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Jan. 1, 2009

By Steve Simmons

Softball News Report

TWIN CITIES, Minn. – The 2008 SSUSA North Region Recreational Tournament Circuit came to a close in mid-December with a dome tournament here.

This was the ninth North Region Recreational Tournament played over the past two years and it attracted a record number of teams.

There were 13 senior softball teams in attendance. Nine were Twin Cities teams with five coming from the Stillwater Winter League and four from the West Metro Winter League. The others came from the North Central MN Lumberjacks Softball Club of Bemidji, (two teams); the Rochester Senior League (one team); and the Mason City, Iowa, senior softball program (one team).

The teams were split into two divisions, competitive and recreational. Three of the Stillwater teams comprised the competitive division and they played their games in the Stillwater dome. The remaining 10 teams made up the recreational division and they split their games between the Rosemount and Richfield domes.

The competitive division played a double round-robin schedule and both Team Pease (Jimmy’s / Team Miken – a 50 Major team) and Ancell (MN Masters 55’s – a 55 Major Plus team) finished with identical 3 & 1 records.

They split their two games with Ancell winning the first 24-23 and Team Pease winning the second 24-22. The tie breaker was the run differential between the two teams and, on this basis, Team Pease was the divisional champion by the slimmest of margins…one run. The third competitive team was College Prospects (MN Masters 60’s – a 60 Major team).

The four West Metro teams, who play their league games in the Richfield dome, took the top four spots in the recreational division. The majority of games these four teams played (21 of 24) were held at their home dome. This advantage certainly played a part in the success of the West Metro teams.

Winning the recreational upper tier subdivision was Dan Debe’s “Lutefisk Legion” (West Metro) team with a 5 & 1 record. They beat out two other West Metro teams to claim the top spot in this subdivision. The recreational middle tier subdivision (three teams) was won by Jim Sutherland’s “Sudsy’s Elves” (West Metro) team with a 4 & 2 record and the recreational lower tier subdivision (four teams) was won by Art Glidden’s “Lumberjacks” (North Central MN Lumberjacks Softball Club) team with a 4 & 2 record.

One of the rules used in recreational tournament play allows a batter to stay at the plate and hit, even if he is walked. If the batter is walked, he then has the option of taking the base or staying at the plate and hitting again with a new count while a courtesy runner is placed on base.

This rule leads to some interesting scenarios. During the tournament a Mason City Seniors batter hit into a leadoff double play because he walked, opted to stay at the plate while a runner took his place on first, and then grounded into a double play. It also allowed a pair of Lumberjacks players, Art Glidden and Dennis Johnson, to have a five RBI at bat. They both came to the plate with the bases loaded and were walked, forcing in a run. They both chose to remain at bat and subsequently both hit grand slams.

Bob Lundegaard (76) was the oldest player in the tournament and this was his second time attaining that honor, but he didn’t win by much. Lundegaard’s birth date is Jan. 23, 1932 and runnerup Bud Kuenzel, also 76, was born just two days later on Jan. 25, 1932. The youngest player honor went to Scott Hanson of the Rochester Seniors team. Scott is 50 years old and this is the second tournament in a row where he was the youngest player involved.

The 2009 SSUSA North Region Recreational Tournament Circuit will expand to seven tournaments. Here is a tentative tournament schedule:

➢ February – Minnesota dome tournament.

➢ April - Spring training tournament at Raccoon River Softball Complex in West Des Moines, Iowa.

➢ July – One day tournament at Van Valkenburg Fields in Edina, Minn.

➢ August – Weekend tournament at Moondance Softball Complex in Walker, Minn.

➢ September – One day tournament at McQuillan Softball Complex in Rochester, Minn.

➢ October – Tournament in Omaha, Neb. (tentative).

➢ December – Minnesota dome tournament.

Details on this tournament circuit schedule will be available in the near future. Once tournament dates have been established that information will then be distributed to past tournament circuit participants. Keep an eye on the SSUSA’s Clubs & Leagues web page for further tournament circuit information.