2024 Salt Lake City Classic tournament report!

2024 Salt Lake City Classic

South Orem, Utah

August 23-24

Cheap Suits pitcher Conner Larson makes a play in the Championship!

SLC Team List

Video and Article Links

Salt Lake City Results & Bracket Link

2024 Salt Lake City Picture Album link (adding action photos daily)

Smoke vs Cheap Suits condensed game link

Volume #1 of Summer Conference Bloopers link

Volume #2 of Summer Conference Bloopers link

Salt Lake City Classic Highlight Video Clips Link

Championship – Bay Area Legends vs Cheap Suits condensed game link

NFM Lending vs Cheap Suits winners final condensed game link

Bennett Homes vs NFM Lending condensed game link

Salt Lake City stats on usssa.com

Salt Lake City Link to BallClubz Boxscores

Salt Lake City Link to BallClubz Team Stat Reports

Archived Livestream Games link

Friday Night Recap

CBB’s Ben Wright hits a walk off homer to beat Stars Friday night.

The Conference regular season came to an end in Utah this past weekend at the Lakeside Park in Salt Lake City. There were 14 teams from 4 states including 4 Conference teams playing on the 5 – 315 foot fields. The weather was nice but extremely windy on Saturday and the wind blew straight out at up to 20 mph on the show field #2 where home runs were just about free. The tournament began on Friday night at 5 pm mountain time. Bennett Homes/Remax/BCC/SFC (UT-B), Smoke/TopNotch/Levels/Complete (CO-B), and Blue Ox Exteriors/AW Roofing (CO-B) were all non-conference teams that won their play in games. CBB/Empire (UT-B) beat Stars (CO-C) on a walk off homer by Benjamin Wright. CutThroatSports/CourseyRealty/Soares (CA-B) the first conference team to play knocked off I-Stone (UT-C) 35-20. And NFM Lending/KB/Chasse/Be Happy (AZ-A) jumped out to a 22-0 lead on HK/Gameface Sport (UT-C) and won easily in 4 innings 24-2. NFM had 15 extra base hits including 11 home runs in their 4 times at bat.

It was tough for hitters to see the ball on Field #1.

In the quarterfinals which were also played on Friday night the #1 seed Cheap Suits/Republic Realty/ESP (CA-A) trailed Blue Ox 21-10 going into the bottom of the 4th and 29-12 going into the bottom of the 5th. Blue Ox had veteran pitcher Brian Therkildsen and their recent pickup of Hunter Ramirez to go with a young up and coming team. But Cheap Suits scored 13 runs on 5 homers in the bottom of the 5th, used their last homer and scored 5 more in the bottom of the 6th, and held Blue Ox hitters to just 1-7 in the last two innings even though they had 3 homers left, to pull off an amazing comeback 30-29 without having to bat in the bottom of the 7th. Meanwhile over on Field #1 with the wind blowing across the field and the sun directly in the batter’s eyes for most of the game, Bennett Homes was pulling off a huge upset of #2 seed Bay Area Legends (CA-A) leading 19-7 going into the 7th. Bay Area though scored 11 runs to cut it to 1 but could get no closer and Bennett Homes won 19-18 putting Bay Area deep in the loser’s bracket. Over on Field #4 Smoke grounded and pounded CutThroatSports to a 20-3 lead in the top of the 5th inning. CutThroat never gave up though and kept extending the game and avoiding the run rule but Smoke finished them off 28-19 on a 3 run homer by lefty Jarrod Purvis in the top of the 7th. And NFM Lending rolled through CBB/Empire 28-7 in 4 innings, scoring 16 runs in the top of the 2nd. CJ Shepherd, Zach Walters, and Wyatte Velasco were all perfect on base in the game with Walters hitting 3 HR and driving in 6 runs. As Friday came to a conclusion it felt like NFM Lending was the most focused team in the tournament with Cheap Suits looking sluggish, and Bay Area missing 4 starters and deep in the loser’s bracket.

Smoke takes down CutThroatSports late Friday.

Saturday Recap

Lantz Toomer homers for Bennett vs NFM.

On Saturday the semifinals began early on the main field #2 at 9:45 am with upset minded Bennett Homes taking on NFM Lending. The semifinals, winner’s final, and championship games will be available for viewing as condensed games on the USSSALive YouTube Channel. The wind was blowing out on the 315 foot field and Bennett Homes scored 7 on 2 to start while NFM, the home team, scored 11 on 3. Both teams scored in every inning but NFM got some separation in the bottom of the 2nd inning scoring 8 on 2 to go up 19-9. In the bottom of the 4th with NFM up 24-16, they lined into a double play and used up 5 more of their home runs. In the top of the 5th Bennett Homes grounded into another double play which both teams did throughout the game but they used a bunch of base hits to pull to within 24-19. In the bottom of the 6th NFM refocused and scored 7 on 2 to go up 34-20 and both home runs were 3 run pinch homers by Curtis Stewart and Terrance Curry. Bennett would score 7 and leave 3 home runs on the table in the top of the 7th but NFM held on to win 34-27. Jordan Spaulding the NFM leadoff hitter led the offense 5-5 with 5 extra base hits and 5 runs scored.

NFM leadoff Jordan Spaulding was 5-6 with 5 extra base hits.

Beau Cebulski hits a grand slam for Smoke in semi #2 vs Cheap Suits.

Demario Boyd drove in 17 runs vs Smoke in the semifinals.

In semifinal #2 as the wind really started to blow out at up to 20 mph, Smoke and Cheap Suits were tied at 13-13 after 2 complete innings. In the top of the 3rd Smoke hit two 3 run homers, a grand slam, and 2 RBI triples and scored 23 runs to take a 36-13 lead on Cheap Suits. Cheap Suits answered with 10 runs on 3 homers in the bottom of the 3rd to pull to within 36-24. In the top of the 4th Smoke went down in order 1-2-3 but still led after 4 innings 36-29. After Smoke scored 11 on 2 in the top of the 5th to go up 47-29, Cheap Suits who had to score 4 to keep the game going, used the rest of their 12 home run limit to score 8 runs and pull to within 47-37. But when Smoke went down in order again 1-2-3 in the top of the 6th and managed just 1 run in the top of the 7th, Cheap Suits – out of homers – walked them down with walks and base hits and beat Smoke 49-48 on a one out single by pitcher Conner Larson. The entire Cheap Suits team stuffed the stats sheet but were led by Demario Boyd and Carlos Abrigo who were both on base 7-7 with Boyd hitting 3 home runs and driving in 17 RBI! The team drew 19 walks due to the crazy winds.

Conner Larson hits a walk off single for Cheap Suits.

Winner’s Final – CJ Sheperd with a hit.

In the winner’s bracket final which was played around 1:15 PM Saturday, again with the wind blowing straight out to center field at 18 mph, Cheap Suits who had dug big holes in their first two games but came back, this time jumped on NFM Lending scoring 17 runs on 6 homers in the bottom of the 2nd inning to go up 23-9. Then they got NFM to go 1-2-3 in the top of the 3rd and Cheap Suits added 9 more in the bottom of the 3rd to go up 32-9! But NFM avoided the 20 run rule by scoring 6 in the top of the 4th and avoided the 15 run rule by scoring 10 in the top of the 5th and suddenly Cheap Suits lead had evaporated to just 35-25. NFM then held Cheap Suits scoreless in the 6th and pulled to within 5 runs 35-30 but could get no closer. Juan Castenada was 4-5 with 4 doubles and Matthew Valencia was 5-6 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the victory.

The loser’s bracket played out all day long on Saturday as Conference teams Bay Area Legends and CutThroatSports who had both been beaten on Friday night, basically played all day Saturday sending home all of the non-conference teams. CutThroat starting at 8 AM beat Hustledank, Stars, and Bennett Homes before losing to Bay Area and finishing 4th. Bay Area starting at 9:45 AM beat Tranont, Thin Air, Smoke, and CutThroat to make it to the loser’s final against NFM Lending. In that game which was played on the main field with the wind gusting out, NFM jumped out to an incredible 30-14 lead after just 2 innings scoring 15 runs in both the 1st and 2nd innings. But Bay Area Legends freed up and used all of their home runs in the top of the 3rd to score 18 runs and grab an unlikely 32-31 lead going into the 4th. The scoring slowed as the home runs were being used up, but somehow Bay Area managed to lead the rest of the game and NFM with 1 homer to hit down 2 (40-38) going into the bottom of the 7th managed a goose egg and Bay Area advanced to the championship 40-38. An injured Kyle Hancock led the Bay Area offense 6-6 with 4 doubles and 6 RBI.

Bay Area 3rd Baseman Isaac Gonzalez makes a leaping catch in the championship!

The championship early Saturday evening was a strange game. The wind was still blowing out, there were walks, exhausted players, strikeouts, great plays, bloopers, and for some reason the scoring was down. A tired Bay Area team was up 11-5 early on when Cheap Suits scored 11 in the bottom of the 3rd to go up 16-11 but used all but one of their home runs poorly to do it. Bay Area then started the top of the 4th with singles from Freddie Bynum, Eli Aguilar, and John Franklin to set the table for a Brady Bate grand slam homer and Bay Area went on to score 10 runs on 4 homers to take what felt like an insurmountable 21-16 lead. Why insurmountable? Because Cheap Suits had just 1 homer left and Bay Area still had 5. But Cheap Suits scratched and clawed and played some good defense to pull to within 25-20 going into the bottom of the 7th and used 2 hits, their last homer by Traylor, 5 walks, and walk off pinch hit by Justice Arranda that everyone in the park thought was a homer for an out, but it hit the fence and Cheap Suits had won the game 26-25 and with it their 3rd tournament win of the season! Demario Boyd was 5-5 in the final game and Nick Guillen had 6 RBI.

Bay Area’s Brady Bate hits a grand slam.

Cheap Suits Justice Aranda with a pinch hit walk off hit in the Championship!

It was a fast weekend since the tournament ended on Saturday night. There was a full contingent of conference umpires. For all of the upsets early in the tournament the conference teams ended up finishing 1st thru 4th. I am pretty sure I walked more steps getting to and from the B1 gate at the SLC airport than I did at the tournament. 🙂 It was nice that the scoreboards worked and the park was great, with excellent views, and good weather other than the wind. The Conference Championships tournaments are up next on September 13-15 in Oxford, Alabama. The main games there will be on baseball fields as teams prepare for the October USSSA Worlds!

Long Bomber of the Week!

Carlos Abrigo from Cheap Suits is the Long Bomber of the Week!

Salt Lake City Results and Awards

MVP – Cheap Suits OF/1B Matthew Valencia (20-23, .870, 8 HR, 15 RBI)

Defensive MVP – Cheap Suits 3B/2B Demario Boyd (.870, 8 HR, 30 RBI)

Offensive MVP – Bay Area Legends 1B John Franklin (28-35, .800, 7 HR, 17 RBI)

Team by Team Notes

1st Place – Cheap Suits/Republic Realty/ESP

CA-A Record 4-0

Cheap Suits made dramatic comeback after dramatic comeback. And they did so often with no homer’s left at the end. They did a great job finding ways to win when it seemed like they didn’t have their best game. They used up homer’s poorly at times, they gave up a big lead vs NFM, they came from run rule depth down to beat Blue Ox, Smoke, and Bay Area. And it was their 3rd tournament win of the year! They are now the #1 ranked ‘A’ team in points going into the Conference Championships. Larson and Traylor did the pitching. Cano is a professional base hitter. Boyd collects RBI like Mcclanahan collects tacos. Abrigo hits the bombs. Valencia finishes the year at .771. Castenada was getting the extra base hits. Freeman & Guillen were making plays. And it was just a total team effort even when things looked bleak (which was often).

Boyd, Abrigo, Guillen across the infield early.

Brandon Traylor hits a tank.

2nd Place – Bay Area Legends

CA-A Record 5-2

Bay Area was missing a number of starters and didn’t adjust soon enough to sun and wind conditions Friday in losing to Bennett Homes. They recovered in the loser’s bracket to win 4 games including a high scoring 2 run win over NFM to get to the championship. And even though they were tired in the championship they should have forced the “if” game if not for too many walks late in the game. Bay Area picked up pitcher Mateo Pacheco to add pitching depth and added veterans Eli Aguilar, John Franklin, and Freddie Bynum recently. Bay Area is currently 11th in the points and 3rd in the ‘A’ division.

Eli Aguilar who played conference for more than a decade came out of retirement to hit leadoff.

“This is the beginning of the end”

3rd Place – NFMLending/KB/Chasse/BeHappy

AZ-A Record 3-2

NFM looked the most focused out of all the teams and in my opinion it was their tournament to lose. But they came from behind and then gave it away against Cheap Suits in the winner’s final when they didn’t run with 2 outs on a popup that was dropped and then lost the loser’s final by 2 to Bay Area. A tough weekend for NFM, who had they won the tournament, would have moved from 20th to 16th in the points.

Stewart and Curry hit key pinch hit homers.

4th Place – CutThroatSports/CourseyRlty/Soares

CA-B Record 4-2

CutThroat lossed to Smoke on Friday night and then they won 3 games in the loser’s bracket which I didn’t get to see much of as I was over doing condensed games on the show field. It looks like CutThroat got the offense going on Saturday scoring in the 30’s in all of their wins though. Eric Mattos was .862 for the weekend, Joe Lewis .846, and Johnny Borrelli was .840 with 8 HR and 27 RBI.

Tied 5th – Bennett Homes/Remax/BCC/SFC

UT-B Record 2-2

Bennett Homes upset Bay Area Friday night and gave NFM a nice game in the semifinals before dropping to the loser’s bracket and losing to CutThroatSports. There are 3 sets of brothers on this team.

Tied 5th – Smoke/TopNotch/Levels/CompleteAuto

CO-B Record 2-2

Smoke had a great win over CutThroat on Friday night, played Cheap Suits all the way to the last batter in the semis, then dropped into the losers bracket and only lost to Bay Area by 7. A nice weekend for an entertaining team. Maybe a few too many walks but I realize the wind was nasty.

Tied 7th – Stars

CO-C Record 2-2

Stars lost on a walk off to CBB Friday then beat HK and had a nice 8 run win over Blue Ox before CutThroat cut them.

Tied 7th – THIN AIR

CO-B Record 1-2

Thin Air lost to Blue Ox by 2 on Friday night, beat CBB by 10, and lost to Bay Area 17-7 with the wind blowing in.

More Teams

Tied 9th – Blue Ox Exteriors/AW Roofing/GWA (CO-B) 1-2 –

Blue Ox beat Thin Air 22-20 then gave it away against Cheap Suits failing to score in the last two innings with 3 HR left on Friday night. On Saturday they were upset by fellow Colorado team Stars 33-25.