The 2010 AAU international tournament ended on an inauspicious note with the Italian Athletic Club of California forfeiting the championship game, with a number of players having to leave to catch flights home before the championship game commenced.
Their departure set in motion a chain of events which resulted in the team beaten by the Italian Athletic Club claiming the 2010 AAU championship crown.
In the first semi final game, the Italian Athletic Club of Stockton California defeated the Chicago New York team 6-0, on the strength of Derek Mayson’s five RBIs including two home runs, (one a grand slam), and a four hit shutout tossed by Sean Witten.
In the other semi final game, the Dominican Republic national team defeated the NY gremlins, by a 5-4 score. The Dominican Republic scored one run in the first inning, and two more in the second to take a 3-0 lead, into the fourth inning. The New York Gremlins rallied back with four runs in the fourth inning, to take a 4-3 lead. The Dominican Republic then took the lead back – for good — on a two run homer in the 6th, for the 5-4 final score. A bit of controversy erupted on the home run, with the gremlins arguing that the home run hitter made contact with his teammates before he reached first base (his teammates rushing from the dugout when the homer was hit) The umpire’s ruling was that the home run stood. When the Gremlins failed to score in the top of the seventh inning, the Dominican Republic advanced to the championship game. (or so it appeared)
Then things really went south. The Italian Athletic Club of California, which was to play the Dominican Republic for the 2010 AAU title, announced that they could not stay, due to players having to catch flights home. After a meeting amongst the tournament directors, the title game was directed to go forward between Chicago New York and the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic team refused to play, however, and a forfeit was declared, with Chicago New York emerging as the 2010 AAU International tournament champions.
Jeff Ellsworth of Chicago New York was named to the tournament’s most valuable player, while pitcher Shaun Winship earned most valuable pitcher honors.
The AAU international tournament will return in 2011 for its 12th consecutive year.
Click logo for Maddy’s Photos of the 2010 AAU Tournament.
Click here to see photo of the 2010 AAU Champions, Chicago/NY.
Click here to see 2010 MVP’s Shaun Winship and Jeff Ellsworth.
From Tournament director Ken Hackmeister:
The AAU finals turned into disarray as the Dominican Republic team refused to play the championship game against Chicago/New York.
The Dominican Republic earned their berth in the championship game by defeating NY Gremlins 5-4 but even that was not without controversy.
A 6th inning 2-run home run by Sergio LaHoz was protested by NY Gremlins claiming the batter was touched by teammates coming from their first base dugout before the batted ball cleared the outfield fence. The protest was denied as all-3 umpires agreed the touching occurred after the ball cleared the fence. The home run moved Dominican Republic from a 1-run deficit into a 1-run lead and eventual final margin.
In the other semi final, Italian Athletic Club, defeated Chicago/New York 6-0 but due to flight departure times, had to forfeit the game and leave for the airport.
Dominican Republic refused to play the championship game, claiming they should play Italian Athletic Club and if IAC wasn’t available, Dominican Republic should win the championship by forfeit.
The consensus of the tournament and umpire staffs was that IAC forfeited their
6-0 win and Chicago/New York was the legitimate entrant in the championship
game. Dominican Republic refused to play and walked out of the park during the
awards ceremony.The official order of finish is:
Champs – Chicago/New York
2nd place – Dominican Republic
3rd place – NY Gremlins and Italian Athletic Club
Most Valuable Pitcher – Shaun Winship
Most Valuable Player – Jeff Ellsworth
Consolation Champion – Nova Scotia
Ken
Leave a Reply