Spring Shootout Recap - April 25th, 2013

As our season winds to an end, the competition is heating up.  Thirteen and Fourteen year olds are getting ready for High School ball, teams in all age brackets are getting ready for the Elite World Series, and our Global and AA World Series are just around the corner.  Bat Wars is Southern California's last Super NIT of the season, and teams are going to be battling hard to secure that last Southern California berth to the Elite World series.  The super busy Memorial Day weekend is a month away, and we already have teams from around the country signed up to play.  It's going to be a busy summer, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

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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