Tournament wrapup

96 Teams Compete in First Las Vegas Winter Worlds

March 1, 2004 – Senior Softball-USA

LAS VEGAS, Nevada ˆ Ninety-six teams from 20 states braved an unseasonably cold blast of windy weather to compete in the first Las Vegas Senior Softball Winter Worlds from November 21-23.

"Almost twice as many teams competed as we had expected ˆ 75 men's teams and 21 women's teams ˆ to make this one of the largest inaugural senior softball events in history," said Terry Hennessy, chief executive officer of Senior Softball-USA.

Temperatures dipped 20 degrees below normal ˆ hovering in the 40-50 degree range ˆ and winds gusted up to about 40 miles per hour on Saturday on some of the fields. By Sunday, the winds died down and the temperatures rose for the final games.

Teams competed in 18 divisions on the Arroyo Grande and Russell Road Softball Complexes in Henderson, and the Freedom, Lorenzi and Doc Romero Softball Complexes in the City of Las Vegas. (For Winter Worlds women's division results, see Page 4.)

The controversial format of the Winter Worlds, for most divisions, included a single-elimination final, with a set of consolation games to ensure losing teams played 5 games.

"Based on feedback from the teams, we will be changing the format next year to double-elimination," said Bill Reinecke, SSWC National Director.

"We will probably offer fewer seeding games so that we can fit the double-elimination into the 2-day tournament format for the Women, 50, 55 and 60 Divisions," he said.

Competition was heated in several divisions, with the biggest clutch comeback coming in the 55 AA Division finals.

The New Mexico Dukes fell behind early in the 55 AA championship game when the California Marauders posted a 5-0 lead in the first inning. The Dukes struggled to stay close all game, but as they came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning they were looking at a 22-17 gap to the Marauders.

But the Dukes' bats came alive and they scored the 6 needed runs to win the Winter Worlds 23-22.

Another Dukes team ˆ Jimmy's Dukes of California ˆ wasn't so lucky in the 60 AA Division. In that championship game, the number-two-seeded Jimmy's Dukes jumped ahead early and maintained a 10-8 lead until the fourth inning against the number-five-seeded Brik Petroleum of California. Brik posted 4 runs in the top of the fourth and never looked back. Jimmy's Dukes started a rally in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs before it fizzled, and Brik went on to win the 60 AA Division 22-19.

Colorado's Master Collision took top honors in a heavyweight 50 Major Division, which drew teams from throughout the nation. Master Collision first defeated Diamond Pro of New Jersey 18-14, before beating the California Buccaneers in the single-elimination finals 29-15.

In the 50 AAA Division, the NorCal Storm blew through the single elimination bracket, beating Redwood City Reds of California 14-12 and the California Coasters 17-9, before battering the New York/New Jersey Bandits 33-22 in the finals to win the 50 AAA Winter Worlds.

Top-seeded Jackson Merchants continued their winning ways to take the 50 AA Championships. The Merchants posted a 3-0 round-robin record and were top seed going into the single elimination. The Merchants beat the California Base Hawgs 15-10, then R&R Pumping of California 27-9, then finals Ojai's Topa Topa of California 18-8 in the finals.

In the oldest division, the 70s, an Oregon team poured on the heat to sweep the 4-game round robin finals and win the 70 AAA Winter World Championships. Bane, Barham & Holloway of Oregon first defeated Southwest Stars of Texas 12-10, then Cartridge-Plus of Maryland 25-5, then beat the Ventura Classics of California 18-15 and finally New Concepts of New Mexico 24-17.

In the 70 Major Division, the SoCal Jets took a best-of-three game final to win the championships.

In the 65 Division, the Arizona Force defeated New York Statesmen for the 65 Major title and hometown favorites Trap House of Las Vegas beat the Houston Texans for the 65 AAA championships. Both finals were the best-of-three games.

In the 65 AA Division, the Arizona Desert Devils beat both Minnesota Elite (23-4) and Nevada Sun City Summerlin Old Rebs (16-11) to take the championships.

WE Ruth Realty 60s rolled over the Rough and Ready Outlaws of California 23-11 in the single-elimination finals to win the 60 Major Winter World title.

In the 60 AAA, Phil's Filling Station of Arizona went 4-0 in the round robin finals to win, beating California Connection 23-5, V-60s of California 17-1, Mac Pirates of California 9-7 and Chico Pioneers of California 18-11.

In the 55 Major-Plus/Major Division, the perennial powerhouse Old A's of California won the Winter World championships with a 5-1 record in the double-round robin playoffs. Rusty's of Arizona was second with a 4-2 record.

In 55 AAA Division play, Tharaldson's Enterprises shocked the undefeated number-one seeded Tequila 55s of California 22-10 in the single-elimination finals to win the championships.