KENT, WA - The NSA hosted the Fairweather Sports/Combat USA Tournament Series on July 2nd and 3rd at the Russell Road Park Fields in Kent, Washington. Teams from California, Oregon and Washington came out to play in this major northwest tournament event.

Men´s Major Division

In the men’s ‘Major’ division Resmondo/Smith/Menosse (RSM) finished on top to take the championship showing why they are the number one rated team in the country. Travis Resmondo, Dan Smith and Ed Menosse have assembled one of the most talented teams seen in a long time. A lot of people, though, have asked do they have what it takes with all of the great players on the team to gel into a championship squad. Well, they sure showed it this weekend. In their first test of the tournament they faced NW Softball. RSM came out with all cylinders firing and dismantled NW Softball 30-1. Their next opponent was Trust Mortgage, but with great players like Jeff Hall, Rusty Baumgardner and Andy Purcell on the field for RSM, Trust Mortgage just could not keep up. Resmondo/Smith/Menosse won again. With the win it looked like they would steam roll through the tournament. Their next opponent was Team Combat, who is the top major division team in Washington and rated one of the top five major teams in the nation. This was the game that all the fans were waiting for and they would not be disappointed. They were treated to some great softball from both of these teams. Team Combat has some top guns of their own in RJ Howerton, Johnny McCraw and Brian Higginbotham. The game set up to be a barnburner and it played out to be just that. Both teams came out smashing the ball and lighting up the scoreboard. Team Combat took the early lead and looked like they would send RSM to the losers bracket but RSM was able to fight back late in the game to take the lead for good and held off the tough Team Combat team to take a 46-36 victory and a spot in the championship game.

With the loss Team Combat was dropped to the loser’s bracket and would have to win their next game to get back into the winner´s side of the draw. They were going to face a tough Smith/Easton team who won four straight games to get into the semi-final game. Both teams wanted to get into the championship game especially Chris Smith who plays for Smith/Easton and who happens to be Dan Smith’s son. Team Combat came out and hit towering home runs and played smart softball and Smith/Easton just did not have enough firepower in their lineup to win the game, Team Combat ended up winning 21-10 and got their rematch against Resmondo/Smith/Menosse in the championship game.

The title game would see Team Combat continue to hit the ball hard and their outfielders hold down the powerful RSM bats with excellent defensive plays. Andy Purcell of RSM got into trouble early but was able to settle down and find the strike zone and proved why he is one of the best pitchers in the game. Brian Higginbotham, pitcher for Team Combat, would not be outdone. He was also able to get the big out when Team Combat needed it. The lead constantly changed hands, but RSM again had just too much offensive firepower and were able to eventually take the lead and put away the game late. RSM ended up winning the championship game with a 42-32 final score. Even with the loss, Team Combat showed that they would be a force at the World Championships. Smith/Easton placed 3rd. Brian Rainwater of Resmondo/Smith/Menosse won MVP honors. Dennis Turner, Jason Kendrick and Bryson Baker of Resmondo/Smith/Menosse made the all-tourney team. Kevin Johnson of Team Combat earned the Defensive MVP honor. Johnny McCraw, RJ Howerton and Nate Holcomb of Team Combat made the all-tourney team.

Men´s B/C Division

The men’s ‘B/C’ bracket was just as exciting as the ‘Major’ bracket. There were several outstanding teams competing in this division but Dobbs/Fox/Gatorline (DFG) came out of the loser’s bracket to take the championship hardware home. They won four straight games from the loser’s bracket side to get to the championship game and beat team Freedom/DeMarini to claim the title.

In their first game of the tournament DFG lost to KTI and immediately found themselves in the loser’s bracket. Not happy with their play in their game against KTI everyone was determined to show that they are one of the top ‘B’ teams in Washington. DFG won their second game against Ice-O-Matic and walked over Smith/Easton in a forfeit. (Smith/Easton had to forfeit their game because the team needed to catch their flight back to California.) DFG continued to move through the draw by beating Easton/Prostock. This setup a rematch against KTI. KTI had won four straight games but lost to Freedom/DeMarini to drop them into the loser’s bracket. Both teams had been playing great ball all weekend. KTI was well rested but Dobbs/Fox/Gatorline came out and put some runs on the board early and they continued to put the pressure on as the KTI players could not answer back. In the end KTI ran