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Street Kids Win Third Tourney of 2008
Warsaw, IN-
With several key players missing from the team,
the Street Kids/Easton/PAS softball team traveled
to Warsaw, Indiana this weekend to play in the
NSA Festival Tournament, hosted by Shane
Staley. The team was without Hank Minix, Carl
Underwood and Dan Garey, who will miss about
a month following an appendectomy last week.
With three key players out of the lineup - along
with the absence of Joe Horvath (commitment to
NSA team) - the Street Kids team knew that to
get their third tournament win of 2008, they would
have to earn it.
The tournament featured seven teams after a few
last minute back-out's, and the Kids were put into
a division with American Legion/Cedar Creek and
a combination team of Time Out Bar and players
from Wolf Pack Softball, a very good Class B
team from last season.
The Kids drew Legion right away in the two game round robin format, and after a slow start, came out
with 10 runs in the fourth inning, which would prove to be the difference as they went on to win 16-12.
Jamie Everett, Nick Bishop and Jake Underwood all had three hits each in the win, while Underwood,
Shane Varga and TJ Jorgensen all hit home runs in the game.
The second and final round robin game
was against a good Time Out/WolfPack
team, who were not phased by the Kids'
six run first inning. The teams would share
the lead until the Kids pulled out in the
end, winning 18-11. Reigning MVP
Lanny Fisher had five hits while TJ
Jorgensen, Jason Fowler and Les
Marcum all had three hits a piece.
Jamie Everett, Underwood, Scott
Goodwin and Les Marcum all hit
home runs in the win.
With the two victories in the round robin
games, the Kids had a bye and would
play the winner of Time Out and American Legion. Legion would pull out the victory and earn a chance at
redeeming their earlier loss to SKS during the round robin games. The Kids, however, were just hoping
to continue to swing good bats and play good defense. Neither would be the case.
The SKS team may have experienced their worse game of the
2008 season - including all four tournaments they have played in -
against Legion. Defense was poor and the offense was off. After
four innings, the Kids would only have five runs, and trailed at this
time 7-5. After Legion went quietly in the top of the fifth, the Kids
would score three run in the home half of the inning, highlighted by
Fisher's two run home run. Legion would tie the game at eight in
the top of the sixth inning, and the score would remain tied until the
bottom of the seventh when Jamie Everett singled home Nick
Bishop to "steal" a 9-8 victory, putting the Kids in the
championship game.
"That was one of our poorest performances," said Lanny Fisher.
"But we had a chance slip through and steal a victory in a game
we would lose 90% of the time, scoring only nine runs. We'll take
it. In tourney's, winning is the only thing that matters."
Fisher and Underwood both had three hits in the game, with Fisher connecting for two home runs and
Underwood hit a solo homer in the third inning, a line drive rocket that got out of the park in a matter of
seconds.
The championship game was played just before dusk
and with the wind getting up over 15 mph, the 40
degree temperature felt much colder as the sun was
setting in the sky. The Kids would play a young and
determined Excalibur Softball team, a group of younger players from the Warsaw area. They were
scoring runs all tournament long, many times over 20
runs a game, but they knew they would have to be
sharp against a SKS team that knew they just played
in one of their worst games. Street Kids were out to
prove they were past the Legion game, and would
leave nothing on the field. If Excalibur would beat the Kids, they would have to come big, and as it would
turn out, they were not ready for what the Kids would bring.
After Excalibur put up two runs in the top of the first, the Kids
answered back with five runs, highlighted by a three run home
run by Jason Fowler. Excalibur would score one run in the top
of the second but SKS would answer back with four runs in the
home half of the second, highlighted by a Jamie Everett three
run homer. Excalibur would go quiet in the third inning, but SKS
came back with three more runs, giving them a 12-3 lead heading
into the top of the fourth. Excalibur would score one in the top
half and the Kids would go quietly in the bottom of the fourth,
before Excalibur would make one more attempt at reliving the
mythical magic it once knew at the hands of King Arthur....
The young team from Warsaw put up six runs in the top of the
fifth, bringing the game to within two runs. But alas, the magic
would have to end. The mighty Street Kids would unleash their
own magic, deciding they didn't want to take the field anymore defensively, and put up eight runs on 11
consecutive hits, all without recording an out, and ending the game via the mercy rule, 20-10, and giving
the Street Kids softball team the win and their third tournament win of the 2008 season. Jamie Everett
and Jake Underwood both had three hits in the win, while both hit home runs in the game. Along with
Fowler's home run, Nick Bishop also connected for a three run home run during the eight-run fifth inning.
"We didn't have our best tourney, thats for sure," said
TJ Jorgensen. "Not having a few guys can make a
difference, and the conditions, although better than
what we have played in so far this year, were still crap.
But I'll take the win and more importantly, it was a
chance for us to get out and play, tuning up for the
Hooters event in a couple of weeks."
Jorgensen went on to compliment the Excalibur team, who showed the respect they had for the SKS
organization prior to the tournament, introducing themselves and applauding the work the Kids do on and
off the field.
"They seem like a nice group of guys and Karl Swihart (Umpire in Chief and director of the CCAC
complex) spoke highly of them as well," Jorgensen added. "Its always nice when fellow softball players
come up to you and compliment you on our work."
Street Kids improved their 2008 overall record to 20-2 with the four wins and will now prepare for the
big Hooters NSA World Series Qualifier in Indianapolis in two weeks.
With several key players missing from the team,
the Street Kids/Easton/PAS softball team traveled
to Warsaw, Indiana this weekend to play in the
NSA Festival Tournament, hosted by Shane
Staley. The team was without Hank Minix, Carl
Underwood and Dan Garey, who will miss about
a month following an appendectomy last week.
With three key players out of the lineup - along
with the absence of Joe Horvath (commitment to
NSA team) - the Street Kids team knew that to
get their third tournament win of 2008, they would
have to earn it.
The tournament featured seven teams after a few
last minute back-out's, and the Kids were put into
a division with American Legion/Cedar Creek and
a combination team of Time Out Bar and players
from Wolf Pack Softball, a very good Class B
team from last season.
The Kids drew Legion right away in the two game round robin format, and after a slow start, came out
with 10 runs in the fourth inning, which would prove to be the difference as they went on to win 16-12.
Jamie Everett, Nick Bishop and Jake Underwood all had three hits each in the win, while Underwood,
Shane Varga and TJ Jorgensen all hit home runs in the game.
The second and final round robin game
was against a good Time Out/WolfPack
team, who were not phased by the Kids'
six run first inning. The teams would share
the lead until the Kids pulled out in the
end, winning 18-11. Reigning MVP
Lanny Fisher had five hits while TJ
Jorgensen, Jason Fowler and Les
Marcum all had three hits a piece.
Jamie Everett, Underwood, Scott
Goodwin and Les Marcum all hit
home runs in the win.
With the two victories in the round robin
games, the Kids had a bye and would
play the winner of Time Out and American Legion. Legion would pull out the victory and earn a chance at
redeeming their earlier loss to SKS during the round robin games. The Kids, however, were just hoping
to continue to swing good bats and play good defense. Neither would be the case.
The SKS team may have experienced their worse game of the
2008 season - including all four tournaments they have played in -
against Legion. Defense was poor and the offense was off. After
four innings, the Kids would only have five runs, and trailed at this
time 7-5. After Legion went quietly in the top of the fifth, the Kids
would score three run in the home half of the inning, highlighted by
Fisher's two run home run. Legion would tie the game at eight in
the top of the sixth inning, and the score would remain tied until the
bottom of the seventh when Jamie Everett singled home Nick
Bishop to "steal" a 9-8 victory, putting the Kids in the
championship game.
"That was one of our poorest performances," said Lanny Fisher.
"But we had a chance slip through and steal a victory in a game
we would lose 90% of the time, scoring only nine runs. We'll take
it. In tourney's, winning is the only thing that matters."
Fisher and Underwood both had three hits in the game, with Fisher connecting for two home runs and
Underwood hit a solo homer in the third inning, a line drive rocket that got out of the park in a matter of
seconds.
The championship game was played just before dusk
and with the wind getting up over 15 mph, the 40
degree temperature felt much colder as the sun was
setting in the sky. The Kids would play a young and
determined Excalibur Softball team, a group of younger players from the Warsaw area. They were
scoring runs all tournament long, many times over 20
runs a game, but they knew they would have to be
sharp against a SKS team that knew they just played
in one of their worst games. Street Kids were out to
prove they were past the Legion game, and would
leave nothing on the field. If Excalibur would beat the Kids, they would have to come big, and as it would
turn out, they were not ready for what the Kids would bring.
After Excalibur put up two runs in the top of the first, the Kids
answered back with five runs, highlighted by a three run home
run by Jason Fowler. Excalibur would score one run in the top
of the second but SKS would answer back with four runs in the
home half of the second, highlighted by a Jamie Everett three
run homer. Excalibur would go quiet in the third inning, but SKS
came back with three more runs, giving them a 12-3 lead heading
into the top of the fourth. Excalibur would score one in the top
half and the Kids would go quietly in the bottom of the fourth,
before Excalibur would make one more attempt at reliving the
mythical magic it once knew at the hands of King Arthur....
The young team from Warsaw put up six runs in the top of the
fifth, bringing the game to within two runs. But alas, the magic
would have to end. The mighty Street Kids would unleash their
own magic, deciding they didn't want to take the field anymore defensively, and put up eight runs on 11
consecutive hits, all without recording an out, and ending the game via the mercy rule, 20-10, and giving
the Street Kids softball team the win and their third tournament win of the 2008 season. Jamie Everett
and Jake Underwood both had three hits in the win, while both hit home runs in the game. Along with
Fowler's home run, Nick Bishop also connected for a three run home run during the eight-run fifth inning.
"We didn't have our best tourney, thats for sure," said
TJ Jorgensen. "Not having a few guys can make a
difference, and the conditions, although better than
what we have played in so far this year, were still crap.
But I'll take the win and more importantly, it was a
chance for us to get out and play, tuning up for the
Hooters event in a couple of weeks."
Jorgensen went on to compliment the Excalibur team, who showed the respect they had for the SKS
organization prior to the tournament, introducing themselves and applauding the work the Kids do on and
off the field.
"They seem like a nice group of guys and Karl Swihart (Umpire in Chief and director of the CCAC
complex) spoke highly of them as well," Jorgensen added. "Its always nice when fellow softball players
come up to you and compliment you on our work."
Street Kids improved their 2008 overall record to 20-2 with the four wins and will now prepare for the
big Hooters NSA World Series Qualifier in Indianapolis in two weeks.
| NSA Festival Tourney Game by Game Scores Game 1 vs. Am Legion/Cedar Creek, Won 16-12 Game 2 vs. Time Out/Wolfpack, Won 18-11 Game 3 vs. Am Legion/Cedar Creek, Won 9-8 Game 4 vs. Excalibur Softball, Won 20-10 |
