(This is the final article that will recap the Kickball365.com Open Tournament that took place on July 17, 2010 in Washington DC. Part 1 can be found here. Part 2 can be found here. The second annual Kickball365 Open Tournament was the third of four events on The Circuit this year. The following is a recap of the final rounds.)
Final Four
In the final four you then had inter-league rivals, (8)JKI going against (5)Meatballs, and (6)Balls Deeper facing (2)OSC. Underscoring the level of talent that now resides in Florida, three of the four teams were from Florida, all competing in the same hometown WAKA (World Adult Kickball Association) league.
Both games were close. In the Balls Deeper/OSC game, OSC came up with a defensive gem. Strong pitching performance from Troy and Matt for OSC kept the BD kickers down and flawless defensive decision making and execution by everyone in the field contributed to the victory. There were even high-flying antics courtesy of Brian at first and a game-saving double play from pitcher Matt and Joe late in the game as a Balls Deeper player was looking to score. Final score was 2-0, and vengeance for the half of OSC that was eliminated in the 2009 Founders Cup by Balls Deeper when the team was Ballers Shot Callers.
Sammons said OSC deserved the win, but did have issues with the field choice and reffing. “The field we used in the semis was like kicking up a sloping mountain. It didn’t help that we fell flat that game on offense — and OSC did what they needed to to earn the win — but that field was pretty weak.”
Balls Deeper could take consolation in getting a ride back to the hotel in Hawaiian Tropic truck driven by the one-and-only Matt Poll, who also earned the best mustache/mullet combo at the tournament.
Balls Deeper...a.k.a. Final Four
The other semifinal game saw JKI jump out to an early 1-0 lead on Meatballs, a start that only casual spectators would find surprising. JKI captain Jon Simon wasn’t surprised though, saying, “They’re our rivals in our WAKA Florida Beach league and we’ve beaten them in the finals twice before.” This was also the second time JKI has had to face the Meatballs in a tournament this year – their first encounter resulted in an extra innings Meatball victory in the South Florida Kickball Open. Matt Kelly, Meatballs captain, wasn’t surprised either. “We’ve been down before to them, so the key for us was not to panic. I told the team we need one to win, so let’s just go get two. Katie, our shortstop, made an amazing play in the top of the 4th to save a run, and then lead off, got on and scored the go ahead run in the bottom of the inning. When that happens, we’re hard to beat.”
That proved to be true, as Meatballs managed a 3-1 victory. Simon says his team hung tough though. “We came out strong after a very tough game with Panik Attack. After going through the first three innings with a 1-0 lead against Meatballs, the day caught up with us and mistakes reared their ugly head. We were beat up and they are a very deep team. That were very little escape in that lineup and few holes to aim for in the field. Our hat goes off to them.”
The Finals
The interesting Kickball365 Open matchup featured and old guard/new guard matchup – the representatives from the storied WAKA DC Capital League facing off against the fastest up-and-coming league in the nation, the WAKA FL Beach League.
Your finalists: OSC (in black) and Meatballs (...also in black)
OSC is something on an old guard/new guard team in and of itself as Spofford explains. “As the kickball world evolved in 2010, it was evident that to win at the highest level of competition, then it was imperative that all of the best players in a geographic area join one team. After long conversations, the experienced Others squad joined with the youth and speed of Ballers Shot Callers (BSC) to form “the Other Shot Callers”, taking part of both names to best represent DC.”
It was the new guard who jumped out to an early and commanding lead though, as Michael “Stu” Johnson and Robert “Flades” Flader were money leading off the inning. A costly overthrow by OSC set Meatballs up with runners in scoring position more than once in the first inning, and OSC was never able to recover.
“The difference in the final game was mistakes and execution,” said Spofford. “When the best play each other, the team that doesn’t make mistakes will win the game 9 times out of 10. Our team did not execute in the first inning on multiple occasions and found ourselves in a 4-0 hole early. We never regained momentum.”
OSC chose twice to intentionally walk power kicker Quadtrine Hill and each time it happened, Meatballs made OSC pay for it. “Q getting intentionally walked twice – we all thought was funny because we started that trend of walking Q in Vegas 2009 (Quadtrine’s Riff Raff team eliminated Meatballs from the Founders Cup in 2009). Kevin (Carter) then had a big kick with two outs that knocked in two runs that made it 4-0. Carter did that again in the 4th inning to make it 8-0. Without those timely kicks the game might have gone either way.”
OSC showed some fight late in the game and managed to plate two runs, but not before the damage had been done. Meatballs took home their third tournament championship of the year, and second championship in The Circuit.
Your Champions: Meatballs (still in black)
But both teams will be back in action soon, as The Circuit travels to New York City next for the NYC Grand National Tournament. Participating teams will include Meatballs, OSC, Panik Attack, Lock It Up and Wu-Tang Killers, all looking to improve their Circuit standings, and The Circuit debut for NY’s Ramrod.
For now though, it’s Meatballs who have a commanding lead over The Circuit standings after three Circuit events:
- The Meatballs (FL) 220
- Other Shot Callers (DC) 120
- The Situation (VA) 120
- Panik Attack (VA) 95
- Wu-Tang Killers (NY) 70
- Mandrake X (NM) 60
- JKI (FL) 60
- Balls Deeper (FL) 60
- Fully Loaded (FL) 35
- Lock It Up (NY) 35
(Next up is The New York City Grand National Kickball Tournament. You can catch all of the pre-tournament chatter on the Kickball365 Forum. Got questions or comments? Leave a comment below and let us know what you thought about the tournament.)
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