Muuts Wins USSSA C/D 'Byron Fest'

Twenty-seven Teams Play At 2007 'Fest' Tournament in Byron

Mutts from Rockford Champions '2007 Byron Fest' USSSA C/D Equalizer

BYRON: Mutts from Rockford went a perfect 6-0 to win the twenty-seven team Illinois USSSA Men's Class C/D Equalizer Tournament also know as 'Byron Fest' on July 13th through 15th. The champions pocketed to top cash prize of over one thousand dollars. Byron Bank / Costa's / Bunger's (7-2) from Byron finished in second place with Neighbors Bar & Grill (4-2) from Rockford taking home third place. Fourth place went to the Shockers / Paul Davis Restoration (4-2) from Rockford with a fifth place tie going to both Bunger's Softball (3-2) from Byron and Fish / Loomis (3-2) from Rockford a seventh place tie went to Swilligan's Pub (3-2) from Rockford and Softball, Inc. (3-2) from Rockford. Rounding out the top ten finishers was a four way tie for ninth place going to the High Rollers (2-2) from Rockford, Frozen Ropes / Stables (2-2) from Rock Falls, Squeeze Softball (2-2) from Arlington Heights and Huntley Realty / Posse (2-2) from Crystal Lake.
Mutts opened play with first round game on Friday night where the met and defeated Martin and Company from Oregon 13-0.
On Saturday morning Mutts played Wheels By R.T. / LT's Bar & Grill from Rockford and posted their second win onto the bracket board by a final score of 19-8. Wheels By R.T. / LT's Bar & Grill had won on Friday night defeating Neblocks / TB's from Rockford 19-4 to advance into this second round game against Mutts.
Later on Saturday afternoon Mutts and Shockers / Paul Davis Restoration locked horns with one another and when the dust settled back down on the field of play the scoreboard read 23-11 in favor of Mutts as the Rockford team continued their advancement through the winner's bracket. The Shockers / Paul Davis Restoration had received a first round bye before taking on and defeating Players Only / J Bears / Cost Cutters from Rockford 25-23 in the second round of tournament action.
On Saturday evening Mutts met Bunger's Softball in a semifinal game of the winner's bracket and came away with a narrow 16-15 win to put them into Sunday's winner's bracket championship game. Bungers Softball made it to this semifinal game by opening play on Saturday evening with a 20-12 win over the Ham & Eggers from Sycamore in the first round of play. On Saturday Bungers Softball met and defeated the Frozen Ropes 14-11 and than defeated Squeeze Softball 9-8 to advance into this semifinal game against Mutts.
In the tournament's undefeated game it was Mutts playing against Neighbors Bar & Grill with Mutts pushing the winning run sliding across home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning as they edged Neighbors 8-7 to become the only remaining unbeaten team left in this tournament. Neighbors Bar & Grill made it to the winner's bracket finals by opening play with a first round game against Mexicant's from Chicago winning 21-8 on Friday night. On Saturday morning Neighbors Bar & Grill defeated Shoeless Joe's from Orland Park 19-10 in the second round before they stopped Swilligan's Pub 16-6 in the third round of play on Saturday afternoon. Later on Saturday afternoon Neighbors Bar & Grill locked horns with Fish / Loomis with Neighbor winning 13-6 earning them a spot in the winner's bracket finals on Sunday against the Mutts ball club.
Mutts now had to wait until the loser's bracket was completed before knowing whom they would be playing in the championship game. When that last out had been written down into the official's book Byron Bank / Costa's / Bungers was the team still standing earning them the right to oppose unbeaten Mutts in the championship game.

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