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Doin' It the Hard Way
Solid pitching backed up by speed in the outfield and quickness in the infieldï؟½a winning softball combination.
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During the NWSA National Tournament, several junior teams enjoyed great competition and gained valuable experience for the future.
The defending champion St. Paul (Minn.) Saints played host to a dozen contenders trying to snatch away their national title on their home turf (Midway Stadium, St. Paul) during the National Wheelchair Softball Association National Tournament, held August 23-25. In theory, home field carries an edge. In reality, living on margins is risky business.
In spite of a stubborn drizzle that turned into a four-hour steady rain on day one, the games played through with few surprises. By day's end, the Saints, RIC (Chicago) Cubs, and the '06 runners-up, Minnesota Twins and Nebraska Barons, all aligned as was expected, without a loss.
The Saints, Cubs, and Twins each cake-walked through their opening round to respective wins over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (10-2), New England Red Sox (17-1), and Vaughan PVA White Sox (19-2). The Barons stretched their muscles in an opening-round 23-0 rout of Minnesota PVA, followed by a more measured 8-4 defeat of the improving Columbus Pioneers in round two.
Not surprisingly, the Nebraska/St. Paul confrontation, leading off the second day's competition, was no subtle affair. The Saints put up two runs in the first inning, to which the Barons countered with three. The Saints tied the score in the second and tacked on five more runs in the third. The Barons managed a lone run in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 8-4. Veteran St. Paul ace Jerry Anderson held Nebraska in check through the sixth. Over that same stretch, the Saints only added one run. But their five-run seventh inning put it away, neutralizing Nebraska's five-run comeback rally in the bottom half that left them on the short end, 14-9.
Read how Nebraska battled back through the losers' bracket to win the double-elimination tournament. (On this month's SNS home page, that's the Barons' Pat Driver getting doused during the post-tourney celebration.)
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