Local softball team wins NAFA wood bat tourney

J Train wins four straight after starting 0-2
Newton Kansan
LONGMONT, Colo. — The J Train of Newton won the North American Fast-Pitch Association Wood Bat World Series, which concluded Sunday in Longmont, Colo.

The tournament drew 11 teams.

J Train lost its first two games of pool play but won the next four games for the title. J Train downed the Denver Dawgs 4-1 in the championship game.

Pitcher Ray Foster was named the tournament MVP.

“We were on it today. Everything was just clicking,” J Train coach Ray Jaso said. “Our hitting came around. We were just on top of our game today.”

“We went in there with the mindset that we were swinging aluminum — don’t change anything, just go with your regular approach,” left fielder Ray Jaso Jr. said. “Just swing the bat like usual. On defense, you have to play a lot more shallow, because not everyone can hit the ball 275 feet.”

Foster, of St. Joseph, Mo., led the Houston Diablos to the past four Latin national championships. He also pitches for the Maynard, Texas, Dirtbags and the Ohio Battery 50-and-older team. It was his first wood bat tournament.

“It was great. It’s an experience I will never forget,” said Foster. “… We’ve known these kids for quite a few years. They’ve come up through the hardball leagues. Now they’ve started into fastpitch as young men. They’re starting to develop pretty good. We had a real good time.”

J Train lost to the Denver Dawgs and the Colorado Rage in pool play, beating Los Camoesinos.

In tournament play, J Train downed the Englewood (Colo.) Dragons and the Colorado Rage 5-3 in the semifinals. J Train scored four runs in the fifth inning of the semifinals on RBI hits by Ray Jaso Jr. and Rico Garcia.

In the championship game, the Dawgs scored in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly. J Train tied the game in the top of the third. Andy Jaso and Donavan Scott hit RBI singles for J Train the fourth. J Train added a run in the sixth.

“We had a great day,” Foster said. “We had a rough time (Saturday) with our sticks. The wood bats were a little different for us. Today we kind of put it together and our sticks came around. It took a whole team effort to win it.”

Ray Jaso Jr., Tony Jaso Sr., Rico Garcia and Albert Garcia were all named to the all-tournament team.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under NAFA, Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.