Received: 9/3/07 11:21:59 PM
From: "Steven L. Banasick" <lightdoc(at)cvzoom.net>
Subject: The 11th Annual S.W. PA 'All Wood Bat' BWP Fall Classic
Sunday Reports Part 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
** Update**
Sunday, the Fall Classics 'Final' Day proved to be one of
the most exciting battles wagered at the Classic. Sunday's opening
game posted Burgtown, taking on Maxwell's Big Bucks out of Atlasburg,
PA and as always the road through the losers bracket starts off
with a bang. In the first inning Burgtown posted a 5 run first
inning (the largest run count of an inning in the event), however
it was just the first shot of a war. Maxwell's Big Bucks came
to life in the bottom of the third to post its first runs and
rallied each inning to stake a tie game by the bottom of the
seventh. With the international rule not in effect in the "Classic",
the short game took over. In the Top of the Ninth, Burgtown
mustered a 1 out, line drive off the fence to score the go ahead
run, but with the crack of the bat in the bottom of the ninth,
Maxwell's Big Bucks placed two men on with no outs. An Excellent
Job of pitching closed the door on Maxwell's Big Bucks to end
the game. "This was one of the toughest games we've played all
year", said Dave Balmer Manager for the Burgtown Team, "These
wooden BWP Bats and the Metal Wood Bats force a team to hit the
ball, field the ball and throw the ball. There's NO GIMMIES!
It's the way the game was meant to be played".
PA Stocks out of Eastern, PA had fallen to WV Diamonds
out of Fairmont, WV in the Saturday Nightcap, sending PA Stocks
into the battle from the basement. But, PA Stocks had to sit
and wait it out as the Silverbacks began one of the longest climbs
towards the finals for a team since the Fall Classic began back
in 1995.
Burgtown had set the pace for playing 'hard nosed' in the
first game on Sunday and seemed to be an ideal focal point made
clear for Carson's Tavern, out of Scottdale, PA as well. Of
course a Hometown battle was to take place. "Bragging Rights"
were at stake as well as a last shot to make the finals. Ron
Hribal took the mound for the Silverback opening with a shaky
start allowing Carson's Tavern to strike first blood in the top
of the 1st. Dave Nickelson, pitching for Carson's Tavern, was
flawless until the third inning when Silverbacks shortstop, Doug
Cramer, linedrived the fence at the 245 ft mark and opened the
inning with a triple. Silverbacks powerhitter, Tim Brettz, scored
Cramer from third with a deep fly ball to right field.
Carson's Tavern's 2B, Gary Muscovich posted his fifth hit
in the "Classic" in the top of the eighth, scoring the go ahead
run from second, but as all good stories have it... The Silverbacks
rallied in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game. Nickelson
turned over the pitching duties to Rocky Younkin for Carson's
Tavern, while Hribal remained glued to mound for the Silverbacks.
In the top of the tenth inning, Carson's Tavern took advantage
of a pass ball and a fielding error to put runners in scoring
position. A perfectly executed bunt moved the lead runner to
third with 1 out. Mike Edwards, Carson's Tavern's centerfielder,
answered with a flyball out to right and scored the go ahead
run again.
Like the cat the won't die, the Silverbacks came to the
plate in the bottom of the tenth. Denny Tate opened the inning
reaching first on a throwing error, but after a failed bunting
attempt, Tate was stranded one first with one out. Ron Funk,
one of the Silverbacks top hitters popped up to make it 2 outs.
Down to their last out, Doug Hood worked the count to draw a
walk placing the winning run on first. Billy Brettz, Brother
of Tim Brettz, took his place at the plate. Younkin served up
a beautiful rise ball but Brettz drove it to the gap. A stand
up double in the Bottom of the tenth scoring two for the win.
"Exciting? It's more than that." said Hribal "It was a thing
of beauty. Players having to let it all hang out. Making plays
behind the bag to keep you in the game and to watch a batter
work the count to 3 -2 and then on the last pitch see the winning
runs cross the plate... This what every player hopes to be part
of... A win under the gun!" It was a big win for the Silverbacks,
but the cheering soon faded as the Silverbacks were slated to
take on Burgtown in the Semi Finals.
The Semi-Finals was in no ways a pushover for either team.
This time Billy Brettz would take the mound for the Silverbacks.
Dave Balmer's troops were fastened to taking their shot a the
WV Diamonds, who where watching and waiting to defend the title
once again.
The Silverbacks and Burgtown battled back and forth through
the first three innings, with neither team gaining the upper
hand. But, in the top of the third the Silverbacks took advantage
of a hit and run with two on to take the first lead of the game.
Brettz seemed to have his targets locked in retiring batter
in the 5th and 6th inning. Burgtown, in the seventh inning,
reverted to the old adage if you can't hit'em bunt it. With
two well placed bunts a blast, Burgtown finally cracked the stonewalls
of the Silverback defense. Another extra Inning game in the
making.
Extra Innings are the hardest things to watch as a spectator.
Teams play so much above themselves that you just hate to see
one of them make a mistake. With the game tied heading into
Ninth inning, a mistake marked the end of Burgtown. Again, it
was Billy Brettz coming through that set the pace forcing an
error the allowed the winning run to score.
In Williamsport, PA the Little League Playoffs officials
were counting pitches, but in Scottdale, PA, the Silverbacks
were counting innings. Nineteen straight innings and still counting.
Every one thought that the Silverbacks were about to retire
for the weekend as PA Stocks readied to take the field against
them. It would be Scott Miller taking the mound for PA Stocks,
while Edward Pirl, the 5' 2" righty was ready to answer the call.
Inning 20 for the Silverbacks looked like they had never
stopped play from the last game. Several well placed shot gave
the Silverbacks a strong foothold and a 4 - 0 score going into
the top of the second inning. Miller showed signs of struggle
and after allowing a 2 run triple, Miller pulled himself from
the game. Steve Banasick entered the game to slow the silverbacks
rally to a standstill. A stand still that also sparked a rally
which tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and again
the Silverbacks found themselves playing extra innings. Neither
side would budge, although PA Stock loaded the bases in the eight
and ninth innings, Billy Bretts relief efforts in the eight inning
was holding up. In the tenth inning a strike three call eluded
the PA Stacks catcher allowing a runner to reach 1st base. On
the attempt to throw out the runner the ball was over thrown
and the Silverbacks now had a man in scoring position. On the
very next batter, a grounder to Pitcher seemed to be out number
three, but when the 1st baseman could not find the bag, the runners
were safe all around. There's nothing routine in fastpitch and
even on the best days things go wrong. With 2 outs and runners
on the corner, a slow dribbler to the shortstop proved to be
Murphy's law, as the ball bounced away from the 1st baseman reach.
PA Stocks gave it the good ole' college try but could not find
the hole in the infield to get a runner home. Rocky Younkin
had this to say, "Banasick pitched a great game not allowing
a single earned run in relief... for that matter he had only
allowed two hits in relief. And, with this type of softball,
that's a huge thing. The idea of turning back the hands of time
and going back to wooden bats has completely changed this game
to what it once was and a pitcher can challenge a batter again...
and not have to challenge those rocket launchers call bats...
A great thing."
After 29 innings in only three games, the Silverbacks had
truly earned their shot at Fairmont. Fairmont took notes while
waiting through the losers bracket with attention focused on
the Silverbacks. Fairmont opened the first inning of play with
4 bunts in a row and taking the early lead. Ron Hribal, pitching
for the Silverbacks, worked double duty, pitching out of the
inning while fielding a barehanded snag on the mound to end the
inning. Greg Armon, pitching for the WV Diamonds, opened strong
and tallied 9 consecutive outs holding the Silverbacks to only
one hit going into the 4th inning. The tired and worn Silverbacks
were not about to go silent into the night. In the 4th inning
the Silverbacks rallied with three beautiful bunts and a blast,
scoring 2 runs to cut the lead to a 5 - 2 score.
In the 5th inning again the Silverbacks marched around the
bases to again cut the lead to a 2 run defecate. Fairmont became
a little off end in the bottom of the 6th, when the Silverbacks
again mounted a charge towards the plate, but outstanding fielding
from Fairmont's, Jeff Rizor in centerfield, ended the late charge
chasing a sharp hit to the fence for the third out. West Virginia
shuffled the pitching staff in the bottom of the 7th to try to
throw off the Silverbacks growing tempo, but a leadoff single,
and a successful hit and run put players on the corners bringing
the go ahead run to the plate. It would seem that the Cinderella
story was going to happen, but with the infield in Fairmont closed
off the plate for out 1, then took advantage of an infield pop
up. for out 2. It wouldn't right if the story didn't have an
exciting ending and wouldn't you know? With two outs and runners
in scoring position a blast off the bat sailed into the left
center gap. Rizor again went deep into the gap, full throttle
and made an over the head snag to end the game.
After 36 innings of Fastpitch Softball, the Silverbacks had
found themselves as a runner up in the 11th Annual 'BWP' SW PA
Fall Classic. Tired and sore, they held their heads high. Fairmont
made claims to the prize. Crowned Champions of the 2007 Fall
Classic. Fairmont claimed the new BWP Wood Bats for each of
the players on the team, a Grand prize trophy and $200.00 travel
expense money. Rob Vasch, BWP Bats, LLC Rep was on hand to award
the teams their winnings. "This is the first time that BWP has
entered into something such as this and I can see a strong future
in this type of play. We at BWP Bats are very proud to be part
of such an event and look forward in making next years event
even bigger."
Jim Sovel from Metal Wood Bats www.metalwoodbat.com attended
the event awarding each of the teams participating a new Metal
Wood Bat. "We at Metal Wood Bats have been looking for a solid
way to introduce our product into the mainstream of softball...
We couldn't have found a better avenue. I can only hope that
more teams become involved next year and I can assure you that
Metal Wood Bats will be here. This is the most fun that I've
had all summer and what a way to end it."
A Special Thanks to A1 Sports from Mt. Pleasant, PA., They
were set up supplying teams with equipment and specialty items
all weekend long. They also supplied the awards for the top
three teams in the event. A Special Thanks to Jim Flanagan from
fastballwest.com for the helping hand and the involvement of
Route 66 Klubs. A1 Sports presented Fairmont, WV the Championship
trophy, while Silverbacks from Scottdale, PA claimed the Runner-
up. PA Stocks captured the third place trophy with Joe Myers
from PA Stocks claiming the Top Hitter Award and prize from Route
66 Klubs. Joe posted over a .700 batting average for the event
while claiming a Golden Glove at second base for PA Stocks.
One last note... There is a good possibility that the SW
PA Fall Classic will be NAFA Tied in 2008, so, keep your eyes
and ears open for more information.
Al's Fastball News
*Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
NEWS-1: http://www.AlsFastball.com/
NEWS-2: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball
VIA http://www.webbox.com
_______________________________________________
Alsfastball mailing list
Alsfastball@fastpitchwest.com
http://fastpitchwest.com/mailman/listinfo/alsfastball_fastpitchwest.com
