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 fifth 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:

Die Hard NSA Softball Tournament Summary --

Tournament Record:  0-3 (tough losses!)
                                1st game:  Lost 6-10 vs. BAMF
                                2nd game:  Lost 8-15 vs. Team Dynasty
                                3rd game:  Lost 8-10 vs. Whazz Up 

Team Statistics (alphabetically):

Donny Aguiar -- 4 for 10; .400 BA; 10 points.
Vern Amaro -- 4 for 9; .444 BA; 9 points.
Rich Avery -- 4 for 11; .364 BA; 9 points.
Wes Avery -- 3 for 10; .300 BA; 7 points.
Frank Fletcher -- 7 for 11; .636 BA; 23 points.
Gene Hitt -- 7 for 10; .700 BA; 19 points.
Paul Lawrence -- 1 for 7; .143 BA; 6 points.
Johnny Lopez -- 1 for 6; .167 BA; 4 points.
Mike Lujan -- 7 for 11; .636 BA; 19 points.
Joaquin Perez -- 3 for 9; .333 BA; 15 points.
Mike Vanaalst -- 2 for 7; .236 BA; 20 points. 

Team Batting Average:  .423 (44 for 104; we averaged 7.3 runs/game for the whole tournament.  Of course, we need a much higher team batting average to get over the top in any future tournament games....)

Tournament MVP:  Frank Fletcher (23 points -- Sizzlin' Stick award for the first time this year!)

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:  Gene Hitt, Mike Lujan, Joaquin Perez, and Mike Vanaalst. Their stats above speak for themselves, but their overall effort 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 -- 15 for 26; .577 BA; 49 points (3 tournaments)
Vern Amaro -- 17 for 39; .436 BA; 32 points (5 tournaments)
Rich Avery -- 11 for 30; .367 BA; 31 points (4 tournaments)
Wes Avery -- 13 for 33; .394 BA; 45 points (4 tournaments)
Frank Fletcher -- 17 for 33; .515 BA; 57 points (4 tournaments)
Aaron Dawes -- 2 for 7; 286 BA; 15 points (1 tournament)
Lee Garcia -- 14 for 26; .538 BA; 47 points (4 tournaments)
Gene Hitt -- 18 for 38; .474 BA; 53 points (5 tournaments)
Paul Lawrence -- 18 for 39; .462 BA; 80 points (5 tournaments)
Johnny Lopez -- 5 for 26; .192 BA; 18 points (4 tournaments)
Mike Lujan -- 22 for 40; .550 BA; 61 points (5 tournaments)
Cruz Onsurez -- 7 for 23; .304 BA; 19 points (4 tournaments)
Joaquin Perez -- 17 for 42; .405 BA; 97 points (5 tournaments)
Bryan Phillips -- 3 for 9; .333 BA; 7 points (1 tournament)
Matt Soares -- 0 for 9; .000 BA; 1 point (1 tournament)
Steve Stafford -- 7 for 13; .538 BA; 42 points (2 tournaments)
Art Tabacco -- 3 for 6; .500 BA; 9 points (1 tournament)
Mike Vanaalst -- 2 for 7; .286 BA; 20 points (1 tournament)
Nelson Vieira -- 4 for 10; .400 BA; 17 points (2 tournaments)

Year-End Award Progress:  Donny Aguiar is still leading the race for the Batting Champions: Metal Men perpetual award bat, based on his three-tournament batting average of .577 -- but Mike Lujan is coming on strong in second with a five-tournament batting average of .550 (Lee Garcia and Steve Stafford are tied for third during the 2008 tournament tour with batting averages of .538 ). 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!!!