Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth the #1 ranked team in the nation maintained their undefeated record as they go 5-0 at the 13th Annual “Texas Legends” tournament. They knocked off GTL/Doerflinger/R&M/Easton 29-14 in the finals after GTL lost in the quarterfinals unexpectedly to Team Adiktiv/Dynasty/D2E/LS/TYJA 26-25. GTL then won 5 straight to make it to the championship game.
The tournament was played in cool and windy conditions but the sun shined throughout. Starting on Friday night, there were very few upsets as most of the higher seeded teams won as expected, until the quarter finals early on Saturday afternoon. One team that played two outstanding games on Friday night was Old School/Elite, a ‘C’ team from Texas who knocked off a very good Golds Gym team 26-25 and then fought hard against Buzini Sports in a 40-37 loss which was one of the highest scoring game of the tournament.
All eight of the quarter final teams were from the Nationwide Conference USSSA. Demarini/Dirty run ruled FBI 23-5; Buzini run ruled their rival Baugh Ford 30-15, and Resmondo was taken a full seven innings by ASPNation. Resmondo would emerge victorious, winning 30-24. In the final quarter final game, GTL struggled to keep pace with an offensive minded Adiktiv team and trailed them 26-21 going into the bottom of the seventh. GTL quickly scored four runs and loaded the bases with nobody out but Adiktiv pitcher Cam Byars got a popout and a 5-10-3 double play to end the game and the win for Adiktiv 26-25.
In the final four of the winner’s bracket, Adiktiv gave Demarini all they could handle in a 26-22 Demarini win. The game ended on a controversial overturned call at third base when Adiktive was rallying from behind with two outs. In the other semi final Resmondo trounced Buzini 23-6 before Buzini could really get going. Then in the winner’s bracket championship game which was a much anticipated match up between Demarini/Dirty and Resmondo late on Saturday night, Dirty put up 26 runs on the strength of third baseman Dale Brungardts, who went 4-5 with 3 homers and Adam Rockoffs 4-5 with 2 homers. But Resmondo got an assist and a nice play on the fence from their young outfielders, while batting around their lineup in the bottom of the 6th with 5 home runs to get a big lead and held off Demarini’s top of the 7th rally to win 28-26.
In the loser’s bracket, GTL ran the table with four wins in a row over Nationwide Conference opponents including the loser’s bracket final over Demarini/Dirty, when pitcher Brendt Newbill shut down Demarini the last three innings. GTL then went to the finals where their 14 runs over five innings was not a terrible output. It included two home runs from Kyle Pearson, but was no match for Resmondo, batting around their lineup in each of the last 4 innings to win the tournament championship 29-24.
DW on New USSSA Live Streaming Technology and Broadcasting Efforts:
Remember anyone can give a score update by simply talking in a normal voice near where the iPod touch is hanging on the fence. Heck you can even try your hand at play by play”“For the first time in Major softball history all of the games on every field were successfully live streamed on USSSALive.com. A thank you to Bernie, Andy Purcell, and Texas director Chris Thames for their hard work getting the cameras setup. A true feat of technology and a great success for what is to come at future events! The video and audio quality was very good. Unfortunately only a few scores were kept up to date. Thank you to Doc and the first umpiring crew on Sunday morning for their score updates. In the future Bernie hopes to give the teams and the fans watching with smart phones the application and password to be able to update the scores in real time!
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!
