Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth wins the Major World Series as they went unbeaten and used a walk off homer by Ronald “Bubba” Mack in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat Laservision/Desert Falls/Boombah/Easton 33-31 in the final game!
The championship game was full of drama and may have been the best game of the 2013 World Series. The game started with an incredible diving line drive stab by Resmondo 3rd baseman Jimmy Salas who then jumped quickly to his feet to double the runner off of first base. In the second inning Brian Wegman hit a grand slam for Laservision and Kevin Kennington added a 3 run homer to push Laservision out to a 10-2 lead. Wegman then made the Laservision lead 14-3 on a 3 run homer in the top of the 3rd. In the bottom of the 3rd Resmondo’s Greg Connell hit a 2 run homer to make it 14-5 and Laservision closed out Resmondo on a nice play by Scott Kirby at 1st base and a home run robbing catch by Wegman in left field. Laservision opened the door for a comeback when they failed to score in the top of the 4th and Resmondo came in and got a 3 run homer from veteran Howie Krause and a 2 run homer from the big lefty BJ Fulk to close the gap to 14-13. In the back and forth game that the championship became, Laservision put up another zero in the top of the 5th and Resmondo responded with 3 run homers from Fulk and Bubba Mack to cap a 9 run inning and a 22-14 Resmondo lead. The 6th inning started with Laservision loading up the bases and a controversial line drive stab at 3rd base that was called “no catch”. After a long discussion between umpires they got the call correct and everyone was safe. That led to a Scott Kirby grand slam and a 23-22 Laservision lead which could have been more if not for Resmondo left fielder Jeremy Yates running down a ball in the outfield. Resmondo came in and scratched across 3 runs to take a 25-23 lead to the 7th inning.
In the top of the 7th Laservision scored and impressive 9 runs as their top 4 hitters all got hits and the inning was highlighted by a 3 run homer by Kevin Kennington. That was followed by solo homer’s by Geno Buck and Brian Rainwater and then they took to the field with the gloves in the bottom of the 7th with an unexpected 31-25 lead. Resmondo was on the ropes and staring an “if” necessary game in the face when Laservision got the first batter out. Then a solo homer by Howie Krause got Resmondo going and they closed the gap to 31-29 on a 3 run homer by pitcher Andy Purcell. Laservision then changed pitchers to the Hall of Famer Billy Messina to try and close out the game. BJ Fulk promptly singled, Jimmy Salas walked, and Don Dedonatis Jr brought Resmondo to within one run with a big one out double up the middle. Bubba Mack then had a chance to end the game with the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on second and with one out he hit a fly ball to left field for a sacrifice and tied game at 31-31. Laservision then intentionally walked Yates and got a fielder’s choice to end regulation tied.
In the 8th inning the top of the Laservision order which had been rock solid all tournament long went 1-2-3 and Resmondo returned the favor in the bottom of the 8th as they managed just one base runner.
In the 9th inning Laservision again went 1-2-3 with Andy Purcell stabbing his second Travis Clark liner up the middle of the game. In the bottom of the 9th Resmondo started with a walk to Fulk then got two putouts before Bubba Mack deposited the game winning homer over the 385 sign in the left center field gap for the win, and the celebration was on for Resmondo who won their 8th World Title for sponsor Travis Resmondo. The agony of defeat hit Laservision pretty hard as they had more than enough chances with the gloves and the bats to win the game.
About USSSA:
The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), headquartered in Osceola County, Florida, USSSA is the World’s Largest Multi-sport Athletic Organization. Founded in 1968, USSSA has grown to over 3.7 million participants, competing in 13 nationally sanctioned sports including Baseball, Fastpitch, Slow Pitch, Karate, Basketball, Soccer and more! For more information on USSSA and to register your team visit USSSA.com. Also be sure to visit USSSAToday.com for the latest USSSA News!
