First, as always, I want to thank all of the players who represented Heavy Metal Softball this weekend for their effort, help, and cooperation in making our second tournament of the year a somewhat successful effort -- in the sense that we were very competitive against some roughly comparable teams.  Here are some final tournament statistics for those who actually visit our website and are truly interested in such things.  I would like to state here again that unlike previous seasons a couple of years ago -- when I published an extensive summary of each tournament regardless of the outcome -- I will only do so if we achieve playoff status or have a winning record, with just a bare-bones tournament rundown for those events of little distinction.  So, without further adieu, I present some facts from this particular contest:

Bud Light Cinco de Mayo Spectacular Tournament Summary --

Tournament Record:  0-3 (could easily have been 3-0!)
                                1st game:  Lost 6-9 vs. Total Kaos
                                2nd game:  Lost 5-6 vs. #1 Stunnaz
                                3rd game:  Lost 6-7 vs. Bandits

Team Statistics (alphabetically):

Vern Amaro -- 4 for 10; .400 BA; 8 points.
Rich Avery -- 4 for 6; .667 BA; 13 points.
Wes Avery -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 12 points.
Frank Fletcher -- 4 for 9; .444 BA; 14 points.
Lee Garcia -- 6 for 8; .750 BA; 11 points.
Gene Hitt -- 1 for 8; .125 BA; 1 point.
Paul Lawrence -- 4 for 8; .500 BA; 16 points.
Johnny Lopez -- 1 for 7; .143 BA; 2 points.
Mike Lujan -- 4 for 7; .571 BA; 10 points.
Cruz Onsurez -- 2 for 8; .250 BA; 4 points.
Joaquin Perez -- 5 for 11; .455 BA; 23 points.
Matt Soares -- 0 for 9; .000 BA; 1 point.

Team Batting Average:  .370 (37 for 100; we averaged 5.6 runs/game for the whole tournament.  We need to definitely improve our team batting average, as this current one -- plus our run production -- won't win games, much less tournaments....)

Tournament MVP:  Joaquin Perez (23 points -- "Sizzlin' Stick" award!)

Manager's Award:  I would like to take this time now to recognize a few other players who shined just as brightly this weekend with their contributions to the team:  Lee Garcia, Rich Avery, Paul Lawrence, and Mike Lujan. Their stats above speak for themselves, but their consistency throughout the tournament is what I noticed most and appreciated greatly -- here's a "hats-off" to all four of you!  

2008 Season Statistics (alphabetically; all players):

Donny Aguiar -- 0 for 0; .000 BA; 0 points (0 tournaments)
Vern Amaro -- 7 for 14; .500 BA; 11 points (2 tournaments)
Rich Avery -- 4 for 10; .400 BA; 17 points (2 tournaments)
Wes Avery -- 5 for 15; .333 BA; 23 points (2 tournaments)
Frank Fletcher -- 6 for 13; .462 BA; 22 points (2 tournaments)
Lee Garcia -- 9 for 12; .750 BA; 19 points (2 tournaments)
Gene Hitt -- 2 for 12; .167 BA; 6 points (2 tournaments)
Paul Lawrence -- 4 for 13; .308 BA; 23 points (2 tournaments)
Johnny Lopez -- 1 for 7; .143 BA; 2 points (1 tournament)
Mike Lujan -- 7 for 13; .538 BA; 15 points (2 tournaments)
Cruz Onsurez -- 2 for 9; .222 BA; 4 points (2 tournaments)
Joaquin Perez -- 6 for 15; .400 BA; 26 points (2 tournaments)
Matt Soares -- 0 for 9; .000 BA; 1 point (1 tournament)
Steve Stafford -- 4 for 5; .800 BA; 14 points (1 tournament)
Art Tabacco -- 3 for 6; .500 BA; 9 points (1 tournament)
Nelson Vieira -- 3 for 4; .750 BA; 9 points (1 tournament)

Year-End Award Progress:  Steve Stafford still leads the race for the "Batting Champions: Metal Men" perpetual award bat, based on his single tournament batting average of .800 -- but Lee Garcia is close behind during the 2008 tournament tour with his two-tournament batting average of .750 (Nelson Vieira also has a single tournament batting average of .750). Please remember -- just in case everyone forgets -- a player must have played in a minimum of 5 tournaments to earn this recognition, which is something to think about when I ask everyone next time if they want to play some more ball in an upcoming tournament...!  

And, once again, that's all, folks!!!