A look back at the 2018 USSSA Major World tournament report!

I would like to thank USSSA for their incredible hospitality and support of SoftballCenter.  Without which much of this would not be possible.

I would like to give credit to all of the hard working people that made this Major World Series so special.  Tournament director Strojan Kennison who doubled as a paramedic.  Bernie Guenther the main announcer and the person that made the livestream so popular.  The camera crew who spent countless hours in the control room camera switching and the camera men and women that spent tireless hours in the heat to bring you every game.  Thank you to the 10 Conference umpires that made great calls and held a consistent strike zone eventhough the teams and at times fans were ruthless.  To the stadium announcers Jeff Brown and Kevin Croft who are a true national softball treasure and tirelessly announced players and situations to keep us all in the loop.  These two define the word professional.  A big thank you to all of the guest announcers led by Todd Ankney and all of the players, umpires, manufacturers, and managers that stepped into the booth which was not air conditioned and only big enough for 1 or 2 people but held at times 4.  A thank you to Matt and Paul for helping fix the livestream and put up streaming tv's in the tent bar and banners and print the program.  And to all the others that contributed with stats, food, etc (Laurie, Mike, Wendi, Don), and the walk up music etc.  I am sure I am forgetting many others but thank you.  

A special thanks to my brother DW2 for his tireless note taking on the games!

Note: In the box scores the RBI are not always correct and they are working to fix that.  Team Stats will be added to the report in the future when they are accurate.

Note: the games were not played in numbered order.

2018 USSSA Major World

Viera, Florida 

September 19-22

1,800 viewerson facebook alone during this drone picture of the Space Coast Stadium!

The high on the weekend was 2,500 live on facebook I believe.

SoftballCenter Major picture album link

2018 Major bracket and results link

2018 Major stats link

2018 Major archived games

Resmondo's Brett Rettenmeier slices a game winning hit with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th down 1 against Dan Smith in the winner's bracket finals!

Resmondo's Bubba Mack was MVP

Team Breakdown:
 18 Teams Overall
 17 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
 3 Major Teams
9 'AA' Teams
6 'A' Teams

Major Day 1 (Wednesday, September 19, 2018)

La Famiglia and Pauer Sports open up the first ever Major World Series at the Space Coast Stadium!

2018 USSSA Major World Series Bracket Link

2018 Major World Series pictures link

Link to the tournament stats

Link to Livestream Archives

Day 1 Video Clips Link!

Day 1 (Wednesday, September 19th, 2108) – all 18 of the Major World Series teams played their first game.  There was a lightning delay that sent two games to the back Red Marucci field in order to get the tournament back on time.  All of the top 8 seeds prevailed and advanced to the final 8 of the winner's bracket and the final 8 of the tournament.  The temperatures were in the low 90's with high humidity and the wind blew uncharacteristicly right to left at about 8 miles per hour for the first day and a half.  Then it blew left to right for most of the big games.  The Dudley Stadium ZN was used with its 47 core and 475 compression.  The tournament was unlimited home runs and used 4 to 6 Conference umpires for most games.  The fences were 8 feet high and the dimensions were 325-365-385-365-325.  The field was all artificial turf and the bases were set at 75 feet.  The pitching arc was 3 foot from the release with a maximum of 10 feet and the pitchers had to pitch from the rubber.  Players were not considered out of the box if their back foot started even with or behind the front of the plate.

2018 USSSA Major World Series

Game #1 Recap

Game #1 of the Major started at 8:02 AM Wednesday morning September 19th.  The home team at the Major World Series for each game is the better seed so #16 Pauer Sports/JBL/Tailgaters/B&E from Ohio was home and led 3-0 after the 1st inning.  In the 2nd #17 seed La Famiglia/Easton/Elite Sports from Pennsylvania had Justin Lutheran hit a 2 run triple to cut the lead to 3-2 and Pauer Sports Tim "bye bye" Bowser hit the 1st home run ever in the Major at Space Coast Stadium to put Pauer up 7-3 after 2 innings.  By the 5th the scoring had slowed down and Pauer Sports had increased their lead to 10-5 and it looked like they were in control.  But their defense had some misplays and La Famiglia took advantage with Clayton Farrar's 2 run double, Josh Fyffe hit a 2 run homer, Don McDuffie hit an inside the park homer, and suddenly La Famiglia had turned the game around and led 18-11.  Pauer Sports wouldn't do much more in the game and La Famiglia won 19-11.  La Famiglia out homered Pauer Sports 6 to 4 in the game.  

Pauer Sports Tim "bye bye" Bowser hits the first ever home run in MWS history at Space Coast Stadium

Pauer Sports celebrate an early 10-5 lead

Fyffe and Clayton Farrar lead a comeback

Pauer LF Zack Smith almost robs an extra base hit

Game #2 Recap

In game #2 – #15 seed Nightmare/Miken (MO-AA) could not get out of their own way defensively in the 1st inning and #18 seeded Gov't Issue (The 2018 Military Champions) took advantage with some aggressive swings and worked their way to a 5-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning as Chad Agustin hit a 3 run homer.  In the bottom of the 1st and into the bottom of the 2nd Nightmare's Charlie Hinojosa, Billy Maggard, and Hinojosa again hit 3 run homers to give Nightmare an 11-5 lead.  Gov't Issue didn't roll over though and Aaron Dampier and Reggie Myers hit 2 run homers and they rode the momentum to a 17-12 lead going into the bottom of the 6th.  In the bottom of the 6th Tommy Melton had a pinch hit 2 run single which sparked an 11 run inning for Nightmare and they held on to win 23-18.

Mike Brambilla hit one 410 feet according to FlightScope and Billy Maggard went over the scoreboard!

Chad Agustin hit 2 line drive homers and Military World MVP Reggie Myers was 4-4 with 2 HR.

Game #3 Recap

Blake Liveley went 4-4 in the Newbreed win!

Game #3 was between two AA teams – #9 Riot Sports/Broughton/Beckham/Worth from Florida and #8 Newbreed/Steel Sports/DeMarini from Washington.  Riots Chris Costantino got the scoring going with a solo homer but it was 5-5 after 2 innings.  In the 3rd and 4th Newbreed pushed their lead to 13-9 and they led 19-11 after homers by Brandon Traylor and Daniel Cayton and in spite of a great defensive play by Riots Evan Gallmeier.  In the top of the 6th Riots Jeff Roxby hit a 3 run homer and Newbreed answered with 2 run homers by Traylor and Cayton again.  In the top of the 6th Newbreed closed out a 26-18 with a great diving catch by center fielder Donald Hollingsworth. 

2018 USSSA Hall of Fame inductee Victor Cordova!

Newbreed CF Donald Hollingsworth makes a great diving catch

Game #5 Recap

Game #5 – #12 All Out/A&A/Steel Sports/ASP/Miken (TX-AA) vs #5 TDB/FAI/Klutch/Miken (NC-AA)
Bot 1 – TDB hits 4 solo homers to start the game up 4-0.  Matusik adds a 2 run triple up 7-0.
Top 3 – All Out – Matt Schrage hits a 2 run triple and Chris Anninos a 3 run homer with 2 outs, down 6-9.
Bot 3 – Matt Schrage makes a nice catch near the fence in center field to hold down TDB.
Top 4 – All Out – Schrage hits a 2 run homer, down 8-12.
Bot 4 – TDB – Tyler Marshburn hits a 2 run homer.  All Out infielder Brandon Bellamy makes a diving catch robbing BJ Fulk.
Top 5 – TDB – Pearson and Whaley homers set up a walk off run rull double by Jeff Renno, 24-9.

TDB finishes off All Out by the run rule 24-9

Game #6 Recap

#7 Racks/Worth Astros/Klutch/Troupe (IN-AA) vs #10 Baugh Ford/Pure Sports/Kincaid (AL-A) game was moved to the Red Marucci field due to a 4.5 hour rain and lightning delay.

I was not able to get back there to get the highlights but here is the box score.

Game #8 Recap

The #11 Xtreme/Miken/ASP/Athlon (MN-AA) vs #6 Precision/3rd Street/Bulldawg (IL-AA) game was also held in the back on Red Marucci so no highlights.

Game #4 Recap

Game #4 – #13 Premier/Easton/HDLNS (OH-A) vs #4 Pure Sports/Monsta (SC-AA)
Top 1 – Premiers Cory Boothe hit a 2 run homer, up 2-0.
Bot 2 – Pures Bradley Carlsen hits a 2 run homer, up 6-4.
Top 3 – Premiers Ryan Uckotter hits a 2 run homer, down 7-10.
Bot 3 – Pures Jason Branch a 2 run homer up 13-8 but slowed by Clay Norton's nice catch in foul territory in left.
Bot 4 – Pure Sports – Lee Payne hustles out a 2 out infield single that leads to 3 runs, up 17-9.
Top 5 – Premiers Pat Foster hits a 3 run triple to cut the lead to 5 but Premier lost 21-17.

This game started in the early evening

Pure Sports wore their "Spare/Misfit" jerseys

Premier made the Major after all the noise!

Game #7 Recap

Game #7 – #14 Rapid Fire Athletics/Bad Draw (VA-A) vs #3 Smash It/Thunder/Backman/TDB/S&S/Miken (NY-M)
Bot 2 – Smash It – Josh Riley hit a 3 run homer which led to a 14 run inning and they led 17-2 early on.
Top 3 – Rapid Fire – Chris Issenock hit a pinch hit 2 run homer and Smash It CF Nic Santana made a great running catch.
Top 5 – Rapid Fires Jess Maloney hit a 3 run homer, down 9-20.
Bot 5 – Rapid Fire tries to stay in the game with a diving catch by outfielder Evan Jarman but Nic Santana hits a walk off run rule grand slam to win 24-9 for Smash It.

This game had the largest crowd Wednesday.  Nic Santana hits a walk off run rule homer

Game #9 Recap

Game #9 – #17 La Famiglia/Easton/Elite (PA-A) vs #1 Resmondo/RDD/HAuto/AllIn/Sprizzi (FL-M)
Top 1 – La Famiglias Josh Fyffe hit a 2 run homer, up 2-0.
Bot 1 – Resmondos Travis Clark hit a liner to 3rd and Zach Ross caught it and doubled the runner off 1st base.
Top 2 – LaFams Pedro Sanchez hit a 2 run homer and Resmondos Brad Reckart mad a nice double play to keep LaFams lead to 5-2.
Top 3 – Resmondo 2nd baseman Greg Connell made one of the better diving stops of the tournament and threw to Haglund at first for a blind scoop.
Bot 3 – Resmondos Greg Connell hit a 2 run homer and Jeremy Yates a 3 run homer to give them their first lead 7-6.
Top 5 – LaFams Josh Fyffe hit another 2 run homer to put them up 9-7!
Bot 5 – Resmondos Steele Lewis answered with a grand slam to put them up 11-10.
Top 6 – LaFam – They went on an adrenaline filled run as Ross hit a 3 run homer, and Cody Collins and Clayton Farrar hit 2 run homers for a 17-14 lead.
Bot 6 – Resmondo answered – Brian Wegman and Brett Rettenmeier hit 3 run homers.  Bubba Mack hit a 3 run homer and they scored 13 runs to go up 24-17 and won in the 7th 27-17.

Steele Lewis turned the momentum towards Resmondo in the bottom of the 6th

Resmondo was on the ropes at the end of the game

La Famiglia gave Resmondo a run for their money and this was the best game of the day

Greg Connell at 2nd base made one of the better diving stops that Haglund at 1st picked somehow

Game #10 Recap

Game #10 – #15 Nightmare/Miken (MO-AA) vs #2 Dan Smith/Menosse/Steven Smith (CA-M)
Top 1 – Nightmares Mike Brown hits a 2 run homer, up 2-0.
Bot 1 – Nightmares Billy Maggard made a nice diving stop and play in the infield.
Bot 2 – Dan Smith – Dale Brungardt and Ben Dunn hit big homers to lead to a 12 run inning, up 15-2.
Nightmare nickled and dimed Dan Smith the rest of the way and scored 7 in the top of the 6th to close the gap to 24-20 but lost 28-23.

Dan Smith game was late Wednesday night

It went 7 innings

Day 2 (Thursday, September 20, 2018)

Day 2 Video Clips Link!

Day 2 (Thursday, September 20th, 2018) witnessed the Final 8 of the winner's bracket which started at 8 AM.  Then in the afternoon there were 2 loser's bracket games, followed by the home run derby, and then the Final 4 of the winner's bracket.

They had the livestream and tv's for sports in the tent lounge which also had food, beer, and a full bar.

Located down the 3rd base line behind the grand stands.

Game #18 Recap

Game #18 – #4 TDB/FAI/Klutch/Miken (NC-AA) vs #3 Pure Sports/Monsta (SC-AA)
Top 1 – TDB hit 3 homers to start the game but trailed 4-3 after 1 inning.
Bot 2 – Pure Sports Bradley Carlsen hit a 2 run homer to give them a 7-5 lead after 2 innings.
Top 3 – TDB's Brady Stewart hit a 2 run homer, up 8-7.
Bot 3 – Pure Sports grounded into an inning ending DP.  Down 7-8.
Top 4 – TDB's Kyle Pearson hit a 3 run homer, up 13-7.
Bot 4 – Pures Donnie Hammonds hit a 2 out grand slam, down 11-13.
Top 5 – TDB – Steve Whaley, Tyler Wilson, Brady Stewart, and AJ Montano all homered.  Up 25-11.  12 run inning.
Bot 5 – Pure hits into another double play and loses 27-11.

In a rematch of last weekends AA World finals TDB got some revenge on Pure Sports as they out homered them 11-3 and Tyler Wilson (below) was 4-4 with 3 HR.

Game #19 Recap

Smash It Sports 17   Precision 10

Game #19 – #3 Smash It/Thunder/Backman/TDB/Miken (NY-M) vs #6 Precision/3rd Street/Bull Dawg (IL-AA)
Top 1 – Precisions Brett McCollum hit a 2 run homer, up 3-0.
Bot 1 – Smash It – Ryan Harvey hit a 2 run homer and Smash It scored on a misplay in center field, up 7-3.
Bot 3 – Smash It puts up a zero.
Top 4 – Precision goes down 1-2-3.  Down 6-9.
Bot 4 – Smash Its Josh Riley hits a 2 run homer, up 11-6.
Top 5 – Smash It shortstop Don Dedonatis makes a great diving stop in the hole to end the inning.  Up 11-6.
Bot 5 – Precision left fielder Dave Kessler makes a great catch but Smash It scores 3 runs on a Filip Washington triple.  Up 16-6.

Precision actually out homered Smash It Sports 4 to 3 but Smash It's Filip Washington was 3-3 with 4 RBI and Ryan Harvey was 4-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI, and the defense got a key stop on one of the better diving plays by Don Dedonatis at shortstop and Smash It won 17-10 after taking advantage of some Precision errors.

Precision left side defense.  They missed Kannenberg at SS.

Don Dedonatis Jr make a phenomenal diving stop to get the force.

Game #17 Recap

Game #17 – #8 Newbreed/Steel Sports/DeMarini (WA-AA) vs #1 Resmondo/RDD/HAuto/AllIn/Sprizzi (FL-M)
Top 1 – Newbreeds Everett Williams gets them on the board with a 3 run homer.  Up 3-0.
Bot 1 – Newbreed opens the door with poor defense (basically gave them 3 extra outs) and Resmondo makes them pay with a 17 run inning.  2 homers by Bryson Baker and a 3 run homer by Bubba Mack.
Top 4 – Newbreeds Ben "don't call me Pete" Falcone hit a 2 run homer, down 9-18.
Bot 5 – Newbreeds Donald Hollingsworth in center field made a great diving catch.
Bot 6 – Resmondo – Brett Rettenmeier hit a 3 run triple and Greg Connell hit a 3 run homer to end it 28-12 by the run rule.

Resmondo scored a tournament high 17 runs in the 1st inning to beat Newbreed in the quarter finals

Game #20 Recap

Game #20 – #7 Racks/Worth Astros/Klutch/Troupe (IN-AA) vs #2 Dan Smith/Menosse/Steven Smith (CA-M)
Top 1 – Racks – Jon Nelson and Chad Mullins each hit a 3 run homer, up 6-0.
Bot 1 – Racks infielder Ricardo Lizcano robbed Andrew Collins of a hit.  But Argen Dodds and Steve Lloyd homered and Dan Smith led 9-7.
Bot 2 – Dan Smith added a 2 run homer by Dodds, up 11-7.
Bot 3 – Dan Smith adds a 2 run homer by Collins, up 14-7.
Top 4 – Racks Jon Nelson hit a 2 run homer.  Down 9-14.
Top 5 – Racks – Cory Newman 2 run single, Nelson 2 run single, Brian Faria hit a grand slam, and pitcher Bill Pinkham had a 2 out 2 run single for a 14 run inning and a 23-16 lead!
Bot 5 – Dan Smith had 5 straight solo homers to cut the lead to 21-23.
Top 6 – Racks Steven Edwards hit a 3 run homer to go up 5.  And Dale Brungardt robbed Newman on a great play at 3rd base.
Bot 6 – Dan Smith – Collins, Stovall, Collins again, and Ben Dunn all hit multi run homers and they score 15 runs to go up 36-28.
Top 7 – Racks – Nelson hits a 2 run homer.  Nino the Dan Smith pitcher robbed Ramirez.  And Chad Mullins hit a 3 run homer to close it to 33-36.  But Racks lost on a pinch hit popout.

Dan Smith scored 15 runs in the bottom of the 6th to beat Racks in the quarter finals.  Andrew Collins was 4-6 with 4 HR and 9 RBI.

Home Run Derby

At 6:30 PM the game action paused for the annual home run derby.

Pure Sports Donnie Hammonds won the $1,000 home run derby finals against Cory Boothe.  Helmer was MC.  Pat Ellwanger and Billy Maggard tied for 3rd in front of a nice sized crowd.

Below is a list of participants and the rules.  The Major players from the top teams did not participate since they had a semifinal game afterwards.

Game #25 Recap

Game #25 – #4 TDB (NC-AA) vs #1 Resmondo (FL-M)
Top 1 – TDB – Tyler Marshburn and Tyler Wilson each hit 2 run homers and AJ Montano hit a grand slam.  Up 8-0.
Bot 1 – Montano makes a great catch at shortstop to rob Connell and Jeremy Yates hits a 2 run homer.  Resmondo down 8-2
Bot 2 – Resmondo – Neil Haglund, Yates, and Bubba Mack all hit 2 run homers in 11 run inning, up 13-11.
Bot 3 – Resmondo – Yates hit a 2 run double for 15-12 lead.
Top 4 – TDB – Orlando Castillo ties the game with a 3 run homer and pitcher Travis Clark gets hit by a shot up the middle.
Top 5 – TDB – Wilson hits another 2 run homer, up 18-16.
Bot 5 – Resmondo – Greg Connell hits two 3 run homers and Bubba Mack hits a 2 run shot for a 28-19 lead.  12 run inning.
Top 6 – TDB goes down 1-2-3.
Bot 6 – Resmondo – Clark, Lewis, Mack, Wolf all homer for 33-20 win.

Resmondo takes on TDB in the semifinals Thursday night.

Resmondo out homered TDB 20-8 in the victory.

Game #26 Recap

Game #26 – #3 Smash It Sports (NY-M) vs #2 Dan Smith (CA-M)
Top 1 – Smash Its Josh Riley hits a 2 run homer and Dan Smith left fielder robs Luis Reyna for the 3rd out.
Bot 1 – Dan Smiths Andrew Collins hits a 2 run triple, up 3-2.
Top 3 – Smash It – Filip Washington hits a 2 run homer to tie 7-7 and John Williams hits a grand slam.  8 run inning and 13-7 lead.
Bot 3 – John Williams at 3rd base fields a hard smash and turns a double play to hold Dan Smith to zero.
Top 4 – Smash It leaves the base loaded and does not score.
Bot 4 – Dan Smiths Dale Brungardt hits a 2 run homer, up 15-12.
Top 5 – Smash It – Johs Ryley and Luis Reyna hit 2 run homers but Ryan Stovall guns down a runner at the plate with an incredible throw!  SIS up 18-12.
Bot 5 – Dan Smiths Dale Brungardt's 2 run homer ties the game at 18-18 and Dan Smith takes a 20-18 lead.
Top 6 – Smash Its Filip Washington hits a go ahead grand slam.  Up 25-20.
Bot 6 – Dan Smith – Gets a pinch hit homer from Losson White and a 2 run homer from Collins to take 26-25 lead.
Top 7 – Smash It – down 1.  Flyout, Briggs walk, pop out.  Kyle Pearson comes up playing with an oblique injury that doesn't allow him to pull the ball and forced him to hit mostly singles.  But he could pull it for one at bat and there was no bigger at bat for them, they had to win the game.  His first swing he hit it foul which would have been a homer.  His second swing clearly in pain was a monster homer to left center field to give Smash It a 1 run lead!  For the final out Dan Smith 3rd baseman Dale Brungardt made a nice stab on a Riley line drive.
Bot 7 – Dan Smith – Ben Dunn tripled, Davis Bilardello hit a line drive into right field that actually hit the ground but was ruled a catch and the run scored to tie the game.  Then Jordan Spaulding hit a nasty knuckle ball to the outfield which was mis played, Mike Nino and Steven Lloyd were walked, and Argen Dodds hit a walk off single to left field to win the game 28-27!

Kyle Pearson hits a 2 out 2 strike homer to give Smash It Sports the lead going to the bottom of the 7th

Down 1 in the bottom of the 7th Ben Dunn triples taking the pressure off the offense.

That controversial catch call actually hit the ground but it didn't matter after all as it ended up being a sacrifice fly to tie the game and Argen Dodds (pictured below) won the game with a walk off single with the bases loaded!

Argen Dodds about to hit the game winning single!

Day 3 (Friday, September 21, 2018)

DAY 3 SoftballCenter Video Clips link

Day 3 (Friday, September 21, 2018) – The loser's bracket was in full swing from 8 AM until 9 PM as all of the higher seeds advanced in each game.  So the top 8 teams in the country would play on Day 4!
 

2018 USSSA Major World Series

Winner's Bracket Final Recap

Dan Smith vs Resmondo in the winner's bracket finals!

Kevin Bazat scores the winning run on Rettenmeiers single and error

Jordan Spaulding hit a grand slam in the top of the 7th after an intentional walk to Bilardello

Game #31 – #2 Dan Smith (CA-M) vs #1 Resmondo (FL-M)
Top 1 – Dan Smiths Jo Jo Bennett hit a 3 run homer which led to a 6-0 lead.
Bot 1 – Resmondo went down 1-2-3?
Top 2 – Dan Smiths Bennett hits a 2 run single up 9-0.
Bot 2 – Resmondo – Steele Lewis hits a 2 run homer then Lewis, Mack, Buddy Wolf, Haglund, and Rettenmeier all homered, and Travis Clark hit a 2 out double for a 10-9 lead.
Top 3 – Dan Smith went down 1-2-3.
Bot 3 – Resmondo put up a zero after Dan Smith middle infielder Jordan Spaulding robbed Haglund of a hit.
Top 4 – Dan Smith – Collins hit a 3 run homer and they hit 3 more solo homers to grab a 15-10 lead.
Bot 4 – Resmondo scratches out 1 run on 2 hits, down 11-15.
Top 5 – Dan Smith puts up an egg.
Bot 5 – Resmondo – Mack, Baker, and Connell all homer to take an 18-15 lead.
Top 6 – Dan Smith – Bennett hits a 2 run homer and Stovall and Bilardello homer to give a 19-18 lead.
GREAT GAME!
Bot 6 – Resmondo – Lewis homers to tie 19-19.
Top 7 – Dan Smith – Collins and Bennett homer.  Bilardello is intentionally walked to load the bases and Jordan Spaulding hits a clutch grand slam homer, up 26-19!
Bot 7 – Resmondo – Brad Reckart solo pinch hit homer, fly out, Wegman doubles, Yates 2 run homer, Clark walks, Lewis singles, and Collins in right field runs down a Mack liner deep to the gap and makes the sliding catch.  2 outs with Resmondo down 4.  Buddy Wolf hits a 3 run homer to pull within 1 run!  Then Neil Haglund hit a line smash towards middle infielder Jordan Spaulding who was shaded to the righ side of the infield and dove and made what the crowd thought was the game winning play but it bent over his glove near the ground and he picked it up off the ground and threw to first but the throw was late by a step.  This was followed by a clutch single from Kevin Bazat and then Brett Rettenmeier laced a line drive between first and second and into right field and the ball got passed the fielder on an error and Bazat scored all the way from first base for the dramatic winning run!  Resmondo had scored 8 runs to win in the bottom of the 7th!

Jeremy Yates hits against Mike Nino

Loser's Bracket Games on Friday

The loser's bracket had some great games and started on Friday.  Nightmare beat Pauer Sports and Baugh Ford before Newbreed dropped down and beat them by 6.  La Famiglia beat Gov't Issue by 15 and then lost to Riot Sports on a walk off grand slam by Taylor Nichols.  Riot then lost to Precision by 2 when Brad Tabler walked them off with a grand slam.  Xtreme beat Rapid Fire and then lost to Pure Sports.  And Premier beat All Out before losing to Racks by two.  So Newbreed, Pure Sports, Racks, and Precision all made it the final 8 on Saturday.

Day 4 (Saturday, September 22, 2018)

Day 4 Video Clips Link

Game #27 Recap

Game #27 – #8 Newbreed (WA-AA) vs #4 Pure Sports (SC-AA)
Top 1 – Newbreed – Cayton, Williams, and Cordova homer, up 5-0.
Bot 1 – Pure Sports scores 8 runs led by homers by Branch and Hunt, up 8-5.
Top 2 – Newbreed scores 15 runs on homers by Traylor, Williams, Roberts, Cordova, and Cayton, and a triple by Cayton, up 20-8.
Top 4 – Newbreed – Traylor and Roberts homer, up 25-12.
Bot 4 – Pure Sports – McClanahan and Carlsen homer, Mackey hits a 2 run double, and Jared Hunt a 2 run homer, down 21-25.
Top 5 – Newbreed – Traylor intentionally walked, Hollingsworth hits a 2 run single, and Williams ends the inning by hitting one off of 3rd base which ricochet to shortstop who got the fielders choice!  Up 28-21.
Top 6 – Newbreed – Gets 3 run homers from Traylor and Utley and a grand slam from Traylor for an 18 run inning and a 46-23 lead.
Bot 6 – Pure Sports – Branch hits a 3 run homer to avoid the run rule but Newbreed goes on to win 50-39!  The highest scoring game of the tournament!

Everett Williams and the Newbreed boys hung 50 on Pure Sports

Game #28 Recap

Game #28 – #7 Racks (IN-AA) vs #6 Precision (IL-AA)
Bot 1 – Precision – McCollum and Flood homered for a 10-0 lead.
Top 2 – Precisions Dave Kessler robbed Lizcano of a homer.
Bot 2 – Precision – Houseman, Lunda, and Magnum all homer, up 14-2
Top 3 – Racks – Brian Faria hits a 2 out 2 run double, down 4-14
Bot 3 – Precision Lunda was robbed by Ramirez in right field, up 15-4
Bot 4 – Precision – Drake, Kessler, and Lunda all homer and they win by run rule 25-5

Game #29 Recap

Game #29 – #8 Newbreed (WA-AA) vs #3 Smash It (NY-M)
Top 1 – Newbreed – Cayton, Everett Williams, and Utley all homered, up 4-0
Bot 1 – Smash It – Harvey, Washington, and John Williams all homered, up 6-4
Bot 2 – Smash It – Riley and Reyna homered, up 10-9
Bot 4 – Smash It – Riley and Washington homer, up 14-11
Top 5 – Smash Its Brandon Dillon in left field robbed Cayton to end the inning, with SIS up 14-13
Bot 5 – Smash It rolls – Purcell, Harvey, and Dillon all hit 2 run doubles.  Briggs gets an inside the park grand slam, and Harvey drives in the final run in 28-13 run rule win.

Smash It run rules Newbreed

Game #30 Recap

Game #30 – #6 Precision (IL-AA) vs #4 TDB (NC-AA)
Top 1 – Precisions Dave Kessler hits a 2 run homer, up 2-0
Bot 1 – Precision pitcher Roger Drake stabs a liner up the middle to keep the game 2-2
Top 2 – Precisions Jeff Keske hits a 3 run homer, up 5-2
Top 3 – Precisions Brad Lunda hits a 3 run homer, TDB's MI Whaley makes a great diving stop for a fielders choice, and Precisions Travis Houseman hits a grand slam!  Up 14-3.
Bot 3 – TDB – Matusik, Montano, Martel, Marshburn all homer and Pearson hits a 2 out inside the park grand slam for a 12 run inning and a 15-14 lead.
Top 4 – Precision – Gets homers from Lunda, Magnum, Tabler, and Bean to go up 19-15.
Bot 4 – Precision misplays a grounder and TDB gets 4 runs, tying the game at 19-19 on a Jason Matusik 2 out 2 run single.
Top 5 – Precision grounds into a doubleplay and does not score.
Bot 5 – TDBs Brady Stewart hits a solo homer and AJ Montanto a 2 runner for a 22-19 lead.
Top 6 – Precision puts up another zero.
Bot 6 – TDB – Castillo, Montano, and Wilson all homer in a 10 run inning and TDB ends up winning 32-20

Game #32 Recap

Game #32 – #4 TDB (NC-AA) vs #3 Smash It (NY-M)
Top 1 – TDB's Kyle Pearson hits solo homer, up 1-0.
Bot 1 – Smash It – Harvey homers and SIS plays "small ball" to a 5-1 lead.
Top 2 – TDB's Steve Whaley gets an inside the park 2 run homer, down 3-5.
Bot 2 – Smash It – Harvey, Dillon, Briggs, Pearson all homer in 11 run inning, up 16-3.
Top 3 – TDB answers with homers by Marshburn, Montano, Martel, and Matusik.  11 runs down 14-16.
Bot 3 – Smash It – John Williams and Cory Briggs homer, up 18-14.
Top 4 – TDB's Tyler Wilson hits a grand slam with 2 outs to go up 21-18.
Bot 4 – Smash It – Reyna 2 run single, 5 walks, Dillon 2 run single, Pearson 3 run homer, and a 12 run inning leads to SIS 30-22 lead.
Top 5 – TDB's Marshburn hits a 2 run homer, down 24-30.
Bot 5 – Smash It puts up a zero.
Top 6 – TDB – Castillo 3 run triple and Martel 2 run single ties the gme 30-30.
Bot 6 – Smash It – Harvey and Washington hit 2 run homers, up 36-30 and they hold on to win 36-31.

Game #33 Recap

Game #33 – #3 Smash It (NY-M) vs #2 Dan Smith (CA-M)
Loser's Bracket Finals:
Top 1 – Smash It – Pearson and Riley hit solos, up 2-0.
Bot 1 – Dan Smith goes down 1-2-3.
Top 2 – Smash It – Harvey and Riley homer, up 8-0.
Bot 2 – Dan Smith – Stovall and Bilardello hit 2 run homers, down 4-8
Top 3 – Smash It – Santana, Briggs, and Pearson all hit 2 run homers, up 16-4.
Bot 3 – Dan Smith grounds into a double play, down 5-16.
Top 4 – Smash It – Reyna and Dillon hit 2 run homers, up 21-5.
Bot 4 – Dan Smith – Bilardello hits a 2 run homer after a Smash It infield error, down 7-21.
Bot 5 – Dan Smith – Bennett, Stovall, and Spaulding all hit 2 run homers, down 13-21.
Top 6 – Smash It puts up second zero in a row.
Bot 6 – Dan Smith – Lloyd gets robbed by Briggs.  Dodds hits a solo homer, down 14-21.
Top 7 – Smash It – Ryan Harvey hits a 3 run homer and Brian McBryde homers, SIS up 25-14.
Bot 7 – Dan Smith – Stovall, Bilardello, Losson White, and Steven Lloyd all homer but they come up short 20-25.

Game #34 Recap

Game #34 – #3 Smash It (NY-M) vs #1 Resmondo (Fl-M)
1st Game of Championship:
Top 1 – Smash It – 3 of the first 4 batters made outs.
Bot 1 – SIS SS Don Dedonatis layed out for an incredible line drive catch in the 5-6 hole.  Connell hit a solo homer, Resmondo up 1-0.
Top 2 – Smash It – Brandon Dillon hit an RBI double and Resmondo 3rd baseman Bubba Mack scooped a hot shot and threw out John Williams.  1-1.
Bot 2 – Resmondo – Bubba Mack hits a solo homer and Buddy Wolf got robbed on a hot shot to Josh Riley at 1st.  Up 2-1.
Top 3 – Smash It – Ryan Harvey and Andy Purcell each hit 2 run homers, up 5-2.
Bot 3 – Resmondo – Greg Connell hits a 2 run homer, down 4-5.
Top 4 – Smash It – John Williams responds with a 2 run homer, up 7-4.
Bot 4 – Resmondo – Mack and Baker hit RBI doubles.  Wolf hits a 2 run homer.  And Resmondo leaves the bases loaded up 9-7.
Top 5 – Smash It – Washington hits a 2 run single to tie the game 9-9.  Reyna RBI single, Dillon and Briggs hit 2 run homers, up 15-9.
Bot 5 – Resmondo gets 1 run after foul out.  Down 10-15.
Top 6 – Smash It – Harvey hits a 2 run homer and Resmondo goes down 1-2-3.  SIS up 19-10.
Top 7 – Resmondo RF Brian Wegman makes a nice running catch to rob Reyna in deep RC field.  Williams hits a 2 run homer, SIS up 19-10.
Bot 7 – Smash It left fielder Filip Washington makes a great diving catch and Yates homers but Smash It forces the "if" necessary game 19-11!

2018 USSSA Major World Series

Game #35 Recap (FINAL GAME)

Lets get ready to RUMBLE!

Quite a lineup starting with Baker

Dedonatis and Purcell in the handshake line before the game

Dedonatis gets a base hit in his final at bat

Washington and Wegman traded great catches

Game #35 – #3 Smash It (NY-M) vs #1 Resmondo (Fl-M)
2nd Game of the Championship:
Top 1 – Smash It – Ryan Harvey and Filip Washington homered to go up 3-0.
Bot 1 – Resmondo – Travis Clark and Bubba Mack homered to go up 5-3.
Top 2 – Smash It – Kyle Pearson hit an RBI single, they intentionally walked Harvey, and Riley flew out with the bases loaded, down by 1.
Bot 2 – Resmondo – Kevin Bazat hit a solo homer and Greg Connell hit a 2 out 2 run homer to go up 8-4.
Top 3 – Smash It looking like they were out of gas since it was their 5th game of the day, went 1-2-3.
Bot 3 – Resmondo – Jeremy Yates hit a solo to go up 9-4 and Clark struck out looking to end the inning.
Top 4 – Smash It – Brandon Dillon and Williams drove in a couple of runs, then Harvey hit a 2 out 2 run homer, and Riley hit a solo to tie the game at 9-9.
Bot 4 – Resmondo – Wolf hit a solo, Bazat had an RBI single, Baker an RBi double, Wegman a 2 run homer, Yates a solo, and Lewis a solo to go up 17-9.
Top 5 – Smash It put up a zero.
Bot 5 – Resmondo put up a zero.
Top 6 – Smash It lined out with bases loaded to Mack at 3rd.
Bot 6 – Resmondo – Wegman RBI single, Yates 2 run homer, and Mack hit a 3 run homer to go up by 14.  With the game near the 15 run mercy rule, Smash It manager Jason Kendrick called time and removed Don Dedonatis III from the game so he could receive a well deserved standing ovation as it was his last game of his illustrious career.  Then Buddy Wolf hit a home run to end it and the Resmondo celebration was on!

Bubba Mack homers to set up Wolfs walk off run rule

Don Dedonatis leaves the field to a standing ovation!

Buddy Wolf ends the game with a walk off run rule homer

Santana and Collins both played for their respective teams after all the controversy

The flags blew straight right or straight left across the diamond

Left and Right field

All Outs Chris Anninos robs a homer

Stadium ZN's for everyone!

Oldscout pollers had Resmondo! 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

Day 4 Video Clips Link

Day 3 Video Clips Link

Day 2 Video Clips Link

Day 1 Video Clips Link

Home Run Derby Video

Long Bombers of the Week

Ryan Harvey is the Long Bomber of the Week.  Led the tournaments in homers.  Hit some bombs.  Won OFF MVP!

Mike Brambilla gets honorable mention for this bomb to center field.  We are not positive flight scope is perfectly accurate but it was a bomb none the less.

  Major Final Standings and Awards

Tournament Awards video

2018 Major All World Team

Defensive MVP Steele Lewis, Offensive MVP and HR Champ Ryan Harvey, and MVP Bubba Mack

Resmondo 3B Bubba Mack gets the MVP – pictured with UIC Doc Beckwell and Director Strojan Kennison

Travis Resmondo and Brett Helmer receive the first place trophy

Team by team notes brought to you by: