2017 Nationwide Conference USSSA
Windy City Classic
Carol Stream, IL
June 2-4
SIS/Thunders Joe Gordon hits a pinch hit homer in the championship to give his team a run rule victory!
Link to SoftballCenter picture album of the Windy City
2017 Windy City bracket and info link
The Chicago "Windy City" Major was a heavyweight event with most of the top 20 teams in the nation battling it out in a 36-team field. They played most of the games at the McCaslin Park in Carol Stream, Illinois and its 4 all turf infields and 300 foot fences. And they played a few Friday games and some Saturday morning games around the corner at the Glasshagel fields. There were no real upsets in the first round. Bay Area Legends (CA-A) came from behind to beat the upset minded Big Ten (CO-C) team 28-27. Resmondo (FL-M) came from a 21-4 deficit against Eurotech (MN-B) to win 43-33. TG/HDLNS (OH-AA) beat fellow 'AA' team JBL/Tailgaters (OH) impressively 31-11 and the rest of the Conference favorites won fairly easily.
In the second round, some of which was played Friday night and some played Saturday morning, SIS/Thunder (NY-M) beat Xtreme (MN-AA) in a close one at Glasshagel park 31-29. Smash It Albicocco (NY-M) beat local favorite Precision (IL-AA) 37-31 in a game where Precision pitcher Losson White was drilled by a line drive in the side of his pitching mask. Dan Smith (CA-M) 20 run ruled Premier (OH-B). Racks (WY-M) knocked off Newbreed (WA-M) 38-31 in a matchup of Major teams which occurred so early on because of the early season point seedings that put 5 Major teams in the lower half of the bracket. In the top of the bracket Pure Sports (SC-A) beat Classic Glass (CA-AA) 31-29 on a walk off homer by outfielder Ryan Czyz after Glass had forced extra innings over at Glass Hagel field late Friday night. TG/HDLNS beat Worth Astros (IN-AA) 44-39 after Astros jumped out to a double-digit lead. Resmondo who held a 20+ run lead on Bay Area Legends until the Legends scored 24 runs in one inning to make it close. But with no homers left late in the bottom of the 7th Bay Area came up short 43-41. And TDB/TMSports (NC-AA) run ruled OA Apparel (IL-AA) 31-15.
In the "final 8" of the winner's bracket Resmondo and TDB/TMSports were tied at 15 all early on and Resmondo came from behind to grab a 35-33 lead in the 6th on a BJ Fulk homer. But TDB had a big top of the 7th even after the homers were out and held off Resmondo 41-37 for their first "signature" win of the season and a trip to the final 4. In other action TG/HDLNS continued their winning ways with a 27-10 shellacking of Pure Sports including an early 13-1 lead. Dan Smith pulled off a huge 34-21 win over fellow Major team Racks to advance. And in what was probably the best game of the tournament SIS/Albicocco went up 4-1 on SIS/Thunder in the first inning and the game was tied at 18-18 after 5 innings. Then SIS/Albicocco scored 9 runs in the top of the 6th and led 27-22 going into the 7th inning. Albicocco would score 4 more runs to make it 31-22 and when Thunder came to bat in the bottom of the 7th they were down 9 runs with 6 homers' still left to hit. (Both teams had 16 HR to hit since it was a Major vs Major game). Thunder used 4 of those homers to close it to within 1 run and then got 4 straight base hits with two outs including base hits from Chris Costantino and Kyle Olsen to set up the game winning 2 run gapper by Ryan Stovall as Olsen scored all the way from first on a head first slide just ahead of the throw and SIS/Thunder won 32-31!
In the semifinals TG/HDLNS beat TDB/TMSports in a marathon game 45-31 as TG led most all the way. And SIS/Thunder went up 17-2 on Dan Smith early on and cruised to a 37-25 win. In the winner's bracket championship following immediately at 10 PM SIS/Thunder again got off to a fast start 10-4 against TG/HDLNS and cruised to a 39-24 run rule victory.
In the loser's bracket OA Apparel, Classic Glass, TG Brand, Precision, and Xtreme all tried to make runs that were stopped cold by the 4 Major teams that were spread throughout the loser's bracket. Then late Saturday Resmondo eliminated Newbreed and Dan Smith to advance to Sunday. Dan Smith tying the game at 42-42 before Resmondo won 47-42. And SIS/Albicocco came from way behind to beat Racks scoring the last 26 runs of the game and then they knocked off TDB late to advance to Sunday.
So, Sunday at 8 AM it was SIS/Albicocco and Resmondo two of the favorites playing to get to TG/HDLNS and SIS/Thunder. It was all SIS/Albicocco in that first game as they had double digit leads all game long and got off to a 28-3 lead and won 48-32. Then SIS/Albicocco grabbed leads of 12-0 and 22-7 on TG/HDLNS before an undermanned and beat up HDLNS team forced it to go 7 innings and had the bats in their hands at the end in a 32-25 loss.
In the championship SIS/Thunder was just a little more sharp and fresh and they grabbed a 15-11 lead on an Adam Ussery 3 run homer in the bottom of the 2nd, and then they led 27-19 on a 12-run bottom of the 3rd. Then SIS/Albicocco closed the gap to 27-24 in the 4th but in the top of the 5th SIS/Thunder got a double play and a diving out from Ryan Stovall at shortstop to hold Albicocco to zero and came in and scored 12 runs to leave SIS/Albicocco on the field 39-24.
The level of play was great and the quality of the teams was the best ever in the history of this tournament. There were plenty of conference experienced umpires and the weather was perfect. SIS/Thunder wins their first tournament of the year and they do so beating SIS/Albicocco twice who had just beaten them twice in Texas two weeks ago.
These kids won like 9 of the last 10 coin tosses for Thunder!
SIS/Thunders Ryan Stovall caps a 10 run comeback in the bottom of the 7th inning semifinal over SIS/Albicocco.
Kyle Olsen scored that game winning run just ahead of the throw and the celebration was on!
Team Breakdown:
36 Teams Overall
20 Nationwide Conference USSSA Teams
6 Major Teams
8 'AA' Teams
3 'A' Teams
8 'B' Teams
11 'C' Teams
Benches cleared in the Resmondo vs Newbreed game but nothing came of it.
Xtreme and Precision met later Saturday afternoon with Precision winning 39-27
Racks beat Newbreed in their second game 38-31 but then lost here to Dan Smith in the quarterfinals 34-21
Because Precision hasn't played a lot of tournaments this year their poor seed got them a matchup with SIS/Albicocco on Friday night. SIS/Albicocco won 37-31. This picture is of Dan Bean pitching for Precision but in this game their other pitcher Lossen White was hit in the side of the mask with a line drive injuring his jaw.
TG Brand had won 3 straight in the loser's bracket before dropping this game 27-26 to Classic Glass.
Classic shortstop AJ Montano tries to make another great diving play here.
Grudge Match game number 5 of the year between TG/HDLNS and Worth Astros Friday night was won by TG/HDLNS in a comeback victory 44-39. HDLNS has now won the last two and two out of the 5 matchups overall. I jokingly call it a grudge match because 6 of the main players on both teams came from the TG/Red's Astros 'AA' team from 2016 which was the highest ranked 'AA' team in the nation.
Resmondo taking on SIS Albicocco first thing Sunday morning. SIS Albicocco won 48-32 with huge offensive innings.
The crowd was good on Friday evening for the locals games
Outfields were grass at the main complex but the infields were artificial turf.
This is Glasshagel field #3 that was used for a few games and had a 352 foot center field.
Conference Dudley Classic M – ZN was used. It slowed down some during the heat of the day.
Windy City Major Awards and Final Standings
Note: All Tournament Awards have not been entered by the teams yet.
| 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 – Wading River | SIS/THUNDER/MIKEN/WORTH/LOUISVILLE | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 6 | 0 | 0 | 207 | 143 | 34.5 | 23.8 | 10.7 | 39 | 300 |
| 2 | NY – Rochester | Smash It/Albicocco/Miken/Worth | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 7 | 2 | 0 | 323 | 223 | 35.9 | 24.8 | 11.1 | 48 | 225 |
| 3 | OH – Hamilton | TG/HDLNS/BHR/EASTON | USSSA-Mens-AA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 191 | 157 | 31.8 | 26.2 | 5.7 | 45 | 200 |
| 4 | FLS – Winter Haven | Resmondo/O.A.Apparel/H.Auto/Special | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 5 | 2 | 0 | 266 | 233 | 38.0 | 33.3 | 4.7 | 47 | 175 |
| 5 | NC – Charlotte | TDB/TMSports/MidWestWhiteTailAdv/Mi | USSSA-Mens-AA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 158 | 160 | 31.6 | 32.0 | -0.4 | 41 | 155 |
| 5 | CAN – San Jose | Dan Smith/Menosse | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 3 | 2 | 0 | 164 | 133 | 32.8 | 26.6 | 6.2 | 42 | 155 |
| 7 | WA – Tukwila | NEWBREED/GTS/DEMARINI | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 4 | 2 | 0 | 189 | 132 | 31.5 | 22.0 | 9.5 | 38 | 130 |
| 7 | WY – Casper | Racks/Sonny's/Athlon/Easton/Cutter | USSSA-SPMensMajor | 3 | 2 | 0 | 147 | 136 | 29.4 | 27.2 | 2.2 | 38 | 130 |
| 9 | IL – Chicago | Precision/3rd St./GBrand/Easton | USSSA-Mens-AA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 139 | 122 | 27.8 | 24.4 | 3.4 | 39 | 110 |
| 9 | CAN – Castro Valley | Bay Area Legends/Miken | USSSA-Mens-A | 3 | 2 | 0 | 122 | 118 | 24.4 | 23.6 | 0.8 | 41 | 110 |
| 9 | CAN – San Jose | Classic Glass / Easton | USSSA-Mens-AA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 131 | 124 | 26.2 | 24.8 | 1.4 | 30 | 110 |
| 9 | SC – Charleston | Pure Sports/HB | USSSA-Mens-A | 2 | 2 | 0 | 88 | 119 | 22.0 | 29.8 | -7.8 | 33 | 110 |
| 13 | MI – Flint | TG Brand.Easton | USSSA-Mens-B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 131 | 103 | 26.2 | 20.6 | 5.6 | 30 | 170 |
| 13 | OH – Morrow | Premier/Easton | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 75 | 88 | 18.8 | 22.0 | -3.3 | 32 | 170 |
| 13 | MN – Medina | Xtreme/Miken/ASP/Athlon | USSSA-Mens-AA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 115 | 86 | 28.8 | 21.5 | 7.3 | 31 | 70 |
| 13 | TXN – Gladewater | OA APPAREL/BROUGHTON/KBI/EASTON | USSSA-Mens-AA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 96 | 85 | 24.0 | 21.3 | 2.8 | 39 | 70 |
| 17 | MI – Dearborn | Rebel Sports/Game On/Dirty/hangrite | USSSA-Mens-B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 73 | 20.8 | 18.3 | 2.5 | 32 | 140 |
| 17 | IL – Carol Stream | D&P | USSSA-Mens-C | 2 | 2 | 0 | 76 | 88 | 19.0 | 22.0 | -3.0 | 23 | 40 |
| 17 | WI – Oak Creek | MJ/Krieger Barrels/SpiderZ | USSSA-Mens-C | 2 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 80 | 12.0 | 20.0 | -8.0 | 28 | 40 |
| 17 | WI – Oconomowoc | MCR/EWALD/ZA | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 78 | 20.0 | 26.0 | -6.0 | 41 | 65 |
| 17 | MN – CHAMPLIN | CHANTICLEAR PIZZA/P5/MIKEN/WORTH | USSSA-Mens-A | 1 | 2 | 0 | 79 | 68 | 26.3 | 22.7 | 3.7 | 37 | 65 |
| 17 | IN – Indianapolis | WORTH ASTROS / K&G / KLUTCH | USSSA-Mens-AA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 88 | 74 | 29.3 | 24.7 | 4.7 | 39 | 40 |
| 17 | WI – Beloit | Comatose / S2N / Subway | USSSA-Mens-B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 82 | 20.3 | 27.3 | -7.0 | 30 | 40 |
| 17 | MN – Champlin | Eurotech/First Source/Riot | USSSA-Mens-B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 94 | 20.0 | 31.3 | -11.3 | 33 | 65 |
| 25 | MI – Lansing | CMT/Clutch/Koval | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 79 | 15.3 | 26.3 | -11.0 | 24 | 65 |
| 25 | IL – Chicagoland | WinCity/DynaMac SportsGear | USSSA-Mens-C | 1 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 86 | 17.7 | 28.7 | -11.0 | 31 | 65 |
| 25 | OH – Kent | JBL/Tailgaters/All In/B&E/Worth | USSSA-Mens-AA | 1 | 2 | 0 | 74 | 79 | 24.7 | 26.3 | -1.7 | 44 | 40 |
| 25 | MI – Kalamazoo | HB/SoftballFans/Miken/Evil | USSSA-Mens-B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 66 | 75 | 22.0 | 25.0 | -3.0 | 24 | 140 |
| 25 | KS – Overland Park | Community 1st / The Egg & I | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 68 | 7.5 | 34.0 | -26.5 | 11 | 65 |
| 25 | IL – JOLIET | KBI (KEN'S BEVERAGE INC.) | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 79 | 20.0 | 39.5 | -19.5 | 27 | 65 |
| 25 | CO – Denver | Big Ten / Deluxe Athletic Brand | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 48 | 22.5 | 24.0 | -1.5 | 27 | 65 |
| 25 | WI – Milwaukee | Team Elite/Spiderz/Ho-Chunk Gaming | USSSA-Mens-B | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 59 | 16.0 | 29.5 | -13.5 | 21 | 65 |
| 33 | IL – Hoffman Estates | DEMOLITION | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 46 | 14.5 | 23.0 | -8.5 | 20 | 65 |
| 33 | MN – Ham Lake | All Season / DSTI / P5 | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 39 | 15.0 | 19.5 | -4.5 | 22 | 40 |
| 33 | IL – Oswego | Polekatz/Forest Packaging | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 52 | 10.5 | 26.0 | -15.5 | 15 | 40 |
| 33 | IL – MOKENA | RAMPAGE SOFTBALL | USSSA-Mens-C | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 67 | 14.0 | 33.5 | -19.5 | 20 | 40 |
