Posse Softball Club/Sage Champs At USSSA D

Seven Team, One Day Tournament, At Romeoville, On July 30th

ROMEOVILLE: The Posse Softball Club/Sage softball club from Crystal Lake won the seven team USSSA Men's Class D/E Equalizer Tournament played at the Romeoville Sports Complex in Romeoville on July 30th with a perfect 3-0 record. The champions earned a berth to play at the 2005 USSSA Men's Class D Great Lakes National Tournament to be held over Labor Day Weekend in Blaine, Minnesota. The Ballers (3-2) from New Lenox finished in second place, as M & S Express (3-2) from Plano was third with Krush/46 Zone (2-2) from Romeoville taking home fourth place honors.
The Posse Softball Club/Sage had received a first round bye in this tournament before opening tournament play in the second round with a game against Krush/46 Zone from Romeoville.
With two outs in the top of the first inning the Posse Softball Club/Sage club exploded for seven runs to jump out to an early 7-0 lead. Dave Lisi (2B) had a bases loaded single to drive in 2 runs to spark the rally. Krush/46 Zone answered with two runs in the bottom of the first inning to cut the lead to 7-2. The Posse Softball Club/Sage responded with three runs in the top of the second inning highlighted by a Dave Powell (OF) triple. The Posse Softball Club/Sage scored five more runs I the third inning thanks to a two run single from Chad Hanson (SS). That was more than enough run support as the Posse breezed to a 15-4 slaughter rule victory. Offensive standouts for the Posse Softball Club/Sage were Eddie Torres (1B) and Hanson, who were both 3-3, while Mike Noble (C) and Bob Diedrich (3B) both went 2-3. Krush/46 Zone had won their first round game over Yep! 15-2 to move into this second round showdown with the Posse Softball Club/Sage ball club.
The winner's bracket final pitted the Posse Softball Club/Sage against the Ballers from New Lenox The Posse Softball Club/Sage scratched for one run in the first inning before adding two more runs in the second inning as Kris Van Horn (OF) delivered the key hit a double. The Posse Softball Club/Sage batted through their order in the third inning scoring seven runs on the strength of a 3-run Van Horn home run giving the Posse Softball Club/Sage some breathing room. The Posse Softball Club/Sage scored six more runs in the fourth inning in route to another slaughter rule victory by winning 16-2. Offensive leaders for the game were Adam Dolce (OF), Chris DeCicco (2B) Van Horn and Dave Powell who all went 3-3
When the loser's bracket was complete a rematch with the Ballers awaited Posse Softball Club/Sage in the finals. The Posse Softball Club/Sage staged a three run two out rally in the second inning thanks to clutch singles by Ace Fraley (1B) and Mark Wisner (P). The three runs turned out to be all the Posse Softball Club/Sage needed as they added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings on their way to a 5-0 shut out victory in the championship game. Posse Softball Club/Sage earned a paid state tournament berth for their efforts in this tournament. The key hitters for Posse Softball Club/Sage in this win were Fraley (2-2) along with Diedrich, DeCicco, Torres and Van Horn who all went 2-3 in the championship game.
Offensive standouts for the Posse Softball Club/Sage were Eddie Torres and Kris Van Horn were both .778, Chris DeCicco .700, while Chad Hanson, Bob Diedrich and Adam Dolce were all .667. Mark Wisner pitched exceptionally on the weekend by allowing only 6 runs in total over the three games. Coach Dave Lisi of Posse Softball Club/Sage had this to say about the weekend: "Things have really come together for us over the last month an a half. Everyone has really jelled together and our team camaraderie is second to none. This was the first weekend that we played flawless defense, as I don't think we had one error in the 3 games we played. We only hit into one double play on the weekend, which always helps as well. We hope to continue our success over the next month and to make some noise in the State and National tournaments. We would really like to thank our sponsor, Sage Products out of Cary, IL for their support in helping to make this season happen."
Tournament runner-up the Ballers opened play with a first round game against the Windy City Grill and came away with a 10-7 victory to move into the second round of tournament action. The Ballers now squared off with M & S Xpress in a semifinal game of the winner's bracket and when the last out had been recorded into the official's scores book it was the Ballers leading on the score board by the score of 9-5 over M & S Express to move them into the winner's bracket championship game.
The Ballers were derailed in the undefeated game by the Posse Softball Club/Sage with the final score being 16-2 in favor of the Crystal Lake based ball club. This loss sent the Ballers into the loser's bracket where they had a rematch with M & S Express with the winner earning the right to challenge Posse Softball Club/Sage in the championship game. The Ballers took advantage of this opportunity as they defeated M & S Xpress 14-9 to earn a second chance to the Posse Softball Club/Sage softball club in the championship game.
This was as close as the Ballers would come this weekend as they could not get their offense going in the championship game losing to Posse Softball Club/Sage by a final score of 5-0 to finish in second place at this tournament.
The Ballers did not provide Illinois Softball Report with any details, highlights, stats or quotes on how they were able to finish in second place at this tournament.

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