Heavy Metal Softball

This Season's Theme Is Making It Easier To Almost Close The Book...! 

First, as always, I want to thank all of the players who represented Heavy Metal Softball this weekend for their effort, help, and cooperation in making our fourth tournament of the year a somewhat successful effort -- in the sense that we were very competitive against some roughly comparable teams.  Here are some final tournament statistics for those who actually visit our website and are truly interested in such things.  I would like to state here again that unlike previous seasons a couple of years ago -- when I published an extensive summary of each tournament regardless of the outcome -- I will only do so if we achieve playoff status or have a winning record, with just a bare-bones tournament rundown for those events of little distinction.  So, without further adieu, I present some facts from this particular contest:

21st Annual Budweiser Extravaganza Tournament Summary --

Tournament Record:  0-3 (tough losses!)
                                1st game:  Lost 11-14 vs. Foul Play
                                2nd game:  Lost 9-12 vs. Bad Boyz
                                3rd game:  Lost 8-13 vs. Down & Dirty 

Team Statistics (alphabetically):

Donny Aguiar -- 6 for 9; .667 BA; 20 points.
Vern Amaro -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 6 points.
Rich Avery -- 3 for 9; .333 BA; 5 points.
Wes Avery -- 5 for 8; .625 BA; 15 points.
Frank Fletcher -- 4 for 9; .444 BA; 12 points.
Lee Garcia -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 6 points.
Gene Hitt -- 4 for 9; .444 BA; 10 points.
Paul Lawrence -- 7 for 11; .636 BA; 24 points.
Johnny Lopez -- 2 for 8; .250 BA; 4 points.
Mike Lujan -- 5 for 8; .625 BA; 16 points.
Cruz Onsurez -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 4 points.
Joaquin Perez -- 4 for 9; .444 BA; 28 points.
Bryan Phillips -- 3 for 9; .333 BA; 7 points. 

Team Batting Average:  .414 (48 for 116; we averaged 9.3 runs/game for the whole tournament.  Of course, we need a much higher team batting average to get over the top in any future tournament games.  As for our team defense this time around...well, I think everyone would agree that this aspect of our game needs a whole lot more improvement....)

Tournament MVP:  Joaquin Perez (28 points -- Sizzlin' Stick award for the third straight time!)

Manager's Award:  I would like to take this time now to recognize a few other players who shined just as brightly this weekend with their contributions to the team:  Donny Aguiar, Wes Avery, Paul Lawrence, and Mike Lujan. Their stats above speak for themselves, but their overall effort throughout the tournament is what I noticed most and appreciated greatly -- here's a "hats-off" to all four of you!  

2008 Season Statistics (alphabetically; all players):

Donny Aguiar -- 11 for 16; .688 BA; 39 points (2 tournaments)
Vern Amaro -- 13 for 30; .433 BA; 23 points (4 tournaments)
Rich Avery -- 7 for 19; .368 BA; 22 points (3 tournaments)
Wes Avery -- 10 for 23; .435 BA; 38 points (3 tournaments)
Frank Fletcher -- 10 for 22; .455 BA; 34 points (3 tournaments)
Aaron Dawes -- 2 for 7; 286 BA; 15 points (1 tournament)
Lee Garcia -- 14 for 26; .538 BA; 47 points (4 tournaments)
Gene Hitt -- 11 for 28; .393 BA; 34 points (4 tournaments)
Paul Lawrence -- 17 for 32; .531 BA; 74 points (4 tournaments)
Johnny Lopez -- 4 for 20; .200 BA; 14 points (3 tournaments)
Mike Lujan -- 15 for 29; .517 BA; 42 points (4 tournaments)
Cruz Onsurez -- 7 for 23; .304 BA; 19 points (4 tournaments)
Joaquin Perez -- 14 for 33; .424 BA; 82 points (4 tournaments)
Bryan Phillips -- 3 for 9; .333 BA; 7 points (1 tournament)
Matt Soares -- 0 for 9; .000 BA; 1 point (1 tournament)
Steve Stafford -- 7 for 13; .538 BA; 42 points (2 tournaments)
Art Tabacco -- 3 for 6; .500 BA; 9 points (1 tournament)
Nelson Vieira -- 4 for 10; .400 BA; 17 points (2 tournaments)

Year-End Award Progress:  Donny Aguiar is still leading the race for the Batting Champions: Metal Men perpetual award bat, based on his two-tournament batting average of .688 -- but Lee Garcia and Steve Stafford are a distant tie for second during the 2008 tournament tour with batting averages of .538 (Paul Lawrence has moved up to third with a four-tournament batting average of .531). Please remember -- just in case everyone forgets -- a player must have played in a minimum of 5 tournaments to earn this recognition, which is something to think about when I ask everyone next time if they want to play some more ball in an upcoming tournament...!  

And, once again, that's all, folks!!!