319 Teams compete in Phoenix, Large Divisions; 12 Triple Slam Winners; Rings Won

Feb. 1, 2009 – Dave Dowell National Director

PHOENIX, AZ – The Senior Softball USA’s World Championships in October drew a near record number of entrants as 319 teams converged on the Valley of the Sun seeking championships at the highest level of competition under perfect weather and field conditions.

“The Phoenix area offers a wonderful combination of near-perfect weather, ease of access and exceptional playing facilities for the World Championships,” according to Terry Hennessy, SSUSA Chief Executive Officer. “At the peak of the tourney, games were being played simultaneously on 32 diamonds at seven separate Sports Complexes,” added Hennessy.

In addition to the more than 1,000 games played to determine the World Champions in 32 divisions, the largest senior softball tournament of the year featured:

A record 12 teams winning the Triple Grand Slam.

Five players were inducted into the National Senior Hall of Fame.

Presentation of the coveted “Sportsmanship of Year” trophy to the Sportaculars 65 Women’s team from Canada.

Record-setting numbers of teams in the Men’s and Women’s 40 Masters divisions, the 50 Major and the 55 Major divisions.

The numbers alone were astounding, with 70 umpires – most were brought in from throughout the United States and Canada – 16 national tournament officials, and scores of volunteers to help make play on seven complexes and 30 fields a memorable experience.

The number of Triple Grand Slam winners shocked tournament officials.

“Normally we see about 5 or 6 teams win this prestigious award,” said Hennessy. “This time 12 teams won the World Championships, the US National Championships and either the Eastern or Western Nationals.”

The 12 teams included 2nd Wind of California in the 50 Women’s Division, Tiodize D-99 of California in the 80 Division, Back Office Associates of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the 70 AA, Joseppi’s of Washington State in the 70 Major-Plus, Ca$h 4 College of New Jersey in the 65AA, the NorCal Bluejays in the 65 Major-Plus, Robson Ranch of Arizona in the 60 AAA, Turn Two of North Carolina in the 60 Major-Plus, the Syracuse Merchants of New York in the 55 AAA, New York Motion in the 55AA, Shawn Montee Timber of Idaho in the 50 AA, and J.K Inc in the 40 Men’s Masters Major-Plus.

The five players inducted into the Senior Softball National Hall of Fame included Pat McGuire of the MTC 55s of California, Larry Reeser of the NorCal Bluejays 65s, Paul Janke of the Tiodize D-99 in the 80 Division, Gus Niklas of the San Francisco Seals 70s, and Irv Schaffer of the California Gold Rush 75s.

One of the top awards presented by SSUSA during the year is the Sportsmanship Award.

In presenting it to the Sporacular team during Opening Ceremonies, Hennessy said: “This award transcends the game itself. It stands for all that is good in the sport; passionate competition played with good humor and good fellowship. The beauty of good sportsmanship is that it incites a love of the game for all who witness it.”

The World Championships first session, October 17-19, 2008, featured 112 teams scheduled for 359 games in the Men’s 40-Masters, Men’s 60’s and all Women’s Divisions (40-Masters through the Senior 65’s).

The Women’s Senior divisions took over the beautiful Rose Mofford Sports Complex in north Phoenix, under sunny skies and unseasonably warm days. In the Women’s 50+, Second Wind of California capped the only perfect weekend by a women’s team with an undefeated run through both the seeding rounds and the 8-team bracket, defeating California’s Silver Foxes 27-12 in the Championship. Other Women’s Senior champions were the Arizona Silver Saints 55’s (10-2 over the California Spirit 55 in the Championship), the Las Vegas Neons 60’s (15-3 over the Michigan Legends 60’s in the “If Needed” game) and, in an All-Canadian Final, the Ontario Sportaculars 65’s over the British Columbia Swingers by 11-7 in the Final.

The Men’s and Women’s 40-Masters Divisions both enjoyed the largest brackets in the history of the 40-Masters program.

The Women’s division drew a record 17 teams to the Mountain Vista Softball Complex in Ahwatukee from literally the entire North American continent, with teams from Newfoundland, Canada to Southern California and many places in between. After 38 bracket games, many of which were won in the last at-bat, California’s The New Team (TNT) prevailed over Nevada’s Tharaldson Softball Club in the “If Needed” game by a 21-7 score, after the two teams had traded two-run victories in the winner’s bracket final and Championship Game #1.

The Men’s 40-Masters also drew a record 15 teams for the weekend. Play commenced Friday evening at the Papago Park facility in E. Phoenix, featuring an impressive display of power hitting into the cool desert night, before moving to Scottsdale’s brand new, and beautiful, Vista del Camino facility for the weekend.

The 40-Master’s Major Plus division was won in an all-Southern California final by J.K., Inc. defeating Old Guys Rule in both the winner’s bracket final (17-13) and the Championship game (29-22) to complete an unbeaten tourney run.

The 40-Masters Major division was a bit more complicated, featuring upsets as the norm in bracket play. Last seed Senior Millspec of California reached the Championship game unbeaten before losing twice to the eventual Champion Southern California’s Team Braves by scores of 30-15 and 20-13.

The Men’s 60’s division featured exciting finishes at all levels of play. In the 60-Major Plus at the Caesar Chavez Sports Complex in south Phoenix, North Carolina’s Turn Two / Haynes completed a remarkable tournament and full softball season in dramatic fashion with a come-from-behind 33-32 win in the “If needed” game over California’s Old A’s / Miken club. The Turn Two / Haynes win concluded a year in which they won virtually every major National or World Championship in which they played.

The remainder of the Men’s 60’s Divisions all had similar results, with Champions completing undefeated tournaments with impressive wins in their Championship games after perfect seeding rounds.

In the 16-team 60-Majors, also at Caesar Chavez, Washington’s W.E. Ruth Realty closed things out with a Championship game win over Northern California’s Wildwood West Outlaws (19-10).

In the 21-team 60-AAA’s at Desert West Sports Complex, Arizona’s Robson Ranch 60’s sealed their title with a 19-5 win over Southern California’s Bickerton Iron works.

The 60-AA’s were a similar story, this time at Papago Park, with the SoCal Crush completing their perfect run to the Championship with an 18-9 win over the losers bracket weary Austin (TX) Lonestars, who were playing in their fourth consecutive game of the day.

Monday, October 20th, brought a bit more relaxed pace as 77 teams played a 297 game schedule over four days for the 65’s and older age groups World Championships.

In the Men’s 65’s, none of the 35 teams escaped unscathed for the week. The 6-team 65-Major Plus division at Desert West saw the NorCal Bluejays bounce back from a winner’s bracket final loss to the Florida Legends to take two straight in revenge, 18-8 and 29-20.

In the 65-Majors, also at Desert West, Hawaiian Pride squeaked out a 17-16 Championship game victory over Arizona’s Russell Bats.

The 16-team Men’s 65-AAA Championship, at Papago Park, was won by the New Jersey Jaguars over the Las Vegas Elks 16-14 in an exciting back and forth extra inning Championship game.

The 10-team Men’s 65-AA Division, also at Desert West, borrowed a page from the 65 Major Plus bracket. New Jersey’s Ca$h 4 College 65’s rebounded from a winner’s bracket final loss to Arizona’s Kokopelli Eye Care by taking both Championship games for the title, prevailing in the “If needed” game by a 17-12 score.

The Men’s 70’s divisions all witnessed a familiar story line, with an undefeated #1 or #2 seed ‘running the table’ in the bracket to emerge as an undefeated World Champion.

The Major Plus and Major divisions were played at the Rose Mofford complex, with Washington’s Joseppi’s defeating the San Francisco (CA) Seals (14-6) in the Major Plus and So. California’s Top Gun 70’s beating the Arizona Sidewinders 70’s in both the winner’s bracket final (21-5) and the Championship game (13-7).

The 70-AAA and 70-AA divisions played at Caesar Chavez through Wednesday before concluding at Papago Park on Thursday. The Syracuse (NY) Cyclones snared the title in the 70-AAA, after several years of near misses as a Runner-up or third place finisher, with their 19-4 win over the Texans 70’s.

The 70-AA championship went home with Back Office Associates of Cape Cod (MA) as they completed their storybook season of multiple major tournament championships with a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Colorado Cougars 70s.

The game’s ‘elder statesmen’, the Men’s 75’s and 80’s, played some of the most exciting games of the entire tournament at Rose Mofford, with every division requiring an “If needed” game, the third game between each of the finalists, to determine a champion.

The 75-Major/Major+ title went to California’s Fairway Ford over the Texas Classics (10-8) and the 75-AAA championship to Manitoba’s Carefree Flashbacks, 23-9 victors over the SoCal Jets. In the most senior of senior divisions, California’s Tiodize D-99 80’s took two of three from Florida’s Center for Sight, the last by a 16-3 score, to capture the Championship in a 6-team field of teams.

The 2008 SSUSA World Championships geared up on Friday for the Men’s 50’s and 55’s divisions as the final 130 teams arrived for a 420-game schedule over three days, utilizing just about every available sports complex in the regional Phoenix area. The logistics of the final weekend were complex, and the City of Phoenix Parks professionals earned well-deserved praise for perfect playing conditions at all of the facilities, especially at the end of an event with well over 1,000 games in 10 days.

The 6-team Men’s 50-Major Plus Championship at Desert West went to California’s Seacrest Mavericks, defeating Damon’s Grill of Maryland 35-12 in the final to conclude an undefeated weekend. Game scores ranged as high as 60 runs by one team in this division, and the fans of offense weren’t disappointed.

In the largest 50-Major division bracket in SSUSA history, 26 teams began at Desert West and Papago Park on Friday morning before reconvening at Papago in the afternoon for the start of bracket play. Any of the teams could have won this event, especially after five of the top six seeds lost their first round games. But two days and 58 bracket games later, #7 seed Coors Light of Illinois held off a determined comeback attempt by Washington’s Northwest Legends, 16-15, in the Championship game to earn their first SSUSA World Championship in undefeated fashion.

The even larger 32-team 50-AAA division bracket saw play begin at multiple locations on Friday morning, split between Ceasar Chavez and the Victory Lane Sports Complex in Glendale before coming back to Caesar Chavez for the first two rounds of the winner’s bracket on Friday night. Higher seeded teams fared better than in the Major division, with #3 Seed Bagbey’s of Iowa defeating North Carolina’s Carpenter’s Legends in both the winner’s bracket final (15-8) and the Championship game (18-2) to close out its own undefeated tourney.

The Men’s 50-AA division, with 19 teams, deserves its own special award for everyone being the ‘road’ team in every game. They began play on Friday morning at Mesa’s Riverview Park for seeding games before moving to Mountain Vista in Ahwatukee that evening for the commencement of bracket play. Then it was on to Scottsdale’s Vista del Camino for the weekend games.

Idaho’s Shawn Montee Timber Company joined the ranks of the undefeated champions with their 22-5 win over Arizona’s Just 4 Fun in the final, with special recognition for miles traveled to accomplish the feat.

The Men’s 55-Major Plus division played at Desert West in a smaller 3-team bracket. California’s MTC Softball Club ended up on top as an unbeaten team following consecutive wins over Indiana’s Travelodge 55’s in the winner’s bracket final (26-22) and the Championship game (21-17).

Another larger than ever bracket awaited the Men’s 55-Major division, featuring 14 teams from seven states playing at the Mountain Vista facility. Close games and last at-bat victories were more the norm than the exception. In the end, California’s NCI Softball Club came from the loser’s bracket to win the title over the Kansas City Kids (MO) with a 26-16 win in the “If needed” game, after being bounced into that lower end by those same K.C. Kids.

The 19-team Men’s 55-AAA division played out pretty much to form over the three days at the Rose Mofford facility. The top seeded Syracuse (NY) Merchants also completed an undefeated tournament with wins over the NorCal STIXX in both the winner’s bracket final (27-19) and the Championship game (17-7).

And rounding out the 2008 SSUSA World Championships, the 10-team Men’s 55-AA division was at Desert West to determine their champion. The second seeded NY/NJ Motion completed yet another undefeated weekend by a champion with wins over Colorado’s Scrap Iron 55’s in the winner’s bracket final (18-12) and Championship game (19-9).

The 2008 SSUSA World Championships were a resounding success, played over ten exciting days in the beautiful Valley of the Sun. The 2009 version looks to be even bigger and better!

Complete Seeding Round scores and Bracket Results are available from the SSUSA’s web site at www.seniorsoftball.com

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Dave Dowell is one of the SSUSA’s National Directors and served as the Head Field Director at the Papago Park complex during the 2008 World Championships. He is also the national schedule consultant for all SSUSA events and wrote the 2008 World Championships schedule. He can be reached at dave@seniorsoftball.com.