Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Ornauer continues wringing himself out from the water-bucket bath he and Legion coach John "OB" O'Brien got Sunday:

-- Call it the tournament of redemption for O'Brien and the American Legion men, and at the same time call it the Yard Busters women's redemption weekend and coming-out party all rolled into one.

-- Behind the slugging of Robert Gullett (two home runs, five RBIs) and Chris Souza and Dan Miller, who knocked in three runs each, Legion erased the memory of its two-game final loss to Osan Air Base a year ago. Legion on Sunday put a 22-5 beatdown on South Korea's Camp Humphreys -- not quite Osan, but close enough to be a next-door neighbour.

-- Gullett, PCSing to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, made the Firecracker a stopover en route from Osan Air Base with former Legion star Souza, while Miller traveled all the way from Texas to suit up for Legion again.

-- "We were not going to get double-dipped this year," All-Marine pitcher Richie Krause said of the 15-14, 15-11 heartbreaking defeat last July against Osan.

-- Men's MVP Chris Stevens (31-for-38, two homers) and Will Twaddell (24-for-37, six homers), on-island talents, also had a lot to do with Legion's unbeaten run in which it outscored opponents by an average of 16.6 runs in 10 games. Legion's closest battle was with Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, which led Legion 11-6 in the fifth inning before Legion scored 10 unanswered runs in the playoffs.

-- It was Legion's 11th title in a Pacific Grand Slam tournament, second only to defunct Pacific Force's likely unreachable record of 39. Having won the Pacificwide in Korea in May, Legion is also halfway to becoming just the second team to sweep all four Grand Slam tournaments in one year -- Pacific Force did that 11 years ago, part of an unthinkable run of 10 straight Grand Slam tournament titles from 1997-99.

-- But don't expect OB to even think of discussing that. "We won't talk about that until it's over and done," he said. The Typhoon Classic at Torii Station in September and the Kadena Klassic in October at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa are the two remaining Grand Slam legs.

-- On the women's side, Yard Busters suffered a beatdown of their own last July against Korea's Camp Casey/Area I, getting outscored 27-9 after putting up seven first-inning runs. And Saturday, the outlook was grim on Saturday when Yard Busters fell 12-6 to Yongsan Garrison.

-- But that only proved to be the match that lit the fireworks -- Yard Busters won their next four games, including 11-0 and 10-3 in a two-game final over Okinawa's Pitchslap. Amanda Garcia (4-for-7, four RBIs), Flandirs Files (3-for-5, two RBIs) and tournament MVP Brandi Kirkpatrick (5-for-8, two RBIs) led the way for Yard Busters.

-- It was Grand Slam title No. 1 for the Yard Busters, who'd finished second in four other Pacificwide tournaments since they formed earlier this decade.

-- That Pacificwide tournament in Korea six weeks ago fueled the Yard Busters' hunger, coach Lance Jones said. Yard Busters went 5-1 in pool play, second to 2008 champion Sang Ji University. In the playoffs, Yard Busters lost to eventual champion Lady Guzzlers, a collection of All-Air Force and All-Army players, and were eliminated by Sang Ji, but not before Yard Busters beat Osan 7-3.

-- The effort at Pacificwide showed the Yard Busters "that they could compete at that level," Jones said. The result? Yard Busters began working that much harder with the goal of winning the Firecracker, and then returning to Korea next May looking to better their result.

-- Pitchslap, like the Yard Busters a collection of servicewomen and dependent spouses, certainly had their chances in the second of two championship games. After getting just five hits in the first game, Pitchslap had 13 in the second, but Kenni Godwin looked at a called third strike with two runners on to end the fifth and Lauren Harrell grounded into an inning-ending double play with two on to end the sixth. "We never took advantage of ... opportunities," Pitchslap coach Steve Erickson said.

-- If the Firecracker served as an unofficial final audition for those who've been to an All-Service camp and those who want to go, then many players acquitted themselves nicely. Besides Twaddell (Air Force) and Stevens (Army), Krause and Chris Wine of Legion, each Marines, got their swings into gear. Des Ray of Camp Humphreys went a solid 4-for-4 against Legion and showed good range throughout the weekend. Army team captain Elmer Mason and Yongsan teammate Doug Hooks still have it, as do Air Force veterans Chris Simpson of Legion, Dan Bowen of Yokota Air Base, Tim Dawsey (Marine Corps) of Okinawa's Master Batters, Brian Denman (Air Force) of Okinawa's Club Red and others.

-- If Pitchslap's Marcy Erickson, the coach's wife, were active duty, she'd have gone All-Air Force as many times as she wanted.

-- The women's tournament featured a whole host of players who could be the "next big things" on their respective All-Service teams, most of whom played fastpitch in high school. Yard Busters' Tara Ballard (Marine Corps) and Osan's Amanda Maestas each have good speed, arm, range and glove. Ballard should have the green light to steal every time she reaches base. But they can't steal first. Once they adjust their batting swings to slowpitch timing, they'll be unstoppable.

-- Same goes for shortstop Sandra Gonzales and pitcher Lisa Stiger of Yongsan, high school fastpitch veterans each. You can tell Stiger played fastpitch because of her delivery. Each displays good speed, range, glove and arms.

-- Decisions, decisions. What will soon-to-be Seoul American senior infielder Maria Garcia do when she graduates? College softball? A military career? She's been an anchor in the Falcons' infield for three years now, catches anything hit to her, has a shotgun arm, great range and a solid stick. She's one who can adjust from fastpitch to slowpitch very quickly. If she goes military, she -- and Maestas, Ballard and others -- will be an All-Service player for years to come.

-- Farewell, Tim Haag of Club Red. We'll miss you.

-- For the All-Tournament awards, click here.

-- Did Club Red get a wrong turn over that overturned safe-to-out call on that steal against Master Batters? That was the buzz around the fields after Master Batters came back to score seven runs against Club Red and win Saturday's knockout game 11-5. Initially, a Club Red baserunner was ruled safe, and the plate umpire concured with the field umpire's call. But after further discussion, they changed the call to out, angering Club Red coach Larry Borum, who wanted the game played under protest.

-- Page 18, section 19 of the tournament bylaws regarding protests clearly states: "There are no protests. a) Games will never be played under protest. Any disputes will be resolved at the time of the protestable incident by the officials and when necessary by the Tournament Director or their representative. b) Decisions based on the judgment of the officials are final and not subject to protest or dispute. c) The tournament director or representative will be the final judge on all disputes."

-- Borum's contention was that by changing their call, the umpires were going against their own final judgment, which becomes protestable. "Bottom line, if that's his call, and he felt he was in the best position to see and make the call, that's it. After that, it becomes a dead issue," one tournament organiser said later. "Whether it's a good call or a bad call, it's not a game-ending call. Other things happened before that, but everybody remembers the last thing that happened."

-- Who knows? Had the call remained safe, maybe Club Red could have turned it into a big inning. Or maybe the next batter would have popped out. Or perhaps, as the tournament organiser suggested, the team could have done or not done things earlier to put it in a better position to win?

-- There could be a change to the tournament's name next year. Tournament founder Steve Rowland retired at Marine Corps Community Services' Semper Fit chief last month, and his successor, Bert Griffith, has begun sounding people out about changing the name of the tournament to honor Steve's 10 years on the job, calling it the Steve Rowland Firecracker Shootout.

-- Gunners Fitness Center Softball Fields ground crew did yeoman work against tremendous odds all weekend, especially during day-long rain on Friday. Wave after wave of showers, thunderstorms and rain pelted Fields 1, 3 and 9, but causing minimal disruption to the playing schedule. In fact, the double-elimination playoffs remained well ahead of schedule, with some games starting as many as 15 to 20 minutes early. Nothing that scores of bags of Turface quick-dry solution and plenty of hands wielding rakes couldn't cure.

-- Oh, and hey, Legion ... the camera's fine. I lost just one page out of my notepad. The rest of the papers in my pocket are gradually drying even as I type this. However, would you please wait until I can clear out of the way before you drench the coach with ice water NEXT time, please? *smile* ... Boy, you talk about coooooooollllllddddd!!!!!

236 days.