SSUSA TRAVELS TO TAIWAN FOR FOURTH ANNUAL PACIFIC RIM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Nov. 1, 2016

CHANGHUA CITY, TAIWAN -- USA senior teams took second and third in separate divisions in the Fourth Annual Pacific Rim Championships here.

The American teams competed against teams from China, Japan and Taiwan in four divisions on Oct. 22-23. Taiwan teams won each of the four divisions in the single elimination format.

“The competition, however, places a very distant second place to the real purpose of the Pacific Rim Championships – establishing friendship through softball throughout the region,” said Terry Hennessy, Senior Softball-USA’s chief executive officer.

“The two USA teams were great ambassadors of our sport and the tournament provided a unique opportunity to meet and make friends with players from other countries,” he said.

The highlight of the tour came with a banquet and party for all of the teams on the first night of the championships in which players from each team performed a musical number or dance for entertainment that cut across all languages and cultures.

The Pacific Rim Championships was established in 2013 by representatives from China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States to promote friendship through slow-pitch softball throughout the Pacific Rim region.

The first Pacific Rim Championships was played in China in 2013, in Japan in 2014, in Las Vegas in 2015 and in Taiwan this year.

The games are played with a very soft ball, called the Joyful ball, on a short field with 50-foot base paths where defense and speed become much more important than the “long ball” game played in America.

Top players for the USA White team, managed by John Redner of California, included Milton Douglas of Michigan for Best Offense (batting .888), Dave Leake of Washington Best Defense, and Jerry Scanlon of California, MVP.

Top players for the USA Red team, managed by Terry Hennessy, included Jorge Carrasco of Texas for Best Offense  (batting .700), Al Aranio of Hawaii Best Defense, and Jim Hansen of California, MVP.

As part of the tour, the USA players and their families got a taste for Taiwan culture, visiting Taipei 101 towers, the second largest building in the world; the National Palace Museum and the Long Shan Temple, among other sites.

The Pacific Rim Board announced that the Championships would be held in Lanzhou, China, on Oct. 15-16, 2017.  Lanzhou is on the doorstep to Tibet in northwest China.  More information will be released soon, according to officials.