2024 Pocket City Dual tournament report!

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2024 Pocket City Dual

Evansville, Indiana

August 8-11

RoofX pitcher Kyle Center gets pinged but makes the play.

Pocket City Team List

Pocket City Video and Article Links

Pocket City Dual #1 Results & Bracket Link

2024 Pocket City Picture Album link

Middle Shots & Defensive Plays Volume #1 video link

Dual #2 “IF” game – RoofX vs Sonny’s condensed game link

Dual #2 Championship – Sonny’s vs RoofX condensed game link

Dual #2 – RoofX vs Sonny’s condensed game link

Dual #2 – Sonny’s vs Str8play condensed game link

Dual #2 – RoofX vs JBL condensed game link

Dual #2 – RoofX vs Juno condensed game link

Dual #2 – Resmondo vs Sonny’s condensed game link

Roofx vs Sonny’s condensed game link

Juno vs Resmondo condensed game link

Did Everett round 1st base? You make the call

Sports Reach vs Resmondo condensed game link

RoofX vs Nitro Circus condensed game link

RoofX vs Resmondo condensed game link

End of the Sports Reach vs Nitro Circus game link

Thursday Highlight Clips link

Nitro Circus vs Resmondo – condensed game link

RoofX vs Resmondo – Dual #1 Championship condensed game link

Projected Major World Series brackets

Link to BallClubz Boxscores

Link to BallClubz Team Stat Reports

Pocket City Archived Games link

Pocket City Dual #1 Stats link

Pocket City Dual #2 Stats link

Thursday Recap

Major teams RoofX and Sonny’s meet in the “Round of 16”

The Pocket City Dual was a long 4 days where the top 25 teams in the country battled it out on the eight 300-310-315-310-305 at the Deaconess Sports Park in Evansville, Indiana. The weather was great although a little humid and the wind blew out on Red 5 (the show field) and Red 6, and blew in on Red 7 and Red 8 all 4 days. They used the Dudley Pro-M ball with the standard Conference home run rules. The 1st dual began on Thursday morning at 8 am on 8 fields making it very hard to cover as a reporter. Bay Area Legends (CA-A) scored 14 in the top of the 3rd and was down 28-27 going into the 7th but came back to out score Rebel 7-0 to win 34-28. Leadoff hitter Zach Smith was 6-6 and Daontre Porter had 8 RBI. Ely Reel (OH-B) upset WestPoint (IN-A) 30-29 on a 2 out walk off homer by Kyle Slicker. John Schlabach led the offense going 5-5 with 2 HR and 7 RBI. Both teams had 2 of their 12 homers left. With the wind blowing out on Blue #3 CutThroatSports (CA-B) upset Cheap Suits 35-33 in a long game even though Cheap Suits rookie of the year candidate Matthew Valencia was 5-6 with 5 HR and 12 RBI. I-57 Roofing (IL-A) advanced by forfeit over Nally’s (MO-A) when Nally’s folded their team before the tournament. Sonny’s (WY-Major) had to play a “play in” game due to the fact they only had 6 tournaments and were down in the high teens in the points standings. They beat Legendz (OK-A) 50-35 scoring 13 in the 1st and 10 in the 2nd but Legendz scored 20 in the bottom of the 2nd to hang tough and push the game 7 innings. Steele Lewis, Kyle Pearson “OG”, and Josh Fyffe were all 7-7 in the game on base and Bill Pinkham, the pitcher, aided by a strong wind blowing out was 6-7 with 3 HR and 13 RBI. In the lower half of the bracket Dirty Vegas (TX-A) scored 14 in the 2nd and 14 in the 4th and outscored Van Wert Frickers 8-3 late to win 43-38. Both teams hit all of their homers. Jared Hunt was 6-6 for Dirty Vegas and Nick Day drove in 9 runs. LSR (IN-A) beat Thunder (NY-B) 23-17 as Christian Glisson and Zach Ross each went 4-4. Juno Athletics (NJ-Major) rolled over the only non-conference team in the tournament J&L Sports (OH-B) 33-5 in 4 innings. Joe Bennett, Joe Boland, Clint Clymer, Ryan Harvey, and Ben Dunn were all 4-4. NFM Lending (AZ-A) had a nice win over a depleted Classic Glass (CA-AA) 23-6 in 5 innings. Classic had a few players with delayed flights. NFM was led by newcomers Curtis Stewart and Zechariah Lemond who were both 4-4 and they out homered Classic Glass 8-2 with the wind blowing in on Blue #1. And Seminoles (OK-A) with the wind blowing in on Red #8 beat PrimeTime 14-13.

In the “Round of 16” the top 6 seeds who all had byes began play. JBL Roofing (OH-AA) held on to win 11-10 over Bay Area Legends and didn’t have to bat in the bottom of the 7th with the wind blowing in. They out homered Bay Area just 4-3 and JBL won even though the top three in their lineup went a combined 1-11? Nitro Circus (MD-AA) scored 10 in the bottom of the 1st against Ely Reel but Ely Reel made the game go 7 innings with Nitro winning 25-16. I-57 Roofing winning 21-14 over CutThroatSports going into the 6th inning scored 15 runs to run rule them 36-14. Jacob Hoskins, Jake Hathaway, Lynn Yoder, and David Yoder were all 5-6 and David had 9 RBI in the win. At 11:30 AM there was an unusual matchup of Major teams as Sonny’s and RoofX squared off. The game was about even early when in the bottom of the 2nd Sonny’s center fielder Steele Lewis tried to rob a homer and touched the ball. The momentum swung to RoofX on this play and they scored 14 runs to go up 17-3. When Sonny’s came in to answer in the top of the 3rd, they hit 3 solo homers and a flyout and went on to lose 28-8 in 4 innings. Terry Lambright was 4-4 with 4 HR and 6 RBI for RoofX.

In the lower half of the bracket #1 seed Resmondo (FL-Major) played their first game against Dirty Vegas. Resmondo scored 8 in the 1st, 18 in the 2nd, and 11 in the 3rd and left Dirty Vegas on the field 40-20 in the bottom of the 4th. Bradley Jones and Bubba Mack were each 5-5. Juno Athletics scored at least 3 runs in every inning of their game against LSR and out homered them 14-8 on their way to a 37-22 win in 7 innings. Chad Mullins, Joe Bennett, Clint Clymer, Mason Farmer, and Don Walsh were all on base 5-6 and Clymer and Ben Dunn each drove in 8 runs in the win. Str8play/Rebel (CA-AA) scored 24 runs in the top of the 2nd and put away NFM Lending 40-14 in 4 innings. Daniel Herren was 6-6 and Brandon Streets had 9 RBI in the win. And Sports Reach (KY-AA) held off Seminoles with the wind blowing in when Seminoles closed the score to 25-22 scoring 6 runs in the top of the 7th. Dagmar Pena and Austin Mapes were each 4-4 on base in the win.

Major teams Juno Athletics and Resmondo meet in the “Round of 8”. Did Everett round the base?

The “Round of 8” was played on Thursday afternoon at 1:15 PM Central time as it began to warm up into the low 80’s with some decent humidity. Nitro Circus with the wind blowing in beat JBL 27-19 in a battle of top ‘AA’ teams scoring 6’s when JBL was scoring 2’s. Sonny’s was led by Austyn Dawe who was 6-6 and Jeremy Yates who was 6-6 with 4 HR and 7 RBI as they scored in every inning to beat Str8play 34-24 even though Str8play had the hammer down 11 with 3 to hit. RoofX after a slow start against I-57 Roofing, heated up scoring 14 in the 3rd and 12 in the 6th to run rule I-57 38-14 out homering them 14-7. Terry Lambright was again 6-6, all base hits, and Logan Rogers drove in 8 runs. Sports Reach adjusted to the conditions a little better than Str8play, beating them 21-12 as they slowly separated throughout the game and out homered Str8play 8-6. Brad Sheffield was 5-5 in the victory. And Resmondo played a shootout with Juno Athletics reminiscent of their two games at the Smoky last month. Resmondo scored 7 on 1 in the bottom of the 1st but Juno answered by scoring 17 in the top of the 2nd bolstered by a Clint Clymer grand slam. In the bottom of the 2nd Bubba Mack was thrown out for the 3rd out at 2nd base trying to stretch a single into a double and Juno led 23-11. In the bottom of the 3rd Resmondo scored 19 runs as Travis Clarks double tied it at 29-29 and then Mason Farmer who was moved from pitcher to left field dropped a fly ball. Juno answered in the top of the 4th scoring 10 runs to go up 39-30 and added 3 more in the top of the 5th but Resmondo left them on the field in the bottom of the 5th scoring 22 runs to win by the 15 run mercy rule 57-42. Bradley Jones left this game with a pulled hamstring. Kyle Pearson who had 4 walks was 7-7 on base. Jason Matusik was 7-7 with 9 RBI. And Bubba Mack was 6-6.

Semifinals of Dual #1 – RoofX and Nitro Circus.

The semifinals were played at 6:30 PM Thursday and started with Sports Reach vs Resmondo. Sports Reach scored 9 in the top of the 1st but Joel Sanchez’s big two out home run was controversially called foul and he fouled out. Resmondo came in and scored 14 runs including 2 grand slams. Then in the bottom of the 2nd Resmondo scored 18 runs on a slew of 2 out 3 run homers. But Sports Reach never gave up, scoring 19 runs in the top of the 4th to cut the lead to 1 run 38-37 and they held Resmondo scoreless in the bottom of the 4th. Resmondo then scored 13 runs in the bottom of the 5th to take a 51-39 lead and they won the game 51-47. Kyle Pearson was 7-7, Greg Connell 7-7 with 2 HR and 12 RBI, and Everett Williams was 6-7 with 5 HR and 13 RBI in the win. Meanwhile over on the Red #6 field Nitro Circus hit RoofX pitcher Justin Mucciarelli in the ankle essentially knocking him out of the game in the bottom of the 3rd where they scored 13 runs to go up 23-18. The game got a little chippy after Mooch got hit. In the bottom of the 4th Nitro again grabbed a 28-26 lead on a Fred Lattimore 2 out 2 run single. But it was all RoofX the rest of the way as they scored 10 in the top of the 5th and then “freed up” their swings and used their homers in the top of the 6th to score 16 runs and they won by the run rule 52-36. Leadoff hitter Arlis Miller and center fielder Brandon Yoder hit for the cycle, Mitch Lendenski was on base 7-7, and lefty Ryan Honeycutt hit 4 home runs and drove in 12 RBI in just 5 plate appearances.

Semifinal – Sports Reach vs Resmondo

The winner’s bracket finals between #2 RoofX and #1 Resmondo was an instant classic and can be viewed here in condensed form on the USSSALive YouTube Channel. RoofX was undefeated for the season going into the game on 300 foot fields having won Texas, Chicago, and the Chattahoochee Majors without losing a game. And they were 5-0 vs Resmondo on the season. In the top of the 1st RoofX took advantage of some Resmondo errors as they scored 12 runs on 4 homers and RoofX held Resmondo to just 1 run in the bottom of the 1st. But the Resmondo defense and pitching showed up holding RoofX to just 5 total runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings and they used a Tyler Marshburn 3 run homer to grab a 19-17 lead in the bottom of the 4th where they went on to score 13 runs and go up 25-17. in the top of the 5th RoofX answered as shortstop Logan Rogers hit a triple and a 2 out 2 run homer to put them back on top 27-25. The lead seesawed back and forth but RoofX scored 14 in the top of the 6th to go up 41-31 and 6 more in the top of the 7th even though Resmondo’s defense with Marshburn twice at shortstop and Josh Riley in left field made great plays. But in the bottom of the 7th needing 9 to tie with 3 to hit, Resmondo came up short 47-43. RoofX was led by Terry Lambright and Logan Rogers who both hit for the cycle and Tyler Ervine the league’s leading home run hitter who was 7-7 with 4 HR and 9 RBI.

I didn’t get to see much of the loser’s bracket as so many games were played on Thursday across 8 fields. Sonny’s recovered beating Van Wert, Thunder, Str8play, and Juno, before losing to Nitro Circus 37-36 late on Thursday night.

Winner’s Final – RoofX and Resmondo.

Friday Recap

Arlis Miller sets the tone for the championship game.

On Friday morning in the 4th place game Nitro Circus beat Sports Reach 30-29 on a walk off homer in the bottom of the 7th by Cabot Van Til. So, Sports Reach finished 4th. In the loser’s final it was all Resmondo as they scored 13 in the bottom of the 1st, 18 in the bottom of the 2nd, and 20 in the bottom of the 3rd to beat Nitro Circus 51-20 in 3 innings. Josh Riley, Kyle Pearson, Cory Briggs, Brad Reckart, and Kevin Bazat were all perfect on base in the win.

In the championship game around noon on Friday RoofX had another perfect start scoring 10 runs on 2 homers in the top of the 1st and they held Resmondo to zero in the bottom half getting a nice running catch from Lendenski in left field, a nice play on a grounder by Jeremy Frye up the middle, and pitcher Patrick Center took a smoked line drive off his ass and recovered to get the 3rd out. Resmondo held RoofX to just 5 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings combined and scored 14 runs to take a lead in the bottom of the 2nd but RoofX’s speed, hitting, and timely homers was on full display in the top of the 4th as they scored 22 runs on 8 doubles, a triple, and 6 homers including a 3 run pinch hit homer from Honeycutt to beat Resmondo 37-17 in 4 innings and win Dual #1. For RoofX it was their 4th tournament win of the season, all on 300 foot fields where they improved their record to 21-0 and 7-0 vs Resmondo.

Dual #2 is under way.

After a short break Dual #2 began at 4 PM Central time on Friday with the 9 “play in” games. Classic Glass narrowly avoided an upset bid by CutThroatSports 12-11. WestPoint scored 13 runs in the top of the 5th to run rule Seminoles 36-13. Nick Canfield was 6-6 and Travis Tucker hit for the cycle in the win. Rebel with all of their new players upset Cheap Suits 27-23 even though Cheap Suits scored 10 runs in the top of the 7th. Dirty Vegas in a bit of a grudge match with Legendz trailed 27-25 going into the 7th where DV scored 17 runs on 4 homers to win the game 42-32. Nick Day was 7-7 with 3 HR and 6 RBI for DV. Sonny’s and Van Wert Frickers each scored in every inning but Sonny’s left them on the field in the bottom of the 6th 37-22. Jeremy Yates at lead off for Sonny’s was 6-6 and Heath Barnes drove in 6 runs. Thunder with the wind blowing in on Red #7 upset LSR 27-12 scoring 10 runs in the top of the 6th and veteran pitcher Danny Evans shut down LSR. Thunder hit just 3 HR in the game and LSR 5. I-57 Roofing with the wind blowing in on Red #8 took an 18-12 lead into the 7th where J&L made it close scoring 5 runs but I-57 held on 18-17. Jacob Hoskins and Orlando Olivera were each 4-4 in the win. With the wind blowing out on Blue #2 NFM Lending who was trailing Bay Area Legends 38-27 going into the bottom of the 6th scored 18 runs on 8 home runs including a two out grand slam by Andrew Parrott to beat Bay Area 45-40. Bay Area hit a bunch of bad homers in that one. NFM rookies Ryan Murphy and Zechariah Lemond were 6-6 with 6 extra base hits. I don’t know if we can call losing to ‘B’ team Ely Reel an upset anymore but they scored 12 in the top of the 5th vs Primetime to grab a 25-15 lead and went on to win 31-21. They out homered PrimeTime with the wind blowing in on Red #7 6-4. Carlin Yoder led the team in on base 5-6 and James Miller drove in 7 runs.

In the “Round of 16” played at 5:45 PM and 7:30 PM Friday night JBL Roofing had a solid win over Classic Glass 31-21 scoring double digits in the bottom of the 1st and 5th innings. Leadoff hitter David Johnson, Brock Frentzel, and Adam Kaminski were each 5-5 on base, Frentzel hit 3 home runs and drove in 7. WestPoint trailing Sports Reach 10-3 scored 14 runs on 5 homers in the top of the 5th including a Kyle Fisher grand slam and 2 multi run homers by Kyle Johnson. WestPoint went on to win 20-17 holding off Sports Reach in the bottom of the 7th with 12 home runs remaining. Tyler Cowles and Kyle Johnson were 5-5 in the victory. Juno Athletics jumped out to a 23-8 lead on Rebel but Rebel to their credit fought back to pull to within 5 runs 32-27 in the bottom of the 6th. Both teams hit 13 of their 14 home runs and Juno held on to win 39-35. Joe Joe Bennett was 6-7 with 3 HR and 8 RBI in the win. RoofX hot off their Dual #1 tournament win over Resmondo earlier that afternoon trailed Dirty Vegas 11-3 after one inning but scored 12 in the bottom of the 2nd, 17 in the bottom of the 3rd, and left DV on the field in the bottom of the 4th scoring 13 more runs and winning 45-25. Terry Lambright was 6-6 with 6 extra base hits and 9 RBI for RoofX in the win. In the bottom half of the bracket #1 seed Resmondo had to play Sonny’s in their 1st game. Sonny’s led after 1 inning 10-3 and tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd at 18-18 on a “Storey time” homer. From there it was all Sonny’s as they outscored Resmondo 17-4 over the next two innings and left them on the field 35-20. Resmondo was now DEEP in the loser’s bracket. Jeremy Yates, Austyn Dawe, Jason Magnum, and Josh Fyffe were all perfect on base in the win and Tyler Storey hit 4 home runs and drove in 6. I-57 Roofing continued their points gathering ways with a 30-23 win over Thunder. Jake Hathaway, Orlando Olivera, and Nic Perkins were all 5-6 and they combined for 8 HR and 13 RBI in the win. Str8play jumped out to a 27-3 lead on NFM Lending and never had to bat in the bottom of the 4th winning 27-5. Joey Capparelli, Brandon Streets, and “Ant” Acevedo were all 4-4, Capp hit 3 doubles. And Nitro Circus run ruled Ely Reel 26-11 in 5 innings as they had some sort of argument in the dugout resulting in Chris Greinert removing outfielder Zach Sanford from the team.

Friday ended with the “Round of 8”. JBL Roofing after putting up zeroes in the top of the 1st and 2nd innings scored 15 in the 3rd, 13 in the 4th, and 14 in the 7th to beat WestPoint 43-31. Chris Anninos, Adam Ussery, and Steven Hendrickson were all on base 6-7 and Orlando Castillo hit for the cycle for JBL. RoofX scored 12 on 4 in the bottom of the 2nd after an error and led Juno 15-6 after 2 complete innings. Then they went off for 19 runs on 5 homers and 6 doubles in the bottom of the 2nd and ended up winning 37-15 leaving Juno on the field in the bottom of the 4th. Arliss Miller, Terry Lambright, Mitch Lendenski, and Faron Fry were all perfect on base in the game as the team hit 12 doubles in 4 innings. Sonny’s riding high from their win over Resmondo scored 19 runs in the bottom of the 1st against I-57 Roofing and rode that wave to a 41-25 win leaving I-57 on the field in the bottom of the 9 run 5th. Jeremy Yates extended his on base streak for Dual # 2 to 17-17 as he and Tyler Storey hit for the cycle. And Str8play over on Red #7 with the wind blowing in had a 23-17 lead on Nitro Circus and Nitro had 6 HR to hit but came up short 23-20. Jeff Roxby was 5-5 in the win for Str8play.

Saturday Recap

Mitch Lendenski hits for RoofX in the winner’s final vs Sonny’s.

The semifinals were played on Saturday with JBL and RoofX squaring off at 3:30 PM Central and Sonny’s and Str8play at 4:45 on the show field with the wind blowing out. RoofX scored 10 on 3 homers to start against JBL, then scored 9 in the top of the 2nd, and pretty much finished them off with a 14 run top of the 4th to win 34-13. They did all of that damage using just 9 home runs and were led by Arlis Miller 5-5 with 2 triples and Logan Rogers 4-4 with 3 doubles. In the other semi Sonny’s scored 10 on 6 in the top of the 1st and 14 on 4 in the top of the 2nd batting around the order after a 2 out walk to Josh Fyffe to get to Bill Pinkham exploded in their face. But with Sonny’s quickly out of homers (14), Str8play made a slow comeback extending the game and avoiding the run rule in the 4th and 5th innings. But Str8play had to use their homers to extend the game and although it went 7 innings, they lost 39-36 needing 5 on zero to tie in the bottom of the 7th. Jeremy Yates finally made an out in this game. Sonny’s was led by Marc Wik who was 6-6 and Heath Barnes who hit for the cycle.

The winner’s final was then played at 7 PM between RoofX and Sonny’s. RoofX was 23-0 on 300 foot fields coming into the game. These two offenses were percolating early on and the game was full of extra base hits early as RoofX who scored 15 runs in the top of the 1st led just 20-19 after 2 innings. Then RoofX went cold as Sonny’s shut them down in the last 5 innings holding them to just 4 runs the rest of the game? Bill Pinkham got 2 strike out looking’s and a bunch of ground out and lineouts and Sonny’s slowly pulled away to a 32-24 win! Jeremy Yates, Austyn Dawe, and Jason Magnum were each on base 5-5 and Daniel Cayton hit 3 HR and drove in 9 runs on a cool evening where it seemed like the ball should fly but Sonny’s only out homered RoofX 11-7 in a 7 inning game where each could hit 16? A very strange game.

The loser’s bracket played out all day on Saturday on the 4 fields in the Red Quad. Resmondo deep in the loser’s bracket came from behind to beat Legendz, helped by a controversial double play chance that was ruled a drop on the tag and not a ball knocked out by the runner. Resmondo ended up winning 49-48 in a game on a walk off single by Buddy Wolf. I thought the game deserved extra innings. You can see the controversial call for yourself by clicking here. Resmondo won 2 games before WestPoint dropped down and beat them by the run rule 49-34. In the middle of the loser’s bracket Seminoles got some much needed wins over Ely Reel and NFM Lending before Juno Athletics dropped down and beat them 41-11. Then later Saturday night Juno beat WestPoint 48-46 then lost to Str8play 47-34 to finish tied for 5th. In the lower half of the loser’s bracket the non-conference ‘B’ team from Ohio J&L Sports upset LSR 40-34, Rebel 48-28, and Dirty Vegas 36-27 before Nitro Circus dropped down and sent them home 22-7. And Nitro Circus who finished 3rd in the 1st dual then beat I-57 Roofing, and JBL Roofing 45-44, before losing to Str8play late Saturday night/early Sunday morning 43-16 to finish 4th.

Did Branch drop the ball or did Phil Matte knock it out?

Cheap Suits Brandon Traylor hits a walk off single to beat Thunder in the bottom of the 8th.

Nitro Circus beats JBL on a dropped flyball.

Sunday Recap

Terry Lambright hits for RoofX vs Sonny’s in the championship.

On Sunday morning in the loser’s bracket finals RoofX scored 5 on 2 in the top of the 1st and they scored 18 more in the top of the 2nd and cruised to a 40-9 batting practice win over Str8play to advance to the championship against Sonny’s. Jeremy Fry, Tyler Ervine, and Ryan Mcclanahan were each 5-5 with Fry hitting for the cycle.

It was a warm 71 degrees for the start of the first championship game. RoofX separated in the 3rd inning when Sonny’s went down in order 1-2-3 in the top of the inning and RoofX scored 13 in the bottom half on 3 homers but they did leave the bases loaded up 22-14. In the top of the 4th Sonny’s didn’t answer as they hit a solo, flyout, flyout, single, lineout, and in the bottom of the 4th RoofX “freed up” to go for the run rule scoring 9 to go up 31-15. But when Sonny’s again didn’t make them pay for it in the top of the 5th by only scoring 3 runs, RoofX left them on the field 33-18 on Patrick Center and Faron Fry solo homers. Jeremy Fry, Patrick Center, and Ryan Mcclanahan were perfect on base in the win.

In the “if” game as the temperatures started to heat up RoofX scored 5 on 3 in the top of the 1st and Sonny’s pitcher Bill Pinkham got another strikeout looking in the top of the 2nd and a foul out in the top of the 3rd to keep RoofX in check. In the bottom of the 3rd Sonny’s grabbed a 15-14 lead on a big two out 2 run homer by Jeremy Yates prompting teammate Tommy Melton to say, “2 out runs hurt”. But when Sonny’s failed to hit a 2 out 3 run homer to end the inning, it prompted RoofX third base coach Faron Miller to say, “missing 2 out 3 run homers hurt even more.” lol. In the top of the 4th Bill Pinkham got another strikeout looking, stabbed a liner up the middle, and shortstop Daniel Cayton anticipated a liner and Sonny’s shut down RoofX again. In the bottom of the 4th Sonny’s grabbed another 16-15 lead on a 2 run homer by Josh Fyffe then RoofX pitcher Kyle Center got a strikeout of his own and Sonny’s led 18-15 but was at a 10-5 home run disadvantage. In the top of the 6th RoofX 2nd baseman Faron Fry hit a 3 run homer to take the lead back 24-23 then Sonny’s pitched around Tyler Ervine, the league’s leading home run hitter, and 4 hitter Terry Lambright made them pay with a 3 run bomb and this led to a 13 run inning and a 34-27 lead after 6 innings. In the top of the 7th RoofX finished off Sonny’s on a 3 run pinch hit homer by Ryan Honeycutt and they won 42-30. Tyler Ervine and Terry Lambright were each 6-6 and combined for 6 HR and 12 RBI in the win as RoofX hit all 16 home runs and also hit 14 doubles. It was RoofX’s 5th tournament win of the season, all on 300 foot fields, and they increased their record on 300 foot fields to 27-1. More importantly they grabbed the Conference points lead 1720-1696 over Resmondo. Remember the team that wins the Conference points is automatic home team for their games at the Major World Series.

A big thank you to the umpires for their hard work over a long and challenging 4 days. The quote of the week goes to Tyler Ervine Sunday morning when he said “DW, I need to see my wife.” That pretty much summed up how long it felt like we had all been at that park. lol. Another great quote was from Brett Helmer when he told Travis Clark to “Just end it, so I don’t have to see you pitch anymore.” Meaning hit a homer so we run rule this team we are playing. lol. It was a rough week for Travis who had a problem with hitters getting in the batter’s box but everyone in attendance at his games including the umpires were having a problem with him not getting on the pitchers rubber. And rightfully so. 🙂

Long Bomber of the Week!

The Long Bomber of the Week is split between Kyle Pearson and Tyler Ervine with honorable mention to Phil Matte, Filip Washington, and David McDowell.

Pocket City Dual #1 Results and Awards

Pocket City Dual #2 Results and Awards

Team by Team Notes

Teams listed by average finishing position.

1st Place – RoofX/BadDraw/CE/Pure/Envy (IN-M)

Avg Finish: 1.0 Record: 11-1
Dual #1 1st (5-0) Runs: 40.4 Allowed: 23.6 Diff: 16.8
Dual #2 1st (6-1) Runs: 36.7 Allowed: 20.3 Diff: 16.4

RoofX wins both tournaments and takes the points lead and wins the regular season Conference Points Standings. Terry Lambright led the way hitting over .828 in both tournaments. The teams speed, defense, and extra base hitting is the best we have seen in the game possibly ever? Kyle Center was spectacular on the mound and he is now 7-0 vs Resmondo this season.

Tied for 2nd – Nitro/Beloli/Ataraxis/SBT/SOL/BAF/K (MD-AA)

Avg Finish: 3.5 Record: 8-4
Dual #1 3rd (4-2) Runs: 29.2 Allowed: 33.7 Diff: -4.5
Dual #2 4th (4-2) Runs: 27.2 Allowed: 24.8 Diff: 2.3

Nitro Circus was the top finishing ‘AA’ team overall with two top 4’s. They found ways to keep going in the loser’s bracket and will most likely be the 3 or 4 seed for the Major and the #1 seed for the ‘AA’ as expected. They have a new left fielder Fred “Quincy”? Lattimore who spent 17 years in the minor leagues in baseball.

Tied for 2nd – Sonny’s/Worsham/RedAthlete/Haymak/R (WY-M)

Avg Finish: 3.5 Record: 10-4
Dual #1 5th (5-2) Runs: 29.7 Allowed: 21.7 Diff: 8.0
Dual #2 2nd (5-2) Runs: 33.1 Allowed: 29.0 Diff: 4.1

Sonny’s put themselves in a tough spot by not playing enough tournaments early in the season due to budget concerns. This led to a rough start when they lost to RoofX in the round of 16 in the first Dual. They did recover to beat Resmondo and RoofX in the 2nd dual and scored enough points to finish 4th in the regular season points standings, just 10 points behind Nitro Circus who they could jump at the Conference Championships. Pinkham is still beat up. Cayton showed flashes of his old self during the dual. Yates and Steele Lewis had big tournaments.

4th Place – JBL Roofing/Pauer (OH-AA)

Avg Finish: 5.0 Record: 5-4
Dual #1 5th (3-2) Runs: 23.2 Allowed: 21.2 Diff: 2.0
Dual #2 5th (2-2) Runs: 32.8 Allowed: 33.3 Diff: -0.5

JBL finishes the regular season 6th in the points. They lost to Nitro Circus twice in Evansville but beat a number of other good AA and A teams.

5th Place – Resmondo/All American Restoration/O (FL-M)

Avg Finish: 5.5 Record: 6-4
Dual #1 2nd (4-2) Runs: 43.0 Allowed: 35.5 Diff: 7.5
Dual #2 9th (2-2) Runs: 35.0 Allowed: 41.0 Diff: -6.0

Resmondo ends the regular season with the highest team on base percentage in Major softball history, .750. Beating out their 2023 teams record of .748. And they were led by Kyle Pearson who shattered the single season on base percentage record by hitting .873. And Resmondo played 27 of their 55 games on baseball fields which makes these records even more impressive. But they didn’t win a tournament on 300 foot fields and have never won any of the 6 tournaments they have played in Evansville. Bradley Jones left their game with Juno with a pulled hamstring early in Dual #1. Then the outfielders had to take turns playing center field until Cory Briggs got there. The defense was spotty, and Travis didn’t seem like himself on the mound. All and all a rough weekend for Resmondo who lost the points lead going into the conference championship tournament.

Resmondo is scheduled to play in the 16 inch worlds in Chicago over Labor Day Weekend.

Tied 6th – Juno Athletics (NJ-M)

Avg Finish: 6.0 Record: 7-4
Dual #1 7th (3-2) Runs: 31.6 Allowed: 27.8 Diff: 3.8
Dual #2 5th (4-2) Runs: 30.7 Allowed: 29.3 Diff: 1.3

Juno, except for the Smoky has played like a ‘AA’ team this year. They finish the year with one top 4 finish and in Evansville they lost to all 3 of the other Major teams. Collins was back in the outfield. Jonas wasn’t there. Maybe the Major will play into their power but they finish the regular season 8th in points and 9th in the computer rankings.

Tied 6th – Str8play/Rebel/MAJ/DTS/LA Empire (CA-AA)

Avg Finish: 6.0 Record: 5-4
Dual #1 9th (1-2) Runs: 26.3 Allowed: 23.0 Diff: 3.3
Dual #2 3rd (4-2) Runs: 31.0 Allowed: 25.7 Diff: 5.3

Str8play at times this year has played like a Major team. They finish 5th in points and 4th in the computer rankings as they went 6-9 vs Major teams on the year. Their poor performance in Dual #1 led to a nice 3rd place run in Dual #2.

Capp had some big games against his ex teams Juno & Nitro Circus.

8th Place – I-57 Roofing/Beechy’s/Royce Geo/SA (IL-A)

Avg Finish: 7.0 Record: 6-4
Dual #1 7th (3-2) Runs: 20.2 Allowed: 19.0 Diff: 1.2
Dual #2 7th (3-2) Runs: 25.4 Allowed: 28.0 Diff: -2.6

I-57 is again the top finishing ‘A’ team even though they didn’t play their best ball. They only lost to higher level teams and they beat WestPoint. They end up 9th in points and 11th in the computer rankings.

9th Place – WestPoint (IN-AA)

Avg Finish: 8.0 Record: 5-4
Dual #1 9th (2-2) Runs: 25.5 Allowed: 18.8 Diff: 6.8
Dual #2 7th (3-2) Runs: 36.4 Allowed: 32.4 Diff: 4.0

WestPoint beat Seminoles twice, Sports Reach, NFM, and had that big win over Resmondo. A solid showing. They wind up 15th in the points and 14th in the computer rankings. Kyle Fisher led the offense and Nick Canfield hit 18 HR.

10th Place – Sports Reach/Demarini/Grizzy/SMHS (KY-AA)

Avg Finish: 10.5 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 4th (3-2) Runs: 29.4 Allowed: 27.2 Diff: 2.2
Dual #2 17th (0-2) Runs: 19.0 Allowed: 30.0 Diff: -11.0

Sports Reach had a great run in Dual #1 to finish 4th and almost 3rd. In the 2nd dual they fell flat on their faces. They wind up 7th in the points and 6th in the computer rankings.

Ogletree pitching, Joel Sanchez SS, Otrando at MI, Austin Andrews CF.

Drew Henderson who did that cool video on the difference between shaved and regular bats was picked up by Sports Reach.

11th Place – PrimeTime/Easton/BallHawk (GA-A)

Avg Finish: 11.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 13th (1-2) Runs: 25.7 Allowed: 29.3 Diff: -3.7
Dual #2 9th (2-2) Runs: 26.0 Allowed: 25.3 Diff: 0.8

PrimeTime finishes 13th in the points and 18th in the computer rankings. They beat Bay Area and Sports Reach and played and lost a bunch of 1 run games. PrimeTime is 10-5 in the ‘A’ divsion. Rod Armour was over .800 for the week.

Tied 12th – Classic Glass/Easton (CA-AA)

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 9th (2-2) Runs: 28.3 Allowed: 26.8 Diff: 1.5
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 14.7 Allowed: 23.0 Diff: -8.3

After winning the Portland Major, Classic Glass had some flight problems getting to Evansville and started short handed. They never beat a ‘AA’ or higher team but won 3 games. They wind up 14th in the points and 13th in the computer rankings. They picked up David Kessler and Emilson Marquez.

Tied 12th – Legendz/CE/Adiktiv (OK-A)

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 9th (2-2) Runs: 27.0 Allowed: 30.5 Diff: -3.5
Dual #2 17th (0-2) Runs: 39.5 Allowed: 45.5 Diff: -6.0

Legendz beat LSR and split with Dirty Vegas and lost to two Major teams. They were the ones that had that potential late DP vs Resmondo overturned to everyone being safe? Overall a solid weekend but they are not a guarantee to make the Major sitting at 16th in the points. They are down in 23rd in the computer rankings with just a 5-9 record vs fellow ‘A’ teams.

Tied 14th – NFMLending/KB/Chasse/BeHappy (AZ-A)

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 4-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 19.0 Allowed: 21.0 Diff: -2.0
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 23.3 Allowed: 26.8 Diff: -3.5

NFM beat Rebel, Classic Glass, Bay Area, and CutThroat. All west coast teams. 4 wins is a solid dual for them. They are 21st in points, 15th in the computer rankings, and are 6-8 vs the ‘A’ teams in their division.

Tied 14th – Seminoles/NACSF.INC/TPS/RS (OK-A)

Avg Finish: 13.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 16.0 Allowed: 21.7 Diff: -5.7
Dual #2 9th (2-2) Runs: 21.3 Allowed: 30.0 Diff: -8.8

Seminoles beat PrimeTime, NFM, and Ely Reel which is more than they did most of the year. They are 20th in points, 21st in the computer rankings, and improve to 5-5 vs ‘A’ teams. They have had a few lackluster regular seasons in recent years only to turn it on at ‘A’ Worlds. I still need their stats for Evansville.

Tied 16th – Bay Area Legends (CA-A)

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 20.0 Allowed: 25.7 Diff: -5.7
Dual #2 13th (1-2) Runs: 27.7 Allowed: 24.7 Diff: 3.0

Bay Area beat Rebel and Classic Glass. They were missing Bryson Baker. They are 11th in the points, 10th in the computer rankings, and 9-5 vs ‘A’ teams. They are one of the favorites for the Utah Major this coming weekend.

Tied 16th – Cheap Suits/Republic Realty/ESP (CA-A)

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 22.3 Allowed: 21.0 Diff: 1.3
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 25.5 Allowed: 25.8 Diff: -0.3

Cheap Suits had flight issues, no sleep, and played like it at times. They really only beat Thunder in extra innings and won 2 by forfeit (Nally’s). Cheap Suits is 10th in the points, 12th in the computer rankings, and 11-10 vs ‘A’ teams this year. They will look to get back on track this weekend in Utah where they will try to win their 3rd tournament of the season.

Tied 16th – DIRTY VEGAS / STEEL / ARK FAB (TX-A)

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 23.3 Allowed: 33.7 Diff: -10.3
Dual #2 13th (2-2) Runs: 29.8 Allowed: 31.5 Diff: -1.8

Dirty Vegas beat Van Wert twice, split with Legendz, and lost to two major teams. Not bad. They are 17th in points and the computer rankings. They are 8-6 vs ‘A’ teams this year but are on the cusp of missing the Major. Jared Hunt and Nick Day led the offense.

Tied 16th – Thunder/Beloli/Chosen/RF/KL&R/LS (NY-B)

Avg Finish: 15.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 16.5 Allowed: 15.3 Diff: 1.3
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 29.7 Allowed: 27.3 Diff: 2.3

Thunder is the 2024 PIF champs if I recall correctly. They beat CutThroat, J&L, and LSR in Evansville and played Cheap Suits tough.

Tied 20th – CutThroatSports/CourseyRlty/Soares (CA-B)

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 19.0 Allowed: 32.7 Diff: -13.7
Dual #2 17th (0-2) Runs: 12.0 Allowed: 17.5 Diff: -5.5

CutThroat won that first close game vs Cheap Suits then dropped 4 straight.

Tied 20th – Ely Reel/Schlabach/MSGA Sports (OH-B)

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 17th (1-2) Runs: 26.3 Allowed: 29.0 Diff: -2.7
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 21.7 Allowed: 24.7 Diff: -3.0

Ely Reel was their normal feisty selves winning 2 games but playing most all of their opponents tough. I heard a rumor they can’t make the major as a ‘B’ team? I guess rules change on a whim in the conference…

Tied 20th – J&L sports/Beachys electric/Mt hope (OH-B)

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 3-4
Dual #1 25th (0-2) Runs: 4.0 Allowed: 22.0 Diff: -18.0
Dual #2 9th (3-2) Runs: 29.6 Allowed: 25.8 Diff: 3.8

J&L is a non-Conference ‘B’ team from Ohio that pulled off 3 straight upsets in the dual #2 loser’s bracket. A fun, fast, and defensive minded team who will be a tough out at ‘B’ Worlds.

Tied 20th – Rebel/Str8play/Koval (MI-A)

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 1-4
Dual #1 17th (0-2) Runs: 19.5 Allowed: 31.0 Diff: -11.5
Dual #2 17th (1-2) Runs: 30.0 Allowed: 36.7 Diff: -6.7

Rebel has so many new players I can’t keep track of all of the changes. But although they played ok for a new team, they still only won one game.

Tied 20th – Van Wert Frickers (OH-A)

Avg Finish: 17.0 Record: 0-4
Dual #1 17th (0-2) Runs: 23.0 Allowed: 35.0 Diff: -12.0
Dual #2 17th (0-2) Runs: 18.0 Allowed: 31.0 Diff: -13.0

Van Wert lost all 4 games they played after a solid showing in Maryland a few weeks back. 18th in points and 24th in the computer rankings for the 2023 ‘B’ World champs.

25th Place – LSR/BaughFord/TRU/Slugger/Riot (IN-A)

Avg Finish: 19.0 Record: 2-4
Dual #1 13th (2-2) Runs: 24.3 Allowed: 27.3 Diff: -3.0
Dual #2 25th (0-2) Runs: 23.0 Allowed: 33.5 Diff: -10.5

LSR? Where is LSR? The LSR that dominated early in the season has faded away. But somehow they are still 12th in the points and 8th in the computer rankings?

Faces in the Crowd / More Pictures

The conference points champion will be decided in Alabama in September on baseball fields.

Top 4 teams in each conference tournament this year. We have had 8 different winner’s.

RoofX also grabbed the top spot in the Computer Rankings.

Late night Sonny’s vs Resmondo early Dual 2 matchup.

Unofficial Major World Series bracket so far.

The Dudley Pro-M ball was used. The Pro-M was made for 240 bats and 325 foot fields. The scores were crazy high except on fields with the wind blowing in.