In 2004, Edge Fastpitch, pardon the pun, edged out the Rounders for the So Cal ASA Alliance title by a single point. Hard to imagine it could be any closer in 2005, but it was.

Primetime Fastpitch (with a few players from last year’s Edge team) nosed out the Amigos for the Alliance crown on a “runs allowed” formula, after the two teams wound up in a dead heat after the seventh and final tournament of the year at Santa Fe Springs. The Amigos lost a heartbreaker, 14-13 to the Long Beach Black Sox in extra innings, which proved to be the difference.

The Long Beach Black Sox captured their third Alliance tournament title of the year in the final weekend, ahead of the Rounders, whom they beat in the title game.

The Rounders held third place for most of the season, but were excluded from tournament #6 July 10-11 by virtue of having captured an ASA “C” Nationals berth in Stockton over Memorial Day, earning zero (0) points, while everyone else moved up. Comments invited on this rule below.

Fred Hanker’s Black Sox squad was the only team to win more than one Alliance tournament during the season, falling just short of the four won by the Rounders in 2004, and five won by the Kanakas (former name for Edge), in 2003.

For more details and the final standings, visit the So Cal ASA website.

The Alliance will send at least six (6) teams to the ASA “C” Nationals in Stockton over the Labor day Weekend, September 1-5, 2005. Three of the six captured berths for the ASA “C” in qualifiers, the Rounders (Stockton in May), and Rude Pac and RAW (Santa Fe Springs), while the other three earned berths for their finish in the standings, champions Primetime, runnerup Amigos, and the third place Long Beach Black Sox.

One more door remains open to teams trying to get into the big event, a regional qualifier in Lancaster August 6-7, 2005. No word yet which teams are headed to that one.

Click Comments link below to read comments on the rule banning teams from playing in a tournament while awarding points to their competition below, or to post your own comment. Simple one-time registration required to post comments.

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In 2004, Edge Fastpitch, pardon the pun, edged out the Rounders for the So Cal ASA Alliance title by a single point. Hard to imagine it could be any closer in 2005, but it was.

Primetime Fastpitch (with a few players from last year’s Edge team) nosed out the Amigos for the Alliance crown on a “runs allowed” formula, after the two teams wound up in a dead heat after the seventh and final tournament of the year at Santa Fe Springs. The Amigos lost a heartbreaker, 14-13 to the Long Beach Black Sox in extra innings, which proved to be the difference.

The Long Beach Black Sox captured their third Alliance tournament title of the year in the final weekend, ahead of the Rounders, whom they beat in the title game.

The Rounders held third place for most of the season, but were excluded from tournament #6 July 10-11 by virtue of having captured an ASA “C” Nationals berth in Stockton over Memorial Day, earning zero (0) points, while everyone else moved up.

Fred Hanker’s Black Sox squad was the only team to win more than one Alliance tournament during the season, falling just short of the four won by the Rounders in 2004, and five won by the Kanakas (former name for Edge), in 2003.

For more details and the final standings, visit the So Cal ASA website.

The Alliance will send at least six (6) teams to the ASA “C” Nationals in Stockton over the Labor day Weekend, September 1-5, 2005. Three of the six captured berths for the ASA “C” in qualifiers, the Rounders (Stockton in May), and Rude Pac and RAW (Santa Fe Springs), while the other three earned berths for their finish in the standings, champions Primetime, runnerup Amigos, and the third place Long Beach Black Sox.

One more door remains open to teams trying to get into the big event, a regional qualifier in Lancaster August 6-7, 2005. No word yet which teams are headed to that one.

Fred Hanker’s 13 hits, HRs in semi-final and final lead the way

The Long Beach Black Sox won their third Alliance tournament, ending the season as it began in March in Palm Springs when they won the first tournament of the season. The Black Sox topped the Rounders 9-8 in the championship game, after the Rounders rallied from an 8-0 deficit to put the tying run at third in the 7th before Randy Clay closed it out.

No other team in the Alliance won more than one tournament during the season. Ironic, in that the Sox were the last team to qualify for a spot in the ASA “C” Nationals. But for a couple tough Sunday morning draws, they might have made a run for the Alliance Championship. Waiting for official word on who that honor goes to — the Amigos or Primetime. Both made it to the Final Four on Sunday, but fell in the semi-finals, the Amigos to the Black Sox in a wild extra inning affair, 14-13, and Primetime, to the Rounders. A grand slam by Gerald Pyle broke the latter game open. The Amigos and Primetime were tied for the Alliance crown headed into Sunday.

Primetime suffered the loss of workhorse ace Dan Zupp Saturday to a leg injury. The team is cautiously optimistic that he’ll have time to heal before Nationals.

Read the entire story on the Black Sox’s tournament win at the Long Beach Black Sox website. Some efforts that paved the road to the title, courtesy of Fred Hanker’s LBBlackSox website:

*CHUCK CHAPLE .320 5 RUNS
*ANDY MARTINEZ .523 10 RUNS 11 HITS 2 SB
*FRED HANKER .619 2 HR 8 RBI 5 2B’S 6 RUNS 13 HITS
*DAMO GUERRERO 1-0 HR 5 RBI
*CHRIS MINOGUE .444 2 HR 7 RBI
*JOHN OTTE .444 5 RUNS 3 RBI
*BRETT SEMANS .500 GS HR 5 RBI
*YOGI “THE BEAR” SALCEDO .389 4 RUNS 2 RBI
“RANDY CLAY 3-0 2 CG SHUTOUTS SAVE
*CHUCK VRANICH 2-0 CG SHUTOUT OVER SAVALA / WIN IN FINAL GAME

Click here to see the 2005 So Cal ASA Alliance finalists for each tournament.