The “Texas Legends” Major NIT was held in Euless, Texas outside of Dallas on May 8-10. The Lonestar state and Softball World played host to 10 Conference teams and they were joined by 18 teams from Texas and neighboring states. Dan Smith/Menosse/Chaney redeemed their Kansas City losses to Resmondo from the previous week with a dominating performance in Texas as they went 5-0 to win their 2nd tournament of the season. They dropped Resmondo into the loser’s bracket with an impressive 29-12 run rule Saturday night and followed up with a 39-38 walk-off victory in the bottom of the 7th of the Championship game. This game featured a multitude of hard middle shots. The walk off hit was provided by Brett McCollum who hit a line shot to the gap which scored Jeremy Isenhower from first base. Dan Smith batted around early in the game and used their homerun’s to put Resmondo in run rule jeopardy. Then they used some timely double plays to withstand a Resmondo comeback and survived with the 1 run win.
Dan Smith evened up the season series between the two super teams and showed that this could be the start of a truly even rivalry with Resmondo that should heat up as the summer goes. Dan Smith pitcher Geno Buck was the tournament MVP (18-23 .783, 5 HR, 18 RBI) and center fielder Rick Baker was Defensive MVP.
Overall the tournament was well played and the Conference teams dominated as they went 16-1 vs non-Conference teams in this tournament. Elite’s victory over Dish Network being the only loss.
The weather in Euless was ok. The cool evenings, a hard ball, and windy conditions led to some long games. Conference ‘B’ team FBI made a nice run to finish 3rd and local Texas based Conference ‘A’ team Wood Law won 3 – one run games to finish 4th.
About USSSA:
The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), headquartered in Osceola County, Florida, USSSA is the World's Largest Multi-sport Athletic Organization. Founded in 1968, USSSA has grown to over 3.7 million participants, competing in 13 nationally sanctioned sports including Baseball, Fastpitch, Slow Pitch, Karate, Basketball, Soccer and more! For more information on USSSA and to register your team visit USSSA.com. Also be sure to visit USSSAToday.com for the latest USSSA News!
