STEVE SNEDDON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
PICTURE: TIM DUNN
Posted: 6/27/2006
The Reno Knights have been the ultimate good hosts in the Josh Anderson Memorial Baseball Tournament.
They’ve never won the tournament — which is in its 18th year — but they’re working on changing things. The American Legion team moved a step closer to it in a 12-4 win over the Santa Rosa, Calif., Connie Mack team in a game shortened to five runs by 
the eight-run rule at Peccole Park on Monday afternoon.
The Knights scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to move into a semifinal game against Chaffey, Wash., at 5 p.m. today with the winner advancing to the championship game at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The Knights have only reached the title a couple of times, but Reno coach Pete Savage didn’t want to look past the semifinal. His players, though, are aware of the team’s history and savor a shot at winning the Knights’ first championship.
“It would be a good experience. It would probably bring the team close together to have the home team win it,” said left fielder Trever Zaldain, who drove in three runs and had a two-run single to cap the eight-run explosion.
The tournament has teams from five states, including three from Washington — Chaffey, Lakeside and Yakima Valley. There’s also Cherry Creek from Colorado, Santa Rosa and Danville from California and the Midwest Wolverines from Kansas. Today will be the fifth day of the six-day tournament.
Santa Rosa assistant coach Michael Paul, who was a high school coach for 23 years, said a six-day tournament is a good educational experience for young players.
“Some kids don’t travel well. They don’t know how to travel,” Paul said. “They don’t know what it’s like to live in a hotel. You get to that third, fourth day, you may have a great team, but if they don’t get sleep, they’re not used to being away from home. That also plays into whether you win or lose.
“You have to have a routine about you. You have to know what off-the-field activities you should have. That really makes a difference for a big leaguer, too, whether he can stay in the big leagues based on what he does off the field as well as on it.”
This is the 14th year that the tournament has carried the name Anderson. The 1981 Reno High graduate died of Sudden Death Syndrome shortly after pitching in the then-named Sierra Nevada Classic in 1992.
Ten players who played in the tournament, including Lyle Overbay, Todd Hollandsworth and Randy Wolf, have reached the majors. The tournament has been a good source of players for the Wolf Pack. Coach Gary Powers estimated that 15 to 20 players who appeared in the tournament have played for the Pack. Six of the eight teams in the tournament have had players who went on to play for Nevada. Only the Midwest Wolverines, who are playing in their first Reno tournament, and Santa Rosa haven’t had a player who played for the Pack.
Powers organized the event until the NCAA eliminated the role of college coaches in this kind of tournament. Savage has organized it since 1994.
“This is a good tournament. Pete does a good job of organizing it,” Powers said. “Teams want to come in. The word gets around.”
But some teams not accustomed to losing very often in their areas could be tagged with a lot of unexpected losses in six days.
“It’s like anything else. You put eight teams together and four are going to lose every day,” Powers said. “It’s like the College World Series, four teams play every day and two lose.”
Most of the teams in the tournament are perennial powerhouses like the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak, which has lost its first four games in the tournament.
Pepsi Pak fans Joe Heffron and Rick Brugnone made the 11-hour drive from Yakima to watch the tournament. It’s Heffron’s first trip to the tournament and Brugnone’s 10th consecutive, although he doesn’t have a son on the team. They both looked worn out by the sweltering heat on a day the temperature hit 99 degrees.
“The ballpark’s nice,” Heffron said. “If you got air conditioning down here (in the ballpark) it would be nicer.”
What keeps Brugnone coming back year after year?
“I like baseball and it’s a good time of the year,” Brugnone said.
“He’s a nut. He’s a baseball nut.” Heffron said.
The crowds are small in the tournament, generally between 100 and 400 fans, but Savage knows what brings teams back.
“It’s a great competition,” Savage said. “That is absolutely the best thing about the tournament. It’s the atmosphere you’re playing in with this quality of players.”