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SAVE YOURSELF MONEY AND HELP OUT OUR PLAYERS
Friday, January 25
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Friday, January 25
16U RUFF NEKS HAVE OPENINGS FOR THE 2008 SUMMER TOURNAMENT SEASON
The Ruff Neks have a few openings on their roster for the coming summer travel-ball season. We are looking for dedicated players who love the game and are committed to becoming the best fastpitch players they can be. We will be taking part in highly competitive tournaments at primarily out-of-state locations to enhance our players' skills for high school play and their potential for college scholarships in the future.
Players with skills and/or experience in any position are sought, but a catcher and players with SPEED will receive extra consideration.......and quality pitching is always welcome ! !
Skill development clinics are encouraged and are attended by many of our players during the off-season at some of the more nationally prominent facilities in the south.
To remain abreast of the latest coaching techniques, our coaches pursue ongoing training by the most highly respected people in the sport.
If this fits your goals, contact Coach Tim at one of the telephone numbers in the margin to the left on this web page. We hope to complete our summer roster soon, so call before it's too late ! !
Thursday, June 7
RUFF NEKS BREAK OUT TO TAKE PARAGOULD TOURNEY CHAMPIONSHIP
After two weekends of hum-drum play, the Ruff Neks finally gave us a peak at their capability at the Paragould Tournament of Champions over the June 1-2 weekend. Saturday began with a run-rule win over a local team, the All State Angels. After being spotted a five run lead in the first inning, Erin pitched well and never allowed any threats. The 'Neks cruised from there to a 15-0 win. Then came the Collierville, TN Dragons which Kendall and the crew dispatched 8-0 in five innings. Next up were the Sluggers of Poplar Bluff, MO who, despite a decent lefty on the mound, went down 7-0 behind Erin's solid performance. The Sluggers came out of the losers' bracket only to be greeted by Kendall and our defense putting a perfect game on them!! Not a single Sluggers player reached base in the 'Neks 13-0 championship win!! The girls showed a glimpse of what they are capable of. What a dramatic turnaround from the past two weekends with EVERYONE contributing to the team's success. We'll be in Springdale this weekend to try to keep the "train moving and improving".
Monday, July 23
COACH BILL RETURNS AND SO DOES THE MAGIC ! ! ! !
Coach Bill (Kendall's Dad) returned to the team for the July 14-15 Southern Heat Classic in Marion and so did the competitive fire the Ruff Neks have been known for over the years. He had been in the hospital in St. Louis with scary health issues since the Paragould tourney (the majority of the season, really) and the girls had just not been themselves during that time. The Southern Heat Classic, except for the Ruff Neks, could have been called the "Tennesse West" Classic, since the 'Neks were the only team NOT from our neighbors to the east. Our girls proved to be up to the task and marched through undefeated to take first place in the two-day affair. After working through some difficulty finding the ball park due to several sets of bogus directions, the 'Neks disposed of the Arlington Cats 6-1 at 10:30 AM and the Bolton Wildcats 12-1 at 2:30 PM in pool play. In the first bracket game, the 'Neks again set down the Bolton team, this time by the score of 2-0 to set up a game with the Germantown Red Devils, a team the 'Neks have some history with. The Red Devils were no match for our girls who played well and took the semi-final 8-1. In the winners' bracket final at 2:15 Sunday afternoon, the Collierville Dragons played well, but succomed to our girls by a 4-0 score that the 'Neks really dominated more than the score would indicate. The championship game was again against the Dragons and our team was not to be denied! The 8-0 final score could have been worse as the 'Neks scored when they wanted to and stymied every Dragon offensive opportunity. Coach Tim had set the "word for the day" as "DOMINATE" and the girls rose to the call!! This will be our final outing of the 2007 Summer season. We'll take our usual time off and then resume play for the Fall with our first step into the 16-U division. It's a major step, but the Ruff Neks bunch is up to the challenge, no doubt!!!!!
Tuesday, August 1
------------------------RUFF NEKS SHINE IN 2006 SEAA CLASS "A" WORLD SERIES------------------------------
The Ruff Neks truly stepped up to the challenge in the SEAA World Series held in Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee July 24 through 30. Unlike the world series that teams from Arkansas typically go to, this was a Class A world series with the top teams assembled from eight states from the east and southeastern part of the country. There simply were no weak teams in the mix. In the 100 or so games in pool and bracket play, there were no more than six where the run-rule came into effect. The state champions were present from Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina. In pool play, the 'Neks went to the international tie breaker to ease past the Chattanooga Blast 1-0 and, after a "Bad News Bears" inning, dropped a 7-1 decision to Fear Factor (ask Coach Kenny about "the team in pink"). Bracket play began with a run-rule win over Knoxville Xtreme, 8-0 and continued with victories over the state champions from Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina along the way. In the semi-finals of the winners' bracket, the Ruff Neks dropped a close one to the Alabama state champs and eventual tournament winner, North AL Rockets by the score of 2-1. Next up came the Diamond Devils, a Nashville, TN all-star team the 'Neks sent home by the same 2-1 score. The Ruff Neks then dropped their final game 1-0 in the battle for third place to the Knoxville Blaze. We were all disappointed with the loss, but no one could feel anything but pleased with the way our girls competed against the class A field. The girls faced very difficult times early in the season, fought through it and peaked at the right time to represent themselves and the state of Arkansas well. Another reason to be a proud Ruff Nek!!
Monday, June 26
--------FASTPITCH SOFTBALL IN TUNICA: WHAT AN EXPERIENCE THAT WAS!!!!!---------
We coaches often talk about the quality of the umpiring, and not always in the most endearing of terms! But, in this case, it is difficult to give a picture of just how poor the officiating truly was. Inconsistency on balls & strikes, misinterpretation of the rules, the inability to see out vs safe, "rabbit-ears" and just down-right carrying a grudge.....we saw it all right there in Tunica, MS!!! We started Saturday morning with an error-filled first inning against the Germantown, TN Red Devils that immediately took us out of the game that we eventually dropped 10-4. The girls came back to put away the Southaven Xplosion 9-3 to get back on track and finish up pool play. Oddly, our first bracket game was again against Xplosion and the girls disposed of the Southaven group by the score of 10-0. Next up were the Diamond Girls from close by Tunica. The 'Neks jumped on them early and advanced to the winners' bracket final with a 7-2 victory. The Mississippi Delta Diamonds were next, and they are a salty bunch, indeed! The strike zone had shrunk to the size of a pie plate and the Diamonds are a good group of hitters. The result was a hard-fought 6-0 loss and the losers' bracket. There we met the Red Devils again, only this time we played THEM well...we just couldn't beat the umps, too. Multiple bad calls and five ejections later, we decided the abuse had gone on long enough and removed our girls from the field with the Red Devils leading 3-1. The opposing coach apologized, the tournament director apologized, the tournament UIC apologized...but, if everyone felt so bad about the behavior of the umps, why didn't those in charge simply address the problem? All did not end badly though, as the girls faced adversity that day and pulled together as a team. We are headed in the right direction and picking up steam!
Wednesday, May 17
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******** THE RUFF NEKS ARE THE 2005 12U CLASS A IBSA WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS ********
The Ruff Neks beat Southern Tag 8-2 in the championship game to complete their undefeated, 8-0 sweep to the World Series title on Saturday July 23. Our girls beat the Fireballs 18-0, the Lady Mixers 3-2, the Outlaws 9-3 and Lady Mixers again 3-0 to finish pool play undefeated. After getting a bye in the first round of bracket play, the 'Neks drew the Lady Mixers again and really put a thumping on them this time to the tune of 17-0. Next came the Burners who went down 8-1 and then the Outlaws, who the 'Neks dispatched nonchalantly 9-2 to set up the final against long-time rival Southern Tag. The two teams had locked horns often during the season, with 'Tag coming out on top the majority of the time. The Ruff Neks girls would have no part of that this time, though. The 'Neks played classic fastpitch strategy to score a run in each of the first two innings while shutting out the 'Tag offense. The Ruff Neks erupted for four runs in the bottom of the third to push their lead to a formidable 6-0. 'Tag tried to stage a come-back as they picked up a run in the top of the 4th and another in the 5th to make the score 6-2. The 'Neks slammed the door on that, as they answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to go ahead 8-2. 'Tag went down from there with little fanfare in either of the last two innings. And the celebration was on!! WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS.....sounds good!! Feels good, too!!
RUFF NEKS ARE THE 2005 12U ASA STATE CHAMPIONS ! ! ! !
The Ruff Neks took the 2005 12U ASA State Championship in dramatic fashion over the July 8-10 weekend after being taken to the "IF" game by Purple Magic. After dropping the first game of the finals to Purple Magic by a 5-2 score, the tension was thick and the pressure heavy. But the 'Neks responded with a convincing 4-0 win to secure the State title. Our girls opened the tourney with a 16-0 thumping of the Lightning Byrds and followed that with a thrashing of the Heroes by the same 16-0 score. Next up in the winners' bracket was Purple Magic of Hot Springs, who the 'Neks set down 3-1. While Purple Magic went about working their way through the losers' bracket, the Ruff Neks proceeded to finish off the winners' bracket with an 8-1 victory over the Hot Shots from Fordyce. In the first game of the finals, the 'Neks were a little complacent and not at their best while the 'Magic were on their game and played well. Helped by some sloppy defensive play, 'Magic jumped to an early lead and held on for the 5-2 win. Somewhere between the final games, the 'Neks got their groove back and controlled the championship game from the outset. And, at about 5:30PM, the celebration was on.... Way to go girls!!! Now on to the IBSA and NFSA World Series affairs !!!
RUFF NEKS BATTLE ALL DAY TO 2ND PLACE IN 2005 USSSA STATE TOURNAMENT
The Ruff Neks started playing Sunday at 9:30AM and finally left the ball park at 6:45PM after playing five games back-to-back to work their way through the losers' bracket to a second place finish in the USSSA State Tournament held over the July 1-3 weekend in Russellville. It started Saturday morning with a 15-0 win over the Lightning Byrds at 8:00AM (that start time is getting to be a little too common for the 'Neks lately). Next came the NWA Crush, who took advantage of four errors to score 6 runs and then held on to win 6-4 and send the 'Neks to the losers' bracket. Late Saturday night, the Sugar Bears showed up and went down 7-1 to set the Ruff Neks up for their Sunday run at the championship. First up Sunday was Thunderbolts who went home after the 5-0 loss. Next came Blast '93, and their whining didn't help as they went home after a 10-0 loss. The Jammers beat the Crush in order to be the next Ruff Nek opponent, only to meet a similar demise by a 6-5 margin. The Wildcats lost to Southern Tag in the winners' bracket final and dropped down to face the 'Neks in the losers' bracket final. The 'Neks sent them packing with a 5-1 loss to set up the championship games with Southern Tag. To that point in the tournament, 'Tag had played a total of three games and our girls had played a total of seven, four already that day! So, fatigue should have been a factor, but you wouldn't have thought it was by the way the girls battled. The 'Neks went up 1-0 in the first inning. 'Tag tied it in the third and went ahead 2-1 in the fourth. The 'Neks tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth inning, only to have 'Tag win it on a pretty squeeze bunt after time had expired in the bottom of the sixth. A heartbreaker to lose, but an exciting and very well-played game by both teams. This was truly a classic example of quality fastpitch softball!! Too bad one team had to lose...... But, the Ruff Neks proved their mettle and are a better team for their gutsy performance in a difficult situation.
10U RUFF NEKS WIN CLARKSVILLE TOURNAMENT
While the 18U girls took the weekend off, the 10U Ruff Neks won the Clarksville tournament the hard way. After dropping their opener 7-5 to the Hot Shots of Fordyce, the little 'Neks battled back through the losers bracket to meet the Hot Shots again in the finals. Along the way they picked up wins over Atkins Chronicle 14-0, Cheetahs 11-2, Atkins Chronicle again 15-2 and NWA Diamonds 2-1. In the first game of the finals, the 'Neks left no doubt, putting it on the Hot Shots 9-2 to force the "if" game. The first pitch of the deciding game was thrown at 11:50PM, and this was after the little 'Neks had already played six games on the day. The Ruff Neks jumped on top early to remove any doubt that may have been left in the Hot Shots' minds and walked away with the game and the championship at about 1:30AM Sunday. What a long day and a great tournament, as well! OUTSTANDING JOB, LADIES!!!
10U RUFF NEKS 2ND IN DIAMOND STATE TOURNEY
The 10U Ruff Neks were able to handle all comers except the Patriots to take 2nd place in the Diamond State, Too tournament at Cabot May 30-31. After dropping a 2-1 decision to the Patriots Friday night in pool play, the little 'Neks won them all to move through pool and bracket play to the championship game, taking on the Patriots again. Unfortunately, the result was the same as the little Ruff Neks dropped the 7-1 decision and took home the second place trophy.
THE RUFF NEKS ARE THE 2002 REGIONAL CHAMPS ! ! ! ! !
Our Ruff Neks won the ASA Southwestern Six Regional Championship held at the Sherwood Athletic Complex over the weekend. It went to the "If" game before being decided, but the Ruff Neks prevailed 4-1 over long-time rival, the Screamers. College coaches were in attendance to see teams from Oklahoma and Mississippi along with those from Arkansas compete for the title. Up next is the USSSA World Series next week in Shawnee, Kansas. This will be the final challenge of 2002 for these "girls of summer".
RUFF NEKS TAKE 5TH AT 2002 USSSA WORLD SERIES
The Ruff Neks finished with a record of 7-2 and took 5th place in the 34-team USSSA 18U World Series held in the heat (102 to 104 degrees every day) at Shawnee (Kansas City), Kansas, July 29 through August 4. Many at the national championship tournament didn't expect much from a team from Arkansas, but the Ruff Neks played well and beat the state champions from Kansas and Nebraska along the way. Fifth isn't first, but there were 29 other teams that would be glad to be in the Ruff Neks' shoes. A solid finish to a very good season!!
10U RUFF NEKS FIRST AT USSSA QUALIFIER
The little Ruff Neks took first place at the USSSA Qualifier held at Sherwood May 2-3. There were only two other teams in their division, so a double round-robin was played. The little 'Neks began early Saturday morning in a mental fog and dropped a 7-5 decision to Explosion. They woke up some to beat the Mighty Eagles 9-0 and followed that with a convincing win over Explosion 14-4. The second game against the Mighty eagles was a 7-0 win and, by virtue of greater margin of victory, took home the first place trophy.
LITTLE RUFF NEKS 2ND IN 2ND LEG OF TRIPLE CROWN
The 10-Under Ruff Neks took second place in the second leg of the Triple Crown Tournament series held at Jacksonville May 9-10. The champion was decided by a flip of a coin after the final against the Bratz was washed out by a heavy thunder storm in the first inning. The little 'Neks got to the final after posting wins over the Heat, Total Kaos and twice over Explosion. The only loss came to the Bratz 4-2 in a pool game. We were looking forward to another shot at the Bratz, but unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. We'll see them again and take our chances then.
10U RUFF NEKS WIN 1ST LEG OF TRIPLE CROWN SERIES
The 10U Ruff Neks went undefeated to win the first leg of the USSSA's Triple Crown series of tournaments held at Burns Park the weekend of May 2 and 3. The little 'Neks were pushed in their first game Friday night by the Blast, but came through in the last inning to win 8-7. They followed that with two shutout wins over Total Kaos 13-0 and Explosion 7-0 to complete pool play as the top seed into single elimination bracket play. The girls then blew out Blast 14-0 and walked away with the championship game 11-0 over Explosion. The second leg of the series comes up next weekend at Jacksonville.
10U 'NEKS WIN VILONIA TOURNEY
The 10U Ruff Neks took first place in the Vilonia Invitational Tournament April 11 & 12. The little 'Neks went undefeated in the double elimination affair, winning games with Plummerville 8-4, The Heat 13-0, Red Hots 4-0 and over Plummerville again in the finals 10-0. The girls showed great improvement over their first outing the previous weekend. However, they are not nearly where they will be in the near future. Keep up the hard work and even better things are in in store for the future!
LITTLE RUFF NEKS 2ND IN CABOT PRE-SEASON TOURN
The 10-U Ruff Neks took second place in their first outing of 2003 at the Cabot Pre-Season Tournament April 5th. The little 'Neks beat Blast 6-2, the Shockers 11-0 and the Heat 7-6 while dropping a nailbiter to the Bratz, 1-0 in extra innings. The loss to the Bratz was a pitchers' duel with no errors by either team and one hit by each, as well. The stands were full of spectators who were treated to a classic fastpitch game as is rarely seen in this age division. Congrats to both teams on a job well done!!
RUFF NEKS STARTED A 10U TEAM IN FALL 2002
The first workout was held August 17, with practices and games continuing through the latter part of October. We are still looking for dedicated players for the Spring/Summer season so, if you are interested or know of some one who is, contact Tim at the address or phone number in the sidebar to the left. GOOD LUCK and I'll see you at the fields.
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Ruff Neks 2000 Season
Click on the News sidebar for the Ruff Neks 2000 season tournament results.
2000 ASA 16U Southwest Regional Champions ! !
The Ruff Neks came out of the losers' bracket to Win the Whole Thing!!!!!!
Front: Julie Coats, Mary Smith, Dana Marvin, Chelsey Warmack, Mary Webb(behind Megan), Megan Miller. Standing: Stephanie Bradley, Jodi Sanson, Bailey Baker, Anna Kate Milburn, Lindsey Vance, Shannon Rainbolt. Coaches: Tim Marvin, Ed Baker, Dan Payne.
Ruff Neks Repeat As ASA District 3 Champs
The Ruff Neks won the ASA District 3 16U tournament played June 22, 23 and 24 at Sylvan Hills to repeat as District Champs for 2001. The team went undefeated with wins over the Gators 14-4 and twice over the Burners by the same 8-0 score each time. The tournament, unfortunately, was small and stretched over three days, but it did give all the teams plenty of rest time between games.
Ruff Neks Play Well And Learn At Exposure Tournament
The Ruff Neks did not finish high in the College Exposure Tournament held at Benton June 16 and 17, but the team played well and learned a lot. Competing against strong teams will serve to teach the players what it takes to win at the top levels. Up to this point, the level of play of the Ruff Neks opponents, with a few exceptions, has not been top-notch. And the 'Neks needed to learn how to compete when the "chips are down" on every out of every inning. We are learning to be on top of our game for each pitch because the game may be decided on that pitch. The Ruff Neks started the tournament fairly well, beating the Energizers from Atlanta, TX 6-3. Xplosion was on top of their game and handed the 'Neks a 3-1 loss to send them to the losers' bracket. The Ruff Neks then took on Sweet 'N' Sassy and sent them home with a 10-3 defeat Saturday night. At 9AM Sunday, the Screamers showed up ready to play and handed the 'Neks a 2-1 loss to end their play in the tournament. We will certainly see these teams again this season and, hopefully, we have grown from the experience and maybe the outcome will be different. You can always learn more from defeat than you can from victory ! ! !
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