to - USSSA - United States Specialty Sports Association

Transcription

Summer 2013
CAT TO
GO OUT
ON TOP
Race Tightens as Nationwide
Conference USSSA Heads
Down the Backstretch
USSSA Baseball Talent
Dominates in 2013 MLB Draft
nda r
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Bas eba ll has a sea son . Training
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anc
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says ope ning day is off in
BP Jack et
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to sit arou nd and wait for it.
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DEMARINI.COM
6028 v Dr. • Fort Worth,TX 76133
(817) 944-7484 • stafford.connor@usssa.com
Executive Director, CEO USSSA
CONTENTS
Don DeDonatis
- A Multi-Sports
6 USSSA
Leader Continues to
OH Hosts
64Columbus,
Their First Ever
Evolve
Nationwide Conference
USSSA NIT
Publisher, USSSA Today
Stafford Connor
Managing Editor, USSSA Today
Greg Huchingson
Communications Director, USSSA
Tom O’Hara
Design / Printing
REEDESIGN
Lebco Graphics
Contributing Writers
Ian Auzenne
Brett Helmer
Robert Boudreaux
Cody Hudson
Liz Braverman
Jeremy Isenhower
Mike Cisneros
Jon Kilburn
Mike Cornell
Craig Dale
Jeff Foss
Van Galeon
Pro Fastpitch League
18 Turns
A Perfect 10
Craig Scriven
Q&A with Caitlin Lowe
Dennis Turner
Rachel Goossens
Dale Weiser
26
28 Cat To Go Out On Top
USSSA 2013
Broadcasting Schedule
Photographers
Brianne Cisneros
Scott Duffy
Rachel Goossens
Gary Leland
Brian Ragan
Pete Spatula
Bethany Walter
Dale Weiser
USSSA Today is published quarterly. Publishing offices are
located at 6028 Rayburn Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76133. One
year subscription is $25; two year is $40. Reproduction or
use of the contents in whole or in part without prior written
permission of the publisher is prohibited. USSSA Today
welcomes unsolicited articles or photographs, but must be
accompanied with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for
return of unsolicited material.
Tourney By Storm
Sports
71 Suwanee
Academy Hosts 241
team Bob Gibbons
Tournament of
Champions
Girls Fastpitch Teams
34 230
Compete in the USSSA
OKC Challenge
Rovers Fall
72 Colorado
in Penalties to Georgia
38
Pride Wins On Many
Levels Visiting Corpus
Christi, TX
Revolution
Wins Mizuno
73 Carnes
Gator Classic by Two
Baseball Talent
42 USSSA
Dominates in 2013 MLB
Draft
Equipment Logistics
Roy “Heavy Peanut” Dean
Resmondo Takes
67 Minnesota
Classic
Krista Tonnesen
George Gonzalez
in Two Consecutive
Weekends
22
Scott Kuhnen
Mike Macenko
Laservision/Easton Hands
65 Out
Two Double Dips
USSSA Florida State
462013
Championships
48Taking Infield
Conference
52 Nationwide
USSSA Hall of Fame
Strokes
Worth Sports’ Jeff Hall
76 Transitioning
From
On-Field to Off-Field
Endeavors
77 Letters to the Editor
28th Annual Budweiser
78 Festival
tops 300 in
Bryan-College Station,
Texas
Classic
57 ASPNation.com/Easton
Blasts Off at Miken
Space City
Bat Technology
862013
Continues to Make
Strides
USSSA TODAY
5
Insider’s Guide
Reprinted from the May/June 2013 issue of SportsTravel. For more information, visit www.SportsTravelMagazine.com.
A Multi-Sports Leader
Continues to Evolve
T
he numbers alone are staggering: 3.9
million participants, 225,000 teams on
leagues in 11 sports and more than
40,000 tournaments per year.
The United States Specialty Sports
Association, more commonly known as USSSA
(and even more commonly pronounced as
“U-Triple-S-A”), has evolved into one of the largest
sports organizations in the country.
Initially formed as the United States Slo-pitch
Softball Association, USSSA could have taken
any number of paths to get to the place it has
today. But forward-thinking leadership and a
6 USSSA TODAY
commitment to doing what’s right for participants
and partners has set the 45-year-old organization
on a path of success, one that shows every sign of
continuing in the future.
Pivotal Decision
Founded in 1968, USSSA was originally dedicated to
the game of slowpitch softball. But by 1997, trends
in the sports industry caused the organization to
rethink its mission and take on additional sports.
While the number of slowpitch teams for youth
and adults were going down, interest in girls’
fastpitch and boys’ baseball, in particular, was
riding high.
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When the proposal was
made to add those and other
sports, it came with more than
a bit of soul-searching, said
Don DeDonatis, USSSA chief
executive officer and chairman
of the board. “We had a lot of
heartaches and a lot of things
we had to do to change an
organization of 29 years and
say, ‘We used to do it this way
and now we’re doing it this
way.’ And that’s hard.”
With the hindsight of more
than 15 years, the renamed
United States Specialty Sports
Association has seen evidence
“We are
flourishing.
We encompass
everybody. We
don’t just
look for the
elite teams.”
— Don DeDonatis
A Message From The CEO
It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to
address all of the subscribers and readers of SportsTravel on
behalf of the United States Specialty Sports Association
(USSSA). I am sure that most of you are familiar with USSSA
and our many programs that are offered to teams and athletes
around the country. I hope that you find the information that is
provided in this issue informative and useful.
As our membership and participants continue to grow it has
become more important than ever that we as an organization conDON DeDONATIS
tinue to remain focused and innovative well into the future.
Beginning this fall at the National Meeting of this association in Sanibel Island, Florida
(November 17–23), USSSA will once again begin accepting competitive bids for placement of our national and world tournaments. We feel this is exciting news for our many
CVBs located throughout the country and for our teams as well that will get to experience traveling to parts of the country that they have never seen.
You will also find that USSSA has a New Media division that is focused on getting
the latest information and news out to everyone in real time at USSSA.com. I also
urge everyone to watch our live coverage of baseball, fastpitch and slow pitch softball
from locations all around the country on USSSALive.com. You will also find USSSA
events being presented on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com throughout the summer. There is
a complete listing of these events available in this publication on page 14.
As you can see, this is an exciting time to be a member, fan or director of
USSSA. We will continue to strive to reach new heights as an association. We know
your expectations are high, and rightfully so. Please be assured that ours are
higher and that we will continue to set the example and standard high in everything
that we do. I hope to see each and everyone of you at a USSSA event this summer
and perhaps we will be able to bring a large USSSA event to your city or town in the
very near future. Don’t forget to register to attend the USSSA National Meeting this
year. Rooms and exhibitor space are limited. On behalf of myself and the USSSA
Board of Directors, we wish you a very successful 2013 season!
that the decision was the correct
one to make. “It’s probably the
best decision we ever made
because instead of a struggling
Don DeDonatis
slowpitch organization, we are
Chairman of the Board/CEO
flourishing,” DeDonatis said.
Among the most dramatic
results is the percentage of
611 Line Drive • Kissimmee, FL 34744 • 321-697-3636 • 800-741-3041 • fax 321-697-3647 • www.usssa.com
youth participation in USSSA
sports. Before the move to
multiple sports, about 17
percent of the organization’s participants were youth.
The age divisions allow teams to grow together
Today, that number is almost 60 percent.
throughout their playing days, adding to the
From the beginning, USSSA set to make its mark in the organization’s ability to teach chemistry, said Tom O’Hara,
sports-event industry by crafting youth leagues in a USSSA’s director of marketing and business development.
decidedly different manner than most other “Now these teams, if they get the chemistry right, can
organizations. Youth playing baseball and softball at take that right on from 8-and-under to 18-and-under.”
USSSA enter leagues based on their individual age, not a
two-year age range. Instead of leagues that were 18-andGrowth of Multi-Sports
under or 16-and-under, 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds each
At the time USSSA launched into multi-sports, Jim Swint
play in leagues with other children their same age. And
within those age divisions, teams are divided by ability, was at the center of the expansion into baseball. He recalls
leading to different classifications within the various attending the annual convention in 1996 with a plan to get
sports and age groups. “We encompass everybody,” a baseball program going, using the individual age group
divisions that have now become a staple of the program.
DeDonatis said. “We don’t just look for the elite teams.”
10 USSSA TODAY
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Baseball and softball remain popular sports that USSSA organizes, but
sports such as golf, karate, volleyball and wrestling are offered as well.
“Our goal was to see if we could come up with 1,000
teams,” said Swint, who is now USSSA’s assistant executive
director. “And we just barely made it. That was the
beginning of multi-sports.”
Even then, some in the organization had doubts
about how big the operation could become. “Several of
us sat there and talked and thought maybe this is never
going to be as big as softball, but maybe someday we
can get to 5,000 teams. Now we’re at more than 60,000.”
Likewise with the passing of Title IX offering new
opportunities for girls across the country to compete in
sports of all kinds, USSSA recognized early on that there
was tremendous opportunity and growth potential in
the appealing sport of fastpitch softball.
While USSSA may be known for its bat-and-ball
sports, its programs extend well into other areas. Today,
there are 11 official sports that the organization offers:
slow and fastpitch softball, baseball, basketball, flag
football, golf, martial arts, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball
and wrestling.
And some of the sports are seeing noteworthy
recognition in other parts of the sports-event industry.
USSSA Soccer, for example, is the only soccer entity run
by a multi-sport organization that is recognized by U.S.
Soccer, the national governing body for the sport.
But even that doesn’t describe the breadth of sports
that USSSA is involved with. Beyond its 11 core sports,
USSSA sanctions a diverse list of dozens of other sports,
including darts, horseshoes and cornhole events, offering
event organizers deals on insurance as well as coverage
for venues.
“We have great insurance for our teams, we’ve got
great medical coverage for our
players and we offer great facility
coverage for facilities around the
country,” DeDonatis said.
Mastering the Web
Another factor that has set USSSA
apart in the past — and continues to
do so today— is the organization’s
communication
with
its
key
constituents. And to accomplish that,
the organization takes full advantage
of its website, usssa.com.
“Our website is our most important
key,” DeDonatis said. “Last year, we
had close to 300 million hits. Our
communication with our teams and
our directors is phenomenal.”
Indeed, the website offers
considerably more than just a quick
glance at the multi-sport organization
itself. There, directors can find
information on how to manage
rosters and classify teams in different
sports and tips on becoming more
efficient at their jobs. Tournament
results and rankings are also available.
“The most important thing we do
as directors is communicate,” O’Hara
said. “With the automated email
systems we have on the website, we
have the ability to contact teams. It
has worked unbelievably well.”
12 USSSA TODAY
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USSSA to Open Events for Bid
S
ports commissions and convention and visitors
bureaus looking to host some of USSSA’s most
prestigious events will have new opportunities to
get involved starting in 2014. In a significant shift in its
bidding procedures, USSSA intends to open a wide
variety of its events to bidding from cities around the
country, an effort to give new regions a chance to get
involved, said Tom O’Hara, USSSA’s director of
marketing and business development.
“What we’ve decided to do is open the bidding
process up,” he said. “When we looked at it, we
wanted to offer some new areas an opportunity to
host. We don’t necessarily expect teams to always
have to travel to the East Coast or the West Coast for
any particular event.”
New Rules To Come
USSSA had a bidding procedure years ago. But as
sports such as baseball and fastpitch softball exploded
with interest, major events were typically held in a
relatively small number of locations that had become
familiar to traveling teams. The hope is that a formal
bidding process will attract even more interest from
potential host cities and venues, with a determined
procedure in place for the bidding and awarding
process, one that allows teams to experience new
sites and regions along the way.
Specific details of the process—as well as specific
events that will be put out to bid—are expected to be
finalized in the coming months. But the plan is to give
more areas of the country an opportunity to host events
across all sports. “For 2014,” O’Hara said, “we’re looking
to get more CVBs and cities involved in what we do.”
In addition to softball and baseball events, USSSA intends to
open a variety of sports championships for bid starting in 2014.
Upcoming USSSA Events
JUNE 6 – 8
Duncanville, TX
USSSA Basketball Great
American Shootout NCAA Event
Age 19 / Grade 12
JULY 13–20
Orlando, FL
USSSA Elite Baseball World Series
ESPN Wide World of Sports
Ages 10, 12 and 14
AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 1
Kissimmee, FL
USSSA Slow Pitch
USSSA Championsip Series
JULY 6
Lake Charles, LA
USSSA Golf Regional
Championship 36-hole event
Ages 15 – 18
JULY 21–AUGUST 3
Orlando, FL
USSSA Fastpitch World Series
Ages 8 –14, 15, 16 and 18
AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 1
Orlando, FL
USSSA Slow Pitch Men’s
Major World Series
JULY 12 –14
Maryville, TN
USSSA Slow Pitch
USSSA Smoky Mountain Classic
AUGUST 3–10
Orlando, FL
USSSA Elite Baseball World Series
Ages 9, 11 and 13
SEPTEMBER 14–15
Little River, SC
USSSA Golf Back To School
Tournament 36-hole event
Multiple Age Groups
14 USSSA TODAY
Insider’s Guide
sponsored by
Adults traveling to USSSA’s slowpitch softball World Series this year
will be guaranteed to play at least three games during the event.
On the Move
USSSA’s evolution has seen other pivotal moments as
well. One of the keys was its relocation to Osceola
County, Florida, in 2003, a move that allowed it to
partner with ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando and
put events where traveling teams wanted to play.
The group’s latest deal with Disney has recently come
to a close, and negotiations are underway to extend the
partnership. “We’re committed down there because it’s
a place people want to be and the venues can’t be
beat,” DeDonatis said.
O’Hara said USSSA’s partnership with Disney is one of
mutual respect. “We don’t want to be a Disney
customer,” he said. “We want to continue to provide
world-class facilities to the athletes we have come
down. We’ve got great relationships and a great
partnership with Disney and it looks like it’s going to
continue well into the future.”
But USSSA has also taken advantage of its corporate
home in Osceola County’s Heritage Park, which not only
serves as the spring training home of the Houston Astros
but also the home of the USSSA Pride of the National
Pro Fastpitch league. In fact, USSSA’s decision to
purchase a team in the professional women’s softball
league was another game-changer, allowing the
organization to promote its mission at the highest level
of the game of fastpitch.
“Don gets that if you establish the brass ring, if you
create and nurture the highest level, that in turn creates
demand and dreams and aspirations at the lowest or
youngest level,” said Cheri Kempf, commissioner of the NPF.
Looking Ahead
After 45 years, the future for USSSA
looks bright. But even more important
is that the organization continues to
evolve to meet the needs of its
athletes. One example: This year, adult
slowpitch softball players will get a
guarantee of playing at least three
games at World Series tournaments,
further increasing the value of
participating in USSSA’s elite events.
Looking back, the decision to go
multi-sport, Swint said, remains a key
component to what USSSA has been
able to accomplish. “I know we didn’t
realize at the time that that might be
the case,” Swint said, “but it certainly
has proved to our benefit to have
gotten into multiple sports.”
DeDonatis said USSSA’s key to
success has been to understand best
what those nearly 4 million
participants and the various partners
that have developed over the years
want the most.
“We pride ourselves on doing it
right—we don’t do it for the dollar,”
DeDonatis said. “We think we’re in it
for the right reasons, and I think a lot
of the people we partner with and a
lot of the people we take on
understand that. And we plan on
being around for another 45 years.”
16 USSSA TODAY
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Teams In
The League
Pro Fastpitch
League Turns
A Perfect 10
W
hen National Pro Fastpitch
begins its 10th season in
June, it will mark a major
milestone for a league that
sees its best days as still to
come. Taking over
where other
pro
leagues had left off,
NPF now has a solid
base of teams, a key
television partner in
ESPN, the sport’s best players and, above all,
interest from a fan base that can’t seem to get
enough of the sport of fastpitch softball from
the collegiate through the professional ranks.
“The platform you’re going to look at to
see the popularity of the sport is college
softball,” said Cheri Kempf, the league’s
commissioner and a softball analyst for ESPN.
“College softball is answering the bell when it
comes to ratings and viewership for television
and you are seeing an ever-growing fan base
for a sport that people find exciting and really
fun to follow. That’s sort of what we look at
to see the popularity
of the sport.”
But with the NPF
on solid footing, elite
players in college
now have a chance
to continue their careers on the professional
circuit, making a living at their passion in
the process. The end result is a league of
four teams packed with talent and depth at
each position, playing games in front of
packed stadiums around the country both
during the three-month summer season, as
well as during fall exhibitions.
AKRON RACERS
Home:
Akron, Ohio
Stadium:
Firestone Stadium
CHICAGO BANDITS
Home:
Rosemont, Illinois
Stadium:
The Ballpark
at Rosemont
NEW YORK/
NEW JERSEY COMETS
Home:
Pomona, New York;
Montclair, New Jersey;
Bridgewater, New Jersey;
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Stadiums:
Provident Bank Park;
Yogi Berra Stadium;
TD Bank Ballpark;
Coca-Cola Park
USSSA PRIDE
Home:
Kissimmee, Florida
Cat Osterman, the starting pitcher for the USSSA Pride, was voted to the Combat All NPF Team for her
performance in 2012, which included a 9-4 record and 0.71 ERA with 131 strikeouts over 97.2 innings of work.
18 USSSA TODAY
Stadium:
Osceola County
Stadium
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Insider’s Guide
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The USSSA Pride plays its home games at Osceola County Stadium,
the spring training home to Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros.
This year, fans in the Northeast will also get a chance to
see some of that action up close as the Carolina Diamonds
have relocated and become the New York/New Jersey
Comets. The Comets will join the Akron (Ohio) Racers, the
Chicago Bandits and the USSSA Pride, which plays its
home games in Kissimmee, Florida. “I’m happy about that
because there is a real solid fan base of fastpitch softball
in the Northeast,” Kempf said of the Comets’ arrival. “They
traditionally have supported the sport, so I’m real happy to
have that coverage in that area of the country.”
But a new team isn’t the only new thing greeting fans
for the 2013 season. In March, the league announced an
agreement with ESPN to carry 16 games during the
regular season on ESPN2 and ESPN3—the largest TV deal
in the league’s history. “National television coverage is
paramount to the growth of professional softball,” Kempf
said. “ESPN’s increased coverage of NPF shows they are
confident in the tremendous potential for growth and
popularity of this sport.”
youth it serves across the country in hundreds of USSSA
fastpitch leagues.
When Kempf approached DeDonatis about being
involved with the league the discussion began as a potential
advertising partner, said DeDonatis. But the talks soon
turned toward full ownership. Within days, USSSA’s board
was meeting to approve the plan. “We had no budget set
aside for it,” DeDonatis recalled. “The board saw this as an
opportunity and said, ‘We’ll find the money.’”
Ever since, USSSA has not only become an important
team owner, but it has played a key role in helping the
league as a whole develop, said Kempf. “There is no
question that USSSA coming on board as a franchisee was
a game-changer for the league and continues to be,” she
said. “It was a moment where you saw the bar raised in
the league overall. All of a sudden every active former
Olympian gold and silver medalist was in the league.”
But Kempf goes further in describing what USSSA has
brought to the league as a whole. “Expansion is a priority
for us,” she said. “For them to become involved at the
ownership level was huge, especially as small as the league
is. When Don DeDonatis and USSSA took the NPF seriously
enough to invest the money they did, I think it made a
huge statement to the suppliers and manufacturers of
equipment in the industry.”
DeDonatis, the Pride’s general manager, said the league’s
approach to franchisees, ensuring quality owners who have
the resources to pay players and keep the league moving
forward, has also helped the NPF reach its 10-year mark.
“The way it was structured before, there were owners that
financially weren’t sound enough,” he said. “You can say
you have more teams, but if not all the players are getting
paid or are being owed money and that’s the way they
leave things, that’s not good for the game.”
And others involved in USSSA say the players’ attitude
toward fan engagement makes it a winning combination
for both organizations. “It’s been a good selling tool for
our fastpitch program as the players travel around the
country to put out the USSSA brand,” said Jim Swint, USSSA
assistant executive director. “These girls are out here
signing autographs after every game, win or lose. They’ve
been good ambassadors for the USSSA program.”
USSSA Steps In
While the new television deal and attendance at
games seem to point to good times ahead for the
league, the NPF and its predecessor, Women’s Pro
Fastpitch, have certainly seen ups and downs during
their existence. But supporters point to a pivotal
moment in 2009, when USSSA took enough interest in
the league to acquire a team of its own.
At the time, said CEO Don DeDonatis, rumors were
already swirling that softball might be dropped from
the Olympics, something that eventually came to pass
following the 2008 Games in Beijing. By obtaining a
franchise in the professional league, he said, the
organization believed it would gain a foothold on the
highest stage for the sport, one that would allow USSSA
to help the NPF and further promote its efforts to the
20 USSSA TODAY
National Pro Fastpitch has signed a landmark television deal with
ESPN to show 16 regular-season games in 2013 on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
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Q&A with
Caitlin Lowe
Caitlin Lowe, the star centerfielder for the USSSA
Pride, was the Mizuno Player of the Year in the National
Pro Fastpitch league last year. It was the latest honor in a
stellar career that has included two NCAA national
championships at the University of Arizona (where she
was a four-time All-American), a world championship in
2006, World Cup championships in 2006, 2007 and 2010
and a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.
In addition to playing for the Pride, she is now director of
operations for Arizona’s softball team. In this interview,
Lowe talks about her career and playing for the Pride.
How did you first get involved playing softball?
Growing up in Southern California, you basically
played softball or soccer or a little of both. For me,
softball came first and I absolutely fell in love. I just didn’t
really want to do anything else.
You never committed an error during your college career.
What accounts for that?
That’s true, I did not. I think we’re a little easier on
outfielders. I can’t take too much credit. We had a great
pitching staff so I really didn’t get that many chances until
my senior year. [Laughs.] I got kind of bored out there
watching strike out after strike out!
Softball is fighting to get back into the Olympics. How
significant would it be for the game?
I think it’s definitely important for the growth of our
game. But I don’t think it’s going to have control on
whether softball succeeds or not. The sport is so popular
at the college level right now. The College World Series
has just blown up and the TV ratings are amazing. I was
lucky enough to be a part of the Olympics. I really hope it
does get back but the great thing is we have this pro
league and thank God, because we don’t always peak
our senior year of college. It’s sad to see that some
careers stop short because people don’t go on to play
beyond that senior year. I really hope it gets back in the
Olympics but I also hope our pro league takes off to
where we can someday be fairly comparable to Major
League Baseball. They had to start somewhere, too, and
hopefully we can follow in their footsteps.
What was the decision process like for you to join the
National Pro Fastpitch league?
When I graduated in 2007 and was playing on the
national team, we were doing stuff almost all year long
to prepare for the Olympics in 2008. We did enough
22 USSSA TODAY
May/June 2013 |
39
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Is there enough talent in softball to fill more than four
teams in the league?
When you look at our draft, you realize how many
college seniors could go into our league. Hopefully we’ll
have a place for them all one day. It’s crazy the amount of
competition we have with four teams because you really
don’t get a break. It’s so funny to look at our lineup on
the Pride. Just look at the shortstop position. We have
Natasha Watley, arguably the best shortstop to play the
game. And her backup is Jenn Salling, who is one of the
best shortstops you’ll ever see play the game. And backing
her up is Lauren Lappin and she’s the national team
player. It’s just endless. It basically goes that way through
every position. Sometimes you’re in the middle of the
game and you look at our bench and our bench is just full
of All-Americans and national team players.
throughout the year for me to stay in game shape. But For those who have never been to an NPF game, what’s
after 2008, we really only had a couple of events every the atmosphere like?
summer. We had our World Cup and usually one other
Each one of us has a passion for the game and it
thing so of course I wanted to be more involved in the doesn’t stop when college is over. It really carries over into
game any way I could. It was automatic I was going to go the pro league. We all have that passion but we all have a
play in the pro league and at least be able to play the history of wanting to beat somebody. I played against
entire summer. It was a no-brainer for me. I wanted to go Monica Abbott at Tennessee over and over and over again
and compete with the best athletes in the
and it was a grind every time. And now I’m
country and the world. You look at our pro
still playing against her since she’s on the
league and its 80 players right now, if that.
Chicago Bandits. I love being on the same
They are the best of the best, and it is a
field with her because she’s amazing and I
“Each one of us
grind. It is a pretty intense rivalry that we
get to face her, which is a challenge every
have with every single team. There are
single time. I really think the best softball to
has a passion for
really no breaks. I think the USA team had
be seen in the country is at those pro games.
the game and it
some great competition that we played
It really is the best of the best.
against, but to play against each other now,
doesn’t stop
it really is difficult.
How’s the season shaping up for the Pride?
when college is
Great. We basically have our core coming
How familiar were you with USSSA before
back and our core is just ridiculous. The
over. It really
you joined the Pride?
work ethic that everyone has is
I was familiar with them but not to the
phenomenal. Everyone has to train on their
carries over into
extent that I am now. I didn’t know that they
own, which is so difficult but at the same
the pro league.”
did every sport, to be honest. When I first
time, you trust that everyone is doing it.
was involved I knew they had softball
You can work out as much as you want by
— Caitlin Lowe
organizations all over the place. But I love
throwing or hitting but actually getting into
that we’re able to raise that awareness now.
a game and getting live pitching is key. It’s
What they do at the youth level and the grass-roots level is weird how much we cherish it now when we weren’t
just amazing. I love that we can be a part of it as a team even thinking about that during our college years.
because we’re constantly doing clinics for different USSSA
groups across the country.
When you were growing up, could you have imagined
that you’d have the chance to play professional softball
Does playing for the USSSA Pride have added significance later in life?
to you because of their mission to grow amateur sports?
No, I didn’t even know it was possible. I grew up
Absolutely. For them, it’s not about just the pro obviously watching the Olympics and watching college
league. It’s about what the pro league means to softball. But the awareness was never there, which is
everyone involved in USSSA. We are incredibly lucky to really sad. I hope some kid sitting there today at 12
have Don DeDonatis as our owner. We owe him so much years old knows about the pro league. We’re constantly
because he has really done everything for this team to doing camps and clinics. We’re constantly spreading that
help us succeed not only in the league but for the awareness and it amazes me how many people haven’t
league as a whole to succeed. Hopefully that continues heard of it yet. I feel like when I tell one person about
to grow and owners take note and hopefully we get it, I’m telling at least 10 or 20 other people because
more owners just like Don because that’s what we need those people are going to talk about it. Don and USSSA
for this thing to take off.
are great about helping us build that awareness, too.
24 USSSA TODAY
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Cat To Go Out On Top
UT photos by Bethany Walter
by Krista Tonnesen
Cat Osterman doesn’t remember her first professional strikeout. She remembers the game and she
remembers that it was exciting, but she doesn’t remember the strikeout itself. Understandable,
considering she’s recorded 645 more since then. With that many, they all start to run together
after a while.
28 USSSA TODAY
For the record, it came in an exciting 12-inning
pitching duel (and 1-0 win) against Jennie Finch
and the Chicago Bandits in Osterman’s National
Pro Fastpitch debut in 2007. So did her next 23.
“It was one of the best games I’ve been a part
of,” Osterman, 30, said. “That game was the way
to start a career.”
Six years later, that exciting career is coming to
an end; Cat Osterman is retiring from professional softball at the end of this season.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to hang it up
on my own terms,” she said. “I didn’t want to
keep playing much past 30 because I wanted to
experience more things in life.”
Cat received a surprise presentation of a rocking chair and a rose bouquet from Ryan-Sanders Baseball
at a recent Pride game at Whataburger Field, Corpus Christi, TX. Taking part in the ceremony is (left
to right)- Cheri Kempf, NPF Commissioner, USSSA CEO/USSSA Pride GM, Don DeDonatis, Cat’s
mom, Laura Osterman, Megan Willis, USSSA Pride and University of Texas catcher, Michael Wood,
VP/GM Corpus Christi Hooks and JJ Gotsch, EVP Ryan-Sanders Baseball.
Honestly, Osterman thought she’d already be
done by now. She planned for the 2012 London
Olympics, which would be her third Olympic
games (she won a gold medal in 2004 and silver
in 2008), to be her last hurrah as a player, but
when baseball and softball were voted out of the
summer games, she was left with two options:
call it quits anyway or keep playing. Ultimately,
she decided to play with the Pride for another
season, but that would be it.
The hardest part of leaving the game, she says,
will be leaving her teammates. She’s played with
Pride shortstop Natasha Watley for 12 years,
outfielder Kelly Kretschman for 11 and catcher
Megan Willis, who Osterman calls one of her
best friends and her backbone, since college.
“For a lot of us, we’ve been together for more
than just one or two summers,” she said. “It’s
been years and years and years. It’s going to
be different to be watching them and not
participating. It’s going to be like a permanent
offseason.”
In the actual offseason, Osterman is an assistant
coach for the Division II St. Edward’s University
Hilltoppers in Austin, Texas, and definitely sees
coaching as her next career path. As much as
she loves the game, the decision to retire wasn’t
necessarily hard.
“I think the thought of retiring became easier
this year because I really fell in love with
coaching and my job [at St. Edward’s],” she said.
“As a coach, I wanted to be able to give that my
full attention.”
USSSA Pride GM, Don DeDonatis, gives Cat a well deserved hug.
30 USSSA TODAY
St. Edward’s is just five miles from the University
of Texas, where Osterman played her college ball.
The Houston native could have gone out to the
west coast to play, where the big NCAA softball
powerhouses were at the time, but chose instead
to play for the Longhorns in her home state. The
biggest reason was to be close to her family.
“My dad caught for me my whole career, and I
wanted to make sure he could see me play,” she
said. “He wanted me to go wherever I wanted
to. He said, ‘Two and a half hour drive or two
and a half hour plane ride, I can figure it out.’”
Her competitive nature also played a huge part
in her decision. “I really wanted to do something
different. I wanted to try to beat the big schools,
not just join them. If I could stay home and win
Texas’ first national championship, that would
be pretty cool.”
Osterman and the Longhorns didn’t win a
national title, but she did make it to the Women’s
College World Series three times, broke virtually
every Longhorn and Big 12 Conference pitching
record (many of which she still holds today) and
was a four-time All-American.
While the USSSA Pride and professional softball
may be losing one Longhorn pitcher at the end
of the season, they just gained a new one for
2013. Texas right hander Blaire Luna, who just
lead her team to 51 wins and a WCWS berth, just
signed a two-year deal with the Pride.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Osterman said. “I got
to watch her a lot, and she’s a very, very talented
pitcher. I’m excited to share the circle with her.”
Last year, Osterman was inducted into the
Texas Sports Hall of Fame, an honor she shares
with legends such as Troy Aikman, Mia Hamm,
Shaquille O’Neal, Emmitt Smith, Nolan Ryan and
one of her biggest athletic inspirations, former
Houston Astros player Craig Biggio. According
to Osterman, “He was one of the best to play
baseball the way it’s supposed to be played, to
hustle it out. He’s definitely one of the athletes I
really look up to.”
Though her playing career will come to an end
after the 2013 Pride season, Cat Osterman is sure
to be a household name for sports fans for years
to come. Her wish? That she’ll be remembered,
not for all of her wins or the records she set, but
for her passion for softball.
“I hope that when people think of me, they can
say that when they watched me play, they could
see how much I loved to compete in this game
and that I worked hard at it,” Osterman says.
There is no question that Cat Osterman has made
an impact on professional softball and the sport
in general. Whether she’s in the pitching circle or
coaching from behind the baselines, it’s safe to
say she’s created a legacy for herself and will go
down as one of the greatest players to ever step
foot on the clay.
Always willing to pass her passion for the game to today’s youth, Cat visits with the future.
32 USSSA TODAY
WE ARE THE
CHAMPIONSHIP
SERIES
©Worth Sports, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (NYSE:JAH) • WORTHSPORTS.COM
230 Girls Fastpitch Teams
Compete in the USSSA OKC Challenge
by Liz Braverman- Midwest Sports Productions
Photos provided by Gary Leland at www.Fastpitch.TV
USSSA and Midwest Sports Productions
combined forces to create a once in a
lifetime opportunity for softball teams
to compete and experience the wonder
of girls’ fastpitch softball while sharing
the stage of Oklahoma City with the
pinnacle event for the sport. This event
was played along-side the Women’s
College World Series at venues around
Oklahoma City and neighboring cities.
There were 230 teams competing in the
OKC Challenge. The following USSSA
Pride players appeared at the USSSA
OKC Challenge:
Cat Osterman, Nikia Williams, Megan
Willis, Jenn Salling, Francesca Enea,
Ashley Charters, Sarah Pauly, Andrea
Duran, GiOnna DiSalvatore, Charlotte
Morgan, and Lauren Lappin
On Friday, we had a festival at
Boomer Sports Complex that brought
together the teams of the USSSA OKC
Challenge. We had vendors on-site,
including various food vendors, equipment and apparel, official tournament
merchandise, and much more. The
USSSA Pride team was scheduled to be
34 USSSA TODAY
in attendance for this event and was the
centerpiece of this event. They were on
hand for autograph sessions as well as
speaking to the players on-hand. There
were games, activities, and plenty of fun
and socializing. With 230 teams from 13
states (including as far as Arizona and
Wisconsin) there were plenty of great
opportunities to share in the softball
experience. It was our goal to give the
teams as much opportunity to attend
these games and see the best college
players in the game. What started out as an event of learning
and competition turned into an opportunity to help those in need. Just days
after a tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma,
teams began to host fundraisers and
collection drives to help the victims of
the tornado’s destruction.
The Megan Willis Crunch Girls Fastpitch
Softball Organization of Olathe, Kansas
and Bolivar Contracting Inc. of Bucyrus,
Kansas teamed up to collect supplies
and donations for those affected by the
tornado. One team hosted a Helmets,
Healing & Hope fundraiser to collect
donations to go to the families of the
10 children that were killed. Another
team designed a shirt that they sold
around their hometown as well as the
Oklahoma City area during the tournament. One team raised almost $700 that
went towards 28 $25 Walmart gift cards
that they handed out to families at the
Center for Children and Families, Inc. in
Norman, Oklahoma. The Moore Softball
Girls Association collected softball and
baseball equipment to donate to families and kids that lost all their equipment in the tornado.
USSSA Vice President of Fastpitch
Jeremy McDowell had this to say about
the tournament:
“USSSA OKC Challenge was full of highlights on the field but most of them came
off the field. The weekend started great
with 230 teams from several different
states embarking on Oklahoma City for
a chance to see the college’s best teams
battle for a NCAA championship. The
weekend started with the USSSA Pride
camp and over 400 campers getting to
learn from the World’s best players. It
2 0 1 3
N AT I O N A L
P R O
FA S T P I T C H
B R O A D C A S T
June 10
5:35 p.m.
NY/NJ Comets at USSSA Pride
June 10
8:35 p.m.
June 15
2:30 p.m.
Akron Racers at USSSA Pride (CST)
June 15
5:30 p.m.
Akron Racers at USSSA Pride (CST)
June 29
1:00 p.m.
Chicago Bandits at Akron Racers
June 29
8:00 p.m.
Chicago Bandits at Akron Racers
June 29
5:35 p.m.
June 29
8:35 p.m.
July 20
2:00 p.m.
USSSA Pride at NY/NJ Comets
July 21
3:00 p.m.
USSSA Pride at NY/NJ Comets
July 25
5:35 p.m.
Akron Racers at USSSA Pride
July 25
8:35 p.m.
Akron Racers at USSSA Pride
July 30
5:35 p.m.
Chicago Bandits at USSSA Pride
July 30
8:35 p.m.
Chicago Bandits at USSSA Pride
August 24
4:00 p.m.
NPF Championship Series (CST)
August 25
4:00 p.m.
NPF Championship Series (CST)
PA C K A G E
(If Necessary Game: Will air on August 25th if played)
All times are EST (Eastern Standard Times) unless noted
Follow us on Twitter,
Facebook, and Pintrest.
included an opening day filled with Pride
players, vibrant music, exotic petting zoo,
stilt walkers and much more. Then before
we could throw a first pitch in the tournament, severe weather broke out and a
tornado outbreak was all over the OKC
area. It was a very scary time for everyone
involved. To feel responsible for 230
teams in the event and over 100 staffers,
between the umpiring staff and site
supervisors, was overwhelming but we
feel very fortunate that no injuries were
reported. We heard some pretty amazing
stories from some teams that had to
endure many very difficult situations. 19
teams were forced to withdraw from the
event because of no power in their hotel
or flooding reported in the hotel.
After several hours of scrambling and
deciding what to do we found ourselves
in a very difficult situation: to play the
event or cancel? After visiting with
several teams we knew every team
encountered a different situation and it
needed to be a case by case decision for
each team. 210 teams stuck around and
competed for the rest of the weekend.
We were able to get some parks up and
running by 3pm on that Saturday, while
others got up and running by Sunday
morning. Boomer Sports Complex in
OKC even took a direct hit from the
tornado but the staff did a great job
cleaning up the debris and getting the
facility playable for the teams that had
embarked on the city.
We saw many great games that
weekend but what we really saw
was the softball community coming
together to remember the past 3 weeks
in Oklahoma. The event encouraged
teams to donate their time, resources,
and energy to help the fine people of
Oklahoma and saw some pretty incredible stories. We saw team after team
bringing in trailers full of donations for
the people in Moore, Oklahoma. We
saw memorial checks being written to
families that had lost love ones, and
even saw an amazing balloon release
remembering a softball player from
Moore that had lost her life.
After an amazing weekend of highs
and lows, we will never forget how
everyone in the softball community
came together to help those in need.”
36 USSSA TODAY
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5/16/13 1:53 PM
Pride Wins On Many Levels Visiting
Corpus Christi, Tx
By Erica Martin
Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks, hosted all four games of the series.
It was a USSSA filled weekend in Corpus Christi, TX! The Pride traveled back to Corpus
Christi for the National Pro Fastpitch Classic where they took the series against the Akron
Racers, winning three of the four games played at Whataburger Field.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi alum Sarah
Pauly took the mound for the Pride the
first game of the series, pitching five
shut-out innings and striking out three
for the W as the Pride defeated the
Racers 8-4. Ashley Charters and Andrea
Duran were the MVPs of the evening for
the Pride, with their combined 4 RBIs
accounting for half of the teams’ runs.
Blair Luna made her NPF debut in the
seventh inning to relieve Pauly. She had
a rocky start, allowing three runs. But, it
wasn’t enough for the Racers who were
down 7 in the start of the inning. Luna
recorded her first two NPF strike-outs.
38 USSSA TODAY
Texas native and Pride star Cat Osterman
took the mound for the last time in her
home state game 2 versus the Racers
on Friday night. Osterman had another
impressive start with 12 strike-outs in six
innings—her 3rd straight start with ten
or more K’s. Pride first baseman GiOnna
Disalvatore also had a great night,
going 2-3 with 4 RBIs in the Pride’s 13-2
blowout against the Racers. Rookie
Jessica Shults also made her presence
known, with her first NPF homerun.
during game one for the Pride. She kept
the Racers at bay for five innings with
no runs and eight strike-outs, but got
shaky in the sixth inning, allowing five
runs to score. But Pride still came out
on top with a 7-5 victory that including
another spectacular performance from
GiOnna Disalvatore with four RBIs and
reigning Player of the Year Caitlin Lowe
with a double and a stolen base. Sarah
Pauly came in for the save, allowing no
hits in the 1 and 2/3 innings she pitched.
The series wrapped up Saturday with a
double-header—the teams taking one
a piece. Jordan Taylor took the mound
Don’t be too quick to bring out the
brooms; the Racers did not go out
without a fight, shutting out the Pride
2013 USSSA PRIDE
NPF Commmissioner, Cheri Kempf and USSSA CEO,
Don DeDonatis discuss the the pre-game retirement
ceremony for Cat Osterman which was held at
homeplate prior to the game.
OU Sooner, Jessica Shults interviews with local NBC
affiliate Channel 6. Shults was recently drafted and
signed by the Pride. She hit her first homerun of her
NPF career this series.
Kelly Kretschman got things rolling in the first game,
coming in to score the game’s first run after sliding
safely into third.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi alum, Sarah Pauly,
pitched in three of the four games.
Lauren Lappin caught Pauly in Game #1.
First baseman, GiOnna DiSalvatore had a great series
swinging the bat.
in the final game of the series 1-0. It was
a battled of the pitchers in game two of
the double-header. Racers’ Lisa Norris
kept the Pride at bay, only allowing one
run—to Natasha Whatley. The Pride’s
Sarah Pauly was charged with her first
loss. She allowed only five hits—one
of those being a homerun to Kelley
Montavo—the only run of the night.
ment included 94 teams and the games
were played in the morning up until
5PM so that the youth fastpitch players
had a chance to see the pros play at
night.
banquet there was a live auction with
items donated by the USSSA Pride and
local vendors. Pride Catcher Megan
Willis even did her own live auction—
auctioning off her jersey. The money
raised from the auction went towards
Youth Tournament expenses. Joey
Arietta, the General Manager for the
Akron Racers, and JT D’Amico, Head
Coach of the USSSA Pride, both gave
speeches on behalf of their teams. 270
people were in attendance. All in all, it
was a great weekend in Corpus Christi
for USSSA and the Pride!
The pros weren’t the only ones getting
their softball on. The Coastal Classic
USSSA Texas-South State was also going
on in Corpus last weekend. The tourna-
But, before any action got started
on the fields, the weekend kick-off
Wednesday night with the “Dining with
a Pro Banquet.” Tables of ten were set
up so that there was a minimum of
one professional player from the Pride
or the Racers sitting at the table with
the youth fastpitch players. During the
USSSA TODAY 39
In Today’s Game of Softball
USSSA is the Place to Play
by Mike Macenko
BIG CAT
STILL PROWLING THE SOFTBALL FIELDS
Since I retired from the game of softball,
way back in 2000, I have stayed involved
by selling softball products. I work for
Anaconda Sports and we are having our
best year yet.
Today, I would like to talk about the
way the game has changed since I quit
playing. The majority of the players that
I played with have their own pro and
cons on the subject. For instance, I know
that when we were in our heaviest
years of softball, the 80’s up to the 90’s,
some of the softball games took a long
time to play. You knew when you left
the hotel that you better bring back up
drinks or whatever because, it could be
a while before you get back. That was
the way the game was played back then.
At anytime, a game could take 2 to 3 hrs
to play. There were no homerun limits
and there were no time limits. But, that
was the way the game was played, so
you prepared yourself that way.
The game was slow paced compared
to today’s game. In 1980 there were 10
teams that could win any tournament
at any time. There were great defensive
players in that era like Charles Wright,
Doug Roberson, Cecil Whitehead, and
Greg Whitlock. There were a number
of great athletic softball players. If you
were to look at a majority of the great
players back then, a lot of them came
from playing baseball or some sport
in college- College All Americans. Just
to name a few, Ray Fleetwood played
at the University of Florida. Gordon
Wheeler was a punter for Oklahoma
and was an All American. Some made
semi-pro. There were some exceptions
40 USSSA TODAY
like Doug Flynn and Jim Fuller. They
made it to the show. When they got
through playing baseball, they picked
up the game of softball.
The game has changed in a couple
of ways, but nothing that we could
not have done in the 80’s. The main
changes have been the unlimited home
runs changed to a number of them per
contest. Those numbers change on all
divisions of the game from class E to the
Nationwide Conference USSSA. Now you
have to learn to play by new rules. Today
you have to be able to base hit as well as
hitting them out of sight. In the 80’s the
base hits were there and some players
were geared to hit base hits, but the
majority were trying to hit the long ball.
It wasn’t uncommon for softball scores
to be in the 50’s on a regular basis.
Now it brings us to today where you are
only allowed to hit so many home runs,
so you have to learn how to make them
count. Solo home runs are a no-no. In
today’s game, the balls are much harder
than when we played but they are built
that way to match the bat. In the 80’s
we hit 47 ASA, 48 and 50 core balls for
USSSA. The bats were much heavier in
the 80’s compared to today. That is technology doing its’ thing. As I said in the
beginning, the game was slower in the
80’s and it brings us to today’s speed
of the game. The game is much faster
today and the athletes are in better
shape than in the 80’s.
I agree with better shape, because how
fast the game is. But I would say this
about the era that I played in if those
players were given a month to workout
with today’s equipment, they would be
able to catch it just as well. Players like
Rooster Bradley, Stevie Williams, and
Mike Nye could catch the ball as well as
anybody on the planet. All they would
need is some time to adjust. Now, this
is not a bad thing, I am just stating that
today’s game has become much faster
and it has the baseball element in it especially when they play the games in baseball stadiums. You have two different
teams out there today, Resmondo and
Laservision that have built themselves
to play at Disney at the end of the year.
One is built more on speed and power
where the other is built on power and
speed second. So, it should make for a
great contest at the end of the season.
Now, that doesn’t mean that teams like
Shoppe and GTL can’t win the championship, it just means that these teams
were built a certain way to try and win
the ultimate prize in softball today, the
USSSA World Series Championship. So,
when people ask me about the old days
and now, I say the game has changed
for the betterment of the sports.
Respect the past, because that was what
I did when I played. I was thankful that
were players like Bert Smith, Al White
and Bruce Meade, who would take their
talents to the highest bidder. It is players
like these guys that make it possible to
get some compensation for playing
today.
So here we are today with Nationwide
USSSA Conference. I can’t think of a
better way to give teams a chance to
play against the best than this. Yes, some
of the teams will not be as good as the
top teams, but this will give them the
avenue to improve on their team over
the next couple of years. As long as I
played, I always wanted to play the best.
I think I played Howard’s 8 times before
we ever beat them. So take it from me
and grasp what you have because you
have the best in the game with USSSA.
The game stays the same, just some of
the rules get changed. Once you learn
how to play by them, you have given
yourself a chance!!!!!
(800) 327-0074
USSSA Baseball Talent
Dominates in 2013 MLB Draft
by Krista Tonnesen
Major League Baseball teams and draft hopefuls gathered in Secaucus, N.J. June 6-8 for the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year
Player Draft, and it was definitely exciting. There was no shortage of talented former USSSA players selected in the first round of
this year’s draft, which aired on MLB Network. Billy McKinney, picked 24th overall by the Oakland A’s, spent literally half his life
playing USSSA ball in Texas. That’s certainly impressive, and McKinney is just one of many draftees who got their start in USSSA. In
fact, all but four of the 33 first-rounders played USSSA baseball. Here is how the 2013 first round draft picks stack up.
1. Houston Astros - Mark Appel (RHP)
This pitcher played USSSA ball in both Texas and California, ending
with the Tri Valley Babe Ruth 14 & Under Major team in Dublin, Calif.
He played four years at Stanford University, recording the most career
strikeouts in school history with 372. Appel finished his college career
with a 2.91 ERA and allowed just 10 homeruns.
2. Chicago Cubs - Kris Bryant (3B/OF)
Perhaps you may have heard of Bryant’s Southern Nevada Bulldogs 14
& Under Major teammate Bryce Harper. Yes, that Bryce Harper. The pair
played together in their hometown of Las Vegas. Now a 6’5” slugger for
the University of San Diego, Bryant lead the NCAA with the most home
runs this season with 31 – that’s 10 more than the next-highest player.
3. Colorado Rockies - Jonathan Gray (RHP)
Gray played for three USSSA teams in Oklahoma from 2002 to 2006,
including the Stillwater Lynx 14 & Under AAA team. He was selected in
the 2010 and 2011 drafts by the Royals and Yankees respectively, but
chose to play college ball instead. Coming off his junior season with the
Oklahoma Sooners, Gray ended 2013 with a 1.59 ERA over 119 innings
pitched.
4. Minnesota Twins - Kohl Stewart (RHP)
This Texas star’s USSSA credentials include 2006 and 2004 USSSA Elite
World Series Defensive MVP awards and a 2005 USSSA Major World
Series All Tournament Team honor for the Woodlands-based Banditos
Black. He was the highest-ranked high school player in the USSSA mock
draft. A multi-sport athlete at St. Pius X High School in Houston, he was
committed to play football at Texas A&M this fall before being drafted
by the Twins.
from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he was named to the
2013 American Baseball Coaches Association South Central All-Region
First Team, just four days after the draft with a $2.2 million signing
bonus.
9. Pittsburgh Pirates - Austin Meadows (OF)
This outfielder played 13 & Under and 14 & Under baseball no. 5 pick
Clint Frazier in Snellville, Ga. Meadows is known for his power at the
plate for the Grayson High School Rams, who went 15-9 this 2013
season. After his junior season, 6’3” Meadows was named to the 2012
Underclass 1st Team.
10. Toronto Blue Jays - Phil Bickford (RHP)
The ace from Westlake Village, Calif. played for three youth teams in
Southern California, including the South Coast Sluggers 13 & Under AA
team, from 2006-2009 before playing high school ball. This year, Bickford
lead the Oaks Christian High School Lions to the school’s first Southern
Section Division IV championship, where he recorded 18 strikeouts in the
title game. He finished the season with a near-perfect 12-1 record and
146 strikeouts.
11. New York Mets - Dominic Smith (1B)
Smith played USSSA ball from 2006 to 2011, ending with the WLABA
Tarheels 15 & Under Freshman Elite. This Southern California slugger is
perhaps one of the most versatile players in this year’s draft. He was
predominately a first baseman for Junípero Serra High School, but he
also has a killer arm to play outfield and can throw a 92-mph fastball.
Plus he can really crush the ball at the plate.
5. Cleveland Indians - Clint Frazier (OF)
Frazier played for the Georgia Storm with no. 9 overall pick Austin
Meadows, but the former teammates played for opposing high schools.
Frazier and the Loganville Red Devils beat Meadows’ team 14-4 this
season, with Frazier recording two hits and five RBIs during the game.
The outfielder finished the season with a .485 batting average.
12. Seattle Mariners - DJ Peterson (1B/3B)
This infielder played for various Phoenix area USSSA teams from 2004
to 2010, ending with the LBE Black 18 & Under Senior Elite in 2010.
Now at the University of New Mexico, he and the Lobos went 37-22 this
season, with a 25-6 Mountain West Conference record. He started 60 of
61 games as a sophomore in 2012 and was the Mountain West Co-Player
of the year. Last season, he was also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes
Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
6. Miami Marlins - Colin Moran (3B)
Third baseman Moran was the highest-ranked player in the USSSA mock
draft. He played for the Taconic Rangers 13 & Under Major and Rockland
Ravens 14 & Under AAA teams in New York, then played for the Iona
Prep Gaels, where he was a two-time team MVP. Now at the University
of North Carolina, Moran’s senior season includes a 3.48 batting average,
88 hits, 13 homeruns and 86 RBIs, as well as a trip to the College World
Series.
13. San Diego Padres - Hunter Renfroe (OF)
Rich in USSSA history, Renfroe played eight years with the Terry, Miss.based Mississippi Bandits from the time he was 9 until he played for the
18 & Under Senior Elite team in 2009. He was selected by the Boston Red
Sox in the 31st round of the 2010 draft, but chose to play college ball
instead. Now a Mississippi State University Bulldog, he’s listed not only
as an outfielder, but a catcher and right-handed pitcher as well. He’s a
two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection.
7. Boston Red Sox – Trey Ball (LHP)
The 6’6” Trey Ball lead the New Castle High School Trojans (Indiana) to
a 22-8 2013 season. The Red Sox drafted him as a pitcher, but he’s also
proven himself as a skilled outfielder. He ended his senior season with a
.330 batting average and 29 RBIs.
14. Pittsburgh Pirates - Reese McGuire (C)
McGuire played three years of USSSA ball in the Seattle area, ending
with the Puyallup Knights 14 & Under AA team. Now a graduate of
Kentwood High School in Kent, Wash., this lefty catcher is known for his
quick reflexes behind the plate.
8. Kansas City Royals – Hunter Dozier (SS)
Hunter Dozier played for six USSSA teams in Texas from 2003 to 2006,
including a trip to the 13 & Under Major Elite World Series with Team
Kelley in 2005. The Royals signed the now-6’4”, 220-pound short stop
15. Arizona Diamondbacks - Braden Shipley (RHP)
Shipley played high school baseball in Medford, Ore., where he won the
high school state championship in 2007. Coming off his junior season
at the University of Nevada, Shipley was named the Mountain West
42 USSSA TODAY
Co-Pitcher of the Year. His 203 career strikeouts rank him sixth in Wolf
Pack history.
16. Philadelphia Phillies - J.P. Crawford (SS)
John Paul “JP” Crawford of Lakewood Calif. is a shortstop now, but
made a name for himself in USSSA ball as a pitcher. He pitched 6 1/3
innings at the 2006 11 & Under Elite World Series and four innings in the
2007 12 & Under Elite World Series. For his senior year of high school, he
was named a 2013 Rawlings 1st Team All-American.
17. Chicago White Sox – Tim Anderson (SS)
Anderson played his college baseball at East Central Community College
in Missouri, where he was named a 2013 NJCCA All-American. He hit an
impressive .495 this season and had 41 stolen bases and 10 homeruns.
Anderson was the only community college prospect invited to the draft
selection show in New Jersey.
18. Los Angeles Dodgers - Chris Anderson (RHP)
In 2006, Anderson played for the Minnesota-based Centennial Cougars
14 & Under AAA team. He was named Mr. Baseball and the Louisville
Slugger Player of the Year for Minnesota in high school. He studied
sports management at Jacksonville University, where he recorded
101 strikeouts over 104.2 innings this season, before signing with the
Dodgers for $2.1 million.
19. St. Louis Cardinals – Marco Gonzalez (LHP)
While at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colo., Gonzalez
was a four-time 5A state champion and Colorado Gatorade Player of the
Year award winner his senior year. After high school, Gonzalez went on
to play for Gonzaga, where he both pitched and plays first base. In 2013,
he hit .311 and had a 2.48 ERA for the Zags.
20. Detroit Tigers – Jonathon Crawford (RHP)
Crawford played for the 11 & Under and 12 & Under Mudcats in
Okeechobee, Fla. in 2003. He played high school ball for Okeechobee
High School and was drafted by the Marlins in the 2010 draft, but
chose to play for the University of Florida instead. Crawford threw two
complete games for the Gators in 2013, including a no-hitter. He’s the
highest-picked Gator since 1991.
21. Tampa Bay Rays - Nicholas Ciuffo (C)
Catcher Ciuffo played USSSA ball from 2006 to 2009 for the Mt. Pleasantbased Diamond Warriors in South Carolina. During his senior season
at Lexington High School, he batted an impressive .468 average and
was named the Gatorade South Carolina Baseball Player of the Year.
He’s signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the South Carolina
Gamecocks.
22. Baltimore Oriels - Hunter Harvey (RHP)
This hurler played 11 & Under AA ball for the Mooresville Racers in North
Carolina in 2006. For his 2013 senior season, Harvey went 8-0 for the
Bandys High School Trojans, ending the season with 116 strikeouts and a
.38 ERA. He is no stranger to pro baseball; his father is former MLB closer
Bryan Harvey, and his brother Kris was drafted by the Florida Marlins in
2005.
23. Texas Rangers - Alex Gonzalez (RHP)
After playing for the Wellington, Fla.-based Warriors 14 & Under AAA
team in 2006, Gonzalez found success with the Boca Raton Community
High School Wildcats, where he lead his team to a distract championship
his junior year. He was a starter at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma,
where he threw two complete games as a sophomore and was named
All-Summit League Second Team last season, before signing with Texas.
24. Oakland A’s - Billy McKinney (OF)
This outfielder played nine years of USSSA baseball, ending with the
Dallas-based D-Bat Mustangs Blue 14 & Under Major team in 2009
before playing for the Plano West High School Wolves, where he hit six
homeruns and led his team to the class 5A semifinals this season.
25. San Francisco Giants – Christian Arroyo (SS)
Spring Hill, Fla.’s Christian Arroyo played for quite a few USSSA teams
over the course of eight years, including Team Orlando 16 & Under
Sophomore Elite. He was committed to the University of Florida before
signing with the Giants for $1,866,500. The 6’1” shortstop played for
Hernando High School, leading the Leopards to a 26-6 2013 season.
26. New York Yankees - Eric Jagielo (3B)
Third baseman Jagielo played his entire USSSA baseball career with the
Downers Grove Longshots, based out of Downers Grove, Ill. He played
college baseball for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where
he recorded 43 RBIs, 71 hits and a .310 batting average during the 2012
season. Jagielo was recently named a semifinalist for the 2013 USA
Baseball Golden Spikes Award and was one of the first draftees to sign
a pro contract this season.
27. Cincinnati Reds - Phillip Ervin (OF)
Before playing for Leroy High School in southwest Alabama, this speedy
outfielder played for the Bama Bombers Senior 18 & Under Senior Elite
team in 2008. Now officially signed with the Reds, the former Stamford
University Bulldog started all 64 games in center field last season and
returned as the starter for his junior year in 2013. Last summer, he was
named MVP of the Cape Cod League.
28. St. Louis Cardinals – Rob Kaminsky (LHP)
This left-hander from Englewood Cliffs, N.J. played for the Tri-State
Arsenal South Blue 13 & Under AA and Tri State Arsenal 15 & Under
Freshman Elite teams, as well as a brief period with no. 30 pick Travis
Demeritte and the Georgia Bandits 13 & Under Major team, then the
St. Joseph Regional High School Knights. In his senior season with the
Knights, Kaminsky threw seven complete games and had eight wins,
finishing the season with a .14 ERA over 51 innings pitched.
29. Tampa Bay Rays - Ryne Stanek (RHP)
Playing for teams in both Kansas and Missouri, including the Mac N Seitz
Red Sox 16 & Under Sophomore Elite out of Kansas City, Mo. in 2008, this
6’4” pitcher is definitely one to watch. Now coming off his junior season
with the Razorbacks of the University of Arkansas, he finished the 2013
season with a 1.39 ERA over 97.1 innings (most innings pitched on the
team) and 10-2 record. Last summer, he pitched for the USA Baseball
Collegiate National Team, traveling to the Netherlands and helping the
team earn a bronze medal at the Honkbal Week tournament.
30. Texas Rangers - Travis Demeritte (SS) to the Texas Rangers
This infielder and pitcher is known for his quick bat and versatility on
the field. He played most of his youth baseball with the Georgia Bandits
and East Cobb Astros. He was named to the 2013 Rawlings 1st Team
All-American Southeast 1st Team. Was committed to the University of
South Carolina before signing to the Rangers for almost $2 million.
31. Atlanta Braves – Jason Hursh (RHP)
Hursh played for quite a few USSSA teams near his hometown of
Carrollton, Texas, including the Carrollton Mudcats 13 & Under AAA
and Dallas Titians-Flanagan 14 & Under AAA teams. He redshirted as a
sophomore in 2012 at Oklahoma State after Tommy John surgery, but
went 6-5 with a 2.79 ERA as a junior in 2013. The Braves were particularly
impressed with his fastball.
32. New York Yankees – Aaron Judge (OF)
The Yankees’ second pick played USSSA baseball from 2006 to 2009,
ending with the Catch All Baseball 18 & Under Senior Elite team. After
playing for Linden High School in California, he excelled as a Fresno
State Bulldog, leading the team with a .373 batting average, 76 hits and
11 homeruns. He was the 2012 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby
Champion.
33. New York Yankees - Ian Clarkin (LHP)
Clarkin, a 6’2” pitcher from San Diego, has a fastball that reaches up to
94 mph. Last summer, he pitched for Team USA and won the 18 & Under
World Championship. Finishing his senior season at James Madison High
School, Clarkin finished 7-2 for the Warhawks, striking out 105 batters
throughout the season. The Yankees were impressed with his velocity
and killer curve ball.
USSSA TODAY 43
New and Improved
Z2000
Now Available
by Dennis Turner
The season is off and running and so are we here at Louisville
Slugger. I can’t “Thank You” loyalists enough for being patient
with us while we have gone through the new Z2000 design
change to fix the issue we had in the fall. Now they are arriving
into stock and going out the door as fast as they come in. I can
honestly tell you that the performance and durability is what
you expect and you will not be disappointed.
We are selling them faster than we can make them and we
have heard nothing but great reviews and feedback through
our Louisville Slugger Slow-pitch Facebook page, advisory
staff, and players on the diamond. This new and improved
design is giving players the type of performance, batted ball
speed, distance and swing weight that were asked for and we
delivered. From our balanced to our end-load models, players
have the option of choosing the bat that best fits their swing.
Conference USSSA is in full swing with a handful NIT’s already
completed. Both Shoppe/Backman/TYJA/Louisville Slugger and
Red’s/Astros/Sports Den/Louisville Slugger are playing really
well and making their mark amongst the point standings in the
conference as expected. Tim Cocco and Kyle Cowart of Shoppe
lead’s this young cast of talent to make their mark at the Major
level for years to come. The core of this team is under 32 years
of age and will be around for a long time. Look for this team
to get bigger and better over the next several seasons.
Red’s/Astros brings back a majority of their core players from
2012’s impressive season of beating some of the nation’s best,
and will battle for another title at the end of the season. Chad
Mullins and Travis Dale will lead this scrappy team towards a
couple of titles this season.
Not surprising, Baugh Ford/Louisville
Slugger is playing exceptionally well to
date and have accumulated some serious
44 USSSA TODAY
points to get ready for the “A” Worlds in August. They too will
do some damage in hope of bringing home championships for
the Louisville Slugger family.
On July 11, seven of our Shoppe/Louisville Slugger players will
represent Team USA in Border Battle V in Oklahoma City. We
will have representation on both the main and futures team.
Lee Powers and Robert Blackburn were selected by an exclusive committee amongst other top players from the nation’s
best slow-pitch teams. The Futures team will showcase Andy
Vitcak, Neil Haglund, Chente Granados, David Kessler, and
Casey Rogowski. This team will give the main team a run for its
money like they did last year on ESPN. These young players are
hungry, but the experience of the main team that is filled with
veterans that know how to attack early and often, and they
will keep the throttle down as they will take on Team Canada
to defend their title at the Border Battle.
We just got back from
the Wounded Warrior
Amputee Softball Team
Kids Camp at ESPN’s Wide
World of Sports Complex
at Disney, where 20 youth
boys and girls with amputations or missing limbs
were selected to participate. The WWAST players
coached
these
young
players on how to play the
game despite their physical challenges. The clinic
was a week long, and
the kids played a game
on Friday evening which
was followed by a celebrity softball game. It was
a great time had by all and it was great to see these young
campers having such a great time. Between games, Robert
Blackburn of Shoppe/Louisville Slugger put on a HR exhibition
and was launching softballs out of Champion’s Stadium, where
the Atlanta Braves have their Spring Training and the USSSA
Men’s Major World Series is played at as well. Robert is familiar
with the field as he continued to launch missiles into the night
and to the excitement of everyone involved.
Until next time, stay focused and play hard.
DT
2013 USSSA Florida State Championships
by Craig T. Dale
This year has been a very successful one for Florida
USSSA baseball. The number of registered teams
rose to 3852, a substantial increase from the
previous year. It is no wonder we are the dominate travel baseball organization in the State of
Florida. The spring season culminated with the
Florida State Championship.
This year’s tournament featured events in
Northeast Florida, Central Florida and South
Florida. The total tally was over 350 teams
competing from throughout the state. The
competition was fierce and provided some of the
best baseball of the season. Teams were looking
for bragging rights for the remainder of the year.
The Northeast Florida event was held the weekend
of May 18-19 in Lake City. The 20 field complex
was capable of hosting 105 teams that weekend.
None were looking to settle for second place, so
some interesting battles were played out. It was
quite a successful event.
13u Major - (Champion) Sports55 Elite
The Central Florida championship was played out
over two weekends in Plant City and Kissimmee.
The even age groups as well as the HS divisions
were played on the weekend of May 18-19. The
following weekend, May 25-26, we hosted the
odd age groups. The total number of teams that
participated in this event was 163, and none was
willing to give an inch.
The South Florida event is being held the week of
June 5 through June 9 in the Miami area. There
are currently 83 teams registered for this tourney
and it will probably prove to be the most competitive of the three, as South Florida hosts some of
the fiercest rivalries in the country. That ought to
make for some very interesting baseball as the
level of competition is quite high.
All in all, this year’s event should be like none
other ever experienced by USSSA in the state of
Florida. As the number of travel baseball teams
continues to grow, so does the level of competition. It is no wonder that Florida ranks right up
there at the top with the number of college and
professional prospects selected and signed each
year. We here in Florida like to look at it as a baseball Mecca, with tournaments being held year
round. Maybe, just maybe, the odds are stacked in
our favor weather wise. The Florida World Series
events should prove to be just as successful. The
future of Florida USSSA baseball is limitless and
everyone associated with it should be very proud
of their efforts.
46 USSSA TODAY
13u Major - (Champion) Sports55 Elite
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Taking
Infield
by Cody Hudson
It’s the usual pre-game scene; two teams
leave the field and make their way out
of the dugouts for a post game meeting.
A new round of players and coaches
begin to organize gear and step on to
field four. The Saturday night air is calm
and cool for late August in Missouri, and
despite the forecast for rain earlier in the
week the sky is holding on to every drop.
One team takes arching fly balls from
the dark sky in left field as a crowd of
parents stakes out their spots on/and
around the aluminum bleachers, settles
in, and begins conversing before the
game. Kids shout in a pack as they run
behind their parents’ perch pursuing a
tennis ball with not much thought as
to what is taking place on the lighted
field. Looking down the first base line
we see the opposing teams head coach
hit grounders. The jagged line of players
at first base take turns scooping the one
hoppers up and firing them back down
toward home plate before returning
to the back of the line to repeat the
process. With the exception of middleaged man in a black windbreaker
holding a camera near the backstop,
everything seems in place after a long
day of pool play at Tiffany Hills Park.
The teams getting ready to play are
just two of the three hundred and
eighty-seven competing Memorial Day
weekend in Kansas City. They are spread
out between eight different complexes
and have players kicking up dirt on fiftytwo fields. The KC Sports office phone
had been ringing of the hook all week.
Phone calls concerning the rain forecast,
rosters, brackets and other miscella-
48 USSSA TODAY
neous information had been addressed
and answered accordingly. The only
question that had not been asked was
how the beta stage cameras we would
be affixing on to the backstop of every
field at tiffany hills park would stream
video to the usssalive.com website.
Now on Saturday, from those cameras
a couple of us in the office watch the
games as they unravel.
Back on field four from the third base
dugout steps a stout man in shorts and
a maroon hooded sweatshirt. With
his head hanging low, the hood of his
shirt and brim of his cap mask most of
his face. He walks slowly toward home
plate as people look on and occupy
themselves with their phones and other
paraphernalia. Again, kids shout as they
chase that same tennis ball in the opposite direction from before.
The coach hitting grounders seems to
be the only one to take subtle notice,
by shifting his weight and dropping the
bat by his side as the man approaches.
Turning toward the man the coach
asks,”Hey would you mind helping
out”. The exchange is awkward at best
as though planned but not practiced.
The man in the hoodie replies, “sure” as
he grabs the bat and ball and turns to
one side. With a swift motion and the
crack of the bat he sends the ball down
toward first base and into the glove of
the boy waiting impatiently at the front
of the line. The player fields the ball and
shoots it back down to home as he did
before. Moving now to take his place
at the back of the line a familiar voice
shouts “ Hey son, dig it out!” The boy
stops and stares for a moment back at
the man who is walking toward him
with the hood of his sweatshirt now
pushed back and the face of his father
whom he hasn’t seen for over a year.
The father who had been stationed
in Afghanistan was back in the states
for a brief time and had made a fourhour trip to see his son play ball before
having to go back to duty. The crowd
of parents who before were chatting
amongst themselves stands and cheers
as the two embrace and then head
toward the dugout smiling to join the
rest of their family. The man in the black
windbreaker, now not seeming so out
of place, snaps pictures as he trails them
leaving the field.
From our small camera on the backstop
we witnessed one small event seemed
to polarize the park for less than a
minute. It wasn’t about an umpire’s call,
the score, or tracked pitching questions.
The winning teams on Monday took
home trophies to sit on a bannister or
shelve. Something they can look at later
and reminisce on the competition and
the work that went into winning those
games. They fought hard and won the
prize, and will smile, I’m sure, at the
gold figure that sits atop a pedestal
from a base with their name engraved
on it. But for two teams sitting on field
four at Tiffany Hills Park that Saturday
night the memory of the Memorial Day
Super NIT was fifteen seconds when the
entire game was simplified to just a few
things one could see in any front yard
across the country.
A father, a soldier, a son, and a baseball.
Easton Sports Hit Lab Visits
Big League Dreams In Mansfield, Texas
WHY
Easton Sports provides not
only the highest performing
equipment for players, but also
an innovative experience that
encompasses technical and
performance elements. The use
of the Hit Lab will offer the
ultimate softball experience as
well as provide the hitter with
instantaneous data to point
them in the direction of the
correct choice in bat.
HOW
The Hit Lab evaluates Wegman’s swing.
Helmer swings away.
Kirby has maximized his bat speed by using data
obtained from the Hit Lab, work in the weight room and
plenty of bp.
Travis Clark, new addition to Laservision/Easton this
year, has increased his power by using the best Easton
equipment for him.
Easton Sports Hit Lab pros (left to right): Travis Clark,
Brett Helmer, Brian Wegman and Scott Kirby.
Brett Helmer (right) is always eager to answer any
questions about the technology used to design Easton
equipment.
n Players are broken into
hitting groups based on the
number of attendees at the
event.
n Each player swings a new bat
for every new round of batting
practice they take.
n The operator of the Hit Lab
will change the player and the
bat every round to track the
data throughout the entirety of
the hitting session.
n Once the session is over the
Hit Lab operator will pull up
the data and display a side by
side chart comparing: max exit
speed, average exit speed, and
vertical launch angles for each
bat they swung.
n Using these three categories
the Hit Lab software assigns
a point value in the three
categories and totals the sum
for each bat. The bat that has
the highest point total is the
bat that the player has the
greatest chance of success.
50 USSSA TODAY
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2013 Nationwide Conference
USSSA Enters the Backstretch
Nationwide Conference USSSA
Hall of Fame Classic
by Dale Weiser
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth, FL. won both tournaments which has been accomplished only once before in 2009.
The 24 tournament 2013 Nationwide Conference USSSA regular
season schedule is off to a fast start. The league has 46 of the top
men’s slow pitch softball teams competing for points. The top 16
teams in the point standings at the end of the season get to qualify
for the prestigious USSSA Men’s Major World Series. The World
Series is played in Kissimmee, Florida in September at the ESPN Wide
World of Sports stadium. The 2013 season started with Laservision/
Desert Falls/Easton going undefeated and winning the 3rd Annual
“Sin City” Classic in Las Vegas. The second tournament was in
Houston, Texas and called the “Space City” Classic and that was
won by ASPNation.com/Easton who went 7-0 to win their first ever
Nationwide Conference event.
As most teams and fans know however, the real beginning to the
Nationwide Conference season is the Hall of Fame Classic “Dual”
tournament, which is two back to back tournaments played over 4
days in Kissimee, Florida. It has also become the largest Nationwide
Conference event of the year as a record 38 teams played the Dual
this year! It didn’t take Resmondo-Specialty Tank Worth very long
to establish themselves as the #1 team in the nation as they won
both legs of the 8th annual Hall of Fame Classic! Resmondo went
12-0 over the grueling 4 day event and defeated Nordkap/Suncoast
Reebok 26-11 in the championship of the first tournament and GTL/
52 USSSA TODAY
CURRENT NATIONWIDE CONFERENCE USSSA POINT STANDINGS
1
Resmondo - Specialty Tank / Worth
1341
2
LaserVision/DesertFalls/Boombah/Eas
1239
3
Shoppe / TYJA / Louisville Slugger
1100
4
Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok
1069
5
GTL Doerflinger R&M/EASTON
1065
6
Line Drive Sportz/sSs/Miken
1059
7
Baugh Ford/Mojo/Louisville Slugger
976
8
Albicocco/The scene/Easton
951
9
Red’s Astros/Slugger/Stucco/Dirty
939
10
Team Combat/LBG/Derby Boys
920
11
Precision/Hang Rite Athletics
909
12
Sonny’s
899
13
4 The Fallen/ Miken
891
14
Fence Brokers/Hubs Pub/GTS/Worth
891
15
Pure Romance/Chic’s/Insanity/Easton
879
16
Demarini/Dirty/XtremeAthletics
855
17
Xtreme/Miken
832
18
P&P333/Suburban/Larry/Mojo/Easton
829
19
ASPNation.com/Easton
788
20
Team Adiktiv/Dynasty/D2E/LS/YTJA
778
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Prior to the first game, USSSA CEO, Don DeDonatis, was presented an award from
Grace Landing’s, Matt Marion, “for continued support in helping our foster and
homeless youth.”
National UIC, Rick Robertson(middle) is flanked by the Nationwide Conference
USSSA umpires.
Doerflinger/R&M/Easton 19-12 in the championship of the second event. The only other
team to ever win both Dual tournaments at
the Hall of Fame Classic was Dan Smith and
they did it back in 2009.
Players from the different teams began
arriving on Wednesday April 17th and some
of them participated in a 100 player Home
Run Derby with the proceeds going to local
Kissimmee, Florida’s Grace Landings Charity.
The winner of the derby was Laservision
and Florida native Kevin Kennington who
put on an impressive display of +400 foot
BOMBS! Kevnnington defeated teammate
Kevin Filby and Demarini’s Chris Larsen in
the semi-finals and teammate Brett Helmer
in the Championship, and earned an auto-
54 USSSA TODAY
Shoppe/Louisville Slugger’s Robert Blackburn
matic berth to the Major World Series Home
Run Derby in Sepember which will be held at
ESPN’s Wide World of Sports and broadcast
live on ESPN3.com!
The first Dual tournament started on
Thursday morning at 8 AM on 8 different
fields. There were only a few upsets but most
games were very well played 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 Remsondo
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, Baugh ford, Adiktiv, Precision,
OC Swats, and DEI. The championship was
played on Friday night as Resmondo beat
Nordkap 26-11 to win the tournament.
Resmondo was led by tournament co-MVP’s
Jeremy Isenhower .818, 4 HR, 23 RBB and
Bubba Mack .818, 4 HR, 16 RBI as well as
Defensive MVP Don Dedonatis III. Nordkap/
Suncoast Reebok was represented in the
awards by Offensive MVP Chris Greinert
Final Standings for HOF Dual #1
1) Resmondo - Specialty Tank / Worth Florida
2) Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok - Minnesota
3) Laservision/DesertFalls/Boombah/Easton –
New York
4) Shoppe / TYJA / Louisville Slugger Tennessee
All of the USSSA slowpitch brass were in attendance at the HOF Dual Classic: (left
to right) Gerry Turnberg(MN), Kevin Naegele(NM), Bob Holland(MD), Danny
Brown(CA), CEO Don DeDonatis(FL) and Greg Huchingson(TX).
Resmondo’s Andy Purcell swinging the new Worth Legit.
Beautiful Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, FL was the site for the Hall of
Fame NIT.
The second Dual tournament started on
Saturday morning at 8 AM and had a few
more upsets as the length of the tournament began to take its toll on the teams.
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. And ‘B’ teams like Famous sent home
Demarini/Dirty on Saturday night. When the
dust settle though it Resmondo beating GTL/
Doerflinger/R&M 19-12 on Sunday for the
championship. This time they were led by
tournament MVP middle infielder Dennis Rulli
.741, 0 HR, 8 RBI and Defensive MVP left fielder
Jeremy Yates. GTL shortstop Branden Blake
was the Offensive MVP .704, 3 HR, 12 RBI.
56 USSSA TODAY
H. Auto LLC/Easton celebrate a big upset win over Laservision/Easton showing the
competitiveness of the conference.
Final Standings for HOF Dual #2
1) Resmondo - Specialty Tank / Worth Florida
2) GTL Doerflinger R&M/Easton - Iowa
3) Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok - Minnesota
4) Shoppe / TYJA / Louisville Slugger Tennessee
Resmondo dominated both tournaments by
winning 9 of their 12 games by the “mercy”
rule. The pitching of Andy Purcell and the
defense behind him were flawless as no team
scored more than 19 runs, while Resmondos
offense put up a low of 17 and was usually
in the 20’s or low 30’s as far as runs scored.
Resmondo held 8 opponents to 11 runs or less.
Shorstop Don Dedonatis Jr who was defensive
MVP and middle infielder Dennis Rulli were
using their body to stop the hard shots and
make plays. Third baseman Jimmy Salas was
making great diving catches, and the “dynamic
duo of speed” - center fielder Nick Santana
and left fielder Jeremy Yates were closing the
390 foot with ease. Resmondo played better
than the rest of the teams in every phase of
the game and have pushed themselves to #1
in the nation, a spot they may not relinquish
for a very long time. The offseason moves
that Resmondo has made the last two years
by bringing in Jimmy Salas, Bubba Mack,
Nick Santana, and Jeremy Yates coupled with
veterans like Jeremy Isenhower and Dennis
Rulli who were coveted free agents have
made this team very strong and the “youth
movement” is paying early dividends.
ASPNation.com/Easton Blasts
Off at Miken Space City
By Van Galeon
Big League Dreams in League City, Texas
is located less than five miles from the
NASA headquarters. So it is entirely
possible that some of the softball rockets
launched at the 7th Annual Conference
USSSA Space City Classic on April 12-14
could have been picked up on radars at
the nearby Johnson Space Center.
Space City has drawn the largest
number of teams among all Conference
USSSA tournaments each of the past
four years, attracting 48 teams in both
2009 and 2010, 64 teams in 2011, and
50 teams in 2012. The total was back up
to 64 teams this year, from six different
states, so it will almost certainly again
be the largest.
ASPNation.com/Easton - DFW, TX – CHAMPIONS
While the numbers have always been
high, the tournament has not drawn
the same number of Conference teams
as other elite events, such as the Smoky
Mountain Classic in Tennessee, the
Dudley in Minnesota, and the Windy
City in Chicago. Some Conference teams
mentioned the grueling Texas summer
heat as a detrimental factor, so the
Space City petitioned to have their date
moved earlier than its traditional first
weekend in June.
Be careful what you wish for.
Space City did get moved earlier – all
the way up to April 12-14 which is the
weekend before the Hall of Fame Dual
in Florida. That Dual starts on a Thursday
morning, so teams have to travel out on
Wednesday. The Texas heat is one thing,
but getting teams to take a day off work
for travel the week before they are
going to have to take off three days of
work for the Dual is virtually impossible.
Resmondo/Specialty Tank/Worth, which
won the Space City each of the past
two years and five of the six times in
the event’s history, was forced to skip
this year. So did Laservision/Easton,
Shoppe/Louisville Slugger and all eight
of the nation’s A teams. That threw the
Baugh Ford/Louisville Slugger - Clanton, AL – SECOND PLACE
door wide open for one of the seven
Conference B and C teams entered to
win first place.
The pre-tournament favorites had to be
either Buzini/BWW/Worth from Jackson,
Mississippi or FenceBrokers/Hubs Pub/
Worth from Little Rock, Arkansas – who
both have made noise at the USSSA
Major World Series in recent years –
or perhaps regional stalwarts Baugh
Ford/Louisville Slugger from Clanton,
Alabama or Sports Center/Worth from
Boonville, Mississippi.
But it was relatively-unknown ASPNation.
com/Easton from Dallas-Fort Worth
who snuck up and shocked everyone by
becoming the first C team to ever win a
Conference USSSA tournament.
In their first season as a Conference team
in 2012, ASPNation.com finished 33rd
out of 40 teams, which failed to qualify
for the Conference Championships.
They struggled early, going 0-2 in both
legs of the Hall of Fame Dual, and 2-2
at both the Mike Turney Memorial in
Kansas City and Texas Legends in their
own backyard of Euless. In fact, their
best finish of 2012 was a third place
showing at the Space City, where they
went 6-2. ASP also finished fourth at the
Busch/Pepsi in Little Rock, and went 3-2
to tie for 25th place at the USSSA Men’s
USSSA TODAY 57
C World Tournament.
But sponsor Lyf Nimmo beefed up his
roster for 2013, adding several key
players from South Texas to his already
strong nucleus from North Texas. The
team shopped around on manufacturer deals, before settling on Easton,
and made a smart decision to play
early and often. ASPNation.com/Easton
won first place in four out of five early
season tournaments – including USSSA
Winter Worlds in Mansfield, Texas – and
compiled a gaudy 19-3 record before
Conference play even began.
Their sharpness proved to be the difference at the Space City Classic. After
getting a forfeit win in their first game
Friday night, ASPNation.com/Easton
came back later in the evening and put
a 24-3 shellacking on the Goons, one of
the best D teams from Houston. Nimmo’s
crew came back the next day and blasted
a pair of good C teams, the SA Amigos
from San Antonio (26-10) and Texas
Threat/RBI/Texas Inks from Houston
(28-20) to move into the semi-finals of
the winner’s bracket undefeated. In
a low-scoring affair, ASPNation.com/
Easton defeated Sports Center/Worth
(13-8) to advance to the king seat game,
against Buzini/BWW/Worth.
In the winner’s bracket finals, which was
the pivotal game of the tournament,
ASPNation jumped out to a double-digit
lead early in the contest, before Buzini
worked their way back into it. Then,
Buzini posted 15 runs in the top of the
seventh inning to take a 22-18 lead.
A rash of Buzini errors in the bottom
of the seventh allowed ASPNation to
tie the game, 22-22, and send it into
extra innings. Buzini put up a goose
egg in the top of the eighth inning, but
ASPNation came back with two quick
outs of their own in the bottom half of
the frame. Then, speedy Ben Dunn hit a
gapper that deflected off the glove of
the diving right-fielder, and Dunn raced
around the bases for an inside-the-park
home run to give ASPNation a thrilling
23-22 win.
In the championship game, ASPNation.
com/Easton faced a worn-out Baugh
58 USSSA TODAY
The ASPNation all-tournament team included: MVP Christopher Lopez, Outstanding Defensive Player, Ben
Dunn, Mike Cervantes, Nick Mitschke, Matt Vern, Matt Kainer, Chris Potts and mgr. Tim Barnes.
The Baugh Ford all-tournament team included: Outsatanding Offensive Player, Shaun Bridger, Brad Blankenship,
David Garcia, Robert Hendren, Matt Bunn and Sean Greer.
Ford/Louisville Slugger team that played
until 1 a.m. the night before, and had to
be back at the park for an 8 a.m. game
Sunday. Baugh Ford did win two more
games on Sunday morning, but ran out
of gas against ASPNation who ended it
quickly with a 24-2 run-rule championship win.
“One of the great things about
Nationwide Conference USSSA softball
is the variety of competition that we
see,” said softball reporter Dale “DW”
Weiser, owner of The Old Scout website.
“We use different balls at different
parks. We see games on softball fields
and baseball fields. We have Major
versus Major games, and we have just
as hotly contested games with B and C
teams. Every team is fighting for every
point and they all have a different
agenda. But in the end it is the best
slow-pitch softball on the planet. The
near perfect weather, artificial turf
infields, and scenic replica MLB stadiums
in League City, coupled with the more
even competition of the B and lower
field of teams, made for a solid tournament.”
The tournament used the Dudley Classic
M+ balls, which are a higher core but
lower compression than the Dudley ZN
balls. The Classics help reduce home
runs, which is needed on smaller fence
distances at Big League Dreams. In addi-
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tion, six of the seven Conference team’s
manager voted to play “Wall Ball”
which means home runs had to clear the
entire wall – some of which are 40 feet
high – otherwise the ball is live and in
play when is bounces off the wall.
“I would say most teams did not use
their eight home runs in a given game
and the ‘Wall Ball’ didn’t really get too
much out of hand,” observed Weiser.
“The wind blowing in on three of the
six fields may have had something to do
with the reasonable scores during the
meat of the tournament on Saturday.”
ASPNation.com/Easton averaged 20.7
runs per game, while allowing just 9.57
runs in going 7-0 to win the championship. Their average margin of victory
was 11.1 runs per game.
Buzini/BWW/Worth- Jackson, MS – THIRD PLACE
Crafty pitcher Christopher Lopez, a
Houston native who is one of several
South Texas players on the ASP roster,
was named Most Valuable Player of the
tournament. He held six strong opponents to an average of less than 10 runs
per game.
ASPNation teammate Ben Dunn, yet
another Houston native, was named
the Outstanding Defensive Player
for his work in centerfield. Other
ASPNation.com/Easton players named
to the All-Tournament team were thirdbaseman Mike Cervantes, left-fielder
Nick Mitschke, first-baseman Matt Vern,
catcher Matt Kainer, second-baseman
Chris Potts and manager Tim Barnes.
Baugh Ford/Louisville won their first four
games over Texas Crush from Alvin, TX
(28-7), Allegiance from Spring, TX (23-8),
DC/Y&R/A&A Utility from Houston (24-2)
and South Texas Posse (15-7) in a game
with the wind blowing straight-in. In
the semi-finals of the winner’s bracket,
Baugh Ford was tied with Buzini (14-14)
after five innings, but put up zeroes in
both the sixth and seventh innings to
eventually lose (29-14).
That sent Baugh Ford to the loser’s
bracket, where they beat Fence Brokers
in a slugfest (29-24) that did not end
until close to 2 a.m. Baugh Ford then
had to be back at the park for an 8
60 USSSA TODAY
Sports Center/Worth- Boonville, MS – FOURTH PLACE
a.m. game, where they defeated Sports
Center (23-19). In a re-match with Buzini,
Baugh Ford avenged the earlier loss
to their neighboring rival with a 27-22
win. But the team was completely out of
gas for the championship game against
ASPNation, and settled for second place
with a 7-2 record.
Baugh Ford shortstop and leadoff
batter Shaun Bridger made very few
outs all weekend and was named the
Outstanding Offensive Player of the
tournament. Other Baugh Ford players
named All-Tournament were Brad
Blankenship, David Garcia, Robert
Hendren, Matt Bunn and Sean Greer.
Absent from the All-Tournament list
was Texas native Clay Smitherman, who
hit several towering home runs during
the tournament, and pitcher Tommy
Baugh who did an admirable job on the
rubber. Baugh took a vicious line drive
to the face mask off the bat of Buzini’s
Billy Maggard with the ball ricocheting
in the air into right-field. The video of
that play has been viewed over 55,000
times on YouTube.
Buzini/BWW/Worth, who was runnerup
to Resmondo/Worth in the 2012 Space
City Classic, won their first five games of
the tournament this year. But back-toback losses to ASPNation in the winner’s
bracket finals and then Baugh Ford
in the finals of the loser’s bracket, left
them in third place with a 5-2 record.
Buzini placed leadoff hitter Kyle Wilks,
catcher Shannon Smith, outfielder Steve
McLin and first-baseman Kelly Hartman
made the All-Tournament team.
Sports Center/Worth won their first four
games of the weekend, including an
impressive 23-3 rout over Fence Brokers,
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before suffering the loss to ASPNation
in the semi-finals of the winner’s
bracket. Sports Center then rallied for
a 19-17 win over a scrappy Old School/
Elite team, who they could very well
see later this year at Men’s C Worlds,
before being eliminated by Baugh Ford
in the early Sunday morning game.
Sports Center/Worth placed catcher
Todd Thomas, extra hitter Blake Terrell
and third-baseman Tyler Vick on the
All-Tournament team.
With 64 teams in the bracket, there
were several other teams who deserve
recognition. Old School/Elite from
Spring, TX and Fence Brokers/Hubs Pub/
Worth from Little Rock, AR tied for
fifth place with identical 5-2 records. LA
Classic/Easton/Buzini from Haughton,
LA went 5-2 and Texas Threat/RBI/Texas
Inks from Houston went 4-2 to tie for
seventh place; and Vivid/Softballmix/
Tyja, a Conference team from Frisco, TX,
South Texas Posse, a Conference team
from Pearland, TX, BTX from Beaumont,
TX and Gold’s Gym from Rowlett, TX all
tied for ninth place.
The remaining members of the
All-Tournament team included David
Prahm, of Old School/Elite; Randal Lee
Wallace, of LA Classic/Easton/Buzini;
and Marcus Sutton, of DX.
Other random observations from Weiser
at the Space City Classic:
n There
were
no
Nationwide
Conference USSSA umpires in attendance and although each team had their
beef with a few close calls, the video
shows that most of these were actually
very close plays and almost impossible to
get right in slow motion, let alone real
game speed in the heat of the moment
in close games. Teams needed to adjust
to various strike zones, but they did seem
consistent, once learned. Umpire-InChief Rene Hinojosa, of Houston, and his
crew deserve a lot of credit, along with
the umpires brought in from Dallas-Fort
Worth and their UIC Phillip Wheeler.
n They tested bats for the final 16
teams.
n The center-fielder for Gold’s Gym
62 USSSA TODAY
Baugh Ford’s Texan Clay Smitherman dropped some
bombs.
DW got caught up in the ASP fever.
Luke Morgan showed some great range.
In Conference tournaments with this
many teams, USSSA awards paid berths
to the respective World Tournaments for
the highest finishing non-Conference
teams in C, D and E. The C winner was
Old School/Elite; the D winner was LA
Classic/Buzini/Easton; and the E winner
was DX from Pasadena, who were tied
for 25th place with a 2-2 record.
n Dennis Shrum had the best diving
play on a grounder in the hole at shortstop and subsequent throw out at first
base for Vivid.
n I am not sure who had the longest
homer but I’ll give it to big Shannon
Smith of Buzini. With the softer 52 core
ball being used there were many home
runs where you needed to wait and
make sure to see if they were going
to go out or hit the wall. Shannon hit
a couple that were no-doubters. Clay
Smitherman and Davis Bilardello from
Baugh Ford also crushed a few, but
Shannon’s was probably longer.
n I did not see any bad bounces as I
walked around from field to field, yet
there were many infield errors. Too
many for playing on such nice turf.
n South Texas Posse veteran Will O’Neal
was called out for a half swing. His claim
was that there was no such rule in the
USSSA rule book.
n Also the Vivid infield was impressive
with Donte Lapoint at second-base,
Shrum at shortstop, and the rest of the
infield was making nice plays as well.
As an incentive for lower teams to enter
the Space City Classic, the tournament
also offers separate single-elimination
brackets for non-Conference C, D and
E teams. Those games are played on
Sunday at the same time the Conference
bracket is finishing up on the show field.
In the C Consolation bracket, Hit-and-Sit
from League City defeated the LA
Strokers from Lafayette, LA in the championship game.
In the D Consolation bracket, BTX from
Beaumont went 4-0 to win the championship, while Playoffs from Seguin was
runnerup.
In the E Consolation bracket, Texas
Rampage from Houston won first place,
and Smoking Guns from San Antonio
took second.
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Columbus, OH Hosts Their First Ever
Nationwide Conference USSSA NIT
by Dale Weiser
Shoppe’s Andy Vitcak pitching with the Columbus,OH skyline in background
Shoppe/TYJA/Louisville Slugger had a strong weekend but was double-dipped in the
finals by Laservision/Desert Falls/Boombah/Easton
Laservision/Easton’s Brian Wegman was the Defensive MVP.
Laservision / Desert Falls / Boombah /
Easton won 3 straight games on Sunday,
June 2nd by a combined score of 111-80
and “double dipped” Shoppe/TYJA/
Louisville Slugger for the championship
of the 1st Annual Ohio B.A.T.S. Major
held at Columbus, Ohio’s Lou Berliner
Park! Laservision came back from a
nasty beating at the hands of Shoppe in
64 USSSA TODAY
Shoppe/Louisville Slugger’s David Kessler delivered a clutch pinch hit double.
the winner’s bracket championship on
Saturday night of the double elimination
tournament to run the table on Sunday
and win. Laservision wins their 2nd tournament of the year as the strong field of
17 Nationwide Conference USSSA clubs
teamed up to knock out the previously
undefeated and #1 team in the nation
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth.
The weekends hottest teams were
Shoppe and GTL Doerflinger R&M/
Easton and the two of them met the #1
Resmondo and #2 Laservision respectively in the winner’s bracket semi-finals.
Early on, both of the underdog teams
looked like they would pull the upset
but only Shoppe was able to hang on at
the end beating Resmondo 42-39 on the
strength of some great defensive plays
by substitute shortstop Jonathan Lenz,
and some clutch team offense including
a big pinch hit double by outfielder
David Kessler. GTL on the other hand
lost a late lead when Laservision hit
a pair of grand slam homers and beat
GTL 26-19. Then in the winner’s bracket
finals Shoppe crushed Laservision 37-15
when they had an incredible 22 run 4th
inning!
The tournament was played under the
threat of rain storms but rain only hit
briefly on Friday night and again briefly
on Saturday night and failed to slow
down the games. Many of the teams
struggled to adjust to the strong winds
which blew in the same direction the
entire tournament and reduced scores
on two of the fields to single digits at
times. The teams that adjusted to the
winds were the teams that ended up
winning and moving on in the bracket.
The tournament was well run and the
fields played perfect with the big artificial turf infields and the longer than
normal baseball sized fence distances.
The fans were treated to some great
defense by GTL middle infielder Kevin
Bazat with his lightning quick backhands and popup throws for outs.
Resmondo center fielder Nick Santana
and his gap closing outfield speed.
And Line Drive Sportz second baseman
Sal Formosa who made a number of
game saving diving plays on hot shot
grounders. There were also a few fans
in attendance including an appearance
by the legendary Hague star Tommy
Thompson and former Hague sponsor
Jeff Hague who are both from the
Columbus area. The fans also got to see
some absolute bombs hit at the home
run derby on Friday night which was
won by Shoppes Lee Powers who beat
out Laservisions Kevin Filby in the finals.
Some of the homers were estimated at
over 450 feet!
The
tournament
co-MVP’s
were
Laservisions Brett Helmer who was
25-36, .694, with 6 home runs and 20
RBI in the 8 games he played, and first
baseman Kyle Moyer 27-36, .750, with
14 home runs and 26 RBI. The Defensive
MVP was Laservision left fielder Brian
Wegman who also chipped in with 8
home runs and 19 rbi. And the Offensive
MVP was Shoppe outfielder Robert
“Robo” Blackburn who was 27-33, .818,
with 10 home runs and 29 rbi!
Laservision/Easton Hands Out Two Double
Dips in Two Consecutive Weekends
Windy City NIT, Joliet, IL
by Dale Weiser
Laservision / Desert Falls / Boombah /
Easton wins the “Windy City” Major NIT,
when for the second time in 2013 they
“double dipped” their opposition in the
championship games. This time their
opponent was the #1 team in the nation,
Resmondo-Specialty Tank/Worth!
The festivities began with a home run
derby on Thursday night which had
good participation. Mike Umschied, the
Laservision center fielder who is from
nearby Wisconsin won the derby over
teammate and fellow Wisconsin native
Travis Clark.
The tournament was played using the
Dudley ZN Classic M .40 core ball on the
standard 300 foot fields. It was played
in near perfect 75 degree weather and
low winds until Sunday when the wind
gusted up to 22 mph. “Bat Bucket”
bat testing was in effect as usual and
a strong contingent of Nationwide
Conference USSSA umpires were
working the games. Windy City champions Laservision/Desert Falls/Boombah/Easton closes in on Resmondo/Worth in the
Nationwide Conference USSSA standings after two consecutive championships leading into the Dudley.
The tournament began on Friday at 7 PM
with 35 teams from 17 different states
vying for the title, 20 of whom were
from the Nationwide Conference USSSA
and 6 of those were the top 6 teams in
the country. There was an abundance of
extra-inning games played throughout
the tournament as the matchups on all
6 diamonds were stellar from Saturday
afternoon until Saturday evening. The
upsets on Friday were minor but Cash
House ATM/Louisville Slugger from
Cleveland, Ohio knocked off P&P 333/
Suburban/Larry/Mojo/Easton
39-30,
South Texas Posse beat TG Brand/Mojo/
Easton 29-14, and Trust/Detroit Elite
knocked off B&B/Sears/BMW Insulation
37-22. Also a local Chicago team called
Polekatz Softball played Line Drive
Sportz to the brink of defeat before
USSSA TODAY 65
losing 23-22. The best game of the first
round however was played on Saturday
morning at 8 AM when local team KBI
had the tying run on second base, down
41-40 when they lost to local Nationwide
Conference team Precision!
The “final 16” of the winner’s bracket
began playing out at 11 AM on Saturday
morning and all 16 were Nationwide
Conference teams. Pure Romance/
Chic’s/Insanity/Easton knocked off Fence
Broker/Hubs
Pub/GTS/Worth
29-12. Nordkap/Suncoast Reebok came from
behind to knock off DEI/S&S/Scott’s/
Easton 25-22. Precisision/Hang Rite beat
Line Drive Sportz 24-22. Reds Astros/
Slugger/Stucco/Dirty jumped out to a
big early lead on Shoppe and upset
their fellow Louisville Slugger team on
a Wally Maybrier homer for the run rule
43-28. GTL Doerflinger R&M/Easton
beat Cash House in a 7 inning game
31-19 after Cash House survived a “flip
flop”. And Baugh Ford/Mojo/Louisville
Slugger beat fellow ‘B’ team 3rd Street/
Louisville Slugger 23-13.
In the “final 8” Baugh Ford upset GTL
on the show field 31-28. GTL had the
bats in their hands in the bottom of the
7th. And Pure Romance upset Nordkap
26-25 in extra innings when Kap made
some defensive errors in the infield in
the late innings.
The top two seeds, Laservision and
Resmondo, both made it to the winner’s
bracket
championship
unscathed
however as the top ‘A’ teams (GTL and
Nordkap) as discussed were sent to
the loser’s bracket early by ‘B’ teams. Resmondo made it to the winner’s
final by knocking off a feisty Red’s
Astro’s in the quarterfinals 30-20 and
smoked BaughFord.com 31-1 in the
semi-finals. Meanwhile Laservision run
ruled Precision/HangRite 26-6 and then
fought off Pure Romance 32-26 in the
semi-finals. When the two softball
giants finally met in the winner’s final
Resmondo dominated as they took
advantage of multiple Laservision errors
and scored 14 runs in the bottom of the
2nd inning, all of which were scored
after the 2nd out! Then they used
strong defense to shut down Laservision
66 USSSA TODAY
and Resmondo won easily by the 20 run
mercy rule 33-13.
On Sunday morning the first game at 8
AM was the loser’s bracket semi-finals
between Line Drive Sportz and Shoppe. Shoppe scored 9 runs in the 2nd inning
but Line Drive fought back every time it
looked like Shoppe might pull away. In
the 3rd inning Line Drive pitcher Faron
Miller was hit by a liner up the middle in
the knee cap and was removed from the
game. After that injury the momentum
shifted big in Shoppes favor and they
won 50-30. Keith Anderson the new 4
hitter for Line Drive Sportz however hit
4 monstrous homers and had a double
to keep things closer than the final score
would indicate.
Next in the loser’s bracket finals
Shoppe’s Robert Blackburn hit a grand
slam in the 5th inning which gave his
team a 30-16 lead over Laservision. But
Laservision came back in the bottom
of the 6th with a 19 run inning to pull
within 41-39. Shoppe would then score
5 in the top of the 7th but Laservision,
short on homers, managed to score
8 runs with the help of some Shoppe
infield miscues and Laservision’s Chad
Durick hit a walk off single to win the
game 47-46, sending them to the finals
against Resmondo.
In the first game of the championship
Laservision scored 15 runs in the 2nd
inning and Resmondo answered with 14
runs in the top of the 3rd. Then a great
play by Laservision 3rd baseman Sam
Lopez ranging to his right and stretching
out and backhanding a grounder, which
was right down the third base line, and
in one twisting motion threw all the
way back across the diamond to get the
runner at first which helped quell a big
5th inning by Resmondo. Resmondo
would score 3 more in the top of the
6th on a Dennis Rulli homer to cut
the Laservision lead to 32-29. Then
Laservision scored 13 runs in the bottom
of the 6th to leave Resmondo on the
field by the 15 run rule 47-32 and force
the “If” necessary game of the double
elimination tournament.
In the “if” game of the championship
Laservision out powered Resmondo
enroot to a 37-17 run rule win and
the Windy City championship. Mike
Umschied and Travis Clark, the two
Laservision teammates that started the
long weekend off by winning the home
run derby, were named Co-MVP’s.
Tournament CO-MVP Travis Clark
LaserVision/DesertFalls/Boombah/Easton
Tournament CO-MVP Michael Umscheid
LaserVision/DesertFalls/Boombah/Easton
Offensive Tournament MVP Greg
Connell Resmondo – Specialty Tank /
Worth
Defensive Tournament MVP Brian
Wegman LaserVision/DesertFalls/
Boombah/Easton
Resmondo Takes Minnesota Classic
Tourney By Storm
by Dave Pedersen
Mother Nature, once again, wreaked havoc on another Nationwide Conference USSSA NIT.
The expected power shown at the 31st annual Dudley
Budweiser Classic sponsored by Easton came from a source
other than the strongest players in the country.
As players from Resmondo/Specialty Tank/Worth were coming
to the field in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Friday, June 21, fans
were leaving after weather alerts sprouted on cell phones at
the same time
The warning was for a major storm that would cause much
damage in the Twin Cities Metro area, including straight line
winds of 69 miles per hour and downpour of rain. The result
USSSA TODAY 67
included power outages, flash flooding,
downed trees and the softball tournament to be in turmoil.
At the Dudley, fans and players were
ushered into the nearby Community
Center. When the storm passed, players
found a tree that was hit by lightning
just outside the fan gate was split into
three parts. In the distance you could
see a set of bleachers that was turned
upside down. Water was knee deep in
the outfield after Shingle Creek overflowed.
Tournament directors Warren Bellm
and Joe Ericksen scrambled to save the
24-team tourney that was a stop in
Conference USSSA. Games on Saturday
were moved to nearby Crystal and the
seven conference teams were invited
to play in a single elimination tourney,
limiting games to five innings other
than the championship that was slated
for seven. The other teams were sent
home early.
LaserVision 3B, Sam Lopez putting a tag on Resmondo’s Jeremy Yates.
Along with the three Major teams
entered, the finals included three
Conference teams from Minnesota.
Xtreme/Miken is a Minnesota Class B
team that defeated H Auto//Easton/
Hooters MOA, a Class C team from
Minnesota, 23-18.
Xtreme moved on to face Resmondo,
the defending Dudley champion, ranked
first in the Conference. Xtreme entered
the last of the fifth (last inning in this
case) trailing by just nine runs, but was
out of home runs and lost 31-23.
Wisconsin native, P Travis Clark pitching for
LaserVision/Easton.
Resmondo/Worth’s BJ Fulk likes this pitch.
Meanwhile, in the other bracket,
Shoppe/TYJA/Louisville Slugger, a Major
team, was defeating Class B WSC/Cazzi/
Miken from Wisconsin 25-8. WSC had
advanced by downing Minnesota based
Team Stoop/Alt Analysis/Miken. Shoppe
moved on to take on LaserVission/Desert
Falls/Boombah/Easton, another Major
team, losing 30-10.
That set up another battle between the
top two teams in the nation, Resmondo
and LaserVision. The rivalry continued
as Resmondo had won last year’s Dudley
over LaserVision, which returned the
favor when claiming the crown at the
USSSA Softball Wolrld Series.
68 USSSA TODAY
USSSA VP, Gerry Turnberg (center), is flanked by tournament directors, Warren Bellm (left) and Joel Ericksen.
The weather required them to make some tough decisions, which enabled them to crown a champion.
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The power houses were tied at 27 in the
fourth inning when Resmondo took off
to build a big enough lead to win on the
run-rule, 44-29 after five innings.
Frank Webb, one of Resmondo’s
managers, said losing to LaserVision
in the World Series was a wakeup
call that will stay with the team for a
while and sparked a strong start to this
season. Resmondo opened the season
by winning 25 straight games and four
tournaments in a row. The team hit a
bump when losing twice to LaserVision
at the Chicago tournament.
Webb said Resmondo has been getting
younger in recent seasons. This year the
team added two 24-year-old outfielders
in Nick Santana and Jeremy Yates. They
joined other young talent in Ron Mack
and Jimmy Salas and Lloyd Watson.
Resmondo’s 2B, Greg Connell takes the relay throw to
complete the force out.
Tough out at home.
Resmondo’s 3B, Jimmy Salas makes a strong throw.
LaserVision’s Chad Durick shows great balance to
make a great play.
At the Minnesota Classic, Mack batted
9 for 9 with four home runs in the two
games for Resmondo. Salas was 9 for 10
and both Andy Purcell and Dennis Rulli
went 9 for 11. Don DeDonatis went 8 for
10.
LaserVision manager Dan Fruwirth first
gave much credit to Bellm and staff for
doing what they could do to keep the
event going in some form considering
the conditions.
Next, he declared that his team is not
backing down and has the horses to
defend its World Series title.
“This year we have more depth on the
bench that we didn’t have last year and
it has played a big role in our success,”
said Fruwirth about winning the past
two our of three tournaments at the
time.
Fruwirth specifically mentioned the
name of Mike Umscheid, Travis Clark
and 49-year-old Billy Messina on the
mound.
“Against Resmondo, we made a couple
of costly mistakes,” adds Fruwirth.
“What a difference it makes when we
catch it. In games like this you got to
stay with them, looking for opportunities to separate.”
LaserVision, MI Bryson Baker, making a play from his back.
70 USSSA TODAY
Suwanee Sports Academy Hosts 241 team
Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions
by Jeff Foss
The Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions has long been one
of the Country’s best spring basketball events, with a distinguished list of teams and players who have participated. This
year’s event, the 20th edition was not only the marquee event
for USSSA Basketball; it was the premiere basketball event in
the country. 241 teams from 17 States converge on the Suwanee
Sports Academy to battle it out to determine who the best
of the best was. Teams from North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida and Indiana all took home the crown in their
respective age groups. With over 100 Colleges and Universities
in attendance to find their next recruit, players had extra
incentive to play hard and compete to earn the attention of
college coaches and that’s just what happened.
17U National Bracket Champion
17U American Bracket Champion
16U Tournament Champion
Team Charlotte
Tournament MVP: James Demery
SC Raptors North
Tournament MVP: Raykym Felder
Eric Gordon Central Stars
Tournament MVP: Nick Rogers
Atlanta Celtics
Tournament MVP: Alterique Gilbert
Miami City Ballers
Tournament MVP: Victor Uyoae
QCAA Force
Tournament MVP: Kavaudrick Worthy
Chris Singleton’s Reach Higher Kings
Tournament MVP: Scottie Lewis
Info for Best of South and Bob Gibbons:
Eric Eleton 678-541-0263 eeleton@ssasports.com
USSSA TODAY 71
Colorado Rovers Fall in Penalties
to Georgia Revolution
On a fairly chilly night in Highlands
Ranch CO, the 100th version of the US
Open Cup got underway with a thriller.
The Colorado Rovers and the Georgia
Revolution took their opening round
make the distance.
In what started as a cagey affair between
the 2 clubs, the 2 sides spent the opening
10 minutes settling in and getting a feel
for their opponents. After 10 minutes
though, the Revolution began to gain
the advantage. The Rovers back 4 held
firm through the onslaught of the
Revolution until the 25th minute when
a goal from Ghana striker Kwadwo Poku
broke the deadlock.
The 2 teams would exchanges chances
for the rest of the first half but, both
sides held out until the half time whistle.
After the break, the Rovers came out
72 USSSA TODAY
with much more energy and attacking
attitude. In the second half, the Rovers
controlled the pace and flow to the
game and had the advantage in chances.
Their efforts were finally rewarded
as Marc Herschberger caught the
Revolution keeper out on a long ball
forward and was able to nod home the
header.
The Rovers continued to attack but, to
no avail as the 90 minutes ran down.
The 2 sides began extra time in roughly
the same way the 2nd half began. The
Rovers seemed to have more energy,
but the Revolution’s back four and goalkeeper held. In the 2nd 15 minutes, the
Rovers chance came off of a corner kick.
The header was flicked across goal and
only a spectacular save from Zachary
Schultze kept it out. It turned out to be
the biggest chance of the match that
got away and, the Revolution survived
to send the match to penalties.
When the penalties came the Revolution
had the first chance and converted.
Then it was Zachary Schultze again who
stole the show with a fantastic save to
his right, barely pushing the shot onto
the woodwork and away. That proved
to be the difference as both sides would
convert the rest of their penalties.
The Revolution and Rovers played as
equals on this night and it was Zachary
Schultze who was the difference in
a thrilling encounter to open up U.S.
Soccer’s 100th Open Cup.
The Georgia Revolution will move on to
play the Real Colorado Foxes.
Carnes Wins Mizuno Gator
Classic by Two Strokes
by Ian Auzenne
Zachary, La.--Mother Nature was kind to
the golfers of the Louisiana USSSA Junior
Golf Tour this weekend. Despite threatening clouds and a nearly two-hour
lightening delay at the beginning of the
final round, the Mizuno Gator Classic
went off without a hitch. Twenty-eight
golfers made the trek to the Copper Mill
Golf Club for the tournament. Now that
the 2012-2013 season is entering the
home stretch, the competitors looked
not only to take home a championship,
but also to improve their season point
totals.
Once again, the boys’ 15-18 division featured a tight race. Only two
strokes separated each of the first five
places. Tour newcomer Josh Carnes
finished with a two-day total of 153
to take the championship home with
him to Monroe. Tour regular Jamison
Thomassee of Opelousas took second
place by shooting a 155. Zac Ciesla, a
former national champion in the 12-14
age group, finished in third place in his
first start on the senior circuit. The Lake
Charles resident finished at 157.
Derek Raymond picked up his first
championship in the boys’ 12-14 division. The Mandeville resident finished
with a 36-hole total of 164 to claim
the victory. Runner-up Ryan Fulton
of Crowley finished two strokes back.
Carson Caruso of Greenwell Springs
finished third by shooting 176.
Chance Queen picked up his first tournament title of 2013 by winning the boys’
9-11 group championship. Queen, an
Alexandria resident, finished at par (72)
to win the title. In the process, Queen
gave one of the best performances to
date in this age group. In the first round,
Queen picked up an eagle and a birdie
to finish the day even par. Queen then
parred every hold in the second round
to maintain his score.
Roberto Espinosa of Arnaudville and
Jonathon Ellis of Baton Rouge tied for
second place in the boys’ 9-11 division.
Both shot 81, two strokes better than
fourth-place finisher Oliver Nickel of
Crowley.
Tour veteran Hillary Washington took
home top honors in the girls’ 15-18 division. The Breaux Bridge resident shot a
36-hole total of 163 to win the event
championship. Camille Savoie of Baton
Rouge finished in second place with
a score of 175, holding off third-place
finisher Caitlyn Bernard of Harahan by
one stroke.
Boys 15-18: L-R. Josh Carnes, Monroe; Jamison
Thomassee, Opelousas; Zac Ciesla, Lake Charles.
Boys 12-14: L-R. Ryan Fulton, Crowley; Derek Raymond,
Mandeville; Carson Caruso, Greenwell Springs.
Boys 9-11: L-R. Chance Queen, Alexandria; Johnathan
Ellis, Baton Rouge; Roberto Espinosa, Arnaudville.
Only one golfer in the 9-11 age bracket
played in the Gator Classic. Taylor
Collins of New Orleans shot a 107 in the
two-day, 18-hole event.
Up next on the Louisiana USSSA Junior
Golf Tour schedule is the Mizuno Cajun
Classic. That tournament will take place
on June 11 and 12 at Oakbourne Country
Club in Lafayette. The registration deadline is June 9. For more information, visit
www.usssa.com or email rboudreaux@
lausssa.com.
USSSA is a multi-sports organization and
offers competition in Youth and Adult
Baseball, Basketball, Fast Pitch Softball,
Flag Football, Karate, Lacrosse, Slow
Pitch Softball, Soccer, Tae Kwan Do,
Volleyball, Wrestling, and Junior Golf.
Girls 15-18: L-R. Hillary Washington, Breaux Bridge;
Camille Savoie, Baton Rouge; Caitlyn Bernard, Harahan;
Chase Encalade, Pointe A La Hache
Girls 9-11: Taylor Collins, New Orleans.
USSSA TODAY 73
Well softball fans Summer is
finally here! The season is
now in full swing and that can
only mean one thing….
Tournament Time!
It’s already been a pretty eventful year
here at Worth. With all the tournaments
and 454 Home Run Derby’s underway
we have been busy putting bats in
player’s hands all across the country.
I have a great group of guys to work
with and I would like to recognize my
454 Advisory Staff for all the hard work
they do putting on these local events
and getting our product front and
center to the players. These guys do a
phenomenal job and will run over 60
total events this year. Thanks gentlemen
for a job well done!
Marc “Archie” Archibald – S. California
Kevin Birkofer – Ohio
Jarvis Chappell – Mississippi
Greg Huchingson – Texas
Sammy Kincaid – North Carolina
Paul Sadler – Virginia
Nic Santana – Florida
Tom Siter – Georgia
Jeff Smith - Tennessee
Paul Stanley - Pennsylvania
Chris Walker – Arkansas
Conference USSSA is also underway and
it’s been a great year for our flagship
team Resmondo/Specialty Tank/Worth.
The team has gotten off to a 23-2 start
and looks to be the team to beat in 2013.
The “Sod Boy’s” have battled through
some injuries and have three impressive tournament wins in Kissimmee,
FL, Euless, TX, and Shawnee, KS. Most
of the players have been swinging the
new Resmondo Legit two piece bat
(SBLUR) and the reviews have been
outstanding. We also have had solid
74 USSSA TODAY
performances by our Conference “B”
teams Buzini/BWW and Fencebroker’s/
Gametime Supply. These young teams
have gotten off to a solid start and have
been some of the highest finishing “B”
teams in three of the Conference events
they have played in. I would also like to
congratulate one of our Military teams
Scrapalators/Drash/Worth for winning
the coveted PACWIDE championship
in Youngsan, Korea. The Scrap’s led by
Sponsor Jeff Jackson and Tom Siter have
done a great job promoting Worth at
home and all over the globe. These guys
run 454 Home Run Derby’s on Military
bases in the US and also in countries
like Germany and Korea. We appreciate
all they do for representing Worth and
taking care of our service personnel at
home and abroad.
The Worth Power Tour has also been a
great success. We have had an awesome
time touring USSSA complexes from
Mansfield, TX to Shawnee, KS. The
great thing about these events is we
Corny’s
Corner
Mike Cornell
not only get the opportunity to put
our bats in player’s hands, but they also
get a chance to take on Jeff Hall in a
hit-off. I want to send a special shout
out to a big hitter from Overland Park,
KS named Justin Smith. He won the
Shawnee Power Tour amateur derby
hitting 7, out of 10 pitches out of the
park. He then got to face Jeff Hall in the
bonus round and smacked an unbelievable 10, out of 15 into the night. Some
of the balls Justin hit went well over 350
feet! What makes it all “Worth” it was
seeing the smile on Justin’s face when
Jeff presented him his award bat!
As you can see it’s been a busy Summer
here at Worth. With our grassroots
efforts and our sponsored teams in full
swing, you can be sure to find Worth
bats being used at a complex or field
near you! Well, that’s it for now……
See you at the ball yard!
Corny
Worth Sports’ Jeff Hall Transitioning
From On-Field to Off-Field Endeavors
by Michael Cisneros
To many of today’s slow pitch players, Jeff Hall
is simply the name of their favorite Worth bat.
Of course, the real Jeff Hall made that name
playing softball at the highest level. And while
at age 43 he’s still in demand as a player, Hall
is becoming more and more involved in the
game away from the field.
“I’ve been busy with my company, East Coast
Athletics,” said Hall from the desk in his
Gastonia, NC, office. East Coast Athletics is
a custom uniform company, designing and
producing softball, baseball, football, soccer
and fastpitch uniforms all made in the USA.
“Business has really picked up. It’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do. I looked at what was
involved in getting into the business and realized it was something that I could do. We started things up and haven’t looked
back yet.”
With their own in-house graphics department, Hall’s company
has designed jerseys for league and tournament teams, special
causes such as Breast Cancer Awareness, and even big-time
teams like Resmondo/Worth and 4 the Fallen/Miken. Having a
company that makes uniforms as well hats, batting gloves and
gear bags is going to come in handy for Hall’s even more recent
endeavor – becoming a USSSA director.
“I just ran my first tourney this past weekend,” he said. “I loved
it and the people loved it. If you can get those guys sold on
what you are trying to do, I think things will take off.”
Getting involved with USSSA at the director level was an easy
choice for Hall. “I’m tickled to death to be associated with
USSSA,” he said. “I consider USSSA to be the granddaddy of
slow pitch softball. Plus I’m in the North Carolina and National
USSSA Halls of Fame. It is natural to want to be associated with
an organization that has been so good to me.”
Hall’s tournaments, based in Gaston County near Charlotte,
NC, will be known as the Jeff Hall/Worth Shootout and will
comprise a year-long series with big prizes for the winners. “In
2013 we’ve only got half the year left and it’s tough to find
fields and dates, but next year – 2014 – I plan on running a full
series of about 8 tournaments with standings determined by
a point system and the winner in each division getting either
full custom uniforms or team sponsored Worth bats,” said Hall.
“I think the series will generate a lot of interest and many
teams will end up playing in every event.” He hopes to have
Upper, Mid, and Lower divisions for each tournament though
the recent event drew only Mid and Lower. “I tried to get an
Upper division, but upper ball isn’t what it used to be. People
are scared to play in upper.”
In addition to all this, Hall is still deeply involved with Worth
Sports when it comes to their slow pitch line of bats. “I do a
76 USSSA TODAY
lot of R&D (research and development) with
Worth,” he said. “(JTS Operations Manager
John Baer) works hand-in-hand with me on
each of the (Jeff Hall) bats.”
And there are quite a few available now
with more being released in the near future.
Worth currently has 3 Jeff Hall signature bats:
the white and red one-piece 454 Reload, the
red and black two-piece Legit 454 Reload,
and the black and pink one-piece 454 Reload.
There are 2 more available for order now on
the Worth website: the 4th bat will be a pink
and black two-piece Legit 454 Reload to be
released around the first of June, and the 5th
bat will be a gray and pink one-piece Sick 454 Reload to be
released around the first of September. There are plans for 5
more Hall signature bats for 2014.
“The Pink and Black Legit (SBLUJH) is a two-piece bat with the
thinner “Flex Fifty” handle. Like all the Jeff Hall bats it carries
the traditional half ounce Reload,” said Hall. “It is scheduled to
launch sometime in June and I am pretty confident it will do
real well”
“Jeff has been a great addition to our Worth Advisory Staff,”
said Mike Cornell, Sports Marketing Manager for Worth.”
Having Hall join great players like Andy Purcell, Don DeDonatis
III, Greg Connell, BJ Fulk and Bubba Mack as part of the Worth
family has been a huge success. Jeff has done an outstanding
job promoting the Worth brand and we look forward to many
years of working with him in the future.”
The partnership has worked out even better than either Hall or
Worth expected. Since its release in the Fall of 2012 the Worth
Jeff Hall product has sold way beyond expectations. “I think we
have exceeded what we originally forecasted for initial sales”
To show how much he stands behind the bats that bear his name,
Hall travels across North America with the 2013 Worth Power
Tour where Worth holds home run derby events with the winners
getting a chance to hit against Jeff. He will be making stops in
places from Mansfield, TX., to Shawnee, KS, to Palm Springs,
Calif. “I think I will be making 10 trips this year,” said Hall.
With all this on his plate, where does Hall find the time to actually play softball? The truth is, he really doesn’t play anymore...
at least not too much. “I’m not playing Conference USSSA
this year because … I just can’t,” he said. “I am playing in a
couple of tournaments, in Viet Nam and Thailand in November
(against US Service teams) with Fatt Boyz/East Coast Athletics/
Worth, but as for playing the season, I think I’ve done all I can
in the Conference. I’ve got an 11-year-old who plays travel
baseball and between spending as much time as I can with him
and trying to grow (East Coast Athletics, USSSA and the signature line of bats) I’m completely happy.” And busy.
....both letters in this Summer issue address sportsmanship.
And unfortunately, it is in a negative light.
Letters do not reflect the opinions of the USSSA or this publication. If you have letters
or comments to be reviewed for publication, you must clearly identify yourself.
The Death of Sportsmanship
By Jon Kilburn
Nationwide Conference USSSA ,
Vivid Software
Well, it’s July. The Nationwide USSSA
Conference is in full swing. Many teams are
already battling it out and looking forward
to the World Series, others are making adjustments to schedules and rosters, trying to find
that elusive mixture that will take them to
the championship.
I think one of the best topics to write about
is the death of the true meaning of sportsmanship. By this I don’t mean shaking hands
at the end of a game, telling the other team
“good game” or “good luck guys”. Major or
lower ball player, most of us can still shake
hands and show respect at the end of a
game. That is not what I am referring.
Sportsmanship: Conduct (as fairness, respect
for one’s opponent, and graciousness in
winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport.
It’s sad that in today’s world kids are raised so
“everyone’s a winner”. The reason the United
States advanced in major fields like technology, warfare, and medicine is our never
say die, never give up, never quit attitude.
Because of this our country has survived and
thrived, for the simple reason we knew one
simple truth “You win. Period. There are no
trophies for second place”. In the “modern”
world of today, all kids make the team, all
kids get trophies and they are all told “You
can be anything you want”. They get trophies
for just playing the game, and those trophies
are called “Participation Trophies”. What the
heck? Since when do we give out awards for
showing up?
I help coach my son’s youth team. I know
many of those kids will never be ball players.
Lying to them feels like it’s much worse than
telling them “you’re not good at this, but
maybe you’d be great at another sport”.
They want to be part of a team. I get that.
There are many lessons to be learned when
you are on a team, and many of those lessons
are valuable. However, the biggest lesson,
that of not being the starter, riding the bench
and waiting your chance to play or be in the
lineup is overlooked. There are 13 kids on my
son’s team. I have 13 kids in the lineup every
week. Not my best 9. Every kid on the team.
Even if that kid can’t tell which end of the bat
to grip, they get to hit.
Remember when we were kids? Remember
the day that it was time for baseball tryouts?
I do. I remember because I didn’t practice,
and thought I could make the team without
much effort. I was wrong. When I was 9 I
failed to get picked for a team. Did I give up?
No. I used that failure (because that’s what it
was) as motivation. I practiced every day that
I could for the next 12 months to get ready
for try-outs.
I wasn’t the fastest, and I wasn’t the best
fielder, but I could throw 5-10 MPH faster
than most kids my age, and I worked on it.
I hit baseballs off a T for hours, trying to
find just the right form. I threw baseballs for
hours at a tire hanging on the wall of one
of our tractor sheds. I played in every pickup
game around the neighborhood I could find,
just so I could hit against real pitching. The
following year I was one of the first kids
picked.
I made the team because I practiced for
hours to be better. I was never good enough
to make the all-star team until I was older. I
never quit. I never played down. I always try
to play at the highest level, even if I’m not
one of the top guys, I play hard and practice
to be better.
Would I take being a starter on a “D” team
over being a role player on a conference
team? Never. I can’t even fathom that logic…
yet the 20 -30 year olds of today would rather
play “D” and win a T-Shirt than struggle to
get better while getting whipped in “C” and
watching, and waiting for that opportunity
to play Conference ball.
Opinions on this vary. I don’t doubt that many
will say I’m wrong. I have nothing to base my
opinion on other than what I have seen or
read over the last few years. One thing I do
believe though, is that our local and state
directors haven’t killed the local programs.
Nor has any one association or any organization. Players with the wrong attitude have.
They’d rather accept a trophy for being
average, then lose on the big field to
Resmondo, Laser Vision, or one of the other
showcase major teams. Not me. I’ll take my
lickin’ and come back, again and again and
again… until we win or I retire. No way will
I accept anything else, nor will I let my son if
I have anything to do about it. I don’t lie to
him. I don’t coddle him. I tell him to go to
the cages with me, and hit. I measure off the
distance for a pitcher’s mound to home plate
and then for as long as my knees can stand
it, I squat and let him pitch to me. I tell him
that he won’t make it on talent alone. He has
to work and be dedicated. I try to show him
my work ethic by going to hit every day and
taking him with me whenever I have him.
That’s how we change this game we love.
Teach the next generation(s) that losing is a
part of life. It’s what you do after that loss
that defines you, shapes you and help make
you the man you can be and should be.
The biggest thing that gets overlooked in
my mind is that losing teaches humility. Not
being good enough is why we try harder.
What child is enticed to do beyond the
bare minimum if they are told that’s good
enough? This is not just a softball issue.
This is a cultural divide. “Modern” society is
teaching us not to spank our kids. To reward
mediocrity. To avoid confrontation and that
even if you lose you win.
When these kids get older and discover that
the world doesn’t hand out a trophy for
second place, or participation what’s going
to happen?
You know why we hear about shaved bats,
steroids and all the other “problems” with
softball? Because the guys that lost don’t
know how to deal with it like a man. No one
wins every game. You will lose. What you
do and how you conduct yourself when you
lose is the true measure of a man. I respect
continued on page 85
USSSA TODAY 77
28th Annual Budweiser Festival tops
300 in Bryan-College Station, Texas
By Van Galeon
The “Undisputed King of
Softball Tournaments” in Texas
once again attracted over
300 teams to Bryan-College
Station on May 3-5 for the most
popular weekend of softball
annually in the Lone Star State.
For the 28th consecutive year, Jack Hilliard Distributing- the Central Texas Distributor of Anheuser-Busch products- sponsored the hugely popular festival. Jack Hilliard
Distributing was recently recognized at the USSSA National Convention in Temecula, CA. with the Distinguished Service Award.
The 28th Annual Budweiser Softball
Festival, which began in 1986 with just
24 teams, has grown to become the
largest USSSA adult slow-pitch tournament in the nation, with 313 traveling
in from all corners of Texas, as well as
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. This
year’s tournament also had the distinction of having a team travel all the way
from Guam, located near Japan and the
Philippines in the North Pacific.
Games are played on 17 fields at five
complexes – Veterans Park, Central Park
and Bee Creek Park in College Station,
and the Bryan Regional Athletic Complex
and Haswell/Lions Park in Bryan. The
tournament begins Friday night and
run non-stop around-the-clock for over
78 USSSA TODAY
50 consecutive hours before concluding
late Sunday night.
“I am both humbled and amazed by
the consistent support that the teams
of Texas show this event every year,”
said tournament founder and USSSA
Vice-President Greg Huchingson. “A lot
of hard work and support from many
people goes in to making this thing
happen, and when it all comes together
and runs as smoothly as it did this year,
it is very gratifying.”
The Budweiser Softball Festival has been
recognized as the USSSA Tournament
of the Year, and also been featured
numerous times on Fox Sports Net
on the “Softball 360” program. At
the USSSA National Convention last
November in Temecula, California, Jack
Hilliard Distributing – the Central Texas
Distributor of Anheuser-Busch products
– was recognized with the Distinguished
Service Award for their years of support
of the tournament.
Festivities began Friday night with the
popular $1,000 Home Run Derby. The
format is a 64-person head-to-head
bracket, with winners advancing from
round-to-round until there are just two
hitters remaining. Cody Ross of HKI/
STFU won the Big Bend bracket, while
Brian Bohanon of Budweiser won the
Yellowstone bracket. Then, Ross topped
Bohanon, 4-3, in the battle for the big
prize. It marked the second year in a
row for Bohannon to finish runnerup.
The highest division was Men’s C, played at Veterans
Park in College Station, where hometown favorite
Budweiser/Frank’s/Gooseneck from Bryan went undefeated through five games to win first place in the
15-team bracket. Budweiser scored narrow victories
over Houston Thunder (14-13), Hit-N-Sit from League
City (11-10), Triumph from Houston (11-9) and SA
Amigos from San Antonio (19-12), to advance to the
championship game undefeated.
Men’s C Champions – Budweiser/Frank’s/Gooseneck - Bryan, TX
Men’s C Second Place – Texas Threat/RBI/Texas Inks - Houston, TX
Men’s D Champions – Allegiance - Spring, TX
Men’s D Second Place – HKI/STFU - Austin, TX
80 USSSA TODAY
Texas Threat/RBI/Texas Inks from Houston came into
the tournament as the Number 2 seed, but lost their
first game to First 48 from Houston (16-8). Manager
Douglas “Big Dawg” Santos’ squad then dropped to
the elimination bracket and scored consecutive wins
over Rack City ATX from Austin (18-10), Hit-N-Sit
(15-3), Olmito Heat (21-11), First 48 in a re-match
(11-8), Walker Timber from Longview (20-8) and SA
Amigos (14-13) to advance all the way to the championship game. But Texas Threat ran out of gas Sunday
night and Budweiser escaped with a 15-9 championship win. It mark the first time in the 28-year history
of the tournament that the hometown team won first
place. Texas Threat/RBI/Texas Inks settled for second
place with a 6-2 record.
Third place went to the SA Amigos at 3-2, followed by
fourth place finisher Walker Timber also at 3-2. The
rest of the Top 10 consisted of First 48 and Triumph
both from Houston, tied for fifth; Olmito Heat, and
the Westside Choppers from San Antonio, tied for
seventh; and Dynasty from Bryan, Hit-N-Sit from
League City, Titans from San Antonio, and Whut It
Dew from San Marcos, all tied for ninth.
Budweiser right-fielder Grant Carrabba had the
highest batting average on the team and was named
Most Valuable Player. Jose Molina of Texas Threat
was the Gold Glove winner. Others named to the
All-Tournament team were Todd Weigand, Kevin
Ballard, Sean Weatherford and Kip Todhunter, of
Budweiser; Jason Juarez, Dominique Cano and Alex
Martin, of Texas Threat; Albert Martinez, Jon Torres
and Rich Burley, of SA Amigos; and Brandon Burns
and Brian Freeman, of Walker Timber.
The Men’s D bracket featured 76 teams and was also
played entirely at Veterans Park. Allegiance from
Spring went 8-1 to win first place for the third tournament this season. Allegiance posted wins over Waco
Xpress from Waco (18-6), Phenoms/BurgerFi/NES
from San Antonio (13-9), Playoffs from Seguin (8-7),
Call Your Shot from Round Rock (14-12) and B&N
Sportsbar/Texas Crooks from San Antonio (18-6) to
advance to the finals of the winner’s bracket, before
losing to HKI/STFU from Austin (12-7). Allegiance
dropped to the elimination bracket and knocked off
BTX from Beaumont (12-3) to advance to the championship, where they double-dipped HKI/STFU (16-0 and
8-5) to capture the crown.
HKI/STFU from Austin settled for second place with a
6-2 record, followed by BTX from Beaumont in third
at 7-2, and Austin Speed from Austin in fourth at 5-2.
The rest of the Top 10 included Call Your Shot from
Round Rock and B&N Sportsbar/Texas Crooks, tied for
fifth; Playoffs from Seguin and Farm Club from Dallas,
tied for seventh; and Goons from Houston, Trouble/
Aw Ready from Austin, Asylum Softball from Humble,
and Phenoms/BurgerFi/NES from San Antonio, all tied
for ninth.
Jaime Rohlmeier of Allegiance was named Most
Valuable Player, while Steven Reno Maley of HKI/STFU
was the Gold Glover winner. Other players named
to the All-Tournament team were Cory Moszkowicz,
Joshua Tittle, Bryant Hicks and Anthony Einsfeldt, of
Allegiance; Cody Ross, Andrew Rayas and Jon Erik
Villegas, of HKI/STFU; Jeff Freeman, Jarrod Hughes
and Greg Shivok, of BTX; and Marcelino Rodriguez
and Vincent Segura Jr., of Austin Speed.
The largest bracket of the tournament is always Men’s
E and this year it had 124 teams. Games were played
at three complexes throughout town, but culminated
at the Bryan Regional Athletic Complex. The Cage
Bombs from Austin went 8-0 to win first place for the
fifth time in 2013. After winning by forfeit in the first
round, Cage Bombs reeled off wins over Texas Crush
from Alvin (13-2), WSP/Mas Y Mas from Lake Jackson
(13-3), Them Boyz from Tyler (9-2), DX from Pasadena
(11-0), RVOS Insurance from Temple (10-3) and South
ETX Softball from Lumberton (12-0) to advance to the
championship game.
Texas Rampage from Houston has been an equally
dominant E team this year, with three first place
finishes, one runnerup and three more third place
showings. Texas Rampage defeated Extreme from
Round Rock (7-4), Centex B.A.M. from Temple (21-4)
and East Texas Rangers from Longview (14-10), before
suffering a loss to RVOS Insurance from Temple (11-7).
But Texas Rampage dropped to the elimination bracket
and knocked off Hardfeathers from Houston (13-3),
Absolute Mayhem/NES from Arlington (14-6), Texas
Hurricanes from Arlington (14-8), DSR from Houston
(17-12) and South ETX Softball from Lumberton (20-5)
to make it all the way to the championship game,
where they ran out of gas and fell to Cage Bombs
(11-9).
Following Cage Bombs at 8-0 and Texas Rampage
at 8-2, third place went to South ETX Softball from
Lumberton at 6-2, and fourth went to DSR from
Houston at 7-2. Texas Hurricanes from Arlington and
RVOS Insurance from Temple tied for fifth place with
5-2 records; Absolute Mayhem from Arlington at 8-2
and Regulators de Georgetown from Georgetown at
5-2, tied for seventh; and Hardfeathers from Houston
at 7-2, Hammedown from Pearsall at 6-2, East Texas
Rangers from Longview at 5-2, and DX from Pasadena
at 3-2, all tied for ninth place.
Men’s E Champions – Cage Bombs - Austin, TX
Men’s E Second Place – Texas Rampage - Houston, TX
Mixed Champions – Pray for Rain/BlackhawkST - Raceland, LA
Mixed Second Place – A&D/Renegades - Austin, TX
USSSA TODAY 81
Other high finishers in the mammoth bracket included
Team Mash from Austin, Sealy KC Iron Knights from
Sealy, Them Boyz from Tyler and ATM/TI Sports from
Houston all tied for 13th place, and Middle’s Open
from Ennis, Young Bucks from San Antonio, WSP/Mas
Y Mas from Lake Jackson, Texas Legends from Lufkin,
Burn Out Softball from Nederland, Buckwild from
Houston, MVP Sportz from San Antonio and Assassins
Softball from Crosby, all tied for 17th place.
Women’s C Champions – Team Dallas Women - Dallas, TX
Pete Lindeman of Cage Bombs was named Most
Valuable Player, and Trammell Anderson of Texas
Rampage was the Gold Glove winner. Others named
to the All-Tournament team were Jason Hickock,
Brandon Cano, Kenneth Rogers and Zachary
Melendrez, of Cage Bombs; Juan Alfaro, Adam Garza
and Joel Seth Phillips, of Texas Rampage; Austin Kroll,
Jeremy Read and Chris Smith, of South ETX Softball;
and Graland Hill and Trevor Barker, of DSR.
There were over 40 Women’s teams combined this
year, with 21 in the B/C division and 20 in the D/E
bracket. Most games were played at Bee Creek Park,
a two-field complex in College Station, until Sunday
afternoon when the ladies moved over to four-field
Central Park, also in College Station, for their stretch
run.
Women’s C Second Place – Lady Brokers - Stafford, TX
Women’s D Champions – Goonie Proof - Waco, TX
Women’s D Second Place – Victorious Secret - Katy, TX
82 USSSA TODAY
Team Dallas Women from Dallas won the 2012 USSSA
Women’s C World Championship and, thus, were an
automatic bump to B for this year. But they got off to
a slow start, winning just one game in each of their
first two tournaments. Manager Alonzo “Bull” Price
got his team on track by taking second place at the
Kiest Breast Cancer Benefit just two weeks before
Budfest, then went undefeated though five games to
win their first championship of 2013 at the Budweiser
Festival. Team Dallas Women defeated You Might/
NES from San Antonio (16-4), Houston Blaze (10-7),
Straight Shot/Mizuno from Spring (9-1) and Lady
Brokers from Stafford (20-10) to advance to the championship game, where they knocked off Lady Brokers
again (10-7) to win the crown.
Lady Brokers from Stafford was the runnerup and
highest finishing C team with a 5-2 record. Famous
Freaks from Sanger came in third place also at 5-2,
while Connection from San Antonio finished fourth at
3-2. Rub and Tug BBQ from Austin and Straight Shot/
Mizuno from Spring tied for fifth; Quiet Storm from
Killeen and Lady Oops from Houston tied for seventh;
and Don’t Hate from Houston, J.F.F. from Spring, Lego/
Texas Inks from Pearland, and Houston Blaze all tied
for ninth.
Jocelyn Roberts and Towana Tollette of Team Dallas
Women were named Co-Most Valuable Players
of Women’s C, while Brittany Tottenham of Lady
Brokers was the Gold Glove winner. Others named
to the All-Tournament team were Tracey Rodgers,
Anna Barren, Lakreece Allen and Dasha Williams, of
Team Dallas Women; Nicole Fiola, Krystal McGee and
Shawyetta Sumlie, of Laady Brokers; Brittney Willis
and Jana Melton, of Famous Freaks; and Lupe Soto,
of Connection.
In the Women’s D bracket, Goonie Proof from Waco
went 6-1 to take the title. Goonie Proof defeated
Wicked Curves from San Antonio (7-0), FM Reloaded
from Hutto (8-4) and B&T Express from Houston (6-4)
to advance to the finals of the winner’s bracket,
where they lost to Victorious Secret from Katy (7-4).
But Goonie Proof dropped to the elimination bracket
and defeated TQ United from Dallas (16-6) to make it
back to the finals, where they proceeded to doubledip Victorious Secret (14-9 and 14-10) to capture the
championship.
Men’s 35&Over Champions – Rockies Sportsbar - College Station, TX
Victorious Secret from Katy was the runnerup with a
4-2 record, while TQ United from Dallas finished third
at 5-2, and the San Antonio Aces came in fourth at
4-2. B&T Express from Houston and Team Inc. from
Kingsville tied for fifth place, Get Real from Austin
and Diamond Divas from Killeen tied for seventh,
and Fully Loaded from Seagoville, Tx Swagg from
Longview, Ball Busters from Austin and FM Reloaded
from Hutto all tied for ninth.
Morgan Brock of Goonie Proof was named Most
Valuable Player, and Kaleigh Mushinski of Victorious
Secret was the Gold Glove winner. Other players
named to the All-Tournament team were Jennifer
Cantu, Raygan Barron, Courtney Walters and Amanda
Kreig, of Goonie Proof; Amy Pearson, Tammi Harrigan
and Adreinne Diaz, of Victorious Secret; Gertie
Johnson and Joyce Lewis, of TQ United; and Genevieve
Ryan, of San Antonio Aces.
Men’s 35&Over Second Place – Bud Legends - Bryan, TX
There were 43 teams entered in the Mixed division, where most games were played at Haswell &
Lions Park in Bryan. The facility is an former softball
complex that was converted to Pony League Baseball
when BRAC opened, but returned to its slow-pitch
roots for this tournament.
Pray For Rain/BlackhawkST made the long journey
from Raceland, La. near New Orleans and took the
first place trophy with them back to Louisiana. Pray
For Rain defeated Don’t Tread On Me from Dallas
(19-7), Play Dirty from Temple (8-7), Bad Life Decisions
from Mansfield (18-11), and Round 2 from Diboll
(32-3) to reach the winner’s bracket finals, where
they defeated A&D/Renegades from Austin (18-8).
A&D/Renegades dropped to the elimination bracket
and knocked off Co-ed Connection from San Antonio
(19-3) to get another shot in the championship. A&D/
Renegades even beat Pray For Rain in the first game
(17-10) to force an “if game” which Pray For Rain won
(18-7) to capture first place.
Following Pray For Rain at 6-1 and A&D/Renegades
at 6-2, Co-ed Connection from San Antonio finished
third at 5-2. Round 2 from Diboll took fourth at 5-2,
The 28th Annual Budweiser Softball Festival attracted a team from the other side of the
world- Guam!
Worth Sports’ BJ Fulk always enjoys a great Budfest, along side Lone Star Softball’s Greg
Huchingson.
USSSA TODAY 83
and Bad Life Decisions from Mansfield and Watcha!
From San Antonio tied for fifth, both at 4-2. The rest
of the Top 10 included The Misfits from San Antonio
and Park Bums Co-ed from Fort Worth, tied for
seventh; and Hit or Miss from College Station, BMF/SS
Softball from Round Rock, Horns from Lampasas, and
Bud Light Softball from Bryan, all tied for ninth.
Homerun derby winners walked away with a handful of cash. The winner was Cody
Ross(left), HKI/STFU, and the runner-up (for the second year in a row) Budweiser’s Brian
Bohanon.
Brock Landry of Pray For Rain was named Most
Valuable Player, while Bryan Sigmon of A&D/
Renegades was the Gold Glove winner. Others named
to the All-Tournament team were Stephanie PomesPell, Kayla Casbon, Dustin Punch and Brian McCants,
of Pray For Rain; Corey Jahn, Sandy Dotson and Tami
Martinez, of A&D/Renegades; Mikey Garibay, Donte
Lapointe and Crystal Savage, of Co-ed Connection; and
Chase Phillips and LaShonda McCollister, of Round 2.
Finally, a Men’s 35 & Over bracket was played Friday
night at Veterans Park, while the Home Run Derby was
going on in Bryan. Games were played to completion
through the night, with the division ending about 3
a.m. Saturday. Two local teams made it to the finals,
with Rockies Sportsbar from College Station winning
the championship at 4-0 and Bud Legends from Bryan
finishing runnerup at 4-2. Defending champion KD
Logo from San Antonio came in third place at 2-2,
while the Old School Strokers/A&A Utility from Fort
Hood finished fourth.
Local CBS affiliate KBTX’s Nicole Morten interviews tournament founder, Greg
Huchingson, prior to the marathon event.
The first place team was managed by Lance Hilliard,
who later managed Budweiser to the championship
of the Men’s C bracket, so Hilliard and several of the
same players were double champions on the weekend.
Kip Todhunter of Rockies was named Most Valuable
Player of Men’s 35 & Over, while Kevin Johnson of
the Bud Legends was the Gold Glove winner. Other
players named to the All-Tournament team were Todd
Weigand, Jeff McCoy, Jon Jones and Chad Cowen, of
Rockies; Keith Taylor, Shane Billings and Larry Cross,
of Bud Legends; Will O’Neill, Tony Flores and David
Zarate, of KD Logo; and Pedro Tagle Jr. and Michael
Rocha, of Old School Strokers.
The Bud girls are always a big hit with the players.
Grab some BUDS!!!
84 USSSA TODAY
A lot of coordination goes into putting on an event
of this size. The Tournament Director at Veterans Park
was Roy Dean, while the UIC was Ben Templeton.
The Tournament Directors at the Bryan Regional
Athletic Complex were Scott Duffy and Brian Ragan,
while the UIC was Phillip Wheeler. The Tournament
Director and UIC at Bee Creek Park was Bennie Scott;
the Tournament Director and UIC at Central Park was
Rene Hinojosa; and the Tournament Director and UIC
at Haswell/Lions Park was Jeff Neill.
The Parks & Recreation Departments from the Cities
of Bryan and College Station had the fields in excellent playing condition and maintained them for the
duration of the tournament, and the gigantic crew of
quality USSSA umpires from across Texas pitched in to
help make the event a huge success.
year honors softballers from S.W. Ohio
who have passed away, we unfortunately
witnessed a tremendous lack of sportsmanship.
continued from page 77
the guys I play against. I respect the guys
that lose to us and are still genuine in their
comments of “good game” and “good luck”.
Those are the guys we should want our children to be like.
Sportsmanship is the
Essence of Sport
By Scott Kuhnen
It wasn’t as a result of bad behavior or foul
language on the field. Rather, it was the
failure on the part of half a dozen teams (of
the total 48 who entered) to return after the
round-robin portion of the event to play in
the next day’s double elimination championship round..
The majority of these teams did not notify
the tournament directors, who obviously
could not then notify these team’s opponents
and the umpires for these games.
An important form of sportsmanship is
respect and courtesy for one’s opponent and
the game itself.
This lack of respect and courtesy is also a
blatant lack of sportsmanship on the part of
these teams, both the team manager(s) and
the players.
At the recently held 33rd Annual Worth/
USSSA Memorial Tournament, which each
Beyond that, it also drives cost, as the avoidance of scheduling their games when they
had no intention of showing up and the need
to stay later in the evening (under the lights)
both are costs passed on to teams.
While no-shows have long been a problem
in both league and tournament softball, and
we appreciate that some unusual circumstances might cause teams to be delayed or
fail to appear, at certain featured events,
they cause more than just normal disruption.
In fact, whenever they occur, they drag all the
game’s participants down and show a great
lack of sensitivity for the time and lives of
others.
When your team is confronted with such a
situation, and you KNOW you will not be
able to participate, please notify the league
or tournament directors who, in turn, can
notify your opponents and save them both
time and trouble. Sportsmanship demands
no less.
Be Good Sports on and off the field!
Softball Insight
with Miken’s Isenhower
Going into the half way point of the season, all I can do is shake
my head in disbelief of how fast the season is going by... Seems
like just yesterday, I was hitting inside trying to get ready for
the opener... and asking myself what the year was going to
bring -- were we (Resmondo) going to live up to our name and
play like champions everytime out or would we have something come over our team and keep us from connecting the
way a number one team in the world has to play.... so far so
good... Though we’ve had disappointment here and there, this
is by far one of the favorite teams I’ve ever been a part. We
have a little bit of everything.... we have guys that are towards
the end of their careers like Howie Krause, Dennis Rulli, and
Bobby Hughes, who have accomplished as much as anyone to
ever play the game,, then on the other end of the spectrum,
we have some of the top up and coming players in the game..
Kids like Nic Santana and Jeremy Yates, who have the potential to be the top 2 outfielders in the game some day... And
then you have the nucleus, the guys in their prime, like Greg
Connell, Jimmy Salas, Bubba Mack, Andy Purcell (he doesn’t
age) Junior DeDonatis and BJ Fulk---which in my opinion are
the best players in the country at the respective positions...
This has been the key ingredient to us playing 6 tournaments
against the top teams in the country and coming out on top
in 4 of those....
is not if we have another winning formula in us, but where
in the heck they can get my Miken Psycho.. ha-ha.. which is
awesome.. In the beginning this bat was about the looks.. The
look alone was awesome and would allow the bat to have a
lot of success... But after really getting to get out and let the
barrel really open up for me, I realized the performance of this
baby is what’s selling it... Its honestly the best Miken I’ve ever
swung.. I’m hitting the ball further than I ever have and have
been able to maintain my bat control while doing it.. This alone
gives you such a confidence boost that everytime
you go to the plate that it should almost be
an unfair advantage... To anyone on
the fence about whether to get the
Psycho or not, do it.. You will not
regret it... Good luck to all
down the stretch of
the season...
Izzy
Through this, the one thing that I’m continuously asked about
USSSA TODAY 85
2013 Bat Technology
Continues to Make Strides
By Michael Cisneros
The official ball supplier of
USSSA Today Bat Reviews
Photos by Brianne Marie Cisneros
The USSSA bat standards changed for 2013 and bat manufacturers have stepped up to the plate to offer
the best bats allowed by the new USSSA performance testing. As bat makers get closer to building the
best-performing bats allowed by law (OK, allowed by the rules), the focus is moving toward personalization with the largest range of weights, loads, barrel lengths, materials and even graphics this generation
of players has ever seen. Now more than ever the question is not “who makes the best bat” but “what
is the best bat for the type of hitter I am?” Below are some more new offerings from Miken , Worth,
Louisville Slugger and DeMarini that just might answer that question for you …
Miken Triad Maxload
When two-piece softball bats were introduced, they were
designed for hitters with slow hand speeds and not much
power and as such were extremely flexible. That design
attracted some but left stronger hitters who wanted a twopiece demanding stiffer-handled two-piece-that-feel-like-onepiece designs. All the while Miken – the original composite bat
manufacturer – stayed away from making a two-piece bat of
any kind … until the 2013-14 Triad: it has the flex needed by
weaker hitters and the stiffness desired by stronger hitters with
a new Miken barrel configuration and a specialized handle
designed to bring the entire package together.
According to Miken Sports’ Adam Petersen, the triple-layer
Triad barrel is something the Miken engineers have come up
with specifically for two-piece bats. “It is a new system we use,
you will not see a Triad barrel on a one-piece bat,” he said.
“We are able to make different handles to match that specific
barrel, whether slow pitch, baseball or fastpitch. You can’t do
that with a one-piece bat.”
Triad Technology uses a Triple Pressure application to highest
grade aerospace carbon which creates thinner, denser layers
giving the barrel improved strength, durability, performance
and feedback. It is paired with a Vortex handle where braided
composite layers distribute the load evenly allowing the barrel
layers to operate seamlessly for uninterrupted performance
and flex.
The Triad feels more flexible than the most recent bats because
of its design, but it performs like a stiff bat. “We wanted a
two-piece feel to the bat, but we did not want to take it out of
the power hitters’ hands,” said Petersen. “We didn’t create this
for the lesser player. It has a bigger sweet spot with the Triad
barrel, a stiff Vortex handle, and still has the feel. We wanted
the power hitter to feel comfortable using it.”
The Triad is not just a new bat but a new approach to twopiece bats. “In the old days if you had a bat speed of better
than 73 mph, you actually lost distance swinging a two-piece,”
86 USSSA TODAY
said Petersen. The Triad with is specific technologies in the
barrel and handle is designed to increase performance at any
swing speed. “Keep in mind that his bat is also designed to hit
a completely different type of ball than the bats of the past
were.”
The Triad is ready to go right out of the wrapper though it does
take a few swings to get the real feel of it; the sound and feel
at contact are very different than what a Miken hitter is used
to experiencing. The sharp “crack” of the Freak is replaced by
a softer “whump.” The violence of a screaming line drive is
replaced by a moment of silence – almost weightlessness – that
becomes a vapor trail of a long, deep drive. The ball, especially
the low compression type used in USSSA this season, really
responds to the Triad. “But it feels weird” is a valid complaint
– it does feel different to any Miken and every other two-piece
we’ve tried; it’s smooth and where you might expect a smash
at contact instead there is a whisper of an energy transfer.
But with the changing bat standard and ball technologies the
Triad may simply be ahead of the curve. We all hit the ball
easily and farther than we thought we would when the hitting
session began, and that means it is a bat we will trust with the
game on the line.
Triad Maxload
•Triad3 Technology
•100 Comp •14.5-inch barrel
• Vortex handle
• Synthetic cushioned grip
• Maxload 0.5 oz End Load
Miken Triad 4 the Fallen Balanced
Miken does not currently make a signature model of its Triad
bat. “Our guys have their bats – Jeremy Isenhower’s Psycho
Supermax, Denny Crine’s DC-41 Supermax, and Kevin Filby’s
new KF-30 Filby Supermax,” said Petersen. “But we don’t have
a Triad with any individual’s name on it. You might see one
coming though …”
Until then, Miken has the 4 the Fallen, a bat made specifically
for the Conference USSSA team 4 the Fallen/Miken. The team
is associated with 4THEFALLEN.org – Empowering Families of
Miken Sports is proud to partner
with the 4 The Fallen Organization
to honor our American Veterans.
In an effort to raise awareness
for the warriors who have served
and paid the ultimate sacrifice for
our freedom, Crine and the 4 The
Fallen Team welcome you to join
in Flag Ceremonies held at every
tournament.
WWW.MIKENSPORTS.COM
With Miken’s new Triad Technology, this two-piece bat really delivers. The Triad
process creates a more compact carbon giving it supreme strength, great feedback,
and unparalled durability. With balanced weighting, the Triad is ideal for players
looking to maximize their swing speed.
the Fallen and Wounded - and features on its roster Major List
players Crine and Johnny Bailey. 4 the Fallen won the first leg
of the Seattle Combat Major Dual on May 30- 31 with a 5-0
record.
The 4 the Fallen bat uses all the same technology as the Triad
Maxload - a Triple Pressure application to highest grade
aerospace carbon which creates thinner, denser layers giving
the barrel improved strength, durability, performance and
feedback. It is paired with a Vortex handle where braided
composite layers distribute the load evenly allowing the barrel
layers to operate seamlessly for uninterrupted performance
and flex. The biggest differences are the balanced weighting,
which gives the bat a different feel, and the patriotic paint job.
The 4 the Fallen is lighter and so feels like you are swinging
faster than the Triad. The weighting is so nice, it calls to mind
a samurai sword – balanced, effortless, and efficient. You can
slice easily through the air and slap the ball in any direction
you wish; you can slice mightily and drive it to the deepest
part of the field. Our power hitters were able to get as much
distance out of this balanced bat as they were out of the endloaded models.
The paint job has made this bat everybody’s favorite. The
Miken logo has an American flag set in it with the blue field of
stars and white and red stripes all showing; a similar pattern
sits in the Triad logo ; there are two 4 the Fallen logos of a
soldier mourning at a battlefield memorial; and there are the
logos of the five services – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and
Coast Guard.
Triad 4 the Fallen
•Triad3 Technology
•100 Comp •14.5-inch barrel
• Vortex handle
• Balanced
Miken KF-30 Filby Supermax
The all-new KF-30 Filby Supermax features 750X HPI Technology
– a proprietary process that injects an ultra-tough epoxy into
highest grade carbon fibers and aramid fibers at 750 pounds
per square inch – where extreme pressure and premium materials combine to create a new durable, high-performance shell.
100 Comp Formula means Miken uses 100% premium aerospace grade fibers only for consistent performance and durability. The Filby Supermax has the longest barrel in softball
which means it has the most usable hitting surface. It has the
full ounce end load to help increase bat speed for maximum
distance.
“This bat is set up like a sledgehammer,” said Petersen. “It is
an extension of our most popular line. I suppose you could say
it is a member of the Psycho family. It has the same barrel, but
a different handle. Some guys think it feels heavier than our
other bats. But it is really our traditional one-piece design set
up the way Kevin likes it.
“If there are hitters out there who were Miken lovers in the
past, this is going to be right up their alley.”
88 USSSA TODAY
This is an all-new bat, but it is totally familiar. Anyone who
picks it up will be comfortable walking up to the plate in game
conditions and taking a swing. There is no break-in period;
there is no getting-to-know-you period. This is Miken, at its
best, in a 26-oz package designed to get the ball out of the
park in the quickest way possible. Kevin Filby has been using
his signature bat all season including during the Long Haul
Bombers events where he is currently one point out of first
place.
Miken says the bat performs best after about the 50th swing,
but the first ball we hit with it (Conference USSSA Dudley ZN)
went 370 feet. So …
There were no negative comments about this one; you do not
have to be big to make it work, but the bigger you are the
more impressive the bat becomes. Miken makes a number of
different models with something to improve everyone’s swing.
But if you are a grip-it-and-rip-it type of hitter who considers
anything under 400 a “mis-hit,” this is the bat you have been
waiting for.
KF-30 Filby Supermax
•One Piece Fully Composite
Construction
•750X HPI Technology •100 Comp Formula
• 14.5-inch barrel
• Supermax 1 oz End Load
Worth Legit Resmondo
Worth unveiled its Legit series of bats for 2013 last year as a
full line of one-piece bats using the company’s patented 454
Technology and it was met with success. Now in an unprecedented move Worth is re-launching its Legit series this year as
a full line of two-piece bats. To Worth Sports’ Mike Cornell, the
move makes perfect sense.
“The idea was to separate the Legit two-piece line from the
454 one-piece line,” he said. “It gives you a definition of what
the Legit is, what the 454 is.”
What the Legit is, is a 14.5-inch barrel made with 454 Technology
– a layering of 4 layers/5 layers/4 layers of composite through
the hitting surface that helps extend the sweet spot a couple
of inches toward the end cap and the handle. Worth has
added HMF to its 454 Technology: HMF – High Modulus Fiber
– Technology uses fibers with a smaller diameter which allows
a greater number of individual fibers to be woven together
in the same amount of space, resulting in amplified strength
for greater performance and improved durability. New to the
Legit line is the Legit Power Core, a Power Molding Process
that trims wasted material creating the purest composite layer
on the market. The process removes voids in performance
making a leaner, higher performing barrel than ever before.
In the Resmondo, which is the signature bat for both Resmondo
pitcher Andy Purcell and Resmondo infielder Don DeDonatis,
that barrel is paired with the Heavy Duty Frame handle, a thick
handle preferred by those two players and familiar to legions
of Worth Mutant fans. The Resmondo also has a full ounce end
weighting.
JEFF
HALL
©Worth Sports, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation (NYSE:JAH) • WORTHSPORTS.COM
The redesigned Legit is one of the first lines produced for
Worth under John Baer’s watch. “John Baer, the JTS Operations
Manager for Worth, has really been a difference maker,” said
Cornell. “He gets with the engineers and is the company’s
direct line of communication between research, development,
engineering, everything. He is our go-to guy.”
The Legit Resmondo has been in use in Conference USSSA all
year and the results have been good.
The Legit Resmondo swings heavy, as all Resmondo models do,
but the thick handle actually makes it feel easier to control.
There is the big sweet spot, the heavy end load, and the
Resmondo distance of course for anyone looking to club a ball
into the next area code, but there is also a unique touch to
swings that are more controlled thanks to the HD handle. It’s
a power-hitter’s bat that can be used by more than just power
hitters. And the bright orange with midnight blue accents is
becoming a brand unto itself.
Legit Resmondo
•Legit Power Core
•454 Technology
•High Modulus Fiber Technology
• HD Handle
• Resmondo Loading
• Soft Touch Grip
Worth Legit Balanced
The Legit Balanced shares most of the technology of the
Resmondo – Legit Power Core molding process, High Modulus
Fiber materials, 454 Technology composite layup – but it is
different in two pretty big ways. First, it does not have the
Resmondo Load, that extra 1 ounce on the end of the barrel
that helps move the sweet spot out toward the end and is a
favorite feature of traditional power hitters; second it does
not have the stiff HD Handle.
The Balanced introduces Worth’s new Flex Fifty handle to
the Legit line; the Flex Fifty will be standard in the majority
of Legits in 2014-15. Flex Fifty helps increase flex and whip
through contact. It is designed to help batters with slow
swings or fast swings get more distance out of today’s lower
compression balls.
The Balanced has a huge, responsive hitting surface. The
performance is pretty consistent up and down the barrel.
The new handle gives the Legit Balanced a unique feel – at
least unique compared to its brother the Resmondo. It can be
described as whippy – swinging more like a golf club than an
axe – and seems to reward a smooth swing more than it does
a fast or slow swing or strong or gentle contact. As my coaches
often say – take it easy and let the bat do the work; in this
situation their advice is right on. Once you have the rhythm
of hitting the balance, understanding the feel of the flex, and
getting used to the sound the smooth new barrel makes, the
Legit Balanced is a pretty stress-free bat to hit.
“Andy (Purcell), Junior (DeDonatis), even Jeff Wallace when
he was here, all liked the thick handle on the Mutant,” said
Cornell; Worth will keep the HD handle future versions of the
Mutant. “I liked it too. But the one thing we were missing in
90 USSSA TODAY
our lineup was a two-piece bat with a thinner handle.”
Now they have a line of them.
Legit Balanced
•Legit Power Core
•454 Technology
•High Modulus Fiber Technology
• HD Handle
• Balanced
• Soft Touch Grip
DeMarini Stadium 2.1
The 2014 Stadium 2.1 is not that drastically different from
last 2013’s Stadium Spec ONE – it uses the same type of S.ONE
composite in the barrel, the same type of SC4 alloy in the
handle, the same type of dish end cap, and the same type of
weighting. But that’s not to say it’s the same old bat.
“In any given year we will make some discoveries to improve
upon what we have done in the past,” said Jerry Garnett of
DeMarini Sports. “Whether is it a little tweak to the materials,
or a fine-tuning to the process, we are always improving what
we do. And how this bat is improved will become apparent to
the user…
“With a cap on performance, we really can’t change too much
because … we can’t. There are performance limits. But we
often hear from players that one bat is better than another
because they get so much more distance with it; well, there
are a lot of variables but not all of them are on us – much of
that may be on you finally finding a bat that really fits what
you are trying to do.”
The Stadium 2.1 has a balanced, 13-inch barrel of multiwall
S.ONE composite - a proprietary design that uses multiple
narrow layups of fiber to create one of the stiffest shells used
for softball; the dish end cap regulates the hoop flex (trampoline) and allows the bat to be stiffer toward the end, giving the
hitter a better chance of getting more energy out of contact
made away from the sweet spot. It uses the SC4 alloy handle,
stiffer than any composite handle and tuned to make the
two-piece bat feel like a one-piece design; the SC4 handle is
measurably 1.85 times as stiff as the handle used in DeMarini’s
popular Juggernaut bats.
“The stiffer feel is for the player who likes that instant feedback,” said Garnett. “Some guys want to know where on the
barrel they are making contact. We came to realize we weren’t
serving the whole market when we just had the Juggernauts.”
The Stadium 2.1 is actually the third bat in the Stadium series
following last year’s Chris Larsen/Kevin Filby model and 2012’s
Chris Larsen/Geno Buck bat; a fourth Stadium – the Chris Larsen
22 has a 12-inch barrel and end load and should be available
soon. The Stadium 2.1 swings much like its predecessors - stiff
but contact is not jarring; the barrel almost feels soft at impact,
the batter can feel that good contact has been made, and the
ball jumps well off the surface. There are no surprises: balls
hit on the sweet spot are impressive, those hit toward the end
still have a little sizzle on them. The balanced weight is easy
to swing.
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“It’s a great bat, hot out of the wrapper, is what we are seeing
on the softball message boards,” said Garnett. “The truth is
this isn’t a bat that needs a lot of conditioning.”
said Turner. “The newly designed end cap will allow for truer
weighting, greater swing speeds, and is tuned to the new
composite (shell).”
The Stadium 2.1 has actually been more popular than even
DeMarini expected, with sales up 170% over last year and
orders coming in faster than bats are going out. Part of that
is because DeMarini’s reputation for durability is spreading
north where players play in temperatures frowned upon by
bat manufacturers. Part of it is because of the performance
of the Stadiums in the hands of players who never tried twopiece bats before. And part of it is due to consistency.”
The bat has a similar grip to the 2013 model, but new this year
is a pro style taper under the grip. It is a small addition to the
design but makes a major difference in the feel of the bat at
rest in your hands and during the swing. “It’s a more ergonomic feel,” said Turner. “It allows the player to drop his fingers
below the knob and still obtain that great feel and allow their
flexor muscles to work more fluently through the entire swing,
thus increasing bat speed through the hitting zone.”
“We are trying to get out of making changes for the sake of
change,” said Garnett. “When we’ve got a bat that people
like, it doesn’t need to go away after a season. We didn’t make
any big changes. We didn’t feel we needed to.”
Even though the barrel is not the longest and the handle is
not the stiffest, the Z-2000 was among the most comfortable
we hit, remarkable in its ease of use; you don’t have to be any
particular type of hitter to get something good out of this bat.
DeMarini Stadium 2.1
•4.ONE Composite barrel
•SC4 Alloy handle
•Half & Half technology
•13-inch barrel
“We still have the iST Technology in the transition and the
12-inch barrel as we feel this is the most desired size among all
different caliber of players,” said Turner. “And you can see we
kept the camo design, but gave it some brighter colors for give
it a more distinct look at the ballfields.”
• Balanced weight
• Dish concave end cap
• Hybrid performance grip
Louisville Slugger Z-2000 End Load
The 2014 Z-2000 looks much like last year’s model, but under
that grey and green camouflage paint are a number of
improvements brought about by a re-design last fall.
“We took a great deal of time testing this new design to come
up with the bat we are just now releasing to the market,” said
Louisville Slugger Slowpitch Business Manager Dennis Turner.
“It took longer than expected, but we wanted to get it right as
our loyalists deserved that.”
Inside, the Z-2000 features the same technology that has
made it (and its predecessor the Z-1000) a top performer. iST
Composite technology joins the barrel and handle together
without losing any handle stiffness. The S1iD inner disc allows
for a more forgiving barrel by keeping a shell that would be
too hot to pass the performance limits on its own working in a
range where it meets USSSA standards while yielding impressive performance; the S1iD allows the bat to flex without
failing while giving the ball the jump of a much thinner wall.
All new is the Pure 360 Composite, replacing last year’s LS-2X
formula. The stronger composite has been infused with a new
resin content percentage designed specifically for slow pitch
that is designed to provide all the performance of the 2013 bat
but with measurably better durability.
The Z-2000 End Load has a true end-load feel, noticeably
different from the Balanced version. It also has a new concave,
star-shaped end cap. The bat has a different sound than the
2013 model which itself was radically different from the 2012
version; this bat is much quieter than any previous model on
contact. The distance is still there though. We also noticed a
large number of line drives that knuckled off the bat during
testing.
“You might attribute the different sound to the new end cap,”
92 USSSA TODAY
Louisville Slugger Z-2000 End Load
•Pure 360 Composite
• End load weighting
•S1iD inner disc
• Pro style handle taper
•iST composite connector
• Synthetic grip
Louisville Slugger Z-2000 Balanced
The balanced version of the 2014 Z-2000 is similar to the End
load in every way except for the weighting and the camo
color. The balanced swings very true to weight and the way
it performs you may not even miss the extra ounce out on the
end. In fact we found no difference in performance between
the two and personal preferences of either the weighting or
the color were the only real way to choose one over the other.
It is made of Pure 360 Composite and features S1iD inner discs
in the 12-inch barrel with iSD technology binding the barrel
and handle.
The new Z-2000 is not a player’s signature model, a decision
made to indicate a refocus of Louisville Slugger’s goal to dominate the slow pitch bat world the way it did a generation ago.
“We did not eliminate the signature series as a discredit to Tim
Cocco and Lee Powers (2013 Z-2000 signature players), they
are both tremendous players,” said Louisville Slugger’s Dennis
Turner. “But this is where we are starting as we set out to
leave our mark on the slow pitch industry over the next several
years.”
The 2014 Z-2000 is probably a pretty good place to get started
from.
Louisville Slugger Z-2000 Balanced
•Pure 360 Composite
• End load weighting
•S1iD inner disc
• Pro style handle taper
•iST composite connector
• Synthetic grip
When you step up to the plate
with the Z-2000TM, you’re
armed with the best there is and your competitors know it.
TIM COCCO
USSSA OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
122 HOME RUNS | 330 RBI’S
JOIN OUR TEAM OF
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER LOYALISTS
facebook.com/louisvillesluggerslowpitch
twitter.com/sluggerSP
USSSA Slow Pitch Softball Invitational
4-6 October 2013
Divisions of Play: Men’s B/C, Men’s D, Men’s E
Women’s C, Women’s D/E
Entry Fee: $325.00
Information: Bert Frederick 575-647-3034 or email bert.frederick@usssa.com
Home Run Hitting Contest: Men’s: 5 October, 7-9pm, Harty Park, Women’s 9-11pm, format change: (longest
ball hit) $15.00 Entry Fee, Provide your own Pitcher, 5 Pitches, Winner = New Bat & Pitcher = New Glove.
Format = Single Elimination. Entry Deadline: 4 October, 6pm Harty/Maag Park or first 32 entries. (May enter
at Team Check-In, 1-4pm, 4 October, Harty Park)
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
YES! Please send me an invoice.
Two year subscription - $40
One year subscription - $25
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For more info: stafford.connor@usssa.com
Mail to: USSSA Today, 6028 Rayburn Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76133
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to - USSSA - United States Specialty Sports Association

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