Press Release
Carbon County Recreation in conjunction with the United States Specialty Sports Association hosted the Spring Fling Girls Fast-Pitch softball tournament May 24 and 25 at the Carbon County Fairgrounds Ball Field Complex.
Sixteen teams from Utah and Colorado battled each other throughout the weekend. There were two divisions split into age categories. The categories consisted of 12 and under and 14 and under girls. Each division had eight teams.
There were three local teams competing in the tournament. The Carbon Dirt Devils competed in the 12U division, and the Carbon Dino Crackers and CarboNation competed in the 14U division.
Teams played two pool play games on Friday to determine seeding for the double elimination bracket which was played on Saturday. Seeding was based on three criteria – record head to head in pool play, runs scored against, and runs scored. In the event of a tie, a coin toss would take place.
All three local teams won both pool play games and represented Carbon County well.
In the 14U double elimination brackets, CarboNation was defeated in the first game by the Renegades, 8-1. CarboNation battled hard in the second game but ended up losing to the Rumble, 7-2.
Also in the 14U division was the Carbon DinoCrackers who fared much better in bracket play. The team was the number one seed and won the first game by defeating TOXIC, 11-3. The DinoCrackers then defeated Grand Valley Crush, 11-0. The Carbon team then lost 3-2 to the eventual champions Lil’ Attitude. The DinoCrackers lost the final game to a team that they had faced two other times, the Grand Valley Crush, by a final score of 6-5. DinoCrackers finished in third place. During the championship game Lil’ Attitude beat Grand Valley Crush in exciting fashion with a walk off home run. The final score was 4-3.
The Dirt Devils were the number one 12U seed and that gave the team an opportunity to play what should be a weaker number eight seed. That game turned out to be almost more than the Dirt Devils could handle as the bats went cold in ther first game, however good pitching prevailed and the Dirt Devils escaped with a 1-0 victory.
Dirt Devil bats bounced back in game two defeating Ice, 7-1. This sadly would be the last time the Dirt Devils would score in the tournament losing consecutive games. First the Devils were shut out by Utah Thunder 11-1, then by The Fast and Furious, 6-0. The Carbon Dirt Devils finished in third place while the Utah Thunder defeated the Fast and Furious in the championship game, 7-6.
“This was one of my greatest experiences in my 19 plus years at Carbon Rec. Everybody worked so hard. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results,” explained assistant director of recreation, Frank Ori. “I am so proud to have been a part of this.”
“I need to thank a few people, Alaena Fryer, Cory Jensen, Kelsie and Jamie Cripps, Ty and Amanda Alderson and Bart and Tiffany Sorenson, continued Ori. “These people worked their tails off to make sure this was a success and it was! It was a monumental success. I would also like to thank Chris Phillips and Wal-Mart. Their donation was such a key to making this a success.”
The tournament was affiliated with USSSA which is a national organization that operates many different types of sporting events including girls fast pitch softball. USSSA provided the umpires and Carbon Recreation provided the support staff that included tournament directors and scorekeepers. It appears to be a successful partnership that will continue into the near future.
Carbon County Recreation has now been chosen to host The Best In The West National Qualifying Tournament for 10U and 12U divisions. This tournament will take place June 13, 14 and 15.
Upwards of 30 teams are expected to participate in this tournament.
