The following vendors will be on hand to demonstrate 
and sell their Products:
Eastbay, Adidas, NV Baseball, T3K, Legends, Jugs, Easton, Silverback, Miken,
TPS Louisville Slugger, Mizuno, Worth, Toledo Bats, Demarini/Wilson,

BAT WARS One day Saturday August 14, 9am-5pm FREE
Over 250 Bats - Test Drive the latest & greatest bats for 2004
Swing all day - on field Giveaways & Promotions

For BAT WARS info Call: 1-877-453-3711 or check out our websites: 
www.batwars.com & www.softballmag.com

Championship Tournament Series
USSSA States Men`s B, C, D & Women`s

Friday-Sunday, August 13-15 - Sponsored By DeMarini/Wilson 

Over $5000 of Tournament Prizes included: DeMarini/Wilson Bats, Bat Bags Batting Gloves, Hats & Shirts

Full Coverage in an upcoming Softball Magazine issue following event.

Men's Class "C"
Men's Class "D"

The USSSA Men's C and D States for Indiana were played at Midwest Sports Complex on August 14th and 15th and was one of two of the final Softball Magazine National Championship Tournament Series for the year 2004. The sponsor of this stop was DeMarini and the teams enjoyed the softball loot for the top finishing teams.
Winning the C Class state was Aqua Blast Softball of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Coach Mike Meinerding of Aqua Blast Softball said, "I was very pleased with our performance at the State tournament. Our key to success, as always, was solid defense. We hit it good enough to win and made our opponents earn their runs. We got a great performance out of our veteran pitcher, Neil Brown. I'm not sure what he was doing, but it seemed like most guys were having trouble hitting him. I'm glad he was on our side!"
Aqua Blast and Thornton's Softball Club of Indianapolis faced-off for the championship after Thornton's had slipped by Monument Mortgage/Coors Light in the third place game by a score of 17-16.
Thornton's had played through the losers' bracket to reach the championship game, and both teams struggled to get the bats loose in the early innings.
In the third inning, however, Chad Marchard led off with a base hit and lit the fuse for Aqua Blast as Chris Miller, Joe Platt, Greg Smith, Sam Nolan, Mike Fawcett and Jeremy Rietdort combined for a base hit train that choo-chooed five runs for the inning. Tavi Godiner joined the fun in the fourth as he led off with a walk that led to another stream of runs to bring the score going into the bottom of the fourth eight for Aqua Blast and zero for Thornton's.
Thornton's then came alive as Scott Steere led off with a base hit and Jeff Grossman walked. A fielder's choice put Brent Gillum on but took Steere off. Jerry Williams then reached and Adam Windmiller doubled to bring a crowd around and Eric Fisher produced a SAC, but that would be the run total for Thornton's until the sixth, when Gillum, Williams and Dave Setser produced hits for one run.
Aqua Blast went on to plate an additional two runs in the fifth and unloaded in the top of the seventh and produced eight runs with the assistance of home runs with runners on by Bruce Dohrman and Tavi Godiner. No answer from Thornton's in the bottom of the seventh handed the championship to Aqua Blast 18-4.
The Class C Most Valuable player was awarded to Neil Brown from Team Aqua Blast. All Tournament Selections for Team Aqua Blast were Mike Fawcett, Bruce Dohrman, Chris Miller, and Sam Nolan. Thornton's Softball Club All Tournament Team selections were: Steve Clayton, Brent Gillum, Scott Steere and Dave Paddock.
In the D States, it came down to three great final games between Strange/Traditions and Lighthouse and neither team wanted to budge.
Lighthouse knocked Strange to the losers' bracket in the winners' bracket final by a score of 16-15 and that is where the fun started for both of these teams.
Strange dropped to the losers' bracket and handily defeated S&M/Worth by a score of 31-14 and then headed back up to that championship game line on the bracket board to dig in and go full power.
Both Strange and Lighthouse would go scoreless in their first inning of play, but in the top of the second, Strange/Traditions would begin their stockpiling of runs and minimal errors which would lead them to the championship.
Paul Hubbard, Bryan Gordon, Rob Ostapchuk, Chad Mullins, Dave Wleklinski and Eric Spam combined for basehits and Tom Oakley SAC'd to bring around five and in the bottom of the third, Scott Savickis reached on an error and was plated by Bryan Gordon for a total of six runs.
In the bottom of the second, Lighthouse would plate two runs and then not being able to score again until the fifth brought the team a rally. Lighthouse was shorthanded for the tournament, and had been playing with only ten, so no one on this team was going to get a break. Justin Buncoe and JR Jones each reached on base hits and Josh Upton reached on an error which would score Buncoe, followed by a Charlie Waters SAC to bring in Jones.
The fourth inning would bring in two more for Strange/Traditions and one more in the fifth and one in the sixth would bring their tally to ten, which would give Lighthouse the number to reach for by the bottom of seven.
In the fifth, Lighthouse would shake it up and gain four runs as Tim Stacy, JR Shields, Justin Elliott and Dennis Jackson reached, with Stacy and Shields scoring on Jackson's double. Jones would keep the momentum rolling as he brought in Elliot and Jackson on a single but there the rally would end and the team would go quietly in the next two innings with a final score of 10-6 and the teams facing the "if" game.
In the "if" game, it appeared at first as if Lighthouse would see the beacon at the end of the tunnel and win the whole thing, but a deuce scored in the top of the seventh plated by Strange/Traditions Ostapchuk and Mullins brought the team over the top and Lighthouse was unable to answer in the bottom of the seventh.
Bryan Gordon of Strange entered the game in the sixth to knock the hit in the seventh that would tie the game and teammate Eric Spain would SAC for the winning run.
Josh Renn led off in the first inning with a double for Lighthouse and was plated by a SAC from Justin Elliot for their first run. In the second, Justin Blincoe led off with a double and scored and the team's third run came as Josh Upton snagged a base hit and eventually scored. At that time, things had been looking up for the team, but the scoreless sixth and seventh left the game and the championship to Strange/Traditions.
Coach John Adams of Strange/Traditions, told Softball Magazine's Glenn Ciardiello, "Our defense kept us in the tournament. For the most part, the games were low scoring, so giving away outs on defense could have been very costly. The last game, for example, against a quality Lighthouse ball club, was a 4-3 final score. An extra out here or there could have cost us the game. We had some timely hitting throughout the tournament, but especially that final game. The guys dug down deep after a long day. We'd like to add a special thanks to Mark & Gayle Spain, the owners of Traditions Restaurant & Pub in Highland, Indiana, who sponsor the team with their generous donations. It was a great tournament for our team and we appreciate the prizes that Softball Magazine and DeMarini Sports were able to provide us with."
Tim Stacy, Coach of Lighthouse said, "I wanted to say thanks for the hospitality that Softball Magazine and DeMarini gave us. As for the tournament, I thought that the team played exceptionally well, considering we were undermanned only having ten players all weekend! We gave a good effort all weekend, it just wasn't meant to be our tournament. We played great defense all through the tournament, we just didn't hit all that well as a team, as you can see in losing in the finals 10-6 and 4- 3. A few of our guys got some cuts at Bat Wars, too. Thanks again!"
The Class D Indiana State Most Valuable Player was awarded to Scott Savickis of Team Strange/Traditions. All Tournament Team Selections for Strange/Traditions were Garry Buell, Dave Wleklinski, Ed Dabrowski and Jesse Spain. All Tournament Team Selections from Lighthouse were: JR Shield, Dennis Jackson, Josh Renn and Tim Stacy.Speed Pass: Fill out Speed Pass and bring it to the park, to get in the fast lane, to test driving the latest & greatest bats for 2004!