Chad Bankston and Greg Ienni Named MVPs
The 2nd Annual Policesoftball.Com/Easton Summer Classic was once again held at the West Covina, Ca. Big League Dreams facility. Bring Ur Skilz C.E.O. Armando Acosta supplied dozens of 2010 Easton bats for the provided bat event. Unlike most tournaments, there were no allegations of “hot” bats because everyone used what was provided…stock Easton bats. Even though the 90 degree heat took its toll on the players, the bats and balls held up well. There were plenty of home runs hit and plenty of runs scored. There was a lot on the line for this event as it was the last point qualifier before the World Series. And there was an “at large” berth available for any non-top-15 team who placed highest. The round robin was critical because in each 3 team bracket only 2 would advance to the A-flight double elimination playoff. The 3rd place team would advance to the B-flight double elimination playoff. Here is how the round robin went down:
Bracket A
Alliance 2-0
Direct Impact 1-1
Chino Lockdown 0-2
Bracket B
Ohio Lawmen 2-0
Concord 1-1
Beach Bums 0-2
Bracket C
LAPD Blue 2-0
Choir Boys 1-1
HB Blues 0-2
Bracket D
HardCor 2-0
OC Hitmen 1-1
Outlaws 0-2
Bracket E
Sin City 2-0
RSD Red 1-1
Bakersfield Sticktime 0-2
Bracket F
State Razed 2-0
SD Force 1-1
LA Lawmen 0-2
Bracket G
DEA Combo 2-0
BP Elite 1-1
Hawthorne 0-2
Bracket H
Aftershock 2-0
Nitro2 Go 1-1
Ultimate B&G 0-2
After the playoff draw that pitted 1 seeds vs 2 seeds in the A-flight and 3 seeds against other 3 seeds in the B-flight the fields were closed for 1 hour for maintenance.
Policesoftball.com used that hour to host a fast paced provided bat home run derby. There was a large crowd gathered at the replica Dodger Stadium to watch 30 of the games top sluggers launch missiles into the parking lot beyond the fences and stadium facades. With music blaring, almost every hitter advanced into the second round, but only a handful made it to the final one pitch, one swing round. Amazingly 3 hitters managed to record a HR on the first pitch. SoCal’s Ray Ghiliotty was expected to be in the mix but Hawthorne’s Jason Sena and SoCal’s Nate Baez were dark horses who also remained standing after 27 others had faltered. In the sudden death round Ray G. recorded 3 homers to win the derby and a brand new Easton Stealth. Jason Sena finished in 2nd place and won a custom Easton jersey (major market teams were circling like sharks hoping to sign him before the World Series cut-off deadline). Nate Baez flexed his newfound muscle for an impressive 3rd place finish and won an Easton hat.
There were a mix of run-rule victories and nail biters in the playoffs. Here is how the first few rounds played out:
A flight Playoffs Round 1
Ohio Lawmen def OC Hitmen 16-4
SoCal def Concord 18-6
State Razed def BP Elite 6-5
Sin City def Nitro2Go 22-15
DEA Combo def Direct Impact 19-4
Afershock def RSD Red 18-8
SD Excessive Force def LAPD Blue 21-17 *walk off grand slam by J.Brown
HardCor def Choir Boys
A flight playoffs loser bracket round 1
Concord eliminates OC Hitmen 26-25 *Concord trails 16-0 after top of 1 and comes back
BP Elite eliminates Nitro2Go 13-10
RSD Red eliminates Direct Impact 17-5
Choir Boys eliminates LAPD Blue 20-18
A flight winners bracket round 2
SoCal def Ohio Lawmen 24-23. *walk off homerun by Robert Roque to win it
Sin City def State Razed 14-5
Aftershock def DEA Combo 19-18
HardCor def SD Excessive Force 12-7
A flight losers bracket round 2
Concord eliminated SD Excessive Force 16-14
DEA Combo eliminated BP Elite 18-6
State Razed eliminated RSD Red
Ohio Lawmen eliminated NorCal Choir Boys 18-7
A flight winners bracket round 3
SoCal def Sin City 21-11
HardCor def Aftershock 17-7
A flight losers bracket round 4
DEA Combo eliminated Concord 22-5
Ohio Lawmen eliminated State Razed 26-22
A flight Undefeated Game
HardCor def SoCal 21-10
A flight losers bracket round 5
DEA Combo eliminated Sin City 15-14
Aftershock eliminated Ohio Lawmen 20-17
A flight losers bracket round 6
Aftershock eliminated DEA Combo 15-10
A flight losers bracket round 7
SoCal eliminated Aftershock
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
SoCal def HardCor
IF GAME
SoCal and HardCor exchange leads several times during the game. SoCal ties the game with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th to force extra innings. HardCor plates 9 runs. SoCal answers with 6 but fall short of pulling off a double dip. HARDCOR SUMMER CLASSIC CHAMPIONS!
In the B-flight the LAPD Lawmen rolled through the playoffs undefeated and overcame a tough Outlaws squad in the championship game to win the B-flight title.
A-FLIGHT AWARDS
MVP
Chad Bankston
ALL TOURNEY
Chris Enriquez
Keith Benjamin
Mitch Brouillette
George Reyes
Ray Ghiliotti
Curt Ledesma
Denton Carlson
Tom Laroque
Gabe Palma
DEFENSIVE AWARD
Jason Hart
B-FLIGHT AWARDS
MVP
Greg Ienni
ALL TOURNEY
Doug Kirkland
Nick Giordano
Leonard Avalos
Pat Manning
Gus Rubio
Jeff Clark
DEFENSIVE AWARD
Jimmy Tumbeiro
OFFICIAL ORDER OF FINISH
1. A1-HardCor CHAMPIONS!!!
2. SoCal Alliance
3. West Coast Aftershock
4. DEA Combo
5t. Ohio Lawmen
5t. Sin City Combo
7t. State Razed
7t. Concord
9t. NorCal Choir Boys
9t. RSD Red
9t. SD Excessive Force
9t. BP Elite
13t. Direct Impact
13t. LAPD Blue
13t. OC Hitmen
13t. Nitro2Go
17. LAPD Lawmen *Bflight winners
18. Southbay Outlaws
19. Ultimate B&G
20. Hunt Beach Blues
21t. Bakersfield Sticktime
21t. Chino Lockdown
23t. Newport Beach Bums
23t. Hawthorne
