ASA Super NIT Spring Classic – Kissimmee, FL

Long Haul/Taylor Bros/Shen Corps/TPS gets off on the right track as they captured their first tournament of the season. It wasn’t easy as Hague/Resmondo/Specialty Tank/TPS gave them all they could handle. I stated in my report before this tournament that it was small in size, but 30 of the best players in the world were going to compete against each other, and that’s exactly what happened. The two other teams in this round robin and double elimination tournament were Techfire, a very very good B team from central Florida and Sea Dogs another B team from Florida made up this early tournament. This is how it went; in round robin play Hague/Resmondo went 3-0, Long Haul went 2-1, Techfire was 1-2 and Sea Dogs were 0-3. Hague/Resmondo defeated Long Haul 42-35 in their first meeting of the season. Now it was time to start the double elimination of the tournament. Hague/Resmondo beat Techfire, Long Haul defeated Sea Dogs, which brought us to another battle between the two powers. Long Haul wins a low scoring affair as they squeaked by Hague/Resmondo on a grand slam homerun by Mike Shenk in the bottom of the 7th. by the score of 25-22. In the meantime Techfire defeated Sea Dogs, which gave them an 8:00 am Sunday game against Hague/Resmondo, and the winner would get a chance to beat Long Haul two times. Hague/Resmondo did just that as they beat Techfire, and now it was on again Hague and Long Haul in the first game of the finals. Here’s how this one went in their third battle of the weekend. Long Haul/Taylor Bros/Shen Corps/TPS came out flying to the tune of 30 big runs in the top of the first, leaving Hague/Resmondo/Specialty Tank/TPS in a deep hole to climb out of. Hague didn’t get off to a good start in the
bottom of the first, as they only came up with one run that inning. But things started to change as they rallied back. Hague needed 11 runs to stay alive in the bottom of the 3rd. or they would of been run ruled, but then came up with 18 to keep the game going. Long Haul in the 4th only managed to score 2. Hague then came up with 12 more runs in the bottom of the 4th and the battle was on. Hague could not overcome that 30 run 1st inning, but gave it a gallant try before losing by the final score of 56-44. It was definitely an early tournament and some of the boys weren’t hitting it that good, but I thought the defense on both sides played extremely well. Long Haul is a very good team and will be there most every weekend. Make no mistake about it Hague/Resmondo is a very good team also, and they will be in the hunt every weekend. I’m sure when the three power teams move into Texas in 2 weeks for the NSA NIT, the competition will be at its best, as the
Dan Smith/Backman/Menosee/Easton team makes its debut for the first time in the 2001 season, along with a whole bunch of very competitive AA & A teams to make this a great early season tournament. I’ll be reporting to you all from Texas on the weekend of April 20-22.

Homerun Champion: Wendall Rickard with 20 hrs.

MVP Award: Mike Shenk 24-28-12

First Place: Long Haul/Taylor Bros/Shen Corps/TPS (5-1)
Second Place: Hague/Resmondo/Specialty Tank/TPS (5-2)
Third Place: Techfire (2-4)
Fourth Place: Sea Dogs (0-5)