A look back at the 2019 USSSA Columbus Major tournament report!

August 5, 2020 by DW —No Comments ↓

2019 Nationwide Conference USSSA

7th Annual Columbus B.A.T.S.

Columbus, OH

August 2-4

Resmondos Brad Reckart hits against TDB's Andy Purcell in the Columbus championship!

SoftballCenter Columbus picture album link

2019 Columbus bracket and results link

2019 Columbus Major stats link once available

2019 Columbus archived games link

Jason Branch helps TDB come back to beat Resmondo 37-30 to force the "if" game

As the regular season for Conference USSSA winds down we headed to Columbus, Ohio and their turf infield high school baseball sized fields with 20 of the top 25 teams in the points standings to battle it out for those last few spots in the USSSA Major World Series! The weather was perfect, the umpiring good, and they decided to test out a new ball the Dudley Pro-M 44-375 on the big fields. The ball performed well except for some knuckling but overall the games were well played and hard fought. There were 24 teams total (21 from the conference) and they came from 16 different states. The scores were fairly low and in the 1st round Tradesmen (NC-A) hot off their Portland tournament win beat Maroadis (PA-A) 10-8, Rebel Sports (MI-AA) knocked off T&W (OH-A) 10-8, MPT Rentals (NJ-A) beat Westpoint (IN-B) 17-12, and Beckham Brothers (FL-A) beat TPJS/Seminoles (OK-A) 20-18 with both teams trying to score points to qualify for the Major. In the lower half of the bracket Riot Sports (FL-AA), Premier (OH-A), and SIS/Thunder (NY-AA) all won fairly easily while Headlines (OH-A) beat Baugh Ford (AL-A) on a walk off hit by Chad Ulogar.

The second round of the winner's bracket was also played on Friday night as the 8 early winners took on the top 8 seeds. Resmondo (FL-M), Bay Area Legends (CA-AA), and Xtreme (MN-AA) were all challenged but won by 4 or 5 runs each. Beckham Brothers actually had Resmondo tied up at 20-20 late in the game before losing by 4. Meanwhile Precision (IL-AA), Dan Smith (CA-Major), SIS/Thunder, and TDB/Racks all won easily. The only upset of the 2nd round was MPT Rentals who knocked off Pure Sports for the 3rd time this year by 1 run after trailing by 6 runs with no outs and no one on base? Wow. MPT tied the game and then beat Pure in extra innings when Woodrow Darling hit a triple and scored on an errant throw.

The quarterfinals were played starting at noon on Saturday as 7 of the top 8 teams in the nation battled it out. SmashIt/Precision annihilated Dan Smith 34-8 on the big field #15, Resmondo 20 run mercy ruled MPT Rentals, Bay Area 20 run mercy ruled Xtreme, and SIS/Thunder upset #1 ranked TDB/Racks 23-15! Then the semifinals started at 4:30 PM when Resmondo made quick work of Smashit/Precision 26-9 and SIS/Thunder used pitching and defense to beat rival 'AA' team Bay Area Legends 20-11. The winner's final was anticlimactic as Resmondo rolled through SIS/Thunder 34-2…

In the loser's bracket they used the Classic M ball and scores were down on Field #14 and #17 with the wind blowing in. Rebel Sports won a pair of games before TDB dropped down and beat them, Pure Sports, and Precision to make it to Sunday. In the lower half of the loser's bracket Dan Smith beat Westpoint Softball 13-8, MPT Rentals 22-13, and Bay Area Legends 32-25 to make it to Sunday.

On a cool Sunday morning it was #1 TDB and #3 Dan Smith squaring off first. TDB's defense let them down early giving Dan Smith 4 extra outs in the first two innings and Dan Smith led 32-13 going into the bottom of the 4th. TDB seemed as tired and disinterested as they have been at any point this season but one hit after another and suddenly, they found a second wind. In the bottom of the 5th TDB scored a tournament high 24 runs on 6 homers to take an incredible 43-38 lead and then Purcells pitching took over as he got 3 solos and 3 mishits in the top of the 6th. In the bottom of the 6th 3 run homers by Pearson and Harvey sealed the 49-45 win which was by far the highest scoring game of the tournament. A game that started when the temperature was just 61 degrees.

In the loser's bracket finals TDB again had to come from behind when SIS/Thunder grabbed their first lead in the top of the 6th inning on a pinch hit homer by Mike Snyder then pitcher Danny Evans got TDB to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th. In the top of the 7th though Thunder was unable to extend the lead and TDB in the bottom of the 7th had one on and one out and hit a one hopper to shortstop for what could have been a game winning double play for Thunder but it took a bad hop off of Zach Messers eyebrow and two runs scored to tie the game. Thunder did hold TDB from there but failed to score in the top of the 8th and TDB won the game in the bottom of the 8th on a walk off homer by Bryson Baker 16-15.

In the first championship game TDB got off to a 10-7 lead all on two out "goodies" and used some good defense by Purcell and middleman Luis Reyna to hold the lead against Resmondo. But Jeremy Yates hit a 2 run inside the park homer and Bubba Mack a solo homer to give Resmondo the lead in the 6th but TDB mustered a big inning to win and force the "if" game 37-30.

In the final game Resmondo overpowered a tired TDB team 14-8 in the first two innings and cruised to a 36-10 run rule victory. It was Resmondos 6th tournament win of the season and they have won 3 in a row on the baseball sized fields (Seattle #2, Smoky, Columbus).

The Sunderlands and Greens are no longer on the same team

Team Breakdown:
24 Teams Overall
21 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
4 Major Teams
7 'AA' Teams
10 'A' Teams
3 'B' Teams

Upsets

Smashit/Precision upsets Dan Smith 34-8

West Point (IN-B) defends against Nightmare (MO-AA) in their 31-14 upset win

Headlines Chad Ulogar gets the game winning hit against Baugh Ford

Thunders Brian McBryde tries to turn two in the winners semifinals against Bay Area

Premiers Adam Kaminski takes aim at the mini green monster fence on Field #15

Branch climbed the fence

Andrew Collins gets Dan Smith off to a 19 run lead Sunday morning against TDB

TDB caps off a 24 run 5th inning against Dan Smith and wins 49-45

Thunder pitcher Danny Evans stabs Brian Zirkles line drive up the middle

Sun sets over the Dan Smith vs Rebel Sports game Friday night. Dan Smith won 21-13.

Baartman was out on Pinkhams sliding cover of 1st base

The Dudley Pro M ball 44 core 375 compression was used in the winners bracket and on Sunday on the big fields.

The losers bracket used the Classic M ball because they were running out of the Pro M.

Remember if you take a home run ball or a foul ball you can be removed from the park.

Oldscout pollers were correct

Video Highlites brought to you by:

2019 Columbus video clips link

I am working on a video of great plays from the livestream also.

Long Bombers of the Week

Long Bomber of the week is always a subjective award based on what I see as I walk around the park. I think for lefties Buddy Wolf hit the longest with Jeremy Yates and Everett Williams hitting some bombs. For the righties I am going to go with Josh Riley of TDB who hit one that I was able to see land across the road and grass/tree area in left field of Field #14 which I was able to google earth at 461 feet. Harvey had the nastiest line drive homers and Kyle Pearson from Resmondo had one that was close to Riley's if not longer.

Columbus Major Final Standings and Awards

Resmondo outfielder Pat Ellwanger was tournament MVP

Resmondo middle infielder Kevin Bazat was Defensive MVP. He stabbed a liner in the picture on the right.

TDB's Josh Riley may have won the seasons long batting title with his Offensive MVP performance.

We will see when the final stats come in.

Team by team notes brought to you by:

1st Place – Resmondo/SIS/Thunder/RDD/H.Auto/Sprizzi

Conf Major from FL 5-1 Record

Resmondo rolled through the tournament with superior offensive firepower on the big fields. They did have that loss to TDB in the first championship game which woke them up and reminded them that everything in the conference is earned and you can't just show up but you actually have to finish. Connell is fighting a foot injury so he sat some and the lefty crew Haglund, Ellwanger, and Wolf seemed to rotate some with super sub Reckart playing all of the other positions when needed. Resmondo just had too much power and after getting past Beckham Brothers Friday night it seemed they were destined to win this one as the other major teams all fell to the losers bracket early.

Trending Up!

Wegman and Pearson have been a lethal 1-2 combo this summer

Travis Clark and Bubba Mack

Steele Lewis and Neil Haglund

Cory Briggs and Buddy Wolf

2nd Place – TDB/Racks/Athlon

Conf Major from NC 7-2 Record

TDB slipped up against Thunder who has beaten them a couple times this year. But they showed tremendous heart making it to Sunday and beating all of the top teams in the nation to get to the "if game". They beat Pure Sports, Precision, Dan Smith, Thunder, and Resmondo all in a row knowing they couldn't really gain much in the way of points and they won their last 3 games in come from behind fashion including that 24 run inning against Dan Smith which may have been the most impressive offensive inning of the season considering the field size and the situation. Ryan Harvey hit an incredible 20 HR and had 45 RBI!

Trending Even

Baker put in an all tournament performance while holding down 3rd base

SS AJ Montano and MI Luis Reyna

Purcell, Montano, and Everett Williams

Williams and Martel

Harvey and Pearson

3rd Place – SIS/Thunder/Miken/Worth/Anarchy/OA

Conf 'AA' from NY 4-2 Record

Thunder was first in class out of the 'AA' teams and won games with a little bit of everything – pitching, defense, and offense. But they did let that second upset bid of TDB slip away Sunday morning.

Trending Up!

Washington and Williams are in the race for the batting title

Baartman and Fyffe have done a great job for Thunder

This hop in the bottom of the 7th could have been a game winning DP for Thunder but instead hit Messer in the eyebrow

4th Place – Dan Smith/Menosse/Steven Smith/FAI

Conf Major from CA 4-2 Record

Dan Smith didn't have the killer instinct needed Sunday morning to finish off TDB after fighting through the losers bracket in some low scoring games and then having that 19 run lead against TDB evaporate in the 5th inning. Dodds led the team in homers with 10 and Cayton led the team in onbase percentage at .769

Trending Even

Argen Dodds and Jason Matusik have put up some big numbers this season

Dodds, Menosse, and Steven Smith

Tied 5th Place – Bay Area/Rapid Fire/Bad Draw/Easton

Conf 'AA' from CA 2-2 Record

Bay Area played well but without Chente Granados who is injured. They ran into a hot Thunder team and then dropped and lost to Dan Smith in the losers bracket right away.

Stewart and Mullins

Gonzalez sporting the new unis

Steve Edwards playing in his hometown

Marshburn is in the batting title race

Tied 5th Place – Smashit/Precision/3rdStreet/Bulldawg

Conf 'AA' from IL 2-2 Record

Precision crushed Dan Smith and Tradesmen but couldn't score against Resmondo or TDB. 3 of their 4 games were against the top 3 teams in the nation. Ouch. They are also a little banged up with Houseman and Geron sporting injuries.

Trending Up!

Vitcak with the skyline pic

Magnum has been crushing it this year and can't wait to guest announce at the major

Other top finishing Conference teams

Tied 7th Place – Pure Sports

Conf Major from SC 3-2 Record

Pure got upset by their nemesis MPT on Friday night after being up 6 with 2 outs and no one on in the bottom of the 7th? Then they failed to score in the top of the 8th and lost by a run. They won 3 in the loser's bracket before TDB sent them packing 28-7. The team seems healthy just needs to be more consistent and they are playing North Carolina where they hope to get some momentum going into the post season.

Trending Even

Rich Racobaldo seems healthy finally

Tied 7th Place – MPT Rentals/EVO9X

Conf 'A' from NJ 3-2 Record

MPT beat Pure Sports again and found ways to beat Riot and Westpoint. Their only losses were to major teams and they continue to do it with a next man up mentality.

Trending Up!

MPT has done it with smoke and mirrors this year. If you are a conference fan and you can name these 3 players then we'll bump them to 'AA'. One way you rate a teams players is to ask yourself, if they folded, where would their players go? While they have good players that are playing great together, I'm not sure 'AA' teams are waiting to pick these guys up. That is not a knock on the players but I am just showing that this is an 'A' team and many of the players were free agents or weren't playing conference last year. Sometimes you have to tip your cap.

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TDB won the regular season Conference points race and should win the #1 seed for the USSSA Major World Series.

Meanwhile Baugh Ford and Beckham battle for the last spot in the Major.

Some more pictures for you:

Tied for 9th – Riot/Hub's Pub/Klutch/A&A Utility (FL-AA) 3-2 – Riot beat SVC on Friday then lost to Xtreme by 5. On Saturday they beat Maroadi by 4 and Premier 9-6 before MPT sent them home 20-16.

Tied for 9th – RebelSports/TN/Troupe/M24/GameBrand (MI-AA) 3-2 – Rebel tied for 9th pushing them to 952 points and that will get them into the Major World Series! They beat T&W 10-8, lost to Dan Smith by 8, then on Saturday beat Primetime 15-10 and SVC 24-21 before TDB sent them home 32-20. Solid games for Rebel who needed a solid weekend.

Tied for 9th – Westpoint Softball (IN-B) 2-2 – Westpoint is one of the better 'B' teams in the nation. They lost to MPT Rentals 17-12 Friday night but recovered Saturday to upset Nightmare 31-14 and TPJS/Seminoles 10-9 before losing to Dan Smith 13-8. That is one of the best tournaments any 'B' team has had this year in Conference play.

Tied for 9th – Xtreme/Miken/ASP/Athlon (MN-AA) 1-2 – Xtreme beat Riot Friday night 30-25 but was smoked by Bay Area 24-4 on Saturday in the quarterfinals and dropped into the loser's bracket and lost to Pure Sports 29-17.

Tradesmen pitcher David Bare was back from his Seattle hand injury. Tradesmen was playing with a lot of new players and went just 1-2 with a nice win over Maroadis.

Beckham Brothers is still hanging onto that last spot in the major by a thin margin. They beat Seminoles but lost to Resmondo by only 4 and then Baugh Ford drummed them 36-5.

TPJS/Seminoles did not make the major and dropped out of North Carolina. But like many other 'A' teams they could still be the highest non qualified finisher at the 'A' Worlds and make it. Seminoles lost to Beckham by 2 then beat Headlines by a run and lost to Westpoint by a run. They did not score well on the big fields.