2024 “The Memorial” Major tournament report!

Best viewed sideways on smart devices.

2024 “The Memorial” Major

Millington, TN

May 24-26

“The Memorial” Major show field at the USA Baseball Complex

Team List

The Memorial Video and Article Links

Memorial Major Results & Bracket Link

2024 Memorial Picture Album link (adding action photos daily)

Juno vs RoofX condensed game link

Sports Reach vs RoofX condensed game link

Final 4 highlight clips link

Sonny’s vs Sports Reach condensed game link

Sonny’s vs Nitro Circus condensed game link

Resmondo vs JBL condensed game link

Sonny’s vs Resmondo condensed game link

JBL vs I-57 condensed game link

Resmondo vs JBL condensed game link

Memorial Link to BallClubz Boxscores

Memorial Link to BallClubz Team Stat Reports

The Memorial Stats link

Friday Night Recap

Thunder left fielder robs a homer against Seminoles.

Conference USSSA travelled to Millington, TN for the first time ever to play at the USA Baseball Complex with its turf fields of varying sizes. The weather was warmer and humid but nice overall and the expected rainstorms never materialized. The tournament began with 20 teams on Friday at 5 PM central time and 18 of the teams were from the Conference including all 4 Major teams and 4 of the ‘AA’ teams. They used the Dudley Hardcore ball with 80 foot bases. In the four “play in” games Ely Reel/Schlabach/MSGA Sports (OH-B) upset Rebel/Str8play/Koval (MI-A) 14-10 on the stadium show field although they led 14-3 going into the bottom of the 7th where Rebel scored 7 to make it respectable. The wind blew in on the stadium all weekend at 6 to 12 mph but the trees behind the outfield fence seemed to block the wind, so line drives weren’t affected but high fly balls were. Ely Reel out homered Rebel 4-3 and Rebel stranded 12 runners. David Schwartz was on base 4-4 and John Schlabach was 3-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI in the victory. Legendz/CE/Adiktiv (OK-A) run ruled the non-conference Missouri ‘B’ team Bucks/I-55 Logistics/Wolfpack Ind team 22-7 leaving them on the field in the bottom of the 6th. Jason Branch, Luke Boyster, and Casey Scoggins all were on base in all of their plate appearances. Thunder/Beloli/Chosen/RF/KL&R/LS (NY-B) was down 20-15 to Seminoles/NACSF.INC/TPS/RS (OK-A) when they scored the last 9 runs of the game and shut down Seminoles in the bottom of the 6th and 7th innings to win 24-20. And Van Wert Frickers (OH-A) after a slow start against Mercy (MS-C) ended up run ruling them 26-4 scoring 10 runs in the top of the 6th. They out homered Mercy 4-0. The newly added veteran Travis Dale who used to play for Reds Astros and Westpoint was 4-5 with 4 RBI and their new pickup Fred Heiser from JBL was 3-5 with 2 HR in the game.

Seminoles 3B Zane Trammell with a diver.

The “Round of 16” then began at 6:45 PM as I-57 Roofing/Beechy’s/Royce Geo/SA (IL-A) run ruled PrimeTime/Easton/BallHawk (GA-A) 23-7 back on field #3 in 6 innings as they separated in the top of the 5th scoring 12 runs and their pitching and defense shut out PrimeTime in 4 of the 6 innings. Mitch Carriger, Jacob Hoskins, Jake Hathaway, and Zac Perkins were all on base 4 times and they out homered PrimeTime 4-2. JBL Roofing/Pauer Sports (OH-AA) jumped out to a 13-6 lead on Juno Athletics (NJ-Major) in the first two innings and then left Juno on the field by scoring 17 runs in the bottom of the 4th to win 30-8 over on Field #2 with the wind blowing out. JBL hit 9 home runs and Steve Edwards, Adam Kaminski, and Bradley Scott all reached base safely 4 times. Resmondo/All American Athletics (FL-Major) the #5 seed in the tournament jumped out to an 11-3 lead on WestPoint (IN-AA) in the 1st inning. But WestPoint grabbed a 19-14 lead by scoring 11 in the top of the 3rd and going into the bottom of the 4th WestPoint still held a 20-16 lead. Resmondo then scored 21 runs on 7 HR in the bottom of the 4th and went on to win by the run rule 37-21, out homering WestPoint 13-6. Resmondo’s Bradley Jones hit for the cycle and was on base 6-6 and utility man Brad Reckart who pitched this game was 5-5 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in the win. Meanwhile #8 seed Sonny’s/Worsham/Red Athlete/Haymak (WY-Major) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the Stadium against #9 seed Sports Reach/DeMarini/Grizzy/SMHS (KY-AA). Sports Reach recovered enough to make a game of it, but Sonny’s was 7 runs better, scoring in every inning of the game to win 25-18. Sonny’s out homered Sports Reach 11-9. The last of the “Round of 16” games were played at 8:30 PM. Dirty Vegas/Steel/Ark Fab (TX-A) was leading Van Wert Frickers 6-5 going into the top of the 7th scored 7 runs to beat them 13-7 out homering them 4-1. Van Wert just never got anything going. Dirty pitcher Caleb Ladner was 4-4 on base with 3 runs scored. #2 seed RoofX/BadDraw/CE/Pure/Envy (IN-Major) leading Thunder 21-11 going into the top of the 6th scored 23 runs on 5 home runs including two grand slam homers in the inning by Brandon Yoder to win 44-13. Jeremy Fry at leadoff was 6-7 and Mitch Lendenski 7-7 in the win. LSR/BaughFord/TRU/Slugger/Riot (IN-A) scored 6 in the top of the 1st inning and held Adiktiv to just 1 run in the 1st 4 innings and ended up winning 13-11 scoring 13 runs on 10 homers? Christian Glisson was 3-3 with 3 HR in the win and they out homered Adiktiv 10-3. And in the final game of the night Ely Reel was beating #1 seed Nitro/Beloli/Ataraxis/SBT/SOL/BAF/Koval (MD-AA) 9-8 after two complete innings but Nitro scored 3, 11, and 5 over the next 3 innings and held Ely Reel to just 3 runs down the stretch and won by the run rule 28-12. Nitro Circus out homered Ely 11-5 and Zach Sanford was 4-4 in the win. In the game Ely Reel pitcher Kyle Slicker was drilled in the helmet and the ball ricochet into the air and was caught by the catcher. Kyle was not hurt and you can see the video here.

Saturday Recap

Sonny’s takes on the #1 seeded Nitro Circus at noon Saturday in the quarterfinals.

The quarter finals were played at noon on Saturday in warmer and humid weather. I-57 Roofing playing in that top quarter of the bracket where there were 4 ‘A’ teams scored in every inning to beat Dirty Vegas 22-19 out homering them on field #5 5-1. Jacob Hoskins was on 5-5 with 3 walks. RoofX was up 6-5 on 3 homers in the 1st inning vs JBL Roofing but put up a zero in the top of the 2nd, was basically shut down by 4 nice plays by JBL right fielder Mike Williams, and JBL batted around in the bottom of the 4th to score 9 runs on zero homer’s to go up 16-9 on the huge field #2. Field #2 according to Google Earth is 335-365-370-365-330. Neither team could score in the 2nd half of the game and JBL upset RoofX 16-11 while hitting zero home runs. Mike Williams defense throughout the game in right was truly the difference along with pitcher Jon Dombrowski who led off two innings with big hits. Resmondo jumped out to a 13-6 lead on LSR and outscored them 16-4 down the stretch to win 32-16 in 7 innings. They out homered LSR 13-5 and continue to be the only team that plays the baseball fields like most teams play the softball fields and using their homers by “playing the game”. Kyle Pearson, Bradley Jones, and Everett Williams each had 3 HR and 6 RBI in the win. And Sonny’s handled Nitro Circus 32-20 in the stadium and you will be able to see this game in condensed form coming soon on the USSSALive YouTube channel.

Final 4 Recap

Jake Hathaway hits I-57’s only homer vs JBL.

In the semifinals JBL had an 8-2 lead on I-57 going into the bottom of the 3rd on the big field #2. Neither team could score more than 1 or 2 runs an inning the rest of the way and JBL just sort of won 11-8, out homering I-57 4-1. John Radich and Adam Ussery were each 3-4 in the win and Mitch Carriger was 4-4 in the loss.

Jason Matusik homered 3 times vs Sonny’s in the semifinals.

In the other semifinal Sonny’s scored 10 runs on 4 homer’s and led Resmondo 10-2 in the early going. But Resmondo recovered quickly to make it 10-9 after 2 innings and when Sonny’s went down in order 1-2-3 in the top of the 3rd, Resmondo got a 2 out 3 run homer from Travis Clark to take a 12-10 lead and proceeded to bat all the way around the order with 2 outs scoring 14 runs total to go up 23-10! In the bottom of the 4th Sonny’s played some great defense to give themselves another inning and Resmondo couldn’t end it in the 4th or 5th but got an outfield assist from Jason Matusik in the top of the 6th and finished it by the run rule 32-19 out homering Sonny’s 15-8. Kyle Pearson who leads the league in on base percentage (over .850) was 4-5 with 4 HR and 7 RBI, Phil Matte was 5-5, and Jason Matusik 4-5 with 3 HR and 8 RBI in the win.

Winner’s Final Recap

Winner’s Final – Resmondo hitting against JBL.

The winner’s final was played early Saturday evening in beautiful weather in the stadium. Resmondo led from the start, scored every inning vs JBL, and finished them off with a 14 run top of the 6th, out homering them 15-3 in the lopsided win. Kyle Pearson, Bradley Jones, and Kevin Bazat all reached base safely 5 times.

Loser’s Bracket Recap

Juno Athletics Jacob Clifton hits a walk off homer to beat Ely Reel 16-15.

The loser’s bracket played out all day on Saturday. In the top half of the loser’s bracket Westpoint beat Bucks and Van Wert before Nitro Circus dropped down and run ruled them 27-11. Sports Reach starting at 8 am beat Rebel, Thunder, LSR, Nitro Circus, and I-57 Roofing to make it to the 4th place game. And in the lower half of the bracket PrimeTime beat Mercy and Legendz before RoofX dropped down and beat them 14-7. And Juno Athletics beat Seminoles, Ely Reel on a walk off homer by Jacob Clifton, then beat Dirty Vegas before RoofX beat them 27-12. Then RoofX then beat Sonny’s again 23-14 to advance to the 4th place game. They played the 4th place game Saturday night where RoofX jumped out to a 20-4 lead and beat a tired Sports Reach team 24-9 out homering them 10-3. Faron Fry, who hit 10 home runs in the tournament was 3-3 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the win which advanced RoofX to Sunday’s final 3.

Sunday Recap

JBL didn’t come out flat but RoofX did in the loser’s final.

On Sunday morning RoofX met JBL in perfect weather in the stadium. Adam Ussery’s message to the JBL team in the huddle was “Don’t come out flat!”. And they did not as they got 6 straight hits to start the game and went up 6-2 after 1 inning. Then JBL put up a zero in the top of the 2nd and RoofX tied the game 6-6. But the wheels came off for RoofX in the top of the 3rd when JBL scored 19 runs on 3 homer’s to go up 25-6 and in the inning RoofX made a pitching change to Justin Mucciarelli who while arguing balls and strikes, he and his team got a “not one more word” from the home plate umpire and instead of saying one more word Mooch threw a pitch 25 feet in the air and the umpire tossed him and one of the sponsors. After a lengthy delay the game resumed with Kyle Center pitching and RoofX never scored in the 3rd or 4th innings and lost by the 20 run rule 26-6 as they were out homered 5-2.

Resmondo’s Phil Matte was 5-5 with 7 RBI in the championship.

In the championship game JBL again came out shooting getting 6 straight hits to start the game and led 7-6 over Resmondo after 1 inning. But JBL zeroed in the top of the 2nd and Resmondo scored 17 runs on 5 homers to go up 23-7. JBL didn’t give up scoring 7 in the top of the 3rd, but Resmondo added 11 more in the bottom of the 3rd and left JBL on the field by the 20 run mercy rule 36-16 in the bottom of the 4th. Kyle Pearson, Greg Connell, Phil Matte, and Bubba Mack were all perfect on base in the championship with Matte driving in 7 runs. It was Resmondo’s 3rd tournament win in 4 outings and they improved their overall record to 19-2. Hopefully Conference USSSA returns to Mesa, Arizona and Millington, Tennessee in the future as the games on these baseball fields were fun to watch. Check out the projected Major World Series bracket here and the Computer Rankings here.

Long Bomber of the Week!

We will give the Long Bomber of the Week to Kyle Pearson who hit 4 bombs and laser’s against Sonny’s and hit 12 HR for the weekend, but we could probably give it to the entire Resmondo team as they all had some long homer’s.

The Memorial Results and Awards

MVP – Resmondo CF Bradley Jones

Defensive MVP – Resmondo Shortstop Tyler Marshburn

Offensive MVP – JBL Roofing Pitcher Jon Dombrowski with his clutch hits to “roll the top”.

Team by Team Notes

1st Place – Resmondo/All American Restoration/O

FL-Major Record 5-0

Resmondo was back to their winning ways putting up a .723 team on base percentage and averaging 13 home runs per game on baseball fields! What they are doing offensively this year with all 21 of their games on the big fields is unprecedented. Bradley Jones was MVP and ran center field most of the time as Cory Briggs wasn’t there. Pearson led the tournament in home runs with 12. Jason Matusik drove in 20 runs. And they continue to dominate with big double digit innings in most of their wins. When players struggled the rest of the team picked them up. They played without managers Brett Helmer and Tim Barnes. Tim lost his father and the softball community sends our condolences.

2B Greg Connell flashing some leather.

2B Connell, MI Bazat, SS Marshburn

2nd Place – JBL Roofing/Pauer

OH-AA Record 4-2

JBL played most of their games against Major teams and they knocked off Juno Athletics and RoofX twice! They just didn’t have much for Resmondo (who does?). Orlando Castillo had the home run stroke going. Pitcher Jon Dombrowski rolled the top of the lineup when needed. And Mike Williams made some incredible catches in right field at the right times against Juno, RoofX, and I-57 that made the difference in those games. JBL played without Brian McBryde and Chris Anninos who are both out injured.

Mike Williams won a couple games with his glove for JBL.

Adam Ussery’s team speech “don’t come out flat”…worked!

3rd Place – RoofX/BadDraw/CE/Pure/Envy

IN-Major Record 5-2

RoofX for the 2nd straight tournament lost two games to the same ‘AA’ team. They beat Sonny’s and Juno during the tournament but just couldn’t score against JBL for whatever reason. On Sunday in the loser’s final they basically imploded offensively, mentally (with the ejections), and never recovered… Faron Fry had a big weekend offensively to lead the team.

RoofX infield 3B Mcclanahan, SS Rogers, MI Jeremy Fry, 2B Faron Fry

4th Place – Sports Reach/Demarini/Grizzy/SMHS

KY-AA Record 5-2

Sports Reach lost their opener the 8/9 game to Sonny’s and then starting at 8 AM Saturday morning they ran the loser’s bracket beating Rebel, Thunder, LSR, Nitro Circus, and I-57 before running out of gas later Saturday night against RoofX. As you can see by the stats they had 4 players over .700 and Racobaldo, Pena who is having a big year, and Mapes all hit 7 HR. It is another great year of ‘AA’ ball as most of the division has had their moments. Nitro in Las Vegas. Str8play in Phoenix and HOF. Sports Reach at the HOF, Texas, and this past weekend. JBL finishing 2nd here at the Memorial. And Classic Glass in Phoenix. Only Westpoint has yet to break through and they played Resmondo tough twice already this year so it’s only a matter of time.

Sports Reach has some pretty good defense in this picture.

Dagmar Pena 3B, Joel Sanchez SS, Austin Andrews CF.

Tied 5th – Sonny’s/Worsham/RedAthlete/Haymak/R

WY-Major Record 2-2

Sonny’s never capitalized on an early lead vs Resmondo in the semifinals, lost, and disappeared to the back fields where they lost to RoofX for like the 3rd or 4th straight tournament?

Jeremy Yates was 4-4 and hit for the cycle vs Resmondo.

Tyler Storey leads Sonny’s in on base percentage at .746 for the year.

Tied 5th – I-57 Roofing/Beechy’s/Royce Geo/SA

IL-A Record 2-2

I-57 capitalized on their #6 seed by winning the mini ‘A’ tournament at the top of the bracket beating PrimeTime and Dirty Vegas to make the final 4 where they lost a pillow fight to JBL 11-8. In the loser’s bracket Sports Reach sent them home 15-9. That big field #2 was tough on I-57 but overall a solid weekend again for one of the leagues top ‘A’ teams. Lead off and pitcher Mitch Carriger led the offense .833 but the team only hit 12 HR.

Tied 7th – Juno Athletics

NJ-Major Record 3-2

Juno lost their opener to JBL 30-8. In the loser’s bracket they won a couple games before RoofX sent them home 27-12. Andrew Collins was batting 1000 before pulling a leg muscle. The offense was led by Kade Christensen .833 and Joe Joe Bennett was .762 with 8 HR and 18 RBI. Clint Clymer was playing shortstop when I watched them and Mason Farmer did the pitching as I don’t believe Jonas was there.

Tied 7th – Nitro/Beloli/Ataraxis/SBT/SOL/BAF/K

MD-AA Record 2-2

Nitro Circus is slowly squandering their early points lead they built by playing in all of the tournaments. They beat Ely Reel Friday night but lost to Sonny’s in the quarterfinals at noon on Saturday and then after beating Westpoint in the loser’s bracket lost to Sports Reach. Filip Washington is still over .800 on base for the year, Craig Pellegrin led the offense at .909 in Memphis, and Zane Migues had 7 HR and 14 RBI. It seems like the team struggles with something different each game, if that makes sense. One person I talked to joked “thought they were built for Florida but turns out they were built for Vegas”. Just joking, no need for social media posts about DW! 🙂

More Teams

Tied 9th – WestPoint (IN-AA) 2-2

I never did see Westpoint play but they went 7 innings (I think) with Resmondo again in their opener but lost, then beat Bucks and Van Wert before losing to Nitro. Welborn, Canfield, and Tucker led the offense. They need some points to get out of those tough first round matchups.

Tied 9th – PrimeTime/Easton/BallHawk (GA-A) 2-2

Primetime lost to ‘A’ rival I-57 by the run rule and then beat Mercy and Legendz before losing to RoofX to at least score some points. They hit just 15 HR in 4 games on the big fields. But those blue jerseys are sweet and I finally knocked out the 2024 team picture. 🙂

Tied 9th – LSR/BaughFord/TRU/Slugger/Riot (IN-A) 1-2

LSR who burst on the national stage with 2nd place finishes in Las Vegas and the HOF to start the year has faded the last month. I know they ran into Resmondo in the quarterfinals which is always tough and then in the loser’s bracket lost to the hot Sports Reach. Jagger Harjo and Christian Glisson led the offense.

Tied 9th – DIRTY VEGAS / STEEL / ARK FAB (TX-A) 1-2

Dirty Vegas has played in every tournament this year so they have a lot of points. They beat Van Wert then lost to I-57. In the loser’s bracket Juno beat them 25-14. Not terrible. They only hit 9 HR in 3 games.

Legendz/CE/Adiktiv (OK-A) – Legendz beat Bucks in a play in game, lost to LSR by 2, then lost in the stadium to Primetime 17-10. So 0-2 vs fellow ‘A’ teams. Still working out the growing pains, this one.

Ely Reel/Schlabach/MSGA Sports (OH-A) – Ely Reel upset Rebel, played Sonny’s tough for awhile, then on Saturday morning lost to Juno on a walk off homer. This team is an upset waiting to happen. Pitcher Kyle Slicker led in HR with 4 and RBI with 11 while doing some good pitching. And John Slabach and David Schwartz led in on base .727.

Thunder/Beloli/Chosen/RF/KL&R/LS (NY-B) – Thunder upset Seminoles, lost to RoofX after playing them good for awhile, then lost to Sports Reach (who didn’t?). They have yet to turn in any stats this year?

“Conference” Keith is back with Thunder!

Van Wert Frickers (OH-A) – Van Wert lost to Dirty Vegas and Westpoint in games I bet they wish they could “do over”. They had some new faces and were missing some regulars.

Van Wert picked up former JBL player Fred Heiser and veteran infielder Travis Dale.

Rebel/Str8play/Koval (MI-A) – Rebel was upset by Ely Reel in their opener when their 7th inning comeback stalled and then they lost to Sports Reach by 20. Jim Lancaster, Drew Rogers, and Tom Osenbach led the offense.

It was good to see Tyler Wiles back on the field after an injured riddled 2023.

Seminoles/NACSF.INC/TPS/RS (OK-A) – Seminoles lost their opener to Thunder 24-20 after leading then to Juno Athletics. I listened in to their post game speech and heard they were dropping Chicago and maybe picking up Palm Springs to get some games in. Toby Letak, Elijah Christenson, and Conner Murray led the offense.

Bucks from Missouri had a nice team. They lost to Legendz and Westpoint by the run rule.

Non-Conference Mercy struggled to score against Van Wert and Primetime.

Faces in the Crowd / More Pictures

Correctly called safe.

The small crowd hung out in the shade.

UIC Marshall Grissom gives the umpires meeting.

Livestream on USSSALive.com was good.

Justin Stout and Phillip Taylor umpired the championship game.

Some of the fields were bigger than others.

#1 – 310-335-380-335-310
#2 – 335-365-370-365-330
#3 – 340-348-380-333-307
#4 – 300-335-385-335-315
#5 – 318-345-385-335-310
#6 – 305-340-395-335-315
#7 – 315-350-385-335-315