Wood Bat Tournament Offers Softball Nostalgia

Jan. 1, 2009

By Steve Simmons

Softball News Report

LAKEWOOD, CO – DuWayne Pillard, SSUSA Clubs and Leagues Colorado state director, and fellow Colorado senior softball player Joe Carabello, had an inspiration to hold a recreational wood bat tournament at diminutive Lakewood Park here.

Pillard and Carabello played up the theme of a nostalgic revisit to what softball used to be. They planned the tournament as a one-day event (Sept. 27) with a guarantee of three games per team. With just two fields available, and no lights, the limit of teams they could accept was 10 and they filled out their field of teams within a couple of weeks.

The teams were all Colorado teams and were a blend of Colorado Senior Softball League teams and tournament teams from the Scrap Iron Senior Softball Club of Colorado. The teams were divided into two divisions with the Upper Division including Scrap Iron – Schimmels (60 Major), Scrap Iron 50’s (50 AA), Scrap Iron – Diamonds (60 AAA) and two Colorado senior league teams, Texaco and Ace-Hi. The Lower Division was comprised of Scrap Iron – Phiten (60 AAA), Scrap Iron – DeGroot (65 AAA) and three Colorado senior league teams, Assassins of Youth, Hardwoods and Hectors.

As expected, two of the tournament teams, Scrap Iron – Schimmels in the Upper Division and Scrap Iron – Phiten in the Lower Division, emerged as champions in their respective divisions but not without a battle. The wood bats, coupled with the use of the 44 COR, 375 compression softball, provided a great equalizer and placed a huge emphasis on defense and hit placement. The power game was all but eliminated.

The two fields had fence distances of 250 feet and 275 feet. No balls left the park on either field and very few balls cleared the outfielders, who had to remain behind an arc, about 150 feet from home plate, until the ball was hit. The outfielders could have stationed themselves even closer, if this tournament rule hadn’t been in effect, and could have really compressed the playing field by making more catches and executing even more force outs from outfield throws.

Directors Pillard and Carabello will give consideration to using a livelier ball in future tournaments to keep the outfielders honest and eliminate the arc rule. But both directors stated they would again use the same ball with the arc rule if the feedback they get from the teams that participated is in favor of staying with this year’s rules and equipment.

Pillard and Carabello plan to hold another wood bat tournament in 2009. The responses they have received have been overwhelmingly positive. Dick Shimmels, manager of the Scrap Iron 60 Major team, said, “Thanks a lot for putting on the tournament. We all had a great time.”

The winning teams in this tournament were the best defensive squads in their respective divisions. Scrap Iron – Schimmels won their three ‘play-in’ games by scores of 11-3, 2-1 and 12-0. In the championship game, they won a thrilling extra inning game, 10-9 in eight innings, over Texaco.

Scrap Iron – Phiten, fresh off a third place finish at the 18 team SPA 60 AAA nationals in Dalton, GA, also didn’t allow an opponent to score in double figures in any of their four games. They went undefeated and they won by scores of 17-3, 10-5, 12-5 and 19-6.

Here are all the game scores from the tournament:

Scrap Iron – Phiten 17 vs Scrap Iron – DeGroot 3

Scrap Iron – Schimmels 11 vs Texaco 3

Assassins of Youth 6 vs Hector’s 4

Ace Hi 12 vs Scrap Iron 50’s 1

Texaco 16 vs Scrap Iron Diamonds 5

Scrap Iron – Phiten 10 vs Hardwoods 5

Scrap Iron – Schimmels 2 vs Ace Hi 1

Assassins of Youth 17 vs Scrap Iron – DeGroot 3

Scrap Iron 50’s 15 vs Scrap Iron Diamonds 12

Hardwoods 14 vs Hector’s 11

Scrap Iron – Phiten 12 vs Assassins of Youth 5

Texaco 11 vs Ace Hi 3

Hector’s 13 vs Scrap Iron – DeGroot 2

Scrap Iron – Schimmels 12 vs Scrap Iron 50’s 0

Hardwoods 14 vs Scrap Iron Diamonds 13

UPPER DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

Scrap Iron – Schimmels 10 vs Texaco 9

LOWER DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

Scrap Iron – Phiten 19 vs Assassins of Youth 6