16U Comets crowned 2005 Nevada ASA State Champs
By James Hanson
Heather Darby pitches for the Comets. Smedes photo.
SPARKS, NV - Thirty-three teams in four divisions found their way to the Don Mello and Shadow Mountain Sports Complexes in Sparks, NV over the June 17-19 weekend to contest each other for the Nevada ASA sanctioned State ‘A' championships. The tournament was a three game guarantee and the fastpitch action was fantastic on a weekend that saw beautiful late spring weather and competition that ranked as some of the best seen in recent memory.
The 16U division was the class of the tournament on this weekend. Crowned champions on this weekend were the Comets. The Comets went a perfect 4-0 and completely dominated with a pitching rich squad that included some of Northern Nevada's top high school pitchers. The Las Vegas Blast fought hard to finish with a 5-2 record. Both losses the Blast suffered came at the hands of the eventual champion Comets. Third place were the Nemesis who finished at 3-2.
In the 14U bracket twelve teams battled for state supremacy. When the dust settled one team showed dominance above the rest. The Reno Rush posted an unblemished tournament record of 5-0 to lay claim to the 14U state title. Second place went to Lil Rebels-Black who carded a 5-3 mark. Third place went to the LV Rage, who finished at 2-2.
The 12U's seven-team division was very competitive with no team able to go undefeated over the weekend. The NV Lightning 92 defeated the LV Rage in the rematch "IF" game to secure the 12U championship. CV Hurricanes finished third in this highly contested division.
A short four-team bracket in the 10U division saw the NV Lightning Black squad finish with a 3-0-tourney mark and take home championship hardware. The Reno Heat who lost twice to the champion Lightning came in second place with a 3-2 record. Third place went to the NV Lightning Silver.
The Nevada State ‘B' tournament was held the following weekend in Las Vegas at West Flamingo Park. Three divisions, 10U, 12U and 14U, with four teams each, competed in this three game guarantee event.
All three divisions crowned an undefeated champion. Going 3-0 in the 10U were SW SNFA, the 12U also had SW SNFA winning and the 14U title went to Henderson.