Heavy Metal Softball

Full Complement Of Players Makes A Difference 

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:

Slugfest Super 7 Series, Tournament #3 Summary --

Tournament Record:  2-2 (made playoffs)
                                1st game:  Lost 9-11 vs. Off In The Corner
                                2nd game:  Won 12-2 vs. Assassins
                                3rd game:  Won 10-0 vs. Kahunas
                                4th game:  Lost 4-8 vs. Valley Billiards  

Team Statistics (alphabetically):

Donny Aguiar -- 6 for 13; .462 BA; 26 points. 
Vern Amaro -- 3 for 11; .273 BA; 7 points.
Rich Avery -- 3 for 11; .273 BA; 6 points.
Wes Avery -- 7 for 14; .500 BA; 19 points.
Lucio Cobos -- 4 for 12; .333 BA; 14 points.
Lee Garcia -- 7 for 13; .538 BA; 19 points.
Brian Hollingshead -- 5 for 10; .500 BA; 7 points.
Paul Lawrence -- 3 for 8; .375 BA; 11 points.
Mike Lujan -- 7 for 15; .467 BA; 17 points.
Steve Stafford -- 10 for 13; .769 BA; 51 points.
Mike Vanaalst -- 6 for 13; .462 BA; 27 points. 

Team Batting Average:  .459 (61 for 133; we averaged 8.75 runs/game for the whole tournament.  We need to definitely improve our team batting average, as this current one won't win games, much less tournaments....)

Tournament MVP:  Steve Stafford (51 points -- Sizzlin' Stick award!)

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:  Mike Vanaalst, Donny Aguiar, Lee Garcia, Wes Avery, and Mike Lujan. Their stats above speak for themselves, but their consistency throughout the tournament is what I noticed most and appreciated greatly -- here's a "hats-off" to all five of you!  

2009 Season Statistics (alphabetically; all players):

Donny Aguiar -- 18 for 34; .529 BA; 73 points (3 tournaments)
Vern Amaro -- 18 for 45; .400 BA; 54 points (4 tournaments)
Rich Avery -- 14 for 48; .292 BA; 56 points (4 tournaments)
Wes Avery -- 29 for 53; .547 BA; 92 points (4 tournaments)
Lucio Cobos -- 25 for 42; .595 BA; 82 points (4 tournaments)
Lee Garcia -- 16 for 36; .444 BA; 42 points (3 tournaments)
Gene Hitt -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 8 points (1 tournament)
Brian Hollingshead -- 10 for 31; .323 BA; 20 points (3 tournaments)
Paul Lawrence -- 7 for 26; .269 BA; 36 points (3 tournaments)
Mike Lujan -- 26 for 54; .481 BA; 75 points (4 tournaments)
Lencho Martinez -- 3 for 8; .375 BA; 13 points (1 tournament)
John Rodriguez -- 4 for 12; .333 BA; 12 points (1 tournament)
Devin Stafford -- 1 for 10; .100 BA; 10 points (1 tournament)
Steve Stafford -- 26 for 46; .565 BA; 122 points (4 tournaments)
Mike Vanaalst -- 16 for 33; .485 BA; 86 points (3 tournaments) 

Year-End Award Progress:  Lucio "Bubba" Cobos still leads the race for the Batting Champions: Metal Men perpetual award bat, based on his four-tournament batting average of .595 -- but Steve Stafford has made his move during this 2009 tournament tour with a four-tournament batting average of .565 (Wes Avery is third with a four-tournament batting average of .547). 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!!!