Arrow's 2nd base Mike Babbs drops a fly ball

AZUSA, CA - A&V Softball Tournaments opened its 2004 season with qualifiers for A&V Major Tournaments that will be held throughout the 2004 season. "This year we have added the Bash 4 Cash Tournaments to our list of major tournaments which include: Spring Nationals, A&V Rings, State Tournaments and World Tournaments", says A&V Owner/President, Al Acosta.

The first qualifier was held on January 17, 2004 at Northside Park in Azusa, CA. The second qualifier was held on January 24, 2004 at Quakes Stadium in Rancho Cucamonga.
The teams are now qualifying for the major tournaments and A&V saw a great turn out for both contests. Teams will continue to qualify for the major tourneys in order to finalize their roster.

Besides the major tournaments A&V will occasionally hold Appreciation Tournaments. These tournaments show appreciation to the teams that are their loyal patrons. "We like to give back to the teams that have played with us throughout the year", says Al Acosta. For example, some teams that did not fare well in the Rings Tournament last year were given a special invite to participate in an Appreciation Second Chance Ring Tournament.

The teams that were invited were happy to get another try for the A&V Rings.
The following are the final results of both 2004 season openers.

Men’s E/E-novice Qualifying Tournament
The first place team, Mañacos (East Los Angeles, CA) went 5-0, completing their undefeated run against Gashouse Gorillas in a 16-14 victory. Mañacos had beaten the Gashouse Gorillas in the first game of the tournament, knocking the Gorillas into the loser bracket early in the tournament. The championship game seesawed back and forth, but it was Mañacos who kept control of the game. The third place team was Triple X (Azusa, CA) and filling the top positions was Traviesos (South El Monte, CA) in fourth.

Men’s D/E Qualifying Tournament
Road Dogs (East Los Angeles, CA) dominated their game against Team Swoosh 24-10 and went 4-0 to take the championship game. The Road Dogs hit well and maintained a solid lead throughout the game. Team Swoosh beat Storm (West Covina, CA) in the semi-finals 19-18, but couldn’t handle the Road Dogs and took second place. Third went to The Storm, while Da Boys (Moreno Valley, CA) rounded out the tournament with fourth.

Men’s E/E-novice Qualifying Tournament
Hard Knocks (Hacienda Heights, CA) took some hard knocks in the championship game against Don’t Hate (Lancaster, CA). Don’t Hate were up 12-3 in the third inning, but Hard Knocks slowly put on the pressure, creeping up to a 20-18 victory to win the tournament. The MVP went to Eddie Castro, with All Tournament selections awarded to Larry Castillo, Jojo Alvarado and Paul Herrera. The Cobras came in third and XtraPhat took home the fourth place bragging rights.

Men’s D/C Qualifying Tournament
The Men’s C/D tournament took an unusual turn, when the Tournament Director Al Acosta declared two co-champions due to the wide swing between the "C" level and "D" level participants. Team Corona (Garden Grove, CA) mercy ruled Taboo (Orange, CA) 27-12 in the championship game. Team Corona held control of the game from the very beginning. The MVPs went to Ralph Mickschl from Team Corona and Frank Velasco from Taboo. Third place went to Ice Holes (Pasadena, CA) who had earlier knocked Team Corona into the ´ bracket. Finally, Balls Out (Lancaster, CA) took fourth.