Announcement
Rockets Vickers 14U A Qualify for ASA Nationals
The Rockets-Vickers started off a little sluggish against the local Lexington Storm during the ASA Hall of Fame Qualifier on Saturday after a 6-5 drive on Friday. However after a couple of innings they got it all put together in game one to take a 9 to 0 victory. With no time for a break the team quickly went back to work against the Topeka Flames in game 2 to win another with a 5-1 victory. This gave the Rockets-Vickers a very well deserved break but perhaps it was to long as they finished game two at 11:30 they didn't play again until 7:30. But the Coaches and players met back at the hotel in Lexington and both players and Coaches watched in separate rooms the NCAA tournament when UCLA beat Texas and Cat Osterman get eliminated during the NCAA tournament. But after a very lengthy rest in the hotel the team players voted and decided that the Coaches needed to help them with some additional batting practice so the Rockets were back at the park in a full practice by 5:00 PM 2 1/2 hours before game time against the Rockets-Moppin to begin at 7:30PM.
After a long 7 innings Rockets-Moppin led the Rockets-Vickers 3-0 so close but yet not a win and sent the Rockets-Vickers into the losers brackets and a game time of 10:45 Sunday morning. After a lengthy team meeting after the game the Rockets-Vickers took to the streets of Lexington, NE for food, fun and entertainment however only food at the local "fast food" restaurants was to be found such as Pizza Hut, Arby's, McDonalds and more.
After a goodnight's rest the Rockets-Vickers packed their bags and loaded up as if they were the one called to the board room on "The Apprentice" However the only team going home earlier on Sunday morning was the Topeka Flames and Wichita Mustangs who were playing earlier that morning to decide who would take 3rd place. Wichita Mustangs jumped up ahead of the Topeka Flames and were ready to get their next game against the Rockets-Vickers almost 1 hour ahead of schedule but they would have to wait till the Rockets-Vickers were good and ready to take the field with a proper warm up. After drawing the visiting team during all coin flips the semi finals proved no different so the Rockets-Vickers were determined to score first and did within the second inning with 2 runs. But the Mustangs didn't give in a came back with some very strong bats and scored 3 runs in the bottom of the second inning. The score was soon tied up by the Rockets in the top of the 3rd and remained tied until the 6th inning when the Rockets added 3 additional runs for a score of 6-3. In the top of the 7th inning the Rockets took out an additional insurance policy from "Mutual of Rocketball" with an additional 2 runs for a 8-2 victory and sending the Mustangs home early in the morning.
With bats on fire the Rockets-Vickers took on the only undefeated team left in the tournament, the Rockets-Moppin. While one could guarantee a Rockets Victory in this game no one would have guessed which team would have won this game. Rockets-Vickers jumped out a head in the 1st inning with a 1-0 lead within the 1st inning. The Rockets- Moppin tried to get that single run back but after the top of the 4th inning the Rockets-Vickers lead Rockets-Moppin 5-0. However Rockets-Moppin's hitters were determined to not be shut out and started finding their way onto base with walks and dinker's that landed into the gaps but after all that effort they could only generate a couple of runs after 6 innings. While the game could have gone either way, Rockets-Vickers were certainly playing their best game advancing to the "if" game for a double elimination with a victory over Rockets-Moppin 6-2.
The "if" game started about 15 minutes later but the Rockets-Vickers couldn't gather up the energy to focus on the game they needed to play to take first place against a team with the depth of the Rockets-Moppin's team and lost 9-1 which finished around 4:30 on Sunday afternoon.
The Rockets-Vickers was honored with a berth to the ASA Nationals in Johnson City, Tennessee
from the Tournament director once the Rockets-Moppin team had requested a berth to the Hall of Fame Tournament in Oklahoma City June.
In the last 14 games the Rockets - Vickers team has a 11-3 record some of the toughest teams in the Midwest and now have qualified as one of the top 120 teams in the USA. The team will be put to the test this August during the 2006 ASA Nationals in Johnson City, TN to see where they finish against the best in the top teams around the country.
The Rockets-Vickers team will take the field again next weekend during the 9 game guarantee in Des Moines, Iowa. Safe travels to all Rockets!
Rockets Vickers and
Rockets Moppin
ASA Hall of Fame Qualifier 2006
Lexington, Nebraska
