2023 Southwest Championships Tournament Winners
55AAA Champions – Top Gun Storm
We started out with a core group of (7) Top Gun Storm players from 2022. We added (8) new players to our roster for 2023. After a few practices & tournaments to start 2023, it was evident that we acquired some great talent. When we entered the Southwest Championships Tournament in Vegas, I was optimistic about our chances. On Day 1, we won the first two seeding games that resulted in the #1 seed and acquiring a bye on Day 2. After winning both games on Day 2, it was evident that we were the team to beat, but entering Sunday's game vs Boise Idaho brought some concerns as this was a team we were not familiar with. On Sunday, we ended up beating Boise Idaho to enter the Championship Game later that afternoon. We ended up playing Venom in the 1st game of the Championship Game, a well-rounded team and very good at both offensive & defense. Venom won Game 1 of the Championship Game which lead to a 2nd game. Top Gun Storm ended up beating Venom in the 2nd game 21-20 to win the Southwest Championship Tournament.
65AAA Champions – Top Gun Stealth
Top Gun Stealth 65AAA went 1-1 in seeding Tuesday morning to give us the #9 seed. Our first bracket game Tuesday afternoon, we got the #8 seed Scrap Iron Heavy Metal who we had already beat in the seeding round. We beat them 15-6 sending us to Wednesday afternoon. We then faced the #16 seed Utah Coyotes who had knocked out the #1 seed Family. Beating the Coyotes by 9 to continue Thursday morning. We met our goal to make it to Thursday! First game on Thursday vs. #4 seed Arizona Old School. Trailing in the bottom of the open our #5 batter Joel Hawk was up to bat and hit a home run dead center to tie the game. With 2 outs and runners at 1st and 3rd #8 batter Orie Mann hit a walk off hit to deep right center. We won our next game beating the #3 seed Sin City Mob to go to the championship. In the championship game after a 2 hour delay Sin City Mob beat us 17-13 sending us to the "if" game. Our manager Leigh VanderStoep decided to change things up by putting in Rich Pratt to pitch who other teams had not seen previously. With the team refocused and great pitching by Rich we go on to win it all with a score of 19-6. ATP go to Charles Pickett, Richard Pratt, Dave Bradford, Orie Mann and Keith Berson.
Looking to Join a Team?
We have teams in all age brackets ranging from 50 AAA to 85M. Click the link below to view all of our teams and get manager contact information.