Sportin' Wood Wins USSSA Southern D State

Ten Teams Participate At Red Bud's Sports Complex On Aug. 19th

RED BUD: Sportin' Wood from Fairview Height went a perfect 4-0 to capture the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class D Southern State Tournament held at the Red Bud Sports Complex in Red Bud on Saturday August 19th. The champions earned a berth to play at the 2006 USSSA Great Lakes Men's Class D National Tournament to be held in Milford, Ohio over Labor Day Weekend. Bud Light (4-2) from Chester took home second place with Long & Hard (2-2) from Charleston finished in third place with Four Baggers (3-2) from Red Bud taking home fourth place from this tournament.
Sportin Wood opened play with a first round 12-9 win over Buzz from Belleville to open their tournament action. Buzz needed to have won a play in game over Vipers Softball from Edwardsville 17-8 to advance into this first round game with Sportin' Wood.
In their second contest of this tournament it was Sportin Wood and the Lugnuts playing each other with Sportin' Wood getting the better of it by a final score of 16-3 to put Sportin' Wood into the winner's bracket finals. The Lugnuts had opened tournament play with a first round 7-0 forfeit win over the Bank of Missouri from McClure who failed to field a team at game time.
In the game that featured the last two remaining unbeaten teams, Sportin' Wood and Long & Hard going toe to toe for the title to the winner's bracket and a assured spot in the tournament's championship game. Sportin' Wood continued their winning ways as they set aside Long & Hard by a final score of 11-6 to become the only unbeaten team, left in this tournament. Long & Hard made it to this winner's bracket championship game by opening play with a first round 10-9 win over the Bombers from Fairview Heights. In their second game Long & Hard took the field to play Four Baggers and came away with an 11-8 win to put them into the winner's bracket championship game against Sportin' Wood.
Now Sportin' Wood had to sit and wait until the loser's bracket had been played out to it's conclusion before knowing which team would win the loser's bracket to earn the right to be their challenger in the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class D Southern State title game. That team turned out to be Bud Light a team that had dropped their opening game to the Four Baggers before running off four straight wins in the loser's bracket to earn the right to challenge unbeaten Sportin' Wood in the state championship game. The final game was all Sportin' Wood as they completed their undefeated run to the state title by sweeping aside Bud Light 15-4 in the championship game to finish with a perfect 4-0 record and the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class D Southern State title.
Bud Light made it to the state championship game by doing things the long and hard way, losing their very first game of the tournament before rallying to defeat four straight teams in order to win their way back into the championship game. Bud Light was upended in their opener by the Four Baggers 7-2 to drop them into the loser's bracket where they met the Bombers first and sent them to the parking lot after beating them 18-10. Next up for the Bud Light ball club was a game with the Lugnuts and Bud Light continued their advancement towards the state title game by winning 16-8 over the Lugnuts. Now sweet revenge raised its pretty head and Bud Light took full advantage of their opportunity by send home the team that had put them into the loser's bracket earlier in the day beating the Four Baggers 15-8 to put the into the loser's bracket championship game against Long & Hard. Bud Light had a dream and the team goal in focus as they took the field to play Long and Hard in a game where the winner get the chance to play unbeaten Sportin' Wood for the state title. Bud light rose to the occasion and posted a 10-5 win onto the bracket board to earn the right to challenge Sportin' Wood in the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class D Southern State championship game. Bud lights dream ended here as they were turned away at the door by Sportin Wood as Bud Light fell to them by a final score of 15-4. Bud Light was now forced to accept the second place trophy from the 2006 Illinois USSSA Men's Class D Southern State Tournament.