15-U High School Tournament Begins Today at University of Illinois

The Clubbers open their summer schedule on June 9 at Les Miller Field at the University of Illinois with a night game under the lights at 8:30 pm. Many of the very top 15-U players from the State of Illinois and from around the Chicago area are on the 2006 Clubber roster including standouts ~ Dai Bowden, Frank Gowder, Gabe Henriques, Jason Ormond and Pedro Rosa (all played on the Whitney Young ~ CPS Champion Sophomore team). Also on the Clubber roster and playing the middle infield is Varsity standout Uli Ortiz from Lakeview High School and the very smooth Jo Jo Maldnado from Guerin High School. Also from Lakeview High School and returning to the Clubbers is Carlos Ruiz from Lakeview High School and joining the 2006 squad from Guerin High School are Joelh Calixto and Gabe Irizrry.

Guarding the plate at the catcher position the Clubbers are thrilled to welcome back Jon Dorsey. ...............Dorsey is the varsity catcher from Simeon High School and is among THE VERY BEST 15-U catchers in the state of Illinois.

A deep pitching rotation, including standout Ryan Williams a southpaw pitcher from the Simeon High School Varsity team along with standout pitcher Junior Rodriquez from Gordon Tech High School. Rodriquez has a very polished arm and joins the Clubbers for the 2006 season. Also in the starting rotation is Right Handed Pitcher Jason Ormond who was the Winning Pitcher for Whitney Young in the CPS Sophomore Championship Game played at Northeastern Illinois University on May 31, 2006.

Illinois Select vs the Chicago Cardinals at 6:30 pm and Clubbers vs Chicago Cardinals at 8:30 pm. Admission is $5.00 tonight for the doubleheader and children under 12 are free.

We're in this..Les Miller field is like a dream field for us. Only better field I played on was at Disney. Plus last night it was a night game and the view is amazing.

As a fan of baseball I get a chance to catch quite a few games around the area. I have seen some good baseball and some bad baseball. I love the public league but I am so frustrated by sophomore ball teams in the public league. I assume it is so watered down because of the amount of freshman and sophomores needed to fill teams at the varsity level. I believe my brothers 13-U travel team could beat the best sophomore team. Not taking anything away from the sophomore championship but don't brag on about it. Most players on sophomore baseball level have yet to play organized ball, so don't be insulted its just the truth. In the public league if you are going to bring it, it needs to be brought on the varsity level.

A simply brilliant first post here on this web site......I am not sure of its true purpose, but I will assume you are not an adult with the level of maturity to have made these comments.

I am truly sorry if you are offended about citing something that was legitimately accomplished by a group of 15-U players on a team competition level and that this offends you. Regardless of your opinion of Sophomore baseball wherever it is played, the majority of the players on this particular team were Freshman and are highly skilled players.

It cannot be disputed that the games were played and a championship was won in a major City that has almost 50 different schools participating in a baseball program. Some of these programs are good and some are not. This is the way it is in every sports league regardless of location. I can assure you that the final two teams who got to the Championship Game deserved to be there and the outcome was that there was a winner and a loser. The players on the Whitney Young team were required to practice and then play an extensive schedule (30 games) while maintaining thier academic credentials at one of the top high schools in the country in order to remain eligible. This required a high level of commitment and discipline to accomplishing a goal.

As you know, players do not just achieve varsity status; it is a process and Sophomore baseball is a step toward that goal. Many individuals strive a lifetime and never achieve the pinnacle of winning a championship in anything. I suggest you allow these boys who accomplished something as significant as winning a City of Chicago Championship to revel in that achievement.

Ok King,

Let the guy enjoy an event that his son was involved in. Also, let the man enjoy the fruits of his passion. Mr. Ormond puts together a great inner city program for kids who want to play travel ball. It is a challenging process. This is a big town and the talent is spread far and wide. It's nothing like all the focused, small suburbs whose kids play travel ball and then go on to play together in high school in programs with healthy bank accounts that pay for good coaching and facilities.

We can't match that type of continuity because our kids end up different schools after 8th grade. Their is a group of kids at Whitney Young right now who have played together off and on for awhile. At least some of them. Many of these kids came out of the Hamlin Park and then the Clubbers program.

Hamlin Park, an inner city park district league, has had many good traveling teams and if some of those teams could have managed to stay together into High School, they probably would be whipping their way to state. The (now) 16 year old Hamlin Group (affiliated with Top tier this year, a big change) is a terrific example of that. Keeping that team together has been a constant challenge in many, very delicate areas. Some of these teams out of the inner city programs have the temptation/pressure of gang membership as a very real problem when they hit about thirteen or fourteen years old. Some of these challenges are of the type that many of the suburban programs would not even consider to be in the realm of their reality.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that our challenges might be somehwat different than those of the burbs and greater state...in a more expansive way. Our's involve much more than just coaching kids...among other things, raising money is a constant issue, family issues are present and the streets can be a problem.

Yeah, Mark has been doing some bragging...so what? This board contains much bragging, let the inner city organizers and players have their say and don't seize it as an moment to slam the quality of our city baseball programs. We do our best with what we have. If we do our jobs well, we get kids into good high schools, inspire them in other areas, give them some confidence and belief in themselves, many of them actually get to travel to places they would never otherwise be able to go...those types of things. I've seen it happen over and over again and it's a great thing. Im not saying that all of these city kids are subject to these conditions. The Whitney kids are mostly middle class kids from solid families across a range of cultural backgrounds. that is, for sure, not the case throughout the city.

Keep in mind, the reality of the meaning of this whole baseball thing rests in maintaining some sort of perspective. Most of these kids in the city and suburbs will keep great memories of this period of their lives...that includes the suburban kids. Not many can say...Hey, we won city frosh-soph two years in a row.

Just because they happen to be city boys in a city program doesn't mean you have to come in here and announce that your brothers 13 year old team could probably beat 'em. Yeah, you say, "don't be insulted" in an effort to qualify your remarks. In the end it's pretty much that, sort of insulting and short sighted.

These sophomores, in their own world and circle, became kings of the world for a year. That rocks pretty **** hard.

Mark is obviously promoting his program. More power to him. The inner city boys of summer need more like him.

Coho....well said. It is raining this morning so instead of running my 15-U tournament at UIC I have the time to type this out.

You are absolutely right, I have been promoting City baseball for a long time. I live in the city and have wanted to see city baseball flourish. Progress is being made, but we do not get a lot of help, from MLB or anyone. Last year we had two kids from the White Sox in our program and received NO financial support. Limousines and exotic sports cars dropped the kids off for games and practices, but that was about the only thrill our kids got out of the experience. Fortunately, last year the Chicago Blackhawks organization through the McCormick Foundation provided a grant of $25K to our youth baseball program. Not a lot of money when you have to use it just to pay for a decent baseball field to play on (and there are very few good ones that are available to play on in Chicago). After I disclosed this to one of the 'high income' parents on the team who is affiliated with the University of Chicago to ask for help in raising money for the program, I again found that no real support exists for developing youth baseball talent in urban areas.

At the end of the day MLB, does minimal for baseball in the city of Chicago as they seem to spend their money to develop youth talent in Latin America. Yet millions of dollars are being spent day in and day out inside the Cell or the friendly confines on the North side. I have repeatedly directly solicited the White Sox on behalf of our program which then directly benefits the University of Illinois as a high percentage of our budget goes just to pay for the use of fields. But at the end of the day, I guess they view things such that it is more economically beneficial to their needs to spend their development money South of the border. If one wants to look at this, there is a very direct correlation to why there are so few African American players in the MLB and it comes down to the money being made available to develop the talent in urban areas. The last study I read has less than 10% of the MLB comprised of African American players. So the bottom line is for the MLB is that it provides a meager amount to the major urban areas where much of this talent that could be developed does exist. I am not telling any tales out of school; I have been doing this long enough to now be able to see that this is just the way it is, has been, and is going to be!

Urban baseball faces very different challenges than are faced in the suburbs. The challenges are not necessarily harder, just different. But as they say, nothing worth doing is ever easy. What I know for sure is that baseball in Chicago can help kids in a much different way than many other sports. Right now it is s****r and basketball that one sees being played throughout the city. Rarely can one see a summer game of 15-U youth playing an organized high level baseball. Despite this there is a lot of talent in the city to develop, but there is not much to get these kids to the next level.

Yesterday afternoon I spent two hours with a foster parent who was talking with me about what I could do to help their son who had just gotten notification that he had failed Freshman Algebra. The answer the foster parent felt was to punish that outcome by taking away summer baseball. But school is out on that one. Fortunately, I think we arrived at a better answer and the kid played last night and summer school is now in his future; a few hours later in the day I had two different players call me from the Hamlin Park area and tell me they were taking public transportation to get to the University of Illinois for the night game we were playing. The reality is that for most of these players the parental support is just not there, such that even getting a ride to play a baseball game that is located outside of their neighborhood becomes a challenge.

I am presently working with Whitney Young Magnet High School to help them get their baseball program to the next level. Whitney Young is interested in interviewing a pitching coach to help with their program. Interested parties should contact me and I can put them in touch with Chris Cassidy, the Varsity Head Coach.

mark ormond:

Kudos to you for your efforts in providing some inner city kids the opportunity. I started writing the opportunity to...but then realized that what you really are doing is providing kids the opportunity for so much that I can't even imagine. My oldest son has been playing travel baseball for 7 years, and I am grateful to the one man who gave him "the opportunity" to meet a man who gave him "the opportunity," which has led to him having "the opportunity" to play college baseball. Because of one man, my younger children have also had the opportunity...and so it goes...

By the way, four years ago, my 16 year old son had "the opportunity" to play against the Hamlin Park team, and then had "the opportunity" to fill in on the team when they were short players for a tournament...it was quite an experience...they were a great group of kids then, I'm sure they continue to be now.

God bless you for giving childen "the opportunity." You have touched more people than you know.

Mark,

I am sure all you do have a positive impact
on the youth of Chicago. I am confused however why you can't run a program with a $25,000 plus budget. I have been involved with many teams over many years that have run solid programs for far less money including very extensive and expensive indoor fall and winter rental time, field rental and out of state tournaments. I would also think your tournaments are a source of funding.

Certainly, the backdrop is nice at UIC but there are also H.S. and College fields that could also be rented for less money. Is Les Miller Field, a little overkill for a regular home field for a 15 year team that is in need of funding? Or any 15 year old team for that matter...look at the success that Hamlin has achieved with far less. What is the rental difference between Miller and the old field
on Roosevelt. I was at the old field the other evening for a skyline collegiate league game. A little beat up and the bathroom needs a good washdown but nothing that a weekend of clean up and paint can't fix. (The parents who can't afford to pay the joining fees could certainly help in field improvement thus gaining ownership in the organization). It was reported to me that the field is fine and the mound very solid. Nice field in all respect. Less expensive to rent...I would think so.

Also, I am assuming that you mean the sons of White Sox players when you refer two kids from the "White Sox". If you are not getting fees from the players on your team (especially those who arrive for games in limousines and exotic sports cars) that could afford to pay I am confused why you would blame the community for its lack of support. I would tend to look internally. By the way, grades, wrong decisions and the like cross geographical lines of city and suburbs.

Good luck this weekend and best wishes for a
successful season.

My request has longtime been that MLB do its part in a meaningful way to support youth baseball in major urban areas. What support is being provided is woefully inadequate.

UIC has placed the Clubbers 15-U team on the Les Miller field to accomodate the Skyline League playing on the North Field. We simply go where we are told to go. We have used the North Field (old varsity field) for many years and have shared it with St. Ignatius for the past 3 seasons. As you point out, it is a wonderful venue for a baseball game....someday that field will be a memory, however as UIC intends to someday soon put a building in its place. The bathroom, however does leave a lot to be desired!

Other issues are not ones that I can easily discuss within this forum.....thanks for the input.

Mark

Youve come a long way since your days at Welles Park. All of your current parents and players should commend you for keeping this thing together and providing quality baseball for them . Anyone who has ever been involved with youth baseball , whether it be being the man in charge or being a coach, knows how challenging it can be ...especially in the city.

Keep up the good work .

The Bulls have built and rebuilt basketball courts in the city. There is no reason the Cubs & Sox can't do the same for baseball fields. Jerry Reinsdorf calls baseball his real passion......how about it, Jerry?

A good story on the younger level is that of Bob Muzikowski (Spelled wrong) and his efforts to keep baseball alive on the little league level. Maybe the Near North or West Side League?

Quality baseball fields are the biggest need in the city of Chicago. Without the fields there is no place to play. Last year I spent an inordinate amount of time with a very high ranking Chicago Public Parks District individual attempting to find a high school practice field. This person acknowledged to me that baseball fields are not a high priority for the Chicago Park District and that most are being left in their current state of disrepair. According to him it is Softball and S****r which is where it is at and that is where the money is being allocated.

The need for quality coaching is what is next needed. The 'Bob M' program on the West Side is good, but when I have looked at those players they just are not where they have needed to be with their skills to be viable for higher level play.

But just providing money for field improvements or coaching is not going to improve urban baseball, it must be directed to those who have a mission toward developing the talent. Otherwise without a program the fields are not maintained and nothing meaningful is accomplished. An example of money wasted was that which was put into the building of a baseball field called CUBS CARE Park located at Clybourn and North in Chicago. The Cubs and Sammy Sosa spent several hundred thousands of dollars to build this high quality baseball field. It was to be taken care of by the New City YMCA who did not really have a baseball program.

I rented this field when it was new in 2001 and 2002. The field was not completed in many respects, but was a wonderful place for kids to learn a higher level of play. The field has a grandstand, a great lighting system to allow night games and a high quality public address system. But now today, the field is in disrepair because no one really CARES or did CARE enough to properly take care of this asset. I understand that it is now likely to be dismantled because of the high value of the real estate in the area, so it is a hgh rise or condos that will soon stand on this once rather beautiful baseball field.

15-U high school baseball continues at UIC Les Miller field all week long under the beautiful downtown Chicago skyline. Tonight at UIC Les Miller Field it is the Clubbers vs. the Crystal Lake Cyclones. The Clubbers are comprised of Sophomores (Class of 2009) and Juniors (Class of 2008) from Whitney Young, Simeon, Lake View, Guerrin High School, Gordon Tech and St. Joes.

Tomorrow night it is the Clubbers vs Chicago Cardinals at 5:45 pm followed by Notre Dame High School vs Tinley Park Bulldogs at 7:45 pm.

Admission $5.00 is for a night of baseball at UIC; children under 12 free. Big thank you to the UIC grounds crew for getting the fields ready to go on Sunday morning after Saturday rain. The grounds crew was out there at 5:30 am to get us going on the two fields!

Mark,
we had the opportunity to talk last winter and I commend you for your continued effort and foresight. Most have no idea as to what it takes to make a program run. Once you try it, you understand... I'm still hoping that we can make arrangements in our schedule over the next few months to bring our boys to the illinois area.

Good luck with your continued successes....

World Yacht Clippers Baseball
www.clippersbaseball.org

If I remember correctly your son will be (or is) attending and playing at the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign.

Thanks

Whether you a player or just a fan watching a game at the UIC fields looking up at the skyscrapers towering above you is breathtaking especially at night.

playdog...I agree 10000%.

That "snapshot" over the centerfield fence of the skyline is almost an unfair recruiting advantage for the Flames and Coach Dee.

In games played last night at UIC Les Miller Field it was the Clubbers LHP Ryan Williams (Simeon High School Class of 2008) getting the win 4-3 and RHP Carlos Ruiz (Lake View High School Class of 2008) getting the save over the Chicago Cardinals.

In the second game of the night, it was Notre Dame High School RHP Billy Kerber (Class of 2009) handcuffing the Tinley Park Bulldogs 2-0. Kerber pitched a complete game and was nearly perfect.

Tonight at UIC Les Miller Field it is the beginning of the 15-U Windy City Tournament with teams from northern Illinois and Indiana. participating teams are the Burr Ridge Barons, Valparaiso Patriots, LaGrange Longhorns, Naperville Reds, Clubbers, Lockport Warriors, Bradley Bourbonnais Bobcats, Chicago Cardinals and the Westlawn Wildcats.

First pitch tonight is at 5:45 at UIC with the Clubbers facing the Valparaiso Patriots, followed by the Clubbers versus the Bradley Bourbonnais Bobcats.

15-U baseball continues at the UIC Les Miller Field all weekend long. On Friday games begin at 3:45 pm with the Clubbers facing the LaGrange Longhorns and at 5:45 pm it is the Naperville Reds versus the Chicago Cardinals and the nightcap game at 7:45 pm is the Chicago Clubbers against the Westlawn Wildcats.

In games played last night it was the Clubbers over the Valparaiso Patriots 10-0 with Jason Ormond (Whitney Young Class of 2009) getting the Win pitching a complete game and allowing 3 Hits. The highlight of the game was JoJo Moldonado (Guerrin High School Class of 2009) hitting a 3 RBI blast out of the park at Les Miller Field. His homerun over the left field fence was measured at 345 feet.

In the second game it was the Clubbers over the Bradley Bourbonnais Bobcats 10-4. Frank Gowder (Whitney Young Class of 2009) was the winning pitcher.

The Clubbers 15-U 'Windy City' Tournament' wrapped up this weekend at the University of Illinois-Chicago and provided 9 area teams (approximately 150 players) the opportunity to experience baseball on Les Miller Field, one of the premier fields in northern Illinois.

The Clubbers won the championship of the tournament 8-2 on the strong pitching of Carlos Ruiz, Lakeview High School (Class of 2008) who pitched in both the semi final game and the Championship games. Jason Ormond, Whitney Young (Class of 2009) was the winning pitcher in the semi final game, 9-4 pitching 6 Innings against the Bradley Bourbonnais Bobcats. Carlos Ruiz got the save.

In the Championship game against the Naperville Reds it was Carlos Ruiz returning to pitch as the starter and getting the win; Uli Ortiz, Lakeview High School (Class of 2008) got the save.

There were several tournament highlights that deserve mention; one of which was JoJo Maldonado hitting two home runs out of the park in back to back games on Thursday and Friday night. I encourage all of the coaches to mention specific highlight plays or players who deserve tournament recognition.

The Clubbers also participated in the CABA Perfect Game 15-U Wooden Bat Tournament event held in Lynwood this weekend. The Clubbers advanced (2-1; loss to the Suburban Stars) and qualified to play in the Quarter Finals, but dropped out in order to complete their participation in the 'Windy City' Tournament. The Clubbers were able to play 10 games over a five day span; a big THANK YOU to Fran Pell for working with Clubbers head coach Ted Krga to allow us to participate in these two tournaments over the weekend.

The Clubbers also wish to thank all of the teams who participated in our 3rd annual Windy City Tournament.

quote:

The Clubbers advanced (2-1; loss to the Suburban Stars) and qualified to play in the Quarter Finals, but dropped out in order to complete their participation in the 'Windy City' Tournament.

ONE OF MY PET PEEVES WHEN I WAS COACHING SUMMER TOURNAMENT BASEBALL...Coaches who schedule two tournaments for their team on the same weekend and then "drop out" of one tournament and leave the other teams hanging and losing out an opportunity to play.

How do you think the coaches of the other teams in Lynwood felt?

Shame on you.

When that happened to us one year, in 2001, when the coach called to play the next year, in 2002, we said "No, thank you."

Shame on you.

Beenthere,

I agree. If they were not able to field 2 teams they should have never participated in 2 tournaments. Also, what is the point in playing 10 games in 5 days. Aren't these summer schedule demanding enough without having to double up on tournaments?

In my opinion and its just an opinion any team that is not a 17u or above should be more focused on preparing and improving the players for their varsity years. This can come by playing a reasonable number of games and tournaments. I honestly beleive that practice has become a four letter word in baseball because I do not see enough teams focused on training and getting their reps in practice.

Just my thoughts but I am a perfect practice makes perfect type of coach.

Not a perfect world, but the CABA event this weekend was necessary for us to play, in order for qualification for the 15-U CABA World Series event that is upcoming in Crystal Lake, IL. We received our 15-U CABA bid by playing in this event and that was a big positive as it was our goal to participate in this national event as the capstone to our summer baseball season.

There are many ways to look at this, in the past we have benefited from teams dropping out of a tournament which has allowed us to advance. I know other teams have experienced the same and that this weekend there was a team that appreciated that they got in to the Quarterfinals because we dropped out. Just the way it worked out, had we been able to play a Quarterfinal today then the schedule would have worked out for us to continue on in this tournament. All of our pitchers got a chance to throw this weekend because we played; sufficient games, Frank Gowder, Ryan Williams, Gabe Izarry and Uli Ortiz. However, our final game finished up at 10:30 pm at UIC last night, so there was no way to have been in two places at once.

Fran Pell personally assured me that we needed to participate in this event and he also understood our situation, which was that our UIC tournament had been scheduled many months prior.

Is it a cardinal sin to play too much baseball? We have a 15 man roster and everyone wants to play. Another pitcher is joining our roster; Jacob Koehne, Marist High School (Class of 2009) so playing games as well as practice is important.

Also there is no arguing that getting in games is important to keeping every one happy and sharp. That the Clubbers have played more games in this time span than many other teams causes some to be upset? It is summer and it is the season for baseball. Seems to me that playing baseball is a better alternative than many other things.

IHSA High School baseball limits a team to when they can begin play. Most of our players only became eligible to play in the last 10 days and since that time we have now conducted several practices and played 13 games. It is about reps.

Mark,

You are a good man and I (and others, too) admire your effort for the kids.

Doesn't matter what you say and do. The fact remains: By scheduling two events to participate in at the same times, you wound up letting some teams "playing with themselves" instead of playing against your team.

How would you feel if your team was coming from a great distance only to arrive and find out that the Clubbers forfeited and are playing at another tournament? Worse yet (not knowing that you are playing at another tournament)...they hang around waiting for the team to arrive not realizing that the team will NEVER arrive!

Interesting to find out how the coach and parents of the other team felt about what you did to them.

-----
"That the Clubbers have played more games in this time span than many other teams causes some to be upset?"

Nonsense! Who cares how many games you play?

Everything was cleared upfront with Fran Pell....no one had to wait around for us to arrive. We were replaced in the tournament format.

The bottom line is that we wanted to qualify for the CABA 15-U World Series and that required us to play in this tournament. We will agree to disagree on this one as our goal was met and accomplished.

This tournament in Lynwood is not only the CABA State and WS Qualifier for Crystal Lake it is also Perfect Games Midwest Regional Tournament to qualify to go to Perfect Games 15 and under WS in Jupiter in the end of July. The semi-final games are #1 Indiana Playmakers against #4 Dupage Diamondbacks and #2 Orland Sparks against #3 Berwyn Bulldogs and the first pitches are at 5:30 with the championship game following the semi-finals. BTW this tournament is being played with wood bats.

I still can't believe anyone makes a big deal about caba ws, last time I looked I think any Il team that wanted to be there got in. As far as Fran Pell, I sure don't miss those tournaments. Whoever mentioned reps in regards to games better go back and look at how many reps you get per game, not many last time I looked.

Mark...We dance and dance and step and step...

When we meet for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, you have to pay for the pie and I'll "pop" for the coffee.

jp

quote:

There are many ways to look at this, in the past we have benefited from teams dropping out of a tournament which has allowed us to advance.

Maybe I have missed the point, but how does one "benefit" from not playing games and advancing in a 15 year old tourney? Isn't it about PLAYING games against good competition, or is it just about winning games in any manner. If you benefit by not playing a game, you are probably playing too many games

The 'benefit' is that the deeper you go into any tournament the better the quality of the competition as well as the intensity of play increases.......and as a team advances in a tournament the more games the team gets to play. No one wants to be eliminated as it is all about playing games and once elimination occurs the games and tournament is over.

So the key is to advance into the playoff rounds as all of the above then occurs. It is not how you get there, but it IS all about getting there and I would not overlook the importance of winning.

You are correct that there is no benefit to not playing games...then you might as well be playing a video game.

Several marquee players for the 15-U Chicago Clubbers (15-3) made their presence known at the USSSA Slugfest tournament played in Bourbonnais this weekend.

Oznie Guillen (Class of 2010), JoJo Moldonado (Guerin - Class of 2009) and Uli Ortiz (Lakeview - Class of 2008) are the centerpiece of the Clubbers and brought their big bats to the weekend tournament. Moldonado and Ortiz make the Clubber middle infield nearly impenetrable. The tournament winning pitchers were Frank Gowder (Whitney Young - Class of 2009), Ryan Williams (Simeon - Class of 2008), Carlos Ruiz (Lakeview - Class of 2008); and Jason Ormond (Whitney Young - Class of 2009) pitched 6 Innings in the Championship Game allowing 1 Run on 3 Hits; 5-K's and 3-BB for a No Decision.

In the championship game Oznie Guillen (also plays for the Miami White Sox) brought the game to a 1-1 tie in the top of the 7th Inning with a key 1 RBI hit. The Clubbers were the runners up to the Playmakers losing 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th Inning of the Championship game.