2022 Texas Legends tournament report!

2022 Texas Legends Major

Euless, Texas

April 29 – May 1

Texas Legends MVP Ryan Mcclanahan sets the table for a 7th inning comeback for Smash It Sports!

Hot Links (More Videos to come)

Texas Legends bracket and results link

Texas Legends Picture Album

Texas Legends Friday/Saturday video clips

Texas Legends Resmondo vs Monsta CONDENSED game link

Texas Legends archived games link

Texas Legends stats link (once available)

Friday Night Recap

Friday nights at the Texas Star Park in Euless, Texas has one of the best atmospheres of the year.

The Texas Legends Major began on Friday at 4 PM with 32 teams (25 from Conference USSSA) at the beautifully refurbished Texas Star Park with its 4 turf infields and their 300-305-310-305-300 home run fence dimensions. With the 25 Conference teams in attendance there were big points on the line and 250 Conference points to the winner! The weather was nice but there were 20 to 25 mph winds at times on Friday which kept the scores higher on the Champion (main field) and All Star field next to it in the 4 field quad. Baugh Ford/GRIZZY (AL-A) scored 11 in the top of the 1st and 12 in the top of the 3rd against RVCG/ACA/RSA (IN-B) and although both teams scored 2 or more runs in every inning Baugh run ruled them 44-29. For Baugh Cole Campbell, Justin Lutheran, Jason Gilfillan, and Pedro Sanchez each had 5 hits and Lane Young was 6-7 with 4 homers and 10 RBI. L&S Glass (CA-A) run ruled a decent looking non-conference ‘B’ team from Oklahoma called Infinity Contractors 28-12. WestPoint Softball (IN-A) run ruled a new Conference team TLC/Houston Homes LLC (TX-B) 20-5 scoring 10 runs in the 1st. Rock Run/All Hustle/Silverbacks/Koval (IN-B) jumped out to a 9-2 lead on Cornerstone/Midstate (KY-A) with the wind blowing in and run ruled them in 5 innings 20-4. Rock Run out homered Cornerstone 7-2 as Arlis Miller and Aaron Fry each went 4 for 4.

At 5:20 PM Smash/The Lodge Poker Club a non-conference Texas ‘B’ team who is getting a reputation for upsetting Conference teams did just that, they upset Seminoles/TPS/NACSF.INC/Pure (OK-AA) 32-18! On the field next to them another huge upset as Anarchy/Smash It Sports/Beloli/OA (NY-A) who just picked up Shannon Smith from MPT and Texas’s own Mario Moralez Jr. from Smash Its Major team and they upset Chick-fil-a/Slugger/BAF/LBT (VA-AA) 37-28! Two ‘AA’ teams in the loser’s bracket before night fall Friday. WOW! Adiktiv/Throwbacks/CE (TX-A) a young 2nd year Conference team playing on their home turf in Texas beat Bay Area Legends/Vivid (CA-B) 23-3 scoring 12 runs in the bottom of the 2nd and holding Bay Area scoreless in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings. They out homered Bay Area 8-2 and Cody Schumaker and Joshua Guy each had 3 hits. Competitive Edge/Olmito/Suncoast (FL-AA) made quick work of Apollos/Moneyball/Cutthroat (TX-B) 21-1 jumping out to an 18-0 lead. Tyler Ervine, Ryan Honeycutt, Jeff Roxby, and Taylor Cobb all were 3-3 in the game and they hit just 5 home runs.

At 6:40 PM Nitro Circus/Klutch/Team 199/BRC (MD-TBD) beat Primetime/Easton/F.A.I. (GA-A) 30-29 when Primetime had the bats in their hands down 1 with a runner on second after a Mike Williams bases loaded single. Stars/NFM Lending/Arab $$$ (CO-A) scored 9 runs in the top of the 3rd to tie their game at 19-19 against Hubs Pub/Gas (MO-B) who was playing their 1st Conference tournament of the year. Then Stars outscored Hubs down the stretch 19-14 to win 38-33. Ayden De Young-Faria the Stars 3 hitter and Kyle Bradbury were each 6-6 in the game. Faria had 9 RBI and a grand slam. Both teams hit their allotted 12 home runs in the game. Siteman/Proton (MO-TBD) playing in their 1st Conference game as a Conference team jumped out to a 19-4 lead against Monsta/Albicocco/Racks/Nitro Circus (CA-Major) scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. But Monsta batted for a half an hour in the top of the 5th scoring 24 runs and won by the run rule 38-23. Tommy Melton was 5-5 with 5 runs scored in the win for Monsta who hit 11 of their 14 HR. Luke Boyster, Brandon Keene, and Chase Graf were each 4-4 in the loss. Over on Futures field Kut4 Sports/OI Livingston (AL-A) handled Dirty Vegas/Steel/Suncoast (TX-A) 29-11.

At 8 PM Smashit/Thunder/Chosen/Pure/RF/BD/TDB (NY-Major) crushed Flipside Softball/Tamez Trucking (TX-C) 42-12. Classic Glass/Easton (CA-AA) run ruled Bolas/Aztecas (TX-C) 39-9 as Tommy Formosa went 4-4. MPT Rentals/Juno Athletics (NJ-Major) run ruled Westernson/JTLLLC/X4Athletics (TX-B) 33-18 as Joe Dorton and Josh Kirsten each went 5-5. And #1 seeded Resmondo/SmashIt/All American/Menosse run ruled SwingKings (TX-C) 32-11 scoring 18 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

All of the teams that won in the “Round of 32” then played another game and 15 of the 16 teams were Conference teams. Baugh Ford beat L&S Glass 29-19 in a nice battle of ‘A’ teams. L&S did not score in the 1st 3 innings and Baugh put up a 12 spot in the bottom of the 6th. Cole Campbell and Justin Lutheran were each 5-5. Rock Run went up 17-13 on a crowd pleasing 3 run homer by Jerry Slabach in an upset bid over Smash It Sports but fell short in the bottom of the 7th, down 4, they lost 24-23 when a game winning home run bid fell 15 feet short. WestPoint run ruled upset minded Smash The Lodge 31-13. Classic Glass held off Anarchy 23-16. Competitive Edge beat their “little brother” team Adiktiv 26-23 even though Akiktiv scored 6 in the bottom of the 7th to close the gap. Honeycutt, Cobb, and Joe Boland each had 4 hits in the win. MPT Rentals rolled through Nitro Circus 32-12 scoring 12 runs in the top of the 4th as Donnie Walsh went 4-4. Monsta beat Stars by the 20 run rule 32-12 as leadoff hitter Austyn Dawe went 5-5 with 8 RBI and pitcher Andrew Vitcak went 4-4 at the plate. And Resmondo went 7 innings in a win over Kut4 Sports 44-36 after scoring 23 run in the top of the 1st! Leadoff hitter Phil Matte was 5-5 with 3 HR and 10 RBI and Argen Dodds was 5-6 with 4 HR and 11 RBI.

Siteman/Proton in their first ever Conference game as a Conference team led Monsta 19-13.

Adiktiv upset Chick fil a.

Rock Run gave Smash It everything they could handle but came up a run short with the bats in their hands.

Baugh beat L&S Glass in an early battle between ‘A’ teams.

Saturday Recap

Yates walks off his old team Resmondo after an intentional walk to Dawe.

On Saturday the loser’s bracket played through the morning and the “Final 8” began at 2 PM. Smash It Sports advanced 29-10 over Baugh Ford breaking open a close game with 20 runs in the 4th/5th innings combined. Ryan Mcclanahan and Josh Riley were each 3-3. The wind was blowing in on the two main fields All Star and Champion and Classic Glass fought for a 16-12 win over Westpoint. Competitive Edge upset MPT 36-34 scoring 12 in the 4th and 9 in the 5th. Ryan Honeycutt was 6-6 in the win. Filip Washington for MPT Rentals was ejected for the tournament in this game for, as I understand it, arguing the 2 player on deck rule and using threatening language towards an umpire. And Monsta beat Resmondo 40-38 on a walk off homer by former Resmondo star Jeremy Yates in the bottom of the 7th after Monsta had trailed pretty much the entire game. Resmondo called time and intentionally walked Austyn Dawe to get to Yates who was struggling some at 3-6.

Rocabaldo hits against Baugh Ford in the final 8.

Competitive Edge upsets MPT

Final 4 Recap

Classic Glass takes on Smash It in the Final 4

The “Final 4” was played Saturday evening as it cooled off. Smash It Sports won a low scoring 16-12 game over Classic Glass. And Monsta scored 20 runs against Competitive Edge in the 1st inning to go up 20-5. Competitive Edge battled back with 17 in the 4th and at one point a line drive hit Monsta pitcher Andrew Vitcak who in frustration threw his glove in the air sort of in the direction of the runner and was ejected from the game. Matt Chromy finished the game at pitcher and Monsta held off a 7th inning charge by Competitive Edge to win 40-36. Austyn Dawe and Steele Lewis were 6-6 in the win, Lewis had 11 RBI.

Winner’s Final Recap

Matt Brady picks one off the fence in the winner’s final vs Smash It Sports.

The winner’s bracket final was played in cool conditions and Smash It Sports dominated Monsta offensively and defensively in route to a 27-4 run rule victory in 4 innings.

Dale Brungardt homer’s vs Monsta in the winner’s final.

Loser’s Bracket Recap

Cornerstone beat Nitro Circus on this catch in the bottom of the 7th.

Primetimes Rod Armour hits one through the Rock Run pitchers legs but Primetime came up a run short on a flyout.

After midnight Saturday Competitive Edge wins a slugfest with MPT in the 4th place game.

L&S Glass, Hubs Pub, and Chick-fil-a all made nice runs early in the loser’s bracket to get some good points finishes. Then Baugh Ford and MPT Rentals took over and won a couple games before Competitive Edge dropped down and beat Baugh and MPT to finish 3rd.

Sunday Recap

Monsta’s Jason Magnum hits a walk off homer to force the “if” game.

On Sunday Competitive Edge who had beaten Baugh 50-35 and MPT 52-33 late Saturday night/early Sunday morning got beat by Monsta 36-17 in the loser’s bracket finals. Yates and Matusik each had 5 hits in the win. The wind blew in from right towards the 3rd base dugout at 10 to 15 mph which affected the left handers and the scoring. In the 1st championship game some early defense by Smash It Sports got them out to a 17-11 lead but Monsta never went away and when Smash It failed to score in the top of the 7th leading 25-23, Monsta walked them down with a single by Matusik, a home run by Fyffe, and a walk off homer by Jason Magnum in the bottom of the 7th to win 26-25 and force the “if” game. Lewis, Magnum, and Dawe all had 4 hits.

Kyle Pearsons 2 out homer ties the final game against Monsta.

In the final game it played out in reverse of the 1st championship game. Monsta held the lead most of the way but hit into a double play in the 6th and put up a zero in the top of the 7th opening the door for a Smash It comeback. In the bottom of the 7th Mcclanahan singled, Riley doubled, Rocabaldo grounded into a fielder’s choice, Everett Williams hit a majestic high flying 3 run homer to bring them within a run. Then Brungardt grounded out, and with 2 outs Kyle Pearson hit a homer that went about 302 just out of the reach of Matusik in left field to tie the game and Buddy Wolf hit a walk off homer to win it 30-29.

The tournament was stacked with great teams and competition and the weather was great, I don’t think I broke a sweat.

The quote of the week goes to Ryan Tomasi the pitcher from L&S Glass who was called for a “5 second violation”. He then asked the umpire if he “used Mississippi’s to count?” lol

Buddy Wolf wins the tournament with a walk off homer vs Monsta!

Long Bomber of the Week!

Everett Williams, Jason Magnum, Dale Brungardt, Phil Matte, Josh Fyffe, Terrence Engles, Steele Lewis, and Josh Riley and I’m sure many others had some very long home runs. I know Brungardt and Riley went up on the buildings which are 400 feet away. Engles hit the right side of the building across the street behind Futures field that I google earthed at 425. But lets give Long Bomber of the week to Everett Williams who hit a no doubter as high as it was long to bring Smash It to within one run in the “if” game on Sunday with the wind blowing in.

Texas Legends Results and Awards

Smash It shortstop Ryan Mcclanahan was MVP

Smash It Left Fielder Kyle Fisher was Defensive MVP

Monsta’s Steele Lewis was Offensive MVP and was 31-36 .861 with 15 HR and 36 RBI

Team by Team Notes

1st Place – Smashit/Thunder/Chose/PureRF/BD/TDB

NY-Major 6-1

Smash It survived that 1 run win over their nemesis Rock Run/Silverbacks in their opener and used incredible defense and pitching by Purcell and Jonas to get an large amount of ground ball outs. Mcclanahan at shortstop who won the MVP was really the Defensive MVP as well making play after play. Dunn in center and Fisher in left have so much range and cover the gaps and get to the balls so fast that should be doubles that they turn into catches or singles. Martel, Brungardt, Rock, and Pearson also made some nice plays in the infield. The team was without Collins who was suspended for 3 games for actions at the Hall of Fame Classic last month and the offense does not put up the big numbers that MPT or Resmondo put up but they win with defense and some big innings. Purcell’s swing also looked good. This is Smash Its 2nd tournament win of the season and they are now #1 in points which means the #1 seed for this weekends Myrtle Beach Major!

Dale Brungardt finishes a great play

P Jonas and MI Rich Rocabaldo

2nd Place – Monsta/Albicocco/Racks/Nitro Circus

CA-Major 6-2

Monsta never gave up in this tournament and beat Resmondo and Smash It Sports on walk off homers. They gave one away in the championship as the offense went cold in the late innings of the final game. But Monsta is real competitive and a threat every weekend and being a new Major team that is an impressive feat (ask MPT 🙂 ). Lewis was incredible at .861. Dawe, Magnum, Brady, Welborn, Matusik, Fyffe, Melton, and Bloomer were all over .700. Matt Brady at shortstop made a number of incredible plays, check them out in the video clips. I read in the roster moves (at the top of conferenceusssa.com) that Tyler Wilson was released today.

Monsta shortstop Matt Brady made a number of incredible plays and throws.

Tyler Wilson had this big pinch hit to help beat Resmondo

Andrew Vitcak hit a clutch 3 run homer in Monsta’s comeback win against Resmondo

3rd Place – Competitive Edge/Olmito/Suncoast

FL-AA 5-1

Competitive Edge beat MPT twice, scored some 237 runs and had one of the most impressive offensive performances of the year from Ryan Honeycutt who was 33-38 .868 with 11 HR and 29 RBI. I don’t think he made an out for the better part of 24 hours to start the tournament. Ervine led in HR with 12, Rogers had 10, Lendenski-Jackson-Roxby were all over .740. They scored over 100 runs in wins over Baugh and MPT late Saturday night. And most of those wins were by tryout pitcher Shawn Ramsey and Mason Farmer who did some relief work as starter James Delagarzza had some tendinitis in his forearms and couldn’t grip the ball. Comp Edge finishes highest in class and should get a nice bump in the computer rankings when they come out Wednesday.

Comp Edge picked up Shawn Ramsey on a tryout basis from the Florida Young Guns to pitch.

Joe Boland (I think I called him Mike a couple times on the videos) has earned a starting spot in the infield.

3B Taylor Cobb, SS Logan Rogers, MI Jeff Roxby

4th Place – MPT Rentals/Juno Athletics

NJ-Major 5-2

MPT scored a bunch but gave up a bunch and couldn’t stop Competitive Edge losing to them twice. Flip was ejected from the tournament half way through and John Williams is out suspended from the bench clearing in Florida which didn’t help. Joe Dorton .838, Josh Kirsten .828, Conner Murray .788, Joe Bennett .763, Chris Anninos .783, Orlando Olivera .800, Don Walsh .727, Nick Day .727, John Radich .743. Harvey led in HR with 12 but is fighting some sort of neck/back nerve injury. Dan Sanchez and Jon Dombrowski did the pitching but MPT today picked up Bill Pinkham from Cornerstone to try and change the defense.

3B Nick Day, SS Joe Joe Bennett, MI Conner Murray, 2B Orlando Castillo, RF John Radich

Tied 5th – Baugh Ford/Grizzy

AL-A 4-1

Baugh beat L&S Glass twice, RVCG, and Hubs Pub to earn some solid points. Justin Lutheran was .800 with 11 HR and Lane Young hit 12 homers. Cole Campbell who helps run and manage the team didn’t make an out for the 1st 3 games and finished at .793 playing on his home field. Baugh was short handed only 11 players with starters missing for weddings etc.

Zach Ross was leadoff for Baugh Ford

Tommie Baugh and SS Pedro Sanchez

Infielder Brandon Bellamy

Tied 5th – Classic Glass/Easton

CA-AA 3-2

Classic Glass played a lot of low scoring games and are good at adjusting to any conditions. They were led in hitting by Jordan Spaulding .783 and homers by Ryan Ramirez 10. More points for Classic who has played a ton of softball already this year and is currently 3rd in the standings.

Spaulding doubles

Ryan Ramirez against Jonas

Tied 7th – L&S Glass

CA-A 4-2

L&S had nice wins over Infinity, Apollos, Rock Run, and Westpoint but lost to Baugh twice. Overall a weekend that they needed though to get on track and try to make the major where they have an outside shot.

Cano is lead off for L&S

Kenneth Duby came over from Competitive Edge in the off season.

Tied 7th – Adiktiv/Throwbacks/CE

TX-A 4-2

Adiktiv had a big weekend on their home turf beating Bay Area ‘B’, Infinity, and Cornerstone with defense. Taking a nice shot at upsetting Competitive Edge, and then sending home RESMONDO! 33-30 before losing to MPT just 44-39. Jordan Harrison led the team offensively .783 and Cody Schumaker had 12 HR and 27 RBI. If you haven’t seen the picture of Chris Roberts home run rob in the Resmondo game check it out on Erika Vargas’s facebook page.

3B Christensen, SS Perez, MI Bernard, RF Roberts

The Throwbacks (bar) sponsor is also the team photographer!

More Teams

Tied 9th – Hubs Pub/Gas

Hubs had nice wins over Siteman, Smash the Lodge, and Anarchy in their 1st conference event of the season. This team seems like more of the Gas team that had success early in 2021 in Conference events.

Tied 9th – Chick-fil-a/Slugger/BAF/LBT

Chick fil a salvaged their weekend after losing to Anarchy in their opener they beat Bolas, Kut4, and Seminoles.

Tied 9th – WestPoint Softball

Westpoint beat TLC and Smash the Lodge before losing 2 in a row. They played without their leading hitter Brandon Yoder.

Tied 9th – Resmondo/Smash It/All American

Resmondo played without Travis Clark (suspension), Nic Santana (suspension), Bazat (injury), Jones (injury), and Cory Briggs appeared to get hurt during the tournament. They picked up Westy Guill for the outfield and Dan Bean as a second pitcher but they weren’t expected to finish very high and ended up 9th after losing on a walk off homer to Monsta and then immediately afterwords being upset by Adiktiv. This team is still #2 in the points standings but has a lot of missing pieces for Myrtle Beach this weekend. Reckart led the team at .867 and did half of the pitching. Dodds playing in his home state was .773 with 11 HR and Bubba Mack, Kyle Pearson, Greg Connell, Luis Reyna, and Tyler Marshburn were all over .700.

Anarchy upset Chick fil a. Shannon Smith .810 and an injured Brandon Streets .818 led the offense.

Rock Run came so close to beating Smash It they could taste it. They did have nice wins over Primetime and Cornerstone. The win with defense and pitching. Hit 21 HR in 4 games with a .570 team on base percentage.