Team Wins Every Game in 2024 Spring Worlds to Honor Late Manager

March 1, 2024

By Donna McGuire
Softball News Report

Seventeen teams punched tickets to the 2025 Tournament of Champions by winning titles during the Senior Softball USA Spring World Championships played in mid-March in Utah and Arizona.

Seven of those teams did not lose a game the entire tournament. They finished a combined 39-0.

Overall, 117 teams participated. Eight played in the men’s 40+ Masters division March 16-17 in Bullhead, Az. All other teams played in one of the two sessions that spanned March 19-24 at parks in Saint George, Utah.

Men's 40+ teams play at Bullhead City's Rotary Park, located between the Colorado River and scenic mountains.

Beautiful springtime days basked Utah all six days.

“What a difference a year makes.” Tournament Director Dave Dowell said. “In 2023, we lost one of the sessions due to heavy rains, but St. George more than made up for it this time around.  Bright sunshine and blue skies resulted in perfect playing conditions and scenic views that looked like Chamber of Commerce postcards from every field.”

Unfortunately, tragedy struck one team on its first day of play.

Minnesota Masters 80s General Manager Richard Root (photo below), who would have turned 79 this year, collapsed during the seventh inning of his team’s second pool game at The Fields at Little Valley in St. George.

At the time, the Scrap Iron 85 Legends were preparing to bat in the bottom of the seventh trailing 19-12. Though a tournament director and umpire quickly began resuscitation measures, Root did not revive. Scrap Iron ceded the game to Minnesota at that point.

“I took a vote of the team, and everyone voted to finish the tournament,” said John Remington, the Minnesota Masters’ then field manager and now manager. From then on, the Masters played every game in honor of Root, he said.

They won every game.

Richard Root, 78, former manager of Minnesota Masters 80s (June 16, 1945 - March 19, 2024

Results:

Men’s 40+ Masters Gold: Granddaddy Softball/GS of Nevada (photo below), which started bracket play seeded sixth among eight teams, went 6-2 overall and double dipped the fifth-seeded So Cal Misfits of California 32-22 and 23-20 for the title. Avalon Meat Candy of Nevada finished third.

Men’s 50+ Major: Second-seeded 4 Him Factory/Proton 50s of Arizona (photo below) edged fourth-seeded Never Forget of California 20-19 in the championship game. Top-seeded Top Gun Diamonds of California finished third in the four-team division.

Men’s 50+ AAA: Second-seeded Arizona Thunder/Powered by 4himco.com capped a 6-0 weekend with three close games in a row, including a 24-22 championship victory over Team SMS of Nevada, which won three elimination games to reach the finals. Top-seeded Viejos So Cal finished third in the eight-team bracket.

Men’s 50/55+ Silver: The second-seeded Minnesota Lumberjacks 55s lost the first title game 19-16 then won the second 22-20 over the sixth-seeded Bootleggers of Colorado. Minnesota finished 6-1 overall. The Bootleggers had won four elimination games in a row before coming up two runs short in the finale. All-Quip/SOWC-55 of Oregon placed third in the nine-team bracket.

Men’s 55/60+ Platinum: Top-seeded Sommerville Softball (photo below), a 60+ Major Plus team, edged second-seeded L.A.F. 55 of California 19-18 for the title and a 5-0 overall tournament record. Sixth-seeded Scrap Iron Thunder of Colorado finished third in the seven-team division.

Men’s 60+ Major: Fourth-seeded Express 60s of California (photo below) finished a 5-1 tournament with a 29-23 title game victory over the seventh-seeded Enforcers of California. D’Amore Law Group of Washington took third in the 11-team division.

Men’s 60+ Silver: The top-seeded Road Warriors, a 60+ AAA team from Arizona, double dipped fourth-seeded KSS/Taco Bell of Arizona 23-13 and 19-18 for the title and an 8-1 tournament record. Third-seeded Weekend Warriors of California placed third in the 12-team bracket.

Men’s 65+ Major: Third-seeded Scorpion 65s of Arizona double dipped top-seeded Scrap Iron/Rocky Mountain Thunder of Colorado 22-17 and 23-19 for the title. Second-seeded Peak Softball/Scrap Iron finished third in the four-team division.

Men’s 65+ AAA: Top-seeded So Cal Braves won the tournament’s largest bracket the difficult way, by defeating 10^th-seeded Scrap Iron Heavy Metal 20-8 in the “if needed” title game after losing the first title game 20-14. Bat Attitude of Utah placed third in the 15-team bracket.

Men’s 65+ AA: Top-seeded New Beginnings Softball of California (photo below) capped a 6-0 tournament with a 20-16 championship victory over second-seeded Scrap Iron 65s Rockies of Colorado. Classics 65 of Utah finished third in the four-team bracket.

Men’s 70+ AAA: Top-seeded Bucky’s Casino of Arizona avenged an earlier bracket loss by double dipping third-seeded Scrap Iron 5280’ 32-24 and 18-17 for the title and a 7-1 tournament record. Top Gun Olde Dawgs of California finished third in the eight-team bracket.

Men’s 70+ AA: Playing a best-of-three format, Scrap Iron Diamonds of Colorado swept the Las Vegas Desert Heat 25-21 and 20-16.

Men’s 70/75+ Platinum: Top-seeded Scrap Iron High Octane, a 70+ Major team from Colorado, capped a 5-0 tournament with a 21-6 triumph over second-seeded Ranalls Realty 70 of Arizona. Steel Etc. of Montana took third in the six-team bracket.

Men’s 75/80+ Platinum: Top-seeded R&R 75s of California won all five games it played, including a 24-16 title game against the second-seeded Sidewinders 75s of Arizona. Third-seeded Tharaldson’s of Nevada finished third in the five-team bracket.

Men’s 75/80+ Gold: Second-seeded So Cal Warriors 75s (photo below) capped a 6-0 tournament with a 19-14 title game victory over fifth-seeded St. George Gold of Utah. Third-seeded Sidewinders 80s of Arizona won three elimination games and finished third in the seven-team bracket.

Men’s 75/80+ Silver: Top-seeded Minnesota Masters 80s (photo top of newsletter) honored their general manager, who died at the ballpark during the first day of play, by going 6-0 overall and winning the championship 17-5 over fourth-seeded Git-R-Done of California. Third-seeded Top Gun Olde Dawgs 75 of California finished third in the four-team bracket.

Men’s 85+ Major: Playing a best-of-three format, Scrap Iron 85 Legends of Colorado (photo below) swept the Top Gun Blue Angels 85 of California 17-13 and 15-13.