Thursday March 28th, 2024
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2014 USSSA Major World Series tournament report!

 

 

 

 

2014 USSSA Major World Series

 

Kissimmee, FL

 

Sept 17-21

 

 

Former Major World Series MVP's – Rusty Bumgardner and Johnny McCraws last World Series!

Thanks for the memories!

Championship Sunday – Resmondo vs Backman!

 

Link to the Softballcenter.com picture album of the Major World Series

 

USSSA Major World Series tournament info and bracket link

 

Link to stats and some more pictures

 

The 2014 USSSA Major World Series capped a great year of softball with a less than dramatic ending.  Resmondo Specialty Tank Worth based out of Winterhaven, Florida and sponsor Travis Resmondo won their 9th title in 11 years and did so in dominating fashion going undefeated 5-0.  They beat Laservision/H Auto/JJ's/Easton 39-24 in the winner's bracket finals and Backman/Shoppe/Louisville Slugger 26-11 in the championship game.  Resmondo was only challenged once in the semifinals when Backman came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as they got 2 run homers from Brian Rainwater, Sam Lopez, Kevin Rye, and LC Watson in the first inning and got a double play in the bottom of the inning for an 8-2 lead.  In the 2nd inning Resmondo closed the gap to 12-6 on homers by BJ Fulk and Jeremy Isenhower.  In the 3rd inning Neil Haglund hit a 2 run homer and Resmondo went 1-2-3 in the bottom half as a strong wind blowing in knocked down a couple of home run chances.  The game was played in pouring rain from start to finish.  The wind died though in the 4th and Backmans Kevin Rye hit a 2 run homer to put them up 18-8 after 4 innings.

In the 5th Backman pushed the lead to 16 runs on a 2 run double from Sam Lopez and a 2 run homer from Dave Kessler.  This forced Resmondo to score at least 2 runs to keep the game going and avoid the run rule.  In the bottom of the 5th clutch two out hits by Bubba Mack and Lee Powers kept the game going for Resmondo and then co-MVP BJ Fulk hit a huge home run to extend the game 24-13.  Great defensive plays from Kevin Kennington and Kevin Rye held Resmondo from a big inning though. 

In the 6th Backmans Neil Haglund hit a 2 run homer to make it 26-13.  In the bottom of the inning Resmondo had the biggest inning of the tournament so far.  In the pouring rain Lee Powers hit a 2 run homer and Greg Connell hit two 3 run homers and Resmondo scored 14 runs to take a 1 run lead.  And two of the outs they made were a line drive that was knocked down and thrown out by Backman pitcher LC Watson, and a home run robbing catch by center fielder Kyle Cowart at the 400 foot mark!  In the bottom of the 7th a stunned Backman team was unable to score and although they put up an incredible fight and played their hearts out, still lost by 1 run.

Resmondo cruised through the rest of the tournament with dominating pitching, line drive hitting, and timely homers.  The loser's bracket had a few upsets with Classic Glass, a 'B' team out of California, playing in their first Major World Series upsetting 3 teams in a row – OI Livingston, Albicocco, and Buzini on Saturday to make the top 5!  And Precision/Easton the 'A' World runner up and 'B' World champ finishing an impressive 4th. 

The tournament featured a barage of long homers as the wind blew out most of the time, the ball carried, and the skies were mostly overcast.  Some of the Friday games were postponed due to rain and the traditional home run derby was cancelled.  The top 8 Nationwide Conference USSSA umpires were used, the stadium Dudley ZN was used, and the games for the most part in the winner's bracket were not very close.  The games in the loser's bracket were tightly contested and entertaining.

The entire Major World Series was broadcast on USSSALive.com with their new (awesome) replay system with multiple camera angles, field reporters, and announcers.  The two games on Sunday were shown on ESPN3.com as well.

We tried to keep a list of the players that hit the ball over the 45 foot high scoreboard.  They were: Greg Connell twice, Dale Brungardt, Stuart Snell, Keith Anderson, Sam Lopez, and Kevin Kennington.  There definitely could have been others.

 

Resmondos Greg Connell made this stop on a hard chance to end the game against Backman 27-26

Resmondo and Backman battle in the pouring rain

Resmondo bats against Laservision in the winner's bracket championship game 

Conference Defensive MVP SS Luis Reyna is whisked away with a broken leg suffered in a collision on a popup.

We wish Luis the best and know that with his work ethic, proper rehab, and doctors instructions he will be back! 

Rains kept the crowd sizes down again 

Line Drive Sportz bats against Precision

Most people see the vast outfield at the Major World Series and think it is easy to get a hit.

But in fact, batting averages go way down on the bigger fields because infielders play further back cutting down the holes

and the outfield gaps are difficult to hit with outfielders playing back at the 320 and 360 marks.

TG Brand battles Red's Astros back on field #5

Red's Astros and Precision battle in the fog at 9 AM

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

 

2014 Major World Series Highight Videos

USSSA did a great job of creating little highlight videos of most games.

Here they are all together in one video.

 

Archived games playlist

 

 


 

Major World Series Awards and Final Standings

 

The Major World Series hardware

Player Tournament Awards Players Name Plays For
Tournament CO-MVP Billy Fulk Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
Tournament CO-MVP Andrew Purcell Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
Offensive Tournament MVP George Connell Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
Defensive Tournament MVP Kyle Cowart BACKMAN / SHOPPE/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
All Tournament Team Brett Helmer Laservision/H.Auto/JJ's/Easton
All Tournament Team Don DeDonatis III Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Bryson Baker Laservision/H.Auto/JJ's/Easton
All Tournament Team Jason Branch Line Drive Sportz/R&M Metals/Easton
All Tournament Team Travis Clark Laservision/H.Auto/JJ's/Easton
All Tournament Team Kevin Rye BACKMAN / SHOPPE/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
All Tournament Team Kyle Cowart BACKMAN / SHOPPE/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
All Tournament Team Andrew Vitcak Precision/Easton
All Tournament Team Neil Haglund BACKMAN / SHOPPE/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
All Tournament Team Seth Burgmeier Precision/Easton
All Tournament Team Mike Umscheid Laservision/H.Auto/JJ's/Easton
All Tournament Team christopher geron Precision/Easton
All Tournament Team Cal Ford Classic Glass/Easton
All Tournament Team Billy Fulk Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Jeremiah Isenhower Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Brian Rainwater BACKMAN / SHOPPE/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
All Tournament Team George Connell Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Bubba Mack III Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Lee Powers Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team Andrew Purcell Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
All Tournament Team KEVIN KENNINGTON BACKMAN / SHOPPE/LOUISVILLE SLUGGER
Place State Team Team
Class
Wins Loses Ties Runs
Scored
Runs
Allow
Avg
Runs
Avg
Allow
Avg
Diff
Max
Runs
USSSA
Points
1 FL – Winter Haven resmondo-specialty tank worth SPMensMajor 5 0 0 135 62 27 12.4 14.6 39 650
2 IN – AURORA backman / shoppe/louisville slugger SPMensMajor 5 2 0 158 112 22.5 16 6.57 36 350
3 NYU – Cicero laservision/h.auto/jj's/easton SPMensMajor 3 2 0 121 103 24.2 20.6 3.6 32 300
4 IL – Chicago Precision/Easton SPMensB 3 2 0 93 95 18.6 19 -0.3 22 250
5 MI – Warren line drive sportz/r&m metals/easton SPMensA 3 2 0 81 75 16.2 15 1.2 28 200
5 CAN – San Jose Classic Glass/Easton SPMensB 3 2 0 133 104 26.6 20.8 5.8 41 200
7 AL – Clanton baugh doerflinger nat-pawn/easton SPMensA 2 2 0 77 94 19.2 23.5 -4.2 25 150
7 MS – Jackson Buzini/BWW/Miken SPMensA 2 2 0 68 81 17 20.2 -3.2 24 150
9 OHO – West Chester 3rd street/louisville slugger/mojo SPMensB 2 2 0 60 84 15 21 -6 25 110
9 IN – Indianapolis red's astros/louisville slugger SPMensA 2 2 0 90 89 22.5 22.2 0.25 31 110
9 NYD – Hunington team albicocco/scene/easton/elite SPMensA 1 2 0 51 71 17 23.6 -6.6 20 110
9 VA – Williamsburg taylormade/tm sports/d&i/mizuno SPMensA 1 2 0 55 57 18.3 19 -0.6 23 110
13 MN – Brooklyn Center Xtreme/Miken SPMensB 1 2 0 45 62 15 20.6 -5.6 23 70
13 GA – FAYETTEVILLE oi livingston/scott's lawn care/mwa SPMensB 1 2 0 32 51 10.6 17 -6.3 18 70
13 MI – Flint TG Brand SPMensB 0 2 0 29 43 14.5 21.5 -7 20 70
13 WA – Kent Team Combat/Softball.com SPMensMajor 0 2 0 25 44 12.5 22 -9.5 21 70
17 DC – WASHINGTON SEMPER ATHLETICS/DEMARINI Qualified SPMnAFA 0 2 0 29 41 14.5 20.5 -6 15 40
17 MO – Belton B&B DRYWALL/Easton SPMensB 0 2 0 40 54 20 27 -7 25 40

2014 USSSA Major World Series All Tournament team (many players are missing from photo)

Resmondo co-mvp's BJ Fulk and Andy Purcell

 

Offensive MVP Greg Connell

 

 

Backmans Brian Rainwater was the Home Run leader with 11 and 

Defensive MVP was Backman center fielder Kyle Cowart

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:


 

 

1st Place – Resmondo Specialty Tank/Worth

Conf 'M' from FL  5-0 Record

Game 1:  Resmondo jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the 1st inning on Xtreme with homers by Andy Purcell and Jeremy Isenhower.  In the bottom of the 2nd they got homers from Greg Connell, Bubba Mack, and a grand slam by Jeremy Isenhower to take a 20-2 and they won in the 4th by the 20 run rule.  Greg Connells homer went over the 45 foot high center field wall!

Quarterfinal: It was all Resmondo in the nightcap Thursday.  Resmondo picther Andy Purcell induced multiple pop outs from the Line Drive Sportz lineup and when he didn't get a popout he was helped by a great diving stop by shortstop Don Dedonatis Jr!  Offensively Resmondo was slow to start but got a 2 run homer from Jeremy Yates in the 2nd, a 3 run homer over the scoreboard in center field by Greg Connell (his 2nd scoreboard shot of the tournament), and Yates, Bubba Mack, and BJ Fulk added homers in the 3rd inning as Resmondo cruised to a 23-2 win.  Resmondo hit 6 HR in the 4 innings, Line Drive zero?  

Semifinal: Backman came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as they got 2 run homers from Brian Rainwater, Sam Lopez, Kevin Rye, and LC Watson in the first inning and got a double play in the bottom of the inning for an 8-2 lead.  In the 2nd Resmondo closed the gap to 12-6 on homers by BJ Fulk and Jeremy Isenhower.  In the 3rd inning Neil Haglund hit a 2 run homer and Resmondo went 1-2-3 in the bottom half as a strong wind knocked down a couple of home run chances.  The game was played in pouring rain from start to finish.  The wind died though in the 4th and Backmans Kevin Rye hit a 2 run homer to put them up 18-8 after 4 innings. 

In the 5th Backman pushed the lead to 16 runs on a 2 run double from Sam Lopez and a 2 run homer from Dave Kessler.  This forced Resmondo to score at least 2 runs to keep the game going.  Clutch 2 out hits by Bubba Mack and Lee Powers kept the game going for Resmondo and then BJ Fulk hit a huge home run to extend the game 24-13.  Great defensive plays from Kevin Kennington and Kevin Rye held Resmondo from a big inning though. 

In the 6th Backmans Neil Haglund hit a 2 run homer to make it 26-13.  In the bottom of the inning Resmondo had the biggest inning of the tournament.  In the pouring rain Lee Powers hit a 2 run homer and Greg Connell hit two 3 run homers in the inning, and Resmondo scored 14 runs to take a 1 run lead.  And two of the outs they made were a line drive that was knocked down and thrown out by Backman pitcher LC Watson, and a home run robbing catch by center fielder Kyle Cowart at the 400 foot mark!

In the bottom of the 7th a stunned Backman team was unable to score and although they put up an incredible fight and played their hearts out, still lost by 1 run.

Winner's Bracket Championship:  Resmondo let up 10 runs in the 1st inning to Laservision.  Then after Reynas unfortunate injury, Resmondo responded with 7 runs in the bottom of the first, 12 runs in the 2nd, and separated in the 5th on a Purcell homer and went on to win big 39-24.

Championship: It was all Resmondo on Sunday in the finals.  Purcell got Backman out 1-2-3 in the first and hit a 2 run homer himself in the bottom half of the inning.  Resmondo got 11 runs in the 2nd and 5 runs in the 3rd to win 22-7 over Backman.

Purcell was getting players to pop out on a regular basis, Connell was hitting them over the scoreboard, the rest of the team was doing their part to win.  But the thing most striking about Resmondos play was the absolute focus by all players in putting the bat solidly on the ball when losing to Backman in the rain.  One of the greatest comebacks of all time and the defense in the 7th by Connell and others to close it out.  Andy Purcells ERA in the 6th and 7th inning of close games this year has to be the best in the league.

Tip your cap to Resmondo, they did it again, in a year where they started very slow. Connell, Powers, Fulk, Dedonatis, Purcell, and Isenhower were all over .700.  Purcell had 9 HR.  The defense wasn't needed as much as usual but the pitching was far superior to their opponents.  Resmondo will enjoy this one and come back strong in 2015 for their final run.

Travis Resmondo and his kids receive his 9th Major World Series trophy!

 

Andy Purcell getting hitters to popup and Don Dedonatis at SS had the

defense going good as they gave up just 5 runs in the first two games.

 

9 World Series, 10 Smoky's, 9 Conference Championships!

 


 

2nd Place – Backman/Shoppe/Louisville Slugger

Conf 'M' from IN  5-2 Record

 

1st Game: Backman annihilated OI Livingston in both teams first game of the tournament.  Backman got 2 run homers from lefties Brian Rainwater, Dave Kessler, and Kyle Cowart in the bottom of the first to take a 7-1 lead.  In the bottom of the 2nd they added 2 run homers from Kennington and Kessler again to score 13 runs and win 20-3.  OI Livingston had just 4 hits in the game.

2nd Game: Backman/Shoppe pounded Baugh Ford from the beginning with a 3 run homer from Neil Haglund in the top of the 1st.  Backman was the #5 seed and Baugh was the #4 and Baugh was a whopping 5-0 vs Backman on the season with most of those wins on baseball sized fields.  But Backman not only out homered Baugh and beat them 22-7 convincingly but they turned in some incredible defensive plays from middle infielder Kevin Kennington and left fielder Dave Kessler.  Kesler made both a great sliding catch and a great running catch into the fence.  Lucas for Baugh had the only real highlite with a 2 run homer in a game where the fans kept waitinf for a big inning out of Baugh that never came.

Winners Semi Final: Backman came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as they got 2 run homers from Brian Rainwater, Sam Lopez, Kevin Rye, and LC Watson in the first inning and got a double play in the bottom of the inning for an 8-2 lead.  In the 2nd Resmondo closed the gap to 12-6 on homers by BJ Fulk and Jeremy Isenhower.  In the 3rd inning Neil Haglund hit a 2 run homer and Resmondo went 1-2-3 in the bottom half as a strong wind knocked down a couple of home run chances.  The game was played in pouring rain from start to finish.  The wind died though in the 4th and Backmans Kevin Rye hit a 2 run homer to put them up 18-8 after 4 innings. 

In the 5th Backman pushed the lead to 16 runs on a 2 run double from Sam Lopez and a 2 run homer from Dave Kessler.  This forced Resmondo to score at least 2 runs to keep the game going.  Clutch 2 out hits by Bubba Mack and Lee Powers kept the game going for Resmondo and then BJ Fulk hit a huge home run to extend the game 24-13.  Great defensive plays from Kevin Kennington and Kevin Rye held Resmondo from a big inning though. 

In the 6th Backmans Neil Haglund hit a 2 run homer to make it 26-13.  In the bottom of the inning Resmondo had the biggest inning of the tournament.  In the pouring rain Lee Powers hit a 2 run homer and Greg Connell hit two 3 run homers in the inning, and Resmondo scored 14 runs to take a 1 run lead.  And two of the outs they made were a line drive that was knocked down and thrown out by Backman pitcher LC Watson, and a home run robbing catch by center fielder Kyle Cowart at the 400 foot mark!

In the bottom of the 7th a stunned Backman team was unable to score and although they put up an incredible fight and played their hearts out, still lost by 1 run.

On Sunday: It was all Backman in the loser's bracket championship game as Kyle Cowarts grand slam in the top of the 3rd inning gave Backman an 11 run inning and a 15-3 lead on Laservision.  They would end up "flip flopping" Laservision and winning by the run rule 26-11.  In the final game against Resmondo it was just the opposite as they were crushed 22-7.

Backman had their best tournament of the season.  Beat almost all of the teams that had beaten them often during the season, exacting some revenge!  Rainwater had 11 HR, Kennington was hitting it over the scoreboard and Haglund and Kessler were playing both sides of the ball well.  Really the whole team pitched in and the best game of the tournament was that 27-26 loss to Resmondo in the pouring rain.  A great effort!

 

Backmans Eric Thompson and Jonathan Lenz pushed them past the run rule against Laservision

LC Watson and the entir Backman team had a gutty performance against Resmondo in the semi-finals

Backman flip flops Laservision

 


 

3rd Place – Laservision/H Auto/JJ's/Easton

Conf 'M' from NY  3-2 Record

 

1st Game: Laservision struggled some against 3rd street in their opener after jumping out to a lead of 10-2 on homers by Filby, Brungardt, and Clark.  Then they went to sleep a little as 3rd Street closed the gap to 13-9.  But in the 4th homers by Brungardt and Clark sparked a 9 run inning and Kevin Bazats 3 run homer ended the game in the bottom of the 5th 27-11 by the run rule.

2nd Game: Buzini and Laservision were tied after one inning of play 3-3.  Laservision getting theirs on crowd pleasing homers by Bryson Baker, Kevin Filby, and Scott Kirby.  In the 2nd inning Laservision powered their way to a 9-4 lead on homers by Dale Brungardt, and Travis Clark.  Brungardts hit the top of the 45 foot high score board in center field.  Jason Williams brought the score to within 7-9 with a Buzini 2 run homer in the top of the 3rd.  Travis Clark for Laservision gave them a 12-7 lead on a 2 run homer in the bottom of the 3rd.  In the 4th Brungardt added a 2 run homer to make it 16-7 Laservision.  Buzini, who fought hard all game scored 6 runs in the top of the 5th but just couldn't catch a Laservision team that slowly pulled away to a 27-13 lead.  Travis Clark was 4-4 with 4 HR and 8 RBI.  Bryson Baker was 4-5 with 4 HR and 4 RBI for Laservision.  Laservision hit 18 home runs in the game.  

3rd Game: Laservision pounded Precision with a 14 run bottom of the first inning.  Then Precisions Chris Geron and Ryan Thiede each hit 2 run homers in the top of the 3rd in a 9 run outburst to close the lead to 12-19.  In the bottom of the 3rd inning Laservision got a line drive 3 run homer from Kevin Bazat to make it 22-12 and Laservision got 7 more runs and won 32-14 in a game that was actually a little closer than the score would indicate.  Laservision advanced to the winner's bracket championship game on Saturday night.

Winner's championship: Laservision locked horns with Resmondo yet again in the winner's final.  They scored 10 runs in the first inning on multi run homers by Brett Helmer and Bryson Baker.  In the bottom of the first shortstop Luis Reyna collided with left fielder Brian Wegman running hard after a popup and broke 2 bones in his leg.  The team never recovered from that sight as their 10-0 lead evaporated and they never played well after that losing to Resmondo 39-24 and then to Backman Sunday morning 26-11.

A tough way to end a good year for Laservision who had started the season with more than 30 wins and 6 tournament championships in a row.  Baker, Helmer, Brungardt, Umschied, and Clark all hit over .700 and Baker had 11 HR.

Steven Lloyd hit a clutch 2 out homer with the bases loaded facing a run rule loss against Backman

in the loser's bracket championship to extend the game.

Laservision tries to regroup after the Reyna injury

 

 


 

4th Place – Precision/Easton

Conf 'B' from IL  3-2 Record

 

First game: Precision and Red's Astros were locked in a 7 inning battle to start Thursdays action at the Major World Series.  Precision went up early with a 4-1 lead in the first inning.  Reds tied it at 4 in the top of the 2nd on an Andrew Collins homer but Matt Rear who was 4-5 with 3 homers and 5 RBI hit one over the "Helmer Wall" in right field to get the lead back for Precision.  Red's Josh Riley who was 4-4 with 2 HR and 6 RBI hit a grand slam in the 5th to tie the game at 10-10.  The Red's defense misplayed some tough chances the rest of the way and Precision used a 7 run 5th to separate and hold on and win 19-16.

Second game: Precision used some solid base hitting to upset #3 seeded Albicocco 21-11.  Precision pitcher Andy Vitcak controlled the game from the beginning and was aided by another great defensive play by SS Keith Laski in the bottom of the 2nd inning.  The offense was consistent and helped by homers from Seth Burgmeier, Dan Kirkwood, and Chris Geron.  Precision scored every inning at least 2 runs!  Albicoccos only answer was outfielder Eric Beattie who was 2-3 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.  His second homer cut the Precision lead to 18-8 in the bottom of the 6th.  But Precision added a 2 run double by Bryan Porter in the 7th and held on easily to win.

Third game: Laservision pounded Precision with a 14 run bottom of the first inning.  Then Precisions Chris Geron and Ryan Thiede each hit 2 run homers in the top of the 3rd in a 9 run outburst to close the lead to 12-19.  In the bottom of the 3rd inning Laservision got a line drive 3 run homer from Kevin Bazat to make it 22-12 and Laservision got 7 more runs and won 32-14 in a game that was actually a little closer than the score would indicate. 

Loser's Bracket:  Precision used a go ahead single by Ryan Thiede in the bottom of the 6th to go up 16-15 on Line Drive Sportz in a close game and separated with a 10 run inning to win 22-15.  Chris Geron was 4-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI.  The team had 25 hits.  Then against Backman to go to Sunday, Precision put up zero in the first inning while Backman powered their way to a 5-0 lead.  That would end up being the difference as Geron's homer n the 3rd led to a 6 run inning, and Fishers homer in the 4th led to an 11-11 tie.  But Backman scored down the stretch and won 21-17.

A 4th place finish for the team that had a magical season!  Classification discussion aside, this is an incredible team, very entertaining, and a team that beat anyone and everyone at least once this year, or so it seemed.

This guy could have been 2014 MVP if you really think about what this team accomplished

 

Precision SS Keith Laski makes yet another great play

Precision center fielder Bryan Porter made a number of great running catches

Precision left fielder Ryan Kvasnicka robs a homer

 


 

Tied 5th Place – Line Drive Sportz/R&M Metals/Easton

Conf 'A' from MI  3-2 Record

1st game: Line Drive Sportz jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first on Taylormade on homers by Keith Anderson and Cory Boothe.  They added a 2 run homer by Jason Branch in the 2nd and a 2 run triple by big Joey Formosa in the 4th to lead 11-4.  Taylormade cut the lead to 14-7 in the top of the 6th on a Jackie Corn 2 run homer but Line Drive won 14-9 to advance to the quarter finals.  Line Drives Cory Large was lacing liners all over the field and was 4-4 with 4 runs scored.  Jason Branch and Cory Boothe both chipped in 2 homers.  

2nd game: It was all Resmondo in the nightcap as Line Drive lost 24-3.  I have no highlites written down for Line Drive Sportz…Jason Branch was 2-2.

Loser's bracket: Line Drive crushed 3rd Street 22-1 back on Field #5.  22 hits, 6 HR for the team in that one.  Then they came back to the stadium and beat Baugh Ford 28-20 hitting a whopping 14 HR including a 4-5 4 HR and 8 RBI from Keith "Dad" Anderson, and a 5-5 3 HR 5 RBI performance from Ryan Parfitt.  Jason Branch also was 3-4 3 HR and 7 RBI.  That win gave Line Drive a rematch with the team they played in the 'A' World finals Precision.  In that game Saturday afternoon Line Drive scored 6 in the 1st, Precision scored 6 in the 2nd and the game was close the whole way.  But Precision separated with 10 runs in the 6th and Line Drive couldn't recover in a 22-15 loss.  Jason Branch was 4-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.  Anderson and Sal Formosa also had 2 HR.  For the tournament Jason Branch was .800 with 8 HR and 19 RBI.  Anderson was .714 with 7 HR and 18 RBI.

Ryan Parfitt with the head first slide!

 


 

Tied 5th Place – Classic Glass/Easton

Conf 'B' from CA  3-2 Record

1st game: Baugh Ford used multi run home runs from Chris Larsen, Kyle Pearson, and JD Genter in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 14-3 lead.  Classic Glass though scored in every inning except for the 7th and that was the difference.  Cal Ford had 3 homers and 8 RBI and Tyson Steele had 2 homers and 5 RBI for Classic Glass.   Classic led by 2 runs going into the bottom of the 7th when Baughs Chris Larsen hit a clutch 3 run homer to give Baugh the lead and they held on by 1 run in the 7th.  Classic Glass got 3 HR and 8 RBI out of Cal Ford and 2 HR and 5 RBI out of Tyson Steele.

Loser's Bracket: Classic Glass was moved to field #5 for the losers bracket because of rain and beat OI Livingston 16-11 (3 hits and a homer from Rego Nieto).  Then they upset Team Albicocco 41-20 on the strength of a huge 17 run inning.  Tyson Steele was 5-5 with 3 HR and 8 RBI.  Filip Washington had 4 hits, 2 HR, and 8 RBI, and Brandon Traylor had 2 HR.  Then they knocked off Buzini 27-12 with Cal Ford, Adam Alva, and Steve Lopez all getting 2 HR.  In their final game Backman beat them 35-24 eventhough Classic Glass hit 10 HR including 3 by Tyson Steele, and 2 each by Cal Ford, Filip Washington, and Brandon Traylor.  What a day of softball for Classic Glass!  3 wins against some of the best teams in the country!  Cal Ford made the all tournament team .682, 10 HR, 24 RBI and pitcher Tyson Steele and infielder Dameon Smith could easily have been right there with him.
 

The "Bus Driver"

 

Cal Ford and Filip Washington were hitting the bombs back on Field #5

 

 


 

Tied 7th Baugh Doerflinger Nat-Pawn/Easton AL 2-2 – 

Game 1: Baugh Ford used multi run home runs from Chris Larsen, Kyle Pearson, and JD Genter in the bottom of the first to jump out to a 14-3 lead.  Classic Glass though scored in every inning except for the 7th and that was the difference.  Cal Ford had 3 homers and 8 RBI and Tyson Steele had 2 homers and 5 RBI for Classic Glass. Jeff Flood (4-4) for Baugh who had a couple of extra base hits and Chris Larsen who was 4-5 with 3 homers and 7 RBI were the MVP's for Baugh.  Flood also had a great diving catch at middle infield.  Classic led by 2 runs going into the bottom of the 7th when Baughs Chris Larsen hit a clutch 3 run homer to give Baugh the lead and they held on by 1 run in the 7th.

Game 2: Backman/Shoppe pounded Baugh Ford from the beginning with a 3 run homer from Neil Haglund in the top of the 1st.  Backman was the #5 seed and Baugh was the #4 and Baugh was a whopping 5-0 vs Backman on the season with most of those wins on baseball sized fields.  But Backman not only out homered Baugh and beat them 22-7 convincingly but they turned in some incredible defensive plays from middle infielder Kevin Kennington and left fielder Dave Kessler.  Kesler made both a great sliding catch and a great running catch into the fence.  Lucas for Baugh had the only real highlite with a 2 run homer in a game where the fans kept waitinf for a big inning out of Baugh that never came.

Losers Bracket: Baugh jumped out to a 4-1 lead against Reds Astros in the first and tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the 3rd on a Sean McDonald homer.  Then Larsen hit 3 run homers in both the 4th and 5th innnings and they scored 10 runs in the 5th to separate from Reds Astros 25-14.  Reds closed it to 25-20 but a great defensive play in the 7th by Baugh middle man Jeff Flood ended the game with a Baugh win.  In their final game the Baugh team hit into DP's in the 1st and 2nd inning and trailed 10-5 to Line Drive Sportz.  Then a Brad Reckart 3 run homer tied the game at 11-11 in the bottom of the 3rd.  But it was all Line Drive in the middle innings and Baugh trailed 28-15 going into the bottom of the 7th and came back to lose just 28-20.  Kyle Pearson was 4-4 with 4 HR and 8 RBI in the game.

 


 

Tied 7th Buzini/BWW/Miken MS 2-2 – Buzini smoked Team Combat from the start in their opener 19-4 Thursday afternoon with right fielder Colby Hughes hitting 2 homers.  The game was over before I could really get any pictures!  Then Thursday night in the quarterfinals Buzini and Laservision were tied after one inning of play 3-3.  Laservision getting theirs on crowd pleasing homers by Bryson Baker, Kevin Filby, and Scott Kirby.  In the 2nd inning Laservision powered their way to a 9-4 lead on homers by Dale Brungardt, and Travis Clark.  Jason Williams brought the score to within 7-9 with a Buzini 2 run homer in the top of the 3rd.  But more homers by Laservision allowed them to pull away and win 27-13.  Kyle Pearson hit 3 long homers for Buzini.

In the loser's bracket Buzini lost back on field #5 to the hot Classic Glass team 24-23 eventhough they hit 12 homers including 3 by Andrew Miller.  Buzini had a solid first year in the 'A' division after winning 'B' Worlds in 2013 and look to come back strong in 2015!

 

 


 

Tied 9th 3rd Street/Louisville Slugger/MOJO OH 2-2 – 3rd Street's bats exploded in the 4th inning of their opening game with homers by Matt Bunn and Chris Hoffer and they took a 12-7 lead on Semper.  Mike Jenkins for Semper and Josh Fryman for 3rd Street traded homers in the 5th but Matt Bunn and Nick Masur homers in the 6th for 3rd Street finished off Semper by 10 runs.  In their second game on Wednesday night against Laservision they watched Laservision hit home runs to a 10-2 first inning lead.  But then 3rd Streets Jeremiah Henry adn Chris Hoffer hit 2 run homers in the top of the 3rd and Henry hit another one in the 4th to pull 3rd Street to within 13-11!  Laservision buckled down though and scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 4th and Bazat walked off 3rd Street by the run rule 27-11 in the 5th.

In the loser's bracket 3rd Street used a 3 run homer by Steve Kingsolver to take a 10 run lead in the first inning on Team Combat.  Then 3rd Street withstood a couple of Team Combat comeback attempts and outplayed them defensively for a 25-21 win.  3rd Street hit just 2 homers in the game but collected 29 hits led by Scott Hubbard who was a perfect 5-5.  In their final game 3rd Street was drubbed by Line Drive 21-1 with Josh Fryman accounting for their sole run on a homer.  Hoffer and Fryman impressed with their power and the whole team base hit it except for that Line Drive game.  A solid season overall for 3rd Street and a building block for a successful 2015 tour.

 

There were 4 or 5 tipped balls for homers in the Series, here was one of them.

 


 

Tied 9th Red's Astros/Louisville Slugger IN 2-2 – Precision and Red's Astros were locked in a 7 inning battle to start Thursdays action at the Major World Series in the morning fog.  Precision went up early with a 4-1 lead in the first inning.  Reds tied it at 4 in the top of the 2nd on an Andrew Collins homer but Matt Rear who was 4-5 with 3 homers and 5 RBI hit one over the "Helmer Wall" in right field to get the lead back for Precision.  Red's Josh Riley (.750 5 HR, 13 RBI for tourny) who was 4-4 with 2 HR and 6 RBI hit a grand slam in the 5th to tie the game at 10-10.  The Red's defense misplayed some tough chances the rest of the way and Precision used a 7 run 5th to separate and hold on and win 19-16.

In the loser's bracket Red's started off Friday with a 31-25 marathon game win over a B&B Drywall team that wouldn't go away.  Collins, Wolf, and Sullivan all collected 4 hits a piece.  Then they had a come from behind 23-20 win over TG Brand back on Field #5.  Collins added 4 more hits for a perfect 11-11.  In their final game Red's had some sloppy defense and lost 25-20 after a 6 run top of the 6th got them back in the game.

I was impressed with Red's newcomers center fielder Trey Gilliland who made on of the best home run robs of the tourny and had 3 HR and 8 RBI, and Tom Crump who was 6-9 with 2 HR and 7 RBI.  The team average was an impressive .577.   

 


 

Tied 9th Team Albicocco/Scene/Easton/Elite NY 1-2 – In their opener Wednesday night against TG Brand both teams came out with zero runs in the first inning.  TG Brand struck first in the 2nd inning with a 2 run homer.  Team Albicocco came in and took a 9-3 lead on homers by Kyle Moyer and Orlando Castillo.  Then in the 4th inning Dorton tied the game at 9-9 on an RBI base hit for a TG Brand 6 run inning.  In the bottom of the 4th though Team Albicocco took the lead for good on two run homers by Ryan Harvey, Chad Durick, and Ryan Harvey again a second time in an 8 run bottom of the 5th and they cruised to a 20-9 win. Terry Baggs was 4-4 in the game for Albicocco.  In the quarter finals Precision used some solid base hitting to upset the 3rd seeded Albicocco 21-11.  Precision pitcher Andy Vitcak controlled the game from the beginning and was aided by another great defensive play by Keith Laski in the bottom of the 2nd inning.  The offense was consistent and helped by homers by Seth Burgmeier, Dan Kirkwood, and Chris Geron.  Precision scored every inning at least 2 runs!  Albicoccos only answer was outfielder Eric Beattie who was 2-3 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.  His second homer cut the Precision lead to 18-8 in the bottom of the 6th.  But Precision added a 2 run double by Bryan Porter in the 7th and held on easily to win.

In the loser's bracket Team Albicocco let up 17 runs in one inning to Classic Glass and lost a slugfest 41-20.  Albicocco used 4 pitchers in the game and did not look good defensively.  But for the most part just got shelled by Classic. 

Terry Baggs hit .818 for the tournament.  Eric Beattie also had 3 big homers but Albicocco fell well short of their Sunday finish goal after an incredible regular season.

 


 

Tied 9th Taylormade/TM Sports/D&I/Mizuno VA 1-2Line Drive Sportz jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first on Taylormade in Tmades opener on Thursday.  Taylormade cut the lead to 14-7 in the top of the 6th on a Jackie Corn 2 run homer but Line Drive won 14-9.  Taylormades Jackie Corn was 3-3 with a homer and 4 RBI and Stacy Mizelle had 4 hits.  In the losers bracket Taylormade beat Xtreme 23-19 after being down 8-0 and 12-4 early on.  Stacy Mizelle was 5-5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI.  Tmade came back on the strength of power and a 12 run bottom of the 4th to win. In their final game Tmade lost 24-23 to fellow 'A' team Buzini back on field #5.  There were no eye witnesses to what happened back there.  ðŸ™‚  Just a box score which shows Taylormade hit 11 homers including 2 each by Roberts, Moran, and King.  

 

 


 

Tied 13th Xtreme/Miken MN 1-2 – Xtreme opened against B&B Drywall in a play in game and beat them soundly 23-15 when they jumped out to leads of 11-0 and 20-6.  Then on Wednesday night they were beaten by Resmondo 24-3.  No highlites for Xtreme in that one.  In the loser's bracket on Friday battled Taylormade in the afternoon rain losing 23-9.  Xtreme took an 8-0 lead in the 2nd inning and got 4 more to lead 12-4 in the 3rd but Taylormade scored 12 in the bottom of the 4th and won 23-19.  Xtreme was led by an unlikely offensive force in the form of Seth "Mr Hustle" Brown who was 7-10 with 4 HR and 11 RBI in the tournament.

 

 


 

 

Tied 13th OI Livingston/Scott's Lawn Care/MWA GA 1-2 – OI had just 4 hits in their opener against Backman.  I have no highlites written down for them that game as they lost 20-3.  In the loser's bracket they scored a solid win over Semper 18-15 as Jonathan Scott hit a 3 run homer in a 7 run first inning.  OI scored in the first 5 innings and held on with the gloves in the top of the 7th to win.  In their final game they succumbed to Classic Glass's hot hitting and lost 16-11 back on field #5.

 


 

Tied 13th TG Brand MI 0-2 – TG Brand earned their way to the Major with great play all season but the big stage wasn't really to their liking as they struggled in their opener against Team Albicocco.  But to their credit they never gave up and were in it until the 5th inning when they were outpowered by Albicocco.  Joe Dorton was a bright spot in the offense for TG Brand as he hit 4 homers and had 11 RBi in the tournament which accounted for all of the teams homers and 40% of their RBI.  In their second game TG Brand led Reds Astros when they scored double figure runs in the 2nd inning but Reds came back and beat them 23-20.  Dorton had 3 homers in the game. 

 


 

Tied 13th Team Combat/Softball.com WA 0-2 – Team Combat averaged just 12.5 runs per game while the defense struggled giving up 22.  Combat was smoked in their opener on Thursday by Buzini 19-4.  Their only real highlite was a solo homer by the veteran Johnny McCraw.  In the loser's bracket they lost to 3rd Street 25-21 as they played catchup the entire game but only got to within 3 runs.  They let up 10 runs in the first inning.  Rogowski, McCraw, and Cox all had 3 run homers but it wasn't enough.  I think Combat should lean on Jason Kendricks knowledge of putting teams together for 2015 as he put together the Albicocco team that finished 3rd in the Conference.

 


 

Tied 17th SEMPER ATHLETICS/DEMARINI USA 0-2 – Semper, the military champion only averaged 14.5 runs and 5 HR per game in their two games but they did have a roster stacked with Conference talent.  In their play in game they scored 6 in the top of the 1st when Darwin Vinson had an inside the park homer, but couldn't keep up offensively in a 23-13 loss to 3rd Street.  In the loser's bracket they put up 6 more runs against OI Livingston in the 1st inning but trailed 7-6.  They made a comeback in the top of the 7th on a Jermaine Flythe homer but lost with the bats in their hands 18-15.  Center fielder Simms was impressive at leadoff and the team played pretty good, just a little inconsistent offensively.  This would be a very good conference 'B' team. 

 


 

Tied 17th B&B DRYWALL/Easton MO 0-2 – B&B was down 11-0 in their opener against Xtreme before they fought back to an 8 run loss.  Middle infielder Jason Trammell turned a nice barehanded double play in that game.  In the loser's bracket B&B ran into Red's Astros right away and fought hard as they scored 8 runs in the first inning.  Stuart Snell went over the scoreboard on one homer.  Trammell had another great play in that game on a diving stop but they trailed 17-11 after 3 innings.  Snell and Mike Brown added 3 run homers later on but B&B was never able to fully comeback and lost 31-25.  A tough end to a great season by B&B Drywall but they never gave up.  Butterfield, Coussins, and Price led the hitting while the power guys hit just 6 home runs in two games.

 


 

More pictures below

 


 

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USSSA Major World Series tournament link

Link to Softballcenter.com pictures of the Major World Series

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Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Link to the 2014 Tournament Reports

Link to the 2013 Tournament Reports

Link to the 2012 Tournament Reports

SoftballCenter.com Computer Rankings Link

 


 

Some more pictures for you:

Bernie and USSSLive.com crew with Dennis Turner and Mike Cornell livestreaming the games

An example of what was done to Reyna's leg with rod and screws.

I got this off of his facebook page before anyone chastises me for it.

It is amazing what modern technology can do.

USSSA directors Elliot Clark, Tony Dedonatis, Bob Holland, Clay Dickey, Greg Huchingson, Danny Brown

Tournament director Elliot Clark

Don Dedonatis, Ken Franzen, Jeff Brown, Kevin Croft work on the stats and announcing the games!

They do a thankless job great!

 

 

2 responses to “2014 USSSA Major World Series tournament report!”

  1. 17 says:

    under the resmondo plug it says for their final run in 2015. are they done then? travis pulling out of softball?

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