2023 Pocket City Dual “Who won report” —> Added 3 more videos!

JBL pitcher Mason Farmer stabs a hot shot off the bat of S&E’s Freddie Bynum in the winner’s final of Dual #1.

The 2023 Pocket City Dual was played at the 8 field Deaconess Sports Park in Evansville, Indiana in hot and humid weather over a 4 day period (August 10-13). The top 33 men’s teams and top 19 women’s teams in the Conference USSSA battled it out in two tournaments each. The upsets came early and often in the men’s dual #1 as all 4 Major teams got put into the loser’s bracket by ‘AA’ teams and 3 of the Major teams wound up on the same side of the loser’s bracket and knocked each other out. When it was all said and done JBL/D1/Tailgaters/Ignite a ‘AA’ team out of Ohio wound up knocking off Resmondo/SIS/All American/Menosse (FL-Major) who hadn’t lost a game since April, then beat Competitive Edge/Suncoast/FBI/Olmito (FL-Major) in the semifinals, and then they beat S&E/Baugh Ford/Proton (NC-AA) in the winner’s bracket finals which you can see here in condensed form, and then again in the championship on Friday. Competitive Edge was 3rd and Roofx/Revolution/Albicocco/All Hustle (IN-AA) was 4th.

In the 2nd men’s dual another ‘AA’ team Sports Reach/Demarini/CT/LLS (KY-AA) went on a run in the winner’s bracket beating S&E (NC-AA), MPT Rentals/Juno Athletics (NJ-Major), Competitive Edge (FL-Major), and Monsta/Sonny’s/Worsham/Red Athlete (NC/Major) to win the winner’s bracket! On Sunday Monsta came back through the loser’s bracket and beat Competitive Edge in the loser’s final and then gutted out a “double dip” of Sports Reach to win dual #2. MPT wound up 4th. A full report, picture album, condensed games, video clips, and rankings coming this week on ConferenceUSSSA.com!

2023 Pocket City Bracket & Results Link

2023 Pocket City Picture Album Link (adding action photos daily)

S&E vs JBL condensed game link

Men’s Dual #1

1st Place – JBL/D1/Tailgeters/Ignite (OH-AA)

2nd Place – S&E/Baugh Ford/Proton (NC-AA)

3rd Place – Competitive Edge/Suncoast/FBI/Olmito (FL-Major)

4th Place – Roofx/Revolution/Albicocco/AllHustle (IN-AA)

Men’s Dual #2

1st Place – Monsta/Sonny’s/Worsham/RedAthlete (NC-Major)

2nd Place – Sports Reach/Demarini/CT/LLS (KY-AA)

3rd Place – Competitive Edge/Suncoast/FBI/Olmito (FL-Major)

Women’s Pocket City Dual

T24 hits against SIS/Derby in the championship of the women’s Dual #1.

Women’s Dual I Recap (by Melissa Pratt):

Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings came out on top undefeated in Dual I going 5-0 against components. There weren’t a lot of upsets that took place in Indiana on the women’s side, but one game that caught my eye was Conf (A) KFI 13 Fireworks/Red Athlete/Easton with a great offensive performance knocking Major team Lady SNI/DeMarini/D1 out early on, outscoring them 18-2. KFI 13 Fireworks/Red Athlete/Easton ended Dual I tying for 5th place with Conf (AA) Khaos/SNI/Baughford/D1. Team 24/Monsta was sent to the loser’s bracket by La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth and battled back to the loser’s bracket final, facing the same team that sent them there. This time, the outcome would be in Team 24’s favor beating La Famiglia 11-4.

Dual I Championship Game between Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings and Team 24/Monsta showed to be a defensive dual the first half of the game with low scoring by both opponents. They were tied until the bottom of 5 when Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings scored 5 runs, then topped it off with another 4 runs in the bottom of 6. Team 24/Monsta unable to answer to the back-to-back rallies put on by Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings. Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings wins 14-5.

Women’s Dual #1

1st Place – Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings (WA-Major)

2nd Place – Team 24/Monsta (FL-Major)

3rd Place – LaFamiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth (PA-Major)

4th Place – Classic Glass/Nitro Circus/Rawlings (CA-Major)

Women’s Dual #2

LaFamiglia wins the “if” game on a walk off hit in the bottom of the 7th!

Women’s Dual II Recap (by Melissa Pratt):

Dual II had the same top 4 finishers, those 4 teams being Conf (Major), but finishing in a different order. La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth had an impressive run through the winner’s bracket making it to the championship game undefeated (4-0), outscoring opponents 46-23. Both Smash it/Incognito and DB Brand/Butch Meyers Construction tied for 5th place after losing game one to major teams and making a run through the loser’s bracket winning 3 consecutive games before getting knocked out. Team 24/Monsta lost their 2nd game to La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth and battled back to a 4th place finish. Classic Glass/Nitro Circus/Rawlings had a strong performance on the winner’s side making it to the winner’s bracket final game against La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth where their offense fell flat. They came back the next morning in the loser’s bracket final against Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings going back and forth most of the game before Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings took off in the 6th and 7th inning, ultimately winning 17-12.

Dual II championship game one between La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth and Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings was an exciting game to watch (condensed games featured). Both their offense and defense were performing in tip-top shape, it was a battle until the end. There were several lead changes through the game, we all knew it would come down to the 7th inning. La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth was leading 24-22 with two outs but couldn’t close it out. Ritchie took a walk, loading the bases, followed by Baltzell taking another walk which would tie the game. Fi then drives in the winning run with a blast to left center, walking it off and sending them into an IF-game.
Dual II championship IF-game was also a battle until the end, coming down to what happens in the 7th inning. This time with La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth being the home team, they had the chance to walk it off against the very team that did it to them a few hours before. Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings had a 3-run lead going into the bottom of 7. After La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth rallied together to score a few and Smash It/Derby Girls/Rawlings intentionally walked Schreiner to get to Davis, making it bases loaded with 1 out. Davis then drives in the 2 runs to walk it off and win the championship IF-game 16-15. La Famiglia/Fat Angelo’s/GTL/Worth wins Dual II.