2022 ‘AA’ World tournament
Viera, FL
October 2-3
Bay Area Legends takes on Competitive Edge in the 2022 ‘AA’ World Championship game!
‘AA’ World Videos and Links
2022 Men’s ‘AA’ Results & Bracket Link
2022 Men’s ‘AA’ Picture Album Link (167 pictures)
‘AA’ World Final 4 video highlights link
‘AA’ World Day One video clips link
‘AA’ World Championship – Competitive Edge vs Bay Area Legends condensed game link
‘AA’ World loser’s bracket finals – Precision vs Bay Area Legends condensed game link
‘AA’ World 4th Place – Bay Area vs 4With.com condensed game link
‘AA’ World – Competitive Edge vs Precision winner’s final condensed game link
‘AA’ World – Precision vs Chick-fil-a semifinal condensed game link
‘AA’ World Competitive Edge vs Proton condensed game link
Sunday Night Recap
Proton opens up the ‘AA’ against Sports Reach.
The 2022 ‘AA’ Worlds was a difficult tournament to cover. It began as the ‘A’ World tournament ended on Sunday, October 2nd. Then after the 1st round of ‘AA’ games the winner’s bracket was played in the Stadium while the loser’s bracket used on field in the red quad and one field in the white quad. As a reporter it may as well have been played at 3 different softball complexes. They used 325 foot fences/temp fences, a good batch of Dudley Pro-M balls, and a 14 HR limit. The weather was perfect and the games for the most part were unpredictable. There were 9 ‘AA’ teams and 4 ‘A’ teams making for a nice 13 team double elimination tournament. In the “Play In Games” at 5 PM the tournament started with a bang as #7 seed Classic Glass (CA-AA) scored 10 runs in the top of the 1st inning against 4with.com/Premier (OH-A) but 4with answered with 12 runs of their own in the bottom of the 1st. 4with grabbed a 28-20 lead in the bottom of the 5th as they blanked Classic Glass in the 4th and 5th innings. But Classic returned the favor by blanking 4with in the 6th and 7th innings and they grabbed a 30-28 lead in the top of the 7th on a big home run by Sal Formosa and went on to win 32-28. Classic out homered 4with 12-9 and Clayton Farrar was 5-5 in the win. Meanwhile the #5 seed Nitro Circus (MD-A) won by forfeit over Anarchy (NY-A) as Anarchy decided not to play after just winning the ‘A’ Worlds a few minutes before the start of the ‘AA’. #4 seeded Proton (AZ-AA) run ruled #13 Sports Reach (FL-AA) 27-7 in just 4 innings scoring 14 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. They out homered Sports Reach 8-2 as Jon Nelson hit 3 homer’s and Brad Lunda and Brock Frentzel collected 4 hits each. #8 Baugh Ford (AL-A) knocked off Bay Area Legends (CA-AA) 27-21 back in the red quad after trailing 13-10 going into the 6th inning. Baugh scored 8 in the top of the 6th and 9 in the top of the 7th. Billy Sanders hit 3 home runs, and Dave Durso, Lane Young, and Tommie Baugh each had 4 hits! And #6 S&E (NC-AA) battled their way past #11 Seminoles (OK-AA) 22-12 after Seminoles had an 11-6 lead.
Precision wins a late night round of 8 game against S&E.
The “Round of 8” also played on Sunday night as #2 seed Chick-fil-a (VA-AA) beat Classic Glass 20-16 in the stadium at 6:45 PM. Then #1 Competitive Edge (FL-AA) run ruled Baugh Ford 27-2 in the stadium with the 325 foot temp fences scoring at least 4 runs in every inning in a game that lasted just 4 innings. Joe Boland hit 3 HR and knocked in 11 RBI and pitcher LC Watson was 3 for 3 in the victory. On the back fields #4 Proton scored in every inning vs Nitro Circus but found themselves trailing in the bottom of the 7th 18-16 after getting themselves out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 7th. After an out to start the bottom of the 7th Proton got a single from Adam Ussery, a double from Brent McClure, and a triple from Chad Erickson to tie the game. Then after intentional walks to Brad Lunda and Chad Mullins, Jon Nelson hit a walk off grand slam homer and Proton won 20-16 even though they were out homered 9-8. In the final game of the night #3 Precision (IL-AA) in a marathon game beat S&E 29-26. Both teams scored in every inning. Precision put up 12 in the top of the 4th and was up 29-18 going into the bottom of the 7th where S&E scored 8 runs to make it close. Precision out homered S&E 13-11 as Travis Houseman went 5-5 with 5 runs scored in the win.
Proton’s Jon Nelson hits a walk off homer to beat Nitro Circus in the quarterfinals!
Final 4 Recap
Precision takes on Chick-fil-a in the semifinals Monday morning.
The “Final 4” of the winner’s bracket started at 9:45 AM Monday morning in the stadium as a very focused Precision team scored 12 runs in the top of the 1st and beat Chick-fil-a by the run rule 22-7 in 6 innings. Chick-fil-a just could not get anything going offensively. Precisions Curtis Stewart was 4-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.
At 11:30 AM it was a heavyweight matchup between Competitive Edge and Proton. After Comp Edge blanked in the top of the 1st, Proton scored 4. But in the top of the 2nd Comp Edge put up 14 runs and never looked back in a 32-17, 5 inning run rule victory. Ryan Honeycutt, Joe Boland, Mitch Lendenski, Andrew Filoteo, and LC Watson all had 4 hits each.
Winner’s Final Recap
Comp Edge infielder Andrew Filoteo doubles down the line vs Precision in the Winner’s Final.
Precision manager Todd Ankney got tossed…
The winner’s final played out at 1:30 PM as Precision grabbed an early 6-4 lead after 2 innings on homer’s by Tyler Kahlke, Frank Fracek, Travis Houseman, and Curtis Stewart. But Precision blanked in the top of the 3rd and Competitive Edge scored 5 to take the lead 9-6 on homer’s by Tyler Ervine, Mitch Lendenski, and Jeff Roxby. From their the Competitive Edge defense and pitching took over and the offense scored 10 in the bottom of the 5th to leave Precision on the field 25-10. Ryan Honeycutt was 4-4 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the big win.
Loser’s Bracket Recap
Bay Area vs 4With in the 4th place game.
Bay Area left fielder Dante Broome makes a great catch.
In the loser’s bracket played on the back fields for the most part 4with.com/Premier knocked off Baugh Ford 16-12, Seminoles 24-22, and Chick-fil-a 17-13 to finish 4th! And Bay Area Legends made an epic run through the loser’s bracket beating Classic Glass 18-11, Sports Reach 29-14, Proton 27-10 to make it to the stadium where they beat 4with.com 29-9 to make it to the loser’s bracket finals against Precision. In that game after both teams put up zeroes in the 1st inning, Bay Area Legends scored 13 in the bottom of the 2nd and led 18-13 going into the 6th. Precision scored 5 in the top of the 6th to tie the game but Bay Area got 4 in the bottom of the 6th and held on to win 22-20 without needing to hit in the bottom of the 7th. Bay Area out homered Precision 10-9 as lead off hitter David Johnson was 4-4 and Dylan Smith went 4-4 with 3 HR and 4 RBI.
Precision and Bay Area in the loser’s final.
Championship Game!
Bay Area pitcher Justin Mucciarelli stabs a hot shot up the middle in the championship.
In the championship a tired Bay Area team led by Bradley Scott who went 5-5 with 3 HR and 7 RBI jumped out to an unlikely 10-5 lead after two innings as Bay Area pitcher Justin Mucciarelli shut down Competitive Edge in the 1st inning. But Competitive Edge scored 8 in the 3rd and 7 in the 4th while holding Bay Area scoreless in both innings. Bay Area wouldn’t go away but Comp Edge added 10 in the 6th and 8 in the 7th to win the game 39-26 and the ‘AA’ World title! Comp Edge hit 6 balls out of the actual stadium fence in the game and out homered Bay Area 13-10. Brandon Jackson was 5-6 with 4 HR and 5 RBI. And Ryan Honeycutt was 4-6 with a homer and 7 RBI.
Bradley Scott collected 5 hits in the championship for Bay Area.
Comp Edge’s Brandon Jackson celebrates one of his four home runs in the championship!
‘AA’ World Results and Awards
MVP – Competitive Edge pitcher LC Watson.
Defensive MVP Competitive Edge infielder Jeff Roxby.
Offensive MVP Bay Area Legends lead off hitter David Johnson.
Team by Team Notes
1st Place – Competitive Edge/Olmito/Suncoast
FL-AA Record 4-0
After finishing 2nd in the 2021 ‘A’ Worlds Competitive Edge sponsor Mark Patterson kept the core of the team together and added veteran players Jason Branch, Jeff Roxby, and outfielder Mitch Lendenski and after a slow start to 2022 they came on strong and were the class of the field at the ‘AA’ Worlds. They went undefeated winning every game by the run rule except for the championship where a feisty and tired Bay Area Legends team that had played straight through from 8 AM Monday morning kept hanging around. Comp Edge was led by MVP pitcher LC Watson who not only pitched and played great defense but chipped in with a .692 on base percentage and hit 2 HR. Infielder Andrew Filoteo was .875. Ryan Honeycutt .778 with 7 HR and 23 RBI. Logan Rogers was .706. And Joe Boland was .700 with 9 HR and 23 RBI. The entire team it seemed was hitting the Pro M ball not only over the temp fence but many went over the stadium baseball field fence as well much of the time. As a team they had a .697 on base percentage, hit 42 home runs, and had 30 doubles and 6 triples in 4 games! Congratulations to the entire team and organization on a dominating performance. Competitive Edge has moved to the Major division for 2023.
Tyler Ervine’s signature Suncoast bat.
Sponsor/Management group – Mark Burnias, Mark Patterson, and Brandon Miller.
2nd Place – Bay Area Legends
CA-AA Record 5-2
Bay Area lost their lead and their opener to Baugh Ford on Sunday then made an epic run through the loser’s bracket playing all day long on Monday to finish an impressive 2nd. On Monday starting at 8 AM they beat fellow NorCal team Classic Glass 18-11, Sports Reach 29-14, Proton 27-10, 4with.com 29-9, and Precision 22-20 before losing in the championship where they battled hard. The team did a little bit of everything – line drive hitting, homer’s, defense, but it was the pitching of Mooch holding all of those teams to 14 runs or less and then gutting out a nice win over Precision when they were tired that made for a great day.
Mooch on the mound, Toby Letak SS, Dante Broome LF, Randy Frederick MI.
Dylan Smith above and David Kessler below helped power Bay Area through the loser’s bracket.
3rd Place – Precision/3rd Street/Red Athlete
IL-AA Record 2-2
A late surge in the points standings led Precision to a bye from the play in games. They beat S&E in a late night Sunday marathon game 29-26 in the “Final 8” then run ruled Chick-fil-a 22-7 in the semifinals Monday morning. They lost the winner’s final to Competitive Edge by the run rule and Bay Area nipped them 22-20 in the loser’s bracket finals so they finished 3rd. Travis Houseman and Tyler Khalke put up some big numbers for Precision. This ends Precisions Conference run and we want to thank sponsors Bill Wax and Robert Mahaffey for all they have done for the game we love.
Curtis Stewart hit 7 HR in the AA World.
Heath Barnes at SS makes another great play.
4th Place – 4With.com/Premier/BAF/Easton
OH-A Record 3-2
4With.com/Premier lost their opener to Classic Glass by 4 then beat Baugh Ford 16-12, Seminoles 24-22, and Chick-fil-a 17-13 to finish an impressive 4th and the highest finishing ‘A’ team.
Tied 5th – Chick-fil-a/Slugger/BAF/LBT
VA-AA Record 1-2
Chick-fil-a beat Classic Glass in the stadium 20-16 Sunday night using their #2 seed to get to the semifinals quickly. But they did not play well against a focused Precision team on Monday morning and lost 22-7. In the loser’s bracket on the back fields they dropped 17-13 to ‘A’ team 4With.com to finish 1-2.
Patrick Center at Pitcher, Deontre Porter at SS, Tanai Alston at MI.
Tied 5th – Proton/Dan Smith/Legacy Glove Co.
AZ-AA Record 2-2
Proton beat Nitro Circus on a walk off and then in the semifinals had to play Competitive Edge due to their late season drop in the points standings. Comp Edge beat them by the run rule then they lost to Bay Area 27-10.
Tied 7th – Seminoles/NACSF.Inc/Pure/RS
OK-AA Record 1-2
Seminoles lost to S&E, beat Nitro Circus, and lost to 4With.com all in decent games.
Tied 7th – Sports Reach/Riot
FL-AA Record 2-2
Sports Reach was run ruled by Proton in their opener. Then they won 2 games in the loser’s bracket Monday morning over Anarchy by forfeit, and S&E by 6, before losing to Bay Area 19-14. Brad Sheffield was .800 with 4 HR.
More Teams
Tied 9th – Nitro Circus/Klutch/team 199/BRC (MD-A)
Nitro Circus won by forfeit over Anarchy then lost on a walk off homer to Proton before dropping a 32-30 decision to Seminoles.
Tied 9th – S&E/Dan Smith (NC-AA)
S&E won their opener against Seminoles 22-12 then lost a marathon game to Precision 29-26 on Sunday night. In the loser’s bracket Sports Reach knocked them out 24-18. Peter Seiden and Jacob Hoskins both were over .800 on base percentage with 4 HR each.
Tied 9th – Classic Glass (CA-AA)
Classic Glass played in the stadium losing to Classic Glass 32-28 and then lost in the loser’s bracket on the back fields to Bay Area Legends 18-11 so I never actually got to see them play and have no content from their games.
Tied 9th – Baugh Ford/Grizzy (AL-A)
Baugh Ford came from behind to upset Bay Area Legends in their opener, lost big to Competitive Edge in the “Final 8”, then 4with.com beat them in the loser’s bracket so they finished 0-2 in two close games. Dave Durso and Tommie Baugh led the team in hitting and Billy Sanders hit 4 HR.
Faces in the Crowd / More Pictures
The Dudley Pro-M ball was used and it was a good batch.
Precision had offensive huddles at home plate whenever the defense called time.
Competitive Edge was just 8-6 vs ‘AA’ teams this year.
