Only 1 Triple Grand Slam Won in Competitive Session 3 of 2024 Worlds

Sept. 1, 2024

By Donna McGuire
Softball News Report

LAS VEGAS - Two undefeated teams, one Triple Grand Slam and a raft of one-run games highlighted the third session of the Senior Softball-USA World Championships being played at Las Vegas-area softball diamonds.

The three-day session drew 134 teams of 40+ women and men to the desert city, where temperatures climbed back into the 90s after second-session teams had enjoyed mild weather. The 40s played nearly 435 games from Sept. 20-22.

67 Women's team will play in the 2024 World Championships between sessions 3 and 4, not including the International Co-Ed teams.

“The 40-Masters divisions represent the future of Senior Softball, and what we witnessed over the past three days guarantees that future is indeed bright,” said Dave Dowell, a tournament director and SSUSA’s master scheduler. “Their pace of play and skill level are at an impressive all-time high. Thrilling games, many won in the last at-bat, were the norm. What a great show.”

To accommodate the massive 57-team Men’s Major division, Dowell broke the teams into four pods after seeding games. The survivors from Saturday play came together at Big League Dreams for an exciting Sunday finish.

With a final two-run victory, Supreme 40s of California captured the session’s only Triple Grand Slam award, which requires excellent play across multiple events. Supreme won the Men’s 40+ Major Western National Championships in early August, then defeated Sake of Maryland during the USA National Game on the first day of World Championship play. Supreme then triumphed during a fiercely contested “if needed” title game.

The women’s divisions, meanwhile, produced the only unbeaten teams of the third session: the Carolina Redz of North Carolina in the Major division and the Arizona Desert Belles in the AA division.

Director, Gayle Collins of Florida, presents Championships Awards and congratulations to Cali Freak Show 40, of the Women's 40+ AAA division.

Results:

Women’s 40+ Masters Major: Fourth-seeded Carolina Redz from North Carolina (photo below) outscored its opponents 120-72, won all seven games it played and captured the championship of the 15-team division with a 14-10 victory over 10th-seeded Broken Dollz of California. Third-seeded TABU of California finished third after rallying for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the fourth-place game. Fifth-seeded Firestarter Oldies of Washington earned fourth place. USA National Championship game: Royal-T Real Estate/The LaFlamme Group of Washington 8, Vintage of New Jersey 7.

Women’s 40+ Masters AAA: Cali Freak Show 40 of California (photo lower left) recovered from a 0-2 start in pool play to win it all. Seeded 20th overall out of 29 teams, Cali defeated five higher seeded teams in bracket play before losing Sunday morning 14-3 to the overall third seed, Ol’ D BYBs of Oregon, in the first title game. In the second title game, Cali took the lead for good in the sixth inning en route to a 15-10 victory. Fireballs of Massachusetts, which had been the overall second seed, placed third. Eat It OG Babes of California, the overall 21st seed, lost its first three tournament games before winning six elimination games in a row to finish fourth. USA National Championship game: Fireballs 19, (photo lower right), TST of California 18.

Women’s 40+ Masters AA: The top-seeded Arizona Desert Belles capped a 6-0 tournament with an 11-4 championship game victory over second-seeded Guam Team SOTTA. Isla of Guam (photo below) finished third in the three-team division.

Men’s 40+ Major Plus: The fifth-seeded Arizona Sidewinders (photo lower left) started 1-1 in pool play before putting together a perfect run through the 13-team bracket. The Sidewinders won bracket games by scores of 29-14, 29-28, 23-22, 19-15 and 28-23, with the final triumph coming over seventh-seeded Killman’s/Lewis Lawn/DeMarini of North Carolina in the title game. Killman’s defeated the top two seeds before finishing second. Top-seeded Proton Sports/Legacy Glove Co./JK of California (photo lower right) placed third. Twelfth-seeded Front Row/MVP Sports of Texas finished fourth. USA National Championship Game: Proton Sports/Legacy Glove Co./JK 28, Suncoast Adidas 40s of Florida 19.

Men’s 40+ Major: It took two title games but Supreme 40s of California finally secured the championship and a Triple Grand Slam with a 25-23 “if needed” game victory over runner-up Bob Johnson/Roc Nation of New York, which won the first championship game 25-13. With 57 teams in this division, the teams were seeded after pool play into four pods. Supreme had been the top seed in Pod A while Roc Nation had been the ninth seed in Pod D. After being seeded fourth in Pod C, OSS Apparel of Rhode Island (photo below) finished third overall. Cheap Suits/Republic Realty of California, which had been seeded third in Pod B, captured fourth place overall. USA National Championship Game: Supreme 25, Sake of Maryland 20.

Men’s 40+ AAA: After a 1-1 start in pool play, 10th-seeded Unloaded of California won five consecutive bracket games, including two by one run, to claim the title of the 20-team division. In a tight championship game, Unloaded took its final one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on for a 20-19 victory over 11th-seeded Toda Madre of Arizona. Top-seeded GTR of Oregon finished third. Y’All Next of Maryland won six elimination bracket games to place fourth. USA National Championship game: GTR 22, Flatline 40 of Virginia 19.