With a big caveat of “weather permitting”, the SoCal ASA will hold its second league tournament in as many weeks. Be sure to check the official SoCal ASA website (link below), on Thursday/Friday for an update as to the weather.

From the official SoCal ASA website: SOCAL ASA : Softball

NEXT UP – AMIGOS SPRING CLASSIC – SANTA FE SPRINGS

The Amigos Spring Classic will be played this weekend with nine A/B teams and seven C teams competing. The Long Beach Snakes will make their debut and the Lumberkings will be traveling from Central California to play in the A/B tournament with an evening game against last week’s champions Panteras. Palm Springs will be leading the way for the “C” tournament after their tournament victory last week. The Amigos will have snack bar duties with Josie’s green chili burritos headlining the menu.

NOTE: Due to the rain being forecasted through Wednesday evening and possibly more rain over the weekend, this web site will be updated on Thursday and Friday evenings with the tournament and field status. Managers will be contacted directly with status.

Click to view the SCHEDULE

From the official SoCal ASA website: SOCAL ASA : Softball

Click link to visit the official SoCal ASA website.

A/B Alliance

The Panteras went undefeated on Sunday to take the first tournament of the year in the newly revamped A/B league with strong pitching from Bobby Lara, Jesse Duncan and Ron Rupp. The Panteras were with all their starters on Sunday making it tough for manager Fernie Ramirez to make the line-up’s with the squad that showed up. Big wins in tough played single elimination games over San Diego Primetime and the Black Sox got them in the Championship game. In the Championship game they defeated the new Rude-Pac squad of players from last year’s number 1 & 2 finishers in the Association Championship. Unfortunately, work commitments and injuries left Rude-Pac with only nine players for the game, but they held tough through four innings. More details to follow…

C Alliance (more…)

From Fastpitchwest’s “Leagues” section:

Palm Springs I

[PALM SPRINGS, CA – 03/26/06] -After dropping their first two round robin games on Saturday, Fernie Ramirez’s Panteras squad reeled off five consecutive wins, including three in Sunday’s single elimination bracket play, to capture the first So Cal ASA “A/B” league weekend tournament title of the 2006 season. The Panteras saved their best for last, posting a convincing 13-3 run-rule victory over Rude-Pac in the championship game. Along the way, the Panteras knocked off two teams in Sledgehammer’s California Top 10, # 6 Savala Rounders and # 9 Rude Pac, the latter twice, making a strong case for inclusion in the next set of rankings.

Panteras starter Bobby Lara went the distance for the win, after Jesse Duncan pitched the squad to a 6-2 semi-final win over the Black Sox to get the Panteras into the final. If you were looking for a player of the game (and day), it might well be Anthony Rocha, the ;power hitting shortstop for the team. Rocha hit a key home run against the Black Sox in the semi-finals, then homered and doubled in the same inning (the 10 run fifth), driving in 3 runs. Eli Salazar nearly matched him, also homering in the semi-final win over the Sox, and hitting a triple and single in the championship game, and driving in 3 runs.

Click link above for complete recap, including scoring summary from Championship game, along with Sunday’s Elimination bracket, scores, and photos.

From So Cal ASA Website: Click here for Standings and Stats:

The standings for the first week have been posted. The Panteras lead the A/B Classification by one over Rude-Pac. In the C Classification, the So Cal Hustlers are on top with a one point lead over the Express. Even though the Express won the tournament, the Hustlers came out on top as a result of the wins during the round robin. To view the standings, press the button above marked Standings.

STATS
The stats from the first week on now available. Press the links below for the tournament leaders or the button on the top row marked Statistics to see the team stats.

The Palm Springs Express won the first So Cal ASA “C” division league weekend Sunday, with a victory over the runner-up Hustlers in the champions game at 1:15pm Sunday at De Muth Park in Palm Springs, after knocking off the So Cal Rebels in the semi-finals, 8-0, behind the pitching of Graham Balog. The win marked the first time that the Express has brought home the gold on their home turf. The Hustlers earned a spot in the title tilt with win over Level One Raymar.

Injury Report: We are sorry to report that Don Vilander of the Gamecocks suffered a broken wrist, in two places on Saturday, and had to go to the ER in Palm Springs for a cast. He was struck by the ball while batting. The prognosis is the usual for broken bones, 6 weeks, so he’s likely to miss the next league tournament or two. (now I have company on the DL). For those of you who don’t know Don, he is Tyler Vilander’s dad.

Fernie Ramirez’s Panteras posted a 10-spot in the 5th inning, to break a 3-3 tie in the championship game with Rude Pac. Anthony Rocha started the inning off with an inside-the-park-home-run, sliding in safely on a bang-bang play that set the wheels in motion for the Panteras. Rocha drove in another run in the same inning, as the Panteras pulled away for a 13-3 run rule victory. Bobby Lara picked up the win, over a tired Doug Rooney in the championship game. The two teams were playing their 7th game of the weekend, and Rude Pac was down to just nine players, and no relief for Rooney.

The Panteras eliminated San Diego Primetime in the quarterfinals, and topped the Long Beach Black Sox 6-2 in a semi-final game behind the pitching of Jesse Duncan.

Rude Pac opened the weekend as the #9 ranked team in California, and made a strong case that they belong in that top 10 with their runner up finish in Palm Springs. The champion Panteras entered the weekend unranked, and will certainly must be considered for a spot on the strength of their opening weekend championship.

Click here for the complete recap.