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Street Kids Win NSA Hooters Tournament
With Heavy Hearts
With Heavy Hearts
Indianapolis, IN 4-19-09
The Street Kids/Suburban South/PAS softball
team won their fourth tournament of the 2009
season this weekend, after defeating a very
powerful Thorntons/B&C Miken softball team
in the "if" game of the championship round,
22-18.
Entering the tournament, which was regarded
as a preview of the Indiana State Championship
that will be held later this summer, the SKS
team carried the burden of the bad news of
their teammate and friend Shane Varga, who
was diagnosed with cancer just days before
the event. In honor of their friend, the team wore t-shirts that had Varga's name and number five on the
back along with a patch that also bared his name and number on their jersey. By the way, a very special
thank you to Richard Foltz for getting the shirts printed in two days notice for Saturday.
As if the Shane Varga story was not enough, the team was given word that a terrible incident happened at
Rose Park in Mishawaka on Saturday morning. The Ro-Sham-Bo/SKS softball team was hosting a
tournament at Rose when 24-year-old Alberto Naranjo was struck by a thrown ball during a game and
left "Berto", as he is known to his friends, unconscious on the ground. Later results from the hospital would
indicate that Berto suffered a severe blow to an artery in his brain, and the neurosurgeon could not stop
the bleeding. While his status is still listed as critical on Sunday evening, news from Berto's teammates on
Bonzai Softball indicate that he is brain-dead, and only remaining alive by a machine.
After the phone call was received about Berto,
the SKS team was in complete shock. Several
SKS players had grown up with Berto,
including Jay Jeffery, Scott Martin and Mark
Hershberger, who was just in Chicago at a
Cubs game with Berto on Thursday. The team
was minutes away from taking the field in the
opening round game against Thorntons when
they received the news, so you can imagine
how hard it was to actually play softball. But
the team did just that, and although they
uncharacteristically went scoreless for nearly
five innings, SKS battled back to defeat
Thorntons, 12-11 and advance to the
second round.
In the second round game, Street Kids were
paired against Gabes' Pizza/Blast Softball,
who defeated Nolans in their first round game. Despite another slow start, the Kids got hot when they
needed to and beat Gabe's, 21-16. Nick Bishop hit a key three run home run in the top of the seventh
inning to give the team some insurance runs. Bishop went four for four with three doubles and six rbi's.
In the third round game, SKS faced their friends from the Northern Indiana area, Team
Worth/AMD/Forest River/Sports55, who they have played with and against for several years. Team
Worth just came off a big victory over the highly favored Lazer Show team, after scoring 15 runs in the
fifth inning alone. Despite the fact that the SKS team jumped out to a 15-1 lead in the second inning, Team
Worth battled back and eventually tied the game at 15 each. But some clutch hitting helped break the tie
and in the top of the seventh inning, the Kids unloaded for six more runs and the Kids would win the
game, 25-15. Lanny Fisher, Tony Hardiman, Joe Horvath, Jake Underwood, Chris Firebaugh and Scott
Martin all had four hits a piece for the victorious Kids.
Underwood was not scheduled to play this weekend as he was not sure if his injured right wrist would be
ready for the rigorous swings he would need to take in a tournament, so he came off the bench for the first
two games before finally starting in the remaining games. Underwood would go on to have one of his best
tournaments ever, finishing wiht a .944 average, making only one out the entire day.
With the victory over Worth, the Street Kids team was now in the championship of the Hooters
tournament, awaiting the rest of the teams to slug it out in the losers bracket of the double elimination
event. When it was all sorted out, it would be a rematch between SKS and Thorntons, who found their
groove after losing to SKS earlier. But in order to win, Thorntons would have to beat SKS twice. And
that is exactly what they intended to do.
This game was a slugfest from beginning to end, as both teams went back and forth putting up runs but the
SKS team ran out of gas late, and Thorntons seemed to take advantage of that by continuing to pour on
the runs. They crushed SKS, 34-20 in seven innings, forcing the "if" game, because it was only the first
loss for Street Kids. In between games, the team just sat on the bench, looking for a way to slow down
the offensive attack that they just witnessed, and at the same time, find the offense they needed to defeat
this very good team. Well, call it karma, call it a sign from above, call it whatever you want, because the
SKS team was able to put that first game behind them and found the motivation to hang with Thorntons
and try to look for their fourth tourney win of 2009.
After four innings, SKS held a slim 16-15 lead. After Thorntons went up and down in order in the top of
the fifth, SKS put up three runs, with a run scoring single by Mark Hershberger, a sacrifice fly by Chris
Firebaugh and another run scoring single by Zach Yeaney. In the top of the sixth, Thorntons mustered only
one run, cutting the lead to 19-16, but the Kids answered back with three more runs in the bottom of the
sixth, highlighted by an rbi single by Jake Underwood - his fifth hit of the game and 11th consecutive hit of
the tournament - an rbi triple by Firebaugh, and finally a run scoring single by Hershberger, who had four
hits in the game. The Kids now held a 22-15 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but they
knew that seven runs would not be a large enough lead without bringing their best defense, and that is
exactly what they did.
Thorntons reached base with five of the first six batters in the inning, with the second batter flying out to
Yeaney in left, who played outstanding defense once again for the team. Thorntons now plated three more
runs, cutting the lead to just four, 22-18, but some outstanding defense again helped the Kids as center
fielder Joe Horvath snared "J-Mac's" rocket line drive to secure the victory and the tournament
championship.
"This was a great day for our team, given the situations we have had to deal with this week," said pitcher
Lanny Fisher, who had four hits in the final game. "With the Shane situation and our hearts being with him,
then with what happened to Berto still on our minds, we found the courage to beat a very good team and
earn this victory."
Street Kids (20-6 overall) will travel to Warsaw this weekend for the NSA Class B NIT, where several
of the best B teams in the region are expected to play, including fellow SKS team, Suburban Softball from
Kalamazoo, the 2009 ASA world champions.
The Street Kids/Suburban South/PAS softball
team won their fourth tournament of the 2009
season this weekend, after defeating a very
powerful Thorntons/B&C Miken softball team
in the "if" game of the championship round,
22-18.
Entering the tournament, which was regarded
as a preview of the Indiana State Championship
that will be held later this summer, the SKS
team carried the burden of the bad news of
their teammate and friend Shane Varga, who
was diagnosed with cancer just days before
the event. In honor of their friend, the team wore t-shirts that had Varga's name and number five on the
back along with a patch that also bared his name and number on their jersey. By the way, a very special
thank you to Richard Foltz for getting the shirts printed in two days notice for Saturday.
As if the Shane Varga story was not enough, the team was given word that a terrible incident happened at
Rose Park in Mishawaka on Saturday morning. The Ro-Sham-Bo/SKS softball team was hosting a
tournament at Rose when 24-year-old Alberto Naranjo was struck by a thrown ball during a game and
left "Berto", as he is known to his friends, unconscious on the ground. Later results from the hospital would
indicate that Berto suffered a severe blow to an artery in his brain, and the neurosurgeon could not stop
the bleeding. While his status is still listed as critical on Sunday evening, news from Berto's teammates on
Bonzai Softball indicate that he is brain-dead, and only remaining alive by a machine.
After the phone call was received about Berto,
the SKS team was in complete shock. Several
SKS players had grown up with Berto,
including Jay Jeffery, Scott Martin and Mark
Hershberger, who was just in Chicago at a
Cubs game with Berto on Thursday. The team
was minutes away from taking the field in the
opening round game against Thorntons when
they received the news, so you can imagine
how hard it was to actually play softball. But
the team did just that, and although they
uncharacteristically went scoreless for nearly
five innings, SKS battled back to defeat
Thorntons, 12-11 and advance to the
second round.
In the second round game, Street Kids were
paired against Gabes' Pizza/Blast Softball,
who defeated Nolans in their first round game. Despite another slow start, the Kids got hot when they
needed to and beat Gabe's, 21-16. Nick Bishop hit a key three run home run in the top of the seventh
inning to give the team some insurance runs. Bishop went four for four with three doubles and six rbi's.
In the third round game, SKS faced their friends from the Northern Indiana area, Team
Worth/AMD/Forest River/Sports55, who they have played with and against for several years. Team
Worth just came off a big victory over the highly favored Lazer Show team, after scoring 15 runs in the
fifth inning alone. Despite the fact that the SKS team jumped out to a 15-1 lead in the second inning, Team
Worth battled back and eventually tied the game at 15 each. But some clutch hitting helped break the tie
and in the top of the seventh inning, the Kids unloaded for six more runs and the Kids would win the
game, 25-15. Lanny Fisher, Tony Hardiman, Joe Horvath, Jake Underwood, Chris Firebaugh and Scott
Martin all had four hits a piece for the victorious Kids.
Underwood was not scheduled to play this weekend as he was not sure if his injured right wrist would be
ready for the rigorous swings he would need to take in a tournament, so he came off the bench for the first
two games before finally starting in the remaining games. Underwood would go on to have one of his best
tournaments ever, finishing wiht a .944 average, making only one out the entire day.
With the victory over Worth, the Street Kids team was now in the championship of the Hooters
tournament, awaiting the rest of the teams to slug it out in the losers bracket of the double elimination
event. When it was all sorted out, it would be a rematch between SKS and Thorntons, who found their
groove after losing to SKS earlier. But in order to win, Thorntons would have to beat SKS twice. And
that is exactly what they intended to do.
This game was a slugfest from beginning to end, as both teams went back and forth putting up runs but the
SKS team ran out of gas late, and Thorntons seemed to take advantage of that by continuing to pour on
the runs. They crushed SKS, 34-20 in seven innings, forcing the "if" game, because it was only the first
loss for Street Kids. In between games, the team just sat on the bench, looking for a way to slow down
the offensive attack that they just witnessed, and at the same time, find the offense they needed to defeat
this very good team. Well, call it karma, call it a sign from above, call it whatever you want, because the
SKS team was able to put that first game behind them and found the motivation to hang with Thorntons
and try to look for their fourth tourney win of 2009.
After four innings, SKS held a slim 16-15 lead. After Thorntons went up and down in order in the top of
the fifth, SKS put up three runs, with a run scoring single by Mark Hershberger, a sacrifice fly by Chris
Firebaugh and another run scoring single by Zach Yeaney. In the top of the sixth, Thorntons mustered only
one run, cutting the lead to 19-16, but the Kids answered back with three more runs in the bottom of the
sixth, highlighted by an rbi single by Jake Underwood - his fifth hit of the game and 11th consecutive hit of
the tournament - an rbi triple by Firebaugh, and finally a run scoring single by Hershberger, who had four
hits in the game. The Kids now held a 22-15 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but they
knew that seven runs would not be a large enough lead without bringing their best defense, and that is
exactly what they did.
Thorntons reached base with five of the first six batters in the inning, with the second batter flying out to
Yeaney in left, who played outstanding defense once again for the team. Thorntons now plated three more
runs, cutting the lead to just four, 22-18, but some outstanding defense again helped the Kids as center
fielder Joe Horvath snared "J-Mac's" rocket line drive to secure the victory and the tournament
championship.
"This was a great day for our team, given the situations we have had to deal with this week," said pitcher
Lanny Fisher, who had four hits in the final game. "With the Shane situation and our hearts being with him,
then with what happened to Berto still on our minds, we found the courage to beat a very good team and
earn this victory."
Street Kids (20-6 overall) will travel to Warsaw this weekend for the NSA Class B NIT, where several
of the best B teams in the region are expected to play, including fellow SKS team, Suburban Softball from
Kalamazoo, the 2009 ASA world champions.
