NSA Super AA/A NIT Columbus, OH

I will bet you that Jeff Hague, Greg Powers and all his staff are glad there are no more Super tournaments in Columbus this season. Talk about rain, for two weeks that’s all it did. But Jeff and the gang that got both the USSSA the week before and this week’s NIT in despite all the bad weather. Great effort Jeff!! It takes people like you guys to keep “Big Time” softball rolling Resmondo/Hague/Taylor Bros/Sunbelt ran through this one having to beat Alesium/Chase/Shade Rest./Easton two times, once in the winner’s bracket and the in the final game of the Championship. The Resmondo boys played their best ball of the season, as they hit it, played great defense and hit a lot of homeruns. Jimmy Devine led the attack, as he hit it great and did a good job pitching. Jimmy was named the tournament’s MVP for his effort. “Big” JC Phelps is back like he was three years ago, was named the Offensive Player of the tourney. I believe this was a total team effort in this win for Resmondo. Second place went to Alesium/Chase/Reece’s/Shade Rest./Easton, who had to put down the composite bats this week, because they were banned by the NSA on their Easton Synergy bats. The Easton boys used the Easton Connection bat this week, and like the Hague boys the past few weeks, who also had their bats banned, had to get used to using the Connection. I know it makes a lot of difference for a lot of the players when they don’t have the composite in their hands. They cannot hit the long ball with consistency and the ball doesn’t come off the bat as fast as the composite’s obviously. That my friends makes for a lot of outs on the 90′ bases and even on the 70′ bases, it’s a different game. Take a look at the offensive #’s when the teams use composite bats, and when they go back to the aluminum, it’s not even close. I think the banning of bats will hurt the Class A or AA teams a lot. I hope it doesn’t make the game go back to a two team domination in Big Time softball. Remember last year we had five different winners in five different tournaments. We have also seen AA & A teams win NIT’s and beat the Super teams last year. I can tell you it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the equipment has done to the game. The fact of the matter is, if all the competitive teams were swinging the hot composite bats, it would be a pretty equal game for all. Back to the NSA/WSL tourney in Columbus; third place went to a very good A team, B&J Loggers, who I underestimated, but they can play with any of the AA, A teams out there. This team has some very good young players and some older guys who can play and know how to win. B&J Loggers gave Alesium all they wanted in the loser’s bracket final game, dropping a 15-14 game to Alesium. I look for this team to make a lot of noise down the stretch, and they could easily win a World Title or two in their class. Great Job boys, look to see you down the road. My mistake for not ranking you in the Top 15. Another good A team Bay’s/Stucco/Easton played well all weekend long capturing fourth place. This bunch has a very competitive A team, and are capable of upsetting anybody in any game if you don’t play well. Overall this was a pretty good tournament. The tourney ran smooth even with all the bad weather. Games were on time and finished early letting the teams get out of town by 2:00 in the afternoon. That’s how tournaments should be run. Jim Kimmel did another good job running this event. Congratulations to Resmondo/Hague/Taylor Bros/Sunbelt for winning the tournament and to B & J Loggers for getting the berth to Panama City, Fla. and the $5,000 travel money.