Fifth Annual Pacific Rim Championships

Oct. 1, 2017

CANTON, CHINA – The China team from the land of the Giant Pandas won the Fifth Annual Pacific Rim Championships here on Oct. 14-15.

The team from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province which is known for giant pandas, clinched the title by posting the best record, 3-0 in seeding play on Saturday, after the games were rained out Sunday.

Chengdu, which had formed the team only a year ago, showed remarkable skill on both offense and defense.

“Normally we have the edge because we understand the fundamentals of the game better because we have played for decades,” said Team USA manager Terry Hennessy.  “But the Chengdu team surprised us – they are fundamentally sound, which is very surprising for players who have just started – and it bodes very well for the sport in China”

Team USA went 1-2 Saturday and finished a distant 6^th of 8 teams. Teams from Japan, Taiwan the US and China competed.

Team USA named Dale Myers MVP, Dave Cook Best Offense and Jeff Senten Best Defense.

From left to right: Dave Cook (best offense), Dale Myers (MVP) and Jeff Senten (best defense) for Team USA.

The team also visited several primary and secondary schools on its tour of Beijing, Canton and the Hunan Province to teach the basics of teeball, baseball and softball.

“These instructional sessions are part of an ongoing project to establish teeball and softball in the PE programs in primary and secondary schools in China,” said Hennessy.


Team USA members with students at the National Baseball Academy in Beijing.

Senior Softball USA has opened an office in Beijing to help coordinate the effort, he said.

Look for a compete feature on the project in the next issue of Senior Softball News in December.