Thursday March 28th, 2024
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A look back at the 2019 USSSA Hall of Fame Classic tournament report!

 

 

2019 Nationwide Conference USSSA

 

Hall of Fame Classic

 

Viera, FL

 

April 11-14

 

TDB/Racks/Athlon and Dan Smith/Menosse/Steven Smith each won one of the Dual tournaments!

 

SoftballCenter HOF picture album link

 

2019 HOF bracket and results link

 

2019 HOF #1 Major stats link

 

2019 HOF #2 Major stats link

 

2019 HOF archived games link     Facebook Game Link

 

Boxscores from scorekeepers

Teams did not always turn in full name lineups so these stats are not always accurate

Championship Sunday between Bay Area Legends in white and TDB/Racks in grey

Dual #1

The Hall of Fame Classic Dual tournaments began on Thursday at 8 AM with a 34 team double elimination tournament that ended Friday night.  The 30 top ranked teams were all there.  Upsets ruled as MPT Rentals (NJ-A) upset Smash It/Pure (SC-Major) 18-17 with Pure having the bats in their hands and only needing 2 runs to win in the bottom of the 7th!  Premier(OH-AA) beat T&W (OH-A) in a bit of a grudge match as the two teams fought over players in the offseason and were from the same state.  The Dual #1 was seeded by 2018 Conference points and the seeding was correct.  Thunder/Chosen (NY-TBD) crushed Nightmare 22-4 and Xtreme (MN-AA) knocked off My Auto Jack (AZ-A) on a walk off homer by Curtis Stewart.  Also, SNI (FL-A) beat Classic Glass (CA-AA).  The rest of the 1st round games were won by the higher seed for the most part.

In the "round of 16" the upsets continued as the big fields – 325 down the lines, 365 to the gaps, and 385 to center field on all 5 fields lowered the scores and the windy conditions made it more even.  The games ended up being more about who could string line drives together and get their power hitters to use the wind to their advantage.  They used the Dudley Stadium ZN for every game and although it is a great ball, the number of runs and homers seemed down this year.  Most all of the higher seeds advanced to the final 8, #1 Resmondo (FL-M), #3 TDB/Racks (NC-M), Newbreed (WA-AA), #2 Dan Smith (CA-M), Bay Area Legends (CA-AA), and Xtreme.  But in the bottom quad of the winner's bracket the upsets continued as MPT Rentals knocked off Rebel Sports (MI-AA) 15-9 and SNI/Worsham (FL-A) beat Smash It/Precision 6-2 with the wind blowing straight in on Red Easton.

In the "final 8" games which were all played in the stadium Thursday afternoon and evening, TDB/Racks run ruled Newbreed 30-14 as Ryan Harvey hit 3 HR and had 5 RBI.  Dan Smith survived a big scare from Bay Area Legends 18-17 as Dale Brungardt homered twice and Bay Area was only able to draw within 1 run in the top of the 7th.  Xtreme/Miken crushed #1 Resmondo 23-6 as Shannon Smith, Curtis Stewart, and Dylan Smith combined for 5 HR and 15 RBI and Xtreme out hit Resmondo 32 to 8.  And MPT Rentals scored 4 runs in the top of the 7th to beat SNI in a battle of 'A' teams to make the final 4.  The score was 10-6.

In the semifinals Dan Smith scored 11 runs in the 4th inning and outscored TDB 9-2 in the late innings to win by 10.  MVP Steven Lloyd was 4-5 in the game and Andrew Collins had 3 HR and 7 RBI for Dan Smith as they out homered TDB 11-6.  In the other semi MPT Rentals jumped out to a 13-6 lead on Xtreme and never looked back in a 22-13 win as pitcher Johnathan Dombrowski went 4-5 with a homer and 5 runs scored and they out homered Xtreme 3-0.  As I proof this I realize Dombrowski being the pitcher had an automatic runner for him so he didn't actually score 5 runs but his spot in the lineup did.  🙂

The winner's bracket championship was an interesting game.  A Major team against an 'A' team and the 'A' team out homered the Major team 5-1 with the wind blowing across the stadium from left center to the 1st base dugout as it did for all 4 days.  Dan Smith though scored in every inning and scored 28 runs on 1 homer to win.  Ben Dunn and Mike Nino had 4 hits and 9 RBI as the team hit 11 doubles.  MPT didn't roll over in the game as they scored 10 runs in the 5th inning to get back into it but never could fully catch up.

The loser's bracket was long and wild but when it came to where the top teams dropped down from the quarterfinals – all of those drop down teams won and TDB/Racks in particular beat Resmondo 22-7, Xtreme 25-10, and MPT Rentals 20-16 to advance to the Championship against Dan Smith.

In the final game it was a slugfest as each team hit 9 HR and traded big innings as Dan Smith scored 10 runs on no homers to start the game.  But Dan Smith scored 10 in the top of the 5th and outscored TDB/Racks with superior line drive hitting and timely home runs in the last 3 innings and won 40-27, the highest score of Dual #1.  Argen Dodds was 5-7 with 2 HR and 7 RBI in the game and Dan Smith pretty much rode that starting 10 most of the tournament with Losson White pitching to win the first dual.


Dual #2

The second dual began at 6 PM Friday night as the first dual was finishing up and every team played at least 1 game.  B&B (NC-A) beat Premier 37-32.  Beckham Brothers (FL-TBD) crushed Newbreed (WA-AA) 20-8.  And TDB/Racks squeaked by MPT Rentals 23-21 when MPT had the bats in their hands and a base runner on for their power hitter who struck out looking against TDB backup pitcher Tom Bloom.  What could have been!  I think everyone wanted to see big Wilson take a swing there.  Live and learn!  The rest of the higher seeds all advanced to the round of 16.  

In the "round of 16" all of the higher seeds advanced except for Smash It/Pure who lost to Baugh Ford in the stadium 23-20.  A bad week for the new Major team who won Houston last weekend.   And Rebel Sports knocked off TDB/Racks major team 31-22 in the stadium.

In the "round of 8" then Xtreme beat Baugh 15-11 on the strength of a huge 9 run 5th inning in what was otherwise a rather boring game.  Dan Smith used a 5-5 hitting performance from Jason Matusik and a 17 run top of the 1st inning to beat Smash It/Precision 26-22.  To Precisions credit they never gave up, scoring 12 runs in the bottom of the 5th to get back into the game and if not for Dan Smith left fielder Andrew Collins robbing a grand slam late in the game, Precision may have pulled off a huge comeback!  Resmondo beat Nightmare on a walk off homer by Bubba Mack 28-27.  Nightmare had outscored Resmondo 15-12 in a wild 4th inning.  Resmondo's Jeremy Yates hit 4 home runs in the game!  Nightmare scored just 2 runs in the last two innings…  And in the final quarterfinal game Bay Area Legends led by leadoff man Tyler Wilson's 3-4, 3 run performance beat Rebel/Linedrive 17-13.

The "final 4" of dual #2 started Saturday evening and Dan Smith made short work of Xtreme 22-7 scoring 10 runs in the 3rd inning.  Steven Lloyd, Ben Dunn, and Jo Jo Bennett all had 3 hits.  And Bay Area Legends led Resmondo the whole game scoring 7 runs in the top of the 1st inning and led 13-8 going into the 7th inning where they tacked on an impressive 11 runs and won the game 24-9!

In the winner's bracket finals Bay Area matched Dan Smith's opening 7 runs with 7 of their own in the bottom of the 2nd.  Then using some great defense by middle man Ryan Mcclanahan and pitching from Bill Pinkham the Legends kept it close and then scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 5th and shut down Dan Smith the rest of the way in a 23-13 upset!

In the loser's bracket it was all TDB/Racks.  They started on the field at 9:30 AM Saturday morning losing to Rebel Sports and then went to the back fields and beat T&W with the wind blowing out on Red Easton 48-25, Beckham Brothers 31-16, and Baugh Ford 33-9.  Then they moved over to Red Easton with the wind blowing in and beat Precision 26-12, Resmondo with defense in the bottom of the 7th 23-22, and Nightmare after midnight Saturday 35-25.  On Sunday morning they sent Dan Smith home 19-12 and "double dipped" Bay Area Legends 17-11 and 13-6.  They had played 19 games in 4 days and went 10-1 in Dual #2 to WIN THE TOURNAMENT!  An incredible run to first place in the points standings as well.

The tournament had perfect weather although teams had to deal with a lot of wind.  The park was perfect for morning and evening games and even in the middle of the afternoon it was pleasant with a nice breeze.  The stadium ball was perfect for the baseball fields.  Teams did have to adjust to varying umpire strike zones and play the wind when hitting but overall the pitchers did great, the games were very competitive across classifications and we got to witness incredible performances from MPT Rentals, Xtreme, Dan Smith, and TDB/Racks plus the many upsets.

The conference is off for Easter break and then back at it with the Cajun, St Louis, and Myrtle Beach Majors!

A special thank you to tournament director Strojan Kennison, USSSA, Laurie Timmons, Don Dedonatis Jr, the livestream and camera crews for their tireless work, the umpires, UIC Doc Beckwell, Mike Craig and the scorekeepers, and especially the sponsors that made this great event possible.
 

My pano photo of Baugh Ford and TDB on Marucci field

Dan Smith managerial and sponsorship staff

Team Breakdown:
 34 Teams Overall
34 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
4 Major Teams
9 'AA' Teams
17 'A' Teams
4 'B' Teams

 


 

Above and below – TDB vs Dan Smith Friday night championship game

Joel Gonzalez of Bay Area Legends hits in the upset of #1 Resmondo!

Dan Smith takes on MPT Rentals in the winner's bracket finals of Dual #1

Xtreme held Resmondo to just 6 runs in Dual #1

Bay Areas Chad Mullins singles against Dan Smith in the winner's final Saturday night

Late Saturday TDB/Racks and Ryan Harvey knocked off Nightmare to make it to Sunday

Sal Formosa for Rebel Sports takes on Chanticlear Pizza

Beckham Brothers Orlando Castillo hits against Newbreeds Dan Sanchez

TDB right fielder Jason Branch actually held on to this catch!

Smash It/Pure Sports Tommy Melton hits a moon shot homer over the 385 mark to tie it up against Vivid with 2 outs.  In the bottom of the 7th Pure won the game with a double play.

 

 

Some Panos of the back fields

After the first Dual was over Friday night, the teams began dual #2!

 

Full bat testing and Dudley Stadium ZN 47/450 balls

 

 


 

Old Scout pollers were not right

 


 

Video Highlites brought to you by:

NOTE about the video clips.  I usually don't put double plays or strike outs in the clips but the Hall of Fame Classic with the wind, sun, and big fields I felt it should be a part of the clips.  If a player is a good Conference player he will strike out looking because to be a good conference player you have to swing at good pitches and take walks.  When you take walks you could strike out.  It happens.  While players find this embarrassing, walks are actually a big part of upper level slowpitch softball.  

Sunday Clips Dual #2 – TDB, Dan Smith, Bay Area Legends

Friday night and Saturday clips from Dual #2

Friday Dual #1 video clips

Thursday Dual #1 video clips

Subscribe to  SoftballCenter.com on YOUTUBE here

 


 

Long Bombers of the Week

I am giving the Long Haul Bomber of the week to TDB/Racks Ryan Harvey who hit some of the nastiest 370 foot line drives over the left center field wall on the stadium with the wind blowing in, and to B&B Softballs Tim Mickey for his first game homer back on the red quad that still hasn't landed yet!  Sorry the pictures didn't come out.

 


 

HOF Major 1 & 2 Final Standings and Awards

Dual #1

 

 

Dual #2

 

Dan Smith 2B Steven Lloyd and TDB/Racks pitcher Andy Purcell were Dual 1 & 2 MVP's

 

TDB's Ryan Harvey and Bay Area Legends catcher Chad Mullins were Offensive MVP's

Dan Smith CF Ben Dunn was Defensive MVP of Dual #1

 

TDB SS Daniel Cayton and CF Brian Zirkle were Dual #2 Co-Defensive MVP's

 


 

Team by team notes brought to you by:

 

 

1st Place – (NC-Major) TDB/Racks/Athlon Major

Avg Finish: 1.5   Record: 16-3
Dual 1: 2nd 6-2  W-CompEdge(A), Baugh(A), Newbreed(AA), Resmondo(M), MPT(A)  L-Dan Smith(M), Dan Smith(M)
Dual 2: 1st 10-1  W-MPT(A),T&W(A),Beckham(A),Baugh(A),Precision(AA),Resmondo(M),Nightmare(AA),DanSmith(M),BayArea(M),BayArea(M)  L-Rebel(AA)

TDB played an incredible 19 games and after losing early in Dual #2 fought all the way back through the loser's bracket and hardly left the field and ran through Resmondo, Nightmare, Dan Smith, and Bay Area Legends twice to win it!  One of the greatest runs of all time, 10 wins in Dual #2 after playing 8 games in Dual #1.  I am sure they are all banged up after 4 grueling days of softball but I know Kyle Pearson in particular was playing with a bad back.  Backup pitcher Tom Bloom struck out an MPT batter to win their first game of Dual #2.  MVP Purcell got a groundout from Resmondo to end that game with the bases loaded and a 1 run lead late Saturday night.  Harvey was providing great power.  Cayton at shortstop is the real deal.  Zirkle in center field you can see his fitbit below, he ran 20 miles!  This team never rolled over, never gave up and now is the leader in the Conference USSSA point standings.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
4 Bryson Baker C
19 Andy Purcell P
35 Ryan Harvey AH
41 Jason Branch RF
9 Josh Riley 1B
22 Luis Reyna SF
36 Everett Williams LF
12 Aj Montano 3B
14 Daniel Cayton SS
2 Kyle Pearson 2B
5 Brian Zirkle CF

3B Baker, SS Cayton, MI Reyna

 

Harvey and Everett Williams hitting bombs.  Everett was hitting moon shots like Jeremy Isenhower used to do

 

 

Reyna exhausted after 19 games, Riley at 1B and Montano at 2B

 



2nd Place – (CA-Major) Dan Smith/Menosse/Steven Smith/FAI


Avg Finish: 2.0   Record: 10-2
Dual 1: 1st 6-0  W-WoodLaw(B), SportsReach(A), BayArea(AA), TDB(M), MPT(A), TDB(M)
Dual 2: 3rd 4-2  W-CheapSuits(B), Primetime(A), Precision(AA), Xtreme(AA)   L-BayArea(AA), TDB(M)

Dan Smith cruised through Dual #1 and most of Dual #2 without too much problem.  In dual #1 they were the only team that could consistently score without having to hit a lot of home runs and they scored late in both of their wins over TDB scoring 78 runs on the stadium against them in the semifinals and the championship game.  They rode a 10 man lineup that first dual all the way to the title, credit the management staff for recognizing who was hot and who was not.  The second tournament they were also playing pretty well and it looked like they might sweep both duals but Bay Area Legends held them to 13 runs with good defense in the winner's final late Saturday night and TDB beat them 19-12 on Sunday morning.  Losson White pitched great, Santana and Dodds are recovering from injury and getting better, Lloyd and Dunn anchored the defense, Andrew Collins hit 8 HR and had 24 RBI in the 1st dual, and Steven Lloyd was in the high 700's and 800's in the two tournaments in onbase percentage.  When the points shake out Dan Smith should be in 2nd or 1st a month from now.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
1 Steven Lloyd 2B
21 Nicolas Santana RF
44 Dale Brungardt 3B
23 Argen Dodds C
22 Jason Matusik LF
5 Ryan Stovall SS
26 Davis Bilardello 1B
17 Benjamin Dunn CF
18 Jordan Spaulding SF
13 Losson White P

Losson White pitched most of the first dual

 

Dodds and Brungardt

 

Collins, Bilardello, and Stovall

 

Hidalgo from Wileys played some SS before an injury and Jo Jo Bennett also played SS

 

Jason "The Moose" Matusik

 

 


 

Tied 3rd Place – (CA-AA) BayArea/Rapid Fire/Bad Draw/Easton


Avg Finish: 4.5   Record: 8-4
Dual 1: 7th 3-2  W-B&B(A), Riot(AA), Tradesmen(A)   L-DanSmith(M), Precision(AA)
Dual 2: 2nd 5-2  W- SNI(A), Beckham(A), Rebel(AA), Resmondo(M), DanSmith(M)   L-TDB(M), TDB(M) 

What a weekend for the top finishing 'AA' team!  They went 2-3 vs Major teams and showed that they have a Major caliber defense holding almost every team they played under 20 runs.  Mullins was providing a lot of the power.  Houston Offensive MVP Marshburn and lead off man Tyler Wilson were setting the table.  Mcclanahan and Pinkham were flashing the leather up the middle as well as shortstop Aaron Miller.  This team has been the best team in 'AA' and is now 2nd in the Conference points standings!

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
Tyler Wilson CF
Brady Stewart 3B
Chad Mullins C
Tyler Marshburn LF
David Johsnon 1B
Aaron Miller SS
Jeff Renno PH
Joey Gonzalez AH
Freddie Bynum RF
Chent Granados 2B
Ryan Mcclanahan MI
Bill Pinkham P

 

Pep talk from coach Humphrey didn't work on Sunday

 

3B Stewart could become one of the best and Mcclanahan at MI could have been defensive MVP had they won

Dave Johnson at 1B, Granados at 2B, and Bynum in CF

 

Joel Gonzalez and Freddie Bynum

Humphrey and Pinkham

 


 

Tied 3rd Place – (MN-AA) Xtreme/Miken/ASP/Athlon


Avg Finish: 4.5   Record: 7-4
Dual 1: 4th 4-2  W-MyAutoJack(A), Premier(AA), Resmondo(M), Precision(AA)   L- MPT(A), TDB(M)
Dual 2: 5th 3-2  W-Regulators(A), Classic(AA), Baugh(A)  L-DanSmith(M), Nightmare(AA)

Xtreme who is known for their solid play turned up the defense in Florida and held more than half of their opponents under 10 runs including the first 3 teams they played in Dual #1 even Resmondo!   A total team effort and the MVP for this team has to go to pitcher Dirk Updike who has bided his time as a backup for a number of years but really had a coming out party in this event with some huge wins!  Shannon Smith and Curtis Stewart provided a lot of the Xtreme power.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
13 Matt S CF
25 Shannon S AH
99 Curtis S C
32 Dylan S SF
5 Steve W SS
6 Chris A RF
10 Matt M LF
33 Alex B 1B
3 Joe Skyles 3B
42 Toby Letak 2B
21 Dirk Updike P

 

Curtis Stewart won a game on a walk off homer

Dirk Updike recorded some big upsets at pitcher

 


 

5th Place – (FL-Major) Resmondo/SIS/RDD/H.Auto/Sprizzi/S&S


Avg Finish: 5.0   Record: 7-4
Dual 1: 5th 4-2  W-Tru(B), Primetime(A), SNI(A)   L-Xtreme(AA), TDB(M)
Dual 2: 5th 3-2  W-WoodLaw(B), Seminoles(A), Nightmare(AA)   L-BayArea(AA), TDB(M)

Resmondo had a complete power outage as they scored just 22 runs in their worst 3 games in Dual #1.  Losing to 'AA' teams and Purcell's TDB team is something they didn't do much of in 2018.  The entire team it seemed couldn't put together any offensive runs or step on the gas when they needed too.  They also lost a number of close games and almost lost a couple of other close ones (Nightmare and SNI).  The curse of being pre-season #1 strikes again.  There is no logical explanation for this performance, they just did not base hit properly and the power wasn't there either.

Trending Down

Last Lineup:
23 Kyle Pearson 1B
30 Jeremy Yates LF
12 Brian Wegman C
7 Greg Connell 2B
8 Travis Clark P
19 Steele Lewis CF
25 Bubba Mack 3B
94 Buddy Wolf RF
6 Cory Briggs SS
9 Neil Haglund AH
14 Kevin Bazat SF

Pat Ellwanger had some big pinch hit homers

 


 

6th Place – (IL-AA) SmashIt/Precision/3rdStreet/Bulldawg


Avg Finish: 6.0   Record: 8-4
Dual 1: 5th 5-2  W-Beckham(A), SNI(A), Seminoles(A), Rebel(AA), Newbreed(AA)   L-BayArea(AA), Xtreme(AA)
Dual 2: 7th 3-2  W-Headlines(B), B&B(A), Newbreed(AA)   L-DanSmith(M), TDB(M)

A solid first event for Precision.  Lots of quality wins and came close to beating Dan Smith in Dual #2.  Precision laid a solid points foundation and won 8 games.  Unfortunately they lost center fielder Travis Houseman when he collided with an infielder on a popup and he was severely injured.  There is an ASPNation fund raiser and a Go Fund Me setup to support Travis.  

Trending Up!  Great first tournament

Last Lineup:
23 Jeff F 2B
2 Dave K LF
21 Mike U SS
3 Brad Lunda RF
18 Andy U P
11 Jeff K SF
91 Frank F 1B
51 Heath B 3B
0 Austin A CF
52 Brad T C

Vitcak and the mound and Umschied at shortstop for Precision

 


 

7th Place – (MO-AA) NIGHTMARE/MIKEN


Avg Finish: 6.5   Record: 8-4
Dual 1: 9th 3-2  W-Regulators(A), Riot(AA), Chanticlear(A)   L-Thunder(A), Resmondo(M)
Dual 2: 4th 5-2  W-T&W(A), Riot(AA), Primetime(A), Rebel(AA), Xtreme(AA)   L-Resmondo(M), TDB(M)

Three of Nightmare's losses were to Major teams.  They played without sponsor/2B Nolan Folgle who is injured.  The highly touted offense came to life particularly in the 2nd dual actually scoring 29 runs in one inning.  Mike Williams set the table and the power on this team with Maggard, Bowser, Matte, Kanaby, and Brambilla is the most impressive in the 'AA' division.  A good solid weekend that Nightmare can build off of.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
1 Michael Williams RF
66 Billy Maggard 3B
35 Tim Bowser AH
3 Phil Matte C
92 Erik Kanaby LF
99 Zane Migues SF
34 Mike Brambilla 1B
5 Conner Murray SS
24 Zachary Saint Pierre CF
19 Chris Terry 2B
15 Dan Bean P

Terry and Matte

 


 

Tied 8th Place – (GA-TBD) Baugh Ford/Kut4Sports/Worth/Miken


Avg Finish: 9.0   Record: 5-4
Dual 1: 9th 3-2  W-Chanticlear(A), Cheap Suits(B), Headlines(A)   L-TDB(M), SNI(A)
Dual 2: 9th 2-2  W-Tradesmen(A), Pure(M)   L-Xteme(AA), TDB(M)

I didn't see a whole lot of Baugh Ford but that victory in the stadium over Pure was huge for them and the 5-4 record overall should give them a base of points to make their 4th straight Major World Series!

Trending Up! 

Last Lineup:
7 Curtis Cornett
14 Phillip White
3 Brandon Hooks
2 John Zorich
31 Chad Folsom
16 Jon Rasberry
22 carlton griffin
13 Bradley Jones
44 Chad Loudon
3 Jonathan Sullivan

Tommy Baugh faces Andy Purcell


 


 

Tied 8th Place – (WA-AA) Newbreed/Cutter LLC/Thunder


Avg Finish: 9.0   Record: 5-4
Dual 1: 9th 2-2  W-Regulators(A), Thunder(A)   L-TDB(M), Precision(AA)
Dual 2: 9th 3-2  W-SNI(A), Seminoles(A), Chanticlear(A)   L-Beckham(A), Precision(AA)

Newbreed was 3-1 vs 'A' teams but Precision had their number and sent them home in both Duals.  A real roller coaster offensively for Newbreed from what I could tell.  This team will see better days but two 9th place finishes will help with the points down the road.

Trending Even

Last Lineup:
9 Dj H. CF
23 Jon G LF
13 Vic C 2B
35 S Lopez 1B
5 Patrick P C
11 Brandon R SS
41 Dan S P
42 Brandon T 3B
4 Adam Ussery SF
9 Brad S RF

 


 

10th Place – (MI-AA) Rebel Sports / TN / Troupe / M24


Avg Finish: 10.0   Record: 5-4
Dual 1: 13th 2-2  W-Tradesmen(A), MyAutoJack(A)   L-MPT(A), Precision(AA)
Dual 2: 7th 3-2  W-Chanticlear(A), TDB(M), Pure(M)   L-BayArea(AA), Nightmare(AA)

Rebel knocked the rust off in the 2nd dual with two Major wins over TDB and Pure.  They played some entertaining games like the one against Chanticlear to start Dual #2 late Friday night.  Graus on the mound survived a drilling by Ryan Harvey, Joey Formosa and Keith Anderson provided a lot of power.  I don't remember watching Dorton make an out.  Cory Large and Sal Formosa set the table.  And although their was some infighting amongst the managers, they did pull off a winning record and some big points for their first event of the year.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
11  Large
4 Sal Formosa 
22 Joey Formosa 
19 Anderson EH
23 Rettenmeier
10 Lizcano
3 Dorton
8 Russ
5 Moore
3 Graus
33 Bellamy

  

Joey Formosa and Keith Anderson return to Conference!

 


 

11th Place – GA-A Primetime/Evolution/FAI/Easton


Avg Finish: 11.0   Record: 5-4
Dual 1: 13th 2-2  W-Vivid(A), Beckham(A)   L-Resmondo(M), Tradesmen(A)
Dual 2: 9th 3-2  W-SportsReach(A), Tradesmen(A), Thunder(A)   L-DanSmith(M), Nightmare(AA)

Primetime persevered to a winning record at the dual and a solid 11th place average finish.  They even won one game over Thunder 5 to 1.  Wow.  But a win is a win.  They were 5-1 vs 'A' teams which is promising for their division.  Generally Primetime is a slow starting team so this was a good start.

Trending Up!  One of their better duals.

Last Lineup:
1 Aaron Jackson
2 Jarvis Riggins
20 Ira Brown
15 Chris Little
10 Jerblonski Jennings
18 Roderick Armour
7 Kaleb Wilson
13 Donta Frazier
5 Tyrone Mingle
11 Lamarquis Blake
32 Detorren Means 

 


 

Tied 12th Place – (MN-A) Chanticlear/Eurotech/J&H/MikenWorth


Avg Finish: 13.0   Record: 4-4
Dual 1: 13th 2-2  W-CompetitveEdge(A), SportsReach(A)   L-Baugh(A), Nightmare(AA)
Dual 2: 13th 2-2  W-MPT(A), Riot(AA)   L-Rebel(AA), Newbreed(AA)

3-1 vs 'A' teams and they wish they had a couple plays back against Rebel Friday night in dual #2.  Overall solid and grabbed points they need.  Look for Chanticlear to do better in the events closer to home.

Trending Even/Solid

Last Lineup:
1 Ryan O
14 Mike T
57 Corey H
26 Judd O'connor
32 Kyle B
9 Reggie S
11 Scott N
0 Ryan H
12 Shawn Casey
10 Aaron L
44 Travis A 

 


 

Tied 12th Place – (NC-A) TRADESMEN/LS/SPIDERZ/HANG RITE


Avg Finish: 13.0   Record: 4-4
Dual 1: 9th 3-2  W-Pure(M), Premier(AA), Primetime(A)   L-Rebel(AA), BayArea(AA)
Dual 2: 17th 1-2  W-CompetitiveEdge(A)   L-Baugh(A), Primetime(A)

Tradesmen actually had their best 3 game win streak of their Conference career in Dual #1 when they knocked off a Major team Pure, Premier AA, and Primetime to finish 9th.  Andrews, Hartz, and Henry played well when I was following them and David Bare has settled into the starting role and picked up some big victories.  Tradesmen continues to build and even in their losses they had their chances.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
22 Kenny Chavez
52 Francois Henry
11 . Andrews
42 Ronald Fryer
25 . Hartz
24 . Downing
36 Alzavian Rush
5 Dante Broome
14 Dustin Mcloughlin
32 . Bare
  

 

 


 

13th Place – (NJ-A) MPT Rentals / EVO9X / Miken / Worth


Avg Finish: 14.0   Record: 4-4
Dual 1: 3rd 4-2  W-Pure(M), Rebel(AA), SNI(A), Xtreme(AA)   L-DanSmith(M), TDB(M)
Dual 2: 25th 0-2   L-TDB(M), Chanticlear(A)

MPT Rentals and sponsor/manager Mark Carucci made a run for the ages in the first dual as they knocked off Pure Sports Major team in their opener then 2 'AA' teams and SNI to reach the winner's bracket finals against Dan Smith.  Pitcher Jonathan Dombrowski kept opposing hitters off balance while Middle infielder Pedro Sanchez and shortstop Bobby McMinn and really the entire defense made play after play on defense.  Sean Ulmer provided much of their power and the entire team chipped in offensively at key times.  By finishing 3rd, which was one of the highest finishes for an 'A' team since the 'AA' division came back, the team earned 226 points and is now 14th in the standings.

Trending WAY Up!

Last Lineup:
11 John Slootmaker
9 Dylan Shupe
25 Sean Ulmer
26 Justin Lutheran
27 Bobby Mcminn
8 Kyndrich Doggett
12 Pedro Sanchez
32 Daniel Dunn
22 Jonathan Dombrowski
1 Zackary Smith
7 Woodrow Darling

  

RF Slootmaker and SS McMinn

 

MI Pedro Sanchez and PH Kyndrich Doggett

 

3B Dunn, SS McMinn, MI Sanchez

 

 


 

Tied 14th Place – (OH-A) HeadlinesSptswr/TitanTruckin/Easton


Avg Finish: 15.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 13th 2-2  W-Riot(AA), B&B(A)   L-Thunder(A), Baugh(A)
Dual 2: 17th 1-2  W-Premier(AA)   L-Precision(AA), Classic(AA)

Headlines is a new Conference team out of Ohio that merged a couple of 'B' teams and picked up a free agent Bradlee Bruns from Premier.  The top of the order produced and Zach Dillman and Nelson Price provided the power.  The team won a big game over Premier their Ohio rival in the second dual by 15 runs and except for 1 loss played 7 innings every game which is a goal for a new team.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
Zach Dillman
Nelson Price
David Paddock
Bradlee Bruns
Morgan McIntire
Jareck West
Isaiah Worlow
Tyler Brake  
Chad Ulogar  
Joshua Cummins

 

 


 

Tied 14th Place – (SC-TBD) Beckham brothers/Pure/Exclusive


Avg Finish: 15.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 17th 1-2  W-Classic(AA)   L-Precision(AA), Primetime(A)
Dual 2: 13th 2-2  W-Newbreed(AA), SVC(B)   L-BayArea(AA), TDB(M)

Beckham Brothers is an entertaining team.  They have some higher level experience, some professional hitters, some good power, a capable defense, and they are slowly coming together.  They definitely need more consistency but if you watched their win over Newbreed you know they are for real.  They played without Vasquez and Malay who apparently no showed.

Trending Even

Last Lineup:
13 Orlando C
5 Peter S
30 Justin M
8 Zach R
32 Devin A
9 Greg W
21 Mike C
14 Taylor Nichols
4 Pat D
2 John B
22 Robert Stinton Jr

 


 

Tied 14th Place – (NY-A) Thunder/Chosen/Riot/Miken/Worth


Avg Finish: 15.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 17th 1-2  W-Nightmare(AA)   L-Newbreed(AA), Headlines(A)
Dual 2: 13th 2-2  W-Regulators(A), B&B(A)   L-Classic(AA), Primetime(A)

Thunder fell a little short of their expectations I think.  They did avoid playing Major teams but didn't pull off the number of upsets I think they felt they should have.  Maybe it was a Houston hangover from the short week.  Fyffe had a big Dual with 6 HR in one of them.

Last Lineup:
13 David Durso Jr
54 Kyle Olsen
1 Josh Fyffe
14 Ethan Stuckly
7 Brian McBryde
4 Christopher Potts
9 Christopher Wood
15 Mike Snyder
19 Brian Therkildsen
28 Ryan Snyder
2 Evan J 

 


 

17th Place – (FL-A) SNI/Worsham/AllOut/ATWL/Easton


Avg Finish: 16.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 7th 3-2  W-Classic(AA), Precision(AA), Baugh(A)   L-MPT(A), Resmondo(M)
Dual 2: 25th 0-2  L-BayArea(AA), Newbreed(AA)

SNI got their money's worth as they played a lot of good fun games.  They beat Classic Glass, Precision, and Baugh Ford in Dual #1 and even took Resmondo to 9 innings before losing 9-8.  They have a great mix of speed and talent and most of their players have just enough higher level experience that they have seen what it takes to win.  This team is growing on me.

Last Lineup:
12 Edward Bolden
21 Scotty Langford
2 Jeff Roxby
11 Jeffrey Bloomer
3 Artie Barcelo
2 Patrick Foster
9 Brad Sheffield
22 Seth Ricketson
1 Aaron Sandoval
4 Kyler Kirkland
  

 

Langford and Sandoval

 


 

Tied 18th Place – (FL-AA) Riot Sports/Hubs Pub/Klutch/showtime


Avg Finish: 17.0   Record: 2-4
Dual 1: 17th 1-2   W-Headlines(A)   L-BayArea(AA), Nightmare(AA)
Dual 2: 17th 1-2  W-MyAutoJack(A)   L-Nightmare(AA), Chanticlear(A)

Riot was too banged up to really give them much hassle for going 2-4.  They added a bunch of players at the last minute just to have a team.  When they get all of their players it will be like a brand new team.  Even Jason Kendrick came out of retirement to play.  He was 1 for 1 when I was watching.

Last Lineup:
25 Tre CampbellC
20 Mike Ortiz
5 Keith Martin
8 Marcus Thornton
2 Nick Utley
65 Levi W
7 Jordan B
42 Scott Hartling
33 Donald Plaisance
1 Ian Sidebottom 

Kendrick singles

 


 

Tied 18th Place – (SC-Major) Smash it/ Pure Sports/ OA


Avg Finish: 17.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 25th 0-2   L-MPT(A), Tradesmen(A)
Dual 2: 9th 3-2  W-CompetitiveEdge(A), Vivid(A), Classic(AA)   L-Baugh(A), Rebel(AA)

Pure was not good.  They blew an opportunity to come out of the dual first in points in the Conference because they have played all 4 tournaments so far.  They barely beat Vivid in the 7th inning and only had 3 wins on the week.  A very strange couple of days for Pure Sports…

 Trending down


Last Lineup:
27 Flip W
24 Donnie H
21 Brett M
8 Tommy M
11 Jared H
31 Nick Mitschke
22 Josh Brown
7 Robert Fow
22 Ryan R
33 Chris Greinert
14 Justin M

 


 

Tied 18th Place – (OK-A) TPJS/Seminoles/NACSF.INC/Miken/SIS


Avg Finish: 17.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 17th 2-2  W-SVC(B), Tru(B)   L-SportsReach(A), Precision(AA)
Dual 2: 17th 1-2  W-Vivid(A)   L-Resmondo(M), Newbreed(AA)

Not the dual Seminoles wanted.  They did play mostly 7 inning games but didn't pull off any upsets.

Last Lineup:
7 Derrick Roland SS
21 Justin Beal RF
13 Matt Cochran C
12 Oliver Odle 3B
18 Billy Waltrip LF
11 Trey Branscum SF
1 Tristan Metcalf 2B
6 Andrew Miller 1B
17 Corey Tapp CF
33 Steven Smith AH
1 Harley Page P

 


 

21st Place – CA-AA Classic Glass / Easton


Avg Finish: 19.0   Record: 2-4
Dual 1: 25th 0-2   L-SNI(A), Beckham(A)
Dual 2: 13th 2-2   W-Thunder(A), Headlines(A)   L-Thunder(A), Pure(M)

Classic Glass played a lot of close games, had tough losses to Thunder, Pure, SNI, and Beckham Brothers.  So they were close to a huge points weekend but it didn't happen.  JD Genter had a big second dual and the team opened up some offensively.

Last Lineup:
8 Chris Hansen
32 Jd Genter
22 Chris L
7 Cameron Cox
5 Thomas Gilliland 
2 Brandt Eaton
24 Ben Falcone 
2 Pilar Amaya 
0 Nathan Newman
29 Chris Russell 

Cam Cox

 


 

22nd Place – (KY-A) SportsReach


Avg Finish: 20.0   Record: 1-4
Dual 1: 17th 1-2  W-Seminoles(A)   L-DanSmith(M), Chanticlear(A)
Dual 2: 33rd 0-2  L-Primetime(A), SVC(A)

Sports Reach played pretty much every game close, but except for their opening win against Seminoles was unable to close out any other wins.  They definitely have some power for the 'A' division and overall they were close to having a good dual.

Trending Even

Last Lineup:
4 Zachary Watts
33 Jacob Clifton
17 Robert Blackburn
13 Joshua Fryman
12 Jason Hatley
18 Jaciento C
14 Brian Mays
23 Kaden Watson
7 Jones C
66 Tony Ford 

Robert Blackburn homer's to open the 2nd dual

 


 

Tied 23rd Place – (NC-A) B&B/Demarini


Avg Finish: 21.0   Record: 1-4
Dual 1: 25th 0-2  L-Bay Area(AA), Headlines(A)
Dual 2: 17th 1-2  W-Premier(AA)   L-Precision(AA), Thunder(A)

Had a few good battles but they didn't result in many wins.

Trending down some.

Last Lineup:
28 Rock R
12 Matthew Lynn
19 William Maloney
15 Timmy  
3 Joshua Rigney
26 Joel Sanchez
32 Shane Coston
11 Josh Lewis
22 Jordan A
1 Dan L
9 Derek Knight   

 


 

Tied 23rd Place – (CA-B) Cheap Suits/Republic Realty/CDZ


Avg Finish: 21.0   Record: 3-4
Dual 1: 17th 2-2  W-Vivid(A), Wood Law(B)   L-Tru(A), Baugh(A)
Dual 2: 25th 1-2  W-SVC(B)   L-DanSmith(M), Vivid(A)

 

Cheap Suits was best in class with 3 big wins as a 'B' team. 

Trending Up!

  
Last Lineup:
6 Wes .
19 Rocha .
1 Justin .
11 Sauce .
12 Jack .
4 Mateo .
33 Worm .
3 Scotty .
26 Vince .
99 Joser .
8 Larson . 

 


 

Tied 23rd Place – (AZ-A) MyAutoJack/DownTime Sports/Sonny’s


Avg Finish: 21.0   Record: 1-4
Dual 1: 17th 1-2  W-T&W(A)   L-Xtreme(AA), Rebel(AA)
Dual 2: 25th 0-2  L-Riot(AA), T&W(A)

MAJ split with T&W but struggled to score at times.  Still a scrappy 'A' team that should play well on 300' foot fields in the West.

Trending down a little

Last Lineup:
22 Zach Costa
10 Chad Erickson
21 Mark Echuera
33 Michael Joseph
53 David Nowak
1 Bryan Dezern
20 Alexis Ramirez
4 Brent Mcclure 
9 Rop R 
23 Tim Devito
11 Jose Flores 

 


 

Tied 23rd Place – (OH-AA) Premier/TG/HDLNS/4With.com/Easton


Avg Finish: 21.0   Record: 1-4
Dual 1: 17th 1-2  W-T&W(A)   L-Xtreme(AA), Tradesmen(A)
Dual 2: 25th 0-2  L-B&B(A), Headlines(A)

This team I thought was set for a bunch of upsets but finished just 1-4.  Maybe afraid to succeed?  They all have experience and are young enough to still be getting better.  The lineup has a lot of potential and the defense can be good.  The best is yet to come here.  Norton was hitting it well the few times I was able to see this team and the black uniforms are spot on so at least they look good.   ðŸ™‚

Trending down some

Last Lineup:
22 Ryan M
6 Cory B 
13 Brady Hightchew 
18 Jackie 
21 Clay N
44 Jimmy C
1 Ryan U
7 John Franklin
10 Rocky S
17 Tony Payne 

"The President", Jimmy Carter returns to Conference play

 


 

Tied 23rd Place – (OH-A) T&W/BCG/Cornerstone/Pauer/Miken


Avg Finish: 21.0   Record: 1-4
Dual 1: 25th 0-2  L-Premier(AA), MyAutoJack(A)
Dual 2: 17th 1-2   W- MyAutoJack(A)   L-Nightmare(AA), TDB(M)

No scoring in the first dual and that grudge match loss to Premier.  2nd dual they picked up a win and competed in each game.  The power numbers went up in Dual #2 and it felt like Lendenski and Radich had pretty good duals.

Trending down some

Last Lineup:
2 Mitchell Lendenski
5 Kyle Kannenberg
13 John Radich
27 steven Hendrickson
24 Cody Pack
3 Josh Kirsten
15 Robert Noeth IV
4 Dustin Hinken
14 Jason Ferguson
0 Cody Angus
66 Cory Cook 

 


 

Tied 28th Place – (FL-A) Competitive Edge/C&R Equipment


Avg Finish: 25.0   Record: 0-4
Dual 1: 25th 0-2  L-TDB(M), Chanticlear(A)
Dual 2: 25th 0-2  L-Pure(M), Tradesmen(A)

Not enough power or scoring for the big fields.  They had an entertaining game with Tradesmen that I watched but never broke through in the win column.  Of course its always tough to start with Major teams in each dual.

Trending Down

Last Lineup:
2 Cory Koger
19 Bryan Houston
44 Tristan Montgomery
33 Ray Drayton
3 Jonathan Weibel
10 Paul Baggett
37 Mark Patterson
17 Tyler Martin
4 Adam Barberi
21 Jeremy Moore 

Competitive Edge lead off hitter opens the Dual in the stadium with a solo bomb

 


 

Tied 28th Place – (OH-B) Hdlns/Svc/Miken


Avg Finish: 25.0   Record: 2-4
Dual 1: 33rd 0-2  L-WoodLaw(B), Seminoles(A)
Dual 2: 17th 2-2  W-SportsReach(A), WoodLaw(B)   L-CheapSuits(B), Beckham(A)

This team played close games in all but 1 game and in my opinion gained a lot of experience for an unknown 'B' team out of Ohio.  They were light on power but kind of scrappy.

Trending better than I thought

Last Lineup:
2 Ryan Mullen
4 Ryan J
45 Miachael Kelley
13 Joshua Greer
5 Lee S
1 Joey Simmons
12 Jason M
99 David R
15 Sam B
33 Jacob Boggess
22 Tyler W 

 


 

Tied 28th Place – (CO-A) Regulators


Avg Finish: 25.0   Record: 0-4
Dual 1: 25th 0-2  L-Newbreed(AA), Nightmare(AA)
Dual 2: 25th 0-2  L-Xtreme(AA), Thunder(A)

No offense on the big fields and a tough weekend for Regulators.  14 runs total…  They need some more guns if they are going to regulate the west.  🙂  Sorry couldn't resist.

Trending Down

Last Lineup:
1 Isaiah Velcic
29 Jimmy Runkle
3 Dustin Wager
5 Chris Waterman
9 Tony Shockley
12 Ray Camacho
19 Pat Tremblay
17 Adam Ferguson
7 Justin Houston
20 Anthony Eschete 

 


 

Tied 28th Place – (TX-A) VIVID


Avg Finish: 25.0   Record: 2-4
Dual 1: 33rd 0-2  L-Primetime(A), Cheap Suits(B)
Dual 2: 17th 2-2  W-Tru(B), Cheap Suits(B)  L-Seminoles(A), Pure(M)

Vivid scored a lot of runs and were led offensively by Matt and Ty Herrick with the power numbers and RBI.  Lead off hitter Steve Zemanek and the Trammell brothers provide veteran leadership.  And the team overall played solid in the second event and was not run ruled at all.  Overall I am giving this team a trending up eventhough they went 2-4 as they took the Pure Major team to the very end in a close loss.

Trending Up!

Last Lineup:
14 Steve Zemanek II
20 Nicholas Santos
10 Matthew Herrick
8 Kenneth Turlington
36 Ryan Roppel
6 Ty Herrick
99 Brandon Cox
1 Jason Trammell
91 James Delagarza
2 Zane Trammell 

Matt Herrick hits a walk off homer to beat Tru

 


 

Tied 28th Place – (TX-B) Wood Law / Olmito Heat / Club Chill


Avg Finish: 25.0   Record: 2-4
Dual 1: 25th 1-2
Dual 2: 25th 1-2

The Wood Law offense just did not produce in their losses and they had very little power on the big fields.

Last Lineup:
Ethan Dillon
Taylor Albrecht
Ricardo Salazar
Angel Ibanez
Gabe Garcia
Nate Brack
Cole Campbell
Douglas Wood
Josh Choate
Chris Lopez 

Veteran Chris Lopez at pitcher

 


 

34th Place – VA-B TRU/Selling Virginia/Easton/CA Gear


Avg Finish: 29.0   Record: 1-4
Dual 1: 25th 1-2
Dual 2: 33rd 0-2

Tru is a new conference team out of Virginia who struggled to have any power but did manage to play a couple of close games.  

Not Trending.  Actually this team is a little better than I thought

Last Lineup:
6 Chris Idip
1 Keon Gaskins
5 Corey Jones
10 Cory Jones
12 Keandri Mcgee
9 Nick Smith
38    Phillip Chapman
0 Donte Miles
23 Marico Foster
3 Devin Hill
17 Rob Banks
13 Billy Bosley
  

 

 

Agent 23 and the Tru team

 


 

 


 

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Some more pictures for you:

This was a catch

Cayton was out

Remember to turn your car lights off when facing the fields

I think he is picking up a big d?

Killbomber gets snapped off

This was a strike out looking and probably a good call, had he swung MPT may have upset TDB to start Dual 2

Chente may have been out here

Lloyd using that verticle!  But he came up short.

"That's why we RUUUNNNIIINNN!"  Conference players should definitely hustle on every single play.

No reason not too, and future sponsors and other teams are watching.

Mike Cornell and his Newbreed/Demarini hitters

Some of the old Dirty Demarini players with their old coach George Quinones

Director Stro with some bling

Somehow I missed the rocket launch!

Conference Umpires

 

 

 

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