Bombers Win I.S.A. 35 & Over State In Pekin

8 Teams Partake In A One Day Event At The Dragon Dome Complex

Bombers 2005 I.S.A. 35 & Over State Champions

PEKIN: The Bombers (5-1) from Mackinaw came charging out of the loser's bracket to double dip Instant Replay (3-2) from Pekin, to win the six team, 2005 I.S.A. Men's 35 & Over State Tournament held at the Dragon Dome Complex in Pekin July 16th. Dave's Pizza (1-2) from Bartonville finished in third place with Aero Softball (2-2) from Sandwich finishing in fourth place at this tournament.
The Bomber was led to the title by the play of Chris Dobbs who was named as the MVP of this tournament. Dobbs was joined on the 2005 I.S.A. Men's 35 & Over All-State Tournament team by his teammates Jim Swearingen, Tom Teufel, Roger Mitchell and Jeff Martel with the team manager Ron Smith also being names as the All-State Tournament team manager.
The Bombers received a first round bye before taking on Instant Replay in a second round contest with the Pekin ball club sending the Bombers to the loser's bracket by a final score of 18-11.
Now facing elimination in every ball game the Bombers started on the road back t the title by sending Slick Rick's to the parking lot first after beating them 27-0.
The next team to exit this tournament at the hands of the Bombers was Aero Softball who left with fourth place after losing to the Bombers 10-1.
Now only Dave's Pizza stood between the Bombers and a rematch against the team that had put them into the loser's bracket, Instant Replay. The Bombers were focused on the business at hand as they show Dave's Pizza the door after beating them 13-3 to advance into the championship game of this tournament.
Now need to defeat Instant Reply twice the Bombers went to work at accomplish just that. The first game was everything that any championship game should be. Big rallies and great defensive plays in a back and forth close game that was not decided until the last batter had batted and at that moment it was the Bombers 22 and Instant Reply 21. This victory by the bombers forced the need to play the 'if necessary game' in order to determine which of these two ball clubs would be the 2005 ISA Men's 35 & Over state champion.
The extra game was another nail bitter between these two ball clubs but with a little less offense by both teams. Again it went down to the last batter and for the second time in a row the Bombers edged out Instant Reply by a final score of 14-12 to win this tournament.
The Bombers did not supply Illinois Softball Report with any team information, stats, highlights or quotes on how they were able to win this tournament.
Runner up Instant Replay opened tournament play with a first round game against the No Shows and won convincingly 18-8 to advance into the second round of tournament play.
In their second contest of this tournament it was Instant Reply defeating the Bombers 18-11 to move into the winner's bracket championship game.
Instant Replay won the game between the tournament last two remaining unbeaten teams as they assured themselves a spot in the state championship game against which ever team that would win the loser's bracket and the right to challenge them in the title game when they stopped Dave's Pizza 12-10 in the battle of the last two unbeaten teams. Dave's Pizza made it to the winner's bracket by finals by receiving a first round bye before stopping Aero Softball (no score was reported) in the second round of tournament action.
That team turned out to be the Bombers and a rematch with Instant Replay was in store in the championship game. Instant Replay needed to win just one game while the Bombers needed to sweep two straight from them to win the championship. The first game was close and exciting but Instant Replay came out on the short end of the score losing 22-21 to the bombers and with this loss the need to have that extra game played raised its ugly head. The second game was another close game but again it was the Bombers edging out Instant Replay by a final score of 14-12 this time to send Instant Replay home with the second place trophy from the 2005 ISA Men's 35 & Over State tournament.
Instant Reply did not provide Illinois Softball Report with any team information, stats, highlights or quotes on how they were able to achieve their second place finish at this state tournament.

Tournament MVP Chris Dobbs - Lakota