PFPA teams get set for tournaments

Thursday saw a close to the Pittsburg Fast Pitch Association’s regular season with champions crowned and tournament seedings set.
However, most coaches preferred to look at the bigger picture when it came to the season as a whole.
“The competition has been good this year,” said Larry Tanner, coach for the Senior League’s Tanner Construction. “This year we have some very strong teams and anyone is very capable of beating anyone.”
Tanner Construction was on a four-game winning streak heading into their final regular season game against KKOW on Thursday night.
While Senior League teams battled for seeding in next week’s tournament, Dennis Hunt, coach for Midwest Minerals in the Minor League, was relishing his team’s regular season championship.
“It feels really good but, I am just so proud of the girls,” Hunt said.
Midwest Minerals, who finished with a 10-2 record, defeated NAPA — the second-place team in the league — on Thursday, assuring themselves of the No. 1 seed in the tournament that begins on Monday.
“I just wanted the girls to do good,” Hunt said. “They wanted to win and we didn’t try to get the girls to do too much.”
Hunt’s competition on Thursday was NAPA, a team coached by the husband and wife team of Andy and A.J. Majors.
Minor League softball {8 and under] is a far cry from Andy Major’s regular job — graduate assistant for the Pittsburg State women’s basketball team.
“It is a pretty big extreme,” Andy Majors said. “But, when the girls are smiling that makes it all worth it.”
The Pittsburg Fast Pitch Association has seen a growth spurt during the 2009 season. The leagues have grown to 23 league teams and the schedule was extended by two weeks to fit in play.
“I just think more girls are really seeing the sport of softball,” said Seward Electric coach Amy Vogel. “They are really just enjoying the sport.”
Seward Electric claimed the Youth League title while Vogel’s other team, Vogel Heating and Cooling, finished second in the Junior League.
“It is all developmental,” Vogel said. “All of the girls have really improved from the start of the season to the finish.”
All league tournaments kick off Monday at the Gene Bicknell Sports Complex and at Cheryl Stice Field.

Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports.