Tournament wrapup

Southern Belles and Serious Softball -- Underdogs Reap Upsets, Japan 65 AAA Team Competes, Radio, TV Cover Championships

Nov. 20, 2003 – Senior Softball-USA

MOBILE, Alabama ˆ There was little doubt that the 2003 Senior Softball World Championships were being played in the South. Make that the Deep South.

The October weather was perfect; warm with a hint of humidity, but little rain. And circulating throughout the West Mobile County Softball Complex during the World Championships were young ladies in light pastel hoop skirts and parasols, with wispy hats and melodic southern accents.

The Azalea Trail Maids were official ambassadors of Mobile. Fifty Trail Maids are selected every year from among 2,000 Mobile-area senior high school students ˆ grades are as important as looks ˆ to represent Mobile in national events, such as the Macy's Parade in New York City.

They certainly added a Southern flair to the 2003 Senior Softball World Championships sponsored by Compass Bank in Mobile played from Oct. 16-26. Some 131 teams from 30 states, Canada and Japan participated, bringing 4,000 players and their families to Mobile and infusing $1.5 million into the Mobile economy over the 10-day World Championships.

On the fields, games in the 19 divisions competing in Mobile were generally close, with underdogs surprising favorites in several divisions:

One of the biggest surprises came in the 50 AAA, when the 15th seeded Road Dogs from California defeated the number 2 seed El Paso Drillers of Texas 13-3 to advance in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination competition. Another underdog -- 12th seeded Kansas City Wiley Old Vets -- knocked off 5th-seed Ursillo Insurance of Rhode Island 23-14, then beat 4th-seed Tennessee Legends 16-11 to advance to through the winner's bracket.

In the 50 Major Division, 5th-seed Ruth Realty of Washington advanced to the winner's bracket and eventually to victory.

In another upset, the Michigan Medical Miracles beat top-seeded US National Champ California Express in two tight games (6-5 and 8-7) to clinch the 55 Women's Division of the World Championships.

In the 65 Major Division, top seeded Thousand Oak Panthers of California was beaten by the eighth ˆ and last ˆ seed Keller Williams Realty of Michigan 15-5, knocking the Panthers into the loser's bracket. The Panthers beat the Texas Classics, 19-6, and then were knocked out of the tournament by the New York Statesmen, 12-7.

Some of the most memorable action came outside the fences in two of the fields, which were bordered by brambles, tall grass and thick forest. Officials at first tried to retrieve home run balls from the forest, but generally gave up after spotting rattlesnakes and Copperheads slithering in the heavy brush.

"We used almost 150 more balls than we expected because we weren't able to retrieve many of the home run balls," said Rick Seifman, executive tournament director.

More serious news reached one of the players during the 50+ competition.

Paul Smit of the 50 AAA Road Dogs heard that the California wildfires were edging toward his house in Rancho Cucamonga.

"My daughter called and was worried because the fire was within 4-5 miles of my house," said Smit, 50. "But it should be safe."

Smit continued to play for two more days, until the Championships were over.

Two teams from the Far East competed in the Deep South.

A women's team and a 65+ AAA Men's team flew in from Japan to play in Mobile.

"We have players from teams in Osaka and Tokyo," said Shunji Sato, 69, who plays third base for the All Japan 65 Men's team.

The team played four games, winning only one, but they were happy with their experience.

"Mobile is spacious. It has blue, blue skies, good air and very friendly people," said Shoji Hoshi, 69, who catches for the team. "People are very cheerful and polite."

Hoshi and Sato did notice one big difference from Tokyo, however:

"We didn't see anyone walking on the street. Everyone drives. In Tokyo, most people walk," said Hoshi.

The hosts from Mobile all commented on the high level of sportsmanship and camaraderie during the World Championships.

"It's inspiring to see these teams play ˆ especially the 80+ Division," said Danny Corte, president of the Mobile Area Sports Commission.

"Teams were gracious in victory and loss," said Terry Rester, supervisor of the West Mobile Softball Complex. "It is refreshing to have senior teams competing here."

Here is a division-by-division summary of the Major-Plus, Major, AAA and Women's Division World Championships in Mobile (For Women's Division results, see Page X):

80 Division

The games in the 80 Division in mobile were heralded in Sports Illustrated and heavily covered by television, radio and newspapers in Mobile.

The eldest of the senior divisions did not disappoint.

First Federal Savings of Florida defeated Tremont Hotel of Virginia in five straight games to become the 2003 80+ Division World Champions.

75 Division

The younger Tremont Hotel team exacted some revenge for its older brothers in the 75 Division, by scratching out back-to-back 1-run victories in the last two games of double-elimination play to take the 75 Division championships.

Tremont beat top-seeded Senior Friendship Centers of Florida by identical scores ˆ 10-9 and 10-9 ˆ in the last two games.

70 Major Division

A strong Mitchell's Construction from Red Lion, Pa., swept the 70 Major Division with a 7-1 record. In the process, Mitchell's became the first team to not only win the Triple Grand Slam, but to win all four possible legs: the 2002 Winter Nationals in Florida, the 2003 Eastern National Championships in Georgia, and both the US National Championships and the World Championships in Mobile.

The California Gold Rush gave Mitchell's a run for their money, beating them in the first World Championships game 11-6 and forcing an "if" game to decide the title.

Mitchell's came back in that last game to beat the Gold Rush 20-9.

70 AAA Division

Texas Spirit from Plano had a perfect tournament, posting a 7-0 record, to win the 70 AAA World Championships.

Texas Spirit sailed through the double-elimination portion of the tournament, beating the Louisville 70s, 15-2; then Cape Cod 5 from Yarmouth Port, Ma., 22-7, and finally blanking Louisville again in the Championship game 19-0.

65 Major-Plus Division

Perennial powerhouse Fairway Ford of Placentia, Ca., capped off its Triple Grand Slam run by winning the World Championships by one run over Dixie Gas of North Palm Beach, Fl.

Fairway scored 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning against an explosive Dixie Gas team to wrap up the World Championships ˆ and the final leg of the Triple Grand Slam. Fairway had previously won the Western National Championships in Washington and the US National Championships in Mobile.

65 Major Division

The Emerald City Masters won the World Championships and completed the coveted Triple Grand Slam in the 65 Majors. Emerald City came into the double-elimination as second-seed with a 3-1 record. They were perfect after that single loss.

Emerald City beat Cash 4 College from New Jersey 10-9, then topped the New York Statesmen, 13-9; Keller-Williams Realty of Michigan, 23-12, and finally beat the New York Statesmen a second time ˆ in the championship game ˆ 19-7 to win the 2003 65 Major World Championships.

Emerald City had won the Western national Championships in its home state and the US Nationals.

65 AAA Division

Minnesota conquered the South in the 65 AAA with double-elimination victories over the Houston Texans, 17-16, before melting the Icemen of Kentucky in two straight contests ˆ 12-6 and 9-7.

The Icemen had pulled ahead of Minnesota in the bottom of the fourth inning, 7-6. Minnesota tied it in the top of the fifth inning, 7-7, then scored two runs to pull ahead 9-7 in the top of the seventh inning.

60 Major-Plus Division

A gutsy Thomas Engineering of Virginia emerged from the loser's bracket to capture the 60 Major-Plus Championship. Thomas Engineering lost the first double-elimination game 14-13 to Danny's of Maryland, then beat Georgia USA 21-15, then exacted revenge against Danny's. by winning 17-11, and forced an "if" game by beating the powerful top-seeded Florida Legends 11-9.

Thomas Engineering edged out the Legends 18-17 in the final "if" game to claim the 2003 World Championships.

60 Major Division

The Texas Sports Club of Houston battled from the fourth seed position in double-elimination to win the 60 Major Division Championships in four games.

Texas beat Our Team from Wisconsin 24-8, then toppled first-seed Pensacola 60s of Florida 21-11, and beat second-seed Pompano Beach Bums of Florida 15-12.

Texas met Pensacola in the Championship game and defeated the Florida team solidly in the finals, 21-3 to win the Championship.

60 AAA Division

The Chicago Classics 60s got hot when it counted, rolling up 5 straight wins in double-elimination after entering as seventh seed in a strong 14-team division.

Chicago beat Diamond R Classics of Indiana 11-7, then the US National Champions Carolina Cardinals of North Carolina 25-24, then the Akron Silver Masters of Ohio 26-14 and top-seeded New York Elevator 24-12.

Chicago faced the Akron Silver Masters in the Championship game, but Akron couldn't douse the red-hot Chicago Classics, who won the 60 AAA Championships game 23-11.

55 Major Division

Gulfshore Insurance of Florida took the 55 Major Division with impressive double-elimination victories over the Matadors of Florida 20-11, D & K of California 20-11 and, in the final game, Gulfshore beat D & K 23-15.

55 AAA Division

A scrappy Old Dawgs team from Northern California came close to knocking off Office Product Warehouse of Florida ˆ fighting through 7 games and the loser's bracket to force an "if" game ˆ but fell short in the final contest 16-8.

A tough Office Products team played six games coming through the winner's bracket of the 18-team 55 AAA Division. Office Products beat Monkey Joe's of New Jersey 18-16, then Team Honda of Louisiana18-13, then NCI Softball Club of Southern California 17-14 and the Kansas City Avengers 20-15.

The Old Dawgs beat Office Products in the first Championship game 24-21, forcing an "if" game. Office Products took a commanding lead in the first three innings of the last game, pulling ahead of the Dawgs 15-0 ˆ and they never looked back. The final score of that game was16-8, propelling Office Products to the 55 AAA Division Championships title.

50 Major-Plus

The Las Vegas Stars scratched out three victories in the toughest division in Senior Softball by a total of four runs to win the 50 Major-Plus World Championships.

The Stars started double-elimination against the team that had beaten them the day before in the US National Championships ˆ the Florida Crush. The Stars beat the Crush 22-20 (their largest margin of victory), then beat the Mavericks of Southern California 15-14, before beating the Florida Crush in the final game 12-11 to win the World Championships.

50 Major Division

The WE Ruth 50s of Renton, Wa., swept the Triple Grand Slam in the 50 Major Division with a huge last two innings in the World Championships final game.

The score was close in the first five innings of Ruth's championships game against Damon's Grill of Maryland, with Ruth in the lead 15-10 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ruth began to heat up in the top of the sixth, posting 5 runs, and Damon's failed to score in the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Ruth unleashed its power, scoring 16 runs and pulling ahead 36-10. Damon's Grill got 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough to stop Ruth 50s from winning the World Championships ˆ and the Triple Grand Slam.

The WE Ruth 50s team had won the Western national Championships and the US National Championships earlier.

50 AAA Division

The Chicago Classics Red played near-perfect softball in the 50 AAA Division and the result was a perfect record ˆ and a World Championships title.

The Classics Red were top seed going into the double-elimination play against 18 other teams with a 4-0 record.

The Classics started double-elimination beating the Stixx of California 20-9, then Jackson Merchants of Michigan 21-17, and the Kansas City Wiley Old Vets 20-16. In the last two games, the Classics faced off against the strong Road Dogs of California, who had just won the US National Championships.

Chicago beat the Road Dogs 21-16 in the first contest and 23-12 in the final game to take the 50 AAA World Championships title.