THE WINDY CITY

Aug. 21, 2015

A light breeze and cool temperatures kicked off the 2015 Windy City in Elgin, Ill., on Aug. 7 as 29 teams hailing from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin arrived to see if they could bring home a championship title.

     By the end, nine teams clinched their respective division titles, but not without some resistance.

     The 50 Platinum division saw a stout Minnesota Merchants squad start strong only to be undercut by the resilient Rockford Orthopedics. The team forced an “If” game after topping W.C. Thunder 19-18 and Minnesota Merchants 23-11 in the elimination bracket. Rockford Orthopedics went on to take the title 19-12 against Minnesota Merchants.

     J&J’s Sports clinched the 55 Major division, but Pope Transport didn’t make it easy in a best two-out-of-three competition. Pope Transport took the first game 22-18 only to be bested by J&J’s Sports 12-7 and 22-13.

     In the 50 AAA division, Chi Town 50’s dominated the competition despite some close games against Chi Town Assault including a 16-15 win in the second round. Not to be undone, Chi Town Assault did their best to unseat Chi Town 50’s in the championship game but fell short 12-19 as Chi Town 50’s seized the title.

     The 50 AA division saw the Minnesota Lumberjacks thwarted by a spirited All-In squad clinching the title with a 12-7 championship win.

     Milwaukee Merchants easily disposed of their opponents knocking out the Chicago Bobcats 21-4, Chicago Prime 29-16 and 21-5 to earn the 55/60 Gold division.

     All-In 60’s and OshKosh Ambassadors 60’s developed quite a rivalry in the 60 Silver division. With All-In barely escaping a loss 24-23 in their first match-up only to lose the next game 18-17. In the tournament’s second “If” game, Oshkosh Ambassadors put up a fight, but All-In’s bats overwhelmed with a 23-17 championship win.

     Oshkosh Ambassadors 65’s defeated El Ray 7-3 in a low scoring title game to take the 65 Silver division, while Chicago Gray Sox beat out Milwaukee Seniors twice in a row with scores of 9-3 in order to realize the 70 AAA division title. In the 70 AA division, Mid-America Patriots dashed the championship hopes of Oshkosh Ambassadors 18-15 and 9-6 to don their respective division title.