2020 USSSA ‘AA’ World tournament report!

October 20, 2020 by DW —No Comments ↓

My apologies for these reports coming out so late.

Covering 7 events in a 13 day period didn't allow for a timely release of content.

Maroadi/SNI right fielder Eddie Bolden hits a walk off homer to win the USSSA 'AA' World tournament!

2020 USSSA 'AA' World Tournament

Space Coast Complex in Viera, FL

October 4-5

And the celebration is on!

SoftballCenter 'AA' World picture album link

2020 'AA' World bracket and results link

2020 'AA' mini tournament report link

2020 'AA' World archived games link

Link to the SoftballCenter.com Youtube channel

Video Highlights brought to you by:

Men's 'AA' World Day 1 (Sunday) video clips link

Men's 'AA' World Day 2 (Monday) video clips link coming soon

Condensed Game Winner's Final 'AA' World link

Condensed Game Championship 'AA' World link

USSSALive live stream archive link for Men's 'AA' World

Another live stream archive link for Men's 'AA' World (Some may have gotten mixed in with GSL A/B)

Drone picture of the last at bat

The 2020 USSSA 'AA' World tournament was held for the 3rd straight year at the USSSA headquarters at the Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida. The tournament had 12 teams, used the Dudley Pro-M ball, was played on the 325 foot fenced White Quad fields, and used a 12 home run limit. The games began at 2 PM on Sunday, October 4th and the finals were played Monday evening October 5th. 7 'A' teams and 1 'AA' team (Riot Sports) played into the top 4 'AA' seeds. In the "play in" games Maroadi/SNI/Easton (FL-A) beat Worksteer/Bell's Lawncare (NC-A) 22-12 when they held Worksteer to just 2 home runs even though the wind was blowing out to right field. Over on the White Marucci field with the wind blowing in from left field Sports Reach/Crunchtime/H&H/Grizzy (KY-A) who had just won the USSSA 'A' Worlds the night before battled to a 22-16 win over Seminoles/TPS/NACSF.INC/Elite/Miken (OK-A) scoring 7 runs in the top of the 7th to separate and even though Seminoles out homered Sports Reach 6-2. Jason Hatley had the only 2 home runs of the game for Sports Reach and Robert Blackburn, Robbie Fow, Curtis Cornett, and Hatley all collected 4 hits. In the 3:45 PM games Premier/T&W/Easton (OH-A) jumped out to a 12-1 lead on Gorillas/Hart Handyman/M.E.E. LLC (MO-A) and held on to win 15-11. There were just 3 total home runs in that game and Premier outfielders Cody Pack and Clay Norton combined for 6 hits and 8 RBI in the win. In the final "play in" game Riot/Klutch/Treedem/Pure (FL-AA) beat Baugh Ford/HDLNS/Hubs Pub (AL-A) 26-18. Riot out homered Baugh 11-8.

In the "round of 8" the "play in" winners played the top 4 seeds and the upsets began! Sports Reach played #3 seed SmashIt/Precision/3rd Street/Bulldawg (IL-AA) tough the entire way with the wind blowing in on the White Marucci field. Sports Reach was outhomered 6 to 1 in the game but going into the bottom of the 7th they trailed only 16-14. Justin Mackey led off the bottom of the 7th with a walk, Curtis Cornett singled, Kaden Watson hit an RBI double to the right center gap, and Jason Hatley singled in 2 runs to leave Precision on the field 17-16! In the 2nd quarterfinal game #2 seed Anarchy/MPT Rentals (NJ-AA) scored 6 runs in the top of the 2nd thanks in part to a 3 run double off the fence by John Williams against Maroadi/SNI. Then went up 9-1 in the top of the 3rd on an inside the park homer by rookie Brock Krentzel. They extended the lead to 19-5 and it looked like they would win by the run rule. But Maroadi had a huge bottom of the 6th inning and made MPT pay for multiple defensive errors and Maroadi came all the way back and won the game 27-19 scoring the last 22 runs of the game! In the 3rd quarterfinal game #4 seed Xtreme/Miken/Worth/Athlon/ASP (MN-AA) jumped out to an 11-0 lead on Premier and scored in every inning on their way to a 20-5 mercy rule win in just 5 innings. They out homered Premier 6-1 and Curtis Stewart the Xtreme DH was 3-3 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI in the game. The final quarterfinal was #1 seeded Bay Area Legends/Easton (CA-AA) against Riot Sports and it was the game of the night! Bay Area came out of the gates scoring 10 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Riot Sports answered with 8 runs of their own in the bottom of the 1st and had a 16-14 lead after 3 complete innings. In the top of the 4th Bay Area exploded for 14 runs including a 3 run double by Stuhey Lopez and Riot answered with 8 of their own but trailed 27-24. The Riot defense took over in the top of the 5th when they turned a big double play and had a nice running catch by center fielder Ryan Morrow to hold Bay Area to zero and Riot grabbed a 4 run lead going into the 7th inning. In the top of the 7th Bay Area scored the 4 they needed when Brad Lunda hit a clutch single to tie it. In the bottom of the 7th needing just one run to win Riot only put the ball in play one time and hung a zero but ended up winning anyways 34-33 in extra innings when Phillip White hit a walk off sacrifice fly! The semifinals then were played at 9 PM Sunday night. Sports Reach in a battle of 'A' teams scored 11 runs in the top of the 5th to take a 16-8 lead on Maroadi/SNI. But Maroadi outscored Sports Reach 17-6 down the stretch and won on a dramatic walk off grand slam homer by Justin Lutheran 25-22 in the bottom of the 7th. In the other semifinal Xtreme scored an amazing 18 runs on 4 homers in the top of the 1st against Riot Sports but Riot came all the way back to take a 24-23 going into the 6th inning. In the 6th Xtreme scored 5 runs on 3 HR and held Riot to zero because of a double play. The game ended up going into extra innings where Xtreme won 32-30 thanks in part to a great play at 3rd base by Toby Letak!

On Monday, the teams returned to the fields at 8 AM in the loser's bracket. SmashIt/Precision overcame a 10 run 2nd inning by Gorillas and 1 run Gorillas lead in the bottom of the 6th by scoring 8 runs in their half of the inning and holding on to win 30-26. Brett McCollum hit 3 HR in that game. Meanwhile Baugh Ford out homered Anarchy/MPT 11-6 and held MPT to just 18 hits winning 26-13 after Baugh went up 16 runs at one point. Mike Evans had 4 hits for Baugh Ford. Seminoles scored 13 runs in the 1st inning and 11 in the 6th to beat Premier 38-27 as leadoff hitter Connor Murray went 6 for 6 with 2 HR and 8 RBI and Hunter Ramirez went 5-6 with 4 HR and 8 RBI for Seminoles. WorkSteer sent Bay Area home 0-2 when Joe Roseli hit a walk off homer in the pouring rain to win 14-13. In the second round of the loser's bracket Baugh Ford scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning and held off a late rally by SmashIt/Precision in the top of the 7th to win 17-16 when Precision left the bases loaded. Both teams only hit 4 HR in the game. And WorkSteer trounced Seminoles 27-6.

At 3 PM the winner's bracket finals Maroadi/SNI came from behind again to win on a walk off homer, this time by Josh Fyffe 23-21 over Xtreme. In the loser's bracket Baugh Ford continued their winning streak with an 11 run bottom of the 5th inning to go up 22-8 and win 23-15 against Riot Sports. Brian Lipman was 4 for 4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI in the win. And Sports Reach held WorkSteer to 2 hits and no runs in a 27-0 shellacking. Derrick Roland and Jason Hatley each had 2 HR and 8 RBI in the game. A tired Sports Reach team behind the pitching of Brandon Jonas then shut down Baugh Ford holding them to zero home runs and beating them 24-6 as Chris Scott went 4 for 5 with 5 RBI. Then in the loser's bracket finals Sports Reach pushed Xtreme to extra innings with an incredible bases loaded double play in the bottom of the 7th only to lose by 1 in the 8th on a walk off single by Matt McGowan.

In the championship game which you can view in condensed form on the SW48 youtube channel, Xtreme held a comfortable lead in the first game needing to beat Maroadi twice. But Maroadi came back for the 4th game in a row and won on a walk off homer for the 3rd game in a row, this time a "no doubter" by right fielder Eddie Bolden to beat Xtreme 30-29!

The upsets in this tournament were legendary. The Pro-M ball helped shrink the big fields a little as it did last year. And the results was great competition and extra inning games.

Xtreme's Matt McGowan hits against Maroadi/SNI in the winner's final Monday afternoon

Xtreme right fielder Chris Anninos makes a great catch

Maroadi/SNI shortstop Josh Fyffe hits a walk off homer to win the winner's bracket finals over Xtreme

Maroadi/SNI gets a key assist from CF Greg Downing in the top of the 7th of the championship game

Team Breakdown:
12 Teams Overall
12 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
5 'AA' Teams
7 'A' Teams

Much like the 'A' Worlds the Space Coast Complex White Quad with its 325 foot fences is a great place for an upper level world tournament

Key Games

Xtreme's Shannon Smith hits against Riot Sports in the winner's semifinals Saturday night

Maroadi/SNI right fielder Justin Lutheran hits a walk off homer to beat Sports Reach in the semi finals

Riot Sports Philip White hits a walk off sacrifice fly in extra innings to beat #1 seeded Bay Area Legends

Sports Reach's Kaden Watson doubles then scores on Jason Hatley's single to beat SmashIt/Precision

Clayton Farrar hits one off the pitchers helmet

There wasn't much crowd except for the Riot vs Bay Area game that went extra innings

The wind blew in from left field on the Marucci White field and out to right on the Rawlings White show field

Long Bombers of the Week

Baugh Ford's Drew Hall had the longest homer that we could see land.

It was to center field on White Rawlings and Google earthed at 425 feet!

USSSA 'AA' World Final Standings and Awards

Maroadi/SNI shortstop Josh Fyffe was tournament MVP

Maroadi/SNI pitcher Dustin Midyette was Defensive MVP

Xtreme outfielder Chris Anninos was Offensive MVP

Team by team notes brought to you by:

1st Place – Maroadi/SNI/Easton

Conf 'A' from FL 5-0 Record

Maroadi/SNI had a tough season. They backed into qualifying for the Major and never really made a sustained run in any regular season event. So the 'A' Worlds was going to be their redemption! But it wasn't meant to be as they went 3-2 at the 'A' Worlds and went into the 'AA' Worlds the next day having already played 5 games. They started off Sunday with a 22-12 win over WorkSteer. Then they came from a 19-5 deficit to upset Anarchy/MPT by scoring the last 22 runs of the game. Now the adrenaline was flowing! They capped off the night by beating 'A' champs Sports Reach 25-22 on a walk off homer by Justin Lutheran. On Sunday in the winner's final they upset Xtreme in extra innings 23-21 on a walk off homer by Josh Fyffe and in the championship they did it again, this time it was Eddie Bolden with the walk off homer to beat Xtreme! Maroadi/SNI had done the unthinkable, an 'A' team winning the 'AA'!

Scott Napierata the sponsor and manager stuck it out the last 3 years with teams that struggled to find their way in the conference but it all paid off in one magical run at the 'AA' Worlds! CONGRATULATIONS!

SNI will be back as a 'AA' team in 2021!

Brad Sheffield embraced his role as lead off hitter this year.

Jeff Roxby and Mike Snyder. Note: Mike Snyder's brother Ryan won the 'B' this year with MPT

Clayton Farrar triples and Cody Hatmaker bats against MPT

MI Pedro Sanchez turns two and 2B Danny Dunn bats against Xtreme

Downing in CF and Bolden in RF were making acrobatic catches

Scott and Jen Napierata celebrate a men's championship.

Last year they won the USA Softball Open and the USSSA 'A' on the women's side.

2nd Place – Xtreme/Miken/Worth/Athlon/ASP

Conf 'AA' from MN 3-2 Record

Xtreme took care of business on Sunday beating Premier 20-5 and Riot Sports in extra innings 32-30 on Sunday night to advance to the winner's bracket finals. They watched as the rest of the 'AA' division (Bay Area, MPT, Precision) was upset and it was just Xtreme and a pile of 'A' teams remaining. What happened next were some of the best slowpitch softball games of 2021 as they lost in extra innings to Maroadi in the winner's finals, beat Sports Reach in extra innings in the loser's final, and then lost on a walk off homer to Maroadi in the championship. 3 great games but they go into the offseason thinking about a couple of plays that really hurt their chances. They were so close to another 'AA' title. Xtreme will be back in 2021!

SS Steve Whaley throws on the run

2nd baseman Dylan Smith climbs the ladder

Cole Campbell had some nice offensive numbers this year

LF Matt McGowan makes a nice sliding catch in the championship

3rd Place – Sports Reach/Crunchtime/H&H/Grizzy

Conf 'A' from KY 4-2 Record

Sports Reach had just won the 'A' Worlds at midnight on Saturday and turned around and played the 'AA' starting on Sunday afternoon. This team is the very definition of don't quit and never give up. They beat Seminoles in their opener 22-16 then walked off Smash It/Precision 17-16 with the wind blowing in when Jason Hatley who was on fire early in this tournament hit a 2 run single. Then late on Saturday night they took on eventual Champion Maroadi/SNI and lost on a walk off homer 25-22. In the loser's bracket on Monday they shut out WorkSteer and held Baugh Ford to just 6 runs before losing to Xtreme by one in extra innings to go to the championship game! Think about it, Sports Reach with just a little more luck in those close games could have easily been the winner's bracket champions of the 'AA'. So close! Sports Reach will be back as a 'AA' team in 2021! And check out their sports memorabilia auction which ends Tuesday 10/20/2020!

Jonas P, Watson SS, Fow LF – between the 'A', 'AA', and Major they played 16 games at Worlds

Sports Reach celebrates getting a double play to get out of a jam and force extra innings vs Xtreme

4th Place – BaughFord/HDLNS/Hubs Pub

Conf 'A' from AL 3-2 Record

After a crazy season where Baugh Ford/HDLNS and Hubs Pub struggled all season and then merged and still didn't have any success, they somehow turned it on at the most unlikely of times, the 'AA' Worlds? On Sunday after losing their 1st game to Riot Sports 26-18 they somehow knocked off the #2 seed Anarchy/MPT 26-13, then beat the #3 seed Smash It/Precision 17-16, and then got a revenge win over Riot Sports 23-15 before they ran out of gas and lost to Sports Reach. 3 straight wins though over more than half of the 'AA' division, with Mikey Evans leading the way with his hitting, nice! Baugh Ford will be returning to Conference in 2021!

Drew Hall 3B, Marcus Thornton SS, John Sullivan MI

Tommie Baugh pitching

Lyf Nimmo had the power stroke going in the post season

Tied 5th Place – WorkSteer/Bell's LawnCare

Conf 'A' from NC 2-2 Record

WorkSteer had another nice showing for an 'A' team. They lost to Maroadi 22-12 but then beat Bay Area on a walk off homer by Roseli in the pouring rain and sent Seminoles packing 27-6 before putting up a zero against Sports Reach?

1B Jess Maloney, 2B Andy Highbaugh

Tied 5th Place – Riot/Klutch/Treedem/Pure

Conf 'AA' from FL 2-2 Record

Riot beat Baugh Ford in their "play in" game on Sunday and then beat Bay Area 34-33 in 8 innings in their quarterfinal match. After all of the upsets on Sunday Riot had Xtreme in extra innings in the semifinals but ended up losing by 2 and in the loser's bracket Baugh beat them by 8. They were so close to being in the winner's final. I hear Riot Sports will be back for 2021!

Vitcak and Zack Smith quietly had good seasons at the plate

Tied 7th Place – Smash It/Precision/3rd St/Bulldawg

Conf 'AA' from IL 1-2 Record

SmashIt/Precision was on a roll at the end of the year finishing 2nd in Virginia Dual #1 and 1st at the Conference Championships. But they lost to a hot Sports Reach team 17-16 in their opener and then came from behind to beat Gorillas by 4 before Baugh Ford beat them 17-16 when they left the bases loaded in the 7th.

Kessler in LF, Keske MI, Umschied 2B, Bilardello 1B

Tied 7th Place – Seminoles/TPS/NACSF.INC/Elite/Miken

Conf 'A' from OK 1-2 Record

Seminoles lost their opener to Sports Reach after leading going into the 6th inning. Then on Monday morning they beat Premier when Hunter Ramirez hit 4 homers in the game and then WorkSteer beat them by 21. I hear Seminoles will be back in Conference for 2021!

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Some more pictures for you:

Tied for 9th – Premier/T&W/Easton/BAF (OH-A) 1-2 – Premier was missing a handful of their regular starters for the 'AA' but beat Gorillas in their opener, only scored 5 against Xtreme, and lost to Seminoles on Monday morning 37-27

Tied for 9th – Anarchy/MPT Rentals (NJ-AA) 0-2 – MPT was one of the favorites for the AA World but blew a 19-5 lead and lost 27-19 to Maroad/SNI. Then in the loser's bracket BaughFord sent them home 26-13. MPT will be back in 2021 as a Major team and with a new bat company called Juno!

Tied for 9th – Bay Area Legends/Easton (CA-AA) 0-2 – Bay Area was the number one seed but lost in extra innings in their opener to Riot and then in the loser's bracket lost 14-13 to WorkSteer on a walk off homer in the pouring rain. I am hearing Bay Area Legends will be back in 2021!

Tied for 9th – Gorillas/Hart Handyman/M.E.E. LLC/B (MO-A) 0-2- Gorillas lost by 3 to Premier in their opener then played Smash IT/Precision tough on Monday morning but lost by 4.