The Just a Bit Outside Softball Club's mens team took part in the first annual Phil Sweeney Memorial Tournament this past weekend over at Knickerbacker Park in Troy, NY. Out of the 8 teams that competed in the 2-day tournament, the club compiled a 2 - 2 record and finished 4th.

The tournament had a slow but very fortunate start for the club on Saturday afternoon, as they found out that their first round opponents, the Troy Fire & Police Departments, were busy helping keep Troy safe, so unfortunately, they would have to forfeit their matches in the tournament and give the victory to JABO.

In their "second" game of the night on Saturday, the team faced a very good Graney's club that were the Mens B1 champions in Andy's Softball league last fall. The team got down early in the game, 5 - 1, but battled back with a 3-run 6th inning that pulled them to within one run. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get that final run and lost a heartbreaker 5 - 4, dropping them into the losers bracket.

On Sunday, the team came back to face Terminal Tavern, with each team knowing that their next loss would put them out of the tournament. Refreshed, Danny Benitez pitched perhaps his best game of the season, his second game within 24 hours, and the team's offense came to life, as they were able to defeat Terminal Tavern 9 - 3 and move on to the next game.

That next game, though, happened to be just 15 minutes after their game against Terminal Tavern ended. The foe for their next challenge, Frozen Ropes, was a familiar one, with many of the players currently playing at some level in the Andy's league. This game was a back and forth battle throughout, with each team holding the lead at some point in the game, with the club actually holding an 8 - 6 lead after 4 innings. But 3 in the 5th, and 2 more insurance runs in the 6th were all the Ropes needed as they held on to beat an exhausted but courageous JABO team 11 - 8, ending their tournament hopes.

Over the course of the tournament, there was one clear star of the team, and that was pitcher Danny Benitez. For the tournament, Danny through 3 complete games against three clubs that are typically playing in much higher caliber leagues than what the club is used to, and in 20 innings, he gave up only 19 runs. He also managed to bat .500 (5 for 10) with a triple, scoring one run and driving in 3.

Offensively, the team hit well against high quality pitching. Here are just a couple of the leaders from the tournament:

Total Hits: AJ Haynes (6)
Extra Base Hits: AJ Haynes, Chris Furman (tie, 2)
Walks: Chris Furman (3)
Runs Scored: Chris Furman (4)
RBI's: Chris Furman, Dan McKittrick (tie, 4)
Avg: Chris Furman (.714)
OBP: Chris Furman (.727)
OPS: Chris Furman (1.727)

The full statsheet can be found here: Phil Sweeney Memorial Tournament Stats (PDF Format)

Thanks to everyone that came out and played and supported us and supported the tournament. Everyone had a great time!