Street Kids Drop Opener to Snyders, Battle Back Through
Losers Bracket and Loses "if" Game 22-19 in Five Innings
Losers Bracket and Loses "if" Game 22-19 in Five Innings
Indianapolis, IN 4/10/11
The Street Kids/Easton/RPN softball team traveled to
Indianapolis, Indiana for the second tournament of the
2011 season this weekend. They started the season off
on the right foot, winning the NSA Battle for the Bucks
event at Indy Sports Park and now they were looking
to continue their hot ways at the NSA Hooters/Worth
Challenge, a tournament they won two years ago.
The team arrived Friday night as batting practice was
scheduled for 7:30am, and with the team residing over
three hours away, they wanted to get into town Friday
to socialize and prepare for the tournament. The
weather outlook for Saturday was not very promising.
The Kids first game time was set for 9am, and a severe weather warning was announced for the Indy area, looking to
touch down around 10:15am. Mother Nature was right with her promise, as she opened the skied and dropped four
hours of rain onto the fields at the Indy Sports Park, causing a long delay. But before the rain came, the Street Kids team
opened against the highly touted and heavily favored Snyder's Softball team. Snyders went a disappointing 2-2 at the
Battle, and their fortunes were even worse at the NSA Border Battle in Kentucky last weekend, so the Kids were hoping
to catch the hot team on a cold draught.
Snyders struck first, scoring five times in the bottom of the first, but SKS answered back with eight in the top of the
second, powered by two two-run home runs by Faron Miller and Jeremy Hochstetler. Snyders answered back with eight
of their own in the bottom of the second, and this is how the game went, back and forth. In the top of the sixth inning, Jay
Jeffery hit a two run home run, his fourth hit of the game, that brought the Kids to within three at 22-19. But Snyders
answered back again, scoring two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by former SKS player Danny
Penale's run scoring triple. The Kids went into the top of the seventh down 24-19, and needed a rally.
Tim Austin, who left the game after a collision at third base with a runner from Snyders, returned to the game and singled.
Faron Miller followed with his second home run of the game, bringing the Kids to within three with no outs. Steve
Schroeder singled to keep the streak alive, but pitcher Bruce Dyer of Snyders was able to get Nick Bishop to bounce
into a double play, killing the rally. Terry Patesel then grounded out to end the game, and give Snyders the win, and hand
SKS their first loss of the season.
Along with Jeffery's four hits, the Kids were led by Hochstetler, Joe Horvath, Leland Schmucker and Bishop, who all
had three hits each in the loss.
"We made some uncharacteristic errors early on that lead to some unearned runs and good teams like Snyders know
how to capitalize," said Horvath after the game. "They played well, and obviously a great team, but this was a game that
we should have won. But we will just have to work hard to get a rematch against them later now."
Following the tough loss, the rain came and it came for a
long time. Street Kids were scheduled to play at 12:45pm
but after the rain delay and the time it took to repair only
two fields (the rest were unplayable), the Kids' next game
was now 8pm. So after 10 hours of sitting around, the
Kids were now ready to climb back into this tournament
through the losers bracket. Tournament officials decided
to finish the tourney in one night, but they would be using
a 60-minute time limit per game to keep things moving
along.
Their first match in the losers bracket was against Floors
Unlimited, who lost to Softball Fans to be dropped into
the losers bracket. The Kids started out slow, scoring
only six runs through two innings, but they would heat up.
A few big innings later, the Kids were off to a big lead
and eventually held on to beat Floors, 31-16. Jeremy
Hochstetler and Jay Jeffery both had five hits each for
SKS.
Up next was Delirium, a new Class C team that had
never played a Class B team before. They did show
some signs of potential, but the Kids put this one away
quickly, winning 19-2. Jeremy Hochstetler, Fred
Schmucker and Tim Austin all had three hits each in the
four inning game.
Following the second win in the losers bracket, the Kids
were pitted against a very good Dynasty team. Despite
the Kids putting up a 23-3 lead in just two innings,
Dynasty would not go away. They actually outscored
the Kids 18-5 the rest of the way, but it would not be
enough, as Street Kids held on to beat a very feisty
Dynasty team, 28-21. Hochstetler and Scott Martin led
the way with four hits each. Martin drove in a team high
seven runs as well.
Region/Sports 55 just came away from beating Wilsons
Concrete and advanced to play SKS. Region has been highly touted this offseason for some of their pick ups. SKS
manager TJ Jorgensen spent some time with Region manager Mike Stroud in Florida recently and talked about the two
teams.
"Our two teams are very similar," said Jorgensen. "There are a lot of former teammates between both teams, and both
teams respect each other. I think thats important for a good rivalry. Region has some great players, and they play the
game the right way. Both Mike and I are looking forward to a lot of battles this season."
The first of those battles took place on Saturday night (actually it was almost Sunday, around midnight) in Indy, as the
two teams were now set to play each other with the winner advancing to play Softball Fans, who just lost a close game to
Snyders in the winners bracket final. The Kids struck first, scoring six runs in the first inning and six more in the second,
but Region put up eight of their own in the second inning and after three complete innings it was 15-8 Kids. But the strong
defense of SKS and some timely hitting backed the Kids as they outscored Region 9-0 the rest of the way, and cruised
to a 24-8 win.
Jeremy Hochstetler, Joe Horvath and Fred Schmucker
all had four hits each for the Kids. Jay Jeffery made his
first "out" of the tournament in his third at bat against
Region, ending a streak of 16 straight hits.
"I'm really impressed with this young man," said new
coach/part time player Bob Monhollon, who is also one
of the sponsors of SKS. "This whole team is amazing,
but I really admire Jay's passion and work ethic on the
field. That is what young people starting to play
competitive softball need to take notes from."
With their fourth straight win in as many games under
their belt and no time for rest, Street Kids earned the
right to play Softball Fans, a tough team from Michigan, led by their owner Brian Knoll and former SKS tournament
player of the year winner Mark Hershberger. The last time Hershberger played against his former team, he had four hits
while his 35+ team beat SKS in the 35+ World Series last fall. Despite only getting a couple of at bats, Hershberger
remained perfect against SKS, doubling twice off pitcher Faron Miller. But even Hershberger could not stop the red hot
Street Kids.
SKS scored sixteen runs of Hershberger and his replacement Ron Hohl in the second inning alone, with fourteen players
reaching base safely before they even recorded their first out, and they would cruise to an easy 25-7 win over Fans. After
the game, the SKS guys had nothing but respect for their former teammate.
"Hersh is a friend of ours, a close friend, but when we are trying to win a game, he is our opponent," said veteran Terry
Patesel. "Mark spent two years with this team and made some waves with his off the field work with Street Kids Care,
and I promise you this team will never forget the impact he made, but when its game time, and we are battling, its us
against them. And I promise you he feels the same way."
Joe Horvath led the way with four hits, including a home run, double and four RBI's.
With the win over Fans, the Kids had now reached the championship game against unbeaten and well rested Snyders
Softball. Of course, they were also sitting for about three or four hours, so they were also stiff and the Kids were red hot.
So anything could happen. In order to win the tournament, SKS would have to beat Snyders twice, as they were in the
winners bracket. Snyders was hoping to capitalize on their 3-0 record and fresh legs at 3am and see if that would be
enough to beat the Kids again.
SKS opened with seven runs in the first inning, and Snyders would go scoreless until the third inning when #24 (cant
remember his name) connected for a two run home run to put them on the board. But the Kids were also tired, after all it
was nearing the 3:30am mark and they had been away since 6:30am Saturday. They did manage a seven run sixth inning,
but Snyders also started to get hot. They put up four in the fifth, four in the sixth and heading into the top of the seventh
inning, SKS was leading 17-10. Three more outs and the Kids would take the first game, forcing the "if" game. But
Snyders is not one of the best teams in Indiana for nothing. They put up seven runs to tie the game, forcing the Kids to
bat in the bottom of the seventh. The good news was they had a home run to use, and thats exactly what they did.
Tim Austin led off with a single and two pitches later, Faron Miller connected for his second two-run home run of the
game, this one in walk off fashion, giving the Kids a thrilling 19-17 win. Jay Jeffery remained red hot to start the season,
putting up another four hit game to lead the Kids.
The Street Kids team had now won six games in a row and forced the "if" game against Snyders. Both teams were tired
but they only had one more game to play before heading home. The final game started with the Kids striking first, putting
up four runs in the first and seven more in the second, and led 11-5 after two innings and 16-8 after 3 1/2 innings. But
Snyders was just warming up. Some big hits and a few miscues on defense would allow Snyders to have a huge fourth
inning, putting up 13 runs and taking a 21-16 lead into the bottom of the fifth. In normal situations, that would not be
much to worry about; Class B teams are often down by six runs every inning but they are more than capable of coming
back and scoring runs at will. But in this case, you have the 4am hour looming along with something most tournaments
never have to deal with, and thats the time limit.
As the Kids were batting in the top of the fifth, time was ticking. There was less than five minutes to play in the game,
which means the fifth inning quickly was turning into the seventh inning. They started out hot, with Nick Bishop leading it
off with a triple, his third hit of the game and second extra base hit. Following a walk to Patesel, Jeremy Hochstetler
remained red hot, doubling in Bishop. Joe Horvath then stepped up and with a home run to use, he just missed it, sending
a deep fly ball to the wall in right center. While it didn't leave the park, it did get a run home from third. The next batter,
Leland Schmucker, then ripped a double to the gap, scoring another run, bringing the Kids to within two runs. After Jay
Jeffery walked, Snyders pitcher Bruce Dyer was able to get Fred Schmucker to bounce into a double play to end the
threat.
At this time, there was still two minutes on the clock, but
the bad news was as soon as the time limit expires, the
game would be over, as Snyders was the home team,
and they were winning by two runs. The only thing that
would help the Kids would be a quick 1-2-3 inning
before the clock expired, but Snyders would have none
of that. A single followed by an RBI double help seal the
game for Snyders, as the clock would expire and the
game came to a disappointing end for the Street Kids
team. Snyder won 22-19 and won the Hooters
Championship just after 4:00am EST.
"It sucks for it to happen the way it did, with the time
clock and the title game ending in the fifth inning, but
Snyders deserved it," said Jorgensen after the game.
"They also did it with class. They could have taken their
time walking to the plate, called time out or whatever,
but they didn't. Just came up and hit it. We had our chances and could not get it done and Snyders proved why they are
one of the best and I look forward to many close games with them throughout 2011."
Jay Jeffery continued his red hot hitting, going 4-for-4 in the game and finished the eight game tournament batting .931
(27-for-29) and had a tournament high 14 extra base hits.
"It doesn't mean anything if we don't win," said the quiet Jeffery after the final game. "It was nice to hit the ball well and
yea, it helped us get as far as we did, but I play this game for my team and when we don't win, it doesnt matter how one
person did."
Jeffery went on to mention about his teammates after the game.
"We had another good run this weekend," he added. "I would not want to take the field with any other group of guys than
what we have here tonight."
Horvath echoed Jeffery's comments in an email to the team on Sunday.
"I have played a lot of years and played on some great teams," wrote the former conference USSSA player. "This team
we have here now can flat out play. I know its early in the year and there are always kinks to work out, but we can go
very far this year if we play the way we did this weekend throughout the season. I was very proud of the way this team
played and 2011 is going to be a fun year for sure."
For their efforts, Joe Horvath, Jay Jeffery, Jeremy Hochstetler and Tim Austin were named to the All-Tournament
selection. Faron Miller was named defensive MVP. Also named to the team were Chris Turner of Region/Sports 55,
Bobby Fish, Matt Martin and Matt McGovern of Softball Fans and the following players were named from Snyders:
Bruce Dyer, Brandon Dillon, Zac Dale, Justin Harrison and Dave Lykins. Dyer was named tournament MVP, and it was
well deserved.
The Kids are off for a few weeks and will most likely begin the league season before they take to the field for their next
tournament. Pictures from this weekends action can be seen on Facebook, by "liking" Street Kids Softball here.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
On a sad note, this weekend also marked the two year anniversary of the sudden death of softball player Berto
Naranjo. It still seems like yesterday when the tragedy happened at Rose Park in Mishawaka. You can watch the
highlight videos of Berto by visiting the link of the B3StreetKids.com page, or click here to go directly to the site.
RIP B3rto...
The Street Kids/Easton/RPN softball team traveled to
Indianapolis, Indiana for the second tournament of the
2011 season this weekend. They started the season off
on the right foot, winning the NSA Battle for the Bucks
event at Indy Sports Park and now they were looking
to continue their hot ways at the NSA Hooters/Worth
Challenge, a tournament they won two years ago.
The team arrived Friday night as batting practice was
scheduled for 7:30am, and with the team residing over
three hours away, they wanted to get into town Friday
to socialize and prepare for the tournament. The
weather outlook for Saturday was not very promising.
The Kids first game time was set for 9am, and a severe weather warning was announced for the Indy area, looking to
touch down around 10:15am. Mother Nature was right with her promise, as she opened the skied and dropped four
hours of rain onto the fields at the Indy Sports Park, causing a long delay. But before the rain came, the Street Kids team
opened against the highly touted and heavily favored Snyder's Softball team. Snyders went a disappointing 2-2 at the
Battle, and their fortunes were even worse at the NSA Border Battle in Kentucky last weekend, so the Kids were hoping
to catch the hot team on a cold draught.
Snyders struck first, scoring five times in the bottom of the first, but SKS answered back with eight in the top of the
second, powered by two two-run home runs by Faron Miller and Jeremy Hochstetler. Snyders answered back with eight
of their own in the bottom of the second, and this is how the game went, back and forth. In the top of the sixth inning, Jay
Jeffery hit a two run home run, his fourth hit of the game, that brought the Kids to within three at 22-19. But Snyders
answered back again, scoring two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by former SKS player Danny
Penale's run scoring triple. The Kids went into the top of the seventh down 24-19, and needed a rally.
Tim Austin, who left the game after a collision at third base with a runner from Snyders, returned to the game and singled.
Faron Miller followed with his second home run of the game, bringing the Kids to within three with no outs. Steve
Schroeder singled to keep the streak alive, but pitcher Bruce Dyer of Snyders was able to get Nick Bishop to bounce
into a double play, killing the rally. Terry Patesel then grounded out to end the game, and give Snyders the win, and hand
SKS their first loss of the season.
Along with Jeffery's four hits, the Kids were led by Hochstetler, Joe Horvath, Leland Schmucker and Bishop, who all
had three hits each in the loss.
"We made some uncharacteristic errors early on that lead to some unearned runs and good teams like Snyders know
how to capitalize," said Horvath after the game. "They played well, and obviously a great team, but this was a game that
we should have won. But we will just have to work hard to get a rematch against them later now."
Following the tough loss, the rain came and it came for a
long time. Street Kids were scheduled to play at 12:45pm
but after the rain delay and the time it took to repair only
two fields (the rest were unplayable), the Kids' next game
was now 8pm. So after 10 hours of sitting around, the
Kids were now ready to climb back into this tournament
through the losers bracket. Tournament officials decided
to finish the tourney in one night, but they would be using
a 60-minute time limit per game to keep things moving
along.
Their first match in the losers bracket was against Floors
Unlimited, who lost to Softball Fans to be dropped into
the losers bracket. The Kids started out slow, scoring
only six runs through two innings, but they would heat up.
A few big innings later, the Kids were off to a big lead
and eventually held on to beat Floors, 31-16. Jeremy
Hochstetler and Jay Jeffery both had five hits each for
SKS.
Up next was Delirium, a new Class C team that had
never played a Class B team before. They did show
some signs of potential, but the Kids put this one away
quickly, winning 19-2. Jeremy Hochstetler, Fred
Schmucker and Tim Austin all had three hits each in the
four inning game.
Following the second win in the losers bracket, the Kids
were pitted against a very good Dynasty team. Despite
the Kids putting up a 23-3 lead in just two innings,
Dynasty would not go away. They actually outscored
the Kids 18-5 the rest of the way, but it would not be
enough, as Street Kids held on to beat a very feisty
Dynasty team, 28-21. Hochstetler and Scott Martin led
the way with four hits each. Martin drove in a team high
seven runs as well.
Region/Sports 55 just came away from beating Wilsons
Concrete and advanced to play SKS. Region has been highly touted this offseason for some of their pick ups. SKS
manager TJ Jorgensen spent some time with Region manager Mike Stroud in Florida recently and talked about the two
teams.
"Our two teams are very similar," said Jorgensen. "There are a lot of former teammates between both teams, and both
teams respect each other. I think thats important for a good rivalry. Region has some great players, and they play the
game the right way. Both Mike and I are looking forward to a lot of battles this season."
The first of those battles took place on Saturday night (actually it was almost Sunday, around midnight) in Indy, as the
two teams were now set to play each other with the winner advancing to play Softball Fans, who just lost a close game to
Snyders in the winners bracket final. The Kids struck first, scoring six runs in the first inning and six more in the second,
but Region put up eight of their own in the second inning and after three complete innings it was 15-8 Kids. But the strong
defense of SKS and some timely hitting backed the Kids as they outscored Region 9-0 the rest of the way, and cruised
to a 24-8 win.
Jeremy Hochstetler, Joe Horvath and Fred Schmucker
all had four hits each for the Kids. Jay Jeffery made his
first "out" of the tournament in his third at bat against
Region, ending a streak of 16 straight hits.
"I'm really impressed with this young man," said new
coach/part time player Bob Monhollon, who is also one
of the sponsors of SKS. "This whole team is amazing,
but I really admire Jay's passion and work ethic on the
field. That is what young people starting to play
competitive softball need to take notes from."
With their fourth straight win in as many games under
their belt and no time for rest, Street Kids earned the
right to play Softball Fans, a tough team from Michigan, led by their owner Brian Knoll and former SKS tournament
player of the year winner Mark Hershberger. The last time Hershberger played against his former team, he had four hits
while his 35+ team beat SKS in the 35+ World Series last fall. Despite only getting a couple of at bats, Hershberger
remained perfect against SKS, doubling twice off pitcher Faron Miller. But even Hershberger could not stop the red hot
Street Kids.
SKS scored sixteen runs of Hershberger and his replacement Ron Hohl in the second inning alone, with fourteen players
reaching base safely before they even recorded their first out, and they would cruise to an easy 25-7 win over Fans. After
the game, the SKS guys had nothing but respect for their former teammate.
"Hersh is a friend of ours, a close friend, but when we are trying to win a game, he is our opponent," said veteran Terry
Patesel. "Mark spent two years with this team and made some waves with his off the field work with Street Kids Care,
and I promise you this team will never forget the impact he made, but when its game time, and we are battling, its us
against them. And I promise you he feels the same way."
Joe Horvath led the way with four hits, including a home run, double and four RBI's.
With the win over Fans, the Kids had now reached the championship game against unbeaten and well rested Snyders
Softball. Of course, they were also sitting for about three or four hours, so they were also stiff and the Kids were red hot.
So anything could happen. In order to win the tournament, SKS would have to beat Snyders twice, as they were in the
winners bracket. Snyders was hoping to capitalize on their 3-0 record and fresh legs at 3am and see if that would be
enough to beat the Kids again.
SKS opened with seven runs in the first inning, and Snyders would go scoreless until the third inning when #24 (cant
remember his name) connected for a two run home run to put them on the board. But the Kids were also tired, after all it
was nearing the 3:30am mark and they had been away since 6:30am Saturday. They did manage a seven run sixth inning,
but Snyders also started to get hot. They put up four in the fifth, four in the sixth and heading into the top of the seventh
inning, SKS was leading 17-10. Three more outs and the Kids would take the first game, forcing the "if" game. But
Snyders is not one of the best teams in Indiana for nothing. They put up seven runs to tie the game, forcing the Kids to
bat in the bottom of the seventh. The good news was they had a home run to use, and thats exactly what they did.
Tim Austin led off with a single and two pitches later, Faron Miller connected for his second two-run home run of the
game, this one in walk off fashion, giving the Kids a thrilling 19-17 win. Jay Jeffery remained red hot to start the season,
putting up another four hit game to lead the Kids.
The Street Kids team had now won six games in a row and forced the "if" game against Snyders. Both teams were tired
but they only had one more game to play before heading home. The final game started with the Kids striking first, putting
up four runs in the first and seven more in the second, and led 11-5 after two innings and 16-8 after 3 1/2 innings. But
Snyders was just warming up. Some big hits and a few miscues on defense would allow Snyders to have a huge fourth
inning, putting up 13 runs and taking a 21-16 lead into the bottom of the fifth. In normal situations, that would not be
much to worry about; Class B teams are often down by six runs every inning but they are more than capable of coming
back and scoring runs at will. But in this case, you have the 4am hour looming along with something most tournaments
never have to deal with, and thats the time limit.
As the Kids were batting in the top of the fifth, time was ticking. There was less than five minutes to play in the game,
which means the fifth inning quickly was turning into the seventh inning. They started out hot, with Nick Bishop leading it
off with a triple, his third hit of the game and second extra base hit. Following a walk to Patesel, Jeremy Hochstetler
remained red hot, doubling in Bishop. Joe Horvath then stepped up and with a home run to use, he just missed it, sending
a deep fly ball to the wall in right center. While it didn't leave the park, it did get a run home from third. The next batter,
Leland Schmucker, then ripped a double to the gap, scoring another run, bringing the Kids to within two runs. After Jay
Jeffery walked, Snyders pitcher Bruce Dyer was able to get Fred Schmucker to bounce into a double play to end the
threat.
At this time, there was still two minutes on the clock, but
the bad news was as soon as the time limit expires, the
game would be over, as Snyders was the home team,
and they were winning by two runs. The only thing that
would help the Kids would be a quick 1-2-3 inning
before the clock expired, but Snyders would have none
of that. A single followed by an RBI double help seal the
game for Snyders, as the clock would expire and the
game came to a disappointing end for the Street Kids
team. Snyder won 22-19 and won the Hooters
Championship just after 4:00am EST.
"It sucks for it to happen the way it did, with the time
clock and the title game ending in the fifth inning, but
Snyders deserved it," said Jorgensen after the game.
"They also did it with class. They could have taken their
time walking to the plate, called time out or whatever,
but they didn't. Just came up and hit it. We had our chances and could not get it done and Snyders proved why they are
one of the best and I look forward to many close games with them throughout 2011."
Jay Jeffery continued his red hot hitting, going 4-for-4 in the game and finished the eight game tournament batting .931
(27-for-29) and had a tournament high 14 extra base hits.
"It doesn't mean anything if we don't win," said the quiet Jeffery after the final game. "It was nice to hit the ball well and
yea, it helped us get as far as we did, but I play this game for my team and when we don't win, it doesnt matter how one
person did."
Jeffery went on to mention about his teammates after the game.
"We had another good run this weekend," he added. "I would not want to take the field with any other group of guys than
what we have here tonight."
Horvath echoed Jeffery's comments in an email to the team on Sunday.
"I have played a lot of years and played on some great teams," wrote the former conference USSSA player. "This team
we have here now can flat out play. I know its early in the year and there are always kinks to work out, but we can go
very far this year if we play the way we did this weekend throughout the season. I was very proud of the way this team
played and 2011 is going to be a fun year for sure."
For their efforts, Joe Horvath, Jay Jeffery, Jeremy Hochstetler and Tim Austin were named to the All-Tournament
selection. Faron Miller was named defensive MVP. Also named to the team were Chris Turner of Region/Sports 55,
Bobby Fish, Matt Martin and Matt McGovern of Softball Fans and the following players were named from Snyders:
Bruce Dyer, Brandon Dillon, Zac Dale, Justin Harrison and Dave Lykins. Dyer was named tournament MVP, and it was
well deserved.
The Kids are off for a few weeks and will most likely begin the league season before they take to the field for their next
tournament. Pictures from this weekends action can be seen on Facebook, by "liking" Street Kids Softball here.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
On a sad note, this weekend also marked the two year anniversary of the sudden death of softball player Berto
Naranjo. It still seems like yesterday when the tragedy happened at Rose Park in Mishawaka. You can watch the
highlight videos of Berto by visiting the link of the B3StreetKids.com page, or click here to go directly to the site.
RIP B3rto...
