<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><p>Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network</p><hr/><div><b>From: </b> Ken%20Hackmeister%20 <iscken@comcast.net>
</div><div><b>Date: </b>Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:07:34 +0000 (UTC)</div><div><b>To: </b>Al Doran<aldoran@pmihrm.com>; Jim Flanagan<jim@fastpitchwest.com>; Milt Michael<miltmich@telus.net>; <rachel@aausports.org></div><div><b>Subject: </b>AAU Finals</div><div><br/></div><div style='font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'><P>The AAU finals turned into disarray as the Dominican Republic team refused to play the championship game against Chicago/New York.</P>
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<P>The Dominican Republic earned their berth in the championship game by defeating NY Gremlins 5-4 but even that was not without controversy.</P>
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<P>A 6th inning 2-run home run by Sergio LaHoz was protested by NY Gremlins claiming the batter was touched by teammates coming from their first base dugout before the batted ball cleared the outfield fence. The protest was denied as all-3 umpires agreed the touching occurred after the ball cleared the fence. The home run moved Dominican Republic from a 1-run deficit into a 1-run lead and eventual final margin.</P>
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<P>In the other semi final, Italian Athletic Club, defeated Chicago/New York 6-0 but due to flight departure times, had to forfeit the game and leave for the airport.</P>
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<P>Dominican Republic refused to play the championship game, claiming they should play Italian Athletic Club and if IAC wasn't available, Dominican Republic should win the championship by forfeit.</P>
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<P>The consensus of the tournament and umpire staffs was that IAC forfeited their 6-0 win and Chicago/New York was the legitimate entrant in the championship game. Dominican Republic refused to play and walked out of the park during the awards ceremony.</P>
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<P>The official order of finish is:</P>
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<P>Champs - Chicago/New York</P>
<P>2nd place - Dominican Republic</P>
<P>3rd place - NY Gremlins and Italian Athletic Club</P>
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<P>Most Valuable Pitcher - Shaun Winship</P>
<P>Most Valuable Player - Jeff Ellsworth</P>
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<P>Consolation Champion - Nova Scotia</P>
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<P>Ken</P>
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