{"id":24815,"date":"2014-09-02T19:08:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-03T02:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=24815"},"modified":"2014-09-02T19:09:43","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T02:09:43","slug":"usa-softball-mens-fastpitch-national-team-wins-durk-sherman-classic-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=24815","title":{"rendered":"USA Softball Men\u2019s Fastpitch National Team wins Durk Sherman Classic Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/a>
Click here for Box Score from championship game<\/figcaption><\/figure>From Steve Embree, ASA\/USA Softball<\/em><\/p>\n

ELKLAND, Pa. \u2013 In their first event as a team, the 2014 USA Softball Men\u2019s Fastpitch National Team took the championship of Durk Sherman Classic in Elkland, Pa. this weekend. Using the event as a tune-up for next month\u2019s IX Conpasa Men\u2019s Fastpitch Panam, Team USA went 5-0 in the event capped off with a 7-0 win over the USA Futures in the Championship game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very happy with our defense this weekend,\u201d said USA Head Coach Denny Bruckert. \u201cWe had some questions coming into this tournament and I think our 17 guys answered them. They were an extremely professional group and they all accepted their roles. The defense was a bright spot for us. Coming in we as a coaching staff knew that we could hit the ball well but our defense was equally as impressive in this tournament. I think we only had one error in the five games that we play. I was very happy with the way we played on that side of the ball.\u201d
\n<\/span>
\n
\nChampionship: USA 7, USA Futures 0<\/strong>
\nClick here to view the Box Score<\/a> <\/p>\n

A no-hitter from USA pitcher Josh Johnson (El Paso, Texas) coupled with seven runs on nine hits from the USA batters spurred a 7-0 shut out by the USA National Team over the USA Futures Team in the finals of the Durk Sherman Classic over the weekend. Johnson finished the game with five strikeouts in six innings in the circle. Nick Mullins (Toms River, N.J.) paced a hot USA lineup going 2-2 with a run and three RBI. <\/p>\n

After a scoreless first inning, the USA National Team blew the game open with five runs on three hits and an error in the top of the second. After allowing four runs on two hits, Jerlin Rutt (Bernville, Pa.) was replaced by B.J. Hunhoff (Sioux Falls, S.D.) midway through the second. Hunhoff finished up the game for the USA Futures by allowing three more runs on seven hits while striking out four.<\/p>\n

The 5-0 score held to the fifth when Chase Turner (San Jose, Calif.) scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0. Needing just one more run for the run rule in the sixth, Johnson doubled to center field and later came around to score giving Team USA a 7-0 advantage.<\/p>\n

Down to their last at-bat the USA Futures needed one run in the bottom of the sixth to extend the game but Johnson had other plans in the circle. Back-to-back groundouts were followed up with a Johnson\u2019s fifth strikeout of the game to end it.
\n
\n How they got there\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The USA Softball Men\u2019s National team earned their trip to the tournament finals by going 4-0 in the winner\u2019s bracket including a 16-0 win over Jersey Shore in their opening game, a 7-2 win over CPI in the second round, an 8-0 win over ESA in the third round and a 4-0 victory over the USA Futures in the winners-bracket final. In all, Team USA outscored opponents 42-2 in the tournament. Derrick Zechman (Watsontown, Pa.) lead the team offensively going 8-14 for a .571 average. In the circle, USA Pitchers Johnson, Tony Mancha (Las Cruces, N.M.) and Gerald Muizelaar (Grand Forks, N.D.) combined for a 0.62 ERA and allowed just two runs on 10 hits in 29 innings. <\/p>\n

The USA Softball Futures team showed the future of USA Men\u2019s fastpitch is in good shape as the young squad went 4-2 in the tournament with their only losses coming to the USA National Team. The Futures began the event by defeating Dick\u2019s Diner 9-1 in round one, squeaked by the NY Bombers 2-1 in round two and beat Bedford 5-1 in round three. A 4-1 loss to the National Team in the winners-bracket final sent them to the losers bracket where they defeated ESA 6-4 to earn a rematch with the National Team in the finals where they fell 7-0.<\/p>\n

Following the tournament championship, the USA Softball Men\u2019s National team regroup in October and travel to Parana, Argentina to compete in the IX Conpasa Men\u2019s Fastpitch Panam where they will look to earn berths to the 2015 Pan American Games as well as the 2015 International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship. Please visit www.USASoftball.com<\/a> throughout the year for updates on the USA Softball Men\u2019s National Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Steve Embree, ASA\/USA Softball ELKLAND, Pa. \u2013 In their first event as a team, the 2014 USA Softball Men\u2019s Fastpitch National Team took the championship of Durk Sherman Classic in Elkland, Pa. this weekend. Using the event as a tune-up for next month\u2019s IX Conpasa Men\u2019s Fastpitch Panam, Team USA went 5-0 in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22354,"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":[3,12,23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-asa","8":"category-isf","9":"category-tournaments","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24815"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24817,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24815\/revisions\/24817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}