April 30th, 2012 - Spring Shootout Recap

Saturday night marked a historic night for Major League Baseball.  Bryce Harper made his major league debut at the incredible age of 19.  Touted as one of the top baseball prospects since his early teens, Harper went 1-3 with a sacrifice fly in the National’s 4-3 loss to the Dodgers.  What you may not know is that Bryce Harper spent his younger years playing in USSSA tournaments in his native Las Vegas, Southern California, and all over the country.  At the 8-Under World Series Home Run Derby, he hit from home plate instead of second base.  At a 12-Under USSSA Tournament in Atlanta, he hit 10 home runs on 275 foot fences.  When he was 13, I was able to watch him play at Steed Park in San Clemente, where he hit multiple home runs and made plays worthy of ESPN, including a bare handed catch at the foul line.  Harper joins Hank Conger (Angels), Trevor Bell (Angels), Mike Moustakas (Royals), and more who grew up playing USSSA tournaments.  Love him or hate him, you can be sure you will be seeing him on Sports Center in the near future.

Spring Shootout – April 28-29^th, 2012

Limited field availability kept the Spring Shootout a smaller tournament, but there was still plenty of great baseball to be played on a beautiful April weekend.

In the 10-Under, the 1^st Seeds from both Pool A and Pool B met in the championship, where the Sea Dogs clinched a 7-1 victory.  In the 11-Under division, 5^th Seed OC Sundevils upset the 1^st Seed with a  14-6 victory, but they were unable to carry that momentum to the championship game, where the undefeated VSA Vipers took 1^st Place with a 5-1 win.

Three out of the four teams in the 12-Under Gold bracket were undefeated going into Sunday’s games.  The Bambinos and Dirt Dawgs Elite met in the championship game, where the Dirt Dawgs were able to keep their undefeated record alive with an 8-4 win.

The 13-Under bracket was an incredibly competitive bracket this weekend.  Five of the seven teams went 1-1 on Saturday, making Sunday’s games up for grabs for anyone.  The Diamond Trained Jaxx were the only undefeated team going into Sunday’s games, and they were able to keep that streak alive with a 12-1 championship victory.

In the 14-Under bracket, the 13-Under So Cal Angels proved that they could play with the best of them.  Heading into the championship game undefeated, they faced the undefeated 1^st Seed, No Fear.  They rose to the challenge and took home 1^st Place with a 6-1 win.

Thank you to all the teams who played this weekend.   

Cinco De Mayo NIT – May 5-6, 2012

The Cinco De Mayo NIT is just around the corner.  All teams that play in this tournament will receive double ranking points on www.usssa.com.  The champions in each division will receive a custom USSSA shirt from A-4.  There are still openings in most divisions, and games will be played at Big League Dreams West Covina, Chino Hills and Riverside.

Mother’s Day – May 12-13

Mother’s Day weekend is one of the two weekends that we don’t run a tournament, the other being the week after the World Series.  So make sure you take your mom’s out to dinner (or a baseball game), to thank her for all the time and effort she puts in in order for you to play baseball like you do.

See you on the fields

-AC

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April 23rd, 2012 - Heritage Classic Recap

Perfection was the theme for the weekend.  Phil Humber of the Chicago White Sox threw the 21^st perfect game in Major League Baseball history, though not without some controversy.   Whether or not Brendan Ryan checked his swing, Humber threw an incredible 96 pitch game in what was only his 30^th start since he was drafted in 2004.  Credit should also be given to both the Seattle Mariners fans and Brendan Ryan himself.  After the final out, the Seattle Mariner fans gave Humber a standing ovation, knowing that they had witnessed history.  Even though Brendan Ryan initially argued with the home plate umpire about his check swing, he is refusing to comment on the at bat.  He recognizes that Humber threw an incredible game and does not want to take away from that fact.  The amount of respect shown by both the fans and Ryan are something that should truly be commended. 

Humber’s perfect game wasn’t the only piece of perfection this weekend.  In the eight divisions playing in the 2012 Heritage Classic, six of them were won by teams going undefeated all weekend.  The Heritage was also the first of our 2012 Strike Out Hunger tournaments.  $50 of every entry fee will be donated to the Race for the Cure.  Thank you to the teams that played for helping us raise $2500 this weekend.  Keep your eyes open for more Strike Out Hunger events.

 

Big League Dreams:

The clouds were looming early on Saturday, but after they burned off, we were ready for some good baseball.   The 11-Under So Cal Defenders had a perfect weekend, giving up only 16 total runs in their 4-0 run to the championship.  In the 12-Under, the undefeated IE Elite and undefeated Rancho Cucamonga Bulldogs met in the championship game, where the IE Elite took home a hard fought 4-0 victory.  In the 13-Under tournament, the 12U Team Phenom showed that they can play with the big boys.  They outscored their opponents 29-7 in their 3 win and 1 loss run to first place, showing why they are one of the strongest 12-Under teams in the country.   The undefeated 14-Under Synergy had to fight for their 2-1 semi-final victory to face the undefeated Naranjeros.  Naranjeros took home the first place trophy to cap off their 4-0 weekend. 

Fountain Valley Sports Park:

Who would have thought that Kobe Bryant being at the park to watch his daughter play softball could be overshadowed?  The 4^th Seed FCBA Titans took on the 1^st Seed So Cal Mustangs in the semifinals on Sunday afternoon.  The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead in the 3^rd Inning, with the FCBA Titans answering with 2 runs in the 5^th.  In the bottom of the 6^th, the Mustangs had a runner on 3^rd with one out.  The starting pitcher for the Titans, now in his last available inning for the day, struck out the next two batters to force the game into extra innings.  The Titans went up 4-2 in the top of the 7^th and had to bring in their closer to hold of the Mustangs for the win.  It was one of the loudest and exciting baseball games in a long time. 

The Titans went on to face the undefeated Oakley Stingrays Green in finals.  The Stingrays drove in from Vegas and did not waste their trip.  They went 4-0 for the weekend, clinching the championship game 5-0.   Thank you to the Stingrays for making the trip with two teams. 

In the 12-Under division, games were incredibly competitive on Saturday.  No team scored more than five runs, and the biggest run differential was +4.  On Sunday, the undefeated SC Sidewinders took on the So Cal Redwings in the finals.  The Sidewinders had defeated the Redwings on Saturday, but the Redwings got redemption by winning the championship game.

Steed Park, San Clemente:

In San Clemente, the sun poked its head through on Saturday, but the marine layer blew right back in to keep everyone cool the rest of the weekend.  It didn’t slow down the great play though.  In the 13-Under division, the Lookouts Black stumbled a little on Saturday, but came back to win two strong games on Sunday to with the Silver Bracket.  In the Gold Bracket, undefeated Rox Baseball met undefeated Tustin Knights in the semifinal game.  Rox squeezed out a 2-0 victory to advance to the final to meet the winner of Real Deal BBC and HB Khaos. 

4^th Seed Real Deal BBC jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the 1^st Seed HB Khaos in the 3^rd inning.  Khaos battled back to make it 4-3 in the 5^th, but Real Deal scored two more to extend their lead to 6-3.  Khaos weren’t done yet though.  They scored three runs in the bottom of the 7^th to tie the game at 6-6.  The game went extra innings, where Khaos were able to get a walk off run in the bottom of the 10^th inning.  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to carry the momentum into the final game, where the Rox capped off their undefeated weekend with a win to take home first place.

In the 14-Under, play was very competitive on Saturday.  The US Stars and Total Baseball met again in the championship game.  They tied their first game, but US Stars went on to win the championship game.

Thank you to all the teams that played this weekend.

Spring Shootout – April 28-29, 2012

The Spring Shoot out at BLD Riverside and West Covina is next weekend.  There are still openings in most divisions, but space is limited, so sign up soon

Cinco De Mayo NIT – May 5-6, 2012

The Cinco De Mayo NIT will be held at Big League Dreams Chino Hills, Riverside, and West Covina.  This is a double points event, so all teams will receive double points at usssa.com.  The first place teams from each division will also receive USSSA Batting Cage Jackets. 

See you on the fields

-AC

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April 15, 2012 - Spring Fling Recap

Rain.  In Southern California, Rain is the worst forecast possible for a weekend.  We can play through heat, cold, or wind, but we can’t play through rain (or bees).  In other parts of the country, baseball fields are built with complex drainage systems.  These parts of the country either have a small window of time to play baseball during the year, or they get heavy rain year round.  With these drainage systems, they are able to get fields dry and playable in about an hour after the rain stops.  The upside is the superior draining, but the downside is the cost.  These systems are very expensive to install, and have to be done when initially building the fields.  Most, if not all parks, in Southern California do not install these systems because we have a year round window to play baseball and we do not get a large volume or rain per year. 

With the Spring Fling being at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, we were excited to be returning to Long Beach for our first of two tournaments this year.   The fields at Long Beach are impeccable, including two fields with grass infields and a full sized 60’x90’ field with a permanent mound for 14-Under teams.  They are maintained by an incredible crew, and it is always a relaxed and fun tournament.  This is why a forecast of heavy rain on Wednesday and Friday did not bode well for us.  The El Dorado fields handle water very well, but with the park just 5 miles from the coast line, they received the initial brunt of the storm.  After the rain stopped on Friday, the Long Beach field crew worked all night and all morning to try to get the fields ready for play, but were unable get them safe enough for the players due to the amount of rain that fell.  We would like to thank the crew for their effort, and look forward to being in Long Beach later in the year.

Spring Fling – April 14-15, 2012 – Big League Dreams Perris

Thankfully by the time the storm made its way to Big League Dreams Perris, it was not nearly as strong as earlier in the day.  All Saturday games were pushed back an hour to allow field crews to do any last minute field maintenance, but after that we were good to play some baseball.

With 35 teams in the park, it was a full schedule with no shortage of close games.  There were eight one-run games on Saturday and seven on Sunday.  In the 10-Under, the Fallbrook Warriors upset the 1^st Seed from Pool B to advance to the Championship Game against undefeated Cal Select.  Cal Select kept their undefeated record intact and took home First Place.  In the 11-Under division, undefeated Riverside Toros and undefeated Blacksox met in the finals, but it wasn’t easy to get there.  Both teams had to fight in their semifinal games to win by one run each.  The Riverside Toros took home the Championship trophy with a 7-4 win. 

In the 13-Under Gold Bracket, the 3^rd and 4^th Seeds upset the 1^st and 2^nd Seeds with one run victories. Yates Baseball Academy worked hard for their 10-9 Semifinal victory, and then took home the First Place Trophy in their first USSSA Tournament this year.  The 14-Under So Cal Barons went undefeated all weekend to take home the trophy with a one-run championship game victory.

Heritage – April 21-22, 2012

The Heritage is next weekend at BLD Riverside/BLD West Covina (Sunday playoff games only), Fountain Valley Sports Park, and Steed Park in San Clemente.  There are still openings for teams in all divisions at all parks.

$50 from every entry fee will be donated to the Race for the Cure.  Help USSSA Strike Out Cancer. 

Spring Shootout – April 28-29, 2012

The Spring Shootout will be played at Big League Dreams West Covina (9U, 10U, 11U) and Big League Dreams Riverside (12U, 13U, 14U).

See you on the fields

-AC

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April 8th, 2012 - Easter Classic Recap

It’s that time of year again.  Major League Baseball is back in full swing.  The Dodgers started off strong against the Padres, while the Angels struggled to find their footing against the Royals.  With all the extra-inning games, walk off wins, and surprising starts (Yankees and Red Sox both 0-3), it’s going to be a very exciting and interesting season.

Easter Classic – April 6-7, 2012

The Easter Classic is always a tricky tournament due to the restrictive Friday and Saturday scheduling options.  Even with the challenge of a Friday/Saturday tournament, that did not take away from the excellent and exciting baseball played by the teams participating.  In the 10-Under semi-final game, a bases loaded, two out, two run single sent the Sea Dogs to the championship game, where they faced the Chino Hills Rays.  Both teams were undefeated until the championship game before the Rays took home the championship

In the 14-Under division, ABD Armour and Team Trinity intended to take full advantage of the beautiful April weekend.  The 4^th and 5^th seeds battled it out for 19 long innings, the longest game in USSSA Southern California history.  In the top of the 11^th inning, Team Trinity scored three runs to go up 10-7, but ABD Armour came back and scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 10-10 before going on to win the game 11-10 in the bottom of the 19^th inning.  Congratulations to both teams for a hard fought and history making quarter final game.

The 8-Under Oakley Stingrays went undefeated all weekend to take home their championship trophy.  In the fiercely competitive 11-Under Blue division, the undefeated Lookouts and undefeated Rattlers met in the championship game.  The two teams battled it out before the Lookouts took home a nail biting 6-5 win.  In the 14-Under division, the Tustin Mets went undefeated all weekend to walk away with the first place trophy.

At Big League Dreams Chino Hills, make up games were held for the games last week that were cancelled due to swarming bees.  The Cougars returned and won both their semi-final game and championship game.  We would like to thank the three teams that came back and played to finish the tournament.  USSSA Southern California always makes every effort to complete a tournament in progress in the event of cancellation for any reason.

Thank you to all the teams that participated this weekend.

Spring Fling – April 14-15, 2012

The Spring Fling marks our long awaited return to El Dorado Park in Long Beach.  They have 6 beautiful fields, including two with grass infields and a full sized 60’x90’ for 14-Under teams.  There is still room in the 10-Under, 11-Under, and 14-Under divisions.

Games will also be played at Big League Dreams Perris, but all divisions are currently sold out.  Additional teams will be put on a waiting list.

Heritage – April 21-22, 2012

The 2012 Heritage will mark our first tournament of 2012 at The Fountain Valley Sports Park.  Fountain Valley shuts down their fields at the start of every year for renovations.  They have been re-opened and ready to play ball.  Separate tournaments will be held at Big League Dreams and Steed Park in San Clemente as well.

See you on the fields

-AC

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April 1st, 2012 - Fool's Gold Recap

Welcome to the Weekly Recap at the Baseball First Blog.  This section has unfortunately been neglected since we unveiled our redesigned website in May 2011, but we are going to be providing recaps after each tournament as well as updates and news about upcoming tournaments.

2012 Fool’s Gold

With the threat of rain in the forecast and the overcast skies on Saturday morning, there were no guarantees that we would be playing on Sunday.  Thankfully after a little bit of rain Saturday night after all the games had finished, the clouds blew out and provided us with a beautiful sunny Sunday to play some baseball.  We did have a first for our program at Big League Dreams Riverside when a swarm of bees descended onto Vero during the Semi-Final game between the Rockhounds and the Cougars.   The games unfortunately had to be cancelled because of the safety risk the bees posed for the players, coaches, umpires, fans and tournament staff.  There’s a first time for everything.

Here are the winners and runners up from the 2012 Fool’s Gold.

10-Under Red (BLD)
Champions	Runner Up
Elite Orange	Cyclones
10-Under Black (HB)
Champions	Runner Up
Phillies	Waves
11-Under (BLD)
Champions	Runner Up
Gamerz	Yucaipa Ruff Ryderz
12-Under Red (BLD)
Champions	Runner Up
Bulldogs	Riverside SWAT
12-Under Black – Gold Bracket (HB)
Champions	Runner Up
Stars	Vikings
12-Under Black – Silver Bracket (HB)
Champions	Runner Up
Game Face	Razorbacks
13-Under (BLD)
Champions	Runner Up
Games Cancelled Due to Bees Swarming
14-Under – Gold Bracket (BLD)
Champions	Runner Up
Bulldogs	Pride
14-Under – Silver Bracket (BLD)
Champions	Runner Up
Wildcats	Hitmen

2012 Memorial Day Super NIT & FVPB/USSSA Memorial Day Tournament – May 26-28

The annual Memorial Day Tournaments are quickly approaching.  Last year we had over 275 teams participate, and we are expecting more this year.  The annual USSSA Super NIT will be held at Big League Dreams West Covina, Chino Hills and Riverside with a separate tournament at Big League Dreams Cathedral City (5-Game Guarantee).  Click here for more information.

The annual FVPB/USSSA Memorial Day Tournament will be held at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley.  This tournament is open to all USSSA AA teams, Pony All Star Teams, and Little League All Star teams.  We had over 90 teams participate in this tournament last year, so sign up early.  Click here for more information.

We already have teams from four different states signed up to play in the Memorial Day Super NIT, so this you chance to play a team that you’ve never seen before.

2012 World Series – 7-Under, 8-Under, 9-13 AA – July 23-29

I know the World Series seems far away, but it will be here before you know it.  We already have a number of  teams signed up, including three teams from Hawaii and teams from five other states.  Click here for more information.

See you on the Fields

-AC