2026 18+

Motor City Mariners 13, Seattle Cascades 3

‘Simmons Dominates on the Bump, MVP Parker Pounds the Long Ball’

The Motor City Mariners would put another trophy in the trophy case this weekend at the Kickoff Classic in Las Vegas. The trip would not start out the way the Mariners intended, as they would start pool play with a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Cascades at the hands of a crafty lefty and jet lag that would keep the bats quiet.

Seattle would not escape the game unscathed, though, as the Motor City Mariners would hit six batters during the contest in hopes of battering the worthy foe down the line.

After a lackluster first game, the Mariners would wake up and go on a tear, winning their next three games convincingly with scores of 7-3, 11-2, and 16-1 behind complete games from pitchers Steve Simmons, Zac Walter, and Dan Little. Steve Simmons would pitch game two and strike out 19 batters over nine innings.

On the offensive side of the ball, Zac Walter would hit over .500 from the top half of the order, and Steve Parker would homer in three straight at-bats during games three and four, setting the tone offensively. Rob Kortas would also have a 4-5 game and drive in some runs.

Due to a three-way tiebreaker, the Mariners would secure the 1st seed and a bye to the championship to face the winner of the semi-final game, which would be the Seattle Cascades, who handed the MC Mariners their only loss of the tournament.

In the championship, the Motor City Mariners would go back to their horse, Steve Simmons, on 36 hours’ rest to take the mound yet again.

The Mariners would start the game just how the doctor ordered with a first pitch moonshot home run to left-center by young buck Rob Kortas. Zac Walter would walk in the #2 spot, and then Steve Parker would come to the dish and launch his fourth home run of the tournament to right field to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead before recording an out.

With the early run support and the ace on the hill, the Mariners would coast defensively while still putting the pedal to the metal offensively with RBI hits from the entire order, including Jack Dynes (who would catch 80% of the innings on the weekend), DJ Gotz, Zac Walter, Craig Zimmerman, Dom Mora, Jake Thompson, and Anthony Sarkis. On the mound, Simmons would again go the distance, tallying 18 innings and 30 strikeouts in 36 hours.

The Mariners would take home the hardware in their first-ever Kickoff Classic with a final score of 13-3, notching their 3rd straight tournament win between the 2025 MSBL World Series and 2024 Fall Classic.

MVP of the Kickoff Classic was undoubtedly Steve Parker with his offensive outburst of four home runs and solid outfield play. A close second was Zac Walter, who “received some votes.”