May 7th, 2012 - Cinco De Mayo NIT

May 7^th, 2012

With two outs in the bottom of the 9^th inning, Jared Weaver for the Angels had faced only two batters over the minimum for the game.  A deep fly ball to right field was caught by Tori Hunter to cap off a No Hitter and an incredible night of pitching for Weaver.  Only two batters had reached base, one on a dropped third strike and one walk in the 9^th inning.  Weaver has had one of the most incredible ERAs in all of baseball for the past 5 years, so it was only a matter of time before he threw a no hitter.  Cheering on the Southern California native were his mom and dad.  After watching countless games, driving countless miles, and spending countless hours at the ball fields, they are still there in the front row cheering on their son through the good and the bad.  A little positive parental support can do more for a player than hours of yelling and screaming.

Cinco De Mayo NIT – May 5-6, 2012

The Cinco De Mayo NIT is the last the tournament before one of the two weekends off in 2012.  Teams in all divisions took advantage of that fact to play some great baseball on both Saturday and Sunday.

In the 8-Under division, Easton Elite had an undefeated weekend to take home the first place trophy.  The 7-Under Chino Hills Thunder clinched the 2^nd Seed, but couldn’t hold off the So Cal Bombers in the semi-finals. 

The 9-Under tournament was full of upsets and revenge.  The 4^th Seed SGV Hustle upset the 1^st Seed So Cal Bees in the semi-finals to advance to the championship game.  The Bees had beaten the Hustle on Saturday in a close 7-6 game.  In the finals, SGV Hustle took on So Cal Outlaws Black.  It was the third game on Sunday for both teams, and the Hustle were able to outlast the Outlaws to take first place.

The 10-Under Montebello Mayhem missed the Gold Bracket on Sunday by one spot and came into Sunday determined to play hard on Sunday.  They advanced to the finals where they faced the BP Roadrunners, whom they had tied on Saturday.   The Mayhem fought hard for a 3-1 victory to win the Silver Bracket.

Montebello Mayhem (click to enlarge)

In the Gold Bracket, both the Bakersfield Heat and the 9-Under So Cal Outlaws Elite were both undefeated going into the championship game.  The 9-Under Outlaws fought hard, but were unable to keep up with the Heat, who made sure to take advantage of the long drive down from Bakersfield.

The 11-Under Pomona Titans were in the zone all weekend, going undefeated to win the Gold Bracket. 

With no 2-0 teams going into Sunday’s games, the 12-Under Red division was up for grabs for anyone.  1^st Seed T2 Black took on 3^rd Seed Vicious BBC in the championship game.  T2 came out swinging and won the 12-Under Red division.  In the 12-Under Blue division, the So Cal Riot upset the Cal Sand Dawgs in the 6-5 Championship game.

The 13-Under Anaheim Bandits were the 2^nd Seeds in Pool A going into Sunday’s games.  They used their loss on Saturday to light a fire for their games on Sunday.  They won their quarterfinal game to take on the 1^st Seed in Pool B, HD Flames.  After a hard fought game, they came away with a 4-3 win to advance to the championship game, where they were to face the Tustin Knights Black. The Tustin Knights had defeated them on Saturday, but the Bandits were ready for them, and capped off an incredible three game Sunday to take home the championship trophy.

In the 14-Under, the STC Future Prospects cruised to a 1^st Place finished with an undefeated weekend.

Thank you to all the teams that played this weekend.   Here is a list of the Champions and Runners Up.

Mother’s Day – May 13, 2012

Mother’s Day weekend is one of our two scheduled weekends in a year that we don’t have a tournament.  Moms do so much for us on and off the field, so give them a weekend back.  We will be supporting moms and women alike this coming Mother’s Day at the Race For the Cure in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Thank you to all the teams that played in the Heritage tournament and helped us raise over $2500 towards our donation.  Between that donation and the donations of our team, we were one of the top donators in the entire event.  So from everyone at USSSA, we say thank you for your support in this incredible cause in the fight against a disease that affects so many of the people we know and love.

Spring Classic – May 19-20, 2012

The Spring Classic takes us back to Steed Park in San Clemente, as well as Big League Dreams.  There are still openings available in all divisions.

Memorial Day – May 26-28, 2012

The Memorial Day team lists are currently posted for both the Memorial Day Super NIT and the FVPB/USSSA Memorial Day Tournaments.  Teams playing in the Memorial Day Super NIT will receive triple ranking points on usssa.com and the winners of the Major Divisions will receive a berth to the 2012 Elite World Series.

See you on the fields

-Anthony

Find us on Facebook

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

Like us on Facebook