{"id":7403,"date":"2011-01-23T13:22:27","date_gmt":"2011-01-23T21:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=7403"},"modified":"2011-02-17T23:19:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-18T07:19:00","slug":"chicagony-usa-wins-third-consecutive-aau-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=7403","title":{"rendered":"Chicago\/NY USA Wins Third Consecutive AAU Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Chicago\/NY USA became the first team ever to win the AAU International three times, during the twelve year history of the tournament. Los Socios of Venezuela was the first two-time winner, grabbing titles in 2002 and 2004 (not to mention runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2005 and a third this year). Mac’s became the second team to win two AAU titles, doing it in back-to-back fashion in 2007 and 2008. <\/p>\n

Chicago\/NY won the tournament in 2009 and 2010, with this year’s AAU title putting them alone on the top of the mountain as the only three time winner — three in a row, no less. The win in 2010 may bear something of an asterisk, as Chicago\/NY was beaten in the semi-finals by Italian Athletic Club, only to find themselves declared the forfeit winner of the tournament when IAC left early to catch planes home and finalist Dominican Republic refused to play Chicago\/NY in the final. The win in 2011 left no doubt, sweeping through the field of forty teams, capping things with a 9-5 championship game win over a very strong Softball Canada Development Team.<\/p>\n

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2011 AAU Championship Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chicago\/New York…..9
\nTeam Canada…………5
\n WP – Jeremy Manley and LaLonde
\n LP – Barkman and Boland<\/p>\n

Most Valuable Player<\/strong>
\nJeff Ellsworth* (Chicago\/New York) and Mark Johnson (Chicago\/New York)
\n*Ellsworth’s third AAU MVP in the past four years<\/em><\/p>\n

Most Valuable Pitcher(s)<\/strong>
\nJeremy Manley* (Chicago\/New York)
\nDean Holoien (Chicago\/New York)
\nDon Scott (Chicago\/New York)
\n*Manley’s second AAU Most Valuable Pitcher in four years.<\/em><\/p>\n

GAME SUMMARY:<\/strong>
\nCo-MVP Mark Johnson with two home runs and 4 RBI for Chicago\/New York. Johnson hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the second inning that blew the game open and added a solo shot in the sixth inning. Co-MVP Jeff Ellsworth added a solo homer for Chicago\/New York, as did Steve Mullaley. Ryan Wolfe (Softball Canada) also homered in game.<\/p>\n

Chicago\/New York started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning, then padded that lead with the three-run homer from Mark Johnson in the bottom of the second inning, staking starting pitcher Jeremy Manley to an early 4-0 lead. Chicago\/New York extended lead to 5-0 with another run in the bottom of the fifth inning. <\/p>\n

Softball Canada finally got on the board with three runs in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 5-3, but it was as close as they would get on the afternoon, as Chicago\/New York added a knockout blow with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, extending the lead to 9-3.<\/p>\n

Softball Canada did not go quietly in the seventh armor, scoring two more runs, one and a wild pitch and another on a illegal pitch, before winning pitcher Jeremy Manley got the final out, and clinched a third consecutive AAU International title for Chicago\/New York,<\/p>\n

Members of the 2011 AAU International Tournament Champions, Chicago\/NY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nName\tUniform #<\/strong>
\nDon\tScott\t0
\nFrank\tPerez\t3
\nTodd\tShultz\t7
\nDavid\tBoys\t8
\nAdam LaLonde\t11
\nPaul\tWahlford\t12
\nMark\tJohnson\t17
\nJeff\tEllsworth\t19
\nJohn\tRozich\t20
\nSteve\tMullaley\t33
\nEddie\tKettlehut\t34
\nJeremy Manley\t45
\nJustin Gill\t1
\nDean\tHoloien\t72
\nElvis\tSantago\t6
\nMike\tLaLonde\t15
\nJordan Taveras\t23
\nAaron\tPendergast\t25
\nBrian\tCyphert\t42
\nJohnny\tOwen\t10
\nShaun\tParsell\t21\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Members of the 2011 AAU International Tournament Runner-ups, Softball Canada Development Team<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

Tyson Barkman
\nRyan Boland
\nTrevor Boutilier
\nCalem Gardner
\nBrennan Pokoyoway
\nMathieu Roy
\nAndrew Skelton
\nJeremy Tracy
\nRowan Lam
\nJim Climenhaga
\nJoran Graham
\nJason Hill
\nDerek Mayson
\nRyan Wolfe
\nBrad Ezekiel
\nIan Fehrman\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Below were the pre-tournament picks of the readers of Fastpitchwest. It looks like the voters did pretty well, picking the two finalists to win their pools. The one team that seems to have slipped under the radar was third place finisher, Sopotocientos of Venezuela, picked to finished third in their pool. We’ll post the final seeding when we get our hands on it. Last year’s finalist, Italian Athletic Club was picked to finish ahead of Sopotocientos and Elimira in Pool J, but took an early exist, dropping their first playoff game on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Pool A
\nChicago NY, USA\t 93 votes
\nMinnesota Angels, USA\t 65 votes
\nVenezuela Brewers, VEN\t 10 votes
\nBlackburn Transport, CAN\t 9 votes<\/p>\n

Pool B
\nMilwood, ON\t 88 votes
\nCombatientes, VEN\t 54 votes
\nHouston Carnage, USA\t 24 votes
\nMemphis Firebirds, USA\t 24 votes<\/p>\n

Pool C
\nTeam Minnesota, USA\t 73 votes
\nKitchener Outlaws, ON\t 37 votes
\nGigantes, VEN\t 34 votes
\nWashington Metros, USA\t 5 votes<\/p>\n

Pool D
\nIllinois Pirates, USA\t 67 votes
\nNiagara Fury, ON\t 58 votes
\nNY PA Metros, USA\t 43 votes
\nCaptalinos, VEN\t 38 votes<\/p>\n

Pool E
\nSoftball Canada (Development Team), CAN\t 71 votes
\nMaccabi USA, USA\t 30 votes
\nOhio Battery, USA\t 28 votes
\nLanzeros, VEN\t 15 votes<\/p>\n

Pool F
\nSureno Soy, VEN\t 77 votes
\nCobourg Force, CAN\t 47 votes
\nDominicana, USA\t 44 votes
\nOklahoma Fastpitch, USA\t 9 votes<\/p>\n

Pool G
\nHill United, CAN\t 63 votes
\nFlorida Fastpitch, USA\t 35 votes
\nLa Raza, VEN\t 28 votes
\nPetroleros, MEX\t 8 votes<\/p>\n

Pool H
\nTijuana, MEX\t 25 votes
\nHooligans of Niagara, CAN\t 15 votes
\nEl Dorado, VEN\t 14 votes
\nSC Tornados, USA\t 10 votes<\/p>\n

Pool I
\nLos Socios, VEN\t 25 votes
\nCPI, USA\t 19 votes
\nVirgin Islands, USA\t 8 votes
\nAragua, VEN\t 5 votes<\/p>\n

Pool J
\nItalian Athletic Club, USA\t 40 votes
\nElmira Expos, CAN\t 23 votes
\nSopotocientos, VEN\t 14 votes
\nMiami, USA\t 1 vote<\/p>\n