6th Place Finish at Bloomington Tournament

The Resurrection Life Warriors improved on last year's finish at the Bloomington Assembly of God tournament with a sixth place finish. This year's team won its first two contests to play in the AA bracket with a chance at winning the whole tournament. However, a tough loss in game three pushed the Warriors into the tougher part of the bracket and a trouncing against Heartland ended the day for the team.

As the rain came down harder, the bats got a little slower and the legs a little heavier. The team put together a great effort and kept going until the day was over.

Game one was a 13-4 victory which was a lot closer than it sounds. Rez opened against St. Cloud's 1st Assembly of God and was leading just 4-3 heading into the final frame. However, in the top of the seventh, the bats got going. Jordan Schumack singled and moved to second on an error from the shortstop on substitute Neal's grounder. Jon Engbrecht then singled to load the bases. Jeff Johnson smacked a two-RBI single to make it 6-3 Warriors. Matt Shuster ripped his first hit of the day to load the bases for the top of the order. Jason Merritt grounded into a fielder's choice which erased Matt, but plated Jon. AJ then lifted what would have been a sacrifice fly to right field, but the fielder dropped the ball allowing Jeff to score, Jason to advance and AJ to reach. Austin Colby then lined a shot down the right-field line which easily plated Jason and AJ as Austin sprinted around third for his fourth inside-the-park homerun of the year and a 11-3 Rez Life lead.

With a nice lead, the bats kept it going as Chris Burr sent the next pitch to deep left-center for a solo shot. After a Lee Valle pop-out, Eric Johnson took a high pitch and sent it into the parking lot in left field to cap the scoring at 13 and secure the game.

1st Assembly pushed one across in the bottom half but the defense held and the Warriors advanced to round two.

Austin Colby earned Player of the Game honors with his 3-4 day at the plate including three runs scored, four RBI and a homerun.

Game two was against River Valley. River Valley had some good hitters and displayed quite a bit of pop at the top of its order. However, its bottom half struggled mightily and the Warrior bats were hot from the get-go and Rez Life coasted to an easy 25-11 victory.

The 25 runs were the most the team has scored all year. The team banged out 27 hits including 8 for extra bases. In the first three innings the team scored 5, 6, and 7 runs respectively taking an 18-4 lead. The teams traded runs the rest of the way and the game ended after six innings due to time constraints.

Both Austin and Chris had a team-high seven RBI in the game with Chris snagging Player of the Game honors going 4-4 with two runs, seven RBI and two triples. Austin and AJ each had four hits and AJ and Jason scored five runs from the top two spots in the order. Lee, Eric, and Neal all added three hits apiece as the entire lineup had at least one hit. Jeff Johnson ripped a solo homer.

Game three saw the rain begin to come down harder and colder. The team still played good defense, but the offense hit a snag early in the game and a last-inning rally fell just short with a bit of bad luck and the Warriors fell to Abundant Life 21-17. With a victory, the team would've been guaranteed a top 4 finish.

Abundant Life used all four of its homeruns and came out swinging. Rez Life trailed every inning and never could quite make up the early deficit. Trailing 21-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh with a strong rain falling, the team got things going. The team strung together nine straight runners reaching base and plated seven runs in the process. With no outs and the top of the order up, things looked promising. However, after Jason reached, AJ lined into a double-play and Austin roped one to third base for the final out.

Austin earned his second Player of the Game for the tournament with another seven RBI performance. He finished 3-5 with a triple and a three-run homer. Jason and AJ both had four hits and scored five runs between them. Neal again had three hits. Jeff launched his second homer of the tournament with a three-run shot. Matt and Jordan both had triples in the game.

The Warriors still had a chance to advance but ran into a buzz-saw called Heartland in game four. Heartland had a bye in the first round so they had a bit fresher legs. The Warriors were pretty much out of gas and as Heartland ripped off first and second innings of seven and eight runs respectively, the game was all but over. The final score was 29-7 with just Neal and Jon collecting multiple hits, with two each. Everyone else in the lineup had one and Jeff captured Player of the Game honors with a three-run homer, his third in three games.

In the four games, the team smoked 23 extra base hits with 9 doubles, 7 triples and 7 homeruns. Jeff hit three of the homers, Austin added two and Chris and Eric had one each.

Austin, AJ, and Chris all earned All-Tournament Team honors as each hit .600 or better on the day. AJ led the team by going 11-16 from the plate for a .688 average. He also reached base nearly every time finishing with an .824 on base percentage and scoring 10 runs in the process. Chris hit an even .600 but slugged a double, two triples and a homer to drive in 10 runs and score 5. Austin earned Tournament MVP for Rez Life with his .647 showing that including a slugging percentage of 1.353, two doubles, two triples, and two homeruns. He mashed a tournament-high 18 RBI and scored 9 runs in the four games.

That officially closes the book on the season and the team looks to re-tool for next year. Look for periodic updates throughout the offseason.

Great Tournament and Season Warriors!!