Home of the Long Haul Bombers
Coverage from Capital City Classic in OKC, Minute Maid Park Preview & Taylor Made Tip, ASA Hall of Fame & USA ASA SB Challenge and ASA Long Haul Bombers Event Round 1 Minute Maid Park!
Team USA selection for the Men’s ASA Fastpitch in Argentina, Tips from Co Host Venus Taylor, Meet Denny Crine 3 time Stadium Power Tour Champ, McQuade Charity Softball Tournament preview and Corky’s Early Bird Softball Tournament.
Show 1 of Softball 360, presented by the ASA. Host Carly Aplin has a preview and review of the ASA Super National, tour of the ASA Hall of fame. Reporter Venus Taylor shares softball secrets at the Bo Jackson Elite trainer center in Chicago. We take a look at the upcoming ASA Long Haul Bombers Stadium Power Tour.
5/8/2014 – OKLAHOMA CITY — The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) / USA Softball is proud to announce several of its events across the country in the 2014 season will be featured on Softball 360, a syndicated 30-minute feature television show that focuses on all aspects of the game. Produced and edited by Long Haul Productions, the show enters its 10th season and will create 13 original air dates that reach over 97.4 million households through a series of 25 networks. Check your local listings for scheduled air dates and times or log on to Softball360.com for the complete network lineup.
“We are thrilled that Softball 360 will be at some of our best ASA and USA Softball events this summer and fall,” said ASA/USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress. “The show has a large following in the softball world and by showcasing some major events we hope to promote our brand and most importantly the athletes, coaches, parents, umpires and everyone who supports all levels of our great game.”
Co-hosted by Carly Aplin and Venus Taylor, the show will feature several ASA/USA Softball sanctioned teams, events, features and programs across the country. From Adult and Junior Olympic (JO) tournaments both in fast pitch and slow pitch, accompanied by umpires and administration stories, the hosts will take an in-depth look at several of the opportunities playing ASA/USA Softball can provide. Softball 360 is also the home of the ASA Long Haul Bombers Stadium Power tour that travels to approximately eight Major League Baseball (MLB) Stadiums throughout the country showcasing some of the best hitters in the game in a competitive series seeking the Manufacturers Cup title. Read more here about the world’s greatest softball home run hitters and their tour across the U.S.
“We are excited to produce a TV show that covers the sport of softball,” said Softball 360 Executive Producer Joe Harewicz. “The passion for the sport, great athletic skills, and compelling characters are all on display. Softball is fun and a lifestyle for so many and we are excited to tell their stories from all levels.”
Listed below are some of the locations where Softball 360 will be in attendance covering the event to package segments on the Softball 360 show.
ASA Long Haul Bombers Stadium Power Tour (Click here to check out the MLB Ball Parks)
Combat Capital City Classic – Oklahoma City, Okla.
Corky’s Early Bird – Owatonna, Minn.
ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Renovations – Oklahoma City, Okla.
12U/14U/16U ASA/USA Softball Qualifier – Route 66 Ballpark – Edmond, Okla.
NCAA Women’s College World Series – Oklahoma City, Okla.
USA Softball Junior Men’s Training Camp – Midland, Mich.
World Cup of Softball IX – Irvine, Calif.
McQuade’s Slow Pitch Charity Tournament- Bismarck, N.D.
ASA/USA 12U National Championships – Bloomington, Ind.
ASA/USA 14U National Championships – San Diego, Calif.
ASA Men’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship – South Bend, Ind.
ASA Super Series Championship – Ft. Worth, Texas
NOTE: Other events are to be determined
CLICK HERE for may TV Schedule
May 10, May 24, June 7, June 21, July 5, July 19, August 2, August 16, August 30, September 13, September 27, October 11, October 25
AFFILIATE TOP DMA’s
NESN Boston; Hartford; Providence
Mid Atlantic Sports Network Washington DC; Baltimore; Norfolk; Richmond
Comcast SportsNet, Chicago Chicago
Root Sports, Pittsburgh Pittsburgh
Altitude Sports, Denver Salt Lake City
Comcast SportsNet, Philadelphia Philadelphia
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Cleveland; Columbus; Cincinnati; Dayton
Comcast Television Detroit, Indianapolis
Cox Sports Television (CST) New Orleans; Tulsa; Oklahoma City
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Syracuse, Buffalo; Rochester; Albany
Fox Sports, Oklahoma Oklahoma City; Tulsa
Comcast SportsNet, Northwest Seattle; Portland
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Charlotte; Raleigh-Durham; Greensboro
Mediacom – MC -22 Cedar Rapids; Des Moines
Comcast SportsNet, Houston Houston
Channel 4, San Diego San Diego
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Dallas; Austin; San Antonio
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Milwaukee; Green Bay
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Kansas City, MO
SWX Sports Spokane, WA
Cox 3, OC Orange County, CA
Midco Sports Network North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota
Tuff TV Network National (Digital Broadcast Network)
America One Network National (Digital Broadcast Network)
Untamed Sports Network Puerto Rico
DIRECTV SportsPak National (outer market)
DISH Multi Sports Package National (outer market)
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as claimed six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.
Report by DW for SoftballCentral.com
The 35th Annual Corky’s Early Bird ASA Super Qualifier played to an expected finish as Long Haul/H Auto/Easton went an undefeated 5-0 and continued their domination tour of the United States slowpitch scene. Long Haul (aka Laservision) won their second ASA Super Qualifer (first was in Oklahoma) by defeating Xtreme/Miken 22-12 in the winner’s bracket championship game Sunday morning and former Corky’s champ Sonny’s 32-22 in the final game on Sunday afternoon!
The tournament began on Friday night with 149 total teams across 5 divisions and the tournament was played for the Owatonna Youth Sports Scholarship fund charity! In the Super Qualifier bracket there were 22 quality teams with just two teams starting out on Friday night – Line Drive Sportz an ‘A’ team from Michigan and HMC/Easton from Minnesota. Line Drive was nearly upset as they struggled by hitting into multiple doubleplays and squeaked out a 6-4 victory with the wind blowing in and a decent sized crowd on hand on the main field – Fairgrounds #1.
The majority of teams started on Saturday morning when the tournament resumed. The temperatures were in the 40’s and 50’s all weekend and on Saturday the wind played havoc with the game scores as it blew in on the main field F1 and F4, but out on F2 and F3 at 10 – 18 mph. The rains did stay away. One of the great things about Minnesota is the fans all play the game and are very nice. The players and teams love to drink beer and sit back and take in a ball game while they wait for their teams next game. One vocal crowd member on Sunday was even a big Helmer fan!
Besides Long Haul and ‘A’ favorites like Sonny’s, Rip City, and Line Drive, the Corky’s Super bracket featured the last 3 ASA ‘B’ National champions in Precision (2011), Xtreme/Miken (2012), and Heartland Investors (2013).
The tournament continued on Saturday morning with 6 more play-in games, and most of the favorites won with Tryon Gym beating Whalers 13-12 on a walk off. In the round of 16 all of the favorites won again – Heartland, Xtreme, Sonny’s, Rip City, Precision, Long Haul, Line Drive, and T’s 13 which set up some big final 8 matchups. Long Haul used their defense to shut down Precision late in the game with the wind blowing in to win. T’s 13 used some more homers from Chaun Demars to beat Line Drive 15-4. Xtreme/Miken sent Heartland to the loser’s bracket 29-17 in a battle between the last two ASA ‘B’ champs. And in one of the better games of the day, Rip City outslugged Sonny’s in a marathon game 39-31 back on field #4.
In the final 4 of the winner’s bracket Long Haul again needed some late defense to keep T’s 13 from pulling off a big upset to move to the finals. And late Saturday night in a shootout on the show field, Rip City/Demarini beat Xtreme/Miken 17-16 on a walk off two out bases loaded single by Brandon Bartels. While the two teams were shaking hands after the game the Xtreme team asked the umpires if the runner going to second base ever touched the bag. Remember each player must touch the next bag to prevent a force play which would have been the third out. The umpires gathered and decided the runner going from first to second did not touch second. The game went to overtime tied at 16-16 and Xtreme ended up winning 21-17 in the 8th inning to move on to Sundays winner’s bracket championship game.
In that winner’s final, Long Haul jumped out to a 19-6 lead after 4 innings as Brandon Dillon who already had a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning, added to his day with 3 more singles. Mike Umschied hit two homers, and Kirby, Wegman, Filby, and Helmer were all 3-4. They finished off Xtreme by the run rule 22-12 in five innings. 4 hitter Dustin Palm was 3-3 with a homer and 4 RBI for Xtreme.
Meanwhile Sonny’s ran the loser’s bracket beating Outpost and Team Stoop on Saturday night and T’s 13, Rip City, and Xtreme on Sunday morning to make it to the championship. In the Xtreme game which was the loser’s bracket championship, Sonny’s had a 13 run inning and run ruled Xtreme. In the finals though Sonny’s grounded into a couple of doubleplays against Long Haul early on and trailed 19-0 after two innings. Long Hauls lineup was onbase 19 of their first 25 plate appearances with 6 homers including 3-3 with 2 homers and a double from leadoff man Bryson Baker. Sonny’s would mount a 10 run inning in the 4th to extend the game but Long Haul won by the run rule.
Overall the tournament was well played in very cold weather and heavy wind conditions. The main field had lower scores on Saturday which made for some close games and allowed for some great defense. Then on the back fields there were some shootouts like BBS/All Americans win over Line Drive and Rip City’s win over Sonny’s. A number of teams had a legitimate chance to beat Long Haul but could not muster any offense in the late innings. When two ASA Super Series teams played each other a 16 home run rule was used. When a Super Series vs a non-Super Series game was played, 12 homers were used. When two non-Super Series teams played each other there were 8 homers allowed per team.
More photos can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/softballthreesixty
http://www.softballcenter.com/2014-corkys-asa-super-tournament-report/
The ASA Super National is back in 2013. The tournament will take place in St. Paul, MN on August 22-24. All teams are guaranteed 3 games. Double elimination winners bracket with “no IF game” and a consolation bracket. The opening rounds of games will be played at Leonard H. Nieman Sports Complex near Fort Snelling State Park.
The last 3 games will be played at Midway Stadium, Home of the St Paul Saints, the games will be shown on CBS Sports Network starting Tuesday, August 27th (Semi Final games will air at 8.00 PM CST) and August 28th (The Stadium Power Tour Finals and ASA Super National Championship game will air at 8.00 PM CST).
The 2013 Long Haul Bomber Finals will also be held at Midway Stadium on Friday, August 23 after the Saints and prior to the fireworks. There also will be a Michelob Golden Draft Light/Long Haul Bomber tail gate Autograph Meet & Greet session pre game Friday night at Midway Stadium.
Log onto saintsbaseball.com to purchase tickets.
For more info on the ASA Super National visit minnesotaasa.com.
Download ticket Flyer HERE
Get ready for a softball celebration at Midway Stadium Friday and Saturday August 23 and 24. Two great nights of softball before and after the Saints game.
Friday night, the world’s greatest softball home run hitters are coming. It’s the finals of the Stadium Power Tour and the Long Haul Bombers will crown a champion. After slugging softball at MLB parks all summer long, Team DeMarini, Easton, Miken and Reebok battle to earn the title to be the worlds greatest softball home run hitters, with 500 foot homers, in a one of kind home run derby
On Saturday August 24, the ASA crowns a national champion of slow pitch, as CBS Sports Network records the action. The games are Saturday at 11am, 2pm and then the national championship game at 5pm, before the Saints game.
It’s a softball celebration, Friday and Saturday Aug 23 and 24 at Midway Stadium. The CBS Sports Network show airs Tuesday and Wednesday August 27 and 28 at 7pm EDT.
The ASA is the governing body for 12 million softball players in North American. The Long Haul Bombers are a collection of the world’s greatest softball home run hitters. They stage one of kind home run derbies at Major League ball parks across North America. Each Bomber gets 15 swings, and each home run is worth one point, except the last pitch, known as the money ball, worth 2 points and can be the tie-breaker. 6 Long Haul Bombers qualify for the finals of the Stadium Power Tour.
Fans can follow the Bombers on the national TV show, ” Softball 360 “, available on more than 93 million households on TV stations and cable networks across North America.
“Softball 360” also covers the grass roots of softball, including WSL tournaments across North America. www.worldsoftballeague.com The WSL Worth North American Championships are held in September at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach Florida.www.visitpanamacitybeach.com
Order your tickets now! $4 from each Baseline Reserved and Home Plate Box ticket will benefit Cystic Fibrosis. The link for tickets is www.marlins.com/specialevents, click on the Aug. 16 game.
Team Easton and Kevin Filby will be hitting post game.
Larsen leads show with 12 points.
August 2, 2013 – Minneapolis, MN – DeMarini’s Chris Larsen hit a bullseye at Target Field to led the latest Stadium Power Show with 12 points. His DeMarini team mate Donovan Pokraka blasted out 7 and tied Miken’s Denny Crine. A tight battle to make the finals, got even tighter.
It was Long Haul Trucking Night at Target Field, fans were treated to a spectacular fireworks show after the Twins Astro’a, extra inning game.
Final Results From Target Field:
Chris Larsen, DeMarini: 12
Donovan Pokraka, DeMarini: 7
Denny Crine, Miken: 7
Dustin Roberts, Reebok :6
Ed Vega, Miken: 6
Jason Baxter, Reebok: 3
Next stop on the Stadium Power Tour, Tuesday night in New York at Citi Field, before the Met’s game. The Long Haul Bombers are a collection of the world’s greatest softball homer run hitters. They stage one of kind home run derbies at Major League ball parks across North America.
Each Bomber gets 15 swings, each home run is worth one point, except the last pitch, known as the money ball, worth 2 points and can be the tie-breaker.
6 Long Haul Bombers qualify for the finals of the Stadium Power Tour, scheduled for Sunday, Friday night August 23 in St. Paul at Midway Stadium, home of the St. Paul Saints.
The Stadium Power Tour features the top sporting brands in the world: DeMarini, Easton, Miken, BP Athletics, Evil Sports and Suncoast Reebok.
Fans can follow the Bombers on the national TV show, “Softball 360”, available on more than 93 million households on TV stations and cable networks across North America.
“Softball 360” also covers the grass roots of softball, including WSL tournaments across North America. www.worldsoftballeague.com It all happens at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach Florida.www.visitpanamacitybeach.com
Meet the Long Haul Bombers and “Softball 360” host Timi Leighton Friday at Target Field.
Free autographs from 5:30 to 6:30pm at Gate 29 on the Target Plaza.
Stadium Power Tour Home Run Derby following the Twins & Astro’s Game.