- By Ernie Rapiere

July 17, 2010 Southaven, Mississippi - For the 11^th straight year, Snowden Grove Park has been the home site of the USSSA 10U AAA World Series Championships. This year’s series matched 15 excellent teams that traveled from all across the southern states; as far west as Texas; and as far north as Illinois to compete in what turned out to be an exciting and action packed series from day one all the way to the championship game.

After a long hot week of intense play, this series wrapped up on Saturday when the Tornadoes of Plainfield, Illinois won 3 straight games in the scorching southern humidity including two straight games in the finals against the Tigers of Arlington, Tennessee.

Their win was a satisfying test of endurance for these Champions. They had traveled all the way from Illinois to battle against the best teams of the South in the heat of summer. But in the end, after all the sweat and work, the Plainfield Tornados went home having won the 2010 USSSA 10 AAA World Series Crown.

What made their championship run even more special was that they had to win 10 games to earn this title. After suffering an early 6-4 bracket round loss to the Centex Aces of Waco, Texas they fought their way back into the championship bracket by winning 4 straight games to earn their spot in the finals. These four wins included an 11-3 rematch win over the Aces (who later finished in 4^th place) followed by a 9-0 win over the 3^rd place finisher, RCBC Stingers of Huntsville, Alabama.

All photos were provided by Action Moments Photography (www.ActionMoments.com)

This early Saturday morning win over the Stingers propelled the Tornadoes into the finals where they faced the Arlington Tigers.  The Tigers brought a 6-0 unbeaten record into this match-up, thus giving them a good reason to be confident. The Tornadoes had to beat these formidable Tigers 2 straight games before they could win the title – a major feat considering this meant they actually had to win 3 games in Saturday’s heat to accomplish this feat.

In first game, the Tornados showed that they were ready to play as they shocked the Tigers 8-0 to set-up a winner take all final game. This game was filled with fireworks and excitement from start to finish.

The first 8-0 loss seemed to have awakened the Tigers seem to the fact that they were in a big time battle. And they seemed ready to rebound as they jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the 2^nd inning. But, the Tornados answered with 2 runs to tie the score when they came to bat in the bottom of the inning. After a scoreless 3^rd inning, the Tigers had a roaring 4^th inning as they scored 6 runs to take a commanding 8-2 lead and appeared poised to add to that margin with runners remaining in scoring position.

But Tornados Coach, Glen Hoffmann, took a “time-out” and called Brady Miller to mound. And this move proved pivotal as Miller promptly shutdown the Tigers scoring in that inning keeping the score at 8-2 Tigers going into the bottom of the 4^th.  But Brady Miller didn’t stop there. He also returned to finish out the 5^th and 6^th innings without allowing the Tigers to score another run.

The Tigers responded by shutting down the Tornadoes when they came to bat in the bottom of the 4^th. The mood was getting tense for the Tornadoes as they headed into the 5^th inning – still facing a 6 run deficit. But Millers persistent pitching once again held the Tigers scoreless – thus giving his team another opportunity to close the gap. And the Tornados responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the 5^th to close the Tigers lead to 8-6 going into the 6^th and final inning.

Once again, Miller returned in the top of the 6^th and pitched a remarkable inning to keep the score at 8-6 when his team came up for their final at bat. And, once again, the Tornadoes responded. They scored a run to close the Tiger lead to 8-7. At this point, there was not a calm fan in the Park. Their mood only grew more tense by the moment as they watched the Tornados continue to find ways to get runners on base until finally, the bases were loaded and Dillon McCarthy was coming to bat.

And in a flash, the crowd’s jitters exploded into groans and wild celebrations as young Dillon McCarthy slammed a walk off double that gave the Tornadoes of Plainfield, Illinois the 2010 World Series Championship.

Thus, set a remarkable finish to complete with a great comeback performance. No doubt, the trip back to Plainfield was much shorter for these young athletes. A clear example of why fans travel such distances to witness such events.  

Congratulations Plainfield Tornadoes.

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