A look back at the 2021 USSSA Windy City Chicago Major tournament report!

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2021 Nationwide Conference USSSA

Windy City Classic

Carol Stream, IL

June 4-6

Dan Smith's Josh Kirsten hits against Jeff Graus and the Seminoles in the championship game!

SoftballCenter Chicago picture album link

2021 Chicago bracket and results link

2021 Chicago Major stats link once available

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Video Highlights brought to you by:

2021 Windy City Major Friday and some Saturday video clips link

2021 Windy City Major quarter final Dan Smith vs Resmondo

Silverbacks vs Smash It Sports video clips

Final 8 teams video clips link

2021 Windy City Major quarter final Smash It vs Silverbacks link

2021 Windy City Major quarterfinal SNI vs MPT link

2021 Windy City Major Championship Game link

Upsets came in bunches as usual at the Windy City Major!

A small but knowledgeable softball crowd showed up on Friday and Saturday night.

Team Breakdown:
29 Teams Overall
21 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
4 Major Teams
4 'AA' Teams
10 'A' Teams
9 'B' Teams
2 'C' Teams

Friday Night

The Nationwide Conference USSSA returned to the Windy City in a big way after a year away due to Covid restrictions. There were 21 Conference teams including all 4 Major teams and 4 'AA' teams as well as 8 quality non conference opponents. The tournament began in warm but nice and windy weather on Friday night at 5 PM on 4 fields at McCaslin Park and 2 over at Glass Hagel fields about a mile away. The Conference tournaments are seeded by Conference points and since it is still early in the season many conference teams have not played a lot of tournaments so the bracket was a little "top heavy" with 3 of the 4 Major teams and 3 of the 4 'AA' teams in the top half of the bracket. Also just by chance there were Indiana teams playing Indiana teams, Ohio vs Ohio, and Illinois vs Illinois in the 1st round. Westpoint Softball (IN-A) knocked off Indiana 'B' team LSR 28-12. Cornerstone (OH-A) came from behind to beat WM Roofing (OH-A) 15-14 on a Bryan Bradler walk off homer. Indiana 'C' team D&R was beating MPT (NJ-M) until late in the game when MPT pulled out a 14-11 victory. Xtreme (MN-AA) was losing to Siteman 13-0 but came back to win 37-22. Premier (OH-A) beat Slugger/SVC (OH-A) 28-22 as Justin Smith went 5-5 with 2 HR and 8 RBI. L&S Glass (CA-A) beat a good Comatose (WI-B) team 37-23 over at Glass Hagel fields. Silverbacks (IN-B) upset MAJ (WA-A) 12-10 when MAJ's last 3 batters made outs back to back to back to end the game with home runs to hit. Classic Glass (CA-A), Seminoles (OK-A), and Dan Smith (CA-M) all beat non conference teams by the run rule.

Meirtran (IL-B) upset Precision (IL-AA) with the wind blowing in over on field MC-3 22-18 in their opener Friday night.

Albicocco (FL-AA) knocked off a good non-conference 'A' team Chanticlear Pizza 28-8 Friday.

Levels Ethan Stuckly who I accidently called Ethan Dillon on the video clip beats Rebel with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th.

"Round of 16"

With 21 Conference teams in the tournament and a bunch of upset minded non conference teams you know some good teams were going to go home 0-2 or 1-2 so every game was a tough game in this tournament. The "Round of 16" was also played on Friday night. Classic Glass 3rd baseman Zach Ross hit a walk off homer to beat Meirtran. Premier was beating #1 seed Smash It Sports/Newbreed 17-14 in the 3rd before a couple of misplays opened the door and Smash It scored 20 runs and won 38-23. Ben Dunn was 5-5 with 5 RBI in the win. #2 seed Resmondo took batting practice against Cornerstone beating them 53-28. I believe the game was actually 23-18 Resmondo after one inning. MPT Rentals beat Albicocco 30-20. SNI hammered Westpoint 48-17. And over at Glass Hagel field Silverbacks upset Classic Glass 27-17 to be the only non conference team to make the "Final 8" in the winner's bracket..

Seminoles middle infielder Chris Hansen made the key diving play against Levels which set up an Oliver Odle walk off homer.

Dan Smith's Brett Rettenmeier hits the game winning shot to beat Xtreme 39-38 over at Glass Hagel field #1 to advance to the "Round of 8"

"Round of 8"

Dan Smith and Resmondo faced off in the "Round of 8"!

The two softball powerhouses met in the "Round of 8" with Dan Smith jumping out to a 20-4 lead on Resmondo. But Dan Smith opened the door giving Resmondo 3 extra outs mid game and Resmondo closed the gap to 20-14. But Dan Smith scored 11 runs in the 6th and held off a late Resmondo run in the bottom of the 7th to win 33-30.

The upset of the year occurred in the quarterfinal game between Smash It Sports and Silverbacks. Silverbacks playing a hustling, defensive minded, and energetic game kept matching Smash Its offense with the help of a wind that blew straight out at 14 mph. And they frustrated Smash It by stabbing line drives at pitcher, making diving stops in the infield and outfield, and showing an incredible ball striking ability with line drive hits that Smash It could not make plays on. As the innings wore on and Smash It ran out of home runs it became clear that Silverbacks would complete one of the greatest upsets in Conference history as they won 46-38!

SNI/Thunder run ruled MPT 34-19 as their offense continued to roll.

In other "Round of 8" action Seminoles broke open a tight 15-14 game with Classic Glass by scoring 14 in the bottom of the 6th and beat them 28-18. Oliver Odle was 5-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI.

"Final 4"

Seminoles Justin Beal hits a homer in the semis vs Silverbacks.

In the "Final 4" Seminoles led 16-0 after one inning vs Silverbacks and cruised to a 25-5 victory. They out homered Silverbacks 11-3 with Odle hitting 3 HR.

In the other semi final Dan Smith used a grand slam by Joe Joe Bennett in the 1st inning to go up 9-2 and led the whole way. Even though the wind was blowing out Dan Smith only won 23-20 as SNI needed 4 runs with 4 HR left and only scored 1 run.

Winner's Final

In the winner's final the wind died down and Dan Smith jumped out to a 12-3 lead then separated and left Seminoles on the field in the bottom of the 5th scoring 11 runs and winning by the mercy rule 29-14. Lead off hitter Phil Matte and two hitter Jason Matusik were each 5-5 in the game and Jon Nelson had 9 RBI.

Loser's Bracket

My Auto Jack and Slugger/SVC play in the loser's bracket Saturday morning with the wind coming straight in.

In the loser's bracket non Conference team Drip City upset Rebel 35-28 and Premier 34-31 with the wind blowing out on field #1. Precision then won 3 in a row and sent Drip City home 28-8 before MPT dropped down and beat Precision 37-29. And Resmondo beat MAJ 43-27, MPT 36-21, and Silverbacks (pictured below) 27-17 late Saturday to advance to Sunday from the top half of the loser's bracket. Silverbacks had actually tied that game at 14-14 in the 4th inning. In the bottom of the loser's bracket Xtreme won 4 games in a row including an 18-3 victory over Albicocco who had just stunned Smash it Sports 24-4. And then SNI dropped down and beat Xtreme 39-30 to advance to Sunday.

Sunday

On Sunday with Ryan Snyder pitching SNI jumped out to a 32-19 lead on Resmondo and beat them 36-28 as Branch, Fyffe, Pearson, Zirkle, and McBryde all collected 4 hits.

In the loser's bracket finals Seminoles scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th and beat SNI on a walk off homer by Spencer Selby to win 24-23. Selby had 3 homer's and 8 RBI in the win!

In the championship Dan Smith scored 25 runs in the 1st 4 innings using up all of their homer's and getting some great defensive plays by middle man Brett Rettenmeier and 2nd baseman Bryan Dezern. But they left the door open in the bottom of the 4th with some walks that loaded the bases and Seminoles Oliver Odle hit a grand slam to cut the lead to 25-16. Although Seminoles scored in every inning but the 7th, they lost 36-24. Phill Matte, Jason Matusik, and Joe Bennett all had 5 hits at the top of the order for Dan Smith in the win!

Seminoles SS Conner Murray gets the out at 2nd in the championship game.

Oldscout pollers had Resmondo to win.

Long Bombers of the Week

Resmondo 3B Bubba Macks gets long bomber of the week as he was consistently putting them in the corn field behind MC1 which is 390 feet away. Riley, Resmondo's Kyle Pearson, and Argen Dodds all get honorable mentions.

Chicago Major Final Standings and Awards

LF Jason Matusik and 3B Phil Matte were Co-MVP's for Dan Smith

Dan Smith pitcher Bill Pinkham was Defensive MVP

Seminoles Oliver Odle was Offensive MVP

Team by team notes brought to you by:

1st Place – Dan Smith/Proton

Conf 'M' from AZ 6-0 Record

Matte, Bennett, and Matusik were all well into the .800's for on base percentage. The role players were doing their job, the defense was sound, and the team finally broke through and won a Conference event. No longer the brides maids!

Dooley hits a pinch hit homer.

Dezern does his best Reyna impression. Riley Norris gets a pinch hit.

Jenkins and the Proton bats seem to be doing just fine. Dan Smith picked up Jeff Snow from S&E.

2nd Place – Seminoles/TPS/NACSF.INC

Conf 'A' from OK 5-2 Record

Seminoles follows up their conference tournament win in Mansfield with an impressive 2nd place at a loaded Windy City Major which combined put them in a good position to qualify for the USSSA Major World Series for the 1st time. Murray, Odle, Cochran, and Trammell were all over .700. Murray made some incredible plays the entire tournament at shortstop, and pitcher Jeff Graus put teams and me (DW) to sleep with his slow methodical pace on the mound…

Murray and Beal hit bombs vs Silverbacks

Beal and Selby with defense on the fence

Graus pitched methodically. O'Brien filled in at infield.

Hunter Ramirez goes yahtzee

3rd Place – SNI/Thunder/Chosen/DeMarini

Conf 'AA' from FL 4-2 Record

SNI rolled with their offense early in the tournament but stumbled just a bit against Dan Smith and then late against Seminoles otherwise they could have easily won this tournament without Baartman or Dawe (1st child).

Olsen was back

3B Pearson, SS Sanchez, MI McBryde

Zirkle has a little Tom Cruise in his run.

4th Place – Resmondo/Smash It/Menosse/Thunder

Conf 'M' from FL 4-2 Record

Resmondo didn't play well but again ended up playing a lot of games which banged up Briggs, Connell, and Jones. They have dropped out of the Dudley.

Resmondo SS Briggs may have re-injured his knee. Lets hope not.

Bradley Jones robs a homer and a kid of a souvenir.

Bazat nearly got the out after bare handing this grounder.

3B Mack, SS Ussery, MI Bazat, 2B Connell

Tied 5th Place – Xtreme/ASP/Athlon/Miken/Worth

Conf 'AA' from MN 5-2 Record

Xtreme had a slow start but beat Siteman and then lost on a walk off hit to Dan Smith. In the loser's bracket they made a nice run to salvage the weekend. Look for them to contend at the Dudley in two weeks.

Shannon Smith was leading off and Chris Anninos was in the 4 hole.

Thrice retired pitcher Danny Evans has un-retired and was picked up by Xtreme. 🙂

Tied 5th Place – Silverbacks/Revolution Ath/Koval

'B' from IN 3-2 Record

Silverbacks put on a show beating two conference 'A' teams and then standing toe to toe with the #1 seeded Smash It Sports and they survived everything SIS threw at them to pull off one of the greatest upsets in the 16 year history of Conference USSSA! They hit and field line to line. They make Ryan Mcclanahan type diving plays, the ones that when you dive you don't think you are getting the ball but you do and then have the youthful energy and athleticism to pop to their feet and make a play. They could be the quickest team in softball as well and the speed, energy, and ball striking was on full display this past weekend in Chicago. I will be making a condensed game of the SIS vs Silverbacks game from the USSSALive live stream soon to post.

They take every play on defense personally, they pick each other up, and they put the bad plays behind them.

Tied 7th Place – Albicocco/Riot/Klutch/Broughton

Conf 'AA' from FL 4-2 Record

Albicocco picked up Toby Letak to play shortstop

Albicocco had a huge win over SIS/Newbreed and won 4 games.

P Andrew Vitcak, 2B Zack Smith, RF Jeff Bloomer

Tied 7th Place – MPT Rentals/Juno Athletics

Conf 'M' from NJ 3-2 Record

MPT had a few bad bounces go their way and calls and ended up losing to SNI and Resmondo.

Flip Washington in LF and John Williams at 3B

Odd couple. Baker from California and Carucci from New Jersey.

P Nino, MI Messer

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Some more pictures for you:

Tied for 9th – MAJ/Knell/Dirty Sports/DTS/DOMN8 (WA-A) 3-2 – MAJ was upset by Silverbacks in their opener Friday night. Then sent home Comatose on a walk off, Meirtran 14-8, and Slugger 23-20 before losing to Resmondo 43-27 and salvaging the weekend.

Tied for 9th – Precision/3rd Street/Red Athlete/Pure (IL-AA) 3-2 – Precision lost to in state Meirtran in their opener Friday night then shut down 3 straight teams in the loser's bracket before MPT beat them 37-29. McCollum returned, Ankney and Bill Wax were there managing and Keske was back.

Tied for 9th – Classic Glass/Easton (CA-A) 2-2 – Classic Glass came from behind to beat Miertran 26-25 on a Zack Ross walk off homer. Then they lost to Seminoles and Xtreme when they were out hit.

Tied for 9th – SmashitSports/Newbreed/TDB/RF/BD/T3 (NC-M) 1-2 – Smash It Sports was upset by the speedy Silverbacks in the Final 8, then put up just 4 runs with the wind blowing in against Albicocco. I had picked them to win in my pickem…sigh

Cornerstone came from behind to beat WM Roofing on a walk off homer by Bryan Bradler then gave up 53 runs to Resmondo. On Saturday they lost by 1 run to LSR.

Slugger/SVC lost 28-22 to fellow Ohio 'A' team Premier, then beat Levels 3-2 with the wind gusting in before MAJ sent them home 23-20.

SVC picked up Frankie Andriola

Rebel went 0-2 in their return to the Conference but its good to see JJ Schmizzi back and player Kenny Geiersbach.

L&S Glass won their opener against Comatose then lost to Silverbacks and put up 2 against Precision.

Drip City a non conference 'C' team had nice wins over Rebel and Premier Saturday morning in the loser's bracket before losing to Precision.

Westpoint beat fellow Indiana team LSR on Friday night then were smoked by SNI 48-17. On Saturday they sent home WM Roofing 16-3 before Albicocco beat them 23-19.

WM Roofing blew a late lead against Cornerstone when Cornerstone walked them off 15-14 Saturday night and the offensive woes continued on Saturday when Westpoint beat them 16-3.

Meirtran who is a Conference 'B' team from Illinois won that grudge match with Precision 22-18 then lost to Classic Glass by a run and MAJ 14-8. A talented team.

Siteman raised more money for cancer research.

Silverbacks thinking "we can beat these guys"

Comatose went 0-2 losing to L&S Glass and then on a walk-off to MAJ.

LSR which stands for Lacey Snow Removal went 1-2 beating Cornerstone by 1 and losing to Westpoint and Xtreme.

Chaun Demars and Geno Buck play for Chanticlear. They also have Barber, Bauer, Gessell, Madsen and others. A good non-conference 'A' team but went 1-2 losing a close one to Xtreme.