Record 116 Teams Compete For Titles In Western Nationals

Dec. 1, 2014 – Ross McCulligan

SACRAMENTO – The 14th annual Western National Championships returned to Sacramento and South Placer County for the second straight year. A record 116 teams competed in Central Valley’s first leg of the most coveted prize in senior softball, the Triple Grand Slam.

Winners of the Western Nationals earn a berth in the U.S. National Game against winners of the Eastern Nationals at the World Masters Championships in Las Vegas. In addition, winners also receive a birth in the Tournament of Champions in February.

The Western Nationals grew to 23 divisions in order to accommodate the 116 teams. The Aug. 5-10 tournament utilized four complexes throughout the Elk Grove, Sacramento and South Placer region.

SSUSA, the Sacramento Convention Bureau and Placer Valley Tourism are looking at long-term plans to keep the Western Nationals in the Central Valley.

“We have developed a great relationship with each CVB and believe the Western Nationals will only continue to thrive in terms of quality and size here in the Capitol City,” said Fran Dowell, executive director of SSUSA.

Many players sought hydration and shade as the temperature reached triple digits for a few days of the tournament. Despite the heat, the tournament was a great success as teams battled their way to the first step of the Triple Grand Slam.

The 40 Major Plus division was strictly a Northern California battle. Six teams, all hailing from the Central Valley, slugged through an extremely competitive division.

The two seed, Prestige/Premier lost their opening bracket game to NorCal Stars, 23-19, forcing them into the loser’s bracket. No. 1 seed Louisville Sluggers, handedly won two in a row to await an opponent in the championship. Prestige/Premier fought their way to an ‘IF’ game with Louisville Sluggers, however the Sluggers defeated Prestige, 24-15, in the ‘IF’ to win the division.

The 40 Major division included six teams from Nevada and California. Epic dominated pool play and the bracket, defeating their opponents by an average 10 runs in five games. They ultimately took the division championship against Reno Elite, 17-12.

Seven teams competed in the 50 Major Plus division. A barrage of close games occurred in bracket play but in the end, No. 2 seed God’s Sports Company, squared off with No. 1 seed Sommerville Softball in the championships. Sommerville made quick work of GSC, as they had with all their competitors, defeating them, 21-5, to win the 50 Major Plus division.

Cornerstone, hailing from Oregon, dominated the nine-team 50 Major bracket. They grabbed the top seed heading into bracket play and defeated Aftershock, 23-22, in the fourth round of games. Aftershock then defeated Doerflinger, 23-12, to face off with Cornerstone in the championship game. Aftershock was ultimately too beat up to compete, forcing them to forfeit the championship to Cornerstone.

The 50 AAA division was extremely competitive with nine teams battling for the division. Number three seeded Sugamele Golf was upset early by Twelve Gauge 13-12, but Sugamele exacted their revenge on Twelve Gauge, 18-17, later in the bracket to then face Stanislaus Sluggers in the championship. Stanislaus fell to Sugamele, 14-8, forcing them to the ‘IF’ game. However, Stanislaus fought back to win the game, 19-10, and hence the division championship.

The 55 Major Plus and Major divisions played a mixed round robin on Friday and Saturday morning, and then split into individual brackets for each division.

California Energy, Goodman Racing and MTC squared off in the Major Plus division. California Energy defeated Goodman Racing 18-16 to make it to the championship against MTC. MTC forfeited the first championship game to Cal Energy setting up a one-game championship. MTC was not forced to regret the forfeit as they defeated Cal Energy 23-19 to win the division.

The 55 Major division also consisted of three teams, Avenue Towing, Scrap Iron Rocky Mountain Thunder and Wolfpack Softball. Scrap Iron defeated Wolfpack17-11 in the second round and then once again 13-12 to win the championship for Colorado.

Five teams competed in the 55 AAA division, four from California and Scrap Iron Rockies from Colorado. All teams went 1-1 in pool play forcing run differentials into effect for seeding. Baker Boyz lost their third round game to TRI-C Machine 16-4 only to come back and defeat them in the championship 21-11 to force an ‘IF.’ TRI-C took control in the ‘IF’ handing the Baker Boyz a 26-14 defeat to win the 55 AAA division championship.

The 55/60 AA division consisted of two 55AA teams and one 60 AA team. Ain’t No Saints (60 AA) grabbed the top seed while Pastimers (55 AA) and Scrap Iron Coyotes (55AA) were seeded two and three respectively. Ain’t No Saints defeated the Coyotes 24-17 and then Pastimers 20-19 to win the division. Pastimers also claimed a TOC birth as the 55 AA division winner.

God’s Sports Co. fell to Timberworks Construction in their last seeding game Saturday morning. That would be their final loss of the tournament as they went on to defeat Timberworks and Arizona Rogue by an average of eight runs per game to win the 60 Major Plus division.

The 60 Major division was full of tight competition. Enviro-Vac, hailing from British Columbia, grabbed the number one seed only to lose to Pope Transport 13-12 in the third round. Pope Transport then defeated MBA Elite 15-12 and 6-1 consecutively to win the division championship.

The largest division of the tournament was the 60 AAA with 11 teams. Because of the size of the division bracket play began on Friday with three games in the first round. Viejitos, out of California, went 0-2 in pool play and looked destined for an early exit as the No. 10 seed. They then caught lighting in a bottle winning games five in a row by an average of 6.5 runs per game, eventually defeating Cut Loose, 17-7, for the division title.

Full Circle and Omen competed in a best-of-three in the 65 Major Plus division. Full Circle defeated Omen 19-14 in the first game but Omen came back to take the second 15-14 setting up a third and final championship game. The highest scoring game of the division ensued with Full Circle defeating Omen, 22-16 to win the division.

Three teams competed in the 65 Major division. Enviro-Vac grabbed the No. 1 seed to gain a bye in bracket play. The Marauders beat Yeagers 14-6 only to fall to Enviro-Vac 20-15. The Marauders then defeated Yeagers once again to gain their way into the championship only to be defeated by Enviro-Vac once again 14-9 in the championship game.

Nine teams, eight from California and one from Nevada, competed in the 65 AAA division. Game On, seeded No. 1, won their first two bracket games before losing to the Sacramento Islanders 16-15 advancing the Islanders to the championship game. Nor-Cal STIXX, as the No. 2 seed, lost their opening bracket game to the Islanders, forcing them to win six games in a row to face the Islanders in the championship. Nor-Cal STIXX went on quite a run but came up short against the Islanders 19-17 in the championship.

In the 65 AA division, Damaged Goods and Sacramento Buds squared off in a best-of-three bracket. Damaged Goods was too much for the Buds defeating them in two consecutive games 19-8 and 16-8 respectively.

The 70 Major Plus division was also a best-of-three, pitting Omen and Stark Street Pizza competing for the division. Although both games were tight, Omen won the championship with consecutive wins over Stark Street by scores of 15-14 and 17-14.

The 70/75 Platinum mixed division consisted of four 70 Major teams and one 75 Major Plus team. The San Francisco Seals (75 M+) grabbed the top seed but lost to Connection (70 M) in the second round, 14-13. As the No. 2 seed, Connection ran off three straight wins including another defeat of the Seals in the championship game 16-10. The San Francisco Seals were deemed the 75 M Plus champions.

The 70 Silver division included four 70 AAA teams and one 70 AA team. Can-Sirs (70 AA) played exhibition, not allowing them to advance in the bracket. Kokopelli Eye Scorpions, out of Arizona, defeated Triple Play, out of California 16-15 to advance to the championship game. Triple Play then clawed their way into the championship as well and forced an ‘IF’ game against Kokopelli after a 15-5 victory in the championship. Both teams struggled offensively in the ‘IF’ with Kokopelli edging out a narrow 7-4 win for the division title.

The 75 Gold division was made up of two 75 AAA teams, State Roofing Systems and Oregon Roadrunners, and one 75 Major, PDR Fastsigns. PDR and the Roadrunners battled for their right to play State Roofing in the finals with PDR winning a close game 14-13. PDR went on to defeat State Roofing in the championship 16-9 only to lose the ‘IF’ 22-17 crowning State Roofing division champion. PDR was also deemed the 75 Major champion.

The 80 Gold division also drew three teams. Elk Grove Renegades (80 M), Fairway Ford (80 M) and Redwood City Chiefs (80 AAA) competed in the division. Fairway Ford was handed their only loss of the bracket by the Renegades in the championship 15-7. Fairway Ford then defeated the Renegades in the ‘IF’ 16-8 to win the division. Redwood City Chiefs was awarded the 80 AAA division championship.

In the Women’s 40 Gold division, five teams competed for the championship. Penguins out of Nevada grabbed the top seed but lost two games in a row to Old School, 17-16 and 15-14, the later in the championship game. Penguins was awarded the 40 AAA division as Old School was the only 40 Major team in the division.

Northern California was represented in the Women’s 40 AA/50+ division with B.O.O.B.S competing against Ladiez Steel Smackin in a best-of-three. B.O.O.B.S. got the best of Steel Smackin defeating them 11-6 and 19-6 for the division championship.

Western National All Tournament Players Named

2014 Western National Championships All Tournament players:

Men’s 40 MajorPlus – Louisville Slugger 40: Jim Heflin, Tom Sanchez, Aaron Gallwitz, Kevin Foster, Derek Wilson

Men’s 40 Major – Reno Elite: Blake Gundmundson, Richard (Mo) Mockowski, Angel Olvera

Men’s 50 MajorPlus – Sommerville Softball: Paul Salow, Darrel Beeler, Ron Parnell, Mike Reed, Isaac (Chito) Alvidrez; God’s Sports Company: Scott Camery, Scott Spalding, Frank Riese, Dwayne Curry

Men’s 50 Major – Cornerstone: Rick Snyder, Al Larsen, Jeff Block, Kenny Stewart, Terry Clayton

Men’s 50 AAA – Stanislaus Sluggers: Gilbert (Peewee) Rosenburgh, Jess Taylor, Randy Ehlers, Don Stogdell, Marty Winters; Sugamele Golf: Paul Smit, Clifford Gannaway, Steve Fletcher

Men’s 55 MajorPlus – MTC 55: Bob Aikman, Kurt Mahaney, Dave Matusich, Gary Robertson, Ron Webb; Goodman Racing: Scott Riley, Tom Palmer

Men’s 55 Major – Scrap Iron Rocky Mountain Thunder: Mark Troxel, Tim Ryan, Chris McTigue, Dave Schultz, Mark Haupt; Avenue Towing: Brad Spruitenburg, Keith Erickson

Men’s 55 AAA – Tri-C Machine: Dave England, Mark Markarian, Rick Glazer, Scott Depelo, Mike Wright

Men’s 60 MajorPlus – GSC: Mickey Ayala, Barry Oliver, Steve Owens, Barry Scarpellino, Marvin Mielke; Rogue 60: Kenny Vaught, Rober Lawrence, John Vincent

Men’s 60 Major – Pope Transport: Dennis Muth, Ron Bruce, Paul Cox, Mike Baehman, Mike Brown; Ryan’s Way: Lew Agius, Tim Eicher

Men’s 60 AAA – Viejitos: Kevin Austin, Joe Daniel, Roderick Faulk, Feliciano Garcia Jr, Feliciano Yacap; Cal Xtreme: Dennis McNulty, Richard Mansker

Men’s 60 AA – Ain’t No Saints: Wayne McLaughlin, Steve Schuler, Dave Avery, Donnie Quinn, Robert Navarro

Men’s 65 MajorPlus – Full Circle: Steve Callan, Randy Gomez, Billy Steele, Tom Hanratty, Four Pitchers (Ellwin Jobe, Ron Danoski, Corky Northrop, Mark Lough); Omen 65: Mike Baldonado, Fred Purvis, Dan Walsworth

Men’s 65 Major – Enviro-Vac Marauders: Ray Wilson, Ross Evison, Steve Ogin, Trevors Bjurman, Jim Klassen; Yeager’s 65: Richard Fink, Jim Thomas

Men’s 65 AAA – Sacramento Islanders: Bruce Gilmore, Lou Chavez, Dave Bristol, Perry O’Laughlin, Jody Andagan; Nor Cal Stixx: Ken (Spanky) Andrews, Steve Etchieson, Hiroshi (Hero) Tarumi; Game On: Billy Boswell, Tommy Thompson

Men’s 65 AA – Damaged Goods: Tim Ryan, Jerry Baugh, John Mertens, Ken Leppke, Jose Santana; Sacramento Buds: Rich Del Chiaro, Lee Marshall, Tosh Ohara

Men’s 70 MajorPlus – Omen 70: Jerry Ford, Ron McElyea, John Chacon, Tom Best, Tom French, Billy Wilson; Stark Street Pizza: Jack Robinson, John Dire, Bob Williams, Hank Cluess

Men’s 70 Major – Connection 70: Ken Cornelison, Tom Weaver, Jerry Herling, Bill Schroeder, Tony Ivarone; San Francisco Seals: Herb Epple, Argie Haddock, Pete Conley

Men’s 70 Silver – California Oaks 70: Bob Scaletti, Gene Hanson

Men’s 75 Gold – State Roofing Systems: John Ventura, Bill Guzules, Larry Heise, Dennis Logie, Bill Beshore; PDR Fastsigns: Mel Bentley, John Fournier, Arlie Lyons; Oregon Roadrunners: Mike Urtz, Roger Smith

Men’s 80 Gold – Fairway Ford: RJ Jerrels, Roger Williams, John Chacon, Frank Perdue, Ken Lockman; Elk Grove Renegades: Don Fields, Ray Newman, Vern Schlotthauer; Redwood City Chiefs: Ted Alarcon, Doug Luther

Women’s 40 Gold – Old School: Deena Dobbins, Diane Dahilig, Kim Petersen, Wendy Hernandez, Alma Guzman; Penguins: Maura Penger, Teresa Smith, Cheryl Tamba; Steel Runnin: Jennifer Bennett, Shana Groff

Women’s 50 – Ladiez Steel Smackin: Melanie Roberts, Sheila Stimmler, Malia Wolf, Shari McAneney