The 2009 Conference Championships were again held in Kissimmee, Florida at the spring training home of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball. The complex features 5 full sized baseball fields measuring 330 feet down the lines, 390 feet to the gaps, and 410 feet to straight away centerfield. The complex also features the USSSA office headquarters and the USSSA Hall of Fame.
Resmondo-Specialty Tank-Worth went undefeated (3-0) and beat Long Haul/Miken/Phonemasters 16-14 in the final game. Resmondo run ruled Jean Shoppe and Long Haul to get to the finals and were led by Conference Season Co-MVP’s Bryson Baker and BJ Fulk.
Resmondo dominated this tournament from start to finish. They used some timely homeruns to power the offense. In the final game Long Haul couldn’t muster enough offense to put the needed pressure on Resmondo.
Long Haul finishes 2nd and used a big top of the 7th to put up enough runs to hold off Dan Smith 27-22 in the loser’s bracket championship game. The Bombers played without 2nd baseman Jeremy Isenhower but proved for the 2nd time this year they can play top notch stadium ball. Matt King was making some great plays in centerfield. Robert Blackburn hit some nasty line drive homers and JD Genter continues to be the leader of an offense that is adapting to the baseball fields.
The Conference Championships were broken into three separate brackets. The Major, which as mentioned was won by Resmondo. The ‘A’ division was won by Taylormade/Titan/PAS/Mizuno who used a miraculous 12 run 7th inning to beat Combat USA 29-28 in their first round game. Then Taylormade stumbled in a loss to GTL (22-5) before turning on the defense and defeating Johnny Blaze (14-6) and beating GTL in the championship game (17-6). The second game, the “if” game, of the championship was not played as GTL, which was short handed already, left to catch flights.
In the third bracket, the ‘B’ division, A.J.S./Easton/3N2/DssBats defeated WCS/LCV (8-3) in the championship game. The ‘B’ division was played at the Fortune Road softball complex which had nice fields with 325 foot fence distance down the lines and 340 foot fences to centerfield. AJS was undefeated in their championship run and used the pitching of Billy Barrett and the contagious and acrobatic defensive play of shortstop Luis Reyna and center fielder Adam Rockoff to shut down their opponents.
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!
