2023 Pocket City Dual tournament report! —> Added Bloopers Volume #3!

2023 Pocket City Dual Major

Evansville, Indiana

August 10-13

JBL pitcher Mason Farmer stabs a hot shot from S&E’s Freddie Bynum in the championship of Dual #1.

Pocket City Hot Links

Pocket City Bracket and Results link

Pocket City Picture Album link

Dual #2 – Competitive Edge vs Monsta/Sonnys game link

Dual #2 – Sports Reach vs Monsta/Sonnys game link

Dual #2 – Competitive Edge vs Sports Reach game link

Dual #2 Quarterfinal Clips link

Monsta vs Resmondo condensed game link

Dual #1 Video Clips link

Smash It Sports vs S&E condensed game link

Championship S&E vs JBL condensed game link

Pocket City Quarterfinal Video Clips link

Pocket City Dual #1 S&E vs JBL Condensed Game link

Pocket City Dual #2 Monsta vs Roofx Condensed Game Link

Pocket City Dual #1 Competitive Edge vs JBL Condensed Game Link

Pocket City Dual #1 Stats link (Updating throughout the week)

Pocket City Dual #2 Stats link (Updating throughout the week)

Pocket City Team List

Thursday Recap

Smash Its Craig Pelligrin hits a walk off homer to beat Chick-fil-a in the bottom of the 9th.

The last big regular season conference tournament of the 2023 year began on Thursday morning at 8 am central time at the Deaconess Sports Park in Evansville, Indiana with 33 of the top teams in the country playing two tournaments. Using the Dudley Pro-M ball with the “ET” code the ball was flying early as the temperatures were cool and the humidity low. The “Round of 32” had scores in the 30’s and 40’s to win with no lower class teams beating any higher class teams which we would consider an upset. In the “Round of 16” the Major teams who were the top 4 seeds played their games in the “Red” quad and the AA vs AA and AA vs A matchups were in the “Blue” quad. All of the fields at Deaconess park were 300-310-315-310-300 field dimensions with artificial turf infields and grass outfields. The ball was still flying as the humidity had not yet arrived for these 11:30 AM central time games. Smash It/Bay Area (CA-AA) entered the bottom of the 7th vs Chick-fil-a (VA-AA) needing just 1 run with 3 homer’s to hit but failed to score. In the top of the 8th SIS shortstop Kyle Fisher made an incredible play to hold Chick-fil-a down but they went ahead 32-30 on a Matt Brady two run homer. In the bottom of the 8th Chick-fil-a left fielder Justin Lutheran made an spectacular home run rob but Joe Dorton tied it at 32-32 with a home run. SIS would win in the bottom of the 9th finally 34-33 on a walk off homer by pickup Craig Pelligrin. Monsta (NC-Major) scored 26 in the top of the 1st inning and beat Bay Area Legends (CA-A). Jeremy Yates, Tyler Storey, Heath Barnes, Steele Lewis, and Josh Fyffe were all on base 5-5. S&E (NC-AA) and Nitro Circus (MD-AA) went 9 innings when Nitro Circus had the bases loaded and 1 out needing a run in the bottom of the 8th and failed to score. Then S&E leading by 1 run got a diving catch by left fielder Joey Kampfer to preserve a 34-33 victory. Edmund Locklear was 5-6 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the win as both teams hit all 14 of their allotted home runs. A short handed Classic Glass (CA-AA) and MPT Rentals (NJ-Major) were pretty much even the entire game with MPT grabbing a 30-29 lead going into the 7th. Classic Glass managed to tie the game at 30-30 but lost in the bottom of the 7th on an Andrew Collins sacrifice fly 31-30. Filip Washington in his 1st tournament back was 6-6 on base in the win. JBL (OH-AA) out slugged Sports Reach (KY-AA) to a 42-32 win. Dave Johnson was 6-7 with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored in the win. Resmondo (FL-Major) scored at least 7 runs in every inning in the 1st 4 innings to beat Dirty Vegas (TX-A) by the run rule in 5 innings using just 12 of their 14 HR. Bradley Jones, Everett Williams, and Buddy Wolf were all 4-4 on base. Resmondo played without pitcher Travis Clark (son’s baseball tournament), Cory Briggs (work), Kyle Pearson (welcomed newborn), and Kevin Bazat (hamstring). LSR (IN-A) jumped out to a 14-2 lead on Roofx (IN-AA) after 3 innings. But Roofx scored 8, 8, 8, and 7 over the next 4 innings and came back to beat LSR 32-22 as Faron Fry went 4-5 with 4 HR and 8 RBI. And Competitive Edge (FL-Major) scored 12 in the 1st, 11 in the 4th, and 12 in the 5th to beat Str8play (CA-A) 39-13 by the run rule in 5 innings. Conner Murray and Brandon Jackson were each on base 5-5 and Faron Miller did the pitching as LC Watson was not there and Faron split time with Mike Thorbrogger.

Roofx 3rd baseman Jon Troyer makes and ESPN highlight play to get the speedy Barnes.

Thursday at 4:45 PM central on the 4 fields in the “Red” quad, the quarterfinals began with basically the top 8 teams in the nation. You can see some video clips of those games here. The heat and humidity started to reduce the scores some as Smash It/Bay Area and Monsta each scored in every inning but never in double digits. Smash It with the hammer never needed it as they upset Monsta 29-22 out homering them 14-10. Lead off hitter Jason Branch was 5-5 with 4 runs scored in the win. S&E upset MPT 35-34 on a Freddie Bynum walk off single in the bottom of the 7th after the teams traded double digit innings in the 5th. Lead off hitter Joey Kampfer, SS Joel Sanchez, and DH Jimmy Ward were all 5-6 on base. Ward hit 3 HR and had 6 RBI. Both teams hit all 14 HR. JBL trailed Resmondo 30-25 going into the bottom of the 5th where they scored 17 runs and ended up winning 47-32 by the run rule in 6 innings. Both teams hit 12 of their 14 home runs and Mike Williams and Brian McBryde were each 6-6 on base with Williams knocking in 9 runs. And Roofx down by 3 with 6 HR to hit in the top of the 7th scored 2 runs on 2 homer’s to lose 21-20. Logan Rogers was 4-4 in the win as Roofx actually out homered Competitive Edge 10-9.

Brock Frentzel homer’s against Resmondo before he left the game with a separated shoulder.

The semifinals were played at 6:30 PM Thursday night in the 88 degree heat and humidity. JBL and Competitive Edge on the show field Red #6 had no problem scoring though as CE was up 31-20 after scoring 17 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. JBL never gave up though and trailing 35-28 going into the top of the 7th put up 14 runs and held on to win 42-37. David Johnson at lead off was 6-7 and Adam Ussery and Cody Roton each reached base safely 6-6 in the win. And S&E scored 10 in the bottom of the 3rd, shut out SIS in the top of the 4th on a slick double play by infielder Jordan Robinson and a home run robbing catch by left fielder Joey Kampfer, and then scored 11 in the bottom of the 5th to leave Smash It/Bay Area on the field 35-20. S&E’s leader Rich Racobaldo was 5-5 with 3 HR and 10 RBI, lefty Jacob Hoskins was 5-5 with 5 runs scored, and Hunter Oliver was 5-5 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the win. So the winner’s final of Dual #1 was set for Friday at 11:30 AM and it was two ‘AA’ teams playing with all 4 Major teams in the loser’s bracket and 3 of those Major teams on the same side of the loser’s bracket!

Ex-Comp Edge pitcher Mason Farmer takes it too his old team in the semifinals.

Friday Recap

Nitro Circus’s Cabot Van Til walks off Resmondo.

The Dual #1 winner’s bracket final game at 11:30 AM Friday morning can be viewed in condensed form here. JBL jumped out to a 18-3 lead on an S&E team that seemed to be unprepared for the game. S&E came back with an 11 run top of the 4th using just 2 home runs and S&E blanked JBL in the bottom of the 4th when Kampfer robbed another home run. But a 2nd grand slam by JBL’s Orlando Olivera and 4 other homer’s by JBL left S&E on the field in the 12 run 5th, 30-15. JBL out homered S&E 11-3 and David Johnson was again 5-5 and Orlando Olivera was 4-4 with 3 HR and 11 RBI in the win.

In the loser’s bracket LSR, Sports Reach, Nitro Circus, and Siteman all made good points scoring runs only to be squashed by the Major teams dropping down or a hot hitting Roofx team. Nitro Circus beat Resmondo 41-39 late Thursday night down 3 with 2 to hit on a walk off homer by Cabot Van Til. Then Roofx beat Nitro Circus and Smash It/Bay Area before losing to Competitive Edge and finishing 4th. Then at 1:15 PM Friday afternoon S&E returned to the championship game by knocking off Competitive Edge 31-16 in the loser’s bracket finals.

Jacob Hoskins pushes S&E past Competitive Edge by the run rule.

In the championship late Friday afternoon both S&E and JBL got off to slow starts but JBL scored 10 on 3 home runs in the bottom of the 2nd to go up 12-5. They added a big 2 out grand slam by Bradley Scott in the bottom of the 5th to go up 24-15 and used some good defense led by middle infielder Steve Hendrickson to shut out S&E in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings to win 29-15. It was one of the few times in Conference history (maybe only the 2nd time) when a ‘AA’ won a tournament where 4 Major teams were present.

JBL’s Bradley Scott hits a grand slam against S&E.

The 2nd dual began as the 1st one was ending and in the “Round of 32” although there were a bunch of good close games, there were no real upsets except for LSR (IN-A) who upset SmashIt/Bay Area in their opening game 25-24 on a home run robbing catch by LSR right fielder David Kessler. Had he not robbed the homer for the 3rd out SIS/Bay would have won on a walk off. In the “Round of 16” which was played late Friday night Primetime upset Chick-fil-a 34-29 after scoring 10 in the bottom of the 1st. Roderick Armour was 6-6 with 3 HR and 6 RBI in the win. Competitive Edge run ruled Str8play 42-25. S&E out scored Sports Reach 17-13 in the 2nd inning but Sports Reach’s relentless offensive attack brought them from behind to win 46-38 as lead off hitter Robert Blackburn, three hitter Austin Mapes, and CF Austin Andrews all reached base safely 6 times and Mapes had 9 RBI. MPT Rentals scored 14 in the top of the 2nd, 10 in the 4th, and 11 in the 5th to run rule TRU 42-17. John Williams was on base 6-6 with 4 walks and Ben Dunn had 8 RBI. In the lower half of the bracket JBL who had won the 1st dual earlier in the day won their 2nd game of dual #2, this one over Nitro Circus 38-37 without having to bat in the bottom of the 7th. Lead off hitter Dave Johnson was again a perfect 6-6 and Bradley Scott hit 4 HR and had 11 RBI. Resmondo 20 run ruled Classic Glass in 4 innings 38-18 as Josh Riley, Phil Matte, Bradley Jones, and Buddy Wolf were all 5-5 or 6-6. Roofx who had fought off a late comeback in their 1st game against their nemesis Van Wert Frickers then beat LSR 29-9 scoring 12 in the bottom of the 2nd leaving them on the field in the bottom of the 5th. Arlis Miller was 5-5 with 4 runs scored and they out homered LSR 10-4. And Monsta beat Westpoint 29-28 without having to bat in the bottom of the 7th as Heath Barnes and Steele Lewis each went 5-5 with 3 HR.

Saturday Recap

Sports Reach takes on Competitive Edge in the semifinals.

On Saturday the “Final 8” got started at 1:15 PM as the loser’s bracket had played all morning. Competitive Edge scored 15 in the bottom of the 2nd against PrimeTime and held them off 27-26 without having to bat in the bottom of the 7th even though PrimeTime out homered CE 11-10. Tyler Ervine and the “Original” Kyle Pearson were each 4-4. Sports Reach scored 13 in the top of the 1st, 15 in the top of the 3rd, and 7 in the top of the 7th then held MPT to 5 in the bottom of the 7th to upset them 42-39. Robert Blackburn, Tommy Melton, and Brad Sheffield were all on base 6 times and Melton had 8 RBI. Resmondo who added CF Cory Briggs for the 2nd dual scored double digit innings 3 times in run ruling JBL 38-22 as Josh Riley and Everett Williams were both on base 5-5 and Phil Matte hit 3 home runs. And in a game you can see here in condensed form, Monsta out lasted three Roofx comebacks to win 35-31 as Austyn Dawe and Heath Barnes each were on base 5-6 and Marc Wik had 7 big RBI.

Buddy Wolf and Resmondo take on Monsta in the semifinals.

The two semifinal games and the winner’s bracket final were played back to back to back starting at 7 PM Central time and it was still hot and humid until dark. In the 1st semifinal Sports Reach up 27-22 used some great defense by shortstop Tommy Melton, 3B Dagmar Pena, and pitcher Brandon Jonas to shut out Competitive Edge in the top of the 5th. Going into the top of the 7th Sports Reach was up 31-22 and Competitive Edge who still had 6 home runs left scored 11 on 5 to take a 33-31 lead but inexplicably left pitcher Faron Miller in the game to hit and he made 2 of the 3 outs. Even with Faron on the mound in the bottom of the 7th Sports Reach who had 4 home runs left got home runs from Jason Gilfillan and Dagmar Pena to tie the game at 33 and after a single and a double play, Robert Blackburn hit a walk off home run to win it 34-33. In the 2nd semifinal played entirely after dark Monsta had 3 double digit scoring innings to Resmondo’s 2 and the marathon game ended with Monsta winning 61-43 in 7 innings. Somehow Monsta only hit 15 of their 16 home runs and Resmondo 14 of 16 according to the live stats? And of all the gaudy stats in the game Steele Lewis had the best stat line going 8-8 with 4 home runs, 13 RBI, and 8 runs scored! The winner’s final was then played around midnight Saturday. In that one Sports Reach caught Monsta a little flat and tired after Monsta scored the 60+ vs Resmondo and Sports Reach scored 10 in the top of the 1st and 13 in the top of the 5th as both teams scored in every inning but Sports Reach won 42-34 out homering Monsta 14-10. Robert Blackburn was 6-6 and Dagmar Pena had 8 RBI in the upset win.

Monsta’s Heath Barnes hits against Sports Reach in the winner’s final of dual #2.

The loser’s bracket of Dual #2 played out all day long on Saturday in the heat. NFM Lending, LSR, Nitro Circus, S&E, and Chick-fil-a all made mini runs with LSR playing their way into the top 18. But late Saturday night into Sunday morning MPT knocked off LSR 28-13 and then Resmondo 44-41 in the wee hours of the morning to make it to the Sunday final 4. And Competitive Edge beat Roofx for the 3rd time in the duals to advance to the Sunday final 4.

Epic left fielder Robert Lanham robs a homer.

Sunday Recap

Sports Reach’s Austin Mapes hits against Austyn Dawe in the championship.

On Sunday morning all of the teams were banged up and some players had to leave for flights etc. But it was obvious MPT did not want to be there and they got hammered by Competitive Edge 55-26 as Comp Edge scored 22 in the 1st, 14 in the 2nd, and 13 in the 3rd. Lead off hitter Mitch Lendenski and Original KP were each 8-8. In the 3rd place game Competitive Edge had a 26-23 lead going into the bottom of the 5th even though Monsta had scored 15 runs in the bottom of the 1st. And then Monsta scored 18 runs to leave CE on the field 41-26. Jeremy Yates was 6-6 in the win. I tried to get a rule passed a couple years ago where the visiting team could not be run ruled if leading going into the bottom half of the inning. Because due to home run management they may not have been using their home runs knowing they were leading. But the rule was shot down and now we have visiting teams getting run ruled by a barrage of home runs after leading the game. 🙁

In the championship the heat and humidity made it so the home runs weren’t necessarily free and Sports Reach’s offense struggled some for the 1st time of the tournament. Monsta led 18-10 going into the top of the 6th where they scored 16 to go up 34-10. Sports Reach made a comeback bid scoring 11 in the bottom half to force a 7th inning but lost 34-25. Austyn Dawe was 6-6 as Monsta out homered Sports Reach 14-11. The games on Sunday were really dragging in the heat and with all of the tired players. Monsta had a number of players leave for flights and both teams were missing 3 or 4 players. But the “if” game started with a bang as both teams scored double digits in each of the 1st two innings and there was only one zero in the entire 7 inning game. The teams went into the 7th with Sports Reach leading 39-38 and no home runs left. Monsta went on to outscore Sports Reach 6-3 and pull off the double dip which moved Monsta to 2nd in the Conference points standings. Sports Reach moved up to 7th but could have been 5th had they won that 7th inning of the “if” game. The tournaments were a bit strange in that there were a bunch of extra inning games where it seemed neither team wanted to win. Most likely it was because they were out of homer’s and its difficult to score without them.

Long Bomber of the Week

Long Bomber of the Week is JBL’s Orlando Olivera. Honorable mention to Harvey, Matusik, Dawe, and others who were hitting them long with the wind blowing in.

Pocket City Dual #1 Results and Awards

Pocket City Dual #2 Results and Awards

Team by Team Notes ordered by Average Finish

Tied 1st Place – Monsta/Sonny’s/Worsham/RedAthlete NC-M

Avg Finish: 3.0 Record: 11-3
Dual #1 5th (4-2) Runs: 35.0 Allowed: 21.0 Diff: 14.0
Dual #2 1st (7-1) Runs: 41.0 Allowed: 34.0 Diff: 7.0

Monsta lost to Smash It and Competitive Edge by 1 in the 1st dual but redeemed themselves by winning 3 games on Sunday in the 2nd dual and winning the tournament. They gutted it out in the heat and with players leaving for flights. Pitcher Sport Williams did a nice job, the offense was able to step on the gas when needed, and all of the players picked it up defensively at one time or another. Steele Lewis hit over .800 with 25 HR while running center field for 4 days. Heath Barnes was nearly .800 with 21 HR. Fyffe hit 22 HR. Wik was lacing balls all over the yard. Magnum was co-mvp of dual 2 with Dawe. The whole team was on fire at one time or another. They played without infielder Steven Lloyd and I’ve noticed they have removed Monsta from the team name since the end of the tournament. That is not good for softball. 🙁

Tied 1st Place – CompetitiveEdge/Suncoast/FBI/Olmito FL-M

Avg Finish: 3.0 Record: 10-4
Dual #1 3rd (5-2) Runs: 30.4 Allowed: 24.3 Diff: 6.1
Dual #2 3rd (5-2) Runs: 37.6 Allowed: 29.1 Diff: 8.4

Competitive Edge finished 3rd in both duals playing a bunch of good solid close games in both tournaments. This team still has not peaked defensively and played without pitcher LC Watson and their leading on base percentage hitter Taylor Cobb.

3B Bubba Mack, SS Logan Rogers, MI Kyle Pearson

3rd Place – JBL/D1/Tailgaters/Ignite OH-AA

Avg Finish: 4.0 Record: 9-2
Dual #1 1st (6-0) Runs: 39.8 Allowed: 29.0 Diff: 10.8
Dual #2 7th (3-2) Runs: 34.4 Allowed: 38.0 Diff: -3.6

JBL did the unthinkable going undefeated and winning dual #1 even with all 4 major teams in the tournament. They beat Cheap Suits, Sports Reach, Resmondo, and Competitive Edge by scoring more than 40 runs in each game. Then they knocked off fellow ‘AA’ team S&E in the winner’s final and championship. They displayed a “Resmondo” type offense getting double digit innings when they needed them and had some solid pitching from Mason Farmer and defense to win the tournament scoring a whopping 312 conference points and vaulting them to 6th in the points standings. Olivera and Radich had 20 HR each and Lazer Dave Johnson was setting the table for their balanced offensive attack.

Steve Hendrickson was making Roofx type plays in the middle all weekend.

4th Place – Roofx/Revolution/Albicocco/AllHustl IN-AA

Avg Finish: 4.5 Record: 9-4
Dual #1 4th (5-2) Runs: 26.4 Allowed: 19.1 Diff: 7.3
Dual #2 5th (4-2) Runs: 32.3 Allowed: 28.8 Diff: 3.5

Roofx had another entertaining weekend beating Taylormade, LSR, losing to Comp Edge by 1, then beating Siteman, Nitro Circus, and Smash It to finish 4th. In the 2nd dual with Faron Fry and Joey Miller injured and pitcher Justin Mucciarelli (age 🙂 ) sitting out, they beat Van Wert, LSR, lost to Monsta by 4, then beat Chick-fil-a, and JBL before losing to Comp Edge by 7. All 4 of their losses were to Major teams and their 4th and 5th place finishes move them to #5 in the points standings which means they are currently the top ‘AA’ team in the country. Arlis Miller hit 21 HR on the weekend.

Roofx is 5th place in the Conference with an estimated budget of about 60k. They drive to a lot of their tournaments and sleep 4 to a room to save money. 7 of their players are under the age of 24 and the others are 27, 29, 32, and 49 (Mooch). This team will need sponsorship help to keep the band together in 2024.

Tied 5th Place – MPT Rentals / Juno Athletics NJ-M

Avg Finish: 5.5 Record: 8-4
Dual #1 7th (3-2) Runs: 31.8 Allowed: 32.2 Diff: -0.4
Dual #2 4th (5-2) Runs: 38.1 Allowed: 27.6 Diff: 10.6

Is that Daniel Cayton pitching? 🙂

MPT who won both Pocket City dual tournaments and the major world series a year ago is still winless in 2023. They were upset by S&E in the 1st dual and Sports Reach in the 2nd and actually gave up in the 4th place game Sunday morning of dual #2 thus dropping them to 3rd in the points standings. Ryan Harvey hit 32 HR and they played without Dale Brungardt who is still hurt.

Filip Washington returned to MPT and the lead off spot hitting .857 and .757 in the dual.

Tied 5th Place – S&E/Baugh Ford/Proton NC-AA

Avg Finish: 5.5 Record: 8-4
Dual #1 2nd (5-2) Runs: 29.9 Allowed: 27.3 Diff: 2.6
Dual #2 9th (3-2) Runs: 35.4 Allowed: 33.6 Diff: 1.8

S&E beat Rebel, Nitro Circus by 1, MPT by 1, Smash It by 15, Competitive Edge, and lost to JBL twice to finish an impressive 2nd. In dual #2 they backed that up with wins over Cheap Suits, Smash It, and Bay Area. Another impressive Pocket City for S&E. The offense was led by sophomore sensation Jordan Robinson, Justin Ogletree, and the 18 HR of Jacob Hoskins, and the 16 HR of Jimmy Ward. A real team effort considering they were missing rookie star Matt Mosel, outfielder Peter Seiden, and they are still missing Tyler Wiles.

Justin “Bobo” Ogletree was offensive mvp of dual #1.

Tied 5th Place – Sports Reach/Demarini/CT/LLS KY-AA

Avg Finish: 5.5 Record: 8-4
Dual #1 9th (3-2) Runs: 34.2 Allowed: 32.6 Diff: 1.6
Dual #2 2nd (5-2) Runs: 38.6 Allowed: 31.6 Diff: 7.0

Sports Reach beat Siteman by 1, lost to JBL, and beat Van Wert and Epic before losing to MPT in the 1st dual. In dual #2 they became the giant killers as their offense came alive and they beat Seminoles, S&E, MPT Rentals, Competitive Edge, and Monsta (3 Major teams in a row!) to win the winner’s bracket. Then lost two long games in the championship to Monsta, the last one 44-42. A great weekend for Sports Reach who really showed us how deep this team is in talent and pitching. And they were 3 runs away from being the top ‘AA’ team in the points. Rookie Austin Mapes hit 30 home runs and drove 62 RBI as the entire offense averaged over 36 runs per game!

Austin Mapes was co-offensive mvp of the 2nd dual and is a legit Rookie of the Year candidate with over 90 HR and almost 200 RBI.

8th Place – Resmondo/SIS/All-American/Menosse FL-M

Avg Finish: 7.0 Record: 5-4
Dual #1 9th (2-2) Runs: 35.5 Allowed: 31.8 Diff: 3.8
Dual #2 5th (3-2) Runs: 40.8 Allowed: 30.6 Diff: 10.2

Brad Reckart did most of the pitching with Travis Clark out. Resmondo struggled with players missing and out of position. Batting title winner Kyle Pearson (.841) welcomed a child and wasn’t there. Kevin Bazat was nursing a hamstring injury. And Cory Briggs couldn’t make the 1st tournament. Resmondo who had only lost 7 games all year, hadn’t lost since April, and had a 23 game winning streak, ended up losing 4 of their last 7 games at the dual and finished outside the top 3 which they hadn’t done all year…twice. Everett Williams was over .800 for both tournaments and Buddy Wolf .900.

Tied 9th Place – LSR/TG/BAF/NITRO CIRCUS IN-A

Avg Finish: 8.0 Record: 7-4
Dual #1 9th (3-2) Runs: 27.0 Allowed: 27.2 Diff: -0.2
Dual #2 7th (4-2) Runs: 23.0 Allowed: 22.2 Diff: 0.8

LSR played their way into a legit chance to make the Major. They beat Primetime, Rebel, and Str8play in the 1st dual. Then in dual #2 followed that up with a huge win over Smash It, then in the loser’s bracket beat Seminoles, NFM, and Primetime. They are now 17th in the points!

David Kessler robs a Smash It homer in the bottom of the 7th which would have been a walk off and won the game for LSR.

Tied 9th Place – Nitro Circus/Candy Shop/Ataraxis MD-AA

Avg Finish: 8.0 Record: 7-4
Dual #1 7th (4-2) Runs: 33.2 Allowed: 22.5 Diff: 10.7
Dual #2 9th (3-2) Runs: 29.0 Allowed: 27.0 Diff: 2.0

Nitro Circus who has struggled against ‘AA’ teams this year but done well against Major teams beat Seminoles, lost to S&E by 1, beat Taylormade, Westpoint, and Resmondo, then lost to Roofx to finish 7th. In the 2nd dual they outslugged Siteman, lost to JBL by 1, then beat Taylormade by 1 and Classic Glass by 20, before being sent home by MPT late Saturday night. The additions of Erik Kanaby and Jeff Roxby is going to be a huge help for this team at ‘AA’ Worlds. They did release Emilson Marquez.

Erik Kanaby above and Jeff Roxby below provided a lift for Nitro Circus in his 1st tournament with them.

11th Place – SmashIt/BayAreaLegends/BaughFord/BD CA-AA

Avg Finish: 11.0 Record: 4-4
Dual #1 5th (3-2) Runs: 25.4 Allowed: 26.8 Diff: -1.4
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 28.7 Allowed: 22.7 Diff: 6.0

Smash It had some new faces after losing Bate and Dickens to Bay Area, Traylor to MPT Rentals, and then losing out on picking up Jeff Roxby. They still made a run at the 1st dual beating Aristotle, Chick-fil-a in the 9th inning, and Monsta 29-22 before dropping 4 of their next 5 games. They played without Luis Reyna (work). They picked up Emilson Marquez and a couple rookie prospects.

Tied 12th Place – Bay Area Legends CA-A

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 4-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 30.5 Allowed: 38.3 Diff: -7.8
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 40.0 Allowed: 33.0 Diff: 7.0

Bay Area was allowed to pick up two more ‘AA’ players in Tyler Dickens and Brady Bate from Smash It Sports? That translated into wins over Epic, NFM, Coursey, and TRU and they are now 16th in the Major. Fellow ‘A’ teams are questioning the pickups for a team that was already in the top 18 and still allowed to remain in the ‘A’ division?

Tied 12th Place – Chick-fil-A/Slugger/BAF/Shore Irrig VA-AA

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 4-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 24.7 Allowed: 23.3 Diff: 1.3
Dual #2 9th (3-2) Runs: 31.8 Allowed: 28.4 Diff: 3.4

Chick-fil-a beat Van Wert Frickers, gave up a big lead in a 9 inning loss to Smash It Sports, and then lost to Siteman in the loser’s bracket of dual #1. In dual #2 they beat Taylormade, lost a Friday night slugfest with Primetime, then beat Siteman in the 7th and Str8play by 10 before Roofx sent them home 29-28. The offense was solid but not overwhelming like they were when they won Texas back in April.

Tied 12th Place – Siteman/Pure MO-A

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 4-4
Dual #1 9th (3-2) Runs: 32.2 Allowed: 27.8 Diff: 4.4
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 36.3 Allowed: 33.3 Diff: 3.0

Siteman lost their opener by 1 run to Sports Reach then made a run in the loser’s bracket of the 1st dual beating Cheap Suits, Chick-fil-a, and Bay Area before losing to Roofx. In the 2nd dual they lost by 9 to Nitro Circus, beat Rebel by 20, and lost to Chick-fil-a with the bats in their hands 35-33. Their offense came alive in this tournament giving them hope for the upcoming ‘A’ Worlds in Florida where the heat and humidity could be similar. Jagger Harjo hit 14 HR, William Dooley 14, and Daniel Larson 12. They played without pitcher David Bare who got a promotion at work and didn’t have time off.

Tied 12th Place – Str8play/MyAutoJack/Franchise/Rebel CA-A

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 4-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 22.8 Allowed: 30.5 Diff: -7.8
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 28.3 Allowed: 33.8 Diff: -5.5

Str8play beat Westpoint, Beechy, Epic by 1, and had a nice win over Dirty Vegas and scored enough points to get to 20th with an outside shot to make the Major when they play the Conference Championships in a month. Carlos Abrigo hit 11 HR and Misael Tavarez 13.

Tied 16th Place – Classic Glass/Easton CA-AA

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 27.0 Allowed: 26.0 Diff: 1.0
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 22.8 Allowed: 21.0 Diff: 1.8

A short handed Classic Glass team beat TRU, Dirty Vegas, and Cornerstone and lost a close one to Monsta. Dan Bean returned to the conference and he, Blake Lively, and Shannon Smith were all over .800 in the 2nd tournament. Classic Glass is 15th in the points.

Tied 16th Place – NFMLending/4TheFallen/KBasInc/Lund AZ-A

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 19.0 Allowed: 26.7 Diff: -7.7
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 25.0 Allowed: 30.8 Diff: -5.8

NFM beat Vivid twice and WestPoint once which was enough to be 14th in the points. Jonathan Sierra led the offense.

Tied 16th Place – WestPoint IN-AA

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 23.8 Allowed: 22.0 Diff: 1.8
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 28.0 Allowed: 30.3 Diff: -2.3

I did not see much of Westpoint as they beat Coursey, Classic Glass, and Bay Area (3 California teams) but lost by one to Monsta who I now see has taken Monsta off their team name? Canfield, Cowles, and Spenn all had half tournaments over .800 and Canfield hit 14 HR.

Tied 19th Place – DirtyVegas/Steel/Envy TX-A

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 22.3 Allowed: 26.7 Diff: -4.3
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 25.3 Allowed: 32.7 Diff: -7.3

Dirty Vegas beat ‘A’ rival NFM Lending and Beechy but dropped to 19th in the points. Nick Perez was over .900 in both tournaments with 11 HR and they have built quite the middle infield with Moralez at SS, the underrated Huseman in the middle, and former Competitive Edge infielder Andy Filoteo at 2nd base.

Tied 19th Place – PrimeTime/Easton GA-A

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 17.0 Allowed: 19.0 Diff: -2.0
Dual #2 9th (2-2) Runs: 22.5 Allowed: 24.3 Diff: -1.8

Primetime lost 2 games by a total of 4 runs in the 1st dual. Then made the final 8 of Dual #2 undefeated beating Aristotle and Chick-fil-a before losing to Competitive Edge by just 1 run which was enough to move up to #13 in the points standings and maintain #1 ‘A’ team status over NFM Lending.

Tied 19th Place – Taylormade/MidState/Valor Athletics TN-A

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 14.7 Allowed: 26.3 Diff: -11.7
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 21.0 Allowed: 23.3 Diff: -2.3

Taylormade beat Primetime and Aristotle and lost to Nitro Circus by a run. The offense just didn’t produce enough.

Cody Angus homer’s.

22nd Place – Epic/Haymak/Kilmans/FLS/Koval/Pure SC-A

Avg Finish: 19.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 26.0 Allowed: 23.8 Diff: 2.3
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 18.0 Allowed: 25.0 Diff: -7.0

Epic beat Dirty Vegas and Cornerstone in the 1st dual but went 0-2 in the second. Then they lost their starting pitcher Dan Sanchez who was suspended for an off the field incident.

Rookie Frank Fisk with a laser.

Tied 23rd Place – Beechy Const/I-57 Roofing/Rocke OHD MO-B

Avg Finish: 21.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 25.3 Allowed: 27.7 Diff: -2.3
Dual #2 25th (1-2) Runs: 22.0 Allowed: 31.0 Diff: -9.0

Beechy beat TRU and Beloli and two of their losses were to major teams.

Tied 23rd Place – Cornerstone/Rebel/Str8Play/Redeemed KY-B

Avg Finish: 21.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 16.5 Allowed: 32.5 Diff: -16.0
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 18.0 Allowed: 26.0 Diff: -8.0

Cornerstone beat Epic but lost all 4 games by the run rule.

Tied 23rd Place – Rebel/Anarchy/Str8play/FrogHollow MI-A

Avg Finish: 21.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 23.3 Allowed: 31.0 Diff: -7.7
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 27.5 Allowed: 41.5 Diff: -14.0

Rebel beat Seminoles but lost 4 games by 10 runs or more. Mike Snyder and Tom Osenbach led the offense.

Tied 23rd Place – Seminoles/Nacsf.Inc/TPS/RS/Anarchy OK-A

Avg Finish: 21.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 25th (1-2) Runs: 25.7 Allowed: 32.3 Diff: -6.7
Dual #2 17th (2-2) Runs: 21.8 Allowed: 28.5 Diff: -6.8

Seminoles beat Beloli twice and Cheap Suits. Elijah Christenson hit a dozen homer’s.

Tied 23rd Place – TRU/Riot/Timeless/LA VA-A

Avg Finish: 21.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 21.5 Allowed: 35.5 Diff: -14.0
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 26.3 Allowed: 34.0 Diff: -7.7

TRU went 0-2 in the 1st Dual then beat NFM 35-11 to start the 2nd. But overall not a good Dual for a team trying to get into the Major. Their trio of rookies Clint Clymer, Christian Glisson, and Steven Hathaway all hit it well in both tournaments.

Tied 23rd Place – Van Wert Frickers OH-B

Avg Finish: 21.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 18.7 Allowed: 25.0 Diff: -6.3
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 23.0 Allowed: 34.5 Diff: -11.5

Van Wert had one win over Aristotle and came within 1 run of Roofx.

Tied 29th Place – ARISTOTLE / FBI AR-A

Avg Finish: 25.0 Record: 0-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 14.5 Allowed: 29.0 Diff: -14.5
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 18.0 Allowed: 22.5 Diff: -4.5

Aristotle battled in 3 of their 4 losses but just couldn’t break through.

Pitcher Dakota Lowery stabs one up the middle.

Tied 29th Place – Cheap Suits CA-A

Avg Finish: 25.0 Record: 0-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 26.5 Allowed: 37.0 Diff: -10.5
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 17.5 Allowed: 29.5 Diff: -12.0

Cheap Suits lost close games to Seminoles and JBL. In the JBL game they came from about 20 runs down but 0-4 is 0-4

Tied 29th Place – CourseyRealty/EliteSecurity/Anarchy CA-B

Avg Finish: 25.0 Record: 0-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 17.0 Allowed: 35.0 Diff: -18.0
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 32.5 Allowed: 45.0 Diff: -12.5

Coursey lost all 4 games by 10 or more but did score 100 runs. Veterans Josh Moore and Donald Hollingsworth led the offense with Moore near 1000 on base percentage.

Tied 29th Place – Vivid / Killbombers / Onyx / Klutch TX-B

Avg Finish: 25.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 25th (1-2) Runs: 21.3 Allowed: 26.0 Diff: -4.7
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 19.5 Allowed: 41.0 Diff: -21.5

Vivid lost two close ones to NFM Lending, beat Beloli, and scored 22 against Resmondo which seems ok for a ‘B’ team.

33rd Place – Beloli Bros HVAC /KL&R Construction MA-B

Avg Finish: 33.0 Record: 0-4
Dual #1 33rd (0-2) Runs: 28.5 Allowed: 37.0 Diff: -8.5
Dual #2 33rd (0-2) Runs: 15.0 Allowed: 35.0 Diff: -20.0

Beloli was 0-4 including 0-2 vs ‘B’ teams.

Faces in the Crowd / More Pictures

Teams were not happy when heavy balls that were water logged were put back into play.

Super Fans!

Troupe and Kenny in the house!

Bat testing line.