Tuesday, August 08, 2000
Metro crowns 3 softball champs
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sunday night was for the home run hitters of the Major division. Monday was the people's night. Champions were crowned in three divisions of the Fry Fastening ASA Metro Softball Tournament Monday night at Rumpke Park:
• Mr. Label/Plant Design beat Principled Chiropractic 19-6 in the A Division.
• In the B Division, Spindle Tech beat Eyewear 19-10. Eyewear came out of the losers bracket to beat Spindle Tech 22-18 to force a one-game playoff,
• ASAP Construction beat Crowley's Bar 17-4 in the D Division.
• And in the C Division, Vocke Construction and It Doesn't Matter/Frames both came out of their respective losers brackets to win C titles. This year's C tournament was split into two divisions to accommodate a record 160 teams; the two winners will play at 8:45 p.m. today for the overall title.
The championship games:
A DIVISION: Mr. Label/Plant Design has been together for nearly 10 years. Before Monday night, the best they had done in the Metro was fourth. But Mr. Label beat Principled Chiropractic 19-6 in five innings in the final.
“It's sweet,” said assistant coach Rick Van den Eynder. “We've had a core together for a long time. We started in D.”
Mr. Label, made up of players from Whiteoak and Colerain Township, went 6-0 in the 2000 Metro.
“It was base knocks and good pitching,” Van den Eynder said. “Our pitcher, Scott Hammerle, is the one of the best, if not the best in the city.”
B DIVISION: Spindle took an early lead and held on to win 19-10 over Eyewear in a game that ended just before midnight.
Eyewear had rolled up 70 runs in its previous three games. But Spindle, a new team out of Lawrenceburg, Ind., controlled the nightcap.
C DIVISION: Vocke Construction and It Doesn't Matter/Frames did it the hard way, coming out of the losers bracket to win their respective C divisions.
Vocke, from Hamilton, beat In Town Cafe 9-6 to force the if-necessary game, then beat In Town again 8-6 to take the C American title.
It Doesn't Matter, from Northern Kentucky, beat Domino's 12-4 and 5-4 to win the C National title.
Vocke and It Doesn't Matter meet tonight at 8:45 for the overall C title.
“This feels great,” Vocke coach Luke Hamilton said. “But we're not finished. We want to win it all.”
D DIVISION: ASAP Construction, led by 48-year-old pitcher By Wilber, went through the bracket undefeated. ASAP beat Crowley's Bar 17-4 in five innings in the finals.
Wilber did not walk a batter in the eight games and allowed an average of only four runs per game.
“Why walk anyone?” he said. “They played great defense behind me.”
It was the first Metro for most of the ASAP roster.
“I've been putting this team together for three years,” said ASAP coach Ric Crosby. “By was the key. Pound-for-pound, he is the best player I've ever been around.”
Crowley's lost in the second round, then won nine games to emerge from the losers bracket. Crowley's scored two runs in the bottom of the seven to beat Sports Supplement 6-5 in the losers final.
While nine straight wins was impressive, “That's not the record,” said tournament director Danney Saylor. “A couple of years ago, Cheviot Building and Loan lost in the first round and then won 14 straight to win the C.”
Because of rain, Saylor had to move the lower division back to Monday. But Saylor was pleased with the way it worked in one sense.
“This showcases the C and D,” he said. “That's the level most of the softball players in Cincinnati play at.”
The tournament drew a record 367 teams, 160 in the C Division. Saylor had to split it into National and American brackets.
“I've never seen or heard of a 160-team bracket,” he said. “The biggest they make is a 128-team. Last year, we had 138 teams; I built a bracket myself. This year, we didn't have time to build a 160-team, so we split right down the middle.”
The top teams are required to move the following year. The A winner is required to move to Major. The top two B teams also must move up. In C and D, the top four teams move up.
The top C teams are often competitive in the B bracket the following year, and the top B teams in A.
“There's not that much difference,” Saylor said.
Sports Stories
Reds 3, Braves 2 (10)
Box, runs
Reds fans not too riled by Braves' Rocker
Reds notebook
Senior Griffey sees team
Williams may be the next big back
Bengals notebook
Spotlight on: Left corners
Training camp visitors guide
