2010 Snowball Softball Tournament - Middleton, WI

To some, just another cold weekend in Middleton, WI. To others, the biggest Winter Slow Pitch Softball Tournament Wisconsin has to offer! This years "Snowball Tournament" maxed out again at (32) teams on the weekend of January 16-17, 2010.

Some of the rules to note:

• ASA bat list except: No Mikens or DeMarinis?????
• No Looking Strikes
• No Sliding
• Unlimited HR's
• Can Play (11) in the field
• 6'-15' Arc Limit

Team Double Down jumped out of the gates and won our 1st 4 games and lost in the undefeated's game by (1), on a walk off HR from Ripps. We managed to give up a (11) run lead in the 7th to lose! Unlimited HR's will do that to you!

We then were scheduled to play Shockers at 6pm on Sunday night for the 2nd/3rd place game. It was getting late and the temps started to drop with long ride homes for many of us. That being said, Ripps, Double Down and Shockers split the top 3 prizes evenly and called it a day.

It was fun as usual. For the guys out West and down South who watch this, you have no idea how difficult it can be swinging, running and fielding in Snow! Not too mention wearing 3-4-5 layers of clothing to stay warm!

2010 ASA Worth Toxic - Bat Review

Ed Alf & Ray Kowalski of team Double Down try out the 2010 ASA Worth Toxic Titan. This bat is supposed to be one the hottest ASA bats of 2010. We pretty much took this Worth Toxic straight out of the wrapper. As most ASA composites are out of the wrapper, it was a log. I only took about 40-50 cuts with it as Ray put on another 50. The balls were not jumping off by any means. I hit a few decent liners with it, but couldn't quite find the distance.

**UPDATE 1/12/10** I used this same Worth Toxic last night in an indoor BP session (w/real balls, not cage balls). We estimated that this bat now has about 400-500 swings on it. It now feels like there is MUCH more life to it and balls were jumping off with much more intensity than before. I look forward to using this bat outside this spring to gauge it against the other ASA bats again.

Miken Vicious Slow Pitch Softball Bat Review

Ed Alf (195lbs / 5'8"), of Double Down , gives a Slow Pitch Softball Bat Review of a 27oz Miken Vicious Slow Pitch Softball Bat, hitting .44 / 400 Durahyde Trump Stote Balls, in 65 Degree weather, No Wind, on a 300ft Fence.

- I thought the bat resembled the Freak 98, with a little bit more of an end weight. However, just like the Freak 98, it was quite a log in the beginning. After putting about 200-250 cuts on it, it started to liven up. I can't wait for it to really open up by say, July. I will now be using this along with the Freak 98 as my ASA bats this year. The ratings of 1=Low & 10=High are based on ASA bat comparisons (ie. a 9.5 ASA bat is not the same as a 9.5 USSSA/NSA bat).

Wisconsin Slow Pitch Softball in January?

That's right! We are gearing up to play in the 29th Annual Snow Softball Tourney in Middleton, WI this coming weekend of January 16-17, 2010! This crazy tourney is played with an ASA Bat List, a Gold Dot that is painted ORANGE, Huge Feed sacks as bases, and a big 3'x3' piece of carpet as home plate. There is generally between 24-32teams in this and game are played on (3) diamonds that are not prepared in any way!Therefore, if there is a 3ft deep snow drift in the base path or in left field (which there usually is)you play through it. However, if you slide while running the bases, you're out!

Did I mention that the games are played on fields with fences that range from 250-275ft and no home run limits! It can be an all out HR derby at times. However, once the snow in the batters box is padded down and frozen, it can become VERY difficult to stand up while swinging! The base paths also turn to ice very quickly thus making it difficult to run.

We plan on bringing the video camera this year! So, keep your eyes peeled next week as I post what should be some entertaining footage at the very least!