{"id":14172,"date":"2011-08-29T17:29:55","date_gmt":"2011-08-30T00:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=14172"},"modified":"2011-08-29T18:07:44","modified_gmt":"2011-08-30T01:07:44","slug":"j-train-roars-past-superchief-for-nafa-woodbat-nationals-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=14172","title":{"rendered":"J-Train roars past SuperChief for NAFA WoodBat Nationals title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to Don Cameron for this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Click logo for official NAFA website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ANADARKO, Oklahoma \u2014 The J-Train from Newton, Kansas, backed up its 2009 championship by claiming the 2011 NAFA WoodBat Nationals title Sunday in Anadarko, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Behind the pitching of Ray Foster, J-Train went 3-0 in the winners bracket then defeated SuperChief from Anadarko in the \u201cif\u201d game for the championship. <\/p>\n

SuperChief, paced by David Beets\u2019 stellar pitching, was runner-up, followed by the Compadres out of San Antonio, Texas, in third and the Rocky Mountain Rebels (Colorado) in fourth. Wizards of Oz (Kansas) placed fifth.<\/p>\n

Other teams competing in Anadarko included Charlie B\u2019s (El Reno, Okla.), Hybredz (Anadarko) and Dodge (El Reno).<\/p>\n

SuperChief\u2019s second-place effort was highlighted by two extra-inning barnburners. Saturday night, SuperChief fended off the Compadres in 13 innings. Sunday, Beets threw a one-hitter as SuperChief beat J-Train 1-0 in 10 innings to force the \u201cif\u201d game.<\/p>\n

In the \u201cif\u201d game, SuperChief forced J-Train starter Foster out of the game in the fifth. J-Train trailed by a run in the bottom of the seventh before rallying with two outs, as Rico Garcia scored the winning run on a SuperChief throwing error.<\/p>\n

Phillip Gomez and the city of Anadarko hosted the tourney, which was played in searing Midwest heat in front of hundreds of enthusiastic spectators at idyllic Randlett Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was miserable out there, but both teams had a good time,\u201d Beets said. \u201cIt was two heavyweights going after it. I left everything I had out on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster was named Most Valuable Pitcher for the tourney, while J-Train\u2019s Steve Roach was Most Valuable Player. Roach played third base and pitched, relieving Foster in the championship game. <\/p>\n

Other J-Train NAFA WoodBat All-Americans were shortstop Garcia, infielder Tony Jaso Jr., Bubba Ramirez and Vicente Vieyra. Vieyra, competing in his first fastpitch tournament, smashed the ball all weekend, including a game-winning inside-the-park homer against SuperChief in the winners bracket final.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Jaso said playing with wooden bats levels makes for more competitive games. \u201cWith wooden bats, you\u2019re not going to get the same pop. You really have to square the ball up if you want to hit the gaps. So every game is up for grabs. It really levels the playing field. We had a couple of guys who had played wood bat before, so we knew what to expect and that helped us out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beets threw 51 innings to catcher AJ Wetselline \u2014 most in 108-degree Oklahoma heat \u2014 to earn all-tournament accolades. Beets was joined by teammates Kevin Botone and Angelo Sleeper on the All-American team as SuperChief made its debut on the wood-bat scene. \u201cYou have to be really fundamentally sound,\u201d Beets said. \u201cBunting is a lot more important. The guys are used to the high-dollar aluminum bats, so there is a learning curve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three of the four Sunday games went to extra innings, including a 4-3 comeback win by the Compadres against the Rebels, who got a strong pitching effort from T.J. Martin for their best finish in the six years of the WoodBat Nationals.<\/p>\n

The Compadres and Rocky Mountain Rebels both placed three players on the All-American team \u2014 shortstop Horacio Berrones, pitcher Guadalupe Jose Reyes and pitcher Jorge Rendon for Compadres and Todd Kensler, Chris Petroski and Joaquin Padilla for the Rebels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best fastpitch I have seen since the early \u201990s at any level,\u201d said Dave Parker, NAFA WoodBat commissioner. \u201cIt was unbelievable. It was a step back in time 20 years. The playing field was as level as I have seen it in the history of the tournament. It was anyone\u2019s to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat tournament. The Midland,Texas, umpires on the main field were as solid as group of umpires that have been together in a long time. Very good group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Event sponsors included the Padilla family (Denver, Colo.); Dean Parker and family (Rawlins, Wyo.); Dave Parker and family (Midland,Texas); Dean Fields and family (Odessa,Texas); Gary Jarvis and family (Midland,Texas); Tim Hatten and Blackhawk Athletic Club (Rockford, Ill.).<\/p>\n

NAFA WoodBat Nationals \u2014 Champions Circle<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n2011 \u2014 J-Train (Newton, Kansas)
\n2010 \u2014 New Image (Monfort, Wisconsin)
\n2009 \u2014 J-Train (Newton, Kansas)
\n2008 \u2014 Fort Collins Fastpitch (Fort Collins, Colorado) ***CO-CHAMPS
\nTodd\u2019s Trailer Sales (Sutton, Nebraska) ***CO-CHAMPS
\n2007 \u2014 Dragons (Englewood, Colorado)
\n2006 \u2014 Fort Collins Fastpitch (Fort Collins, Colorado)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
2011 NAFA WoodBat Champions, J Train of Newton, KS (click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
2011 NAFA WoodBat All Americans (click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to Don Cameron for this report. ANADARKO, Oklahoma \u2014 The J-Train from Newton, Kansas, backed up its 2009 championship by claiming the 2011 NAFA WoodBat Nationals title Sunday in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Behind the pitching of Ray Foster, J-Train went 3-0 in the winners bracket then defeated SuperChief from Anadarko in the \u201cif\u201d game for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tournaments","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14172"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14182,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14172\/revisions\/14182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}