Flash Wins 'No Glove Nationals'

Undefeated Champions At Forest Park Invitational On July 28th - 31st

FOREST PARK: The 37th Annual Forest Park No Glove Invitational Sixteen Inch Tournament hosted by the Park District of Forest Park was held on July 28th though 31st with Flash (5-0) going undefeated to claim the top prize at the Miller Beer sponsored event. Sage (5-2) was second, Binge (3-2) took home third place, Stover Softball (5-2) from Iowa was fourth with the Miller 45?s (3-2) and Traffic (3-2) tying for 5th place with Steel Gold (4-2) and Impact ( 3-2) tying for 7th place at this twenty-four team event. John Scimone from Flash was named as the Most Valuable Player of this year's tournament for his outstanding play both in the field and with the bat.
Flash received a first round bye before taking on and defeating March manufacturing 13-4 in the second round of tournament play on Friday night. March had advanced to this game by posting a narrow 9-8 win over Nemesis in the first round of play on Thursday night.
Flashes next two games were on Saturday evening with a much anticipated match up with Stover Softball from Iowa in the third round as Flash continued their climb towards the title by posting a 7-3 win up onto the bracket board to move into the fourth round of the tournament (semifinals of the winner's bracket). Stover Softball made it to this third-round contest by opening play on Thursday night with a 16-6 win over Menace in the first round of play before stopping Punch in a defensive game 3-2 in the second round of tournament action to move into Saturday evening's third round of play.
Flash won their semifinal over Sage 11-6 to move into the winner's bracket finals where the last two remaining unbeaten teams would be facing off with each other on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday in the game between the last two remaining unbeaten teams in this tournament it was Flash over Binge 14-2 giving Flash the title to the winner's bracket and also a chance to sit back and watch as the loser's bracket needed to be played out to it's conclusion before they would know which of the remaining teams would emerge as their opponent in the championship game. Binge made it to this winner's bracket championship game by opening with a first round bye on Thursday night before taking on and defeating Steel Gold in an eight inning ball game by a final score of 9-8 on Friday night. On Saturday evening Binge squared off with the Miller 45?s and shocked the world of sixteen inch softball by battling their way to a 11-9 victory over the defending tournament champion the pre-tournament favorite Miller 45?s. Binge had to come back down off of that emotional high to play again on Saturday night when they squared off with Traffic in a semifinal game of the winner's bracket of this tournament. Binge did what they needed to get done as they continued their winning ways sending Traffic into the loser's bracket by a final score of 5-2 and with this win earning their spot in the winner's bracket game between the last two unbeaten teams on Sunday afternoon.
After the last out had been recorded by the official scorer of this tournament in the loser's bracket championship game a rematch with Sage was on tap for the Flash ball club in the title contest.
Flash wanting to make a statement to the world of sixteen inch softball did just that by taking the title game in a route over Sage 12-1. The team's celebration was followed by photos and the awarding of the MVP trophy of the 37th Annual Forest Park Invitational to John Scimone from Flash.
Flash did not provide Illinois Softball Report with any team information, highlights, stats, or quotes on how they were able to win the 37th Annual Forest Park Invitational Softball Tournament.
Sage took a longer path to the championship game but they got there just the same as they opened play with a first round bye on Thursday before taking on and defeating the Rebels on Friday night 15-3. The Rebels had advanced into this game by defeating Jynx 7-4 on Thursday night to move into this second round contest with Sage.
Sage next game was Saturday night against the Bucketheads with Sage posting a 9-4 win up onto the bracket board to advance into the semifinals that were to be played late on Saturday evening. The Bucketheads made t to this game by opening play with a first round bye on Thursday before stopping the Lemonheads 8-2 in the second round of play on Friday evening.
Sage then was upended by the eventual champions to be Flash 11-6 in the semifinal contest of this tournament to send them into the loser's bracket on Sunday morning.
Sage now faced the Miller 45's with elimination staring them squarely in the face but it was the Miller 45?s who flinched as Sage stopped the defending champions sending them to their cars with fifth place after beating them 11-9.

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