Kissimmee, FL- It didn’t take Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth very long to establish themselves as the top team in the nation as they won in both legs of the Nationwide Conference USSSA’s 8th annual Hall of Fame Classic. Resmondo went 12-0 over the grueling four day event and defeated Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok 26-11 in the championship of the first tournament and GTL/Doerflinger/R&M/Easton 19-12 in the championship of the second. The only other team to win both Dual tournaments was Dan Smith in 2009.
The Hall of Fame Classic (HOF) had an NCAA “feel” to it as the long anticipated bracket of the record 38 Nationwide Conference USSSA teams came out last Monday. Much like the NCAA basketball tournament selection shows, the bracket was received with some teams being happy with their seeding and others wishing they could have avoided the top teams early on.
On Wednesday, the players began arriving and some participated in a 100 player Home Run Derby with the proceeds going to Grace Landings Charity. The winner was Laservision and Florida native Kevin Kennington who put on an impressive display of a few 400+ feet home runs. Kevin defeated Kevin Filby and Chris Larsen in the semi-finals and Brett Helmer in the Championship and earned and automatic berth in the Major World Series Home Run Derby in September at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports.
The first Dual tournament started on Thursday morning on eight different fields with very few upsets, but played games in near perfect weather. As the tournament went along, the teams that adjusted to wind and field conditions the best, usually won the game. The cream did rise to the top as Resmondo battled Laservision in the winner’s bracket finals with two of the top ‘A’ teams, Shoppe and Nordkap in the final 4. There were also some of the best ‘B’ teams in the top 16 – Buzini, Reds Astros, Baugh ford, Adiktiv, Precision, OC Swats, and DEI.
The second Dual tournament started on Saturday morning at 8 AM and had a few more upsets. Laservision got knocked to the loser’s bracket early on by H. Auto, a ‘C’ team with some experienced players out of Minnesota. Team Combat lost to Precision out of Illinois in their opener. ‘B’ teams like Famous sent home Demarini/Dirty on Saturday night. At the end of the winner’s bracket though it was Resmondo beating GTL/Doerflinger/R&M 19-12 with GTL getting to the finals by knocking off Shoppe 20-7.
ABOUT USSSA SLOW PITCH:
USSSA Slow Pitch is where it all started. In 1968 USSSA was founded, originally called the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association. While USSSA has since changed their full name to the United States Specialty Sports Association in order to include all of its sports programs, USSSA Slow Pitch is still a huge portion of the USSSA brand, with more teams and participants in USSSA Adult Slow Pitch than any other youth or adult sport program in USSSA. USSSA Slow Pitch ranges from Major Teams to purely Recreational Teams and offers several specialty divisions based on the common interests, experiences, and backgrounds of players.
ABOUT USSSA:
The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), headquartered in Osceola County, Florida, 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, Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Karate 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!
