2002 was the start of the NKYSoftball.com "Bash for Cash". In its first year the tourney was actually named the TPS "Bash for Cash". It was held on March 16-17 at RiverShore Sports Complex in Hebron, KY. We had a total of 40 teams come out to the first year event. 26 teams in the lower & 14 teams in the upper. The weather was horrible as it rained all night Friday into Saturday morning. After 4 1/2 tons of field dry we started 3 hours behind schedule, finishing up at about 1:00am Sunday morning before calling it a night. Then the skies opened up again that Sunday morning raining out the tournament. The lower had 4 teams left in the winners bracket & all four decided to be quad-champions and split the money. In the upper 4 teams were left in the winners bracket and 1 dropped out the other 3 decided to come back the next weekend to finish it. KY Chiropractic defeated Sick Freaks in the semi's & then defeated So. Rental/Easton in the Finals. Larry Moore of KY Chiropractic was the Upper division MVP. 

 

In year two we had an outstanding field of teams in both divisions. We also had beautiful weather for the weekend. We had an 84 team field for the second year event with 56 teams competing in the lower & 28 teams doing battle in the upper. We had upsets as tourney favorite, Sportsden/New Construction was defeated by Barney's Barn, a "D" team from Cincinnati. Also Will Keller of Come Gets'em pitched a PERFECT GAME against OITC of Columbus, OH. Classic Car Wash came away with the upper division title with Lance Fossitt earning MVP honors. In the lower  Abby Anns Boys from Cleveland won the lower title with Greg Shellhorn taking the MVP awards in that class.

 

In year  three of this great tournament and it swelled to 136 teams. We added a USSSA "C" NIT to the tourney in 2004. The NIT produced 36 teams, the lower bracket had 76 teams & the upper had 24 teams of which 4 were all ranked in the top 15 in the country at the time. McNair Sports of Nashville, TN mercy ruled Watanabe/K&G/TPS in the finals of the Upper  with Trevor Parker grabbing MVP honors. In the Lower Stienert's/Two Lane of New Albany, IN defeated Webster's Wreckers in the finals 17-9 as Mike Harrington was named MVP. In the USSSA "C" NIT, Longhorns of Grand Rapids, MI defeated Sideline's/Sorrentos 14-8 to capture the championship lead by MVP Todd Powell.

 

In year four of this event we have added another division. ASA"C". We now have the Lower (D/E), "C", Upper (A/B), and the U-trip NIT. We have added prize money, first place is now $1200.00 and 2nd is $600.00 in the ASA portion of this tourney. But we also have added money to the consolation round as well, 1st place gets $300.00 and 2nd gets $150.00. The entry fee will remain the same but it will be a bring your own ball tourney this year.  The weather was horrible as the 180 team field was snowed out! It was re-played the next weekend with 56 teams returning to the event.

In year 5 we have made even more improvements to the tournament. We added a USSSA "D" NIT bringing the tournament to 5 classes. Added prize money to the divisions, added sweat shirts to the winners instead of T-shirts. A total of over $15,000.00 in Cash and prizes to be given away.  Also the tournament rights were sold to Wessel Sports, Bill Chard is still the organizer & tournament director, but Wessel Sports has taken over all financial responsibilities.

175 teams participated this year in 2006. Weather was a little cold but the most important part, it was dry! The Friday Night HR Derby & exhibition was a huge success. Over 2000 people packed Riverstar Park to watch the Super Majors put on one excellent show. Several balls hit by those guys were over 500'. Jon Jamison won the annual HR derby & Jeff Hughes won the 1st annual Tanel Speed Challenge.

The 6th annual event was a huge success! Over 200 teams set a new Bash record. It was cold, windy, but most important thing, it was dry! 207 teams turned out this year. The Super Major guys put on another good show in the HR Derby exhibition but they lost their first game in the elimination bracket to Classic Car Wash/Red's Boys/TPS/Boombah 32-29 and for the 6th straight year, the tournament favorite in the upper went home with out the hardware or the cash! Big Boy Plumbing won the upper this year. This team is primarily the Hub City/Berties team that is the pre-season top ranked team in Kentucky & ended up winning the ASA "B" East National & the ASA "B" Hooters National Championships in Oklahoma City.