Global Pacific of Oregon won the winner’s bracket to emerge as the lone unbeaten team, but their opponent Penn Power came back to win the first championship game, 2-1 in 8 innings to send the game into a winner-take-all “IF” game.

see http://www.gsjsa.net for final bracket.

I am on the road from stockton and posting from my treo.

JF

We regret to report some off-the-field losses as well as those on the field at the ASA “C” Nationals in Stockton, CA.

The city of Stockton and host Radisson Hotel proved less than hospitable to teams and their players, with at least three separate incidents of theft at the host Radisson Hotel, including a stolen car, stolen fastball gear, and a “smash and grab” on our rental car at the host Radisson hotel resulting in the theft of all of Maddy’s digital cameras, lenses and equipment, personal effects and credit cards — which were used in less than an hour at three local retailers. Apparently, the thieves visited the local gas station, Jack-in-the-Box and Target Store impersonating Fastpitchwest’s Jim and Maddy. Naturally, we are hoping that Target’s cameras may have captured the thieves faces for all to see. Wouldn’t those look good on the cover of Fastpitchwest?

Despite reporting the thefts to the local police and to the Radisson Hotel, we returned from our game tonight to find thieves attempting an encore performance in the Radisson parking lot, before running off. No slight intended to the ASA organizing committee who put on a great tournament, IMHO. However, our experience and that of others with whom we have spoken, would not lead us to recommend the city to fastball players or fans, unless and until the crime spree is curtailed and the host Radisson Hotel spent some of the thousands of dollars paid by players and teams towards security for its hotel. After our unfortunate experience, we have learned of other similar incidents which occurred during prior tournaments — and still security is virtually nil. Two other teams reported thefts while in Stockton for tournament.

Again, my remarks are directed to the matters outside of the ballpark, and control of those running the tournament.

More on the subject in the Record newspaper,

Zeroing in on crime

Published Sunday, Aug 28, 2005

They gathered on Monday just as they do once every month.

The sheriff and police chiefs from San Joaquin County cities met to discuss crime trends, enforcement possibilities and the challenges they face amid the area’s rapid growth.

There was plenty to discuss, including:

# The survey that ranks the Stockton-Lodi metropolitan area No. 2 nationally in automobile theft per capita.

(more…)

It’s into the wee hours of the morning, so excuse the brevity of this report, but as the ASA “C” Nationals heads into the final day, here are the pairings for Monday, with just six (6) teams remaining:

Winner’s Bracket Final

Global Pacific, Oregon vs. Penn Power, PA

Loser’s Bracket Games:

Bob Hoffman’s PA vs. Team Taylor, CA
BMC West, UT vs. Cyclones, OH

It appears that the Rounders finished 7th, as the last team eliminated at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning.

Click here for the latest bracket, updated at 8pm Sunday night.

So Cal’s two unbeaten teams fell into the elimination bracket Sunday afternoon at Stockton, CA at the ASA “C” Nationals.

The Rounders dropped a 2-1 decision to Team Taylor, with Taylor scoring both runs in the first, while the Rounder could muster but one run, coming on a two-out RBI single by Mark Villalobos. Joe Givens was the winning pitcher for Team Taylor, which will now face Global Pacific, OR in the winner’s bracket semi-final. Click here for the box score.

Global Pacific OR beat Rude-Pac handily, 15-4.

The Rounders will need to win at 6pm and 8pm to survive to Monday, with their 6pm game coming against the winner of Allentown PA and A-1 Tank, a team that the Rounders beat on Friday and have faced three times including twice at the qualifier. The Rounders have a 2-1 record against a very strong hitting Tank team.

Rude Pac will likewise need to win two tonight to stay alive, with their next one at 6pm against the winner of BMC West, UT and Team Texas, TX (the team that eliminated RAW this morning).

The Winner’s Bracket Final Four is:

1) Global Pacific, OR
2) Team Taylor, CA
3) Winner of Bob Hoffman, PA vs. Penn Power, PA (going on at press time)
4) Cyclones, OH

More info later, gotta run.

JF