Norwalk 2008 Panteras Tournament Round-Up

Rude-Pac and Panteras II take the crowns!

With another beautiful Sunday for fast pitch softball in Southern California, Rude-Pac took the number one seed out of the round robin with a 3-0 record, while only allowing four ones on Saturday. On Sunday they continued to win with a 5-0 victory over San Diego Primetime and then a 2-0 win in the Championship game against the Grillos of Mexicali for a perfect 5-0 record.  Spud Barker took the win in the first game and Mark Bennett had the win in the second.  Rude-Pac may have lost a couple of players from their 2007 NAFA A-Major World Series championship team, but they have improved their roster for their run at another championship or two for the 2008 season.  With an already powerful linup, Rude-Pac picked up the services of seasoned veterans Steve Garcia, John Pruneda (tournament MVP) and Mark Bennett; as well as Gerald Pyle who will contribute both in the circle and batters box.

The Panteras II after dropping their first two games in the round robin won their final game of the evening against the Mud Dogs and kept the winning streak alive on Sunday.  Placing in the 4th position of their pool, the Panteras II beat up on the So Cal Rebels 18-2 in the first game of the day.  They blanked the number one seed Caribbean's from pool A 5-0 which set-up the semi-final game against the So Cal Hustlers.  The Panteras II tied the game in the final inning and then held the Hustlers scoreless in their half of the tie-breaker.  In the Panteras II half of the inning they were able to move the runner to third and after an international walk, a ground ball to first took a trippy hop which sealed the win for the Panteras II and sent them to the Championship game against the Palm Springs Express.  They continued swinging the bat hard by scoring 8 runs in the first inning after spotting the Express to 3 of their own in the top half of the inning.  The deep bench of the Panteras II would provide the strength need to win as both teams were playing their fourth game of the day.  In the end, the Panteras II won the Championship 14 - 5 to take home their first crown.  Tournament MVP for the Panteras was Aaron Sepulveda.

Photos and Stats are now online from the Panteras tournament. From the home menu, press the "Photo Album" and "Stats" links on the left side of the screen to view.