Sunday, the Fall Classics ‘Final’ Day proved to be one of the most exciting battles wagered at the Classic. Sunday’s opening game posted Burgtown, taking on Maxwell’s Big Bucks out of Atlasburg, PA and as always the road through the losers bracket starts off with a bang. In the first inning Burgtown posted a 5 run first inning (the largest run count of an inning in the event), however it was just the first shot of a war. Maxwell’s Big Bucks came to life in the bottom of the third to post its first runs and rallied each inning to stake a tie game by the bottom of the seventh. With the international rule not in effect in the “Classic”, the short game took over. <\/p>\n
In the Top of the Ninth, Burgtown mustered a 1 out, line drive off the fence to score the go ahead run, but with the crack of the bat in the bottom of the ninth, Maxwell’s Big Bucks placed two men on with no outs. An Excellent Job of pitching closed the door on Maxwell’s Big Bucks to end the game. “This was one of the toughest games we’ve played all year”, said Dave Balmer Manager for the Burgtown Team, “These wooden BWP Bats and the Metal Wood Bats force a team to hit the ball, field the ball and throw the ball. There’s NO GIMMIES! It’s the way the game was meant to be played”.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
PA Stocks out of Eastern, PA had fallen to WV Diamonds
\nout of Fairmont, WV in the Saturday Nightcap, sending PA Stocks
\ninto the battle from the basement. But, PA Stocks had to sit
\nand wait it out as the Silverbacks began one of the longest climbs
\ntowards the finals for a team since the Fall Classic began back
\nin 1995.<\/p>\n
Burgtown had set the pace for playing ‘hard nosed’ in the
\nfirst game on Sunday and seemed to be an ideal focal point made
\nclear for Carson’s Tavern, out of Scottdale, PA as well. Of
\ncourse a Hometown battle was to take place. “Bragging Rights”
\nwere at stake as well as a last shot to make the finals. Ron
\nHribal took the mound for the Silverback opening with a shaky
\nstart allowing Carson’s Tavern to strike first blood in the top
\nof the 1st. Dave Nickelson, pitching for Carson’s Tavern, was
\nflawless until the third inning when Silverbacks shortstop, Doug
\nCramer, linedrived the fence at the 245 ft mark and opened the
\ninning with a triple. Silverbacks powerhitter, Tim Brettz, scored
\nCramer from third with a deep fly ball to right field.<\/p>\n
Carson’s Tavern’s 2B, Gary Muscovich posted his fifth hit
\nin the “Classic” in the top of the eighth, scoring the go ahead
\nrun from second, but as all good stories have it… The Silverbacks
\nrallied in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game. Nickelson
\nturned over the pitching duties to Rocky Younkin for Carson’s
\nTavern, while Hribal remained glued to mound for the Silverbacks.
\n In the top of the tenth inning, Carson’s Tavern took advantage
\nof a pass ball and a fielding error to put runners in scoring
\nposition. A perfectly executed bunt moved the lead runner to
\nthird with 1 out. Mike Edwards, Carson’s Tavern’s centerfielder,
\nanswered with a flyball out to right and scored the go ahead
\nrun again.<\/p>\n
Like the cat the won’t die, the Silverbacks came to the
\nplate in the bottom of the tenth. Denny Tate opened the inning
\nreaching first on a throwing error, but after a failed bunting
\nattempt, Tate was stranded one first with one out. Ron Funk,
\none of the Silverbacks top hitters popped up to make it 2 outs.
\n Down to their last out, Doug Hood worked the count to draw a
\nwalk placing the winning run on first. Billy Brettz, Brother
\nof Tim Brettz, took his place at the plate. Younkin served up
\na beautiful rise ball but Brettz drove it to the gap. A stand
\nup double in the Bottom of the tenth scoring two for the win.
\n “Exciting? It’s more than that.” said Hribal “It was a thing
\nof beauty. Players having to let it all hang out. Making plays
\nbehind the bag to keep you in the game and to watch a batter
\nwork the count to 3 -2 and then on the last pitch see the winning
\nruns cross the plate… This what every player hopes to be part
\nof… A win under the gun!” It was a big win for the Silverbacks,
\nbut the cheering soon faded as the Silverbacks were slated to
\ntake on Burgtown in the Semi Finals.<\/p>\n
The Semi-Finals was in no ways a pushover for either team.
\n This time Billy Brettz would take the mound for the Silverbacks.
\n Dave Balmer’s troops were fastened to taking their shot a the
\nWV Diamonds, who where watching and waiting to defend the title
\nonce again.<\/p>\n
The Silverbacks and Burgtown battled back and forth through
\nthe first three innings, with neither team gaining the upper
\nhand. But, in the top of the third the Silverbacks took advantage
\nof a hit and run with two on to take the first lead of the game.
\n Brettz seemed to have his targets locked in retiring batter
\nin the 5th and 6th inning. Burgtown, in the seventh inning,
\nreverted to the old adage if you can’t hit’em bunt it. With
\ntwo well placed bunts a blast, Burgtown finally cracked the stonewalls
\nof the Silverback defense. Another extra Inning game in the
\nmaking.<\/p>\n
Extra Innings are the hardest things to watch as a spectator.
\n Teams play so much above themselves that you just hate to see
\none of them make a mistake. With the game tied heading into
\nNinth inning, a mistake marked the end of Burgtown. Again, it
\nwas Billy Brettz coming through that set the pace forcing an
\nerror the allowed the winning run to score.<\/p>\n
In Williamsport, PA the Little League Playoffs officials
\nwere counting pitches, but in Scottdale, PA, the Silverbacks
\nwere counting innings. Nineteen straight innings and still counting.
\n Every one thought that the Silverbacks were about to retire
\nfor the weekend as PA Stocks readied to take the field against
\nthem. It would be Scott Miller taking the mound for PA Stocks,
\nwhile Edward Pirl, the 5′ 2″ righty was ready to answer the call.<\/p>\n
Inning 20 for the Silverbacks looked like they had never
\nstopped play from the last game. Several well placed shot gave
\nthe Silverbacks a strong foothold and a 4 – 0 score going into
\nthe top of the second inning. Miller showed signs of struggle
\nand after allowing a 2 run triple, Miller pulled himself from
\nthe game. Steve Banasick entered the game to slow the silverbacks
\nrally to a standstill. A stand still that also sparked a rally
\nwhich tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and again
\nthe Silverbacks found themselves playing extra innings. Neither
\nside would budge, although PA Stock loaded the bases in the eight
\nand ninth innings, Billy Bretts relief efforts in the eight inning
\nwas holding up. In the tenth inning a strike three call eluded
\nthe PA Stacks catcher allowing a runner to reach 1st base. On
\nthe attempt to throw out the runner the ball was over thrown
\nand the Silverbacks now had a man in scoring position. On the
\nvery next batter, a grounder to Pitcher seemed to be out number
\nthree, but when the 1st baseman could not find the bag, the runners
\nwere safe all around. There’s nothing routine in fastpitch and
\neven on the best days things go wrong. With 2 outs and runners
\non the corner, a slow dribbler to the shortstop proved to be
\nMurphy’s law, as the ball bounced away from the 1st baseman reach.
\n PA Stocks gave it the good ole’ college try but could not find
\nthe hole in the infield to get a runner home. Rocky Younkin
\nhad this to say, “Banasick pitched a great game not allowing
\na single earned run in relief… for that matter he had only
\nallowed two hits in relief. And, with this type of softball,
\nthat’s a huge thing. The idea of turning back the hands of time
\nand going back to wooden bats has completely changed this game
\nto what it once was and a pitcher can challenge a batter again…
\nand not have to challenge those rocket launchers call bats…
\nA great thing.”<\/p>\n
After 29 innings in only three games, the Silverbacks had
\ntruly earned their shot at Fairmont. Fairmont took notes while
\nwaiting through the losers bracket with attention focused on
\nthe Silverbacks. Fairmont opened the first inning of play with
\n4 bunts in a row and taking the early lead. Ron Hribal, pitching
\nfor the Silverbacks, worked double duty, pitching out of the
\ninning while fielding a barehanded snag on the mound to end the
\ninning. Greg Armon, pitching for the WV Diamonds, opened strong
\nand tallied 9 consecutive outs holding the Silverbacks to only
\none hit going into the 4th inning. The tired and worn Silverbacks
\nwere not about to go silent into the night. In the 4th inning
\nthe Silverbacks rallied with three beautiful bunts and a blast,
\nscoring 2 runs to cut the lead to a 5 – 2 score.<\/p>\n
In the 5th inning again the Silverbacks marched around the
\nbases to again cut the lead to a 2 run defecate. Fairmont became
\na little off end in the bottom of the 6th, when the Silverbacks
\nagain mounted a charge towards the plate, but outstanding fielding
\nfrom Fairmont’s, Jeff Rizor in centerfield, ended the late charge
\nchasing a sharp hit to the fence for the third out. West Virginia
\nshuffled the pitching staff in the bottom of the 7th to try to
\nthrow off the Silverbacks growing tempo, but a leadoff single,
\nand a successful hit and run put players on the corners bringing
\nthe go ahead run to the plate. It would seem that the Cinderella
\nstory was going to happen, but with the infield in Fairmont closed
\noff the plate for out 1, then took advantage of an infield pop
\nup. for out 2. It wouldn’t right if the story didn’t have an
\nexciting ending and wouldn’t you know? With two outs and runners
\nin scoring position a blast off the bat sailed into the left
\ncenter gap. Rizor again went deep into the gap, full throttle
\nand made an over the head snag to end the game.<\/p>\n
After 36 innings of Fastpitch Softball, the Silverbacks had
\nfound themselves as a runner up in the 11th Annual ‘BWP’ SW PA
\nFall Classic. Tired and sore, they held their heads high. Fairmont
\nmade claims to the prize. Crowned Champions of the 2007 Fall
\nClassic. Fairmont claimed the new BWP Wood Bats for each of
\nthe players on the team, a Grand prize trophy and $200.00 travel
\nexpense money. Rob Vasch, BWP Bats, LLC Rep was on hand to award
\nthe teams their winnings. “This is the first time that BWP has
\nentered into something such as this and I can see a strong future
\nin this type of play. We at BWP Bats are very proud to be part
\nof such an event and look forward in making next years event
\neven bigger.”<\/p>\n
Jim Sovel from Metal Wood Bats www.metalwoodbat.com attended
\nthe event awarding each of the teams participating a new Metal
\nWood Bat. “We at Metal Wood Bats have been looking for a solid
\nway to introduce our product into the mainstream of softball…
\nWe couldn’t have found a better avenue. I can only hope that
\nmore teams become involved next year and I can assure you that
\nMetal Wood Bats will be here. This is the most fun that I’ve
\nhad all summer and what a way to end it.”<\/p>\n
A Special Thanks to A1 Sports from Mt. Pleasant, PA., They
\nwere set up supplying teams with equipment and specialty items
\nall weekend long. They also supplied the awards for the top
\nthree teams in the event. A Special Thanks to Jim Flanagan from
\nfastballwest.com for the helping hand and the involvement of
\nRoute 66 Klubs. A1 Sports presented Fairmont, WV the Championship
\ntrophy, while Silverbacks from Scottdale, PA claimed the Runner-
\nup. PA Stocks captured the third place trophy with Joe Myers
\nfrom PA Stocks claiming the Top Hitter Award and prize from Route
\n66 Klubs. Joe posted over a .700 batting average for the event
\nwhile claiming a Golden Glove at second base for PA Stocks.<\/p>\n
One last note… There is a good possibility that the SW
\nPA Fall Classic will be NAFA Tied in 2008, so, keep your eyes
\nand ears open for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday, the Fall Classics ‘Final’ Day proved to be one of the most exciting battles wagered at the Classic. Sunday’s opening game posted Burgtown, taking on Maxwell’s Big Bucks out of Atlasburg, PA and as always the road through the losers bracket starts off with a bang. In the first inning Burgtown posted a 5 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}