The Rounders continued their winning ways in their Alliance game since clinching a berth to the ASA "C" Nationals by winning the So Cal ASA Association tournament two weeks ago.  The Rounders jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the game, on the strenght of a Steve Tollington two run homer.  Palm Springs battled back, taking the lead on a two out, two run line drive single to center by Darryl Goree.  The Rounders tied the game at 4 in the top of the 3rd, stranding the go ahead runner at third base.   The game remained tied at 4 until the top of the 6th when the Rounders exploded for 5 runs, and closed out the time-limit shortened game, with a 9-4 win.  The big blow for the Rounders in the 6th was a three run home run over the left field fence by Gerald Pyle. Both shortstops, Darryl Goree and Danny Roberts turned in some stellar defense to keep their teams in the game.

Rounders pitcher Mitch Mendenhall posted back to back wins over San Diego and Valley Lyons to lead his team to their fourth title in eight tournaments, tops among all teams.  The Rounders finished with a perfect 6-0 record on the weekend, winning three games Sunday to go with the three wins from Saturday.  The two finalists, Valley Lyons and the Rounders were the top two seeds coming into today, and wound up meeting in the finals.

In the championship game, Valley Lyons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on extra base hits by Scott Thompson and Chris Mooneyham.  The Rounders batted around in the third inning, posting seven runs and hung on to beat Valley Lyons, 7-6 to capture the final So Cal Alliance Tournament of the year.   

Mendenhall, second baseman Johnny Wilson and outfielder Steve Tollington were picked as All Tourney players for the Rounders.  Mitch Mendenall was 3-0 with two of the wins coming in the semis and the finals, a feat he started the season with back in March.  John Wilson had his best weekend of the season offensively with four multiple hit games, while Steve Tollington continued to add to his home run total, and provide solid hitting in the middle of the Rounders batting order.

Gerald Pyle added two home runs on the weekend, both in the editor's games, while 46 year old catcher Mike Hemperly continued to defy father time and swung a hot bat as well.

The USA Jr. Men's team made it to the final four, with two wins Sunday, including one over a very strong Raymar team, before falling to Valley Lyons in the semi-finals.

San Diego was the other semi-finalist, coming from behind to beat the Edge in the quarterfinals, before falling to the Rounders on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the last inning.  With the Rounders leading 4-2, San Diego tied the game at 4, where it stayed until the last inning, as aces Mendenhall and Zupp battled to the end.

The Edge hung on to win the So Cal Alliance title by one point over the Rounders, who made a late season charge from fourth to second, overtaking Raymar, and San Diego. Only three points separated the top three spots in the standings, The Edge (109), The Rounders (108) and San Diego (106) The Edge took the league lead in the second week of the season and did not relinquish it.

The Rounders opened the season by winning the first tournament of the year at Palm Springs, but stumbled in the next two tournaments with back-to-back "one and done" Sundays before regaining their form. 

Meanwhile, the Edge won two tournaments in a row in dominant fashion, and appeared poised to run away with the league title.  San Diego and Raymar challenged by consistently solid play, finding their way into the Final Four or Championship game several times.

The Rounders made it back to the top of the hill by winning at Lancaster in May, and won three of the final four tournaments of the year, finishing third at Lancasters II, winning the Association tournament, and then winning again at Corona on the final weekend of the year. It was the second year in a row that the Rounders won the final Alliance tournament at Corona.