Branden “Brando” Noonkester catches a low line drive. Smedes photo.

SPARKS, NV - The 22nd annual Challenge Shootout sponsored by Softball West Magazine played host to twenty-eight teams this past June 25-26 weekend at the Don Mello Sports Complex in Sparks, Nevada.

Men’s ‘D’, ‘E’ and ‘Co-ed’ divisions did battle in this early summer tournament that has long been an institution in Northern Nevada softball circles. Teams from Nevada and Northern California earmark this tournament date, as one of the seasons must play events.

The men’s ‘D’ bracket saw a familiar force power their way through the eight-team division. BFC, combining big bats and a strong defensive effort in the championship game, went undefeated at 4-0 and captured the ‘D’ division against MST out of Chico, CA., who finished with a 3-2 tournament mark. MST who, in their three victories, outscored their opponents 60-17 were unable to figure out the team that saddled them with their two losses, 9-7 in the semis and 13-1 in the final.

The final Men´s D game was a defensive battle as both the top and bottom halves of the first two innings were ended on double plays. In the fourth inning, MST had runners on first and third. A one hop shot was caught by BFC´s first baseman who touched the bag, tagged the runner between first and second and then threw home to complete the unassisted triple play.

BFC, led by tournament MVP Kenny Roggensack, outscored their four opponents by a combined 59-31 including the 13-1 (five inning run-rule) thrashing of MST in the title game tilt. Team members Mickey Doyle, Ben White, Brandon Noonkester and Donny Kimple were named all-tournament from the champion BFC squad.

The men’s ‘E’ division had thirteen teams bracketed and while Gametime from Reno, NV went undefeated at 5-0, several other teams (including Clement Construction and Small Town Boys) contended and with a different bounce of the ball or a break here or there, the ‘E’ division results could have been markedly different.

Gametime earned five hard fought, closely contested wins including a thrilling 7-6 victory in the final against the Mechanics (who finished at 5-2) out of Salinas, CA. Gametime pushed across three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and then held off a 7th inning rally by the Mechanics to capture the winner’s championship hardware.

Gametime’s Billy Snow was named Offensive MVP, while Kevin Wickware, Scott Craig, Trevor Shipp and Elisio Montenegro were awarded all-tournament selection from the champion Gametime squad. The Mechanics Darryl Dolotina earned defensive MVP honors. Eric Angulo, Alvin Ganaden and David Chacon from Mechanics were all-tourney selections. Dan Frost and Bo Bomomi from Clement Construction and Andy Heiser of Small Town Boys rounded out the ‘E’ all-tournament team.

The ‘Co-ed’ division was dominated by Gardnerville’s The Junk who rolled to a 4-0 tournament record, pounding out convincing wins in each round. The championship game saw The Junk smash the Longshots 14-7 in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates. The Junk held a 14-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh and a little early celebrating allowed the Longshots to post five runs in the inning to make the score a little more respectable.

Troy Valenzuela from The Junk was named Offensive MVP and teammates Cathy Balcon, Lou Vega, Nate Ackerman and Dana Aiona received all-tourney nods. Defensive MVP was given to the Longshots Matt Tretton. James Bunting and Tommy Cook joined Tretton on the all-tournament team from the Longshots. Mastertech’s Ashley Boyd and Shannon Auble earned selections with Tremors Kathie Keats completing the all-tournament list.