Long Island Mudcats Black ? USSSA 11u Youth Baseball Champions

It all started out very bleak.? The thunderstorms on Friday night and early Saturday morning put the USSSA 11u Youth Baseball Championship at risk.? If not for the work of the Town of Smithtown Parks Department (along with a couple of the coaches from the Oceanside Bulldogs), the fields would not be playable.? Since the men worked from 7am Saturday until the delayed game time of 12pm, the Championship could be played.? The Global Recreation Network thanks the Town of Smithtown Parks Department for their work and for allowing us to play our tournament.?

The USSSA 11u Championship, played at Flynn Field in Smithtown, featured six teams; Diamond Jack Super and Diamond Jack Gold of New Jersey, Long Island Mudcats Black and Long Island Mudcats Grey, Oceanside Bulldogs and the Long Island Gators.

The two Diamond Jacks are part of Diamond Nation at the Jack Cust Academy out of New Jersey.? The Long Island Mudcats are part of a seven-team organization with teams from 8-years old to 13-years old.? The Oceanside Bulldogs are an 11u team that has won fourteen tournaments in the past three years and have a 30-6 record so far in 2012.? Out of Levittown, New York, the Long Island Gators is another single team organization that actively prepares their players for future baseball activities.

The Championship was set up over a two-day schedule.? On Saturday, Long Island Mudcats Grey, Diamond Jacks Gold and Oceanside Bulldogs played each other head to head On Flynn Red.? After the three-game head to head series, the Oceanside Bulldogs were to top ranked team in their bracket with a 2-0 record, followed by the Long Island Mudcats Grey and Diamond Jacks Gold.? On Flynn Blue, the Long Island Mudcats Black went undefeated on Saturday to grab the top seed in their bracket, followed by Diamond Jacks Super and the Long Island Gators.

The following games were scheduled for Sunday after the seeds were set: Diamond Jacks Gold vs. Diamond Jacks Super with the winner playing the Oceanside Bulldogs and Long Island Mudcats Grey vs. Long Island Gators with the winner playing Long Island Mudcats Black.

Diamond Jacks Super was superior over their friends in Gold and the Long Island Mudcats Grey defeated the Long Island Gators.? In the semi-finals, Diamond Jacks Super defeated the Oceanside Bulldogs and Long Island Mudcats Black avenged a defeat a week earlier by beating the Long Island Mudcats Grey.? This set up the finals of Long Island Mudcats Black against Diamond Jacks Super.

In a highly contested game, both on and off the field, the Long Island Mudcats Black defeated Diamond Jacks Super 6 to 4 to give the USSSA 11u Youth Baseball Championship to the Mudcats Black.? Looking at the Diamond Jacks website, part of their Mission Statement includes that their mission is to provide education?under the supervision?and direction of our outstanding baseball staff.? In a poor showing of respect for the Global Recreation Network Staff and of the rest of the teams in the tournament, the Diamond Jacks Super coach refused to accept the 2^nd Place trophy that his team had earned and did not allow his players to accept participation trophies that were awarded to all participating players.? We at the Global Recreation Network are still wondering what lesson the Diamond Jacks Super coach was teaching his players.

The Long Island Mudcats Black celebrated as a team, with their families and friends and were awarded the 1^st Place trophy in a ceremony at home plate on Flynn Red.? Each player had a part in the undefeated tournament.? Congratulations go out to the entire roster of the Long Mudcats Super, their coach Mike McKenna and its entire staff on their victory in the USSSA 11u Youth Baseball Championship.

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