Semo Fence / U. S. National Guard Wins USSSA Class E State

Sixteen Teams Participate At Red Bud In Southern Illinois State

RED BUD: Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard from McClure won the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class E Southern State Tournament with a perfect 5-0 record. Lazy Bears (6-2) from Sparta finished in second place with Three B Drywall (3-2) from Richview taking home third place and the Mighty Ducks (4-2) from Red Bud took home fourth place. Rounding out the top eight finishers were Buzz-Howell (2-2) from Johnson City and the Bad Boys (2-2) from Wood River tying for fifth place as both the Ryders (2-2) from Granite City and Crush (2-2) from Waterloo finished in a tie for seventh place at this state tournament.
Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard opened play on Saturday with a forfeit win over the Scott Flyers who no-showed at this tournament. In the second round Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard met and defeated Abate / Freedon Riders from Junction City 12-2 to move into Saturday evening semifinal round of the winner's bracket. Abate / Freedon Riders had defeated the Banshees from Johnson City 7-6 in the first round of play to advance into this second round contest with Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard.
In their semifinal game of the winner's bracket Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard and Buzz-Howell tangles with one another as Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard got the better of it on this day winning 18-17 to put them into the winner's bracket championship game on Sunday. Buzz-Howell made it to this semifinal game of the winner's bracket by opening play with an 11-5 win over Curt Smith Sporting Goods from Prairie Du Rocher in the first round of play before stopping the Ryders 9-8 in the second round of tournament action.
On Sunday playing in the winner's bracket undefeated game it was Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard and Three B Drywall going toe to toe with one another. Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard was all business during this game as they came out with their bats on fire and slugged their way to being the only unbeaten team left in this tournament with a big 23-11 win over Three B Drywall. This win assured Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard of a spot in the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class E Southern Illinois State championship game against which ever team that wins the losers bracket to earn the right to be their opponent in the title game of this year's state tournament. Three B Drywall made it to the winner's bracket finals by opening play on Saturday morning with a narrow 11-10 win over the Beavers from O'Fallon in the first round of play. In their second game on Saturday the Three B Drywall ball club met and defeated the Crush in another one run game 6-5. On Saturday evening it was Three B Drywall winning their third straight one run decision as they slipped past the Bad Boys 9-8 to earn their way into the winner's bracket championship game on Sunday against Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard
That team turned out to be the Lazy Bears. A close and exciting game as both Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard and the Lazy Bears gave it all that they had was not decided until the last batter had batted and when it was over the score board read 11-10 in favor of Semo Fence / U.S. National Guard as McClure area ball club completed their undefeated run to the state title.
The Lazy Bears made it to the state championship game by doing things the hard way they lost their opening game on Saturday morning forcing them to play with their backs against the wall the rest of the way. In their opener the Lazy Bears were edged out by Crush 4-3 to drop the Sparta based ball club into the loser's bracket. The Lazy Bears got their ship righted as they won over the Beavers 8-6 to advance in the bracket. In the second round of action in the loser's bracket on Saturday evening it was the Lazy Bears and Abate / Freedon Riders going head to head with the Lazy Bears winning 10-7.
Now playing on Sunday morning the Lazy Bears opened with a game against the Ryders and the Sparta ball club hung an 8-7 win onto the bracket board to advance again in the loser's bracket. Lazy Bears and the Bad Boys were paired up with each other next with the Lazy Bears winning big 20-11 to continue their advancement in the bracket.
Next on tap for the Lazy Bears ball club was a game with the Mighty Ducks and the Lazy Bears proved to be a team on a roll as the won for the third straight time on Sunday hanging a 16-6 win onto the bracket board to advance into the loser's bracket championship game.
Now only Three B Drywall stood between the Lazy Bears and the opportunity to play for the state title. Both teams wanted to play for the state title but only one could advance. In a close game that was not over until it was over the Lazy Bears managed to win their fourth in a row on Sunday eliminating Three B Drywall with the third place trophy after beating them by a single run 7-6.
A tired but game Lazy Bears ball club took the field to challenge unbeaten Semo Fence / U. S. National Guard in the championship game. The Lazy Bears will never look back on this game and say to themselves 'if we only gave it a little more effort' as they gave everything that they had left in them only to come up one run short losing to Semo Fence / U. S. National Guard 11-10 in the state championship game to finish in second place.