The Tournament Reports
August 20-22 Weekend
R&D/Easton nips Dan Smith/Worth in
finals of NSA World Series
Fourth-ranked R&D/Easton nipped
second-ranked Dan Smith/Worth 20-19
Saturday, then 18-17 on Sunday to become
a surprise winner of the NSA World
Series at Fort Wayne, Ind. Top-ranked
Team TPS was upended by third-ranked
Team Easton 28-23 on Saturday night,
then ousted 22-10 by Dan Smith on Sunday
and finished in fourth place. David
Hood, who pitched and played various
infield positions, was voted the MVP
award. He was 11-for-14 with 6 homers,
including an inside-the-parker, going
into the final game. He was 1-for-3 in
the finale. Hood, playing first base,
made two stickout plays in the 20-19 win
over Dan Smith on Saturday night. A
3-run home run by Jim Devine gave R&D a
3-run lead in the top of the seventh.
Hood then speared a line drive and made
a remarkable grab of a foul pop before
big Wendell Rickard flied to left for
the last out. Rickard, who beat out Mike
Shenk of Team Easton 10-9 for the home
run crown, flied to deep center for the
last out in the final. A 2-run triple by
Lonnie Fox keyed a 5-run first inning in
the finale. Then after going the next 2
innings without scoring, R&D hit for 7
in the fourth and sixth in the fifth . .
. after a blank by Dan Smith in the top
of the fifth. Keith Brockman ignited the
7-run inning with a home run to deep
left center (375-380) and Billy Byrd,
Brian Hood, Dan Houchin, Rob Schleede,
Jim Devine, Randy Kortokrax and Rod
Hughes followed with hits. Then in the
fifth, Brockman led off with a hit, then
after two outs, Brian Hood doubled and
Houchin followed with an inside-the-park
job. Schleede and Devine singled before
a home run by Kortokrax, who was 4-for-4
with 2 homers. He beat Randell Boone of
Team TPS for a $1,000 prize in the home
run contest, which was sponsored by the
Texas Road House. Rickard, who went
21-for-30 with 10 homers, was named for
the Offensive Player award. Teammate
Scott Striebel, a speedy center fielder,
was tabbed for the Defensive Player
award. Joining Rickard and Striebel on
the all-tournament team were pitcher
Paul Drilling, Dennis Mendoza, who poked
hits right and left at a 17-for-24 pace,
and third baseman Al Davis. Joining
David Hood as R&D representatives on the
all-tournament team were Brian Hood (no
relation), who hit and played solid
defense in the infield in a reserve
role, Byrd, Brockman and Kortokrax. Team
Easton landed Shenk and Johnny McCraw
while Team TPS was represented by Jeff
Wallace, who was 16-for-20 on-base. Team
TPS had several players below-par plate
performances -- Jason Kendrick .471,
John Mello .389, Todd Martin .450, Rusty
Bumgardner .600, Randell Boone .632 and
Dewayne Nevitt .588. Cobbie Harrison,
the R&D manager, was teary eyed. "I'm
happy for these players," he said.
Sponsor Moe Tackett, who just a few days
ago underwent open heart surgery, wanted
to give all the credit to the players
too. "They deserved it," he said.
Tackett said the team wanted to win it
for Bauser. He was referring to pitcher
Brian Ellinghausen, who recently died in
an automobile crash. There were 152 home
runs, plus 7 inside-the-parkers, hit in
20 games. For left fielder Britt
Hightower, a mid-season addition to the
R&D team, it was another championship.
But for more of the young R&D players,
it was their first major title. "That's
the way to go, kid . . . play the game,"
was a recurring word of encouragement
from Harrison to his players.
THE STANDINGS
1. R&D/Easton (Ohio) 4-1
2. Dan Smith/Worth (California) 5-2
3. Team Easton (California) 3-2
4. Team TPS (Kentucky) 2-2
5. Sunnyvale Valve/TPS (California) 4-2
5. Hague/Resmondo/TPS (Ohio) 3-2
7. JWM/Herb's/TPS (California) 1-2
7. W.W. Gay/TPS (Florida) 0-3
7. Creative Stucco/Easton (Ohio) 0-3
7. Universal Dome/Worth (Indiana) 0-3
(Note: This was a 3-game minimum format;
that's why some teams have 3 losses
instead of the usual 2. Field dimensions
were 330-400-330. They played with a .47
Worth ball.)
THE SCOREBOARD
Winners Bracket
above article c/o Supreme Softball
