Results – 2015 ASA Boys 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U, Men’s 23U, and Men’s 40-over

August 9, 2015

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Midland, MI

Subject:  Results – 2015 ASA Boys 12U, 14U, 16U, 18U, Men’s 23U, and Men’s 40-over Fastpitch National Championships

Emerson Park (Midland, MI) was host to the ASA National Championships for Boys Fastpitch 12U, 14U, 16U (Invitational), 18U, Men’s 23U, and Men’s 40-over on July 30^th - Aug 2^nd.  In total, 25 teams attended the event with 6 champions crowned.  Although 18 of the 25 teams were based out of Michigan, the event still held a national flavor with nearly a dozen players from out of state being placed on 12U and 14U teams, alone.     

The 12U division kicked off the weekend on Thursday with the 4 team division easily winning the tournament director’s award for loudest and most energetic fans.  The Munger Firemen (Munger, MI) earned the Championship with a 7-2 win over Richville (Richville, MI) in the finals.  The Firemen were paced by All-Tournament team members Nash Morton, Kendall Athens, Connor Gettel, and Landon Zimmer.  Other players earning All-Tournament awards were Tanner Terbush, Parker Hopkins, Aidan Karst, Collin Vanest from Richville, Manuel Mendham, Matt Amend, Brayden Coutcher, Cody Gibbons from Smokin J’s (Vassar, MI), and Hunter Norris, Brody Germain, Cal Dipzinski, Brian Lewis from the Cardinals (Millington, MI).  The most exciting game of the tournament may have been the semi-final game between the Firemen and Cardinals with the Fireman scoring 16 runs in the final inning for the comeback win. 

The 14U division was one of the most competitive tournaments with all three teams showing skill and pitching depth.  Tiffanys (Frankenmuth, MI) earned the championship with a 20-10 victory over Frankenmuth Brewery (Vassar, MI) in the IF game final.  Frankenmuth Brewery forced the IF game following an 11-9 win in the first championship game.  Tiffany’s was led by All Tournament players Evan Lochridge, Nick Lashuay, and Jacob Brumley.  Other players earning All Tournament recognition were Steven Hecht, Drew Germain, and Jason Gross from Frankenmuth Brewery, plus River Neff and Tony Wark from Richville (Richville, MI).  We look forward to watching this group of young players over years to come. 

The 16U division had 4 teams but was structured as an Invitational Tournament as 3 of the teams had players that also players participated in the 18U (which is against the ASA code for National Championship play).  The Key City Jrs. (Lake City, MN) won the 16U Championship with a 12-0 win over Winston (Winston, MO).  The Munger Firemen (Munger, MI) earned 3^rd place with a 16-6 win over Richville (Richville, MI).  All Tournament players included Jeff Lewis and Nathan Moore from Key City, John Zimmerman and Peyton Smith from Winston, Kyle Gnatkowski from the Firemen, and Brandon Pinnow from Richville. 

The largest division competing was the 18U with 6 teams.  The finals saw two teams sponsored by Country Concrete (Marathon, WI) with Country Materials #1 winning the Championship 8-0 over County Materials #2.  Both County Materials teams were made up of free agent players from the USA Jr. Men’s National Team player pool.  Matarazzo (Vassar, MI) finished in 3^rd place.  All Tournament players included Derrick Martin, Justin Perez, and Brogan Potter from County Materials #1, Peyton Hall, Dominic Marquez, and Martin Valencia from County Materials #2, Jordan Lichnovsky from Matarazzo, Zach Schaebel and Ryan Lynch from the Munger Firemen (Munger, MI), Jeff Lewis from Key City Jrs (Lake City, MN), and Craig Lewis from Winston (Winston, MO).  Many members from this age group will return to Midland next year while playing for Team USA in the Jr. Men’s World Championships.    

In the 23U, there were three teams from Midland, including Mr. Electric, Midland Explorers Blue, and Midland Explorers Red, and a team from Pennsylvania, Farmersville Auction (Euphrata, PA) competing for the Championship.  In the first semifinal game, the Explorer Blue team earned a 7-0 victory over Mr. Electric to advance to the finals.  In the second semifinal game, Farmersville Auction lost a 3-2 extra inning thriller to the Explorer Red squad.  The finals proved to be exciting as the Explorer Blue team came from behind for a 5-4 victory.  Jon Gwizdala from Explorer Blue earned the MVP award while the Top Hitter and Homerun Champion was Travis Jones from the Explorer Red squad.  Others earning All Tournament recognition included Justin Krenzke, Gunnar Bouvy, and Caleb Roberts from Explorers Blue, Larsen Cronkright, Andrew Mathies, and Aaron McCaw from Explorers Red, Jerlin Rutt, Andrew Hoover, and Logan Rutt from Farmersville Auction, plus Nick Penner, Brian Edwards, and Tyler Randerson from Mr. Electric.

Finally, the 40-over division fielded four teams from Michigan.  Berkenpas Development (Byron Center, MI) earned the Championship with a 3-2 victory over Explorer Legends (Midland, MI).  Berkenpas was led by MVP and Leading Hitter Chris Rivard, John Melchiori, Bill Berkenpas, and Terry Luster.  Also making the All Tournament team were Steve Lashuay, Timm Richardson, Mitch Bohn, and Doug Gillis from the Explorer Legends, Mike Gohsman and David Lach from Up-to-Date Painting (Millington, MI), and Jason LaJoice from Superior Vault (Hemlock, MI). 

The event was a great success with 6 teams being crowned champions.  In addition, many people left with warm memories after watching the enthusiasm demonstrated in the Boys Divisions.  There were a total of 17 teams competing in the Boys Divisions in 2015.  This far out-paced the level of participation this decade with the previous high team count of 11 in 2011 (Mankato, MN).  We look forward to maintaining the youth movement throughout mid-Michigan and want to challenge other regions around the country to do their part, too.  The true MVPs of the event were the coaches and parents from the Boys Divisions that took initiative and gave their players/sons this incredible opportunity.  The coaches for the Boys teams included Del Benson, Don Petro, Corey Haubenstricker, Chris Dipzinski, Ron Krueger, Brian Swanson, Eric Lewis, Dan Nessler, and Ty McKinney.  The UIC for the event was Bryan Smith, but I would like to extend a special thanks to Joe Squires and Mike Clark who helped as Umpire Coordinators and more.  The tournament director for the weekend was Marc Gillis, while the ASA Representative was Dan Highland.  Thank you to everyone for your help in making the event a success. 

Finally, we encourage everyone to fight the idea that males cannot play the game until they are out of high school.  Pitching is a skill that is best learned at a young age and we need to continue to focus on developing pitchers for the next generation of players.  There is no reason that fastpitch softball cannot be an activity played by both American boys and girls.  Although activities such as travel baseball are fun and can be a great experience, let’s keep boys well-rounded and give them an opportunity in other activities, too, such as fastpitch softball. 

David Lach
Midland Explorers Booster Club

12U

14U

16U

18U

23U

40 Over