WINTER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS SETS RECORD WITH 209 TEAMS; BECOMES SECOND LARGEST SSUSA TOURNAMENT

Nov. 1, 2016

PHOENIX, GLENDALE and SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.  – The 2016 Winter World Championships, the first Senior Softball-USA qualifier west of the Mississippi for the 2017 season, set a record with 209 teams, becoming the second largest SSUSA tournament.

Teams competing in the Winter Worlds, sponsored by Adidas, won 26 berths to the Original Tournament of Champions (TOC) in February 2018.

One of the highlights of the Winter Worlds, was the California Spirit organization sweeping three women’s divisions: winning the 60, 65 and 70 brackets in the second session of the tournament.

Eight complexes were used during the championships: Cesar Chavez Sports Complex, Desert West Sports Complex, Mountain Vista Park, Papago Park Softball Complex, and Rose Mofford Sports Complex in Phoenix, Saguaro Ranch Park and Victory Lane Sports Complex in Glendale and Chaparral Park in Scottsdale all hosted games.

The tournament began Nov. 15-17 with the Men’s 65 through 80 age divisions.

Starting with the five-team 65-Major Plus division, top seed Timberworks/Adidas (CA) came out of the elimination side of the bracket to double-dip No. 2 seed Old A’s (AZ), 25-10 and 40-31, in the championship and “if” games, respectively. Old A’s defeated Timberworks earlier in the bracket, 25-18, in a match-up of unbeaten teams as both squads entered bracket play without a loss. Omen 65 (CA) finished in third place.

In the nine-team 65-Major division, No. 2 seed Animals completed a perfect week, going 2-0 in seeding games, before going 4-0 in bracket play, capped off with a thrilling 13-12 victory over No. 3 seed Top Gun 65 Mavericks (CA). No. 4 seed CenTex 65’s (TX) finished in third place.

The 15-team 65 Silver division was split off into a 12-team bracket (65-AAA) and a three-team bracket (65-AA) following seeding games.

In the 65-AAA bracket, No. 4 seed Hawaii Masters posted a perfect 4-0 record, including a 35-32 win over No. 7 seed No Guts, No Glory (CA) in the championship game. After dropping their first two games in the bracket, No. 11 seed Texas Legends rattled off four straight wins, including three straight on Thursday, en route to their third-place finish.

In the 65-AA bracket, top seed Dallas Spurs 65 (TX) defeated Git-R-Done 65 (CA) 24-15 before cruising past Duke City Dynamite (NM) 20-6 in the championship game to win the division.

The 11-team 70-Platinum division was split off into two brackets, Major Plus (three teams) and Major (eight teams) after seeding play.

After dropping their opening game in the bracket against Scrap Iron 70 Legacy (CO) 11-3, Omen 70 (CA) bounced back with a 13-11 win over Minnesota Prize 70’s, before avenging their earlier loss and double-dipping Scrap Iron by scores of 17-11 and 12-3 in the championship and “if” games, respectively, to claim the Major Plus title.
No. 3 seed Poncho’s 70 (AZ) posted a perfect 4-0 record in the Major bracket, including a 15-13 win over No. 8 seed, Son’s of Pitches (CA) in the championship game. Poncho’s also went 2-0 in seeding play as the team finished off a flawless week. Despite being the last seed in the bracket, Son’s of Pitches went 4-2 in bracket play en route to their runner-up finish. No. 4 seed Tharaldson’s (NV) finished in third place.

In the seven-team 70-Silver division, top seed Chicago Strikers also concluded a perfect week, going 2-0 in seeding before recording a 3-0 mark in the bracket, including a 12-4 triumph over No. 3 seed Midwest Legends (NE) in the championship game. Midwest Legends won four straight games to escape the elimination side of the bracket and reach the title game. No. 2 seed Git-R-Done 70 (CA) finished in third place.

The seven-team 75-Platinum division featured a full round robin with best record determining the champion. In the end, with a 5-1 record, Minnesota Masters 75 took the division. PDR Fastsigns (OR) finished in second place with a 4-2 mark, while New Concepts I (NM) took third place following tie-breakers with a 3-3 record. Kokopelli Scorpions 75’s (AZ) and Sidewinders 75’s (AZ) also finished with 3-3 records. New Concepts defeated both Kokopelli (16-10) and Sidewinders (13-11) in their head-to-head meetings to earn the tie-breaker.

In the five-team 75-AAA division, Hui Ohana (HI) dominated the field, going 4-0 in seeding play to earn the top seed, before going on to win the single elimination bracket with a 2-0 record, downing Git-R-Done 75 (CA) 20-5 and then Triple Play 75 (CA) 7-6 in an exciting championship game.

In the five-team 80-Gold division, top seed Emerald 80’s (WA) came back to defeat No. 3 seed Arizona Prospectors 80, 26-21, in the “if” game, after dropping the championship game 26-23.

The tournament concluded with the second session, Nov. 18-20, as the Men’s 40 through 60 age divisions, and the entire Women’s field (40’s through 70 divisions) all took the field.

The big news not only in the Women’s Division, but in the entire tournament, was the California Spirit sweep.

The five-team Women’s 60 division saw top seed California Spirit 60 bounce back from its loss in the championship game against No. 4 seed Cal Express (CA) 16-15 to win the “if” game 19-4. Arizona Castawaz finished in third place.

The 10-team Women’s 65/70 division was split into the 65 (7-teams) and 70 brackets (3-teams) following seeding play.

California Spirit 65 won the 65 division after double-dipping Ye Olde Bats (NV), winning the championship (8-7) and “if” (9-8) games, in a pair of one-run thrillers. Fun Bunch 65 (MO) finished in third place.

Completing the California Spirit sweep, California Spirit 70 joined their 60 and 65 counterparts, dominating the 70 bracket, defeating New Kids on the Block (CA) 15-5 and Las Vegas Neons 70, 20-3, in the championship game.

In the six-team, 40-Major Women’s division, TKP/Hunters (CA) completed a perfect weekend, going 2-0 in seeding games, before completing their flawless performance with a 3-0 record in bracket play, including a 20-5 win in the championship game over Old School (CA). Twisted Fossils 40 (MA) finished in third place.

Another six-team division, the Women’s 40-AAA division, saw No. 2 seed Saints 40 (AZ) come out of the elimination side of the bracket to double-dip No. 4 seed Still Swinging 4.0 (NV) 18-14 and 20-14 in the championship and “if” games, respectively. Still Swinging defeated Saints earlier in the bracket 19-14 Misfits (CA) bounced back from an 0-2 showing in seeding games to finish in third place.

In the 10-team Women’s 50 division, No. 6 seed 2nd Wind (CA) came out of the elimination side of the bracket to defeat No. 8 seed Jolico Seniors 50 (MI) in the championship game to force an “if” game, which 2nd Wind won 7-6 to complete the comeback. Jolico Seniors defeated 2nd Wind 16-6 earlier in the bracket. No. 2 seed Sudden Impact (CA) finished in third place.

In the Men’s 40 division, there were 17 teams split into three different brackets following seeding play, Major Plus (three teams), Major (11 teams) and AAA (three teams).

Top seed GTS (ID) won the Major Plus division defeating Nicon Trucking (NV) 27-25 in the championship game.

No. 10 seed K & B Beverage/AG Painting (AZ) came back from an early loss in the Major bracket by running the gauntlet on Sunday, winning six straight games, including double-dipping No. 2 seed SBOB/Voodoo Sports (AZ), winning both the championship (22-20) and “if” (19-10) games. SBOB/Voodoo Sports edged out K & B Beverage/AG Painting, 19-18, earlier in the bracket on Saturday morning. No. 4 seed CRS (AZ) finished in third place.

In the AAA bracket, which saw competitive play throughout, Aces (AZ) came back to defeat Whatever (AZ) 24-23 in the “if” game, after dropping the championship game 22-21. Top seed Texas GI 40 dropped a pair of one-run games against Aces (26-25) and Whatever (25-24).

Thirteen teams competed in the Men’s 50-Platinum division, with the 50/55-Major Plus bracket (two teams) and the 50 Major bracket (11 teams) broken out following seeding games.

L.A.F. 50/DeMarini (CA) swept Arizona Elite 55 in the 50/55 Major Plus bracket, with scores of 17-15 and 16-8, respectively.

The 50 Major bracket was dominated by top seed Nor Cal Warriors, as the team went 4-0, including a 23-11 victory over No. 6 seed Custom Truck (NV) in the championship game. After dropping a game earlier in the bracket on Saturday morning, No. 8 seed Arizona Alpha Dawgz made a strong push through the elimination side of the bracket, winning four straight games en route to their third place finish.

In the 22-team 50-AAA division, No. 21 seed Team Southwest/Woodies (NM) made a remarkable run to the championship game going 5-0. As the lone remaining undefeated team in bracket play, Team Southwest/Woodies would be awarded first place after the championship game was rained out. No. 10 seed Kamikaze 50 (CA), who came out of the elimination side the bracket, would be awarded second place, while No. 6 seed No Excuses (CA) finished in third place.

The eight-team 55-Major division would also feature a rain out in the championship game, as No. 4 seed Grants Posse II (CA) was awarded first place due to their undefeated record in bracket play. Top seed Arizona Old School was awarded the runner-up finish after losing their opening game to Arizona Legends, 20-17, and rattling off five straight games to come out of the elimination side of the bracket. JJ Financial finished in third place.

In the 10-team 55-AAA division, No. 3 seed Hard 10’s/Oxnard Rookies (CA) went undefeated during the weekend, going 2-0 in seeding games, before posting a 4-0 record in bracket play, including a 12-2 win over No. 5 seed Northwest Merchants (ID) in the championship game. Top seed Los Vatos Viejos 55 (AZ) finished in third place.

Eleven teams comprised the 60-Major division with Houston Fire completing an undefeated weekend, going 2-0 in seeding games, before running off four straight in bracket play, including a 30-18 win over Reloaded (CA) in the championship game. Rebounding for an 0-2 record in seeding, Gonzalez Insulation (TX) recorded three straight wins to start off bracket play, en route to finishing in third place.

The 18-team 60-AAA division saw the top two seeds square off in the championship game, with Weakened Warriors (CA) knocking off CJ & S Express (AZ) 23-10. Mountain Mike’s Pizza (CA) finished in third place.

Similar to the 50-AAA and the 55-Major divisions, the seven-team 60-AA division also had its championship game rained out. As the lone unbeaten team, No. 2 seed Scrap Iron Freedom (CO) was named the champion, with top seed New Mexico Warriors earning the runner-up finish. Scrap Iron Freedom defeated New Mexico Warriors, 28-9, earlier in the bracket, knocking the team down into the elimination bracket. Warriors then defeated No. 6 seed Los Vatos Viejos 60 (AZ), 18-11, in the third place game to reach the championship game.