Winter Smash Recap … Congrats to the St. Pete Street Sweepers!
It may have taken almost a month to complete, but the 2010 Winter Smash is in the books. Rain put a damper on the action back on February 27th but 4 teams returned to complete the tournament and vie for the title. Oakhurst Tavern was the team to beat coming back from the rain at 2-0. Culver Pressure Washing, who was 1-0, faced off against the Vagabonds in the 9:00 AM game. The Vagabonds cruised to a 14-5 win to even their record at 1-1. The 10:00 game featured the undefeated Oakhurst Tavern against the Leadoff Classic champions, the St. Pete Street Sweepers. Oakhurst Tavern got out early and never looked back, winning 16-6 and bringing their record to 3-0. The defending champs were now at 0-2 and in last place.

At 11:00, the St. Pete Street Sweepers and Oakhurst Tavern both got easy wins. The St. Pete Street Sweepers beat Culver Pressure Washing 27-3 behind a cycle from Kyle Hilliard. Oakhurst Tavern got the shutout on the Vagabonds 12-0. At 4-0, Oakhurst Tavern entered the playoffs as the #1 seed and clearly the team to beat. They would face the #4 seed, Culver Pressure Washing, in the first semifinal and would coast to a 15-2 win. They looked unbeatable as they waited for their opponent.

In the game of the day, the Vagabonds faced the St. Pete Street Sweepers in the second semifinal. Both teams entered the game with 1-2 records but played much better than their records indicated. The teams traded great plays and timely hits until the top of the 5th inning, with the score was tied at 7. Street Sweepers pitcher and Leadoff Classic co-MVP Bill Connors suddenly struggled to find the strike zone and the Vagabonds came up with some big hits to run the score to 12-7. The Vagabonds were still threatening in the 5th when Connors pulled himself from the game, making way for Rich Elsner to take over. Elsner got out of the jam and the Street Sweepers would add on 3 more runs in the next 2 innings. With Elsner holding the Vagabonds down, the Street Sweepers entered the bottom of the 7th trailing 12-10. Vagabonds pitcher Joe Major got the first batter to fly out, but the Street Sweepers strung some big hits together to tie the game at 12. JP Garanton then stepped up and hit a walk-off sacrifice fly, scoring Perry Cross from 3rd and sending the St. Pete Street Sweepers to the Championship Game.

The 1st seeded Oakhurst Tavern (5-0) faced the 2nd seeded St. Pete Street Sweepers in the Championship Game. The Street Sweepers took a 3-2 lead into the top of the 2nd when they suddenly exploded. Led by Perry Cross, Tom Kent, and Rich Elsner, they batted around to put up 8 runs in the 2nd and took an 11-2 lead. Oakhurst Tavern was stunned but valiantly made a rally to bring the score to 12-7 after 3. Although Oakhurst was a game opponent, the Street Sweepers would add on single runs in the 4th, 6th, and 7th and Rich Elsner held Oakhurst right at 7 for the remainder of the game. Elsner would go 4-4 in the game and notch his 2nd win from the mound, going on to win Tournament MVP honors. The St. Pete Street Sweepers defeated Oakhurst Tavern 15-7 to win the 2010 Winter Smash!

Tournament MVP Voting

Player Name 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Rich Elsner, SPSS 2 1 0 8
Perry Cross, SPSS 2 0 0 6
Chris Seeley, OAK 0 2 0 4
Tom Kent, SPSS 0 0 2 2
Sam Stewart, SPSS 0 1 0 2
Scott Dorman, SPSS 0 0 1 1
Trent Henderson, OAK 0 0 1 1

Kings of Crunch (All-Tournament Team)
PJ Lewis, CPW (.375 BA, 3 runs, 1 3B)
Chris Seeley, OAK (.727 BA, 11 runs, 13 RBI, 3 2B)
Boyd Farmer, OAK (.476 BA, 12 runs, 6 RBI, 1 2B)
Trent Henderson, OAK (.450 BA, 10 runs, 11 RBI, 2 3B, 3 2B)
Mike Hinegardner, OAK (.563 BA, 5 runs, 4 RBI)
Rich Elsner, SPSS (.846 BA, 3 runs, 5 RBI, 2 wins)
Perry Cross, SPSS (.737 BA, 8 runs, 7 RBI, 2 3B, 1 2B)
Tom Kent, SPSS (.667 BA, 5 runs, 14 RBI, 3 HR, 2 2B)
Scott Dorman, SPSS (.647 BA, 7 runs, 5 RBI, 1 2B)
Sam Stewart, SPSS (.500 BA, 4 runs, 5 RBI, 2 3B, 2 2B)
Justin Larkins, VA (.600 BA, 4 runs, 4 RBI)
Matt Wilbanks, VA (.545 BA, 6 runs, 5 RBI)

Home Run Derby Results
Player and team Home Runs
Tom Kent, St. Pete Street Sweepers – 6
Jeff Laws, Vagabonds – 4
Joe Major, Vagabonds – 2
Perry Cross, St. Pete Street Sweepers – 1
Manny Parrado, Culver Pressure Washing – 0
Brett Norris, Vagabonds – 0
JR Norris, Vagabonds – 0

Congrats to Tom Kent for winning the Derby! He gets $50 cash and a pair of Mizuno batting gloves!

And congrats again to Tom for winning the tournament RBI title with 14! That gets him a $25 Hooters gift card!

Culvers Stats:
Click here for the “Culvers Stats”.

Oakhurst Stats:
Click here for the “Oakhurst Stats”.

St. Pete Street Sweepers Stats:
Click here for the “St. Pete Street Sweepers Stats”.

Vagabonds Stats:
Click here for the “Vagabonds Stats”.

Stat Leaders:
Click here for the “Stat Leaders”.

Divisional Results:
Click here for the “Divisional Results”.

Championship Results:
Click here for the “Championship Results”.