2002 Cajun Classic

I have said that there are a lot of great A teams since all the mergers took place this past winter. I will say no more on that issue. Twin States/Worth wins and becomes the fourth team to earn a berth to Mickey Mouse World and the 2002 USSSA World Series. Twin States did this by going 5-0, winning games against Team Texas/Ambers, LA Bag/Legend/TPS, Suncoast/Nike, Hague/Resmondo/Worth and Budweiser/Absolute/Team Experts/Worth on route to the Cajun Championship. Bubba and Pat put together this merger and got veteran Jackie Hayes to coach the defense, who by the way is one of the best at doing this in the history of the game. I know everyone wants to say that Twin States is a Major or AA team, but there are a lot of teams who are just like Twin States, and that my friends is great for our game. Whoever thinks that Big Time Softball is dead better take another look, what’s really happening is that with all the mergers these teams are much better and are much more competitive and that’s the bottom line. Twin States was led by MVP pitcher Eddie Hicks and a total team effort. As I said in last week’s report this team was coming, and they sure proved it this weekend. Congratulations on your win!! Budweiser/Absolute/Team Experts/Worth took second place in this one and played extremely well this weekend and maybe now will start to make a run up the ladder. They certainly have the talent to do just that. Hague/Resmondo/Walser/Worth who finished third in this one, and for the second consecutive year did not fare very well in the Cajun, as last year they were beaten by Budweiser. The Hague boys just didn’t adjust enough to overcome the USSSA homerun rule. Making no excuses they also played Sunday without two of their better players Scott Streibel, who had to leave to go home and Todd Volkers who got hurt, and they played the price. There’s no doubt that the homerun rule can effect some of the games that the A teams play against the big three. I can only say that if the big boys don’t make adjustments then there will be more upsets like this past weekend, but believe me these A teams are not afraid to step on the fields rather it be baseball or 300′ fields with the homerun rule, because these teams are getting better and better and these are the real facts. I also feel there has to be a lot of adjustments made when teams have been playing on baseball fields with 90′ bases, it is definitely a different game, but the bottom line is teams know what the rules are before they play. If you don’t like it, don’t play it. Fourth place went to Team Mizuno, who has played very well all season, and fourth place is a very good finish in this tournament for this bunch. Once again Louisiana State Director Robert Boudreaux and the Pelican Park staff ran another great tournament. This continues to be one of the best tournaments in the country year after year.