2017 Nationwide Conference USSSA
17th Annual “Texas Legends”
Euless, Texas
May 19-21
SIS/Albicocco takes on SIS/Thunder in the Texas Legends Championship game Sunday
SoftballCenter picture album of the Texas Legends Major
2017 Texas Legends bracket/Info link
The Texas Legends Major started amid thunderstorm and tornado warnings but those never materialized and the entire tournament played without any delays or rain. All of the 31 teams played on Friday night including the 17 Nationwide Conference USSSA teams featuring 5 of the Major teams and the “all new” SIS/Thunder Major group with its 7 players from the folded Backman roster. Conference teams L&S Glass (CA-B), Classic Glass (CA-AA), Killbombers (TX-AA), Nightmare (MO-AA), Xtreme (MN-AA), Bay Area Legends (CA-A), Dan Smith (CA-M), Newbreed (WA-M), SIS/Thunder (NY-M), AllOut (TX-A), and Racks (WY-M) all won by the run rule in their first game of the first round. Meanwhile Jokers a Texas ‘B’ team beat Fence Brokers an Arkansas ‘B’ team 24-19, MyAutoJack.com a non-conference Arizona ‘B’ team beat Seminoles (OK-A) 33-32, and Levels a Colorado ‘B’ team who had success at the Las Vegas Major knocked off Texas ‘A’ team Money Miken 26-25 for what could all be called minor upsets.In the second-round SIS/Albicocco who had a bye because they were the #1 seed run ruled L&S Glass 41-8 in the last game on Friday night and the remainder of the second round (final 16) was played on Saturday. Killbombers scored 18 runs in the top of the 5th to come from behind and beat fellow ‘AA’ team Classic Glass in a game between two teams that desperately needed a quality win. Nightmare struggled some but knocked off the upstart Jokers team 19-11. Xtreme who was trailing 28-20 going into the top of the 7th against MyAutoJack.com used a two out clutch grand slam homer from big Shannon Smith to take a 31-28 lead and scored 11 runs in the inning – half of them coming with 2 outs and they escaped with an amazing 39-31 win! The bottom half of the bracket was loaded with 4 Major teams because of the way the Conference points worked out here early in the season and those games started with a big upset as AllOut a Texas ‘A’ team went up 10 runs on the Major team Racks 28-18 going into the top of the 7th. But Racks came back to cut the lead on a couple of homers and a big shot by Ryan Mcclanahan to cut the lead to 29-28 when AllOut pitcher Tyler Green got a strikeout looking to end the game. Of course AllOut still had the hammer but got their biggest win of the season. SIS/Thunder in an early battle of Major teams knocked off Newbreed impressively 36-23 when the Newbreed offense sputtered. Dan Smith run ruled Levels 32-13, and Bay Area Legends in a battle between top ‘A’ teams with Steel Sports scored 13 runs in the first inning and won in a marathon game 44-28 to advance to the final 8.In the “final 8” SIS Albicocco got their only test of the tournament as they held just a 1 run lead on Killbombers (6-5) going into the bottom of the 5th inning. Then SIS Albicocco started free swinging and hitting home runs (each team had 12 to hit) and scored 9 to go up 15-5. But Killbombers wasn’t done yet and Tommie Melton hit a 3 run homer in the top of the 7th to cut the lead to 16-13 but that would end up being the final score. Xtreme/Miken taking full advantage of a soft spot in the bracket and their come from behind win over MAJ got off to a 15-5 lead on Nightmare after 3 1/2 innings and won fairly easily 28-19. Meanwhile Dan Smith 20 run mercy ruled Bay Area Legends who many thought might give the Major team a tough game. And SIS Thunder who was tied at 16-16 in the 4th inning against upset minded AllOut ended up beating AllOut 42-32.Saturday night the “final 4” was set with Dan Smith going up 23-22 after 4 complete innings vs SIS/Thunder. Later Dan Smiths Kyle Pearson hit a key 2 run homer that tied the game at 32-32 in the top of the 6th. And in the top of the 7th Steven Lloyd hit Dan Smiths last homer with 2 outs to give them a 34-33 lead and Dan Smith led by 2 (35-33) going to the bottom of the 7th with SIS Thunder out of homers (16). SIS Thunder’s Chris Costantino led things off with a single to left field followed by a key double by Kyle Olsen to the right center field gap. Then Dan Smith intentionally walked Brian McBryde and Adam Ussery hit a walk off homer to win the game 39-37! In the other semifinal SIS Albicocco trailing Xtreme 9-8 in the bottom of the 4th scored 11 runs to take an 18-9 lead. And later SIS Albicocco outfielder Andrew Collins hit a walk off run rule homer in the bottom of the 6th to give them another mercy rule win 30-15.The winner’s final then started Saturday night after 9 PM Central time with SIS Albicocco having some long innings offensively early in the game as they grabbed a huge 30-7 lead after just 3 at bats. SIS Thunder really never recovered and couldn’t put anything together offensively and lost 56-29.In the loser’s bracket Racks and Newbreed ran into each other early on with Newbreed having just come off the highest score of the season 67-26 over Money/Miken. Newbreed grabbed a 16-12 lead on Racks in the top of the 3rd and then the offense kicked into high gear again and they won 47-32. Newbreed then hammered Killbombers 41-15, Steel Sports 38-8, and Dan Smith 49-33 in a game that Dan Smith held double digit leads in and the game ended after 1 AM in the morning. Incidentally Steel who was one of Newbreeds wins won themselves over Southern Barrel on a bases loaded walk off walk 36-35 and they also beat Nightmare in the bottom of the 8th on a game winning single by Kevin Ballard. In the lower half of the loser’s bracket Classic Glass made a big run as they run ruled Chill Sports, L&S Glass, AllOut, and Xtreme. Then Sunday morning Classic Glass and Newbreed went at it in the 4th place game at 8 AM. Both team’s shortstops Steve Whaley (Newbreed) and AJ Montano (Classic Glass) traded nice diving plays for outs. Newbreed had the lead 16-13 after 4 innings but their full assault offense that we witnessed on Saturday never materialized on Sunday and Classic Glass grabbed a lead on a 3 run homer by Mike Brambilla in the top of the 5th which led to a 14 run inning and a 27-16 lead. Classic Glass ended up winning 30-20.In the loser’s bracket finals, a fresh SIS Thunder team had a 23 run 1st inning against Classic Glass and had 31-19 and 36-24 leads going to the 6th inning. But Classic Glass who had players leaving for flights ran out of gas and hit into too many double plays and SIS Thunder advanced to the championship 39-24.The championship game started very slow as SIS Albicoccos Cory Briggs 3 run homer in the top of the 3rd tied the game at 4-4 and Nic Santana added a 3 run shot to give SIS Albicocco an 8-5 lead in the top of the 4th. SIS Thunder used a nice 5-10-2 double play in the second inning and a Ryan Stovall diving catch on a sinking line drive in center field in the 4th to keep the Albicocco offense in check. But after the 4th inning it was all SIS Albicocco as they went on a 19-5 run and won by the run rule 27-10. Again as the night before Andy Purcell’s pitching and his incredible defense behind him dominated SIS/Thunder and SIS Albicocco won their 4th tournament of the year and 3rd tournament in a row.A full complement of top conference umpires were in attendance. The Classic M ball was as hard as a rock in the cooler weather in the morning and evenings and led to some of the highest scores of the year depending on which field the wind was blowing out on. And the tournament featured some long homers and some outstanding plays in the infield by a lot of great defensive players. Conference USSSA heads to Atlanta next weekend.
SIS/Albicocco finishes off SIS/Thunder by the run rule in the Championship game
SIS/Thunder pitcher Andy Vitcak stabs a hot shot off
Team Breakdown:
31 Teams Overall
17 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
5 Major Teams
4 ‘AA’ Teams
6 ‘A’ Teams
8 ‘B’ Teams
7 ‘C’ Teams
1 ‘D’ Teams
Yates singles up the middle in the championship game
Mooch does a nice behind the back pitch against Classic Glass
3rd place game Newbreed vs Classic Glass Sunday morning
Newbreed and Racks met way early in the tournament.
How about Mooch vs Laski lol
Scores were very high. Smash It Albicocco put up 56 on SIS Thunder (left)
and Newbreed put up 67 on Money (right)
The atmosphere and crowds is always good in Euless
Classic M ZN ball was used and full bucket bat testing
Video Highlites:
Texas Legends Major Awards and Final Standings
Parfitt, Whaley, and Brungardt were also all tournament for Newbreed
| Player Tournament Awards | Players Name | Plays For |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament MVP | Andy Purcell | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| Offensive Tournament MVP | Brian McBryde | SIS/THUNDER/MIKEN/WORTH/LOUISVILLE |
| Defensive Tournament MVP | Cory Briggs | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| All Tournament Team | Don Dedonatis Iii | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| All Tournament Team | Jeremy Yates | SIS/THUNDER/MIKEN/WORTH/LOUISVILLE |
| All Tournament Team | Chris Larsen | Classic Glass / Easton |
| All Tournament Team | Andrew Collins | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| All Tournament Team | Adam Ussery | SIS/THUNDER/MIKEN/WORTH/LOUISVILLE |
| All Tournament Team | Luis Reyna | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| All Tournament Team | Mike Brambilla | Classic Glass / Easton |
| All Tournament Team | Brandon Dillon | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| All Tournament Team | Nicolas Santana | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth |
| All Tournament Team | thomas Gilliland | Classic Glass / Easton |
| All Tournament Team | Chris Costantino | SIS/THUNDER/MIKEN/WORTH/LOUISVILLE |
| All Tournament Team | Brandon Traylor | Classic Glass / Easton |
| Place | State | Team | Team Class | Wins | Losses | Ties | Runs Scored |
Runs Allow |
Avg Runs |
Avg Runs Allow |
Avg Run Diff |
Max Runs |
Ranking Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NY – Rochester | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 5 | 0 | 0 | 170 | 75 | 34.0 | 15.0 | 19.0 | 56 | 300 |
| 2 | NY – Wading River | SIS/THUNDER/MIKEN/WORTH/LOUISVILLE | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 5 | 2 | 0 | 228 | 205 | 32.6 | 29.3 | 3.3 | 42 | 225 |
| 3 | CAN – San Jose | Classic Glass / Easton | USSSA-Mens-AA | 7 | 2 | 0 | 315 | 228 | 35.0 | 25.3 | 9.7 | 47 | 200 |
| 4 | WA – Tukwila | NEWBREED/GTS/DEMARINI | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 6 | 2 | 0 | 325 | 189 | 40.6 | 23.6 | 17.0 | 67 | 175 |
| 5 | CAN – San Jose | Dan Smith/Menosse | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 3 | 2 | 0 | 180 | 125 | 36.0 | 25.0 | 11.0 | 39 | 155 |
| 5 | MN – Medina | Xtreme/Miken/ASP/Athlon | USSSA-Mens-AA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 145 | 140 | 29.0 | 28.0 | 1.0 | 39 | 155 |
| 7 | TXS – corpus christi | Steel Sports/PowerhouseSportz/Mike | USSSA-Mens-A | 4 | 2 | 0 | 137 | 159 | 22.8 | 26.5 | -3.7 | 38 | 130 |
| 7 | AZ – Glendale | Myautojack.com | USSSA-Mens-B | 4 | 2 | 0 | 161 | 170 | 26.8 | 28.3 | -1.5 | 34 | 0 |
| 9 | TXS – Houston | ALLOUT/KLUTCH/WORTH | USSSA-Mens-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 96 | 100 | 24.0 | 25.0 | -1.0 | 32 | 110 |
| 9 | MO – Branson | Nightmare/Miken | USSSA-Mens-AA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 102 | 88 | 25.5 | 22.0 | 3.5 | 37 | 110 |
| 9 | CAN – Castro Valley | Bay Area Legends/Miken | USSSA-Mens-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 125 | 117 | 31.3 | 29.3 | 2.0 | 44 | 110 |
| 9 | TXN – Frisco | Killbombers / Demarini / GS Sports | USSSA-Mens-AA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 97 | 89 | 24.3 | 22.3 | 2.0 | 35 | 110 |
| 13 | WY – Casper | Racks/Sonny’s/Athlon/Easton/Cutter | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 2 | 2 | 0 | 128 | 102 | 32.0 | 25.5 | 6.5 | 36 | 70 |
| 13 | CAN – San Jose | L & S Glass | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 118 | 20.8 | 29.5 | -8.8 | 31 | 170 |
| 13 | TXN – Fort Worth | Jokers/ESP Family/FTP Empire | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 72 | 71 | 18.0 | 17.8 | 0.3 | 24 | 70 |
| 13 | CO – denver | Levels | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 71 | 103 | 17.8 | 25.8 | -8.0 | 27 | 95 |
| 17 | TXS – Pearland | SouthernBarrelApparel/SteelSports | USSSA-Mens-B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 70 | 20.3 | 23.3 | -3.0 | 35 | 40 |
| 17 | OK – Tulsa | SEMINOLES/TPS/NACSF.INC/MIKEN | USSSA-Mens-A | 1 | 2 | 0 | 78 | 52 | 26.0 | 17.3 | 8.7 | 32 | 40 |
| 17 | TXN – Grapevine | Chill Sports Bar & Grill | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 85 | 19.7 | 28.3 | -8.7 | 32 | 40 |
| 17 | TXS – Conroe | MONEY/MIKEN/ASP/A&A/51210SPORTS | USSSA-Mens-A | 1 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 95 | 25.7 | 31.7 | -6.0 | 26 | 40 |
| 17 | TXS – Houston | AMPM/GVMS/24-7 Softball/TI Sports | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 66 | 17.3 | 22.0 | -4.7 | 23 | 40 |
| 17 | TXN – Arlington | The B Team | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 86 | 20.0 | 28.7 | -8.7 | 28 | 40 |
| 17 | CO – Colorado Springs | SoCo Softball Club | USSSA-Mens-A | 1 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 67 | 14.3 | 22.3 | -8.0 | 20 | 0 |
| 17 | OK – Coweta | Insidious | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 45 | 10.5 | 22.5 | -12.0 | 16 | 140 |
| 25 | OK – Ardmore | ILLMATIC/twiSted sports | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 54 | 6.5 | 27.0 | -20.5 | 7 | 40 |
| 25 | TXN – Fort Worth | HVAC/SOLDADOS | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 64 | 8.0 | 32.0 | -24.0 | 13 | 40 |
| 25 | TXN – Mesquite | C&R Express/Miken | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 50 | 7.0 | 25.0 | -18.0 | 9 | 40 |
| 25 | TXN – Mesquite | NTX Most Hated/Hitmen Sports | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 65 | 3.5 | 32.5 | -29.0 | 5 | 40 |
| 25 | AR – Bryant | Fence Brokers Inc/Worth | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 56 | 22.5 | 28.0 | -5.5 | 26 | 140 |
| 25 | TXW – El Paso | Nine 1 Five/ASPNation/SportsLine | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 68 | 17.5 | 34.0 | -16.5 | 26 | 65 |
| 25 | CAN – Morgan Hill | Talamo Foods/RJR Products | USSSA-Mens-D | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.0 | 7.0 | -7.0 | 0 | 40 |
SIS/Albicocco pitcher Andy Purcell was the clear MVP…again. Dominating the game on both sides.
SIS/Albicocco third baseman Cory Briggs was Defensive MVP
SIS Thunder’s Brian McBryde was Offensive MVP
