OKLAHOMA CITY –– Explosive offenses were the name of the game today as 18 teams began their quest to the 2021 USA Softball Men’s Class A Slow Pitch National Championship title. Advancing to Monday’s Championship Game with an undefeated record through bracket play is Thunder/Chosen after outscoring their four opponents of the day 129-96. The trophy game is set to be held at 11:30 a.m. CT on USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field, while Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E Trailers will face the winner of Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta and Dirt Dogs/FHC who will go head-to-head in the 8:30 a.m. loser’s bracket matchup.
Competitive Edge/OlmitoHeat/Adiktiv (50- 25 over Ts 13) and The Nation (41-26 over Tharaldson) had the highest scoring games of the day, plating a combined 91 runs in a single contest to send each of their opponents to the loser’s bracket. Leading the tournament in home runs after a total of 31 games in Day One of the tournament is Damon Wegner (Comatose/S2N/Monsta) with 10 long balls followed by John Reiman (Dirt Dogs/FHS), Tyler Ervine (Competitive Edge/Olmito/HeatAdiktiv), Steve Whaley (Competitive Edge/OlmitoHeatAdiktive) and Matt Stefanski (Comatose/S2N/Monsta) with eight apiece.
Scoring at least 30 runs in all four of their contests today, Thunder kicked off the tournament with a 33-18 (six-innings) run-rule win over L&S Glass before besting Comatose/S2N/Monsta 36-30 in an intense offensive face-off. Both squads put up 15 runs in the first inning, followed by back-and-forth scoring throughout the remainder of the game, but it was Thunder who pulled out the win to knock Comatose to the loser’s bracket. With the help of a 12-run fourth inning, Thunder picked up their third win of the day (30-24) over Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta to advance to the winner’s bracket finale against Kut4 Sports/Ol Livingston/D2E Trailers where another 12-run fourth inning would propel them to a 30-24 victory. The win sealed their undefeated run through double-elimination bracket play while advancing them to the Championship contest slated for tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Kut4 Sports went 3-1 on the day, edging their first three opponents by four runs or less in close offensive matchups. In their first two contests of the day, Kut4 posted two come-from-behind wins over Blackies Softball (16-12) and Lifetime Diamonds/Legendary Sports (27-26) with the win over Lifetime Diamonds coming by way of a walk-off single from Edward Peyton. Their third and final win of the day would be over Apex (30-32) before suffering their first loss of the tournament to Thunder in the winner’s bracket finale. Kut4 will look to force a rematch with the Thunder tomorrow after taking on the winner of Chanticlear Pizza/Monsta and Dirt Dogs/FHC at 10 a.m. CT in the final loser’s bracket contest.
Chanticlear outscored their first two opponents 60-30 before a tense matchup against Thunder/Chosen in which they fell 30-24. Despite the loss, Chanticlear started their fourth game of the day with a 10-run first inning in route to a 39-22 win over Competitive Edge/OlmitoHeat/Adiktiv to advance to the win-or-go-home game against Dirt Dogs/FHC tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. CT. The Chanticlear offense shined throughout the day, scoring nearly 30 runs in each of their contest for a combined total of 123 runs and 38 home runs, 13 of which came off the bats of Donnie Hammonds (6) and Jason Branch (7).
After dropping their first game of the day to Comatose/S2N/Monsta (27-5), Dirt Dogs/FHS rallied back through the loser’s bracket with five-straight wins to advance to Championship Monday. Back-to-back run-rule victories over Reno Cycles & Gear/Lithia Chrysler Jeep of Rheno (25-8; five-innings) and Tharaldson (33-18; six-innings) fueled their five-game win-streak followed by wins over Ductech/Monsta Athletics/Budweiser, Comatose/S2N/Monsta and Apex to continue their running to the Championship title. Dirt Dogs combined for 148 runs in their five wins while sending 40 balls out of the park.
Chanitclear Pizza/Monsta and Dirt Dogs/FHC will kick off the action tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. CT with the winner advancing to the loser’s bracket finale against Kut4 Sports/OI Livingston/D2E Trailers at 10 a.m. CT. The Championship contest will follow at 11:30 a.m. CT with the “if-necessary” game scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. Free live streaming and live stats will be available for the remainder of the tournament, and links can be found here. | 
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