Bertie’s captures 2007 Men’s Class B East National Championship

Oklahoma City---Despite losing in the winner’s bracket finals to Spitz/Mizuno of Mt. Washington, Ky., Bertie’s/B&C/Hub City Glass/Miken of Elizabethtown, Ky., came out of the loser’s bracket with a vengeance to defeat their in-state rivals twice in the championship finals to earn their spot in the Hooters Championship Series.

Bertie’s opened the tournament with a 14-7 win over Pop Squad of Deltona, Fla., and just edged Stepan Enterprises of Mosinee, Wis., 15-14, in the second round.

Meanwhile, Spitz was getting through the lower half of the winner’s bracket with a 22-21 win over Craig’s Bullshippers of Chambersburg, Pa., and a 26-21 win over Heritage Carpentry of Norwalk, Ct., in the second round.

In the winner’s bracket semi-finals Bertie’s rolled over One Source/DPSG of Mt. Sinai, N.Y., 14-8, while Spitz took down Plumbers and Pipe Fitters of Lansing, Mich., 14-10 to reach the winner’s bracket finals.

Spitz was dominate in the winner’s bracket finals defeating Bertie’s, 22-10, to earn a spot in the championship game where it would need to win just one game to capture the title.

Bertie’s defeated All-Army of Fort Benning, Ga., 29-18, in the loser’s bracket finals to earn a rematch with Spitz. The All-Army squad dropped its opening game but battled through the loser’s bracket to face Bertie’s.

Spitz needed only one win to take the title but that win would be difficult to come by as Bertie’s stepped up to the challenge and forced the “if” game with an 11-8 win in the first championship game. With the win, Bertie’s took the momentum and used it to defeat Spitz 14-7 in the “if” game to earn the title of ASA National Champion.

Chad Daniels, Demond Thomas, Troy Autry, Mikah Fiveash and Elton Cafee were selected to the All-Tournament team from Bertie’s while Steve Kingsolver, Robbie Grinestaff, Jon Robertson, Andy Wilson and Tim Wolfe were chosen from the Spitz/Mizuno roster.

As the representative from the east in the Men’s Class B division in the Hooters Championship Series, Bertie’s has history on its side but also the burden of continuing a six-year win streak by teams from the east. Bertie’s will face C-Town from Boise, Idaho in the best three out of five series at the Hooters Championship Series, September 28-29.