LIVE: From the Under Armour Southwest Tournament

Dave Lax: We're There

In the end of July temperatures above 110 would make you believe that you were in the desert. At the first day of round robin play at this year’s Under Armour Southwest Regional Tournament the temperature touched 113 degrees. However, the scorching temperatures did not seem to sway the players or the fans. All of the teams came out with good spirits and played good baseball.

In the early games of the day the St. Louis Pirates took advantage of extra outs given at the expense of the Baseball Factory White team and notched the first win of the tournament 11-3. The Arizona Clash, which played in the finals of last year’s tournament, was back and came out with an opening game win against Baseball Factory Red. The Clash squeaked out the win by a slim margin of 4-3. The final game of the morning showcased a high level of defense as only four runs came across the plate. In the end the Players Baseball Academy 16U team won 3-1 over the Baseball Factory Navy.

As the temperatures started to rise, the second set of games kicked off shortly before noon. A couple of the Baseball Factory squads took advantage of their back-to-back games and stayed loose to cruise for a win. The Baseball Factory White took out the Tucson Baseball Academy 10-1 using strong pitching and an explosive offense. The Baseball Factory Navy team was squaring off against the St. Louis Pirates who took out Baseball Factory White in the early game. With the Baseball Factory Navy down by one run going into the last inning, they strung a few hits together, tied the game and then a patient at bat eventually lead to the “walk” off win for the Navy squad. In the final of the three games played at midday the Baseball Factory Red ran into the Under Armour Winter Classic powerhouse West Texas Cats. The Cats took their well-oiled machine to an 11-1 win.

In the final two games of the day in possibly the hottest temperatures, the two teams from Texas squared off. On a side note, the sportsmanship of the West Texas Cats was spectacular as they allowed their opponents, the El Paso Dragons, to use some of their baseball gear because the Dragons gear was lost by the airline. As for the game, extra innings were needed to decide a winner. It seemed that generosity would be rewarded as the Cats scored two runs in the top of the eighth; however, the Dragons made a run at the comeback scoring one in their half of the inning. In the end, the Cats held on for the victory.

The West Texas Cats thus far have the best record in the tournament at 2-0. In the other game the Players Baseball Academy 18U team and the Lake Havasu Stars battled it out in extra innings as well. The Players Baseball Academy eventually took the win 5-4.

In an exciting and over-heated day the Under Armour Southwest Regional Tournament was officially underway and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the tournament has in store for us. We know the temperatures will be hot, and lets hope the baseball is too.


Dave Lax is the Assistant Director of Marketing at Baseball Factory. Dave started with Baseball Factory in June of 2006 having earned his degree in Business from the University of Maryland, College Park. He majored in Marketing and minored in Communication. At Maryland, he played on the Scout Basketball Team for three years, where he was part of the National Championship team in 2006. In addition to his marketing responsibilities Dave serves as the administrator for Baseball University and helps design and maintain the website.