2022 “Windy City” Major
Carol Stream, IL
June 3-5
Smash It 3B Dale Brungardt stabs a liner in the championship against Nitro Circus!
Hot Links (More Videos to come)
Chicago Bracket and Results link
Chicago Friday-Saturday Video Clips link
Chicago Condensed Game Resmondo vs Rock Run link
Condensed Game – Semifinals Smash It vs Monsta – link
Condensed Game – Loser’s Final link
Chicago Stats link (when available)
Chicago Teams
Upset Friday Recap
The biggest crowd is always for the local Precision AA team on Friday night.
The Herd in green a non conference ‘A’ team opens up the tournament against Monsta.
The 2022 Windy City Classic was loaded with 32 really good teams, 27 of which were from the Conference USSSA. The weather was unseasonably cool and the wind dictated how much scoring would be done at least for the first 3 rounds of the tournament before it died down. They played at the McCaslin Park for the most part with its artificial turf infields and 300 foot home run fences.
The “Round of 32” began at 5 PM Central time with Bay Area Legends (CA-AA) run ruling TG Brand (MI-A) 30-15. A few years back the TG Brand group made it all the way to Sunday pulling off a bunch of upsets. Precision/3rd Street/Red Athlete (IL-AA) playing on their home turf scored 11 runs in the top of the 3rd to separate from an upset minded Rock Run/All Hustle/Silverback/Koval (IN-B) team and then scored 8 more in the top of the 5th to finish them off 33-19. Precision hit all 14 of their home runs and 6 of their 11 batters had 4 hits each. Over on field MC4 Proton/Legacy Gloves (AZ-AA) the top ‘AA’ team in the country so far was struggling with Comatose/S2N/Subway (WI-A) a non-conference ‘A’ team because the wind was blowing straight in. Proton broke open a 1-0 lead in the top of the 4th with a 4 run inning with a single, 2 doubles, and a home run by Adam Ussery. They added 3 more in the top of the 5th on a homer by Chad Mullins and went on to win 10-5. Primetime/Easton/FAI (GA-A) run ruled the #1 ranked ‘A’ team in the country Adiktiv/Throwbacks/Competitive Edge (TX-A) 26-11 scoring 13 runs in the 1st inning over on the show field and holding Adiktiv scoreless in the first two innings. Primetime out homered Adiktiv 11-6 led by Hunter Oliver who was 4-4 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. They also played 2 games each hour on Friday over at the Glass Hagel park with their dirt infields. Over there 4With.com/Premier/BAF/Easton (OH-A) won by forfeit over Cornerstone (KY-A) who failed to pull themselves out of the tournament in a timely fashion. Nitro Circus/Klutch/Team199/BRC (MD-TBD) beat Cash House/JBL Roofing/Titans (OH-B) 37-34 scoring 13 runs in the bottom of the 5th to regain their lead. Chris Greinert was 5-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI and pitcher Tom Bloom hit 3 HR in the victory. It was Cash House’s 1st conference event of the year and they are a conference team.
At 6:20 PM in the “Round of 32” Seminoles/TPS/NACSF.INC/Pure/RS (OK-AA) beat Hubs Pub/Gas (MO-B) 34-33 over at Glass Hagel field #3 when JD Harris hit a grand slam homer, Jeff Graus singled, Zane Trammell singled, Chris Hansen singled, and Chris O’Brien hit a walk off homer to end it. Back over at McCaslin Field #2 Anarchy/SmashItSports/Beloli/OA (NY-A) smashed Nightmare/Benefit the Badge/Miken (MO-AA) 39-11. Baugh Ford/Grizzy (AL-A) run ruled LSR (IN-B) in 5 innings as Zach Ross went 4-4 and Justin Lutheran went 4-4 with 2 HR and 8 RBI. Monsta/Albicocco/Racks/Nitro Circus (CA-Major) held off The Herd (IA-A) 40-34 as Daniel Cayton and Steven Lloyd returned to the conference for Monsta playing middle infield and 2nd base! Cheap Suits/Dirty/Republic RE (CA-A) run ruled Siteman/Pure (MO-B) 28-12 over at Glass Hagel field #1 breaking open a 16-12 game with 13 runs in the top of the 5th. Tyler Armstrong went 4-4 with 2 HR and 8 RBI for Cheap Suits.
At 7:40 PM in the “Round of 32” MPT Rentals/Juno Athletics (NJ-Major) played 7 innings with Meirtran/Swiing Kiings (IL-B) even though MPT scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and out homered them 12-3. Joe Bennett and Orlando Castillo were each 4-4 and Larsen for Meirtran hit all 3 of his teams home runs. Resmondo/Smash It/All American/Menosse (FL-Major) run ruled non conference Aristotle/Iron Gear Athletics (AR-B) 30-15 as lead off hitter Travis Clark returned from suspension with a 4-5, 3 HR, 9 RBI performance. Competitive Edge/Olmito/Suncoast (FL-AA) run ruled local KBI (IL-C) 36-21 scoring 22 runs in the bottom of the 3rd. Jason Branch, Tyler Ervine, and Ryan Honeycutt each had 5 hits. Smashit/Thunder/Chosen/Pure/RF/BD/TDB (NY-Major) the #1 seed run ruled Kryptic/RedAthlete (WI-C) 34-13. And over at Glass Hagel Field #1 WestPoint Softball (IN-A) beat TLC/Houston Homes (TX-B) 35-14.
Bay Area takes down MPT on Friday night.
Friday night all of the winner’s from the “Round of 32” played again as the temperatures dropped into the low 60’s. MPT had the hammer but no homer’s down 6 against Bay Area Legends and came up short 27-24. Bay pulling off their biggest win of the season with Justin Mucciarelli on the mound (for the haters).
4With.com in the pink takes down Resmondo Friday night.
4With.com/Premier had a 22-14 lead over Resmondo on field #3 when they scored 17 runs in the top of the 4th and beat Resmondo in 5 innings 39-17. They hit all 14 of their home runs and Cory Booth, Nick Canfield, and Brad Bruns were all 4-4, and Kyle Harmon was 5-5 in the upset win!
Anarchy beat Competitive Edge after a 2 out infield single by Lyf Nimmo led to the walk off homer by “Soup” Campbell pictured above. Anarchy won 38-37. Brandon Streets was 5-6 in the game.
Anarchy celebrates the walk off over Competitive Edge.
Precision beat Proton 34-27. It was only the 2nd loss this year Proton has had to a ‘AA’ team. Precision pitcher Mike Jacobson was 6-6 in the win. WestPoint beat Cheap Suits 39-38 over at Glass Hagel fields when Cheap Suits left the game tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the 7th. Both teams scored in every inning. Kyle Johnson and Brandon Yoder each had 5 hits in the win. Ryan Dacko for Cheap Suits was 5-6 with 4 HR and 11 RBI in the loss and Demario Boyd was 5-5 with 7 RBI and a grand slam. Smash it Thunder run ruled Primetime easily 28-5. Monsta led Baugh Ford 24-22 going into the top of the 7th where they scored 10 to win 34-23. Lead off hitter Austyn Dawe was 4-6 with 5 RBI. And Nitro Circus escaped with another close win 23-21 over Seminoles scoring 4 in the 7th. Newly acquired Zach Messer was 5-5 in the win in the lead off spot.
Saturday Winner’s Bracket Recap
Smash Its Ryan Stovall scores ahead of the throw in the semifinals against Monsta. You can see the condensed game here.
On Saturday the “Round of 8” was played at 3:30 PM Central time on the 4 main fields at McCaslin park. The temps were in the 60’s and it was overcast with less wind than Friday. In the top half of the bracket there were no Major teams left as MPT was upset by Bay Area and Resmondo run ruled by 4With/Premier. 4With.com/Premier kept the momentum going scoring 8 runs in the bottom of the 1st against Bay Area and 12 more in the bottom of the 2nd. Bay Area never got anything going offensively and 4With cruised to the “Final 4” 23-6. Kyle Harmon was 3-3 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in the win. Nitro Circus in a rematch of the loser’s final from Virginia a few weeks ago beat Anarchy 30-15 in 5 innings scoring 12 runs in the bottom of the 4th as Chris Greinert was again 5-5 with 6 RBI and Robbie Fow 4-4 with 6 RBI. In the lower half of the bracket it was the Major teams Monsta and Smash It advancing by the run rule. Monsta beat Precision 43-12 scoring 10 in the top of the 4th and 19 in the top of the 5th. Mark Wik had 5 hits and Jeremy Yates 8 RBI in the win. And Smash It run ruled Westpoint 23-8.
In the “Final 4” Nitro Circus led 4With.com/Premier 18-0 going into the bottom of the 2nd. 4With did make the game go 7 innings but Nitro Circus won 36-27. Chris Greinert was 5-7 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Dylan Shupe, Zack Smith, and Robbie Fow each had 4 hits.
You can watch the Smash It vs Monsta semifinal in condensed form here before you read about it below. 🙂
In the lower half of the bracket the two major teams squared off – Smash It Sports vs Monsta. Monsta had a 9 run 2nd inning while Smash It used up a bunch of homer’s to score 10 in the top of the 3rd. Monsta went up 20-16 going to the bottom of the 4th and held Smash It to zero in the top of the 5th. Sensing a chance to end the game in the bottom of the 5th by the run rule Monsta tried to use up the rest of their homer’s to leave Smash It on the field but they flew out one too many times and left the door open for a comeback. That is exactly what Smash It did they came back, forced extra innings and won the game in the 8th 40-36! A learning experience for the young Monsta team. You have to play the game until you get much closer to the run rule before using up valuable home runs.
Premier in the black takes down Bay Area in the quarter finals.
Winner’s Final Recap
Unfortunately I missed most of the winner’s bracket finals as I had to go take down cameras at the other park but Nitro Circus as you can see by the box score jumped out to a 20-7 lead on Smash it Sports who’s offense still is not up to what a normal Major teams offense should be. Smash Its pitching down the stretch gave Smash It a chance to comeback but they fell short 26-24 as Nitro Circus right fielder Zack Smith made a number of diving and running catches between rain drops to help secure the upset win.
Loser’s Bracket
WestPoint Softball upsets Proton in the loser’s bracket!
Rock Run takes down Resmondo, you can see the condensed game here.
The loser’s bracket was wild with upsets Saturday as Rock Run the Indiana ‘B’ team that upset Resmondo at the Hall of Fame Classic back in April not only beat Resmondo 32-17 in Chicago but then turned around and sent home MPT Rentals 28-17! They eventually lost to Anarchy 42-27. Also in the top half of the loser’s bracket Competitive Edge beat their “minor league” team Adiktiv again then beat Siteman who had won two games including an upset of Seminoles, and then Competitive Edge beat Bay Area before losing for the 2nd time on the weekend to Anarchy. Then Anarchy lost to Monsta 33-26.
In the lower half of the loser’s bracket Meirtran won a couple games before Proton beat them and then Proton lost to Westpoint who dropped down from the winner’s bracket. And Primetime beat Nightmare and Hubs Pub before losing to Precision. Westpoint though eventually beat Precision and 4With before losing the 4th place game late Saturday night to Monsta 31-10.
Sunday Recap
Monstas Austyn Dawe hits a bomb against Smash It in the loser’s final.
In the loser’s final Sunday morning Monsta scored 10 runs in the top of the 4th but Smash It still led 24-22 after 4 complete innings with both teams using 8 of their 16 home runs. Smash It used up a number of their remaining home runs in the bottom of the 6th to go up 34-24 and held on to win 34-25.
In the “if” game Nitro Circus led 7-6 early on but Smash It scored 9 in the top of the 3rd and 9 more in the top of the 4th and went on to win the game and the tournament 26-10. Riley and Brungardt were each 4-4.
Rich Racobaldo hits backside in the championship against Nitro Circus.
Nitro Circus pitcher Tom Bloom had the home run stroke going.
Nitro Circus center fielder Jake Ringold doubles.
Long Bomber of the Week!
Long Bomber of the week goes to Josh Riley with honorable mentions to Steve Smith of Seminoles, Dale Brungardt of SIS, and to the player pictured below, Myron Hochstetler of Rock Run who hit 2 homer’s against Resmondo and 3 against MPT of which I estimate 4 of the homer’s between 360 and 380 feet! Kid has to be 6’8 plus and probably the tallest player in the Conference.
Chicago Results and Awards
MVP was Smash Its Josh Riley
Defensive MVP was Smash It center fielder Ryan Stovall who robbed a homer here in the championship.
Offensive MVP was Nitro Circus catcher Chris Greinert
Team by Team Notes
1st Place – SmashIt/Thunder/Chosen/Pure/RF/BD/TDB
NY-Major Record 7-1
Smash It used their patience, pitching, and defense to win this tournament as they let each game come to them understanding what it takes to win and not getting too high or too low. They used the whole roster effectively, picked up Stovall to play center field for Ben Dunn who couldn’t make it due to family commitments and win their 4th tournament of the year significantly extending their points lead.
Neil Haglund robs a homer during the “if” game. I called him Buddy Wolf on the condensed game. 🙂
2nd Place – Nitro Circus/Klutch/Team 199/BRC
MD-TBD Record 5-2
Nitro Circus finishes an impressive 2nd winning some close games early then taking advantage of the upsets of the Major teams in the top half of the bracket to get to the winner’s final where they pulled off a huge upset of Smash It. They pretty much used the same lineup the whole weekend and the Zach Messer pick up from Bay Area seemed to solidify the offense and defense. Greinert was over .800. Tom Bloom has become one of the better hitting pitchers in the league with a recent power surge (14 HR in Chicago). Messer was over .700 and everyone else was solidly in the .600’s on base for the most part.
Nitro has played a lot of softball lately and if they can recover by this Saturday could be one of the favorites in Maryland.
3B Shupe, SS Bishop, MI Messer
Zach Messer finally got his release from Bay Area and went to Nitro Circus and had immediate impact.
Zack Smith in the winner’s final had a number of great catches.
3rd Place – Monsta/Albicocco/Racks/Nitro Circus
CA-Major Record 5-2
Monsta in my opinion was the team to beat. They decided to sit pitcher Andrew Vitcak who was hit by a middle shot by Kyle Pearson in their game with Resmondo back at the Texas Legends tournament and he needs time to heal his leg. But they pitched Matt Brady and Matt Chromy and were doing fine until a fateful decision to use up home runs and go for the run rule of Smash It in the semifinals backfired. It was downhill from there and they lost and finished 3rd. They still have not turned in their 3 all tournament selections…
Dawe was .795 playing the game, Bloomer and Cayton over .800. Lewis, Matusik, and Fyffe all had double digit home runs. Matusik 31 RBI. And Steven Lloyd in his debut looked good on defense but was just .414 on base percentage, maybe a little rusty.
Jeff Bloomer led Monsta in on base percentage at .864
Daniel Cayton is back!
Steven Lloyd is back!
Matt Brady did some of the pitching.
4th Place – WestPoint Softball
IN-A Record 5-2
Westpoint only lost to major teams and beat TLC, Cheap Suits, Proton, Precision, and 4With to score big points in Chicago. Johnson and pitcher Creekmore were all tournament. I apologize I missed the last game as I did not realize they moved the 4th place game to Saturday night. Thank you to whoever snapped the team picture. Westpoint plays in Maryland this weekend where they can make some noise.
Travis Dale returns to WestPoint!
Tied 5th – Anarchy/SmashItSports/Beloli/OA
NY-A Record 4-2
Anarchy scored wins over Nightmare, Competitive Edge on a walk off homer by Campbell, they beat Rock Run, then Competitive Edge again scoring 42 runs! They only lost to Major teams. An impressive weekend. Streets was over .900 and Nimmo .800 in on base percentage.
Lyf Nimmo’s line drive set up the game winning homer against Competitive Edge.
Tied 5th – 4With.com/Premier/BAF/Easton
OH-A Record 3-2
4With backed up their successful Atlanta Major with a run in Chicago which included beating Resmondo! Brock Morrison, Brad Bruns, and Nick Canfield stood out on offense (looks like one game is missing in their gamechanger)?
Patterson on the mound has been a factor in their success.
Bobby Noeth having a productive year.
Tied 7th – Competitive Edge/Olmito/Suncoast
FL-AA Record 4-2
Competitive Edge lost to Anarchy twice. Ervine, Lendenski, Branch, and Ramsey were all over .800. Ervine had 12 HR and 35 RBI. Still waiting for this team to peak.
Jason Branch gets all of one.
Tied 7th – Precision/3rd Street/Red Athlete
IL-AA Record 3-2
Precision played well considering they have only played the HOF Dual this year. They beat Rock Run, Proton, and Primetime then lost to Westpoint by a run.
More Teams
Tied 9th – Proton/Legacy Glove Co. (AZ-AA) 3-2
Lost to Precision and Westpoint. Played without Jon Nelson.
Tied 9th – Primetime/Easton/FAI (GA-A) 3-2
Big win over Adiktiv and then a short run in the loser’s bracket.
Tied 9th – Rock Run/AllHustle/Silverbacks/Koval (IN-B) 3-2
Giant killers were at it again. This team is quickly becoming the most popular team in America! Hustle, positive attitude, and never say die demeanor is contagious. These guys HURT when they lose too. Leadoff hitter Marcus Miller was .750 with 10 extra base hits. Their leader SS Faron Fry was .737 with 14 RBI and set the table for their upset of Resmondo with that 1st inning grand slam. Lehman at pitcher was .684 with 6 HR and took a line drive to the chest against MPT and stayed in the game. The big guy Hochstetler hit a team high 8 HR and Kyle Miller had 14 RBI. A true team effort top to bottom with great defense and at times a Major level defense as far as outfield and infield range.
Tied 9th – Bay Area Legends (CA-AA) 2-2
Bay Area showed some life with that huge win over MPT Friday night.
Bay Area left side 3B Smith, SS Letak, MI Whaley
MPT lost to Bay Area and Rock Run…No John Williams even though he is off suspension and Filip Washington had his daughters dance recital so couldn’t make the trip.
Resmondo lost to two teams 2 and 3 levels below them in class. Connell had a cancelled flight. Pearson and Briggs still haven’t returned form injury.
Meitran playing their 1st conference event of the year played 7 innings with MPT, beat TG Brand and Baugh Ford and lost to Proton. Nice start!
Baugh beat LSR but lost to Monsta in a game that was close til the 7th and lost to Meirtran.
Cheap Suits beat Siteman, lost with the bats in their hands to Westpoint by 1, then couldn’t score against Hubs Pub (20-2).
Siteman tied for 13th with loser bracket wins over TLC and a run rule win over Seminoles.
TG Brand 0-2 losing to Bay Area and Meirtran
TLC 0-2 hasn’t won a conference game this year.
Hubs Pub 2-2 beating Cash House and Cheap Suits. Lost to Seminoles by 1 on a walk off homer and Primetime by 5.
Seminoles 1-2 losing to Nitro Circus by 2 and Siteman after beating Hubs Pub on a walk off homer by O’brien
Cash House playing their 1st conference tournament of the year played 14 innings but 0-2
LSR came from behind to beat The Herd but that was it.
The Herd has a nice team.
Nightmare 1-2 did not beat a conference team.
Faces in the Crowd / More Pictures
Mac Rio made a couple diving catches for Cheap Suits.
The view from the USSSALive.com livestream.
Uh oh, a “come to Carucci” meeting…
Stro paid kids to chase home run balls!
One time at the USSSA Major World Series at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Doc who is a dentist put Ryan Stovall’s tooth, which had gotten knocked out on a pop fly, back into his mouth. So always remember if you get your tooth knocked out go straight to a dentist and they can put it back in.
The Monsta bat bucket.
Championship game umpires Steve Milani and Mark Dahlenbach.
Is this Mark McMorrison?
