The SSUSA World Championships are over and the 2009 season comes to an end. The SSUSA's biggest event of the season had 316 teams entered. The city of Phoenix uses 7 different ball fields / complexes to hold the prestigious event. The tournament is held in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. on two separate weekends back to back. On the first weekend the 40's and the 60's divisions play. During the week the 70's and the 80's play during the early mornings to beat the heat. And on the second weekend starting on Friday the 50's and the 55's play. The hospitality was great and I got to see a number of former team mates of mine along with a whole bunch of friends.
I did not attend the first part of the tournament and arrived Thursday so I would be there for the 50's and 55's division. I brought a number of bats along with me, so my Anaconda associate Frank Short could set and sell some bats at all of the different complexes. With all of the complexes spread out over the metro Phoenix area it is not that easy to go from one park to another but with the beautiful view of the mountains surrounding you it doesn't make that bad of a drive.
Friday morning we went to Rose Mofford Softball Complex where the 55AAA were playing and we set up and sold a few bats there in the morning. We were there first thing to help with the opening ceremonies. They had the color guard come out and someone sung the National Anthem. It was a great way to start the tournament.They had already played the 8:00 and 10:30 games and now were set for the 1:00 showdown field two.
It was the East vs West Men's 50+ AAA championship. Representing the West was CJ&S from the Phoenix area, and from the East was a team called the Sharks. The Sharks were from Syracuse, New York. It was a close game right from the beginning. Since you can only score 5 runs per inning if you just try and score every inning you will usually be there at the end or at least give yourself a chance to win.The CJ&S team had a couple of players that I have known for many years. The first one is Ron Danoski who pitches for the CJ&S softball squad. Ron who is about 6'4" tall is an intimidating looking individual. He wears the big major league shin guards. I can't blame him for that. It looked like he was maneuvering pretty good with them on. I know I would have a pair on if I pitched. If I did pitch I would opt for the face mask as well. Now all you have to do is make sure you are wearing your trustworthy cup and supporter and you are good to go. Boy the game sure has changed. The other player is a friend of mine that actually grew up one street over from me in Brook Park, Ohio. It was 20 years ago that my Steele's Silver Bullet team was playing some exhibition games in the Phoenix area and low and behold this guy comes up to me and says hey Mike, remember me. I looked at him and said Bruce McClain. He said you got him. When we were growing up in Brook Park we use to play baseball everyday of the year that we could. We lived right across the street from a school with a couple of fields on it so we made the most of it. Now 40 years later and Bruce is still playing in the 50+AAA and can still field as tough as he used to and gets the hits when they are needed. As you can see down below Bruce was never a big person. He always loved to play ball. As I have always said, it is in your blood. As long as you can run you will still play this game.
So as I said this game was going back and forth. In the 5th inning Bruce hits a 2 run double to make the score 22-21with the Sharks leading and the Sharks also have the hammer. In the top of the 7th inning CJ&S score a couple more runs to take a 25-24 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. CJ&S hold on for the win as one of the Sharks hits a home run to end the game. The Sharks were out of their home runs and if a home run is hit after the limit it is an automatic out. The hitter was trying to hit the ball down but it carried right out of the ball park. Once again Congrats to CJ&S..
CJ&S win the 50_AAA with a perfect 7-0 record. After winning the East-West game, CJ& S continued their hot hitting and fielding to capture the SSUSA National Championship. CL&S who was seeded 17th in the 27 team division, played 3 games on Sunday to clinch the victory. You can click here for all of the results from the other divisions.
There were a lot of great games all weekend. On Friday night a team from Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky called OKI upset Seacrest Mavericks in the 50Major+ division 30 - 28. There was a seeding /round robin tourney to see who was seeded where. After the round robin Seacrest was seeded 7th while OKI was seeded 3rd and 5 Spot number 1. To me the number 1 team is Seacrest and they proved me right as they won the two and out portion of the tourney. In the two and out tourney EBO (East Bay Oldies) knocked out 5 Spot with a 15 - 13 ball game. After that victory EBO had to play Seacrest Mavericks. It was a nip and tuck ball game from start to finish. Softball Hall Of Famer Ron Parnell, teammates Bull Kramer and Howard Copeland help lead the Mavericks attack. In the 50Major+ division you are allowed to hit 10 home runs. The ball was flying out of the park that day but it took more timely hitting than home runs to win the championship. Seacrest pulled out the championship game of the winners bracket with a tough win 22 -20. win.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with Seacrest trailing 20-12, Seacrest had two outs when clean up hitter Jon "Bull" Kramer hit a ground ball backside to try and fit it in between the second baseman and first baseman. E.B.O. first baseman Mike Vaughn went deep in the hole to pick up the hot grounder and was trying to make the tag himself at first when Jon Kramer ran into Vaughn crossing first base causing both men to collapse to the ground hard. What happened was Bull hit the white bag instead of the orange bag and was automatically called out. Mike Vaughn did not move at all while it took a minute or two for Kramer to get up. Kramer was called out on the play because he stepped on Vaughn's foot at first. Play was stopped and some of the players ran over to see how Mike was doing. He lay on the ground in extreme pain. The paramedics were called right away and Vaughn was put on a stretcher as soon as they got there. It was one tough play to watch because they hit so hard.
One hour and 30 minutes later the game resumed with E.B.O. coming to bat and still leading 20-12. E.B.O. had the momentum going their way until Mike got hurt. Up to that point Mike was 3 for 3 himself with 3 home runs. That definitely changed the pace of the game. So in the top of the 7th inning E.B.O. has a chance to extend their lead in the open inning and they go 1,2,3. E.B.O. was still winning by a good margin, 8 runs, but the veterans for Seacrest Mavericks were not finished yet. I don't know how many games Seacrest lost this year but I would be willing to bet you can count them on one hand. In the bottom of the 7th they stayed calm and worked their way back into the game with singles and home runs both.. They get the score knotted at 20-20 and with one man on base left handed hitter Duff hits a no doubt about it game winning home run. When waching softball games I always love to see the game go down to the final out and that is the way this game was played. It was a great win for Seacrest and a very tough loss for E.B.O. because not only did they lose the ball game they lost the services of Michael Vaughn.
This loss dropped E.B.O down into the losers bracket where they meet up with OKI. They defeat OKI 18-12 and get one more shot at Seacrest. The second pretty much the same way with E.B.O. jumping out to a lead but the Mavericks came back in the bottom of the seventh to win the championship. Sweet swinging Sal Formosa hit a knuckleball line drive to left field to produce the winning run. It was another great game to watch. Congratualations to both teams for outstanding play.
Mike Vaughn sustained some serious injuries from the impact. He broke his leg, dislocated his ankle and 2 days later was diagnosed with 3 broken ribs. Mike says he is very disappointed about the whole situation. Mike who earlier in his career played baseball with the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics says he loves playing softball. It looks like Mike is going to be out of commission for at least 3 months. Mike says that Seacrest Mavericks owner Ken Lapinski called and sent him a care package. Mike thought that was really nice. Bull Kramer also called him to say how bad he felt that this had happened. All in all it is a tragedy because know Mike is basically bed ridden for a while. The next time you hit your knees to pray say one for Mike and hope for a speedy recovery. A special thanks to Steve Stone for helping with the whole situation giving Mike a helping hand.
Another Note: I talked with Mike about the accident and little did I know that I actually played with Mike Vaughn in 1983 when I went to California to play against the Oakland Raiders in a Muscular Dystrophy benefit. It was put together by the late Tom Stitch. Mike says he remembers sitting on the bench with Al White when I hit a ball that traveled on top of the parking garage in right field at USC's Ditto Field. Mike said him and Al were watching the ball go and could not stop laughing at far I had hit it. That sure was a fun day. I had giving the entire Raiders team enough brand new Steele's bats. That same day Howie Long hit one out of the park to left field.
I just want to wish Mike a speedy recovery. Remember to keep him in your prayers.
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