Tournament wrapup

Softball, International Style, Eh? -- Canada Welcomes AA Championships; 55 Hometown Team Upsets US Champs

Nov. 1, 2003 – Senior Softball-USA

WINNIPEG, Canada ˆ The AA Championships had a distinct international flavor, complete with kilted bagpipers, twin US and Canadian flags flying high, and even a Canadian Mounty resplendent in royal red jacket and shiny black riding boots.

High-ranking government officials ˆ from the Canadian Government, the Province of Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg ˆ were on hand to welcome teams at the beautiful 7-field Blumberg Softball Complex on the edge of the vast Canadian prairie at the outskirts of Manitoba.

More than 100 volunteers from "Friendly Manitoba" were on hand to help with the tournament and make sure everything went smoothly and that players felt welcome. Six AA Divisions competed in Winnipeg: 40 Masters, 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 Divisions.

On the softball field, the Canadian hosts were all business, with the hometown Winnipeg Sports Traders shocking US National Champions Georgia Sunview Trucking in the 55 AA World Championships final games.

Canadian teams won two of the six divisions competing in Winnipeg. In addition to the Sports Traders in the 55 AA Division, the Union team from Winnipeg captured the 40 Master World Championships.

Three teams won the Triple Grand Slam here: Syracuse Cyclones from New York won the first 70 AA Division, the West Michigan Sportsmen took the 65 AA Division Triple Grand Slam and the Dream Team from Grand Rapids, Michigan, took the Triple Grand Slam in the 60 AA Division..

The Akron Silver Legends of Ohio captured the 50 AA World Championships.

"We are happy to host the Worlds for a second time," said Ross MacIver, co-chair of the Polar Bear Classics, which sponsored the Championships in Winnipeg. "The exposure of bringing this international event to Winnipeg will help us promote senior softball throughout Canada."

The Major-Plus, Major and AAA World Championships were played in Winnipeg in 2000.

40 Masters Division

The Union team from Winnipeg rolled through the round-robin games with a 4-0 record, advanced to the double-elimination as first seed, and swept all three games of the final elimination.

Union beat Southwest Thunder of Winnipeg 21-5, then the North End Hawks of Manitoba 16-6 and finally the Bowler from Fargo, North Dakota, 22-11 in the championship game to win the 40 Masters World Championships.

50 AA Division

The Akron Legends from Ohio won not only the World Championships, but beat the Canadian All Stars in a slugfest exhibition game on the first day of play.

Akron punched up 23 runs to beat the Canadian All Star team 23-7 before a large ˆ and disappointed ˆ crowd from Winnipeg.

Akron kept on hammering the ball, and opponents, chalking up a 4-0 record in round-robin play and winning top seed for double-elimination play. In double-elimination, Akron defeated the Winnipeg Rusty Bats 21-3, then a strong Batheater.com team from British Columbia 14-11.

Batheater.com knocked Akron for its first loss in the Championship game, 14-4, forcing an "if" game. Akron rebounded in the final game to clinch the 50 AA World Championships in a 12-11 nail-biter.

55 AA Division

In an exciting upset for the hometown team, the Winnipeg Sports Traders emerged from a mediocre 2-2 round robin record only to be knocked into the loser's bracket in double-elimination play.

The spunky Sports Traders fought their way out of the loser's bracket, beat the US National Champions Sunview Trucking by a single run in the championship game and forced a final game that turned out to be one of the best of the AA Championships.

The Sports Traders leaped into the lead in the bottom of the first inning with a 4-run rally, to lead Sunview Trucking 4-1. But Sunview answered with 5 runs in the top of the second inning to pull into the lead. Sunview stretched the lead to 11-8 in the fourth inning.

That was the last time Sunview would lead. The Sports Traders chalked up 9 runs in the next two innings, to take a 17-13 lead. But Sunview came to life in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score with 4 runs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, with outs dribbling away and the end of the inning in sight, the Sports Traders pulled out a couple of key hits to score the winning run and win the 55 AA World Championships. The hometown crowd went crazy.

60 AA Division

The Michigan Dream Team came into the double-elimination with a 3-1 record and ended up third seed out of 13 teams. That's when the Eastern National Champions got hot.

The Dream Team beat the Chicago Classics 15-11, then the Saskatoon Silver Foxes 19-15 and the Palm Springs Strokers of California twice ˆ 20-7 and 24-10 ˆ to win the World Championships and the Triple Grand Slam. The Dream Team were behind the entire game, then scored 16 runs in the top of the seventh inning to seal their victory.

65 AA Division

West Michigan Sportsmen took a while to get warmed up. They sputtered in the round robin play, wining two games by a few runs and losing another by 6. Then they came into sync and scored 30 runs in the last round-robin game against the Saskatoon 65s to post a 3-1 record and gain a third seed.

In double-elimination play, the Sportsmen beat the Syracuse Cyclones 65s of New York 28-17, then the KD Cruizers of Edmonton, Canada, 19-17 and the hometown favorite Flashbacks 13-3 and 18-8 to win the World Championships and the Triple Grand Slam.

70 AA Division

The Syracuse Cyclones 70 of New York upset the top-seeded Carefree Getaway Flashbacks of Winnipeg to win the first 70 AA Division World Championships title.

Syracuse came into the double-elimination with a 2-2 record, then beat the St. Paul Senior Saints of Minnesota 18-10. That victory set up the first of three meetings with the Number One Seed Flashbacks.

The Cyclones knocked the Flashbacks into the loser's bracket 20-9, then lost to the Flashbacks 18-8, forcing a final "if" game for the championships. Syracuse beat the Flashbacks 12-8 in the last game to win the 70 AA World Championships and the Triple Grand Slam.