Here is the ‘B’ World tournament report. Still working on the ‘A’, ‘AA’, and Major…
2022 USSSA ‘B’ World
September, 27-30
Viera, Florida
USSSA ‘B’ Worlds at the Spacecoast Stadium Complex in Viera, Florida!
‘B’ World Hot Links to Videos/Pictures
B World Results & Bracket link
B Monday World Video Clips link
B World quarterfinal – Rock Run vs BTR condensed game link
B World winner’s final condensed game link
B World championship condensed game link
B World Livestream Archived Games link
Tuesday Recap
Siteman/Pure (MO-B) walked off VSSI/Soldadis (TX-B) to start the tournament.
The USSSA ‘B’ Worlds began on Tuesday, September 27th with 32 ‘B’ teams from 20 different states under the threat of rain on 5 – 325 foot fields at Viera, Florida’s Space Coast Complex. They played with an 8 home run limit. With hurricane Ian looming in the gulf the weather was actually pretty good on Tuesday until the mist became rain for the last few games Tuesday night. They were able to play all the way down to the winner’s bracket finals before the hurricane shut down the county and the tournament which resumed and finished on Friday.
Early Tuesday morning in the “Round of 32” MAJ/Spire (AZ-B) knocked off LSR (IN-B) by a run 12-11. Cash House from Ohio couldn’t force a bottom of the 7th against SAL-8 from Virginia and lost by a run 11-10. RVCG from Indiana had a nice 18-12 win over Franchise from Virginia as Garrett Gapp had 4 hits and 2 homer’s and Mark Rummell added 4 hits and 4 RBI. Str8Play one of the favorites from California cruised past EAS from Colorado 13-3. Dirty Vegas from Texas beat FiftyFifty from Georgia 17-10. Platinum Fire (MA) hung on with the wind blowing in to beat Epic from South Carolina 4-3. LOB from Florida beat MIS who is listed as an Idaho team but has most of their players from Florida 17-7. TG Brand from Michigan put up the highest score of the tournament in beating WM Roofing from Ohio 27-8. Infinity Contractors from Oklahoma nearly no hit TLC from Missouri in a 14-0 victory. NWO from Georgia shocked one of the favorites Hubs Pub from Missouri 13-8 after leading by 10 going into the 7th inning. J&I Westcoast from Washington had a nice win over Bay Area Legends/Vivid (CA) 13-10. TRU/Stubterminal from North Carolina trailing Classy from Arizona 10-9 going into the top of the 7th got a triple from Cody Cornelius and then after two outs in a row got a single from Jeremy McDowell and back to back homer’s by David McDowell and R Adames to go up 3 runs. In the bottom of the 7th TRU pitcher Sport Williams got a pop out, a ground out, and a line out to end it! BTR one of the favorites from Utah beat Fish Head from Maryland 18-17 when Fish Head came back from a deep deficit only to leave the bases loaded. Bad Boyz from Florida beat the Nitro Circus ‘B’ team from Maryland 9-4 and Rock Run from Indiana the #1 seed advanced on a forfeit when KL&R from Connecticut decided not to come down due to the incoming hurricane.
NWO upset Hubs Pub/Gas in their opener.
It became apparent that while wind could affect the scores, the Dudley Pro-M ball was the ‘EC’ date code and was the true Pro-M ball we were used to in past years. In the “Round of 16” played early Tuesday afternoon SAL-8 gutted out another close 14-12 win over a good MAJ/Spire team. Str8Play rolled past RVCG 17-9 scoring 6 in the 3rd and 7 in the 5th to separate out homering RVCG 3-0 as Van Til and Lollis led the way with 3 hits each. Platinum Fire playing with the wind straight in again beat Dirty Vegas 6-5. TG Brand knocked off LOB 17-12. NWO run ruled Infinity contractors 23-5. TRU scored 6 in the 1st and 6 in the 2nd and cruised to a 21-6 win over J&I. They out homered J&I 6-1 and Corbin Hunt was 4-4 with 4 HR and 8 RBI in the win! BTR broke open a good close game with Siteman by scoring 14 runs in the top of the 4th and went on to win 27-18. BTR had 6 players with 4 hits each and two hitter Kameron King was 4-6 with 3 HR and 6 RBI in the victory. And in the final 2nd round game #1 seeded Rock Run had their hands full with Florida’s Bad Boyz leading just 15-14 going into the bottom of the 7th where Bad Boyz got a lead off single but then grounded to the pitcher Erik Lehman who turned it into a double play and then a nice play by middle infielder Jeremy Fry ended the game with Bad Boyz putting up a zero. Arliss Miller and Erik Lehman were each 4-5 in the win for Rock Run.
Rock Run takes on BTR on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals played out Tuesday evening as BTR jumped out to an early 8-2 lead on Rock Run after 2 innings as lead off hitter Kameron King and two hitter Isaac Gonzalez went a combined 9-10 with 3 HR, 10 RBI, and 8 runs scored! But Rock Run out scored BTR in the final 5 innings and grabbed the lead for good with an 8 run top of the 6th and held on to win 25-19. Rock Runs lead off hitter Arlis Miller was 5-6 with 2 HR and 5 RBI in the win. Rock Run out homered BTR 6-3.
In other quarterfinal action TRU scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 1st against upset minded NWO and TRU got 3 home runs again from Corbin Hunt to win 17-11. TRU out homered NWO 7-4 and got 3 hits each from Hunt, Colby Cornelius, Devan Hill, and David McDowell in the win. And at 8 PM TG Brand scored 6 runs on 2 homer’s in the top of the 7th to go up 23-22 on Platinum Fire who failed to score in the bottom of the 7th. And Str8Play got a bases loaded walk off single by Josh Jones to beat Sal8 12-11 to survive and advance!
Str8Play gets a walk off single from pitcher Josh Jones to beat Sal8 in the quarterfinals.
“Final 4” Recap
Semifinal #1 Tuesday night was between Rock Run and TRU. TRU went up 6-0 in the top of the 1st inning on 6 straight hits to start the game. A strong infield defense held Rock Run to 4 innings with no runs throughout the game. In the top of the 6th Corbin Hunt hit a two out 3 run home run that gave Tru a 13-8 lead and they held on to beat Rock Run who had the hammer 13-10 out homering them 3 to 1. Lead off hitter and pitcher Sport Williams was 4-4 in the win with 3 runs scored and even took a line drive off the helmet in the 7th inning.
The rain from hurricane Ian began for the 2nd semifinal game Tuesday night between Str8Play and TG Brand. TG Brand got Str8Play to hit into a double play in the top of the 1st and went on to win the game 13-9.
The tournament was postponed Wednesday and Thursday as the county shut down to let Hurricane Ian pass. Somehow it almost completely missed Viera and Melbourne entirely and play was able to resume on Friday with minimal wind damage to the park.
Winner’s Final Recap
TRU pitcher Sport Williams snaps off a middle shot in the winner’s bracket finals Friday.
In the winner’s bracket finals TG Brand matched TRU’s energy early on jumping out to a 9-6 lead. But TRU scored in every inning and their defensive range in the infield and outfield was on full display as they shut down TG Brand in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings while scoring 5 in the 3rd, 5 more in the 4th, and 5 more in the bottom of the 6th to win 22-11. Sport Williams and David McDowell each had 4 hits and they out homered TG Brand 4-3.
A key pinch hit by Angel Santos? iced the game for TRU in the 6th.
Loser’s Bracket Recap
The loser’s bracket played out all day Tuesday and Friday as MAJ/Spire the non-conference Arizona ‘B’ team in the top of the loser’s bracket knocked off Hubs Pub by 1, RVCG by 2, and Platinum Fire 12-5, before Dirty Vegas dropped down and sent them home Friday 27-24. Dirty Vegas then beat Rock Run 27-26 when Rock Run scored 7 in the top of the 7th to make it close. And WM Roofing the Ohio non-conference team in the bottom of the loser’s bracket knocked off MIS 26-14, Bad Boyz 16-9, Siteman 12-5, and NWO 25-3 before BTR dropped down Friday and sent them home 14-12 thanks in part to a grand slam homer by Ben Wright. And then Str8Play dropped down and beat BTR 14-12.
In the 4th place game Friday afternoon Dirty Vegas beat Str8Play 14-12 in extra innings in a game both teams made multiple late inning mistakes (solo’s, not covering the bases, infield errors etc.) that could have won the game, Dirty Vegas pitcher Corie Waldrep had the key hit in the 8th. Then a fresh TG Brand knocked off Dirty Vegas 20-13 after scoring 4 on 2 in the bottom of the 2nd to advance to the championship.
Championship Recap
TRU left fielder Keandre McGee makes a nice catch in the championship.
In the championship TG Brand got a walk but no hits or runs in the top of the 1st inning and TRU came up and scored 4 runs on homers by Corbin Hunt and Keandre McGee. In the 2nd TG Brand loaded the bases with no outs but only scored 2 runs making 3 straight outs to end the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd Jeremy McDowell, Derek Knight, Sport Williams, Corbin Hunt, Colby Cornelius, all singled, James walked, and McGee and Hill singled to score 6 and go up 10-2. When TG Brand zeroed in the top of the 3rd TRU smelled the blood in the water and cruised to a 20-5 run rule win. Every player on TRU had 2 or 3 hits and Colby Cornelius was locked in and 4-4. They out homered TG Brand 6-0.
B World Long Bomber of the Tournament!
USSSA ‘B’ Worlds Results and Awards
TRU pitcher Sport Williams was MVP (.741)
Defensive MVP was Derek Knight the center fielder for TRU
Offensive MVP was John Franklin from TG Brand
Team by Team Notes
1st Place – TRU/StubTerminal/Timeless/LA/ES
NC-B Record 6-0
As with most World Champions this was a real team effort for TRU. After struggling in conference play much of the season never winning more than 2 games in any conference tournament and going 0-4 vs the Major and ‘AA’ divisions TRU turned it on in the B Worlds going undefeated and beating favorites Rock Run and TG Brand. They did so by playing all facets of the game as good as anyone in the tournament. Their outfield and infield defensive range was impressive and not something we noticed during the season. They had “Florida power” in Corbin Hunt .692, 12 HR, 28 RBI, and MVP pitcher in Jerry “Sport” Williams led the team with a .741 on base percentage, defended the middle, and just a month prior was also MVP of the BSC Worlds. 2nd baseman Colby Cornelius had a .720 on base percentage the team made an impressive run and memories they will never forget. Congratulations!
David McDowell singles in the winner’s final.
MI Edmund Cheatum turns two.
2nd Place – TG Brand
MI-B Record 5-2
TG Brand was dropped to ‘B’ during the season and made the expected run at Worlds. Veteran leadership and pitching mixed with some young talent. They just didn’t have enough in the tank to keep pace with TRU at the end even with the 2 day lay off for the hurricane.
3rd Place – Dirty Vegas.Steel/AZGM
TX-B Record 7-2
Like TG Brand, Dirty Vegas was dropped to B during the season and had nice post season runs at the USA Softball Nationals as well as the USSSA ‘B’. They won that 4th place game with Str8Play that nobody seemed to want to win which got them to third.
4th Place – Str8play/JPS/SBT/HBA
CA-B Record 4-2
Str8Play was one of the favorites to win and had a really good record all year when pitcher Josh Jones was picked up and able to make it. They came up short in that game against Dirty Vegas where they will probably tell you they gave it away.
Tied 5th – BTR
UT-B Record 4-2
BTR was another favorite beat Fish Head, Siteman, Cash House, and WM Roofing and were led by Esplin and Pacheco who were over .700 on base, Gonzalez hit 10 HR, and Kameron King 6.
Tied 5th – Rock Run/AllHustle/Pure/Beloli/Koval
IN-B Record 3-2
Rock Run was 15-4 vs B teams on the year and was the favorite for B Worlds but after squeaking by Bad Boyz by a run they beat BTR 25-21 and then lost to Tru by 3 and Dirty Vegas by 1. Arlis Miller led the team with a .800 on base percentage and he and Kevin Miller hit 4 HR each.
Tied 7th – WM Roofing/Revolution Athletics
OH-B Record 4-2
WM Roofing was run ruled in their opener against TG Brand and then beat MIS, Bad Boyz, Siteman, and NWO keeping all of those teams under 10 runs to finish 7th.
Tied 7th – MAJ/Spire Financial/Rowley White RV
AZ-B Record 4-2
MAJ made a nice run beating LSR, Hubs Pub, RVCG, and Platinum Fire. They won 6 non-conference tournaments during the season.
More Teams
(I cannot touch on all 35 teams, sorry. So I just added the ones that had taken team pictures)
TLC went 0-2
Infinity from Oklahoma went 1-2
Classy from Arizona went 1-2
Siteman was 2-2 and tied for 13th
LSR went 0-2 but won the GSL A/B!
Cashhouse/JBL finished 3-2 tied for 9th
Faces in the Crowd / More Pictures
Jim Pilla was the tournament director.
Levi Lynch on the dish!
A small softball playing crowd in attendance on the back fields.
Full bat bucket testing.
This was me in the hotel room working/waiting for Hurricane Ian to pass.
On the video the ball did not appear to hit the Dirty Vegas runner.
They are building a Wawa around the corner from Spacecoast Park next to the Chick-fil-a.
