Thursday March 28th, 2024
TEXT_SIZE

A look back at the 2019 USSSA ‘A’ World tournament report!

 

 

Premier pitcher Tyler Kincaid knocks down a shot up the middle and runs it down and throws out the HDLNS runner in the winners bracket semifinals!

 

 

 

 

2019 USSSA 'A' World

 

Tournament Report

 

Viera, Florida

 

August 30-31

 

Premier 3rd Baseman Jackie Corn hits a backside bomb in the championship!

 

USSSA 'A' World highlight video

 

SoftballCenter 'A' World picture album link

 

2019 'A' World bracket and results link

 

2019 'A' World archived games link

 

TPJS/Seminoles ties the first championship game with 2 outs and forces the "if" game.

Make Headlines – MakeHeadlines.us

Premier takes on Headlines in the semi finals of the Winner's bracket at beautiful Space Coast Complex!

The 2019 USSSA 'A' Worlds used an accelerated bracket format as Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Florida coast.  Instead of spreading out the 48 games over 3 days they instead played the entire tournament between 2 PM eastern time on Friday and 3 PM eastern time on Saturday.  There were 24 teams from 15 different states and 21 of the teams were 'A' teams and 21 of the teams were from the Conference USSSA.  They used the 325 foot fields at the Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida and the new Dudley Pro-M ball which was not affected as much as the Classic M ball in the humidity.  It never did rain and the hurricane held off until the following week so everyone was able to travel safely to and from the tournament and we would like to thank USSSA and the people of Viera and Melbourne for their hospitality.

The first round consisted of 8 "play in" games as #11 seeded Premier/TG/HDLNS/4With.com/Easton (OH-A) got off to an 11-3 start and beat #22 Above All/B.O.T./TNT (NJ-A) 14-5.  Jackie Corn was 4-5 with 3 RBI and each team hit just 1 of their allotted 8 home runs.  These games were played at 2:00 and 3:15 PM in rather hot and humid conditions.  #14 SNI/Worsham/AllOut/ATWL/Easton (FL-A) scored in every inning of a 5 frame run rule win over #19 Source1/Alpha Source/Easton (AZ-A) 22-7.  #23 LazerSportswear/FIG/BennettHomes (UT-B) took advantage of some #10 Classic Glass/Easton (CA-A) miscues and won a 13-5 game with the wind blowing in.  #18 Infamous/Saltriot/Miken (CO-B) held off #15 Vivid/Play the Game (TX-A) 17-16 even though Vivid/PTG scored 5 in the bottom of the 7th.  Vince Gilles was 4-5 with 4 RBI in the win.  #12 T&W/Cornerstone/Pauer/Miken (OH-A) shocked #21 Briggs/Haymak/RemoteIT (NC-A) outscoring them 29-18 by jumping out to a 23-8 lead.  #13 SportsReach (KY-A) run ruled #20 Maroadi Transfer/Worth/Miken (PA-A) 23-8 after getting a 4-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI performance from slugger Brian Mays.  #9 MyAutoJack/DownTime Sports/Sonny's (AZ-A) cruised past #24 I'd Hit That (FL-C) 24-4 in 4 innings.  And #17 Regulators (CO-A) came from 11 runs down at one point against #16 Competitive Edge/C&R Equipment (FL-A) to win on a walk off double by player/sponsor Dustin Wager with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th!

In the "round of 16" starting at 3:15 PM Friday – Premier beat #6 Chanticlear/Eurotech/J&H/MikenWorth (MN-A) after trailing Chanticlear 5-3 going into the top of the 7th and scoring 11 runs to win 14-7!  #3 Baugh Ford/Kut4/OI/Miken/Worth (GA-A) easily run ruled SNI 33-14.  #7 Headlines/Titan/CSB/Easton (OH-A) beat LazerSportsWear 11-5.  Infamous upset #2 seeded Tradesmen/LS/Spiderz/Hang Rite (NC-A) 25-9 breaking open a close game with a 12 run 4th.  They were led by leadoff man Chris Berquist who went 4-4 with 5 RBI.  T&W continued their hot hitting ways with a 25-4 upset of #5 Beckham brothers/Pure/Exclusive (SC-A).  Sports Reach won easily over #4 Primetime/Evolution/FAI/Easton (GA-A) 23-8 scoring 11 runs in the 4th inning led by the bat of Brian Mays once again who was 4-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.  #8 TPJS/Seminoles/NACSF.Inc/Miken/SIS (OK-A) beat MyAutoJack 21-11 on the show field.  And #1 MPT Rentals/EVO9X (NJ-A) survived a massive scare from Regulators when Regulators led 6-5 going into the bottom of the 7th.  MPT had hit just 1 home run in the game.  But Chris Greinert hit a solo to right center and lefty Sean Ulmer hit a walk off homer to win the game 7-6.

The tournament was moving quickly along and the entire "final 8" was played at 5:45 PM Friday.  Premier run ruled Baugh Ford 25-10 scoring 16 runs in the first two innings.  Jackie Corn, Clay Norton, and John Franklin each collected 4 hits.  Headlines overcame a pile of errors against Infamous to score the last 12 runs of the game and win 19-16 as leadoff hitter Zach Dillman went 4-5 with 4 HR and 7 RBI.  SportsReach pitcher Brandon Jonas held T&W to no runs in the last two innings and won 21-19 on a walk off homer by Zach Watts in the bottom of the 7th!  And TPJS/Seminoles upset MPT Rentals 19-16 when they scored the last 8 runs of the game after being down 16-11.  So after the "round of 8" was complete none of the top 4 seeds in the tournament were left in the winner's bracket.

The "Final 4" of the winner's bracket took place at midnight eastern time.  TPJS/Seminoles scored 7 in the 1st inning and 6 in the 7th to win 24-12 out homering Sports Reach 6-2 as Brian Therkildsen went 5-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI and Matt Cochran went 3-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.  And Premier scored 4 unearned runs in the 4th inning to grab a lead on Ohio rival Headlines and squeaked out a 14-11 win that could have gone either way to advance to the winner's bracket championship game.  Cory Boothe hit a big home run in the bottom of the 5th to give Premier the lead and Brady Hightchew had 4 hits in the game.

The winner's final was played on Saturday morning at 8:15 AM and Premier got off to a slow start trailing 7-5 after 4 complete innings.  But they turned it on late scoring 5 in the 5th, 6 in the 6th, and 8 in the 7th to win 24-11.  Cory Boothe, Ryan Morrow, and Tyler Kincaid all had 4 hits.  Boothe had a homer, 6 RBI, and 5 runs scored.

The loser's bracket was a war of attrition with the accelerated format due to the incoming hurricane and teams were playing every hour until they lost that second game.  The last game of the night Friday ended at 3:15 am and they started back up at 7 AM Saturday.  In the top half of the loser's bracket Briggs and Tradesmen won a couple games before MPT and T&W beat them and then T&W beat MPT 32-20 to advance to Saturday.  In the lower half of the loser's bracket Beckham Brothers beat Above All, Primetime, and Infamous.  And Baugh Ford beat Play the Game who had won a pair of games.  But Baugh Ford beat Beckham to make it to Saturday.

On Saturday morning at 7 AM SportsReach beat Baugh Ford 24-21 by scoring 6 in the bottom of the 6th as Robert Blackburn and veteran Jason Hatley each had 4 hits and 4 RBI.  And Headlines beat T&W (both teams were from Ohio) 20-14 after taking a huge lead.  In the loser's semifinals it was all SportsReach as they went up 22-0 knocking out the Headlines pitcher by drilling him twice in a row and winning easily 26-0.  The loser's bracket finals was then played at 10 AM and TPJS/Seminoles scored 10 runs in the 4th inning.  SportsReach battled back with 5 runs in the 5th and 5 more in the 6th to tie the game.  Then neither team could score in the 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th innings as they traded game saving diving catches in the outfield!  But finally in the top of the 11th Seminoles broke it open on an extra base hit down the right field line by Zane Trammell and won by 4!

The championship game felt like it might be a blowout as a "fresh" Premier team played a very tired Seminoles team who just got done playing 11 innings against SportsReach.  But it was Seminoles who went up 11-2 getting some nice defense by Trammell at 3rd base to end the 3rd inning.  But then Seminoles put up 3 zeros in a row and Premier climbed back into it and took the lead 16-11.  Somehow Seminoles scored 5 in the 7th reaching base safely 6 straight times with two outs to tie it and held Premier scoreless and Seminoles won in the 8th 19-16 to force the "if" game!

The "if" game was a bit anti-climactic as an almost angry Premier team scored the first 17 runs and won by the run rule 24-8.  They out homered Seminoles 8-1 in the final game and Jackie Corn hit a grand slam.

Congratulations to Premier on their World title and to Seminoles for showing as much heart as any runner up we have ever seen.  The umpiring was good, the ball was perfect for the humidity and big fields, and the call to accelerate the tournament and complete it on Saturday was spot on.

Premier and TPJS/Seminoles take the championship coin toss

Premier is fresh and ready for the championship!

The loser bracket finals between TPJS/Seminoles and SportsReach went 11 innings with Seminoles winning 23-19!

Team Breakdown:
 24 Teams Overall
21 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
21 'A' Teams
 2 'B' Teams
 1 'C' Teams

 


 

Key Games

 

Headlines turns a double play against Premier in the semifinals

Premier comes from behind to beat Headlines 19-16 as Ryan Morrow homers off the fair pole

Premier run rules Baugh Ford in the quarterfinals 25-10

Zach Dillman hits a triple for Headlines in a 20-14 win over T&W Sunday morning

Sports Reach LF Tony Ford makes a diving catch in extra innings in the losers final.

Neither Seminoles or SportsReach could score in extra innings of the losers final until Zane Trammell hit this extra base hit down the right field line.

Regulators player/Sponsor Dustin Wager hit a walk off double against Competitive Edge in the bottom of the 7th to cap a comeback from as many as 11 runs down to open the tournament.

Infamous the Colorado B team knocked off one of the tournament favorites Vivid/Play the Game by a run to open the tournament.

 

Down 6-5 in the bottom of the 7th in their first game, #1 seeded MPT Rentals who had only hit one homer the entire game got a game tying homer from Chris Greinert and a walk off homer by Sean Ulmer to win 7-6!

T&W's Bobby Noeth Jr hits one over the Beckham 3rd baseman in a 25-4 win in the round of 16

Late Friday night or actually early Friday morning Baugh Ford beat Beckham 33-20 and T&W beat MPT Rentals 32-20 to advance to the final 6 of the tournament

 

The "Jersey Show" coming in for his first game

Classic Glass infielder Cameron Cox homers against MyAutoJack and gets the "sunset pic"

  

The Dudley Pro M ball was used and was the right ball for the conditions.  It would still go during the heat and humidity but not get too hard at night.

 


 

Oldscout Pollers went with MPT Rentals to win at 30.7%

They had Premier at 10%.  Premier was the #11 seed but would have been the #9 seed had they not lost points at the Dudley for forfeiting.

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

USSSA 'A' World highlight video

 


 

Long Bombers of the Week

Cory Boothe from Premier is the long bomber of the week

 


 

USSSA 'A' World Final Standings and Awards

 

Premier's Tyler Kincaid the pitcher was the MVP

Premier SS/1B Adam Kaminski was Defensive MVP

 

TPJS/Seminoles EH Matt Cochran was the Offensive MVP

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

 

 

1st Place – Premier/TG/HDLNS/4With.com/Easton

Conf 'A' from OH  6-1 Record

Sponsor Kevin Forwith and the TG group finally got that USSSA ring!  They found ways to win even when they played bad.  They beat a lot of great teams in the tournament and they seemed to be the only team that could really step on the gas consistently when needed.  Kincaid did almost all of the pitching even with a badly bruised hand from a line shot in the Baugh Ford game.  Boothe, Corn, Kaminksi were really hitting the homers in the heat on the big fields when needed.  And players like Franklin, Payne, and Uckotter played roles when needed even after starting most of the year.  Adam Kaminksi who is known as a first baseman and played a lot of 2nd and some middle infield this year won the Defensive MVP as he played a lot of shortstop which allowed their offense to be the best it could be.  A true team effort for the "11 seed".  Many say that this team would have been much higher if they did not get docked points at the Dudley but even with the points at the Dudley they would have only been the 9 seed.  Manager Kevin Forwith had a number of key mound visits aided by the professional heckler which seemed to be effective if some felt it lacked in sportsmanship…  

Final Premier Lineup:
Ryan Morrow
Jackie Corn
Cory Boothe
Adam Kaminiski
Clay Norton
Brady Hightchew
John Franklin / Tony Payne
Rocky Staton
Tyler Kincaid
Ryan Disbennett

 

C Cory Boothe and RF Ryan Disbennett

 

MI Rocky Staton and CF Brady Hightchew

 

OF Clay Norton and SS Tony Payne

Premier brought the late Ryan Noe's jersey for inspiration

 

 


 

2nd Place – TPJS/Seminoles/NACSF.Inc/Miken/SIS

Conf 'A' from OK  5-2 Record

 

Seminoles was the #8 seed and played their best tournament since they became a Conference team a few years back.  They were missing Justin Beal but it was a gutty team effort to finish 2nd and especially win that 11 inning losers final then come from behind to force an "if" game.  I don't know the stats but was impressed especially with Matt Cochran who was Offensive MVP, big Brian Therkildsen who was all tournament, and Spencer Selby who seemed to be racking up the bases on his hits.

Final Seminoles lineup:
Oliver Odle
Brian Therkildsen
Matt Cochran
Zane Trammell / Mark Cochran
Corey Tapp
Spencer Selby
Hunter Ramirez
Richard Reeves
Trey Branscum
Nicholas Santos / Jared Kennemer
Charles Newell

 

Spencer Selby and Brian Therkildsen

   

RF Jared Kennemer makes a game saving catch in the losers final

 

SS Oliver Odle and 2B Hunter Ramirez

 

Pitcher Wes Newell and the Cochran brothers

 


 

3rd Place – SportsReach

Conf 'A' from KY  5-2 Record

 

Sports Reach had one of the deeper lineups in the 'A' division with the veteran sticks Blackburn and Cocco, the return of Brian Mays this year healthy, and all tournament selections Zach Watts and Kaden Watson.  I think also shortstop Joel Sanchez showed that he may be the best shortstop in the division with his range to the hole and his power even after playing so many games in the heat.

Sports Reach final lineup:
Tony Ford
Zach Watts
Robert Blackburn
Tim Cocco / Steven Wilson
Jacob Clifton
Brian Mays
Joel Sanchez
Jason Hatley
Bryan Bradler
Brandon Jonas / Daniel Merck
Kaden Watson

 

Pitcher Brandon Jonas was all tournament and Brian Mays had some big games

 

Kaden Watson and Zachary Watts were all tournament

 

Robert "Robo" Blackburn

 

SS Joel Sanchez can go to the hole with the best of them

3B Hatley, SS Sanchez, MI Watson, 2B Clifton

 


 

4th Place – Headlines/Titan/CSB/Easton

Conf 'A' from OH  3-2 Record

 

Headlines was led by Zach Dillman and Brian Spenn.  They were just a few defensive plays away from a winner's final appearance when they lost to Premier…  A great finish though to a year where a young team learned what it will take to compete in the Conference and in 'A' next year!

Headlines Final Lineup:
Zach Dillman
Brian Spenn
Isaiah Worlow
Nelson Price
Gregory Engle
Bradlee Bruns
Steven Smith
Derek Coverstone
Joshua Cummins
Chad Ulogar / Tyler Brake

Nelson Price laces a hit against LazerSportswear

 

Josh Cummins and Brian Spenn were all tournament

Headlines manager Todd Sledge accepts the 4th place trophy.  More to come from this group!

 

 


 

Tied 5th Place – T&W/Cornerstone/Pauer/Miken

Conf 'A' from OH  4-2 Record

T&W has had a strange year losing pitcher Bill Pinkham and shortstop Tony Payne before the year started.  Then losing one of the leagues leading hitters John Radich half way through the season.  But they pulled it together with some nice wins at the Smoky, then rolled through the loser's bracket of the GSL 'A' even beating Premier to force an "if" game.  Now they made a run at the 'A' World and almost made it 3 Ohio teams in the final 4 except for a late game loss to SportsReach.  Adding Ballard and Wright to the lineup helped lengthen the lineup and they fought hard eventhough many players had to play out of position.

T&W Final Lineup:
Mitchell Lendenski
Kevin Ballard
Cody Pack / Steve Zemanek Ii
Josh Kirsten
Bob Noeth
Steven Hendrickson
Josh Wright
Cody Angus
Cody Roton
Cory Cook / Robert Noeth Iv / Ryan Sanders

 

3B Wright, SS Noeth, MI Hendrickson

Noeth Sr was the backup to Cory Cook who has all of the trick pitches

 


 

Tied 5th Place – Baugh Ford/Kut4/OI/Miken/Worth

Conf 'A' from GA  3-2 Record

Baugh Ford has had trouble with Sports Reach all year and seem to be in awe of Premier and of course those were the only two teams that beat them.  Baugh finally had all of their players and looked to be set to make a run and I even picked them to win in my pickem game.  But they did not get it done for another year eventhough they are still one of the top 'A' teams in the game, just not a great "Florida" team for some unknown reason.

Baugh Ford Final Lineup:
John Zorich
Curtis Cornett
Brandon Hooks
Jason Gilfillan
Bradley Jones
Jonathan Rasberry
Phillip White
Robert Roop
Carlton Griffin
Tommie Baugh
Jonathan Sullivan

 

3B Chad Folsom, 1B Jason Gilfillan, 2B Phillip White

 

Carlton Griffin singles and Tommie Baugh triples.

These are the two that put this team together.  Carlton is the architect and Tommie the Sponsor and pitcher

 


 

Other top finishing Conference teams

 


 

Tied 7th Place – Beckham Brothers/Pure/Exclusive

Conf 'A' from SC  3-2 Record

Beckam Brothers made a nice run in the loser's bracket but did so with a skeleton crew as Hidalgo no showed and pitcher Dustin Midyette also missed the tournament.  I want to give a shoutout to Beckham sponsor Todd Beckham who left the tournament with an apparent blood clot.  Get well soon!

Beckhams Final Lineup:
Orlando Castello
Kyle Cowart
Steven Pavliak
Justin Mackey
Devin Anderson
Greg Walters
Travis Tucker
John Hette
Peter Seiden
William Fisher

 

Rookie of the Year candidate Greg Walters did some of the pitching

 


 

Tied 7th Place – MPT Rentals/EVO9X

Conf 'A' from NJ  2-2 Record

MPT was the favorite to win getting 30% of the votes in the oldscout poll, being the #1 seed, and having to listen to all the chatter about being a 'AA' team eventhough 16 players on their roster have never played above 'A'.  But they struggled out of the gate having to score 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to beat Regulators and never really played well at any point.  This is one of those rare teams that doesn't play great against 'A' teams but picks up their game against 'AA' and Major teams.  Still a great first season in the Conference for MPT!


MPT Rentals somehow received their All Conference Awards.

Center Fielder Woodrow Darling, Marc Carucci, and pitcher John Dombrowski

 


 

Hot Links section brought to you by:

I would like to thank USSSA and the SoftballCenter advertisers for their support!

Send corrections to dw@softballcenter.com

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Facebook page

Link to all 2009 to 2019 Tournament Reports and Previews

Nationwide Conference USSSA Points and information link

 


 

Some more pictures for you:

Tied for 9th – Briggs/Haymak/RemotelT (NC-A) 2-2 – Briggs lost a tough one to T&W then shut down Chanticlear and Maroadi before MPT beat them by 7.  Just wasn't their weekend.

 

Tied for 9th – Tradesmen Spiderz/Hang Rite (NC-A) 2-2 – Lost their first game to Infamous and then recovered beating Competitve Edge and Lazersportswear before losing to T&W by the run rule.

 

Tied for 9th – Infamous/SaltRiot/Miken (CO-B) 2-2 – They shocked Play the Game 17-16 then knocked off Tradesmen 25-9 before dropping close games to Headlines and Beckham Brothers.  That game against Headlines was winnable and would have put them in the final 4!

Tied for 9th – Vivid/Play the Game (AR-A) 2-2 – Play the Game has been a force in 'A' all year long being the only 'A' team to beat Resmondo this year.  But they didn't play great losing to Infamous by 1, then sending home Regulators and Classic Glass before Baugh Ford nipped them by 3.

It was great to see 'B' power LazerSportswear from Utah come to the 'A' Worlds and win a few games going 2-2.  They beat Classic Glass with the wind blowing in 13-5, then lost to Headlines 11-5, then beat the local 'C' team I'd Hit That 18-9 before Tradesmen run ruled them 30-15.  This team has to be one of the favorites for 'B' Worlds along with Infamous, Wood Law, and a whole slew of non conference teams like West Point and GMS.

SNI (FL-A) went 1-2 beating Source1 in their opener but then dropping to Baugh Ford and Maroadi by a combined score of 47-18

Lex Ramirez pitched for MyAutoJack who's starter couldn't make it.  They went 1-2 beating a Florida C team but then losing to Seminoles and Classic Glass.

Classic Glass (CA-A) went 1-2 losing to LazerSportswear with the wind blowing in on the Red quad, then beating a good MyAutoJack team 30-22 before Vivid/Play the Game sent them home 27-12

Maroadi Transfer (PA-A) went 1-2 scoring single digits in losses to Sports Reach and Briggs and beating SNI.

I want to give a shoutout to Joe Baney the sponsor who is not doing well.

Competitive Edge (FL-A) went 0-2 losing a heart breaker to Regulators and losing to Tradesmen 28-22

Above All from NJ went 0-2 scoring just 17 runs

Chanticlear (MN-A) went 0-2 blowing a 7th inning lead to Premier in their first game and losing to Briggs 17-5

Source1 from Arizona ended a tough year 0-2 scoring just 7 runs a game

Conference Umpires

Lee Trotter and Bobby Noeth Sr from Addidas

The White Quad has some big outfields (325 home run fence), homers were earned

Gators

T&W's Kevin Ballard with Sports Reach's Robby Speer

Classic Glass slugger Chris Larsen hurt his knee and elbow rounding 1st base.

They added shade to the Red Quad

USSSALive.com is now a subscription for $4.99 a month.

Money goes to cover a small part of the actual livestream costs.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.