2021 held at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on September 5-6.
Champion – Thunder/Chosen, Gladewater, Texas
Runner Up – Kut4 Sports/OI Livingston/D2E Trailers, Clanton, Alabama
- MVP – Austyn Dawe – Thunder/Chosen
- HR Champion – Damon Wegner – Comatose/S2N/Monsta
- HR Champion – Sean Greer – Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E
- Batting Champion – Austyn Dawe – Thunder/Chosen
Thunder/Chosen closed out Labor Day weekend at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex by earning the 2021 USA Softball Men’s Class A Slow Pitch National Championship title with a 41-33 victory over Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E. Thunder posted an undefeated 5-0 record en route to the Championship hardware while scoring 30 or more runs in each of their contests with a combined total of 49 home runs on the weekend.
The first game of the day saw a loser’s bracket matchup between Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta and Dirt Dogs/FHS with a trip to the loser’s bracket finale on the line. A dramatic start to Championship Monday, the offensive duel saw 20 balls leave the park with both teams scoring at least one run every inning en route to a 37-36 walk-off win for Chanticlear. Dirt Dogs jumped on top early, taking a four-run lead in the top of first while holding Chanticlear to one. An explosive third inning from both offenses would bust the game open with Chanticlear taking a 26-17 lead after plating 18 runs while allowing 12 runs to score for the Dirt Dogs. The score continued to bounce back-and-forth through the remainder of the game, but a walk-off single from Quinn Cannoy would plate the winning run to advance Chanticlear to the final loser’s bracket contest against Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E Trailers.
Dirt Dogs completed their run with a 5-2 record after dropping their first game of the tournament to Comatose/S2N/Monsta yesterday morning. Fighting their way through the loser’s bracket, the Dirt Dogs won five-straight games to advance to Championship Monday before falling to Chanticlear in the 37-36 contest.
Game two paired Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta and Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E Trailers together, with the winner advancing to the Championship game against the undefeated Thunder/Chosen. The semi-final matchup came down to the final three outs with Kut4 Sports pulling out the 28-25 win with the help of a 10-run second inning and seven-run seventh inning. Trailing Chanticlear 25-21 in the top of the seventh, the Kut4 offense would string together three base hits and two home runs off the bats of Brandon Hooks and Andrew Calhoun to take the final lead of the game before issuing a 1-2-3 inning the bottom of the frame to send Chanticlear home with the third-place trophy.
The Championship contest saw a rematch between Thunder/Chosen and Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E after going head-to-head in the winner’s bracket finale last night where Thunder took the 30-24 win. A similar outcome in the winner-take-all game, Thunder proved superior, this time with a 41-33 victory to earn the trophy. The two squads put on a show in the final matchup of the tournament, combining for a total of 74 runs and 20 long balls with Sean Geer (Kut4 Sports) sending three out of the park.
Thunder wasted no time in getting things started, plating seven runs on four homers in the top of the first. Quick to answer back, Kut4 Sports responded with seven runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to even the score, 7-7. The powerful offenses continued to shine for both teams through the second and third innings before Thunder took control in the top of the fourth, combining for 13 hits and three long balls to score 16 runs and put them on top, 34-21. Kut4 Sports cut the lead to six after responding with eight runs in the bottom of the inning, but Thunder tacked on four more in the top of the fifth to cushion their lead with two innings left to play. All the Kut4 Sports offense could muster through the remainder of the game was four runs in the bottom of the fifth after home runs from Josh Cardwell and Blake Green and base hits off the bats of Sean Greer, Kyle Mng, and Justin Tripp cut the Thunder lead, 38-33. Thunder offense wasn’t finished, though, adding three more to the board in the sixth and seventh innings while holding the Kut4 Sports offense scoreless through the final six outs to secure the 41-33 Championship win.
Josh Fyffe and Gregg Downing sent two balls out of the park in the win while Justin Gregory, Joshua Riley, Brian Renner, Kyle Pearson, Amilson Marquez and Austyn Dawe hit one home run apiece.
ASA A FIRST TEAM ALL AMERICANS
Austyn Dawe, Thunder/Chosen (25-28, .893, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 17 Runs)
Jason Branch, Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta (22-31, .710, 8 HR, 24 RBI, 26 Runs)
Amilson Marquez, Thunder/Chosen (20-25, .800, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 21 Runs)
Ryker Cence, Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E (16-28, .571, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 20 Runs)
Joel Sanchez, Thunder/Chosen (14-21, .667, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 12 Runs)
Mason Farmer, Competitive Edge/OlmitoHeat/Adiktiv (20-23, .870, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 17 Runs)
Michael Gonzalez, Dirt Dogs/FHS (19-26, .731, 3 HR, 10 RBIs 15 RUns)
Brandon Hooks, Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E (18-26, 692, 9 HR, 17 RBI, 18 Runs)
John Rasberry, Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E (13-19, .684, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 14 Runs)
Mike Jacobson, Comatose/S2N/Monsta (19-22, .864, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 14 Runs)
Chaun Demars, Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta (16-21, .762, 9 RBI, 7 Runs)
Alex Hovey, Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta (19-26, .731, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 18 Runs)
Kyle Pearson (LA), Thunder/Chosen (19-27, .704, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 20 Runs)
Conner Miller, Dirt Dogs/FHS (23-32, .719, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 20 Runs)
Justin Tripp, Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E (19-26, .731, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 5 Runs)
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Thunder/Chosen, Gladewater, TX (5-0)
2. Kut4 Sports/OI Livingston/D2E Trailers, Clanton, AL (4-2)
3. Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta, Becker, MN (4-2)
4. Dirt Dogs/FHC, Wallingford, CT (5-2)
5t. APEX, Ankeny, IA (2-2)
5t. Competitive Edge/Olmito Heat/Adiktiv, League City, TX (3-2)
7t. Comatose/S2N/Monsta, Beloit, WI (3-2)
7t. T’s 13, Omaha, NE, (2-2)
9t. The Nation, Rhome, TX (1-2)
9t. Lifetime Diamonds/Legendary Sports, Conroe, TX (1-2)
9t. Ductech/Monsta Athletics/Budweiser, South St. Paul, MN (1-2)
9t. Blackies Softball, Defiance, OH (1-2)
13t. All American Restoration/Dugout 47, Rochester, MN (1-2)
13t. Drip City/Midwest Monsta, Urbandale, IA (1-2)
13t. Tharaldson, Fargo, ND (0-2)
13t. L&S Glass, San Jose, CA (0-2)
17t. Wahl Optical/NZone, Lincoln, NE (0-2)
17t. Reno Cycles & Gear/Lithia Chrysler Jeep of Reno, Sparks, NV (0-2)
OTHERS
Tyler Ervine, Competitive Edge (24-29, .828, 8 HR, 25 RBI, 18 Runs)
Joey Bulens, Apex (16-19, .842, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 11 Runs)
Damon Wegner, Comatose (16-20 .800, 10 HR, 23 RBI, 14 Runs)
Keith McCormick, Competitive Edge (15-20, .750, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 14 Runs)
Steve Whaley, Competitive Edge (20-28, .714, 8 HR, 17 RBI, 16 Runs)
Sean Greer, Kut4Sports (21-30, 700, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 13 Runs)
Zachary Sokolis, Dirt Dogs (22-33, .667, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 15 Runs)
Adam Ussery, Chanticlear Pizza (18-29, .621, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 18 Runs)
Justin Gregory, Thunder/Chosen (15-25, .600, 8 HR, 23 RBI, 15 Runs)
