" with 4 The Fallen.  Then in the night cap Line Drive Sportz knocked off OC Swats to advance to the loser's bracket championship game on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning Nordkap scored early and often, 11 in the first inning and 5 or 6 every inning thereafter.  Line Drive tried to keep pace but the infield defense of Nordkap outplayed the infield defense of Line Drive and Nordkap ended up winning 38-23 to go to the finals against Laservision.

Laservisions corner outfielders Travis Clark in RF and Scott Kirby in LF make nice catches in foul territory

Tony tosses Nordkap player/manager Bob Olson in the winner's final

Small crowds in Vegas

Fenway park – OC Swats pitching to Mike Dill of Line Drive Sportz

Yankee Stadium – 4 The Fallen taking on OC Swats in a grudge match

Wrigley Field – Notorious hit 6 home runs in one inning.  Quite a feat for an 'E' team. 

They almost had Ryno Ent beat but for a runner that got thrown out at homeplate to end the game.

Angel Field – West Coast Miken against Major Apparel

Sportsmans Park – CSC playing

Dodger Stadium – Peak taking on Classic Glass

Video Highlites brought to you by:

Las Vegas Major video clips

Chad Durick may have hit the longest ball of the tournament.

One opponent told me Kennington hit the longest.  They were both BOMBS!

Len Anderson (far left) a wounded service member will be travelling with the 4 The Fallen team, and the team will perform a flag ceremony at each of its stops to honor service men and women.   In Las Vegas they honored Army SGT Christopher Owens (left holding flag) and Army SGT Leo Louis Dunson (right holding flag).  THANK YOU for your service!

4-TheFallen.org

Proceeds from the sale of the Miken bats and 4 The Fallen equipment and clothing go to help the 4 The Fallen organization.

Army SGT Leo Louis Dunson

Army SGT Christopher Owens

Nationwide Conference balls were used – Dudley Classic M ZN

The "Miken Masher" of the week is OC Swats Jeff Flood!

Flood seemed to hit a much needed bomb everytime I walked around to watch the OC Swats games!

Las Vegas Major Final Standings & Awards

Team by team notes brought to you by:

1st Place – Laservision/DesertFalls/Boombah/Easton

Conf 'Major' from NY  5-0 Record

Laservison/DesertFalls started off slowly on Friday night when a 'D' team named Infamous took them 7 innings with Laservision coming out on top 23-13.  Then on Saturday at 1 PM a very good Classic Glass team had Laservision on the ropes leading 17-16 in the 5th inning.  Then Laservision caught fire and scored the last 12 runs of the game to win 28-17.  Brian Rainwater was injured in the game on a collision with the first baseman and has a dislocated thumb on his left hand.  Brian could miss 6-8 weeks but secretly hopes to be back for the Dual.   Laservision/Desert Falls then knocked off 4 The Fallen 30-15 after a slow start  I believe the score was tied at one point 9-9.

In the winner's bracket finals Saturday night and championship game on Sunday, Laservision came out strong and beat Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok in consecutive games by the run rule.  In both games Nordkap seemed to be in the game even being down by double figures but the Laservision defense shut them down.

Bryson Baker had a solid weekend at SS fielding many balls and throwing out runners.  Third baseman Sam Lopez had the best line drive stab of the tournament with a well timed leaping grab.  Kevin Kennington took a ball off the lip of the artificial turf infield to the face on a diving attempt but on the very next play made a full out dive again and made the play.  In the outfield center fielder Brian Wegman had to come out with stiffness in his neck and Mike Umschied and Travis Clark played the last two games in the outfield along with Scott Kirby.   Kevin Kennington and Chad Durick also had the longest home runs of the tournament with some long drives in the winners championship game after the sun went down.

In the championship it was solid infield defensive play and two nice catches of foul balls by Kirby and Clark that helped shut down Nordkap and Laservision/Desert Falls wins Las Vegas finishing up in impressive fashion.  Depth, defense, and stepping up the offense when it counted led to this win.  Congratulations!

Laservision prepares for battle

Brian Wegman (left) missed the last game with a stiff neck.  Brian Rainwater (left) is out with a dislocated thumb.

2nd Place – Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok

Conf 'A' from MN  4-2 Record

Nordkap played well enough to make it to the winners final unscathed but could not keep pace with the Laservision offense in the finals.  Their defense led by second baseman Anthony Dress helped shut down Line Drive Sportz in the loser's finals and a base hitting clinic when the homer's were gone finished them by the run rule.  Nordkap used all of their players and Cory Boothe came away with a pulled groin.  Jason Baxter won the offensive MVP as Nordkap moved the hot sticks to the top of their lineup.

Nordkap used an outfield rotation and pitcher rotation throughout the tournament.

The Softballcenter family would like to send out our condolences to Lee Trotter one of the sponsor/managers of Suncoast Reebok on his loss and that of his co-worker Angela.

Nordkaps Jason Branch makes a nice play on a line drive that never came down

Nordkaps Anthony Dress made some great backhand plays at second base

Reebok SS Luis Reyna and middle infielder Matt Pesso

3rd Place – Line Drive Sportz/Miken

Conf 'A' from MI  4-2 Record

Linedrive couldn't score a run against Famous for a good part of the game but came back in dramatic fashion with the sticks and the gloves to steal one away 10-9.  In the semi-finals against Nordkap they lost a frustrating game 28-23.  In the loser's bracket they recovered to beat Classic Glass and run rule OC Swats to make it to Sunday.  In the loser's final they could not keep pace with Nordkap and opened the door with a number of unforced defensive errors and lost 38-23.  Line Drive's top 4 in the lineup of Cory Large, Matt Rear, Mike Dill, and Mark Holstein is deadly.  Then come the speedsters like Parfitt, Hall, and Formosa.  This team may have a few too many outfielders who are going to be relied upon to play infield, but we'll see how it goes.  Young pitcher Faron Miller made all tournament and looks to get the bulk of the early season work as "Mister September" Billy Barrett is used sparingly in relief.

Mark Holstein formerly with EWS returns to the Conference for Line Drive

Line Drive Sportz gets ready for the loser's bracket semi-final

Billy Barrett lets the umpire know what a strike is

4th Place – OC Swats/Easton

Conf 'B' from CA  4-2 Record

OC Swats picks up the bonus points in the computer rankings with a 4th place finish.  Their key win coming over arch rival 4 The Fallen in the bottom of the 7th when Shain Stoner, Dax Mamuyac, Julio Salazar, and Jason Kreider came up with clutch base hits after the homers were gone and teammates hit two for outs.  The team has some newcomers like middle infielder Stoner and Jim Kulovitz mixed with conference veterans from many of the West Coast teams of the past.  Swats is another team that should battle for tournament wins in Phoenix and California.

OC Swats Julio Salazar with another hit

OC Swats Jeff Flood hits another homer

OC Swats beats 4 The Fallen in the bottom of the 7th on Jason Kreiders base hit

Tied 5th Place – Classic Glass/Easton/DSSBats

Conf 'C' from CA  4-2 Record

Classic has a tough team that could easily rank in the top 28 in the Nationwide Conference with the right schedule.  Classic had Laservision down a run after 5 innings before putting up two goose eggs in the 6th and 7th and lost by 12.  Classic held all 4 opponents in their wins to 10 runs or less.  Look for Classic to compete for tournament wins in Phoenix and California and they were the highest finishing 'C' team in this event, as expected.

Tied 5th Place – 4 The Fallen/Miken

Conf 'A' from AZ  2-2 Record

Fallen had a 7 game win streak snapped by Laservision after the game was tied early on.  Then they allowed OC Swats to come from behind in the bottom of the 7th and lost to them 23-22 to cut short a top 3 or 4 shot.  Fallen has a good mix of veteran players, power, and speed.  Dan Bean did the pitching.  Miken bombers Denny Crine and Eddie "The Kid" Vega provide a lot of the power and they are always grounded by their support of military veterans.

 Some of the new Fallen players, Johnny Bailey and Dan Bean

4 The Fallen before their semi-final game against Laservision

The rest of the Las Vegas Nationwide Conference teams:

Tied for 7th Famous/Premier/Easton – Conf 'B' – CA – Had Linedrive where they wanted them before losing by a run.  Then held to 13 runs by OC Swats?

Tied for 9th Ryno/Ent/Monster/DTSports.net – Conf 'B' – AR – had a 14 game winning streak earlier in the year.  Upset by AZM in Friday opener.  Nearly lost to an 'E' team but for a great throw and tag at the plate.  Then knocked out Nationwide Conference peer CSC 26-15 before OC Swats sent them home 22-14.

More pictures below

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Some of the archived games from the Las Vegas Major can be found here

USSSA Las Vegas tournament link

Link to Softballcenter.com pictures of the Las Vegas Major

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Link to the 2013 Tournament Reports

Link to the 2012 Tournament Reports

Some more pictures for you:

Former Nationwide Conference team Peak from Colorado made the trip

Tribal Whips upset CSC on Friday night

Cal Ford from West Coast Miken did some guest commentary

Robert Sena and friend

After a couple of years of putting the camera lens up against the fence, I decided to try screwing the lens on the inside of the fence.

Should have thought of that a long time ago, the result was a much better view of the game…duh