Miller Forty-five's Win ASA Nationals

45 Teams Participate At Majewski Softball Complex in Mt. Prospect

ASA 16" Major national Champions - Miller Forty-five's

Photo By Jack Stout

MT PROSPECT: The Miller Forty-fives defended their ASA Sixteen Inch National Championship by winning the title by going a perfect 6-0 as they outscored their opponents by a whopping 63 total runs scored to a total of 5 runs scored against them during the entire 2005 ASA Major Sixteen Inch National Tournament at the Majewski Softball Complex in Mt. Prospect on September 2nd through the 5th. Total dominance was what the Miller Forty-fives gave the worlds of sixteen inch softball as they won every game convincingly. The Bucketheads (6-2 finished in second place, Stover (4-2) from Cedar Rapids, Iowa finished in third place, Jelly (6-2) took home fourth place. Tying for fifth place were both Binge (5-2) and Punch (3-2) finishing in a tie for seventh place were both Sage (5-2) and Traffic (4-2). Rounding out the top ten place winners were a four way tie for ninth place between CJ's Sports Bar (4-2) from Iowa, Monsoon (4-2) from Iowa, March (3-2) and the Rizza Riddlers (2-2).
The Miller Forty-fives were led by the play of both Rick Gancarz (P) and Jim Matlock (OF) who were named as 'C0-MVP's' of this 2005 ASA Men's Major Sixteen Inch National Tournament. Joining these two on the 2005 First Team All-American team from the Miller Forty-fives were Israel Sanchez (1B), Rich Villa (3B), Jeff Berger (SS), and Larry Downs (OF). Brian Miller (OF) from the Miller Forty-fives was named to the second team All-American squad for his excellent play during this year's national tournament.
The 2004 defending National champions, Miller Forty-five received a first round bye before taking on and defeating Sage 11-1 in the second round of play on Friday night to open the tournament. Sage had also received a first round bye during the blind draw for placement into this tournament after last year's top four teams had been seeded into the bracket.
On Saturday it was the Miller Forty-five ball club clobbering Rolling Dice 13-0 in the third round of tournament play to advance again in the bracket. The Rolling Dice had received a first round bye before stopping Trophy's from Iowa 7-5 in the second round of play on Saturday morning to move into this game against the defending national champions.
On Sunday afternoon it was the Miller Forty-fives and Binge going at it in a quarterfinal game of the winner's bracket. Once Again the Miller Forty-fives led from wire to wire winning 8-1 to move them into Saturday night's semifinal round of the winner's bracket. Binge made it to this quarterfinal round game by opening play with a first round bye before defeating Thunder 21-3 in the second round of play on Saturday morning. In their second game Binge played Blue Cactus from Iowa in the third round and came away with an 11-8 win to advance them into Sunday showdown against the Miller Forty-fives in the quarterfinal round of the winner's bracket on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday night the Miller Forty-fives continued their dominance of the field of teams as they clearly beat Punch by a final score of 12-2 to advance into Monday's winner's bracket championship game. Punch made it to this semifinal game in the winner's bracket by opening play with a first round bye before stopping Finger Lickin' Good 11-0 on Saturday morning in the second round of tournament play. On Saturday night it was Punch all over the Flames winning 13-5 to advance into Sunday afternoon quarter final round of the winner's bracket. On Sunday afternoon Punch was tested for the first time in this tournament as they turned back the Riddlers by a final score of 7-5 to earn them the right to play the Miller Forty-fives in a semifinal game of the winner's bracket on Sunday night.
On Monday afternoon in the game between the last two remaining unbeaten teams it was the Miller Forty-fives ball club and Stover squaring off with each other in the battle of the unbeaten teams. The Miller Forty-fives showed everyone why the are the number one team and the two time defending ASA Men's Major Sixteen Inch National champions as they clearly out played Stover as they defeated them 12-0 to put the Miller Forty-five into the national championship game against whichever team that would emerge from the loser's bracket in order to challenge them in the title game. Stover made it to the winner's bracket championship game by opening with a first round bye because of their third place finish at last years AA Men's Major Sixteen Inch National Tournament. Stover opened tournament play on Saturday afternoon with a big 16-4 win

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