29th ANNUAL ROCK ‘N’ RENO CHALLENGE CUP ANOTHER HUGE SUCCESS

June 1, 2016

RENO / SPARKS / CARSON CITY – The 29^th annual Rock ‘N’ Reno Challenge Cup, the second largest SSUSA Tournament of the year, as well as the largest and oldest qualifier, was held across four parks (Golden Eagle Regional Park, Reno Softball Complex at Rancho San Rafael, Shadow Mountain Softball Complex and Centennial Park Softball Complex) over nine days with a total of 200 teams in attendance.

Session one of the tournament, which was held May 27^th through the 29^th, featured the Men’s 40’s and 60’s divisions, as well as all of the Women’s divisions.

Starting off with the women, Old School 40’s put on a dominant performance, going 3-0 in seeding play, before finishing off the perfect weekend with a 3-0 record in bracket play, to win the four-team Women’s 40 Masters Major division. Kiss Our Stix posted a runner-up finish, while Fun Bunch 40’s came in third.

In the seven-team Women’s 40 Masters AAA division, No. 2 seed Smack That also put on a flawless performance, going 2-0 in seeding play, before winning four straight in bracket play, including an 18-17 triumph in the championship game over No. 7 seed Idaho Spirit. After going 0-2 in seeding play and dropping its first game in bracket play, Idaho Spirit made a strong run through the elimination bracket, winning four straight games to reach the championship game. TABU, the No. 5 seed, posted a pair of upsets in their first two games over the No. 4 seed (Saints) and the top seed (Punisher Sports Apparel), before eventually finishing in third place.

The nine-team Women’s 50 division saw another No. 2 seed win it all, as Arizona Dream Team posted a perfect 4-0 record in bracket play to finish off an undefeated weekend after going 2-0 in seeding play. Arizona Dream Team took down Santa Cruz Blues 50, Sudden Impact, and B.O.O.B.S 50 twice en route to the championship victory. No. 4 seed B.O.O.B.S finished second, while top seed Spokane Sparks finished third.

Ladies Choice 55 took the three-team Women’s 55 division, defeating Santa Cruz Blues 55 and Nevada Sage 55 twice, including a 23-20 victory in the championship game.

The five-team Women’s 60 division was controlled by California Spirit 60, as the team went 2-0 in seeding play, before going 3-0 in bracket play to complete the perfect weekend. Ladies Choice 60 posted a runner-up finish after winning three straight to come out of the elimination side of the bracket, while Arizona Castawaz finished in third place.

In another five-team division, the Women’s 65/70, Ye Olde Bats went 2-0 in seeding play to lock up the top seed, and won three straight in bracket play to win the title, including an 18-11 win over Saints Express in the championship game. Las Vegas Neons finished third.

Moving over to the Men’s side, the six-team Men’s 40 Masters Major Plus division was controlled by two teams, Dudley/Prestige and GTS, as both teams posted identical 2-0 records in seeding play to claim the top two seeds, respectively. The teams would meet three times in bracket play, as Dudley/Prestige edged out a 26-25 win to move onto the championship game, knocking GTS into the elimination side of the bracket. GTS would bounce back with a 25-11 victory over Cali Gold 40 to play its way back into the championship game and set up a rematch with Dudley/Prestige. GTS took the rematch, 26-12, to force the “if” game. In the final winner take all game, Dudley/Prestige took the rubber match, 29-22, to claim the championship.

The Men’s 40 Masters Major division would also come down to an “if” game, as No. 5 seed Layer Cake/Dudley/Elite made an impressive run through the bracket winning four straight games, before falling to No. 3 seed Prestige Pools, 21-19, in the championship game, forcing the “if” game. Layer Cake would avenge its lone loss in the bracket, defeating Prestige Pools, 21-14, to take the championship. No. 7 seed SofaKing Softball/Elite had a solid start winning three straight games, before losing its next two to finish in third place.

The Men’s 60 Platinum division, which would be split off into Major Plus and Major for bracket play, continued the trend of “if” games.

In the three team 60 Major Plus bracket, Summy’s Nighthawks defeated Goodman Racing to advance against top seed Old Dawgs. Old Dawgs then defeated Summy’s to advance to the championship game. Summy’s would eliminate Goodman Racing and avenge its earlier loss against Old Dawgs to for the “if” game. In the end, Old Dawgs would prevail with a 30-25 win in the rubber match to take the top spot.

The 60 Major bracket featured eight teams, with No. 6 seed Last Call defeating No. 3 seed Tri-C Machine in the “if” game, 19-14.  The teams first met in their opening game in the bracket, with Last Call defeating Tri-C, 15-13. Falling into the elimination bracket, Tri-C would rattle off an impressive six straight victories, including a 15-14, come-from-behind win over previously unbeaten Last Call, 15-14. No. 4 seed No Dice finished in third place.

One of the largest divisions in the entire tournament, the 16-team 60 AAA division, registered one of the more exciting finishes in the tournament, as No. 3 seed Bulldogs 60’s edged out No. 5 seed Second Wind Resurrected, 19-17, in a game that featured the international tie breaker rule. The Bulldogs completed a perfect weekend, going 2-0 in seeding play and 5-0 in bracket play. Second seeded Scrap Iron High Octane finished in third place.

After going 1-1 in seed play to secure the #3 seed in the six-team 60 AA division, Makua Alii posted a perfect 4-0 record in bracket play to win the championship. Makua Alii defeated Fresno Mayhem, Penn Valley Grays and Out of Storage twice, including an 18-5 victory in the championship game. Fresno Mayhem finished in third place.

Session two of the tournament was held May 31^st through June 2^nd with the Men’s 65’s, 70’s, 75’s and 80’s teams in action.

Starting off with the four-team 65 Major Plus division, Timberworks Construction claimed the top seed after going 3-0 in seed play. Timberworks would continue its solid performance in bracket play, going 3-0 with wins over Old A’s, Omen 65 and Old A’s again with a dominating 21-3 win in the championship game.

The 10-team 65 Major division featured the No. 5 seed Animals go 4-0 in bracket play with wins over Scrap Iron/Phiten, Codgers and San Antonio Silver Streaks twice, including a 23-13 win in the championship game. In their first win over San Antonio Silver Streaks, Animals belted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the open inning to take the 22-20 win. After being upset by Codgers in their first game, 19-17, top seed Cen Tex won four straight games to eventually post a third place finish.

Another 10-team division, the 65 AAA division, saw #4 seed SIMS, go 4-0 in bracket play to win the championship. The Sacramento Islanders, the #6 seed, put on quite a run on the final day of the tournament, winning four straight games to come out of the elimination side of the bracket and reach the championship game. Playing in its fifth straight game of the day, the Islanders would run out of gas in the championship game, falling to SIMS, 25-21. Second seeded Prime Time finished in third place.

Texas Lone Stars proved worthy of its top seed in the three-team 65 AA division, going 2-0 with a pair of wins over Sacramento Buds, 17-13, and then 18-6 in the championship game.

Scrap Iron 70 Legacy went 3-0 to win the three-team 70 Major Plus division, defeating W.E. Ruth Realty 70, 22-7, in the opening game of the bracket, followed by a pair of one-run victories over Omen 70, 16-15, and 6-5, in the championship game.

Number four seed Tharaldson’s took home the six-team 70 Major division, going 4-0 in the championship bracket, with wins over Blaine County Title and top seed California Wrecking Crew, and two wins over RWC State Roofing, including a 15-9 win the championship game. California Wrecking Crew finished in third place.

The 10-team 70 AAA division came down to an “if” game, as The Zone 70’s came back to defeat Scrap Iron 70 Red, 22-5, after falling 5-4 in the championship game. After losing their first two games in bracket play, Scrap Iron 70 Red rattled off six straight wins to finish off an impressive runner-up showing. Silver Sox finished in third place.

Solano Senior Enforcers dominated the five-team 70 AA division, going 2-0 in seeding play and 3-0 in bracket play with wins over California Oaks 70’s, Magic Stuff 70’s and the Oaks again, 19-8, in the championship game.  Magic Stuff finished in third.

San Francisco Seals 75 bested PDR Fastsigns in a best two-out-of-three game series in the 75 Major Plus division, taking the first game, 19-18, and the championship game 8-5 to complete the sweep.

State Roofing Systems won the three-team 75 Major division, defeating California Oaks 75’s in the first game of the bracket, followed by a pair of wins over Scrap Iron Beams.

The four-team 75 AAA division saw Lincoln Hills Coyotes go 3-0 in seeding play and 3-0 in bracket play, with wins over Slammers and Triple Play 75, twice, including an 18-8 triumph in the championship game.

In the 80 Gold division that was split between Major and AAA, Fairway Ford took the Major division defeating Sacramento Gold and Emerald 80’s, 18-14, in the championship game; while Redwood City Chiefs took down both Oregon City Sports and Scrap Iron Grey Berets, 22-20, in the championship game in the AAA division.

The third and final session featured the Men’s 50’s and 55’s divisions held June 3^rd through the 5^th.

Sommerville Softball had the five-team 50 Major Plus division on cruise control, going 2-0 in seeding play and 3-0 in bracket play, defeating Nazzareno Electric and Arizona Elite/Demarini twice, including 22-7 in the championship game.

The 10-team 50 Major division featured an “if” game, as Nor Cal Warriors came back to defeat JU Entertainment, 22-8, after falling 21-20 in the championship game. After going 0-2 in seeding play, No. 10 seed Washington Legends had a solid showing in bracket play with a 4-2 record to eventually take third place.

Another 10-team division, the 50 AAA division, saw No. 4 seed Mc U Sports go 4-0 in bracket play, defeating Top Gun 50’s (16-14), Quicksilver (27-17), Pacific Coast Alliance (16-15) and finally, Never Say Never/Big Al’s Trucking, 19-15, in the championship game. Pacific Coast Alliance finished third.

Summy’s 55 had a flawless performance in the seven-team 55 Major Plus division, going 2-0 in seeding play and 4-0 in bracket play, defeating Northwest Legends (26-25) and Change the Mascot (24-23) in a pair of one-run games, and MTC 55’s/Dudley twice, including 24-19 in the championship game. Change the Mascot finished in third place.

D & K Tradition took home the seven-team 55 Major division, as the No. 3 seed posted a 4-0 record in bracket play, taking down Avenue Towing (20-12), Wilson & Sons Auto (11-9) and top seed R & R Strokers 55 twice, including 21-17 in the championship game. After dropping their first game in the bracket, Team Pound bounced back with three straight wins to eventually finish third.

Eight teams battled it out in the 55 AAA division, as No. 3 seed Sidewinders 55’s came out of the elimination side of the bracket to double dip previously unbeaten and top seed Colorado Home Fitness, 18-7 and 33-26, in the championship and “if” games, respectively. Sidewinders fell to Colorado Home Fitness earlier in the bracket in a matchup of undefeated teams, dropping them into the elimination bracket. Northern Exposure/Alaska Kings finished third.

The 50/55 AA division featured a best two-out-of-three game series between Horn Softball 50 and 808 Hawaii. 808 Hawaii took the first game, 22-14, while Horn Softball bounced back with a 27-26 win in the championship game to force the “if” game. Horn would edge out another win in the rubber match, 19-18, to win the division.