| The 2003 X-Trials State Team Competition
Thanks Mom! I woke up early Saturday morning 4:30 and just like I do
every morning took my stroll to get the newspaper. A full moon low on the
horizon, clear skies and the birds singing so loud, pausing in the driveway
I said a little prayer to my Mom wishing her a happy birthday and asked
her if she had any pull with Mother Nature to turn the faucets off for
the day.
The message must have got through, because we were blessed with a beautiful
day. Bountiful sunshine, so much so we had a table set up that not only
held the trophies, but a half dozen or so bottles of sun block. By noon
many of the pitchers lathered up and where thankful for the sunscreen.
By days end most of the tubes where empty.
12 teams, 48 pitchers had signed up, a few of them on their own,
but a majority of them signed up because of the determination of Pat Snelgrove.
The registration date had come and gone and only 4 teams had registered.
Many pitchers had expressed an interest in participating, but for one reason
or another could not put a team together. Pat got on the phone and called
the people she knew that wanted to pitch to ask them if they would commit
she would make up a team. Her efforts really paid off!
The start time of 9:00 was delayed a bit, as some folks where late getting
there. At our introduction meeting it took a little bit of time to explain
the format of play and the round robins. Everyone was surprised when I
started calling out the teams and we handed all of the team member’s tee
shirts and name badges. Each team had a different color and the badges
contained their team name, their name and their pitching percentage. Very
important data which helped the team captions choose the opponents. Many
of the pitchers had put on their shirts, some did not, but they all wore
their badges.
The first round took a little time to get going, by 10:30 they had all
started to pitch. It was a site to see the courts chock-a-box full of pitchers.
You could see where the different teams pitched.
By the 3rd or 4th round more discussion could be over heard about the
strategy of the next game. A few pitchers had figured out that some extremely
valuable data could be found on the computer print out that was posted
at the end of each round. One column on the print out show the difference
between a player's starting average and what that player was doing for
the day. You could hear “Look at this person he is pitching 20 % below,
it should be an easy win for us, if we win the toss you are going to pitch
him.”
Towards the last few rounds, the strategy would become very important.
After 7 rounds the standing were
1. The Lynch Mob 19/9
2. The Ultimate Underdogs 19/9
3. The East Coast Ringer Machine 18/10
4. The Shenandoah Valley Slingers 16/12
5. The Madison Mountaineers 16/12
6. The Northern Valley Nightmares 13/15
7. The Ringer Revolutionaries 12/16
8. The Central Valley Slammers 12/16
9. The Genuine Draft Pitchers 11/17
10. The DD Boys (Dublin Dominators) 11/17
11. The Bay Bullies 10/18
12. The Webb Heads 9/19
The Lynch Mob, The Ultimate Underdogs and The East Coast Ringer Machine
where battling it out for the top seed. The next few rounds they each took
turns being on top. What they had not notice was the Genuine Draft Pitchers
coming up behind them. The Genuine Draft pitchers moved from ninth place
in the seventh round to finish third place after the eleven rounds bumping
the ULTIMATE UNDERDOGS from the trophies. Tied for first place were the
Lynch Mob and the East Coast Ringer Machine. Who would have thought that
after 44 games we would have a tie for first place.
After a little bit of discussion it was determined a playoff was the
only way to break the tie. Tied and worn out by 7 hours of pitching, the
teams gathered on the courts. The East Coast Ringer Machine broke down,
winning only one of the 4 games.
The Lynch Mob, Captain Raymond Deal, Mark Bunch, Marvin May and Nicholas
Matsko became the 1st State Team Champions. Raymond remarked “If it wasn’t
for Nicholas throwing the ringers he did we would have lost, but look where
we are now.” Nicholas took a beating all day, never winning a game
but learned a lot from Grandpa Deal and pitching with the big guns. The
pride in all their faces could be seen receiving the trophies.
Many of the pitchers relished the opportunity to pitch against the top
guns they have watched for years. Some commented that if it wasn’t for
the team format I would have never pitched that person. “I enjoyed it.
This was a lot of fun!” was said many, many times as people left for the
day.
This was the third year that a team format was tried. The previous years
attempts yielded to a very successful event. You learn from your mistakes
and go forward. A few changes are in the works for next year’s tournament.
1. The Entry Form will have a spot on it for an individual to sign up
with out a team. He/She can then be assigned a team.
2. Reducing the round robin from 12 man to no smaller than 6 man.
3. Possibly taking the winners of the brackets for a pitch off for
champions.
Thank you all, for coming and making this event a success, and thanks
Mom for a beautiful day. Can you do it again next year?
Kevin
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