SCMAF TOC GOES ON STRONG THIS YEAR (2009)

Author: January Luong

SCMAF’s COED (November 7 & 8) and Men’s (November 14 & 15) Annual Tournament of Champions (TOC) was a great success this year with 23 COED teams and 75 Men’s teams participating. Both events were sponsored by Diamond Sports which provided all the softballs for the TOC events.  Partners such as Tai Sports (Elite) and Mizuno provided great award packages to all the winning teams.

THE COED TOC was held in the City of Huntington Beach at their Sports Complex on November 7 & 8. The Huntington Beach Sports Complex came out with men and women occupying seven of their fields. Going in with a competitor’s mindset, teams looked to take the tournament by giving no mercy to any team. Everyone was out playing their hardest on Saturday to make it to the playoffs the next day.

In the COED TOC, the “E” division had some very competitive games. En Fuego (Mission Viejo), managed by Craig Watkins, took 1^st Place with a 6-1 record beating Brodie Schmidt’s team The Stars (Irvine) for the tournament crown. It was an intense tournament for these two teams playing against each other four times. En Fuego lived up to their name “on fire” by defeating The Stars in three of those games. Team ASA (Simi Valley) took third place, while Triple 7’s (Moorpark) rounded out the top four.  MVPs for En Fuego were Kevin Lorton and Gina Watkins while The Stars players Courtney Woltz and Greg Schoen were named All-Tournament.

The “REC” division which consisted of fifteen teams battled it out with Larry Alanis’ team Grey Goose (Whittier) standing out as the best in the division. Bill Dodge’s team Pass the Jack (Huntington Beach) took 2^nd place, while Emilie-Albert Mott’s team, Mix It Up (Irvine) came in 3^rd, followed by Josh Shamblin’s team Dirty Batsters (Nipomo) in 4^th place.  Billy Zepeda and Mandy Pongs of Grey Goose were named tournament MVP’s of the tournament.

THE MEN’S TOC was held in the Palm Springs Desert Resort Area, occupying three Softball Complexes:  Big League Dreams in Cathedral City, DeMuth Park and Civic Center Park in Palm Desert.  The Men’s TOC had four divisions with teams from all over Southern California participating in the two-day event. This tournament determines who is considered the best teams in SCMAF. Teams as far as Orange County, San Luis Obispo County and out in the outer reaches of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties came out to play their last games of the season at the SCMAF TOC. The 75 teams played on twelve fields in two days.

The Men’s “D” division was won by the three-time TOC Champs En Fuego (Mission Viejo) defeating Howarth Construction (Simi Valley) 14-8. En Fuego named Corrie Willke, Jason Moneyham, Ryan Johnson and Jerry Lagner as their All-Tournament selections. Bruce Howarth, Andy Beltowski, and Chad Emery of Howarth Construction’s were also named All-Tournament. Yer Out (Ventura) took 3^rd place in the division with Outkast (Carson) finishing 4^th.

In the Upper “E” division, Manager Andy Arenas’ team Alpha Q-Blue (Simi Valley), which placed 3^rd in last year’s TOC, took 1^st place beating Shake ‘N’ Bake (Irvine) with a score of 11-6. All-Tournament players on Shake ‘N’ Bake’s team are Taylor Bennett, Brian Hutchinson and Matt Hansen. Alpha Q-Blue’s All-Tournament players were Jack White, Hector Ramos, Chris Ferguson, and Grady Ihnat. Both teams played a great tournament and it was a great Sunday afternoon for a softball.

In the Lower “E” division, Dave Harbour, Team Manager of Fat City (Irvine) took 1^st place with a 10 -1 record. Losing their second game of the tournament to HEX (Oxnard), Fat City ended up battling it out with So. Cal. Militia (Santa Clarita) for the Championship, winning both games in the Championship Round.  The second game of the Championship Round was a well-played game with the final score being 14-8. Goodfellas (Carson) came in 3^rd and Relentless (Ventura) took 4^th place. With 26 teams in this division, Fat City made it out swinging their bats, scoring runs and winning every game in the Loser’s Bracket. Fat City named Matt Vogel, Doug Odgers, Brandon Boone, and Dave Harbour as their All-Tournament players.  So. Cal. Militia named as their All-Tournament players Robert Enriquez, Steve Rodriguez, and Fernando Cortez.

In the 30-team “REC” Division bracket, Ya Dig from Santa Barbara won 1^st place. This was the only team in the tournament that went undefeated at 6-0 and beat Give It A Ride (Victorville) in the championship game. The 3^rd place finisher was Whiskey Sticks (North Hollywood) with a 4-2 record while Whiskey Richards with a 3-2 record took 4^th place. All-Tournament players for Ya Dig were Isaac Hernandez, Vinny Eckert, Dave Lamar, and Ryan Fracchia. Give It A Ride honored players Joe Maher, Derek Laible, and Paul Durham as their All-Tournament selections.

The SCMAF Softball Committee would like to thank our sponsor Diamond Sports for all the help and continued support in our Softball tournaments as well as all the teams that participated in the TOC in Huntington Beach and the Palm Springs Desert Resort Area.

Also thanks should go to all the municipal agencies and Tournament Directors who hosted the TOC and made it a great day for participants and spectators. Special thanks go to the agencies and cities that hosted Qualifiers and Divisionals that made our TOC a success before the first game of this tournament was even played.  Thanks to all the teams that participated, SCMAF looks forward to them playing again next season.

Team En Fuego 1^st Place Winners in the COED TOC “E” Division

Grey Goose Softball Club 1^st Place Winners in the COED “REC” Division

Team En Fuego 1^st Place Winners in the Men’s TOC “D” Division

Alpha Q-Blue 1^st Place Winners in the Men’s TOC “Upper E” Division

Fat City 1^st Place Winners in the Men’s TOC “Low E” Division

Ya Dig Softball Team 1^st Place Winners in the Men’s TOC “REC” Division

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