Editor’s note: Posting this one belatedly, catching up after being away with Ballpark Broadcasting at the 2015 WBSC World Championships in Saskatoon. We appreciate their timely submission of story and photos.
Story and photos courtesy of Jacob Huff/Utah Men’s Fastpitch
[Salt Lake City, Utah] – Erick Chaparro came in as relief to silence the hot bats of the CR Brewers (Portland), and lead Team Browning to the 2015 Larry H. Miller Pioneer Days title.
Chaparro ended the tournament with 22 strikeouts, and claimed the Outstanding Pitcher award to cap off a great pitching performance. Manager Greg Kevern went to Chaparro early as the CR Brewers bats ran Browning’s Justin Zimmerman (Pennsylvania) away from the circle. Along with Browning’s effective game of slap hitting and bunts, Browning manufactured the win 7-4 and claimed the title of Champions.
The Brewers bat’s were hot throughout the tournament, averaging 2 homeruns a game, 10 runs per game, and was lead by Jenner Christiansen’s .562 Batting Average. Christiansen also claimed the Best Hitter Award. Collin McKenzie (British Columbia) bounced back nicely after taking a line drive to the eye off the bat of Tommy Gray, if there was a tournament “Warrior” award, Collin would have won it.
The tournament also saw great pitching from Reagan Manley (New Zealand) playing with the Pueblo Bandits, Garrett Hone (Utah) playing with Page Brake, Shawn Koster (British Columbia) playing with Cal-State, and Terry Luster (Missouri) playing with the CR Brewers.
Larry H. Miller Pioneer Day’s tournament will always be a great tournament to gauge your teams as they prepare for national tournaments. Team Browning will be headed to the NAFA AA and the CR Brewers will defend their 2014 title at the NAFA AA Major. Page Brake and Pueblo will showcase at the ISC Worlds is South Bend, Indiana.
Dates for next years 2016 Tournament will be July 8th-10th. To stay updated with men’s fastpitch softball in Utah, see Our Facebook Page: Utah Men’s Fast-Pitch Softball.