The much anticipated 2010 USSSA class ‘A’ World Series at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports came to a dramatic conclu¬sion with the highly favored GTL Cartel/ Worth team from Seattle, Washington using a Jim Salas walk off homer in the bottom of the 7th to capture the coveted Championship 13-12 over Team Combat/Laser Vision also based out of Seattle, Washington. The homer came in the “if” game as Team Combat/Laser Vision forced the second game with a heart stopping bottom of the 7th come¬back where they plated 11 runs, capped by their own walk off homer by none other than “ESPN highlite” man Rusty Bumgardner to win 24-22!
The two teams used very different paths to get to the finals. GTL cruised through their first 4 opponents with lopsided wins, including knocking off Wood Law, Suncoast, and Aubreys. Team Combat on the other hand fought hard from the outset on Friday night when they battled Bestway Softball to a 26-20 victory. Then after 2 more wins, Team Combat lost an epic battle with Aubreys in the semi-finals Saturday night 32-29 to drop to the loser’s bracket. In the loser’s bracket they beat a hot Logo Express team late Saturday night, and Sunday morning starting at 8 am they methodically scored big innings enroute to victories over Suncoast 30-15 and Aubreys 21-14 to set up their battles with GTL in the finals.
As a fan of the game you had to admire the heart shown by the entire Team Combat/Laser Vision team as they battled for over 6 and a half hours in extreme heat and humidity. There were no loser’s in this years ‘A’ Championship finals.
Aubreys/Taylormade/Mizuno finishes 3rd after winning their first 3 games and Suncoast/Reebok finishes 4th with solid play throughout the tournament and great defense from shortstop Luis Reyna.
GTL caps an incredible string of tourna¬ments with one of the most sought after trophies in softball. Since the first of the dual tournaments in Seattle on July 4th weekend, GTL has had a 2nd place finish, and now 3 straight tournament Championships (Cincinnati, Denver, ‘A’ World) and a 21-3 record over that span!
Congratulations to the entire GTL team, the sponsors, and the managers for a great season. All of the hard work and “visionary” offseason roster moves paid off big time.
Team Combat/Laser Vision is a team that overcame some major mistakes. They had runners thrown out at the plate, dropped flyballs, mishandles around the bases, and player ejections. Yet they were able to keep it together and fight through some hard fought wins over some great competition.
by Dale Weiser
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!
