The Dublin Dominators win the 2004 X-Trials
State Team Competition.
Seven teams participated in this year’s event, and as a repeat of last
year, everyone enjoyed this unique format and competition. The team
format allows pitchers of all skill levels to be pitted against each
other, depending on how the team captains line them up. Sometimes, a
lower class pitcher is “sacrificed” to pitch against an A Class
pitcher, if that is strategically advantageous. I can say from
experience, I would never have the chance to actually stand on the
court next to Amy Hall if not for this format. It is exciting, and
makes everyone try their hardest!
After 7 rounds of play, the The Dublin Dominators, Madison Mountaineers
and the Lynch Mob were tied. The teams battled it out for the title of
2004 State Team Champion.
In a ladder playoff, the defending champions from 2003, The Lynch Mob,
faced the Dublin Dominators. The Dominators earned their name during
that set. Taking a clean sweep of the Mob put the Dominators into a
playoff round with the Madison Mountaineers.
It was a tough challenge for the Mountaineers. In their first round
earlier in the day, the Mountaineers clearly defeated the Dominators
winning 3 out of 4 games. In the playoff, the toss of the coin
gave the advantage to the Dominators, and the strategy of lining up the
players paid off. The title was at stake. The Dominators took the
series 3-1, claiming the Championship title.
The defending champs, The Lynch Mob, took third place with grace and
good humor, vowing to return next year to stomp the competition. The
event had 7 teams participating, and all the pitchers had a great time.
Last year’s tournament hosted 12 teams, and we found that the 12 man
format, even with 20 shoe games, was grueling. This year’s event had
fewer participants (we were doubled up with the Moose State Tournament)
but allowed an 8 man round robbin.
In the future, we’ll double check the Moose events before selecting our
date, because we know quite a few pitchers had to choose between the
two. We look forward to another year of 12 or more teams, and if we can
get that participation, we’ve already made decisions about the pitching
format. We’ll hold two flights, not classes. A random drawing will
place the teams in flights. Each flight will receive 1st and 2nd place
trophies, but the winning team of each flight will go head to head with
the winning team of the opposing flight for the Championship title.
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