to - USSSA - United States Specialty Sports Association

Fall 2013
USSSA Pride
Rallies for
2013 NPF
Championship
USSSA Baseball Elite From
ESPN’S Wide World of Sports
Resmondo/Worth Sweep Both
2013 Nationwide Conference
USSSA Regular Season and
Chanpionship Tournament Titles
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CONTENTS
Don DeDonatis
USSSA Pride Wins
Numbers Continue
6 2013
46
NPF Championship
to Climb in USSSA
Volleyball
Publisher, USSSA Today
Stafford Connor
Managing Editor, USSSA Today
Greg Huchingson
Communications Director, USSSA
2013 NPF Awards
10 Banquet
Honors Season
Performances
Tom O’Hara
Golf
48USSSA
Strawberry Classic
Design / Printing
REEDESIGN
Lebco Graphics
Contributing Writers
Ian Auzenne
David Brasher
Robert Boudreaux
Liz Braverman
Mike Cisneros
Mike Cornell
Adrian Ellis
Stacy Fish
Van Galeon
Jeremy Isenhower
Maggie Macdonald
Mike Macenko
Jeremy McDowell
Craig Scriven
Kaylen Shimoda
Matt Trebuchon
Dennis Turner
Dale Weiser
Gaye Lynn Wilson
Wins
14 Resmondo/Worth
the 2013 Nationwide
Conference USSSA
Championships
24Nordkap/Suncoast
Reebok Win Four on
USSSA Today is published quarterly. Publishing offices are
located at 6028 Rayburn Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76133. One
year subscription is $25; two year is $40. Reproduction or
use of the contents in whole or in part without prior written
permission of the publisher is prohibited. USSSA Today
welcomes unsolicited articles or photographs, but must be
accompanied with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for
return of unsolicited material.
For The Rings”
Sunday to Win A Worlds
68Battle Of The Bats
45th Annual Smoky
28 Mountain
Classic
Kinsey represents
70Matt
the Wounded Warrior
Equipment Logistics
Scott Duffy
Dina Kwit
Brian Ragan
Pete Spatula
Dale Weiser
Texas championship
54 decided
at LSSO “Battle
Roy “Heavy Peanut” Dean
Photographers
Soccer Launches
52 USSSA
“Team of the Week”
Amputee Softball Team
and the game of softball
with passion
Last Chance”
32 “Miken
Michigan Major
Baseball Elite
40USSSA
World Series
Reviews - The Latest
74Bat
Technology Has To Offer
USSSA TODAY
5
USSSA Pride Wins
2013 NPF Championship
Photos by Dina Kwit
ROSEMONT, Illinois—August 24, 2013—
After a long, hard battle of a best-ofthree series, the USSSA Pride captured
the 2013 National Pro Fastpitch
Championship Series Title over the
regular season champions, Chicago
Bandits.
The Pride bounced back after a tough
loss to the Chicago Bandits in the final
inning of game one. In response to the
loss, and with their backs to the wall,
the Pride answered winning back-toback games to claim the 2013 NPF Title.
USSSA tied the series in game two of
the series with a 5-0 win over Chicago.
A homerun from Pride’s Andrea Duran
entering the bottom of the sixth inning
gave the Pride a 2-0 lead over the
Bandits. Despite the Bandits efforts, the
Pride’s offense scored 3 more runs in the
bottom of the sixth. The Bandits offense
was unable to respond to the Pride’s ace
starter, Cat Osterman, as they fell to the
Pride 5-0.
6 USSSA TODAY
KEILANI
RICKETTS
THE DEFINITION
OF LEGIT
• 2013 HONDA CUP WINNER
• TWO-TIME HONDA SPORTS
AWARD FOR SOFTBALL WINNER
• 2013 NATIONAL CHAMPION
• TWO-TIME USA SOFTBALL
COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• 2013 BIG 12 PITCHER OF THE YEAR
• 2013 WOMEN’S COLLEGE
WORLD SERIES MVP
• 4-TIME NFCA ALL-AMERICAN
• 2012 BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
©Worth Sports, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (NYSE:JAH) • WORTHSPORTS.COM
With the Final Series tied at one apiece,
the Series pushed to the maximum
number of games to settle the championship. The Pride took the lead early
in the game when Andrea Duran hit
a double to centerfield over Megan
Wiggins, allowing Kristyn Sandberg to
score. Chicago’s ace Monica Abbott shut
it down from there, striking out the next
two hitters in Megan Willis and Ashley
Charters to end the inning.
No more runs hit the scoreboard until
the fourth inning when Sandberg
blasted a line drive homerun over the
fence in left field. The Bandits offense
responded in the bottom of the fourth
with Eri Yamada getting on base off a
double to leftfield. Alisa Goler followed
with an RBI single scoring Yamada.
In the bottom of the fifth, with 2 outs
and bases loaded for Pride starter Keilani
Ricketts, skipper J.T. D’Amico relieved
with his ace, Cat Osterman. Osterman
immediately ended the threat by striking
out Alisa Goler to end the inning.
USSSA Pride catcher, Kristyn Sandberg’s home run was the difference maker.
The Bandits went up to bat in the
bottom of the seventh down 2-1. Initially
retiring Galindo and pinch hitter Nerissa
Myers set up a final showdown between
the Pitcher of the Year, Osterman, and
Player of the Year, Megan Wiggins.
Osterman would win the final battle
striking out Wiggins for the victory and
the championship title.
This is the second Championship Series
title for the Pride (2010) and Osterman
was named the Series Most Valuable
Player for the second time in her career.
2013 Series MVP- Cat Osterman
8 USSSA TODAY
The 2013 NPF Champions hoist the prestigious Cowles Cup
USSSA Pride’s front office with the Cowles Cup: (left
to right) Assistant Executive Director, Danny Brown,
USSSA CEO/Pride GM, Don DeDonatis, Assistant
Executive Director, Jim Swint, USSSA EVP, Kevin
Naegele and Assistant Pride GM, Gordon Glennie.
USSSA CEO, Don DeDonatis, looks comfortable
back at USSSA National Headquarters, Kissimmee,
FL., with the NPF Cowles Cup.
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D134832-082013
2013 NPF Awards Banquet
Honors Season Performances
2013 All NPF Team
National Pro Fastpitch kicked off the 2013 Championship
Series weekend with the annual league Awards Banquet. The
event is designed to celebrate individual player and team
accomplishments of regular season competition.
Following dinner along with comments by Rosemont Mayor
Bradley Stephens and NPF Commissioner, Cheri Kempf, the
awards kicked off with the announcement of the 18-member
All-NPF Team, presented by Combat Sports.
Due to a tie at the position of shortstop between Chicago’s
Tammy Williams and USSSA’s Natasha Watley, the 2013 All NPF
squad expanded to 19. Four rookies peppered this year’s All
NPF winners, including 3 pitchers; Chicago’s Andi Williamson
and Michelle Gascoigne won in the category of Pitcher, while
NY/NJ’s Olivia Galati garnered an At-Large award. The fourth
rookie on the All NPF squad was Chicago’s outfielder, Kimi
Pohlman.
The 2013 Awards Banquet was highlighted by the coveted
Player of the Year Award presented by Mizuno, which went
to Megan Wiggins of the Chicago Bandits. Wiggins, who led
the league in average nearly all season long finished with a
blistering .433. Along with that, Wiggins led in Homeruns (11),
slugging % (.780), OBP (.532), and OPS (1.312), while finishing
second overall in RBI (35).
Cat Osterman reeled in the Diamond Sports Pitcher of the Year
honors as she led the league with 234 Ks over a league leading
139 IP. Osterman finished with a 1.06 ERA and a record of 17-4,
tied for most wins with Chicago’s Monica Abbott.
10 USSSA TODAY
Cat Osterman- Diamond Sports Pitcher of the Year with a 1.06 ERA.
BREED
THE NEW
SPEED
2014 fa stp itc h p o w e r b r i g a d e
#makosightings
Ashley Charters- Wilson’s Defensive Player of the Year with 58 put-outs and 61
assists/ no errors.
GiOnna DiSalvatore- Louisville Slugger’s Offensive Player of the Year with 43 RBIs.
Caitlin Lowe- Diamond Spike Award presented by Ringor with 16 stolen bases on
20 attempts.
Natasha Watley- All NPF SS
The Rookie of the Year award, presented by Miken, returned
to Chicago after a year hiatus as pitcher Andi Williamson was
named most outstanding of all newcomers. Williamson was
third in the league in both wins (9) and ERA (1.67). Williamson
hails from Marshall University and was an undrafted free agent
pick-up for the Bandits in 2013.
staff of the Chicago Bandits. The Bandits finished with a
regular season record of 36-12, which also earned them the
regular season Ringor Cup. The Bandits finished with a team
batting average of .305 and led the league offensively in Runs
(273), Home Runs (45), RBI (247), Total bases (638), Walks (170),
and triples (15). They also produced the lowest team ERA (2.03)
while yielding the fewest runs, earned runs, and walks, from
the circle.
The Defensive Player of the Year, presented by Wilson, went to
USSSA’s second baseman, Ashley Charters who had 58 put-outs
and 61 assists while remaining errorless for 2013.
Offensive Player of the Year was presented by Louisville
Slugger and was a tie between Chicago’s Megan Wiggins and
USSSA’s Gionna DiSalvatore. While Wiggins led in nearly all
of the major offensive categories, DiSalvatore swiped the top
spot in RBIs with a total of 43.
The objective categories were presented for most home runs
and most stolen bases. The Home Run Award Presented by
Worth went to the Chicago Bandit’s Megan Wiggins, who had
11 total round-trippers on the season. The Diamond Spike
Award presented by Ringor went to veteran, Caitlin Lowe of
the USSSA Pride, who nabbed 16 successful stolen bases on 20
attempts.
Coaching Staff of the Year presented by Schutt went to the
12 USSSA TODAY
The third annual Jennie Finch Award went to Chicago’s Vicky
Galindo. Along with her eight-year career in the NPF (all in
Chicago), Galindo earned a silver medal in the 2008 Olympic
Games in Beijing, China. The Jennie Finch award is given to
the player who best exemplifies the character and qualities
of its famous namesake, and who is considered to positively
impact the game both on and off the field. Galindo recently
announced her intention to retire following the 2013 season
and became only the 4th player in Bandit’s history to have her
jersey retired.
The NPF Awards contenders are initially nominated by the
four affiliate teams. Once nominations are compiled, a ballot
is formed and voted on by an owner representative from each
team. Final voting for the awards happens at the conclusion of
the regular season.
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Resmondo/Worth Wins the 2013 Nationwide
Conference USSSA Championships
Parity reigns in the A and B classes
by Dale Weiser
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth 2013 Nationwide Conference USSSA Champion
The 2013 version of the Nationwide
Conference Championships was broken
into 3 separate tournaments played over
the Labor Day Weekend at the Osceola
County Stadium baseball complex. First
there was the Nationwide Conference
Championship itself which had the
top 16 teams in the points standings.
Teams seeded 9-16 played in the first
round with the winners moving on to
play seeds 5-8 in the second round. The
second round winners then went on to
play the top 4 seeded teams in a double
elimination tournament to see who
would be crowned 2013 Nationwide
Conference Champion!
The Nationwide Conference Championship
bracket didn’t get interesting until the
second round on Friday night when all
4 of the lower seeded teams beat each
of the 5 through 8 seeds! Albicocco
beat Red’s Astros 22-7 after putting up
15 runs in the first inning. Taylormade
14 USSSA TODAY
DeMarini/Dirty/Xtreme Athletics- Open Bracket Champions
United States Specialty Sports
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upset Demarini 19-17 when center fielder
Brian Logan made a spectacular diving catch
to help preserve the 2 run lead. Chaps/Buzini
beat Line Drive 16-15. And Pure Romance
shocked GTL Doerflinger R&M 21-17!
In the third round the only upset was
Taylormade who won their third game of
the night 30-23 over a stunned and recently
crowned ‘A’ World Champ Nordkap/
Suncoast
Reebok
team.
Meanwhile
Resmondo, Laservision, and Shoppe all
advanced to the semi-finals on Saturday.
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth, the #1
seeded team would go undefeated (4-0) to
win the tournament and the title of 2013
Nationwide Conference Champion. They
beat Laservision/Desert Falls/Boombah/
Easton 26-9 in the winner’s bracket championship on Saturday afternoon, and again
21-15 in the ESPN streamed championship
game on Sunday. Resmondo was led by MVP
shortstop Don Dedonatis Jr. and Defensive
MVP Greg Connell. Resmondo won three of
their games by the 15 run “mercy” rule and
scored 20 or more runs in all four contests.
Their defense held their four opponents
to 36 total runs on the weekend for an
average of just 9 runs per game! The Major
divisions “pecking” order played out again
as Resmondo beat the second best Major
team Laservision twice on the weekend,
and Laservision beat the third best Major
team Shoppe/TYJA/Louisville Slugger twice
as well.
Resmondo heads to the Major World Series
with a 19 game winning streak. In 13 of
the 19 games during the streak they held
their opponents under 20 runs. Remember
back at the start of the season Resmondo
scored 25 consecutive wins and their record
currently stands as one of the best in the
history of softball at 52-5. Resmondo won
their 9th tournament of the year out of 11
tournaments played.
Meanwhile the 8 teams that lost in either
round #1 or round #2 dropped into a separate tournament called the “Open” bracket.
In the “Open” bracket which was filled with
‘A’ teams that had been upset by lower
seeded teams, Demarini/Dirty went undefeated to win the tournament by beating
GTL on Sunday by a single run even though
Demarini was missing 4 starters and actually
had manager George Quinones playing in
the game. George actually came up with a
big hit in the game to help Demarini win.
Line Drive Sportz was third and Red’s Astros
16 USSSA TODAY
Team Adiktiv/Dyanasty/D2E/LS/TYJA Major World Series Qualifying Winner
Resmondo/Worth’s solid left side- (left to right) Jimmy Salas, Donny DeDonatis and Dennis Rulli.
Nationwide Conference USSSA Defensive MVPGreg Connell
Nationwide Conference USSSA MVP-Don
DeDonatis III
was fourth.
The Osceola County Stadium baseball fields
in the back are all very large baseball fields
and the Dudley ZN stadium softball was
used. The weather was hot and humid with
temperatures in the 90’s and the stadium
itself was unavailable because the infield
is in the middle of a re-construction. The
games were competitive as there were only
8 run rule games out of the 36 played, and
16 of the games were decided by 3 runs
or less! The real parity in the Nationwide
Conference this year has been between the
‘A’ and ‘B’ classed teams where there are no
real favorites in any matchup.
The third tournament was played over at
the Fortune Road Softball Complex and was
called the “Major World Series Qualifying
Tournament”. This tournament was for
teams that finished #17-32 in the point
standings and who were able to travel to
Florida to play for a berth to the USSSA Major
World Series which is played at the end of
September. 7 teams accepted the invite and
it was played out in a 3 game guarantee
format. Team Adiktiv/Dynasty/D2E/LS/TYJA
defeated 3rd Street/Louisville Slugger 15-14
in the “if” game of the championship after
3rd Street had forced the second game by
beating Adiktiv 13-12. Team Adiktiv went
3-1 in the tournament including a 31-8 win
over ASPNation.com where Adiktiv scored
an amazing 24 runs in one inning! 3rd
Street took a much more difficult route to
the championship as they lost their opener
to B&B/Sears 16-12 on Friday night, then
won 5 straight in the loser’s bracket. B&B/
Sears with a few of their recent pickups was
third, and Xtreme/Miken was fourth.
GTL Doerflinger/R&M/Easton’s Rusty Bumgardner attempts a tag on DeMarini/Dirty/Xtreme Athletics’ Lee
Payne’s inside the park home run.
USSSA CEO, Don DeDonatis, and Shoppe/TYJA/Louisville Slugger’s manager, Larry Quartuccio, look at
seeding possibilities for upcoming Major World Series.
The best catch of the weekend was made
by Brian Logan the center fielder for
Taylormade who made a fast diving catch in
center field in the gap on Baugh Fords Matt
Bunn to preserve Taylormades big win over
Baugh in the first round. The best infield
play was turned in by JD Genter at third
base for GTL when he made a nice pick on
a hard shot with his backhand and started a
5-10-3 double play to end the game against
Line Drive Sportz in the loser’s bracket final
of the “Open” bracket.
If you are a fan of the Major Softball Circuit,
check out the USSSA Major World Series
coming up on September 18-22 at ESPN’s
Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida.
The tournament will also be broadcast live
on the internet at USSSA.com!
18 USSSA TODAY
Don DeDonatis, founder of Conference USSSA, and USSSALive personality, Kristen Bedard, do an on-field,
between innings interview on ESPN3.
FIRST TEAM
Andy Purcell
Brett Helmer
B J Fulk
Kevin Filby
Jd Genter
Chad Durick
Frank Yielding
Brandon Dillion
Travis Dale
Steve Allen
Chris Greinert
Eric Thompson
Jason Baxter
Greg Connell
Scott Kirby
Kenny Leach
Jimmy Salas
Lee Powers
Scott Zaciewski
Don Dedonatis Iii
Bryson Baker
Chente Grandos
Bubba Mack
Kevin Kennington
Robert Blackburn
Brian Wegman
Cory Large
Nick Santana
Ryan Parfitt
Jeremy Isenhower
Saul Simpson
John Rector
Robert Blackburn
Greg Connell
Jeremy Yates
Scott Kirby
Dennis Rulli
SECOND TEAM
Dan Sanchez
Chad Mullins
Brian Autry
Blake King
Joe Gordon
Sean Mcdonald
Kevin Bazat
Keith Anderson
Mike Dill
Steve Whaley
Terri Baggs
Dal Beggs
Dale Brungardt
Robert Knoblauch
Matt Crawford
Jason Branch
Cody Gilbert
Brian Logan
Brad Blankenship
Rick Olsen
THIRD TEAM
Kyle Wilks
Stewart Snell
Tim Bowser
Jason Magnum
Josh Wiggs
Jonathan Scott
Chad Folsom
Tommie Baugh
Michael Cervantes
Billy Maggard
Tommie Melton
Cooper Vittitow
Cory Newman
Reggie Schulte
Justin Stewart
Jamie Hancock
Mike Wilson
POSITION
Pitcher
Catcher
Catcher
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
1st Base
1st Base
2nd Base
2nd Base
2nd Base
3rd Base
3rd Base
3rd Base
Shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop
Middle Infield
Middle Infield
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Scorekeeper
2013 All Conference Manager 8Th Yr
2013 Batting Champion
2013 Home Run Champion
2013 Outstanding Defensive Player
2013 Outstanding Offensive Player
2013 Most Valuable Player
POSITION
Pitcher
Catcher
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
Utility
1st Base
2nd Base
3rd Base
Shortstop
Middle Infield
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Manager Of The Year
POSITION
Manager Of The Year
OB
703
702
752
750
747
702
706
694
691
688
683
720
711
750
781
722
767
735
751
706
759
704
703
697
798
735
733
728
706
729
HR
53
58
51
54
28
83
39
43
35
32
51
9
35
88
66
21
54
50
39
4
47
27
72
71
61
59
40
36
51
58
RBI
153
142
140
170
90
189
116
131
109
102
132
61
126
231
182
86
145
105
114
67
135
92
208
192
159
140
147
106
144
180
TEAM
Resmondo
Laservision
Resmondo
Laservision
Gtl/R&M
Laservision
Combat
Gtl/R&M
Red’s Astros
Albicocco
Nordkap
Shoppe
Nordkap
Resmondo
Laservision
Fencebrokers
Resmondo
Shoppe
Nordkap
Resmondo
Laservision
Shoppe
Resmondo
Laservision
Shoppe
Laservision
Line Drive
Resmondo
Line Drive
Resmondo
Resmondo
Resmondo
OB
700
785
706
693
683
690
689
712
706
676
683
674
783
680
654
674
700
699
679
HR
16
34
39
7
21
13
20
45
41
43
24
27
54
28
20
39
26
14
40
RBI
66
86
97
64
79
54
86
124
142
133
66
96
122
79
85
118
77
57
99
OB
696
741
705
735
724
748
667
667
719
702
705
669
684
677
659
661
HR
5
47
37
42
36
28
31
12
13
28
39
20
20
40
26
23
RBI
27
116
105
98
109
71
74
38
55
71
127
75
75
120
64
64
TEAM
Albiocco
Red’s Astros
Baugh Ford
Taylormade
Demarini/Dirty
Gtl/R&M
Gtl/R&M
Line Drive
Line Drive
Line Drive
Demarini Dirty
Albiococco
Demarini/Dirty
Albiococco
Nordkap/Suncoast
Nordkap/Suncoast
Red’s Astros
Taylormade
Baugh Ford
Nordkap/Suncoast
TEAM
Buzini
Aspnation
Fencebrokers
Team Adiktiv
Team Adiktiv
Headhunters
Headhunters
Baugh Ford
Aspnation
Buzini
Team Adiktiv
Aspnation
Fencebrokers
Fencebrokers
Buzini
Headhunters
Fencebrokers
USSSA TODAY 19
Grand Gala Awards Banquet
Hosted by USSSA at Mystic Dunes
Laservision’s Brett Helmer
Nordkap’s Chris Greinert
Line Drive’s Steve Whaley
Atlantic Coast VP, Bob Holland, was on hand to add
his expertise.
Tony Walczak, Conference Umpire of the Year
Assistant Executive Director, Danny Brown (left) with
All Conference First Team SS, Don DeDonatis III
Danny Brown and National UIC, Rick Robertson
recognizes the accomplishments of Red’s Astros/TPS
under the guidance of Herb Price and Red Moore.
Danny Brown (left) handing off the Home Run
Champion Award to Resmondo’s Greg Connell.
Danny Brown, recognizing this year’s MVP, Resmondo’s
Dennis Rulli. Dennis’ son, Easton, accepted the award
on his dad’s behalf.
Rick Robertson presenting Travis Resmondo with the
2013 Nationwide Conference USSSA Regular Season
Championship for the 8th consecutive year, which
happens to be the number of years that Conference has
been in existence.
USSSA EVP Slowpitch, Kevin Naegele (left), presents
All Conference First Team Pitcher to Resmondo’s Andy
Purcell.
USSSA EVP, Slowpitch. Kevin Naegele (left) with the
Nationwide Conference USSSA Batting Champion,
Shoppe/TPS’ Robert Blackburn.
20 USSSA TODAY
Resmondo’s Jeremy Isenhower
Resmondo’s Nic Santana
Laservision’s Kevin Filby
GTL/R&M’s JD Genter
Laservision’s Brian Wegman
Laservision’s Kevin Kennington
Laservision’s Bryson Baker
Laservision’s Scott Kirby, Outstanding Offensive Player
Resmondo’s Jimmy Salas
Far West VP, Elliot C. Clark (left), recognizing All
Conference First Team Catcher, Resmondo’s BJ Fulk.
Line Drive’s Ryan Parfitt
Earl Scarberry - selected softball’s #1 fan
USSSA TODAY 21
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Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok Win Four
on Sunday to Win A Worlds
by Dale Weiser
Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok based out of Florida
is your 2013 USSSA men’s slow-pitch ‘A’ World
Champion as they eliminated a very good but
evenly matched field of teams. Nordkap lost in
the winner’s bracket semi-finals 29-25 to Red’s
Astros/Slugger/Stucco/Dirty from Indiana before
going on a five game win streak to the title.
The streak included wins over Sonny’s (WY), Line
Drive Sportz (MI), Albicocco (NY), and Reds Astros
twice! Red’s Astros looked to be in the “driver’s
seat” after besting third place Albicocco in the
winner’s bracket championship in extra innings
27-23 but were unable to score when needed
in the top of the 7th of the “if” game against
Nordkap and lost the championship 22-21.
Big Chris Greinert celebrates with his Nordkap teammates.
2013 A World Champions Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok
2013 A World Second Place Red’s Astros/Louisville Slugger
24 USSSA TODAY
A great weekend of softball started on Friday
night and there was a threat of rain all three days.
A few showers here and there delayed the tournament but all games were played in full in the
90 degree heat and humidity on the bigger than
normal 310 to 325 foot fields. The wind blew in
on diamonds #2 and #3 and blew out on fields #1
and #4 consistently most of the weekend which
affected the scoring.
After Friday’s games all nine ‘A’ teams remained
undefeated as the lower class ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams
fell to the loser’s bracket. On Saturday starting
at 11 AM the heavy weight battles began with
all of the ‘A’ vs ‘A’ games playing. Albicocco beat
GTL/R&M/Doerflinger by one run in a great game
on the show field. Demarini won a low scoring
10-9 game over Sonnys with the wind blowing in
and Sonnys having the bats in their hand with the
tying run on third in the bottom of the 7th. Red’s
Astros jumped out to an 11-2 lead on one of the
tournament favorites Line Drive Sportz and held
on 20-13. And Nordkap crushed Baugh Ford 27-9.
In the semi-finals of the winner’s bracket Albicocco
pitcher Dan Sanchez hit a walk off homer to beat
Demarini 29-27 and Red’s Astros beat Nordkap
29-24 in a spirited game with plenty of action and
big home runs.
Then late on Saturday night in the winner’s
bracket championship game Red’s Astros pulled
off some huge defensive plays in the 6th and 7th
innings to hold Albicocco scoreless and maintain
a 17-17 tie going into extra innings. In the 8th
inning Red’s scored 10 runs and Albicocco would
score just 6 and Red’s went on to the champion-
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Luis Reyna bats for Nordkap.
Red’s Astros’ lefty Steve Kingsolver.
Nordkap’s pitcher, TJ Thompson.
Reds Troy Krider turns two.
ship game on Sunday. Nordkap, having lost in the semi-finals,
came through the loser’s bracket to meet Red’s again and pull
off the impressive “double dip” with some aggressive offense
as they scored double figure innings in all four of their Sunday
wins over the top ‘A’ teams in the country.
from scoring in the bottom of the 6th. In the top of the 7th
however Red’s was unable to score due to a pair of great plays
by Nordkaps Luis Reyna and Nordkap won the game and the
‘A’ World Championship 22-21!
In the final championship game Nordkap went up 6-1 on a
Jason Baxter grand slam in the bottom of the 1st. Then Red’s
answered with a 3 run homer by shortstop Travis Dale and a 2
run homer by Steve Kingsolver to take an 8-6 lead in the second
inning. In the 3rd inning Red’s pitcher Ryan Joiner added a
2 run homer to go up 10-8 but in the bottom of the inning
Nordkap got a 3 run homer from Scott Zaciewski, and an RBI
triple from shortstop Luis Reyna to go up 14-10. In the 4th
inning Red’s slugger and co-Offensive MVP Chad Mullins hit a
2 run homer to close the gap to 14-12 but in the bottom of the
4th Nordkap got RBI doubles from Brian Zirkle and Andrew
Collins, an RBI single from Zaciewski, and a big 2 run homer
from Chris Greinert to take a 20-13 lead. In the 5th inning Red’s
scratched across a couple of runs but Andrew Collins hit a 2 run
homer for Nordkap in the bottom half to go up 22-16. Red’s
made their comeback in the 6th with a 2 run triple by offensive
co-MVP Troy Krider and an RBI single by Travis Dale to close the
gap to 22-21. A great defensive play by Travis kept Nordkap
26 USSSA TODAY
From the consistent line drive hitting of MVP third baseman
Scott Zaciewski, to the raw power of their twin home run
monsters Chris Greinert and Jason Baxter, the timely pinch
hit homers of Cory Boothe, the shutdown relief pitching and
timely hitting of pitcher TJ Thompson, and the extra base
hitting of Brian Zirkle, Luis Reyna, and Jason Branch it was a
true display of team work on both sides of the ball. Also it
was a testament to good hydration and experience playing
in the Florida heat on the big fields. Nordkap played for the
most part with a 10 man lineup as catcher Dustin Roberts was
knocked out of Friday night’s game and most of the weekend
with a dislocated toe on a play at the plate. Matt Crawford was
turning the double plays, Anthony Dress was steady at 2B, and
Andrew Collins kept the team fired up with some big homers.
Nordkap was a great comeback story and they deserved to win
the ‘A’ World Title. It is unfortunate they didn’t get to celebrate a whole lot because of a rain storm that came through
right after the game ended. Nordkap averaged an impressive
25.6 runs per game.
JEFF
HALL
©Worth Sports, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (NYSE:JAH) • WORTHSPORTS.COM
2013 Nationwide Conference USSSA
45th Annual Smoky Mountain Classic
Maryville, TN • July 12-14
by Dale Weiser
The 45th annual Smoky Mountain
Classic was played in perfect weather
and a great softball atmosphere in
front of the season’s largest crowds!
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth won
its 8th Smoky Mountain Classic and 6th
in a row by double dipping the #2 team
in the country Laservision/Desert Falls/
Boombah/Easton in the championship
games. In winning, Resmondo bested a
strong field of 30 teams which included
26 of the top teams from the Nationwide
Conference USSSA. The Smoky is the
only Nationwide Conference regular
season tournament that features unlimited home runs and the longer 80 foot
bases.
The tournament started on Friday at 4
PM with the first round that had only
two upsets. P&P 333 a ‘B’ team from
Michigan knocked off Taylormade
an ‘A’ team from Virginia 15-5, and
McNally Construction a local Tennessee
‘C’ team became the first local team to
win a game in the winner’s bracket at
the Smoky in a number of years as they
defeated a ‘B’ team from Cincinnati
- Pure Romance 10-9. In the second
round all of the favourites prevailed
except for one - Fence Brokers used a
walk off homer by Bob Hankins, his first
homer of the year, to beat Baugh Ford
22-21. Also in a “grudge match” game
Demarini/Dirty out powered their rival
Albicocco 33-18 in a game that never
was real close except at the beginning.
Both teams really wanted to win this
game because of a couple of big name
players like Adam Rockoff had left
Demarini to go and play for Albicocco.
On Saturday the focus, as is tradition,
shifts to the “final 8” of the winner’s
bracket and the winner’s side is played
out exclusively on the “show field” at
Sandy Springs Park diamond #3 which is
28 USSSA TODAY
Resmondo’s slugger, 2B Greg Connell.
Laservision’s Bryson Baker is solid
year in and year out.
Resmondo’s pitcher, Andy Purcell,
is considered to be one of the game’s
best and was selected co-MVP.
a baseball field with 310-350-315 dimensions. All of the favourites won again in
the quarter finals as #1 Resmondo and
#4 Nordkap won by the run rule and
#3 Shoppe and #2 Laservision squeaked
out 2 and 1 run wins respectively. In the
semi-finals Resmondo went up 29 runs
on Nordkap before “Kap”, as they are
nicknamed, came storming back with
a 20 run inning to close the deficit to
28-23 but Resmondo would hold on to
Resmondo’s Nic Santana was
co-MVP covered a lot of ground in
the outfield.
win 38-23. In the other semi-final game
Laservision scored 20 runs in the bottom
of the 6th and held off a powerful
Demarini/Dirty team 35-32 to set up the
show the fans were waiting to see, #1
Resmondo vs #2 Laservision. In that epic
showdown Laservision out powered
Resmondo and took advantage of some
rare Resmondo defensive errors to win
by the run rule 34-12.
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USSSA TODAY 29
Historic Smoky Mountain
Classic Winning Teams List:
Homerun champ, with 16, Laservision’s Chad Durick with tournament directors.
(L to R) Tournament director, Chris Clark, MVPs Nic Santana, Andy Purcell and tournament director, Joe Huff.
On Sunday morning with 3 teams left
in the loser’s bracket Shoppe beat
Line Drive Sportz with a 26 run first
inning which featured 3 homers and
10 RBI from Robert Blackburn. Then
Resmondo beat Shoppe with a 21 run
3rd inning of their own in the loser’s
bracket championship game. This set
up the rematch between Resmondo and
Laservision where Resmondo jumped
all over Laservision in the 2nd inning
scoring 30 runs on 16 homers and the
first game was almost over before it
began. In the “if” necessary game both
teams came out swinging as Resmondo
scored 11 runs in the top of the first and
Laservision scored 10 in the bottom half.
Then Resmondo slowly pulled away the
remainder of the game to a 39-19 win
and the championship.
The tournament was lacking some in
30 USSSA TODAY
close finishes as teams used positive
momentum to put up huge innings
that opposing teams could not mentally
recover from.
Similarly there were
teams that had what I will call “negative
momentum” where a rash of double
plays or pop outs attempting to go for
home runs led to a couple of low scoring
innings and a loss.
The top 3 teams finished 1, 2, 3 and
other than the surprise Line Drive Sportz
team finishing 4th after knocking off
3 straight ‘A’ teams, the rest of the
finishing order was in line with the
Nationwide Conference points standings. The home run champion was
Laservision’s Chad Durick who hit 16 HR.
The Co-MVP’s were Resmondo pitcher
Andy Purcell (25-31 .806, 15 HR, 28
RBI) and Resmondo centerfielder Nick
Santana (25-27 .926, 8 HR, 18 RBI)
2013
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
2012
Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth
2011
Resmondo-Specialty Tank / Worth
2010
Resmondosport/Specialty/
Phonemaster
2009
Resmondo-Specialty Tank-Worth
2008
Resmondo/Specialty Tank/Worth
2007
Bellcorp/Belcher/Tai/Backman
2006
Resmondo – KME Softball
2005
Bell Corp/Backman/Taylor/Easton –
Tampa, Florida
2004
Resmondo/Hague/Taylor/Sunbelt
2003
Hague / Resmondo / Taylor Brothers
2002
Dan Smith / Backman / Menosse /
Easton
2001
Long Haul / Taylor Bros. / Shen Corp.
/ TPS
2000
Team TPS/Louisville, KY
1999
Team TPS, Louisville, Kentucky
1998
Sierra/TPS, Reno, NV
1997
Ritch’s/Superior/Tri Gems/Beloli/TPS,
Windsor Locks, CT
1996
Sunbelt/Easton, Centerville, GA
1995
Ritch’s/Superior/TPS, Windsor Locks,
CT
1994
Ritch’s/Superior/TPS, Windsor Locks,
CT
1993
Ritch’s/Superior, Windsor Locks, CT
1992
Bell Corp, Tampa, FL.
1991
Bell Corp, Tampa, FL.
1990
Steeles Silver Bullets, Grafton, OH
1989
Superior-Apollo, Windsor Locks, CT
1988
Starpath Systems, Monticello, KY
1987
Steeles Sports, Grafton, OH
1986
Steeles Sports, Grafton, OH
1985
Elite Coatings, Gordon, GA
1984
Elite Coatings, Gordon, GA
1983
Elite Coatings, Gordon, GA
1982
York/Ken Sanders, York, PA
1981
Howards Western Steer, Denver, NC
1980
Jerry’s Caterers, Miami, FL.
1979
Campbell’s Carpet, Concord, CA
1978
Dave Carroll Sports, Sherrills-Ford, NC
1977
Howards Furniture, Denver, NC
1976
Howards Furniture, Denver, NC
1975
Nelson Painting, Oklahoma City, OK
1974
Howards Furniture, Denver, NC
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2013 Nationwide Conference USSSA
“Miken Last Chance” Michigan Major
Sterling Hts, MI • August 9-11
by Dale Weiser
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth went undefeated in Detroit to win the “Last Chance”
tournament and came from behind to beat
surprise runner up finisher Red’s Astros/
Slugger/Stucco/Dirty twice! The first time was
in the winner’s bracket finals after Resmondo
trailed 11-0 but ended up winning 34-14
after scoring 21 runs in the bottom of the first
inning! The second time was in the championship game after trailing Reds again 17-3,
Resmondo came back to win 31-28. Resmondo
cruised through their earlier games and went
6-0 to win their 8th Nationwide Conference
event of the season. Resmondo’s choice for
MVP was their middle infielder veteran
Dennis Rulli 26-28 .929, 6 HR, 15 RBI) and the
Defensive MVP was Don Dedonatis Jr. Red’s
Astros based out of Indiana had their best
weekend of 2013 as they finished second and
were led by Co-Offensive MVP’s Chad Mullins
(29-35 . 829, 7 HR, 24 RBI) and the left-handed
Steve Kingsolver (28-35 .800, 8 HR, 27 RBI).
#1 ranked Resmondo won their 15th
consecutive game dating back to the Smoky
Mountain Classic. They also won their 4th
Nationwide Conference tournament in a
row and 8th of the year. They have pushed
their 2013 season’s record to a blistering
48-5. Resmondo played without Bobby
Hughes but appear to be healthy for the
stretch run and will be the number one
seed for both the Nationwide Conference
Championships coming up in 3 weeks and
the USSSA Major World Series in September.
Resmondo has now won the Nationwide
Conference USSSA regular season points
standings for the 8th year in a row which is
also every year the Conference has been in
existence!
The tournament was full of long seven
inning games where most every team used
all of their allotted home runs on the short
300 foot fences. The weather was perfect
and the air was cool for the most part which
led to some high scoring games. The local
non-conference teams went a combined
32 USSSA TODAY
Resmondo/Worth Celebrate 2013 Last Chance Championship
2013 Last Chance MVP- Resmondo’s Dennis Rulli
Red’s Astros/Louisville Slugger’s Chad Mullins
the way
real play ers who und erst and
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DEMARINI.COM
3-24 with no wins against the 21 Nationwide
Conference teams in attendance.
The tournament began on Friday night with
most of the conference teams playing local
teams at 6 and 7 PM. Then the Liberty Park
of America held their traditional home run
derby with 70 of the best home run hitters
in the nation entered. This year they eliminated hitters by rounds instead of in a head
to head bracket, like they usually would
do, until they got down to the final 12.
Robert “Robo” Blackburn from Shoppe won
the Home Run Derby. Kevin “Long Ball”
Kennington from Laservision was second,
Mike Dill from Line Drive was third, and
Steve Allen from Albicocco was fourth.
The tournament play resumed on Saturday
morning and the second round contained
only Nationwide Conference teams (16) as
all of the local teams were knocked into the
loser’s bracket. There were no major upsets
in the “sweet 16” as the top 8 teams moved
on. But then in the quarter finals there were
some upsets as Red’s Astros used better
home run management to beat Laservision,
Albicocco knocked off Shoppe, and Line
Drive beat Nordkap. Even Team Combat
who has had a tough year was leading
Resmondo by 6 runs in the third inning
before losing by the run rule.
Red’s Astros’ Ryan Joiner
In the semi-finals Red’s Astros beat Albicocco
on a walk off homer by Travis Dale after
Albicocco decided to pitch to Travis with a
base open and leading by 2 runs with 2 outs
in the bottom of the 7th. It was probably
the right decision considering the on deck
batter was Cody Gilbert who had walk off
winning hits in this tournament earlier in
the day and recently back in Cincinnati a
couple of weeks ago. Resmondo also moved
on to the winner’s final by beating Line
Drive by the run rule.
Reds finished 2nd, Line Drive 3rd, and
Albicocco 4th. The best outfield home run
robbing catch was turned in by Ryan Parfitt
of Line Drive Sportz who timed a backward
jump into the fence just right against Red’s
Astros on Sunday morning in the loser’s
bracket championship game. There were a
bunch of great diving catches by Cory Large,
Sal Formosa, Brian Blay and many other
players throughout the weekend. There
was also some great infield play from Luis
Reyna, Matt Crawford, Travis Clark, Travis
Dale, Don Dedonatis Jr, Jimmy Salas, and
Joel Ramos to name a few.
34 USSSA TODAY
Red’s Astros’ Chad Mullins
Resmondo’s Bubba Mack with his new Worth
“Bubba Load” bat.
Don’t Try So Hard
by Jeremy McDowell
Strike
Strike
Strike
Strike
Strike
Strike
Strike
Strike
Strike
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
(Swing the Bat)
(Keep your eye on it)
(You are better than this)
(I need more from you)
(You are never going to amount to anything)
(I have taught you better than this)
(You are letting your whole team down)
(I can’t believe you are this bad)
(I am so embarrassed)
My daughter had a game that every athlete endures in their
career; one to forget and to forget immediately. Above are the
9 strikes my daughter either stood and watched or swung and
missed out during a game that her team won. All the remarks
in parenthesis are comments I have heard from parents while
sitting at the park watching my 10U daughter play. As I read
these comments over and over, I begin to understand how much
pressure our kids are under to perform at such a high level.
I was challenged the week prior to this tournament to hug my
daughter when she has that bad game and tell her I love her and
just love watching her play. Wow; I was in this position 4 days
later as my daughter strolled over to me with emotions of being
happy because her team had done well but sad because she just
had a game that she really wanted to forget. I could either tell
her what she was doing wrong and how to fix it and encourage
her to do better next game, or I could just hug my daughter, tell
her how much I loved her and how much I just loved watching
her play softball. I chose the latter, and she smiled and said,
“But Daddy” and I said, “How about we go get a drink from the
concession stand?” We proceeded to talk about our dinner plans
and where she wanted to eat after the tournament. The next
game she hit three ropes and had four RBI’s and had her best
game ever at the plate since she has started playing ball.
I don’t write this story to make me look good or to brag on my
daughter (but that is fun to do) but to write about what I learned
that day. I learned the power of encouragement and the power
of love. I learned that she already knew she had a bad game and
already knew what she was doing wrong for the most part and
what she really needed was her daddy. Some might say, “But
you won the game and if you didn’t win and would have lost
by one run that your reaction would have been different.” To
be honest, prior to this moment, maybe that would have been
true, but after seeing the results of encouraging words and not
words that tear someone down, I would hope I am never seen as
a parent that is embarrassed by my child’s performance.
I touch on this word, performance, because everything we do in
life is based on performance and how well we do it. The pressure is put on by society to be the very best at everything we do.
There is so much truth to go all in or give 100%, but at what
sacrifice? Is it worth the sacrifice of your relationship with your
child? We are seeing parents and kids not having fun with youth
sports because we see our children smiling after a strike out and
interpret that as not caring enough or committed enough. But
what if your kid knew it was okay to strike out and have the
36 USSSA TODAY
confidence they would get them next time? What if the error in
the field where he/she pulled their head on the hot shot, they
just smiled and knew they would get them next time? Instead,
too many times we hear from coaches and parents everything
that player is doing wrong, and it puts the pressure on them to
always perform at such an unreachable high level.
You go to work during the day and most of the day is spent
with criticizing remarks on everything you did wrong, and more
needed to be expected from you. You come home from work to
a marriage that is condemned with comments that are anything
but encouraging. Your kids that you love dearly many times are
hearing only the negative and everything they could do better.
Thinking long and hard about this, I feel 99% of parents want
nothing but the very best for their child, but many times this is
defined by performance based attributes instead of their character. We live in a society where our ability to parent, by many
we believe, is judged on how well our child performs at their
activities. The passed ball by the catcher: I see the mom squirm
as the other team scored a run because of this passed ball. The
strike out with bases loaded in the last inning down by one and
it’s your kid: how do you react?
The season is long and for many of these kids it is year round.
Sports should be about the team aspect of the bonding and the
overall experience, not the wins or the losses of these events.
These kids will not remember the trophies they win or even a
World Series Championship, but they will remember the hotel
swim parties and the times with kids their age playing something they love. I beg coaches and parents to make youth sports
about nothing but the kids and the experience. I personally
believe winning will be a byproduct of the kids playing loose
and having fun. And even if they don’t equate into the number
of wins you think they should, enjoy the journey with them.
A recent surveyed showed that 70% of kids are done playing
the sport or activity they truly love by age 14 because of adults,
because of coaches and parents making it about them and not
these kids. We have great coaches and parents investing into
these kids and loving them and my prayer is this becomes more
the norm. I truly believe that many of you reading this right
now don’t think this article had much to do with your style of
coaching or parenting, and I hope that is the case. I just ask that
we all really dig deep in these areas. I know I am speaking to
myself when I say that also. Nobody is perfect and there are so
many traps for each of us to fall into daily, but we all are only
given today to live to the highest and fullest potential. None of
us know what tomorrow might bring.
In closing, you might ask why the title of “Don’t Try So Hard.”
For me, life here on earth is very short and I don’t want or
need my days to be all about growing a company or having the
nicest things in life. For the first 33 years of my life it was about
pleasing parents and people around me, being business minded,
and chasing things of monetary value. Recently, I have found
my peace and rest in just investing into people and taking what
each day throws at me. I think too many times we all get caught
up on the next best thing or next best team or the next best job,
or the next best whatever. Instead, just go home tonight and
find the rest that we all need and just love your family and your
kids. Tell each of them how much you love them, and if you are
going to try really hard at something then make that investing
into your family.
Record 142 Teams Converge on Four Big League Dreams
Parks for Southern Ca. USSSA Fastpitch World Series
by Stacy Fish
10U Champions
I. E Hot Shots
12U Champions
No Doubt Downey, CA.
14U Champions
Renegades Orcutt, CA.
16U Champions
A Cut Above Covina, CA.
18U Champions
OC Highthawks Yorba Linda, CA.
38 USSSA TODAY
Chino, CA.
Sportsmanship Award Winners
10UBownet
12U
Team Lidle
14U
Valley Cats
16U
Crown City Coyotes
18U
Newport Beach Riptide Sharks
Chelsea Wilson, Brand Marketing Manager Worth Sports
Worth Fastpitch Experts Discuss:
Choosing the Right Size Bat
The most common questions I’m asked are “what size
bat should my daughter use” and “how can she get more
power?” There’s no doubt I’m going to tell you that our
Worth LEGIT and SICK lines are the best bats out there
(just ask our National Champion Oklahoma Sooner Softball
Team), but as the Fastpitch Experts, we’ll use this article as an
educational piece versus a sales pitch.
Let’s start with sizing: before getting into materials,
there are two key points in picking out the proper bat-length and weight. We have a quick test to help you determine what length best fits you.
1) Stand with your arms at your side and the end of
the bat on the ground. A proper bat length would
rest the knob of the bat at or no more than 2” above
your wrist.
2) Then to test the bat weight grip the bat handle with
your dominant hand, palm flush with the knob.
3) Hold the bat straight out in front of you at shoulder
height, with your thumb facing the ceiling, and your
fingers wrapped around the grip.
4) Now, try to write Worth in the air. If you cannot write
Worth without straining the bat is too heavy.
This test is simple enough to be done in a store, but isn’t
exactly complete. When you can, it’s best to get in a couple
dry swings, making sure that the bat is controlled from the
shoulder to contact. The bat shouldn’t drop like it’s hard
to swing; it should have a nice, strong movement toward
contact.
Now let’s focus on fitting the equipment for the type
of hitter. The difference in equipment can be the difference
between a ball that gets through the infield or over the
fence, and a ball that the defense can get to and make a
play on.
So what makes the difference? A lot is going to depend
on the type of hitter you are. Are you a slapper and rely on
your speed? Do you hit for power? Let’s look at both.
Our favorite, hitting for power: the key to any swing is
control from the shoulder to contact then extension through
contact, but what turns singles into doubles is weight. A bat
that is more end-loaded, a -8 ounce, -9 ounce or even -10
ounce drop, is carrying itself through the bottom of your
swing, therefore creating more drive and lift. For players
that can control a heavier bat, it is much more advantageous
to swing a bat that is end-loaded; however, every swing
comes down to proper mechanics, control and contact.
For a slapper: the key to slapping is placement; making
sure the ball is out of a defenders reach long enough to
hustle down the line. To ensure the ability to place a slap,
control over the bat is most important, and a balanced bat
is perfect. Any bat in a -9 or -10 oz drop is ideal, and in the
length appropriate for the player.
I hope this article answers some important questions.
You can find out more information on Worth fastpitch
products by visiting www.worthsports.com, facebook.com/
worthfastpitch or following @WorthFastpitch.
Softball Player Keilani Ricketts Signs
Multi-Year Deal with Worth Sports
Ricketts to Endorse Worth Products, Introduce Signature Bat Line in 2014
Worth Sports, a leading manufacturer of fastpitch and
slowpitch softball equipment, is proud to have recently
signed American softball player Keilani Ricketts to a multiyear endorsement contract. Ricketts is a 2013 Honda Cup
Winner and was a member of the winning 2011 World Cup
of Softball team.
“I am extremely honored that Worth Fastpitch has
given me this opportunity to represent its products while
I continue my softball career professionally,” says Ricketts.
“Because I used Worth throughout my college career at
Oklahoma, I have all the confidence that their products are
the best out there and will help me further my career as well
as promote the game to younger players.”
As the new face of Worth Fastpitch, Ricketts will be
featured in a full marketing campaign that encompasses
print, digital and social media, as well as other grassroots
efforts. The endorsement involves a signature bat series and
also includes gloves, helmets and various other products.
Ricketts’ signature bat line is scheduled to hit stores in 2014.
“We could not have asked for a
better athlete to represent our brand,”
commented Mark Kraemer, brand
management director of Worth Sports®.
“Keilani is an exemplary athlete on and
off the field. She has dominance in
the circle, power at the plate, and she
understands the importance of being a
role model for the future of fastpitch.”
In addition to the 2013 Honda Cup
Ricketts also received two Honda Sports
Awards for softball and two USA Collegiate Player of the
Year awards. She also is the 2013 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year
and Women’s College World Series MVP. Beyond these
awards, Ricketts has been nominated for an ESPY as the Best
Female College Athlete. She joins only two other Sooners to
have ever been nominated, the Los Angeles Clipper’s Blake
Griffin and St. Louis Rams Sam Bradford.
USSSA TODAY 39
Some New & Some Familiar Faces
Return to the Champions Circle!
by Matt Trebuchon
Once again, the 2013 installment of
the USSSA Baseball Elite World Series
lived up to its top billing. Another two
unbelievable weeks chock full of baseball played at its highest level on the
grandest of all stages!
MVP from Diamond MVP was Skylar
Kelsey and the Offensive MVP was
awarded to Roy Chandler of the Astros.
Elite World Series Most Valuable Player
honors was bestowed on Issac Casillas of
Diamond MVP.
Session I (July 13 – 20) pitted eighty-eight
10U, 12U and 14U teams playing more
than 300 games at ESPN’s Wide World
of Sports in what many may consider
the most competitive of all Elite Sessions
and when the dust settled on Saturday
afternoon, the 10U Diamond MVP, 12U
EM Majors and 14U East Cobb Astros
stood atop the mountain!
In the 12U division, Arkansas’ EM Majors
ruined Diamond MVP’s bid for two Elite
Championships with a 4-3 nail biting
final in Champions Stadium. The Majors’
perfect 9-0 path took them through the
Detroit Bees 8-5, Tidewater Drillers 6-2,
West Monroe Sox 10-1, Orlando Tigers
5-1, Las Vegas Rebels 6-3, Weston Black
Hawks 5-3, fellow Arkansans, the Mighty
Ducks 2-0 and finally MVP. For the week,
EM scored 58 runs while allowing just
18, outscoring their opponents by an
average margin of 6.4. Diamond MVP
finished play with an 8-1 record topping
Team Combat 7-2 and 9-1, the Las Vegas
Rebels 6-5, the PSA Worth Sox 6-0,
Spalding A’s 4-1, the Keller Crush 2-1 and
8-0 and Miami’s Team MVP 6-5 before
falling in the title bout. Superlatives
were awarded to Diamond MVP’s Chase
Adkison (Defensive MVP) and Devon
Koonce of the Majors (Offensive MVP &
Tournament Most Valuable Player).
Diamond MVP played a near perfect
10-1 for the week outscoring their
10U competition 68-14. In Pool Play,
the Southern California MVP squad
dismantled Vengeance Baseball and
the Mokena Blaze 9-1 and 11-0 before
sweeping Georgia’s DKSA Elite, 5-1.
In the opening round of Bracket Play,
MVP cut down the Atlanta Angels 7-0
before moving on to beat the Motor
City Hit Dogs of Detroit, Michigan, 5-1.
Round Three saw MVP hick-up and drop
their only contest to the Yalobusha
Giants 7-3. From the Loser’s Bracket,
the boys from SoCal wheeled off three
straight wins versus the Motor City Hit
Dogs 2-1, and the Giants twice, 8-0 and
4-0 to claim their right to the semifinals. Friday afternoon, MVP drew the
Banditos Black of Houston and made
easy work of the Texans 9-2. On the
other side of the Bracket, the 10U East
Cobb Astros were making their run by
knocking off Team Virginia 15-0, St.
Louis Prospects 10-1, CBC Riverhawks
6-1, Alabama Elite 13-2, Club All-Star
6-1, Team Halo 12-6 and 7-1 and finally
the Lamorinda Knights of Northern
California, 6-2 in their semi-final setting
up Championship Saturday’s first game
in Champion Stadium on ESPN. The 5-1
final score was not as close as the game
was played with MVP scoring 3 runs late
to cruise to the title. The 10U Defensive
40 USSSA TODAY
In what’s becoming an Elite World Series
standard in the 14U division, the East
Cobb Astros clinched yet another title
(2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013)
adding a ring to the other hand. Their
2013 run was not nearly as suspenseful
as last years but the older East Cobb
bunch did stumble in their first Pool
Play game to the HBF Maroons 7-1…
then never looked back finishing the
Elite with an 8-1 record. In route to title
number six, the boys from Marietta,
Georgia knocked off Bullet Baseball
8-1 and 10-2, in park foe, the East Cobb
Titans 7-1, the Mac-n-Seitz Indians 12-5,
Motor City Hit Dogs 7-1, Storm Baseball
8-1 and last but not least, Louisiana’s
Tigers 6-3 in the Championship contest.
In nine games, the big Astros outscored
the field 64-22 (4.6 runs per match
average). The Runner-Up Tigers played
perfect all week too, until running into
the Astros in Championship Saturday’s
night cap. On their road to the finals, the
Tigers took down the Texas Spikes 7-4,
Team Extreme 13-1, Colorado Angels
8-4, AASA Athletics 8-4 and 6-2, East
Bay Bombers 4-3, and Team Adrenaline
4-3. The Tigers’ Cole Johnson took home
Defensive MVP honors while East Cobb’s
Donald Gleneski and Weston Bizzle
captured Offensive MVP and Elite World
Series Most Valuable Player respectively.
Session II (August 3 – 10) was full of
excitement with 96 odd aged teams (9U,
11U and 13U) playing 340+ games on
14 fields, also at ESPN’s Wide World of
Sports.
As tradition serves, the 9U division is
always exciting with each team’s first
visit to the Elite World Series. This
year was no different as Team Citius
USA captured what could be its first of
several possible future titles. Their week
began with 5-5 tie in Pool Play (Citius’
only blemish) against The Train. From
that point forward, the club was relentless, outscoring their next eight opponents 91-28; an average of 7 runs per
contest. Victims included the Arkansas
Storm 16-2, Miami Cyclones 7-4, Team
Rawlings 12-4 and 9-1, Beaver Valley of
Western Pennsylvania 13-5, the Dulin’s
Dodgers of Memphis Tennessee 13-5,
the Florida Battalion 6-2 and finally
a 10-0 Mercy Rule Title Match versus
Team MVP on Championship Saturday.
Runner-Up, Team MVP played 7-1 baseball into the final game and dropped
several tough competitors along the
way to include the South Florida Stealth
twice, Michigan Blue Jays, Atlanta
Prospects, Tampa Tribe twice and Easton
Elite, 5-1, 15-5, 7-2, 12-1, 12-9, 7-2 and
11-0 respectively. MVP’s Jorge Bello was
awarded Offensive MVP honors while
Team Citius USA’s Keaton Grady earned
Defensive MVP and Magnus Miller
earned Elite World Series Most Valuable
Player credentials.
The 11U division was captured by
Miami’s Team MVP but they chose to
take the long route through the Loser’s
Bracket to do so. After sweeping Pool
Play by trumping their three opponents
27-6, the Florida boys jumped all over
the Cincy Flames 9-0 in their opening
42 USSSA TODAY
round of Bracket Play. In rounds two
and three they knocked off Tennessee’s
RBI Rangers 5-4 and the BPA DeMarini
Elite 9-7. In round five, DeMarini sent
Team MVP to the Loser’s Bracket in
a 14-7 washing, setting up the infamous “if” game, and what a game it
was! Knotted at 3 through 5 innings,
Team MVP laid a three spot out in a
sixth inning outburst to cap off the
day with a 6-3 win. In their semi-final
contest, they squeaked out a thriller
past the Elite Gamers from McDonough
Georgia, 4-2 setting up an in-state rival
Championship contest versus the Florida
Battalion. Their Championship matchup was a true pitcher’s duel with no
runner advancing past second base until
the sixth inning when Team MVP landed
two runs to claim the title. Jackson
Miller and Blake Wright of the Battalion
were honored with Co-Offensive MVP
declarations while Team MVP’s JoJo
Cruz Torres was bestowed Defensive
MVP and Sebastian Moore was crowned
Elite World Series Most Valuable Player.
The 13U division was full of surprises as
both favored teams, Sports55 Elite and
the Central Florida Gators lost in the
semi-finals. Eventual Champions Dig In
Baseball from Maryland played perfect
ball all week long going 8-0 while
outscoring their opponents by a 5.25
runs per contest average. Along the
way, Dig In downed the Fremont Wicked
1-0, HITZ Baseball Club 6-4 and Florida
Piranaz 4-3 in Pool Play. Their Bracket
Play run included wins against the Coast
Titans 13-5, Queens New York’s Bronx
Bombers 15-7 and 8-0, Sports55 Elite
7-0 and in the end, the like undefeated
Gulf Coast Elite 13-6. Gulf Coast did
their fair share of damage also, beating
the SoCal Outlaws 8-2 and 10-2, Florida
Black Hawks 14-1, Coast Titans 5-4, Key
West Conchs 10-2, Central Florida Gators
8-7 in 15 innings. Dig In Baseball’s David
Clarke was awarded Elite World Series
Most Valuable Player honors while
team mate Salvador Antonio earned
the Defensive MVP award. Cameron
Gray of the Gulf Coast squad took home
Offensive MVP honors.
Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the
Elite World Series, all six Championship
Games were played on Championship
Saturday at Champion Stadium on ESPN.
Coach,
Be one of the first 10 teams to register and payout by October 31, 2013 and pay only $399.00*
per participant! When you give your team the GREATEST baseball experience on the planet
in 2014! The Omaha Champions Village is the only complex in the world where during the
glory days of summer you can test yourself daily against competition from across the United
States, and take in the greatest amateur sporting event in America, the NCAA College World
Series. We are very similar to the Cooperstown experience, but the Omaha Champions Village
experience takes place at the same time as the NCAA College World Series.
Check out a few reasons why a visit to the Omaha Champions Village is a must in 2014:
• Experience the NCAA College World Series
• Grow closer as a TEAM when you enjoy 5 nights of lodging with your teammates in your
very own team clubhouse!
• Compete against top travel teams from around the nation
• Participate in the opening ceremonies skills competitions featuring: Team around the Horn,
Fleet Foot, Golden Arm and Home Run Derby.
• Play a giant game of twister, get a fake tattoo or dunk your coach on the dunk tank during
family night at the Park
• Each player earns the coveted Omaha All-Star Ring presented during closing ceremonies.
Weeks of Baseball Include:
June 10-15, 2014 (10 Under/11 Under)
June 16-21, 2014 (12 Under)
June 23-28,2014 (12 Under)
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1) Be one of the first 10 teams to register and pay out by Oct. 31, 2013 and pay only $399.00
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Register your team by October 31,2013 and The Omaha Champions Village will send your
team 100 Titanium Baseball Necklaces! You see these popular necklaces selling for $15.00$20.00! Sell 100 necklaces for $20.00 each and your team earns $2000.00, sell for $15.00 and
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A Proud Partner of USSSA
USSSA Karate is bringing martial arts
organizations and instructors together from
the United States and across the world
By Adrian Ellis
44 USSSA TODAY
Every seat is the
best
seat
In West Texas, sports are a fundamental part of our culture.
No matter the game, we have the fans for it. So finding great
seats in Lubbock is easy, just like planning an event here. You
bring the event, we’ll provide the venue and fans to match.
lubbocksports.org 800.692.4035
Numbers Continue to Climb
in USSSA Volleyball
by David Brasher
With the ending of this fiscal year on July 31, 2013, USSSA
Volleyball saw a 31% growth in team registrations and a
300% increase in number of tournaments hosted. USSSA
Volleyball increased its active presence from 12 states in
2012 to 16 states in 2013. With new directors appointed
in an additional 15 states USSSA Volleyball appears
poised for a break out year in 2013-2014.
Once again this past year West Texas leads the way in
team registrations, followed by Louisiana, Michigan,
New Jersey, and Hawaii. USSSA Volleyball looks forward
to expanding these areas as well as the other states
currently registering USSSA Volleyball teams and adding
other parts of the country to the USSSA Volleyball
banner during the coming year.
USSSA Volleyball registers teams and hosts leagues and
tournaments in all varieties of volleyball, from the beach
to the indoor circuit, youth as well as adult, male, female
or coed, USSSA Volleyball offers whatever type volleyball you may be interested in playing.
USSSA Volleyball offers the most competitive registration fee in the industry. Insurance is available for individual teams, leagues, individual directors, and facilities.
Insurance information is available at www.usssa.com.
Bid forms for anyone interested in hosting a State,
Divisional, National or World Tournament, are available
at the email address listed below. Bids may be submitted
for any form of volleyball listed on the USSSA website.
All bids will be due by October 30, 2013. This will make it
possible to announce the host sites at the USSSA National
Convention that will be held on November18-22 in Fort
Myers, Florida. Everyone attending the USSSA National
Convention is invited to attend the volleyball meetings
scheduled during that week.
Opportunities are still available in many states to
become part of the foundation of USSSA Volleyball in
those states. USSSA Volleyball provides its members the
ability to host events to raise money for their schools,
churches, favorite charity or themselves. Many states
already have established programs write us at the email
below to see if there are openings in your state.
For more information on USSSA Volleyball check us out
online at www.usssa.com/sports/home.asp?Sport=18.
Anyone interested in being involved with USSSA
Volleyball as a director, official, tournament host or if
you have questions about USSSA Volleyball not answered
on the website, contact David Brasher USSSA Volleyball
National Chairman at [email protected] or 318-640-4079.
46 USSSA TODAY
Kailey Williams, 11 - Cedar Park, TX
(800) 327-0074
Strawberry Classic
Dominated by 9-11
Age Group
by Ian Auzenne
Springfield, LA—The Louisiana USSSA
experienced another first at its Mizuno
Strawberry Classic. Typically, older
golfers make up the majority of a tournament’s field. However, 17 of the 37
golfers that played this weekend at
Carter Plantation Golf Club came from
the youngest age group--the 9-11 age
bracket.
High golfer claimed the Boys 15-18
championship in dominating fashion.
Jakuback finished the tournament at +4
(148) after shooting 76 in the first round
and an even-par 72 in the second round.
Steven Benoit took second place by
finishing four strokes off the lead. Evan
Lefort of Luling claimed third place by
finishing five strokes off the lead.
That division also provided the
Strawberry Classic’s tightest competition as only one stroke separated first
and second places and only two strokes
separated first and fourth places.
A strong second-round performance by
Cameron Little secured his first championship on the USSSA Junior Golf Tour.
Little, of Baton Rouge, entered the
second day tied at 82 with runner-up
Nolan Lambert of Gretna. Little shot 73
in the second round to finish at 155 and
win the Boys 12-14 division title. Lambert
shot 77 to finish at 159. Zachary Barrios
of Slidell finished third by shooting 162.
Ryan Dupuy of Baton Rouge claimed his
first USSSA title by shooting 78 in the
18-hole event. He barely held on to a
lead he carried into the second round
over fellow Baton Rouge golfer Brandon
Rogillio, Jr. Although Rogillio made a
late push to force a tie late in the second
round, a double bogey sealed his fate.
Rogillio tied for second place with Karan
Patel of Alexandria. Both shot 79. Three
golfers tied for fourth place. Cameron
Guidry (Picayune, MS), Chance Queen
(Alexandria), and Trey Morse (New
Orleans) each shot 80.
The only girl competing in the tournament was Caroline Covington. The
Denham Springs resident competed in
the 9-11 age group and shot 124 in the
two-day, 18-hole event.
Matthew Jakuback claimed his first
USSSA championship in his third appearance on tour. The Baton Rouge/Catholic
48 USSSA TODAY
The next stop on the Mizuno Louisiana
USSSA Junior Golf Tour is the Tamahka
Trails Golf Course in Marksville. That’s
where the 2013 Mizuno Back-2-School
Classic will be held on the weekend of
September 7. The deadline to enter the
tournament is September 5. For more
information about the tournament
and the tour, visit www.usssatoday.com
or e-mail Robert Boudreaux at robert.
[email protected].
Girls 9-11: Caroline Covington, Denham Springs, LA.
Boys 9-11: (L-R) Karan Patel, Alexandria; Ryan
Dupuy, Baton Rouge; Brandon Rogillio, Baton Rouge;
Cameron Guidry, Picayune, MS; Trey Morse, New
Orleans; Chance Queen, Alexandria.
Boys 12-14: (L-R) Zachary Barrios, Slidell; Nolan
Lambert, Gretna; Cameron Little, Baton Rouge.
USSSA is a multi-sports organization and
offers competition in Youth and Adult
Baseball, Basketball, Fast Pitch Softball,
Flag Football, Karate, Lacrosse, Slow
Pitch Softball, Soccer, Tae Kwan Do,
Volleyball, Wrestling, and Junior Golf.
Boys 15-18: (L-R) Steven Benoit, Marrero; Matthew
Jakuback, Baton Rouge; Evan Lefort, Luling.
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USSSA Launches “Team of the Week”
Each week, amazing things happen on the soccer field- champion efforts, game-winning goals, slide tackles, shining displays
of sportsmanship and more. But often times, these achievements go unnoticed. That is all about to change.
In an effort to highlight the remarkable action of top players,
USSSA Soccer is excited to introduce “Team of the Week”.
Representatives are encouraged to nominate two exceptional
players, one male and one female, from their organization.
USSSA will review the applicants and carefully compile a virtual
all-star team of the week.
Players who have made the USSSA Soccer Team of the Week
will be recognized across all USSSA Soccer channels including
the monthly newsletter, USSSAsoccer.com, Facebook and
Twitter. Players will also receive a certificate acknowledging
their accomplishment.
A completed nomination form will include the player’s name,
jersey number, position, club, Facebook or Twitter accounts,
club and league Facebook or Twitter accounts and a brief expla52 USSSA TODAY
nation describing why the player is being nominated. A photograph is optional.
Coaches, team managers, leagues, and tournament directors
are all encouraged to nominate players. Each nominee is not
guaranteed a spot on the all-star team of the week. Players
who do not earn a position will receive honorable mentions. All
nominations will be sent through the nomination form found
at www.usssasoccer.com.
At the end of the 2013/14 season, USSSA Soccer will announce
both a player and team of the year.
USSSA Soccer is also thrilled to announce a new, monthly
photography competition. Do you have any prize-winning
photographs of that muddy slide tackle or 2 v 1 header? Send
them in! League members and players are encouraged to
submit all photographs to [email protected] with information including the name, number, team and league of the player
or players featured. USSSA will select the top three photos and
post them on the USSSA Soccer Facebook and Twitter pages.
2013 Hispanic World Tournament
NOVEMBER 8-10, 2013 • BIG LEAGUE DREAMS • LEAGUE CITY (HOUSTON), TEXAS
To enter contact:
Greg Huchingson
(979) 774-9408
[email protected]
HOST HOTEL
Located just one exit north of
Big League Dreams on Interstate 45
at the corner of NASA Road 1.
Call Stephanie at (281) 724-6091 or
email to [email protected]
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Texas championship decided at
LSSO “Battle For The Rings”
By Van Galeon
MANSFIELD, TEXAS – The old saying goes, “Everything’s Bigger
in Texas” and that certainly applies to slow-pitch softball.
Lone Star Shootout Point Standings.
In 2012, there were more USSSA teams registered in Texas
than any other state. In fact, Texas is so big that, for USSSA
purposes, it is divided into three “States” – North Texas, South
Texas and West Texas. The combination of those three registrations in 2012 totaled 7,592 which eclipsed the combination of
Northern California and Southern California at 7,382.
At “Battle For The Rings”, in true Texas tradition, Super Bowlstyle rings were awarded to members of the championship
teams in each division. This year’s piece featured a prominent
star surrounded by stones on the face of the gaudy ring. And
though some say it resembles the star worn on the side of the
helmet of a popular pro football team in Dallas, it actually
signifies the lone “star” of the Lone Star Shootout Series.
With so many teams in such a large geographic area, it can be
difficult to determine a true State Champion. But the WORTH
Lone Star Shootout State Championship Series is the premier
adult slow-pitch softball program in Texas. Qualifiers began
in early January and were held in every corner of the state
on a weekly basis, culminating with the Grand Championship
“Battle for the Rings” in late July.
The 2013 Lone Star Shootout Series “Battle For The Rings”
was held July 26-28 at Big League Dreams in Mansfield, Texas
located between Dallas and Fort Worth. The modern eightfield complex was selected due to its large number of fields,
plus its recently installed FieldTurf playing surfaces which
virtually eliminates weather-related issues. A record 136 teams
qualified for this year’s event.
In every division, there were 10 Automatic Berths awarded for
the “Battle for the Rings.” Those bids went to the top two
finishers at five tournaments – the North Texas State Finals
(Mansfield), South Texas State Finals (League City), Southwest
State Finals (San Antonio), the gigantic Budweiser Softball
Festival (Bryan-College Station) and North Texas Budfest
(Mansfield). Four other selected tournaments also offered
some Automatic Berths, while the remaining At-Large Berths
were awarded to teams with the next highest totals in the
The competition was as fierce as expected, as four of the five
divisions were decided in an “If” game, and in the only division
without an “If” game, a defending USSSA World Champion
went down in the process.
54 USSSA TODAY
With the three Texas B teams playing at the Conference USSSA
tournament in Mississippi, the highest division offered at
“Battle For The Rings” was Men’s C. The last of the 16 teams
to qualify was Club Chill from Grapevine, who only got in after
three North Texas C teams and another from San Antonio
dropped out in the final week. And the early outlook was bleak
for Club Chill, after losing its opening round game to Number
One-seeded Texas Threat/RBI/Texas Inks from Houston (12-5).
But several players on Club Chill also played on the resilient 2012 Texas Regulators, who also lost their first game at
“Battle For The Rings” and came all the way back through
the loser’s bracket to win the championship. So, Club Chill
went to the loser’s bracket again and got to work beating
Triumph from Houston (14-6), Slapaho from Dickinson (28-21),
LA Strokers form Lafayette, La. (18-14), Olmito Heat/Miken
from Brownsville (17-6), Jokers/FTP from Ft. Worth (14-8) and
Hit-N-Sit from League City (17-8) to make it all the way back to
the championship game against the same Texas Threat team
who sent them to the loser’s bracket. With ice-water running
through their veins, Club Chill proceeded to double-dip Texas
Threat by run-rule margins in both games (18-2 and 15-0) to
capture the crown.
“This tournament was a great example of the competition you
see in the Lone
Men’s C State Champions, Club Chill (Grapevine)
Star Shootout Series. It was a ‘Ring Tournament’ and anytime a
player or team wins a championship ring, that is a great accomplishment,” said Club Chill maager Craig Burns. “I want to thank
Doug Wood and Don Payne for sponsoring us. I would also like
to thank Lorque Cooper and Dwayne Tockey for helping me
put together this excellent team of young and veteran ballplayers. I’m very proud of this team for being able to rebound
from losing the first game, going through the loser’s bracket,
and coming out as the winners of the tournament.”
Following champion Club Chill at 8-1 and runnerup Texas
Threat at 4-2, Hit-N-Sit finished third at 3-2, Jokers/FTP finished
fourth at 4-2, and Olmito Heat/Miken and Budweiser/Franks/
Gooseneck tied for fifth, both at 5-2. Seventh place was shared
by a pair of out-of-state teams – Fallout Sports/Stanley Law
from Oklahoma City and LA Strokers from Lafayette, La.
Members of the Men’s C All-Tournament Team included: Preston
Spurlin, Austin Peacock, Paul Grounds, Ty Patterson and Doug
Wood, of Club Chill; Lance Sholmire, Frank Alexander, Larry
Juarez and Darnell Hawkins, of Texas Threat; Jordan Mills,
Rodney Clifton and Trey Strickland, of Hit-N-Sit; and Jason
Allen, Corie Waldrop and John Handley, of Jokers/FTP.
Men’s C State Runnerups, Texas Threat (Houston)
In the 39-team Men’s D bracket, where teams from North Texas
(Dallas-Ft. Worth), South Texas (Houston) and Southwest Texas
(San Antonio) claimed supremacy, it was a pair of unheralded
teams from Central Texas who claimed the top two spots.
HKI/STFU from Austin advanced to the winner’s bracket finals by
knocking off Texas Pride from Ft. Worth (21-7), Headrush/A&A
Utility from Conroe (15-4), Farm Club from D-FW (10-9) Canes
51210 from San Antonio (17-2) and SA Hitmen also from San
Antonio (10-9). Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket,
Team Hood/Louisville Slugger from Killeen/Fort Hood was busy
defeating Team Cerveceros from Houston (12-2), Playoffs from
Seguin (18-17), Bohika from Odessa (7-3) and Allegiance form
Spring (13-8).
In the King Seat game, HKI/STFU blitzed Team Hood by the
score of 27-9. Then, the Louisville Slugger-sponsored team
dropped to the loser’s bracket and beat Allegiance (9-7) to get
Men’s D State Champions, HKI/STFU (Austin)
USSSA TODAY 55
back to the championship, where they beat HKI/STFU (11-7) to
set up a winner-take-all “If” game. Both teams were drained
by late Sunday afternoon, but HKI/STFU had enough left to
win a low-score affair (7-2) to claim the crown.
Following champion HKI/STFU at 7-1 and runnerup Team
Hood/Louisville Slugger at 6-2, Allegiance came in third place
at 5-2 and Texas Hazmat from Conroe finished fourth at 6-2. SA
Hitmen and Asylum Softball from Houston tied for fifth place;
Icon Machine from Little Elm and Team Worth It/Star Bar from
Orange tied for seventh; and B&N Sportsbar/Texas Crooks from
San Antonio, Head First from Dickinson, Bohika and Canes
51210 all tied for ninth.
Members of the Men’s D All-Tournament Team were: Jon Eric
Villegas, Kevin Martinez, Edward Villarreal, Jason Torres and
Andrew Rayas, of HKI/STFU; Eric Querry, Lee Diaz, James Rice
and Richard Pomeroy, of Team Hood; Josh Tittle, Bryant Hicks
and Anthony Eisfeldt, of Allegiance; and Aaron Cervenka,
Oscar Santos and Jonathan Cole, of Texas Hazmat.
Perhaps the most anticipated bracket of the tournament was
Men’s E, which also featured 39 teams. Several powerhouse
teams had dominated their areas of the state. Dodging Bullets
was clearly the best team from North Texas; Them Boyz was
the class of East Texas; Cage Bombs had a 34-game winning
streak at one point in Central Texas; Did That, OuttaControl
and Hammerdown took turns on top in San Antonio; and Texas
Rampage, ATM/TI Sports, DX and Chop City were the best in
Houston. All of these forces, plus many more, came together in
Mansfield to determine the Best of Texas in Men’s E and they
did not disappoint.
In the top half of the bracket, hometown favorite Dodging
Bullets from nearby Midlothian, defeated All Hoodrat from San
Antonio (16-6), Chop City from Houston (13-9), Slaughterhouse
from Corpus Christi (15-14) and Team Mash from San Antonio
(12-9) to advance to the winner’s bracket finals. Meanwhile,
in the bottom half, the confident Cage Bombs from Austin
knocked off South ETX Softball from Lumberton (18-3), Player
Haters from Dallas (11-8), Them Boyz from Tyler (10-7) and
Hammerdown from San Antonio (11-9) to join Dodging Bullets
in the King Seat game.
Men’s D State Runnerup, Team Hood (Killeen)
Men’s E State Champions, Cage Bombs (Austin)
In an epic battle of North vs. South, the Dodging Bullets took
an early lead and held on to claim a hard-fought 12-9 victory.
Cage Bombs dropped to the loser’s bracket and barely beat
Them Boyz (9-8) to get another shot at Dodging Bullets. Then,
in a pair of amazing one-run games, Cage Bombs defeated
Dodging Bullets twice (9-8 and 10-9) to capture the crown.
“The surreal feeling of running into the infield after the unassisted double play to win the championship game ranks as the
number one accomplishment in all of our softball careers,”
said Cage Bombs player/manager Charlie Lenhard. “Players
play for years in hopes of winning a ring, and we accomplished
it in our first try. I could not be more proud of our team for
the way they played. In moments of adversity, you have to dig
down deep and trust your teammates and that is exactly what
we did the whole tournament.”
Lenhard also recognized the competitive balance of the teams
in the bracket.
56 USSSA TODAY
Men’s E State Runnerups, Dodging Bullets (Midlothian)
“Every team we battled against was great,” he added. “It was
like a Holyfield vs. Tyson title bout every game, with each team
laying haymakers throughout. Luckily, we bobbed and weaved
at the right time and came out on top.”
Following the champion Cage Bombs at 7-1 and runnerup
Dodging Bullets at 5-2, Them Boyz finished third at 6-2 and the
Warriors from Hondo came in fourth at 7-2. Hammerdown and
Team Mash tied for fifth place; Chop City and Slaughterhosue
tied for seventh; and Did That and SA Rattlers from San
Antonio, along with Texas Rampage and ATM/TI Sports from
Houston, all tied for ninth.
Members of the Men’s E All-Tournament Team were: Pete
Lindeman, Cory Thell, Randon Cano, Ryan Crnic and Charlie
Lenhard, from Cage Bombs; Chet Kelley, Colten Conner,
Christopher Bradshaw and Derek Bryant, from Dodging
Bullets; Evan Gillespie, Shane Akin and Kevin Bullington, from
Them Boyz; and Arnold Gomez, Robert Maldonado and Jeffrey
Gonzales, from The Warriors.
There were 26 teams in the Women’s division and it was the
only bracket that did not go to an “If” game, although the
winning team certainly did not have an easy path along the
way. Straight Shot/Mizuno from Spring, who was the Number
Two seed coming into the tournament, drew 2012 USSSA
Women’s C World Champion Team Dallas Women in their
first game and won a narrow 11-10 decision. Straight Shot/
Mizuno then went on to beat Bryant Express from Bryant, Ark.
(13-9), Cajun Chaos from Shreveport, La. (20-17) and Number
One seed Famous Freaks/Diamond Sports from Sanger (7-5) to
advance to the championship, where they beat Goonie Proof
from Waco (11-6) to capture the crown.
“Battle For the Rings might be the toughest tournament of the
year to win. Not only does every team earn their way in, this
tournament truly draws the best teams from all of South Texas,
North Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana,” noted Straight Shot/
Mizuno manager Kenny Scobee. “In our part of the bracket
alone, you had such good teams as Team Dallas, Rub and Tug,
Bryant Express and Lady Brokers just to name a few. And if you
happen to get through those teams, you’re staring at the best
teams from Louisiana and North Texas. However, I feel that
playing these kind of teams gives us an advantage when we
go to Orlando (USSSA Worlds) every year. These teams get us
ready for the kind of teams we’ll be playing against there. Our
goal EVERY year is to win in Orlando. We’ve finished as high as
second a few years ago, and feel that this team has the talent
and ability to do as well or better. We may not, but we’ll damn
sure be there giving it a try.”
Women State Champions, Straight Shot/Mizuno (Spring)
Women State Runnerup, Goonie Proof (Waco)
Mixed State Champions, Co-ed Connection (San Antonio)
Scobee, a recent induction into the Texas USSSA Hall of Fame
as a player, has overseen a major renovation project on the
women’s team he manages. In 2012, the team added 12 new
players, and this year they added six more.
“I think winning Battle of the Rings was better this year than
in the past, because we have so many new faces this year,” said
Scobee. “And in many cases, girls that were complete strangers
to each other, or having never played slow pitch at all. It has
definitely been a challenge at times. These girls do a tremendous job of supporting each other.”
58 USSSA TODAY
Mixed State Runnerups, DCoed (Houston)
After champion Straight Shot/Mizuno with a 5-0 record, and
runnerup Goonie Proof with a 7-2 record, Famous Freaks
came in third at 3-2 and Bryant Express captured fourth at 5-2.
Cajun Chaos and Lady Terror Squad form Bryan tied for fifth
place; Rub and Tug BBQ from Austin and Lady Top Dog from
Beaumont tied for seventh; and Jolt from Dallas, Lego/Texas
Inks form Pearland, and Connection and Unknowns, both from
San Antonio, all tied for ninth.
Members of the Women’s All-Tournament Team were:
LaShonda McCollister, Jennifer Pena, Cheryl Wyrick, Morgan
Mikulin and Jamie Jensen-Rogers, of Straight Shot/Mizuno;
Haley Feight, Melanie Bisek, Courtney Walters and Jordan
Walters, of Goonie Proof; Brooke Devader, Korine Cook and
Brandy Brown, of Bryant Express; and Sarah Tavarez, Nancy
Robison and Shaylon Whisenhunt, of Famous Freaks.
Finally, in the 16-team Mixed bracket, defending USSSA Mixed
C World Champion Co-ed Connection from San Antonio used
its post-season experience to outlast the other teams in the
field. Co-ed Connection defeated the Horns from Lampasas
(11-6), Saints and Sinners from San Antonio (21-2), TNS from
San Antonio (16-5) and Angels & Demons from Austin (8-7) to
advance to the championship game.
DCo-ed from Houston won its first two games over Palace
5ive from Ft. Worth (9-5) and The Misfits from San Antonio
(16-3), before narrowly losing to Angels & Demons (5-4).
DCoed dropped to the loser’s bracket and defeated Saints and
Sinners (16-9), High Octane from Carrollton (14-6) and Angels
60 USSSA TODAY
& Demons in a re-match (9-7) to advance to the championship.
DCoed even beat Co-ed Connection (14-7) to set up a winnertake-all “If” game, which was won by Co-ed Connection (12-4).
“It is an achievement for any team to even get the opportunity
to attend the Battle For The Rings – only the top 16 teams are
invited, so as a coach I knew it wouldn’t be an easy road for us,”
said Co-ed Connection manager Pam Peach. “I knew we would
be facing the ‘Best of the Best’ teams in Texas and surrounding
areas, then of course there’s a ‘Ring’ at stake. In addition to
facing stiff competition, I had to deal with players that were
also playing in the men and women divisions because of their
respective teams qualifying. Literally, a lot of my players went
from a Coed game to a men’s or women’s game, so everyone
was tired by the end of the day.”
Following champion Co-ed Connection at 5-1 and runnerup
DCoed at 5-2, Angels & Demons came in third place at 3-2,
followed by High Octane in fourth at 4-2. Saints and Sinners
and TNS tied for fifth place, Bad Life Decisions from Mansfield
and East Texas Nightmares from Nacogdoches tied for seventh;
and Palace 5ive, The Misfits, Twisted Softball from Euless, and
BMF/SS Softball from Round Rock all tied for ninth.
Members of the Mixed All-Tournament Team were: Jennifer
Adams, Donte Lapoint, Kenny Hare, Daniel Luke Evans and
Willard O’Neal, of Co-ed Connection; Robin Shannon, Rachel
Calzoncit and Larry Juarez, of DCoed; Aaron Harper, Frank
Verver and Alicia Zamora, of Angels & Demons; and Sierra
Saenz, Johnny Reyes and Cody Kagiorgis, of High Octane.
USSSA Slow Pitch Softball Invitational
4-6 October 2013
logo
logo
Divisions of Play: Men’s B/C, Men’s D, Men’s E
Women’s C, Women’s D/E
Entry Fee: $325.00
Information: Bert Frederick 575-647-3034
or email [email protected]
When It Comes To USSSA World Tournaments
Do It Right
BIG CAT
STILL PROWLING THE SOFTBALL FIELDS
Hey softball people, it is almost the end
of another great softball season. Teams are
finalizing their rosters, so they can compete at
the highest level they can. I always liked the
end of the season, because it doesn’t matter
what you did during the course of the regular
season that really matters. The final outcome
was, when all the smoke cleared, is what really
matters to most softball players, coaches and
sponsors.To some teams, the course of the
season does matter, and those are the teams
that are trying to set individual records.
For example some players are trying to
hit 1000.00 in the course of one weekend, or
trying to lead the conference in one of its prestigious categories… most home runs, most
RBI’s, and highest on base percentage. These
are some of the individual awards that mean a
lot to players, but what was important to me
is winning! I feel most of the players would
sacrifice these awards for the granddaddy, and
that is winning the USSSA Men’s Major World
Series.
I remember one year, while playing with
Dave Neale, he actually told me early one
morning, while at the Waffle House, that our
team could not play USSSA. I said to him,”
what are you talking about?” I felt we had
a real good, young team that could beat
anybody. He said no. He said our team could
play ASA, because of the high arc, but when it
came down to USSSA, we could not get the job
done. This was at the beginning of August.. I
said in reply now what? He said we had very
little time, but we had to try and make a few
adjustments to our team, so we could give
ourselves a better chance. We made a few
moves, but our team still did not play well in
the USSSA Men’s Major World Series and that
really irritated me, but it just one more thing I
had to learn about the game.
So, to understand your team and its capabilities, it is a must to be a good coach, or
should I say a winning coach. As I said in my
first statement, now is what it is all about.
Getting yourself revved up to play in the
Worlds. Some players like to have a good time
on the weekends, cutting up with each other
and maybe having a beer or two. I should
know, there was nobody better than myself
and Ken Loeri always trying to sneak something past Dave. He knew me like a book. I
once had a shot at winning the MVP of a tournament, but instead I had two beers before
the championship game. I thought I was
fooling the old man. Instead, I hit only 2 home
runs when I should have hit 4 or 5. Needless to
say, I did not gethe MVP award and the first
thing Dave said to me in the car was, you were
drinking before the game weren’t you. I said
no, no way. But he knew better.
So, my tip to all softball players is to play it
straight. At least in the big time tourneys. You
can always let loose when you get home. Now,
this is coming from a player that did not do it
the right way all of the time either, but I knew
the consequences if I didn’t. So, take note
from me and give your teammates and your
coaches and your sponsors the utmost respect
and do it the right way and play to win. Good
luck to all players fighting for a USSSA Men’s
Major World Series Championship. .
From Anaconda’s Sports Desk: Thank you
to all the softball people around the United
States this year. Anaconda is having its best
year yet and we are selling the softballs off
the chart. I appreciate all of my own personal
customers for this year, because it has been a
good one. I only hope I continue to help serve
you with respect and dignity. Good luck to all
softball people…
Mighty Mike Macenko
Yours Truly,
AKA: The Big Cat
Softball Insight
with Miken’s Isenhower
Team Chemistry is Essential for Success
With the Major World Series right around
the corner, I can’t help but think how fast this
season has gone by... they say time flies when
you’re having fun and boy is this true... I have
to credit this to my teammates, coaches, and
sponsor. They make showing up every weekend
something to look forward to... It also helps
that we have played 12 tournaments so far
winning 10 of them, and at the same time
locking down another Nationwide Conference
USSSA title.... BUT none of that matters, if
we don’t get the big one.. The reason why
last winter seemed to never end, the reason
everyone questioned if our team was losing
the dominance that we always showed when
we finished second at the Major World Series..
The reason anyone at our level plays… the one
tournament that everyone prepares for like it’s
the last time they will ever play.
Going into last year’s World Series, we
62 USSSA TODAY
were the number one seed, but something
just didn’t seem right.. Our team didn’t have
that swagger that we have always had. This
year is different. This group is different. Now,
I can’t sit here and guarantee victory or that
we will dominate the field as we have done
most the year, but what I can promise is that
this team will leave it all on the field at Disney.
That when the final bell rings we will have
nothing left to give.No way will I, or anyone,
on our team be able to go through another
long winter thinking what happened...
I was asked the other day how my bat
performed this season. Well, I can’t be happier.
The Psycho was exactly what I expected it
to be. It was dynamite. No matter what the
conditions were, it performed. This is why
I’m so excited for what’s to come…. the new
Psycho. When Miken and I were thinking
about what to come out with next year for
my new model, I was very vocal that I wanted
to keep the Psycho. If it’s not broke don’t
fix it.. So we did one better. Not only
are we bringing it back this fall, but
we are also offering a balanced
version of this lighting
rod.. Players, of all
weight preference, will be
able to swing
this bat and be comfortable
with it.. Pictures will be out very
soon and anyone that liked this year’s
model will absolutely love what we have
in store for you with the new model.
See everyone in Florida…. go get
ya a title...
Izzy
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Corner
Mike Cornell
Worth Equipment In The
Right Hands Prove To Be A
Winning Combination
Well softball fans, summer is about
over and most teams are wrapping up
the regular season preparing for that
time of year that we all look forward
to- the post season. This is the most
exciting time of the year, as teams of all
levels travel across the country to tournament sites with one goal in mind…
….a USSSA World Championship! It’s
been a great year for Worth’s flagship team, Resmondo/Specialty Tank,
as they completed another successful
campaign. Travis and his coaching staff
put together another great season as
the “Sod Boy’s” finished the Nationwide
Conference USSSA schedule with an
impressive 48-5 record. They won eight
of the ten events they entered and
carried home numerous MVP and all
tournament selections. They will roll
into the Men’s Major World Series with
plenty of momentum as the number
one ranked team in the Conference. The
veteran team will have but one goal in
mind as they enter Disney’s Wide World
of Sports Complex……to recapture the
Men’s Major Title! 2013 has also been a
very successful year for one of our other
long standing Worth sponsored teams.
I would like to commend sponsor Chris
Walker, along with the players and
coaches from FBI/Hub’s/GTS for finishing
the 2013 season as the highest finishing
‘B’ Class team in the Conference. The
boy’s from Bryant, AR completed the
year with a 37-21 record and look to
capture their first World Championship
as they head into Fortune Road Complex
to compete in the USSSA ‘B’ Class World
Series. Another Worth team that will join
FBI in the ‘B’ World will be Chaps/Buzini/
BWW. Jarvis Chappell and his crew from
Jackson, MS were last season’s runnerup in this highly competitive tournament and will look to make a run down
in Kissimmee.
Labor Day weekend is a special time
of the year as the Conference USSSA
Championships get underway at Osceola
County Stadium Complex. This year’s
64 USSSA TODAY
champion
was
Resmondo/Specialty
Tank/Worth. They posted a 4-0 record
and defeated Laservision/Desert Fall’s
in the Winner’s Bracket final and the
Championship game on Sunday. One of
the highlights of this event is the annual
awards banquet held at Mystic Dunes
Resort. Don DeDonatis Sr. and his staff
do an outstanding job planning and
putting on this event to honor the sponsors, players and the umpires for their
dedication and hard work they put into
running the best run slow pitch program
in the country. I would like to take this
opportunity to recognize the Worth
Teams and their players/coaches that
took home All Conference awards and
some very prestigious hardware as well:
All Conference First Team
Andy Purcell (Pitcher) – Resmondo
BJ Fulk (Catcher) – Resmondo
Greg Connell (2nd Base) – Resmondo
Nic Santana (OF) – Resmondo
Bubba Mack (MI) – Resmondo
Don DeDonatis III (shortstop) –
Resmondo
Jimmy Salas (3rd Base) – Resmondo
Jeremy Isenhower (OF) – Resmondo
Saul Simpson (Scorekeeper) –
Resmondo
John Rector (Manager) – Resmondo
Kenny Leach (Infielder) – FBI/Hub’s
All Conference Third Team
Keith Wilks – Chaps/BWW/Buzini
Billy Maggard – Chaps/BWW/Buzini
Tim Bowser – FBI/Hub’s
Cory Newman – FBI/Hub’s
Reggie Schulte – FBI/Hub’s
Mike Wilson (Manager) – FBI/Hub’s
Highest finishing Major Team – Travis
Resmondo –Resmondo/Worth
Highest Finishing B class team
Chris Walker – FBI/Hub’s/GTS
Conference Player MVP of the Year
Dennis Rulli – Resmondo
Home Run Champion
Greg Connell - Resmondo
Defensive Player of the Year
Jeremy Yates – Resmondo
It was a very special year for these
gentlemen and I would like to commend
them all on a great season. Before I get
to the players, I would like to thank
sponsor, Travis Resmondo. His dedication to the game, along with his financial commitment, is second to none. TR
knows the game as good as any sponsor
that has been around at this level. It is
these strengths that help him put the
best team on the field year after year.
2013 was no different, as he and his staff
,that includes Manager John Rector and
Coach Frank Webb, put together the
talent they needed to keep Resmondo
on top. It was no surprise that Travis
took home his eighth consecutive
crystal bowl as sponsor of the highest
finishing major team in conference. As
far as the players go I cannot think of
a better guy to take home this year’s
Player of the Year award than Dennis
Rulli. As Resmondo’s lead-off hitter and
outstanding middle man, the “Little
Giant” from Moorpark, CA always
comes to play and it was great to see
his passion and hard work pay off as he
carries home this coveted award. Rulli
finished the year with a .771 OBP and
had 126 RBI’s. Nice Job Dennis and well
deserved! The Home Run Champion
was
Resmondo
second
baseman
Greg Connell. “Connie” has the same
approach as his teammate Rulli when it
comes to practice and preparation. This
Worth Advisory Staff player works hard
at his craft and is a hardnosed competitor on the field. The big bopper from
Moultrie, GA is most known for his raw
power at the plate, but anybody who
has watched on the field the last several
years know he is also an outstanding
second baseman. Most of the damage
Connell has inflicted on the competition
has been done with his 454 “Sick” signature bat (SBSKBU). Greg hit an amazing
88 home runs this year and carried a
hefty .750 OBP. The Defensive Player of
the Year, outfielder Jeremy Yates, also
plays for Resmondo. This speedster from
Lake City, FL joined the “Sod Boy’s” this
year coming over from Taylor Made. It
did not take him long to make a statement as Jeremy started the year off with
a bang down at the Hall Of Fame dual
event. Jeremy had two inside the park
homeruns and made several “Web Gem”
Billy Maggard- All Conference Third Team
Greg Connell- All Conference First Team 2nd Base
and Home Run Champion
Jeremy “Izzy” Isenhower- All Conference OF
Jimmy Salas- All Conference First Team 3rd Base
Bubba Mack- All Conference First Team MI
BJ Fulk- All Conference First Team Catcher
Andy Purcell- All Conference First Team Pitcher
Tim Bowser- All Conference Third Team
USSSA TODAY 65
plays in the field. Jeremy has a unique
slogan embroidered into his ball glove.
It reads “100% EFFORT”. All I can say is
Yates definitely lives up to that when he
takes the field! Congrats to all of our
All-Conference selections as well as the
year end award winners. We appreciate
the dedication, hard work and the time
you spend away from your families as
your travel the country to play the game
we all love. Good Luck and let’s finish
the year strong!
It’s just about time to put a wrap on
the 2013 season. As summer comes to a
close, I wish all of you success and safe
travels to whatever post season tournament you are heading to. Remember to
play hard and play with passion. I would
also like to send a big THANK YOU to
all the players across the country that
support and use Worth products. You
can be sure that we will continue our
hard work and passion to put the best
equipment in the game into your hands!
Well, that’s it for now……take care and
WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE BALLYARD!
Jeremy Yates (left)-Defensive Player of the Year and
Nic Santana (right)- All Conference First Team OF
Dennis Rulli- Conference Player MVP of the Year
Chris Walker/FBI/Hub’s/GTS- Highest Finishing B
Class Team
Travis Resmondo/ Resmondo/Worth- Highest
Finishing Major Team
Saul Simpson- Scorekeeper
John Rector- Manager
CORNY
Don DeDonatis III- All Conference First Team SS
66 USSSA TODAY
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Manufacturers on display at
“Battle of the Bats”
By Van Galeon
(left to right) Greg Huchingson, Lone Star Softball CEO and Battle of the Bats organizer, umpire Marty Southers, assistant to Alton “heavy peanut” Dean, Scott Duffy and
USSSA Today publisher, Stafford Connor.
MANSFIELD, TEXAS – Each of the eight major slow-pitch softball bat manufacturers were on display at the “Battle Of The
Bats” held August 10-11 at Big League Dreams in Mansfield,
Texas.
many different bats,” said Michael Burns. “This definitely
opened my eyes to some brands of bats that I had never even
heard of, much less swung. The only problem I have now is
deciding which one I want to go buy.”
Unlike many of the stock bat tournaments which often feature
only a couple of brands, “Battle Of The Bats” was represented
by all eight of the majors – Combat, DeMarini, Easton, Louisville
Slugger, Miken, Mizuno, Reebok and Worth.
At the end of the tournament, the 32 demo bats were given
away to the top four teams in each division as a part of the
prize package, offering further exposure for the manufacturers.
“On behalf of the softball players of Texas, we would like
to thank each of the eight manufacturers who generously provided bats for us to use in this tournament,” said
Tournament Director Greg Huchingson. “Seldom have players
been afforded the opportunity to come to one place and
sample such a wide variety of products at one time. It was fun
to watch.”
In the Men’s C/D division, there were 20 teams and the only two
C teams in the bracket amazingly both went 0-2, although they
did have to spot three runs per game. Texas Pride/Prototype
from Ft. Worth went 5-0 to win first place; Texas Connection
from Dallas went 4-2 to finish second; Cloud 9 from Dallas went
5-2 to take third; Conference Café from Lubbock in West Texas
went 3-2 to capture fourth; and Akin 2 Live from Oklahoma
City and Diamond Cartels from Cedar Hill tied for fifth.
Big League Dreams in Mansfield has eight fields and four bats
in different sizes from each of the manufacturers were placed
on each of the eight fields. Only those four bats could be used
in each game. No outside bats were allowed to be brought in.
And the brackets were drawn so that teams weaved among
the eight fields to enjoy the luxury of being able to sample as
many of the products as possible.
“We had a blast playing out here today, getting to swing so
68 USSSA TODAY
In the Men’s E bracket, there were 32 teams and it was an
All-East Texas Party in the championship game, with Them Boyz
from Tyler taking first place with a 6-0 record and East Texas
Softball from Lufkin finishing runnerup at 8-2. Brownwood
Burn from West Texas came in third at 4-2, while North Texas
Anarchy from Ft. Worth and Texas Hurricanes from Arlington
tied for fourth.
Matt Kinsey represents the Wounded
Warrior Amputee Softball Team and
the game of softball with passion
We all know that Matt Kinsey of the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team
(WWAST) is a great ambassador to all athletes that have been either injured in
active duty with the military, born without a limb, or have been involved in an
accident of some sort, so we wanted to get to know more about Matt and what
motivates him day to day. We asked Matt 10 questions and here are his responses.
Matt, tell us a little history
of yourself; where did you
grow up and what were your
hobbies growing up.
I grew up in the small town of
Rockville, Indiana. Having a
father who was a baseball and
football coach at the local high
school, it was pretty clear what
the future had in store for me.
I also enjoyed hunting and
fishing when I wasn’t on the
ball field.
Who were your sports heroes when growing up?
My sports heroes growing up were Ted Williams and Curt
Schilling. When I was old enough to learn about the history
of baseball I realized that Ted Williams was not only the
greatest hitter to ever play the game, but he gave up 6
years of his career to serve his country in two different wars.
That earned my utmost respect. As far as Schilling, I always
admired the way he attacked hitters and how he spoke out
about players using PED’s. His whole career he was a power
pitcher and never used PED’s in an era when, as we know
now, many others did.
How were you injured in the ARMY?
I was on my second deployment to Afghanistan. On June 2,
2010, with two months remaining, I stepped on a land mine
while conducting night operations. I instantly lost my right
foot and took shrapnel to my upper right arm and lower left
leg.
How did you get involved with slow-pitch softball?
I was working out at Walter Reed with Josh Wege, who is
now our WWAST first baseman. He asked about my history
in sports and put me in contact with David Van Sleet who
worked in prosthetics in the Veterans Administration and was
starting the first-ever all amputee softball team. I was invited
to tryouts in Arizona in March of 2011 and have been a part
of the WWAST ever since.
What are your goals in life and sport?
My goals in life are to finish my education and either become
a college football coach or work in the sports industry. As
far as softball, I would like to become the best player I can
possibly be and make it to the top level of the game.
70 USSSA TODAY
What is your greatest accomplishment? (Either on or off the
field)
My greatest accomplishment was serving my country as a
paratrooper on two deployments to Afghanistan, suffering a
severe injury like my amputation, and then pushing myself to
get back on the diamond and not just compete but compete
at a high level. Every time I step on the ball field I hope to
motivate people of all ages to continue to push themselves
no matter what their disability or challenge in life might be.
What is your greatest challenge?
My greatest challenge is having to prove myself as a player
every time I’m on a diamond. Having a prosthetic leg I think
people naturally underestimate you. I feel like I need to challenge myself every day to be the best player I can be regardless of my injury.
How much time do you spend training (daily, weekly)?
I spend a couple hours a day working out, both on and off
the ball diamond. As an amputee it is a must to stay physically
fit. During the summer I play in a couple different leagues
here at home in addition to the WWAST games all around the
country on weekends. I try to get in 100 swings a day.
Do you consider yourself to be someone who is a good
ambassador for the sport?
Yes I do. I was able to go down to Spring Training with
Louisville Slugger this past year and was also a part of the
WWAST disabled sports camp for children where we spent a
week working with 20 kids that are amputees. I’m involved
with a couple leagues here in the community and try doing
anything I can to promote the game as much as possible.
What do you think of the Louisville Slugger slow-pitch
product that is starting to leave its mark on the game?
Louisville Slugger has backed me since day one of my softball
career and I am very grateful for that. I have used their products my whole career and have never been disappointed. Our
new line of gloves and gear is extremely exciting. I’m especially excited about our new Z3000 that will be coming out in
February 2014. I’ve had the opportunity to swing one and I
think that is going to be a great product that players all over
the country are going to want in the bat bag.
*Editor’s note: Matt crushed a ball high off the Green Monster in
famed Fenway Park with the Louisville Slugger Z-3000 when the
WWAST recently played a game against first responders to the
Boston Marathon bombings.
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USSSA Today Bat Reviews
By Michael Cisneros
Photos by Brianne Marie Cisneros
The USSSA bat standards changed for 2013 and bat manufacturers have stepped up to the plate
to offer the best bats allowed by the new USSSA performance testing. As bat makers get closer to
building the best-performing bats allowed by law (OK, allowed by the rules), the focus is moving
toward personalization with the largest range of weights, loads, barrel lengths, materials and
even graphics this generation of players has ever seen. No longer are bat manufacturers releasing
new models just at the beginning of the new season, but they are expanding lines and developing new technologies multiple times a year. Below are some more new offerings from Miken,
DeMarini and Worth that just might complete your season …
Triad Maxload
When two-piece softball bats were introduced, they were
designed for hitters with slow hand speeds and not much
power, and as such were extremely flexible. That design was
attractive to some but left stronger hitters who wanted a twopiece bat demanding stiffer-handled, two-piece-that-feel-likeone-piece designs. All the while Miken – the original composite
bat manufacturer – stayed away from making a two-piece bat
of any kind … until the 2013-14 Triad: it has the flex needed
by weaker hitters and the stiffness desired by stronger hitters
with a new Miken barrel configuration and a specialized
handle designed to bring the entire package together.
According to Miken Sports’ Adam Petersen, the triple-layer
Triad barrel is something the Miken engineers have come up
with specifically for two-piece bats. “It is a new system we use,
you will not see a Triad barrel on a one-piece bat,” he said.
“We are able to make different handles to match that specific
barrel, whether slow pitch, baseball or fastpitch. You can’t do
that with a one-piece bat.”
Triad Technology uses a Triple Pressure application to highest
grade aerospace carbon which creates thinner, denser layers
giving the barrel improved strength, durability, performance
and feedback. It is paired with a Vortex handle where braided
composite layers distribute the load evenly allowing the barrel
layers to operate seamlessly for uninterrupted performance
and flex.
The Triad feels more flexible than the most recent bats because
of its design, but it performs like a stiff bat. “We wanted a
two-piece feel to the bat, but we did not want to take it out of
the power hitters’ hands,” said Petersen. “We didn’t create this
for the lesser player. It has a bigger sweet spot with the Triad
barrel, a stiff Vortex handle, and still has the feel. We wanted
the power hitter to feel comfortable using it.”
The Triad is not just a new bat but a new approach to twopiece bats. “In the old days if you had a bat speed of better
than 73 mph, you actually lost distance swinging a two-piece,”
said Petersen. The Triad with is specific technologies in the
barrel and handle is designed to increase performance at any
swing speed. “Keep in mind that his bat is also designed to hit
a completely different type of ball than the bats of the past
were.”
The Triad is ready to go right out of the wrapper though it
does take a few swings to get the real feel of it; the sound
and feel at contact are very different than what a Miken
hitter is used to experiencing. The sharp “crack” of the Freak
is replaced by a softer “whump.” The violence of a screaming
line drive is replaced by a moment of silence – almost weightlessness – that becomes the vapor trail of a long, deep drive.
The ball, especially the low compression type used in USSSA
this season, really responds to the Triad. “But it feels weird”
is a valid complaint – it does feel different to any Miken and
every other two-piece we’ve tried; it’s smooth and where you
might expect a smash at contact instead there is the whisper
of an energy transfer. But with the changing bat standard
and ball technologies the Triad may simply be ahead of the
curve. We all hit the ball easily and farther than we thought
we would when the hitting session began, and that means it is
a bat we will trust with the game on the line.
Triad Maxload
•Triad3 Technology
•100 Comp •14.5-inch barrel
• Vortex handle
• Synthetic cushioned grip
• Maxload 0.5 oz End Load
continued on page 76
74 USSSA TODAY
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Stadium CL 22
Take the company’s hottest USSSA bat and put the weight in
it like the company’s best hitter prefers and you have the 2014
Stadium CL 22.
“It’s our Stadium signature model,” explained Jerry Garnett of
DeMarini Sports. “It has a 12-inch barrel instead of the regular
13 (inch): it has a little more punch, a little tighter sweet spot,
a little more end-load. As with any player’s signature model
bat, it’s not going to be as forgiving … but that’s OK because
we already have that one covered with the regular Stadium
2.1.”
The CL 22 is made of the same materials in a similar design as
the Stadium 2.1 – the barrel is a multiwall S.ONE composite, a
proprietary design that uses multiple narrow layups of fiber
to create one of the stiffest shells used for softball; the handle
is SC4 alloy, stiffer than any composite handle and tuned to
make the two-piece bat feel like a one-piece design. The SC4
handle is measurably 1.85 times as stiff as the handle used in
DeMarini’s other bats. The differences are in the shorter barrel
length, the end-load, and the Big D End Cap which is the
stiffest end cap the company has and keeps both the weight at
the end and the energy of the impact in the barrel.
The CL 22 is not quite as easy to hit as the Stadium 2.1, but
that doesn’t mean it is hard to hit. There is only one less inch of
barrel and only one more ounce of end load and once you’ve
hit it for a batting practice session you get a feel for where the
good contact is. The 12-inch barrel does not seem small and
the end load does not seem extreme because the two-piece
bat has such a great feel to it. And it truly swings like a onepiece bat – stiff and solid, with genuine feel that is usually not
found in a two-piece bat. Like the Stadium, the CL 22 is hot out
of the wrapper and will be broken in by the time you’ve hit it
enough to figure out exactly which part of the barrel will give
you the most distance.
The CL 22 is the fourth bat in DeMarini’s Stadium Power Series
and is the signature bat of Chris Larsen, an important hitter for
DeMarini according to Garnett. Larsen just finished the Long
Haul Bombers season as the competition’s individual leader in
home runs. This bat was developed for Larsen and hitters like
him.
“That is really who this is targeted for,” said Garnett. “The
player who has fast hands, good power, makes consistent
contact on the barrel. That doesn’t mean that anyone can’t
use it. But it is designed for the better player.”
DeMarini has had tremendous success with the Stadium, with
sales nearly doubling over last year. The CL 22 adds a bat for a
niche DeMarini had been missing.
“We were losing out to other companies that were catering to
those bigger, better players who want shorter barrels and end
loads,” said Garnett. “We needed something to satisfy their
needs.
“It’s nice to have a little more mass out there, a little more
weight around the ball. It’s not a drastic deviation from the
Stadium, but for the first time in the three years of that bat
we’ve made a Stadium for someone looking for a “professional style” signature bat.”
Stadium CL 22
•4.ONE Composite barrel
•SC4 Alloy handle
•Half & Half technology
•12-inch barrel
• End load
• Big D end cap
• Hybrid performance grip
454 Sick
When Worth moved the name “Legit” from its line of onepiece 454 bats to its new line of two-piece bats, it knew it
would have to come up with a new name for the one-piece
line to avoid any confusion moving forward. So they came up
with the name “Sick.” That should have been enough; after
all the 454 series was already wildly popular with players. But
Worth went ahead and changed the actual bat as well. The
new version is stiffer, softer, nasty, filthy, dirty … in short, it’s
sick.
76 USSSA TODAY
“On the surface they seem similar (to the previous 454 models);
they are 100% composite with 454 layup in the barrel,” said
Worth Sports’ Mike Cornell. “But there are differences. The
sweet spot is definitely bigger than in the previous 454, there’s
just no question. That’s because the 454 matrix has been elongated and the handle has been stiffened. The technology is
pretty much the same, but with the 454 matrix elongated
everything else gets amped up.”
continued on page 78
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DEMARINI.COM
Worth’s 454 Technology is a proprietary design of composite
materials arranged in a pattern of 4 layers/5 layers/4 layers so
that the natural sweet spot of the barrel has been extended
toward the barrel and handle; for the Sick the 454 design has
been elongated to provide even more usable hitting surface.
The handle stiffness has been paired to the barrel flex; the Sick
has the stiffest handle of any 454 bat and has proven most
efficient for this barrel. Worth uses a proprietary combination
of carbon, graphite, glass and aramid fibers in a design that
begins with a Performance Inner Core where multiple layers
are cured with high heat. A Rapid Air Vacuum Process is used
where pressurized molds hold the layers in place while air is
quickly removed from the fibers; simultaneously the Epoxy
Induction Process infuses the fiber with epoxy under constant
heat and pressure. The RAV and EIP processes eliminate air
pockets and other impurities and result in consistent performance and durability.
ready the Sick is: “Greg Connell has had his Sick since the
USSSA Hall of Fame tournament. In batting practice he hit one
of the farthest balls I have ever seen. That ball was every bit of
550 feet, maybe more…
“I was hitting with Jeff Hall just this weekend and he
unwrapped his Sick and on the first swing put the ball way
over the trees beyond the fence. Now, I understand that this is
Jeff Hall, but I hit with him all the time and it takes him 7 or 8
swings to start hitting those kinds of shots. And he is doing this
right out of the wrapper…”
There are three different USSSA models of the Worth 454 Sick
– the Greg Connell (balanced), the Jeff Hall Reload (0.5 ounce
added end load), and the Resmondo (one ounce end load).
So it really comes down to personal preference because each
of these models have the same great feel and got-to-hit-itto-believe it performance. They can go from the wrapper to
the field with no break-in and very little getting used to; the
14-inch barrel is huge and the larger sweet spot makes more
of it usable. You may not get more distance with the Sick that
you get with other bats, but you will hit more balls farther and
make fewer mistakes. It’s hard to find fault with these bats.
Another difference is the break-in time needed for the bat to
reach maximum performance. The Sick has none.
“The guys buying these bats don’t want them to take months
to break in,” said Cornell. “That was one thing about the 454s,
they took 300 swings to break in. But these bats are just hot
out of the wrapper.”
“I am a long-time two-piece bat guy,” said Cornell. “It’s what
I am, it’s how I swing. But after hitting the Sick this is the first
time I have truly been tempted to go to the other side.”
Cornell has a couple of stories that illustrate just how game-
Sick Greg Connell
• 100% composite one-piece
construction
• 454 Technology
• Performance Inner Core
• Rapid Air Vacuum Process
• 14-inch barrel
• Balanced weighting
• Soft Touch Grip
Sick Jeff Hall
• 100% composite one-piece
construction
• 454 Technology
• Performance Inner Core
• Rapid Air Vacuum Process
• 14-inch barrel
• Reload weighting
(0.5 oz endload)
• Soft Touch Grip
• Available in half-weights
(26.5, 27.5, 28.5)
Sick Resmondo
• 100% composite one-piece
construction
78 USSSA TODAY
• 454 Technology
• Performance Inner Core
• Rapid Air Vacuum Process
• Reload weighting
(one ounce endload)
• 14-inch barrel
• Soft Touch Grip