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Las Vegas Road Trip VIILas Vegas, NV J&B Painting (CA) sweeps through the AA/AA-Major Page Brake (UT) bounces back in the "IF" game Rude-Pac (CA) repeats in the A going 5-0 To view the stats, PRESS HERE The dust has all settled, the last out has been called, champions have been crowned and the 2014 edition of the Las Vegas Road Trip is in the books. Hopefully everyone had some fun in Sin City and left with a little extra cash in your pocket on the trip back home. This year’s tournament had almost perfect weather; no rain forecasted but high clouds to bring the heat down in the afternoon. The wind did kick in hard on Sunday morning, making fly balls interesting to say the least. Thirty-seven teams were entered into the tournament; however, one dropped out late Friday evening as only four players arrived to play-unfortunately making it too late to adjust the schedule. The competition in all three levels was fantastic. AA/AA-MAJOR In the AA/AA-Major division, there were eleven teams in the bracket with teams from the US, Canada, Argentina and Valenzuela. J&B Painting (CA) won this portion of the tournament going 4-0 behind the pitching of Deven McCullough and Justin Schofield. J&B Painting won their first game 5-0 over Randy’s A’s (BC, Canada) on Friday evening. Saturday they faced Team Agulias of Valenzuela and scored 5 runs again and won 5-2. This put them in the winner’s bracket final against the Topeka Toro’s with McCullough in the circle, who pitched another shutout with J&B Painting winning 6-0. J&B Painting entered the championship game with a 3-0 record and had Schofield in the circle against Team Agulias. Kevin Castillo opened the game with a double and scored on two wild pitches. Team Agulias answered back in their half of the inning with the first two batters walking and then scoring on a Mark Aranda home run. J&B Painting added another two runs in the top of the third with Castillo reaching base again and scoring on a Jason Gluckmen home run to tie the game at 3. Team Agulias scored a run in their half of the inning to take the lead 4-3 in the sea-saw game. J&B Painting put together three hits in the fourth inning to score two more runs to re-take the lead 5-4. In the fifth inning McCullough came in relief and shut down Team Agulias, striking out 7 of the 9 batters he faced. J&B Painting scored a run in both the fifth and sixth inning to win the championship 7-4. Team Agulias opened the tournament with a close 2-1 win over New Image (WI) in their first Friday evening game and then played back-to-back and beat CR Brewers 1-0. As mentioned above, they lost in the semi-finals against J&B Painting to move them to the lower bracket. In the lower bracket Team Agulias defeated Browning (UT) 3-0 and put them in a rematch with New Image. Team Agulias won the game 5-0 to face the Toro’s and determine who would advance to the championship game. The Toro’s opened the game by scoring their leadoff hitter Matt Thompson for an early 1-0 lead against Erick Chaparro. However, Team Agulias scored two runs in their half of the inning off Tony Buckley on a Oriam Medina home run. Both teams added three runs in the second inning and Agulias kept their one run lead going into the third with the score 5-4. In the third inning the Toro’s opened the inning with a walk and the run scored on a Josh Johnson double to tie the game. After an error to move Johnson to third, Team Agulias brought Tony Mancha in for relief who notched two strikeouts to end the inning with the score tied. In the bottom half of the third, Royer Monterola opened the inning with a triple and scored on a Jose Doural sacrifice fly. Antonio Carusi followed with a double and scored on a base hit. The Toro’s ended the inning by executing a perfect run down on an attempted steal with runners on first and second. In the bottom of the fourth, Josh Johnson came in relief of Buckley and allowed a run to make the score 8-6, Team Agulias. The Toro’s were able to get another run in the fifth but that would be it with Team Agulias winning 8-6 and advancing to the championship game.
A-MAJOR This year’s A-Major division had the largest field of teams to date in the Road Trlp. Twelve teams were entered, unfortunately one dropped out on Friday afternoon as the majority of players were not able to get to Vegas on time. Page Brake, UT (5-1) opened the tournament against the Press Box Rainers, MT (2-3) and won 10-2, setting up an evening game with Juarez FP, TX (2-2). In a tight game, Page Brake won 7-6 to place them in the semi-finals against JRW & Associates, WA (6-2). The father\son pitching duo of Steve and Kevin Black kept Page Brake in the winners bracket with another 7-6 win over JRW & Associates. In the winners bracket final they faced the Colorado Knights, CO (2-2) on Sunday morning and won 9-3 and awaited the winner of the lower bracket final. In the championship game Page Brake faced JRW & Associates for the second time with Steve Black letting his son, Kevin, start the game in the circle against Joey Robbins, who was pitching his second consecutive game. Kevin got the first three batters out in order and Nic Cole opened Page Brake's side of the inning with a double and scored later in the inning for the first run of the game. The score remained 1-0 through 4 innings. In the fifth inning JRW & Associates were finally able to get on the scoreboard, putting together four hits and scoring two runs to take a one-run lead. In the sixth, they added four more runs on five hits including doubles by Tony Cox and Joey Robbins. The score was now 6-1. Page Brake scored a run in the bottom of the sixth and after JRW & Associates added a run in the seventh, Robbins got the final three outs and it was off to every tournament directors nightmare, the “if” game. In the “If” game, Robbins remained in the circle while Steve Black went in for Page Brake. JRW & Associates wasted no time as they scored four runs in the first on five hits, including a double by Tim Fischer and a triple by Craig Snyder who also got two RBI's, in the top of the first. JRW & Associates scored another run in the second on back to back doubles by Tony Cox and Joey Robbins. They then added another run in the third to take a 6-0 lead. Page Brake got on the board in the bottom of the third, with two outs they got three runners on base and Aaron Converse cleared the bases with a double. Page Brake scored three more runs in the fourth to tie the game, and then blew the game open in fifth scoring six runs including a three run home run by Gentry Mitchell to take a 12-6 lead. Steve Black settled down by allowing only two runners to reach base after the third inning and earn the complete game win and championship. On a side note, that must have been an interesting car ride home with dad having the bragging rights on winning the championship. JRW & Associates first Las Vegas Road trip seemed like a good one. In their opening game they faced defending champions Maccabi USA (0-3) and won 5-1. Unfortunately, their next game was not played due to a forfeit. This put them in semi-finals against Page Brake where they lost 5-4 and moved to the lower bracket. On Sunday morning they faced Long Beach Wolfpack, CA (4-2) and won 8-6 to move on and face Brian’s Blackhawks, OK (3-2). In another tight game, they won 4-3. In the lower bracket final they faced the Colorado Knights, and Joey Robbins scattered five hits and only allowed one run as JRW & Associates won 5-1 to advance to the championship game.
A-DIVISION The A division featured fourteen teams with Rude-Pac, CA (5-0) the defending champions. The draw was tough for all and Rude-Pac faced Geo-Per, TX (2-2) right out of the gate. Rude-Pac won the game 7-3 and this put them against another So Cal team, the Pala Braves, CA (7-2). Rude-Pac bats exploded for eleven runs and beat Pala by the score of 11-3. This put them against another tough team in the semi-finals, Capital FP, WI (2-2), who had knocked Rude-Pac out of last year’s NAFA World Series. Once again Rude-Pac scored big and won 10-4 to advance to Sunday’s winners bracket final against Team Mesquite, AZ (3-2). Rude-Pac put up thirteen runs and limited Team Mesquite to 3 to advance to the championship. In the championship game they once again faced the Pala Braves with Josh Sargent in the circle against Pala’s Nat Dondero. Pala jumped to an early four run lead in the top of the first with doubles by Tyson Magginni and Santee Marruffo. Rude-Pac scored in their half of the inning to make the score 4-1. In the third, Rude-Pac got two more runners on base and Ruben Lopez blasted a hit over the left field fence to tie the score. Ron Mizener came in relief of Sargent in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Rude-Pac scored four more runs to take an 8-4 lead. Mizener allowed only one runner on base after the fourth to secure the win and give Rude-Pac back-to-back championships in the A division. The Pala Braves opened the tournament with a win over the Oklahoma Sycos, OK (2-2) 5-1. They then lost to Rude-Pac and moved to the lower bracket where they ran off six consecutive victories and outscored their opponents in the lower bracket 61-3. In the lower bracket final Dondero was in the circle for Pala against Tony Davis of Team Mesquite. Pala got on the board early scoring a run in the first. In the second there were two home runs, one by Santee Marruffo and the other by Dondero. Pala added to their lead scoring three runs in the third including Marruffo second home run of the game. Pala scored three more in the fourth and held Team Mesquite scoreless for a 9-0 victory and advance to the championship game.
On behalf of the SCIFL, I would like to thank all the players, coaches and fans that have come to Las Vegas the past seven years and participated and/or cheered for their teams. From nineteen teams the first year and a gradual increase of teams each year to having 37 teams this year you have made this a very successful event and it could not have been done with you. It has been a great run and I appreciate it. For any teams that may have posts on websites or blogs with their results, feel free to email me at rmh323 ( a t ) roadrunner.com and I will link them on this report.
NAFA and the SCIFL are pleased to announce the seventh edition of the "Las Vegas Road Trip" fast pitch tournament. The date of this tournament will be April 11 - 13th, 2014. The Championship games will be scheduled for 3:00 PM on Sunday, with "IF" games immediately following if necessary. Teams flying out on Sunday should make their plans for late departure times in the event the brackets are running late. This will be a NAFA sanctioned event with the participating teams separated in the following divisions: Last year we had 34 teams competing and the schedule was very tough on the first day. As a result and with the amount of teams that have contacted me during the year, the tournament will be scheduled with games being played on Friday. Please do not delay in getting back to me if your team will be entering into the event, money is due starting January 10th and will confirm your entry. Once the tournament is full, teams providing their entry fee will be placed on a waiting list and entered if any teams drop out. We currently have 7 fields reserved for the event. When you inform me that your team will be playing you will also need to let me know if your team can play all three days. Teams that can play all three days will be placed on the priority list, teams that say they can only play on Saturday and Sunday will be placed on the secondary list. The last two years the players have complained about the long day (4+ games) on Saturday as it is the first tournament of the year for the majority of teams.
The entry fee for the tournament is $410 and the NAFA 3-game guarantee bracket will be used for all divisions. It is open to all fast pitch teams and if your team has not yet paid their NAFA registration fee, there will be an additional $20 fee which will be forwarded to your State Director. With a minimum of eight (8) teams in a division, the winner will have their 2011 NAFA World Series entry fee paid for the division they played in. Also, to help keep tournament costs down, if your team books at least five (5) rooms and stays at our host hotel you will receive $25 back on your entry fee.
For the 7th year our host hotel will once again be Arizona Charlies Boulder. We have secured a rate of $46 per night for Friday and Saturday and $29 for Thursday and Sunday night if you book directly with the hotel using their 800 number. Arizona Charlies Boulder offers a casino, buffet and sit down dining along with live music in the casino bar/lounge. Please help the tournament by booking with Arizona Charlies by using their 800 number to receive the special rate. The number is 800-362-4040 and the reference code is C-SCIFL or mention So Cal Independent Fast Pitch League. Rooms booked any other way (Priceline, Expida, etc) cannot be confirmed through the hotel and are not used toward our count. If you need to book more than three (3) rooms on the same credit card, please contact Kathy Brennan at 702-951-5942 in the group sales department and she will be more than happy to assist you. Also, if the 800 does does not say they have the SCIFL listing, please call Kathy to book your room If she is not there, leave a message and she will get back to you. Information regarding the event, game results and player statistics will be posted on www.scifastpitch.com . This year's tournament once again will be played at Sunset Park and Warm Springs Park, both are located with 1/4-mile of each other and are located by the Las Vegas International Airport. Game times will be available once the tournament is filled or by March 19th. Team interested in playing should contact Robert Hernandez at rmh323@roadrunner.com or 714-392-1387. All teams will need to submit a roster listing all their players with their entry fee and identifying their pitchers. Checks can be made out to "SCIFL" and forwarded to Robert Hernandez, P.O. Box 1891, Anaheim, CA 92815-1891.
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