20


GAY SAN DIEGO Jan. 28-Feb. 10, 2011


Betty’s title run a high point of impressive showing by San Diego teams at Winter Classic


he 2011 Palm Springs Winter Classic softball tournament has been highly-attended by southwestern teams since its inception in 1991, and serves as a fundraiser for AIDS assistance programs across the region. With the advent of the wildly-popular Las Vegas Sin City Shootout over MLK weekend, the Winter Classic has evolved into a good tune-up for players heading into the SCS and the spring season. Nine San Diego teams took to the diamonds in the desert, many of whom put on quite an impres- sive display. A team-by-team capsule follows, but we start with the squad that became the talk of the tournament.


Baja Betty’s Sin Nombre,


formed in 2009 by Roman Jimenez and myself, had achieved substantial and record-breaking success in its two years of existence. The first San Diego D team to win its division in its rookie year, back-to-back division titles, and SD-best eighth- and fifth-place finishes in the previous two World Series have put our team on the national map in D Division play. Despite the team’s larger success, we had never actually won a tournament. Our best finish was as a runner-up in the 2009 Autumn Classic here in San Diego. With all due respect to each


cities’ tournaments, the compe- tition doesn’t get any tougher than at the World Series each year, where only the best teams of each city are invited. Tourna- ments are open to any squad and the number of entrants is smaller. That said, Betty’s still had no


BAJA BETTY’S 2001 PALM SPRINGS CHAMPS IF/OF: Jeff Brick OF: Chad Brown OF: Brian Childress OF: Jose Cuellar Tamara Hann (scorekeeper) P: Roman Jimenez (co-manager) IF/OF: Jeffrey Lyman C: Michael Marinas 2B: Greg Nelson OF: Luis Perez Jeff Praught (co-manager) IF/OF: BJ Rivera


IF/OF: Stephen Spraggins P: John Thorley 3B: Josh Tucker SS: Rafa Villalobos


jumped out to a 13-2 lead early. In danger of being run-ruled, Betty’s stormed back to take a 20-17 lead and held on in the bottom of the final inning to advance to the championship game. Six wins


21ST ANNUAL SAN DIEGO


Our lives projected


SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR JEWISH CULTURE’S 21ST


SPONSORED BY THE LEICHTAG FAMILY FOUNDATION


He’s My Girl In this hilarious French comedy, Simon’s Ashkenazi mother accepts that he’s gay, but doesn’t realize that her pretty nurse is the Arab cross-dresser who steals her son’s heart.


FEBRUARY 10–20, 2011 (858) 362-1348 n


www.sdjff.org CLAIREMONT READING 14


JOY F. KNAPP PRESENTATIONS Carlsbad Village Theatre


Edwards San Marcos Stadium 18 Garfield Theatre, LFJCC


UltraStar Mission Valley, Hazard Center


UltraStar Mission Valley February 12 • 6:20 P.M. Guest Artist: Actor Mehdi Dehbi, invited


Sponsored by ANNUAL SAN DIEGO JewishFilmFestival


before their title game began at 4 p.m. against the Las Vegas Mafia. Neither team took control, with the Mafia taking a 6-5 lead in the top of the fifth. But Betty’s then pulled off one of its patented big innings, jumping ahead 13-6. Still batting, time expired during the rally and Baja Betty’s was crowned as champions.


DUGOUT CHATTER T


with Jeff Praught


tournament champion trophies to place on the mantle. Until now. And the boys did it in style, sweeping all seven games en route to the title. Going 2-0 and earning the top seed in pool play was just the beginning. Betty’s took down the Long Beach Hookerz to kick off double elimination (DE) play. Next up was friendly rival Krush, who finished second to Betty’s in Spring 2010. After falling behind 3-0, Betty’s put up a 19-spot in the second inning and went on to a 28-3 victory. The boys then edged San Jose Inferno 15-13 to set up their game of the tournament against the Tustin Tidal Waves. Tustin came out swinging and


SPORTS


gay-sd.com


in a row on Saturday, and Sin Nombre was one win away from the elusive title.


The boys had to wait all day


Division Champion Baja Betty’s. (Courtesy David Valenzuela) B DIVISION


The Diegans (0-4), reigning champions of the Palm Springs Winter Classic, returned with several members of the 2010 title-winning squad, but not all. Stephen Pezzola’s team combined a handful of San Diegans with some of the better players in the Los Angeles area. While playing several close games, the Diegans went winless in both pool play and the double-elimination tour- nament, getting knocked out by Phoenix-based Desert Heat. The Loft (1-3), coached by


yours truly, notched a win against eventual third-place Chicago Spin. Like the Diegans, we were unable to win in DE play, losing to the same Desert Heat, and bowing out in a tough 12-9 loss to LA’s Bell Bull Dawgs.


C DIVISION Shameless (3-2) kicked off its


tourney run with an impressive showing in round robin, winning 16-9 and 19-10 in pool play. The team then went through a crazy ride in DE play, beginning with a heartbreaking 14-13 loss. They then used a 16-run third inning to upend the host Palm Springs Gorillas 20-8. But the run would


come to an end in a crazy 16-14 loss to San Francisco Steam- works, which included three extra innings before a winner emerged. The combination of two losses by three runs overshad- owed a fantastic offensive perfor- mance by Tom Abbas’ squad. After going 2-0 in pool play,


Steven Wells’ Sol team (5-2) was matched against fellow San Diego rival Viejas, with Sol falling 12-8. Facing elimination, the boys ripped off a three-game winning streak in which they outscored their opponents 52-23, before finally falling to the Palm Springs Greyhounds. Tim Bactad’s and Sean Harti-


gan’s Viejas (4-3) put together a heck of a run in C, as they ended up finishing in third place. Their only two losses were to the first and second place teams, includ- ing an 11-10 loss in extra innings to the Phoenix Firebirds that ended their tournament. Their defense was exceptional, permit- ting only seven runs per game over 5 DE contests.


D DIVISION


Hey Kool Aid (4-2), just a year into its existence, has a lot to be proud of with their showing in this year’s tourna- ment. Following a 2-0 start in round robin that included two blow-out wins, Kerry George’s squad opened DE play with a 15-4 win over friendly San Diego rival Redwing. Follow- ing a loss to eventual third- place San Jose, HKA edged Palm Springs and advanced to play another friendly rival from San Diego. Krush took care of scrappy Hey Kool Aid in a 19-10 triumph, but HKA’s four wins were a team record. Krush (4-3) proved to be a tough opponent, as expected, though ultimately succumbing to the second-place Las Vegas Mafia 20-11. Richard Sproles’ team, a strong contender for the 2011 D Spring title, scored big wins over the Palm Springs Dynamite and the Las Vegas Fun Hog Ranch before bowing out. Redwing (0-4), unfortunately, experienced a quick exit from the tournament. Following their loss to Krush, the spirited bunch lost a 12-11 nail-biter to the Mad Dogs from Phoenix. Nothing is ever easy against the Redwing gang, as three of their four games were decided by three runs or less.•


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24