National Champions Crowned in Men’s Slow Pitch
9/12/2007
Oklahoma City---The 2007 ASA National Champions were decided over the weekend in the Men’s Masters 35-Over Slow Pitch division and the Men’s Masters 45-Over Slow Pitch division. Heritage Carpentry/Team Mattingly of Norwalk, Conn., held on in the “if” game to win the Men’s 35-Over Slow Pitch National Championship in Augusta, Ga., while Courtesy/Kelly’s Sports/Combat of Culver City, Calif., went undefeated to capture the Men’s 45-Over Slow Pitch National Championship in Ridgeland, Miss.
The Heritage Carpentry offense was explosive averaging over 24 runs per game during the championship. In their opener on Friday night, Heritage Carpentry got off to a good start with a 23-13 win over Scott’s Lawn Service of Spartanburg, S.C. In the winner’s bracket quarterfinals, Heritage Carpentry pounded Julson’s Auto Service of Eau Claire, Wis., 21-6 to reach the winner’s bracket semi-finals.
An impressive 22-10 win over Romeo’s Sports of Homewood, Ala., put Heritage Carpentry two wins away from taking the title at the Men’s 35-Over Slow Pitch National Championship. In the winner’s bracket finals Heritage Carpentry rolled to a 25-8 win over Vector/AIA/Enola Sporstmen of Harrisburg, Pa., to earn the first spot in the championship game.
Vector took care of business in the loser’s bracket finals by defeating Romen’s Sports, 23-19, to earn a rematch with Heritage Carpentry in the championship game.
After being embarrassed in their first meeting, Vector turned things around in the first championship game to earn a 28-21 win that forced the championship to be decided in the “if” necessary game. Heritage flexed its muscle in the “if” game and posted its highest run output of the tournament to secure the title with a 33-21 victory over Vector.
A total of eight players from the Heritage Carpentry roster were selected as member of the All-Tournament first-team. Those players were Kevin Remson, Jeff Rodo, Brian Beck, Ray Cook, Kenny Matthews, Kenny Dibble, Joe Kanucci and Keith Anderson.
Courtesy/Kelly’s Sports/Combat made its trip across country worth it by going undefeated on its way to the title at the Men’s Masters 45-Over Slow Pitch National Championship in Ridgeland.
In the nightcap on Friday night, Courtesy/Kelly’s Sports run ruled Kittrell Acoustics of Mobile, Ala., 15-1, to advance to the second round of the winner’s bracket. Somma Pizza/Restano’s of Pittsburgh, Pa., managed to score in double digits for the second consecutive game but it would not be enough as Courtesy ran away with a 27-11 win to lock up a spot in the winner’s bracket finals.
Courtesy found itself in a shoot out with the Oregon Masters/Butch’s/Line Drive of Hillsboro, Ore., in the winner’s bracket finals but was able to hold on for a 14-13 win.
Somma Pizza/Restano’s, who was sent to the loser’s bracket in the second round by Courtesy, won three consecutive games including 22-9 win over Buc’s of Houston, Texas, 31-11 win over Touch of Gray of Tulsa, Okla., and a 19-16 win over Oregon Masters to earn a rematch with Courtesy in the championship finals.
In the championship game, Courtesy completed its run through the tournament with a 23-17 win over Somma Pizza to earn its third consecutive ASA Men’s 45-Over Slow Pitch National Championship title.
Aaron Stone and Gary Springer headlined a list of five players from the Courtesy roster that were first-team All-Tournament selections. This marks the third consecutive time that Stone and Springer has achieved this honor. Other players from Courtesy that were selected include Jon Kramer, who was also selected in 2004, Ronnie Reid and Paul Salow.
Six players from Somma Pizza were recognized on the first team including Kevin Lutz, Verdell Blackstone, Bruce Hacker, Pat Ben-Zing, Rick Snodgrass and Doug Shaneyfelt.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 84 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 220,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com.