14th Quad Cities Classic Draws 33 Teams; Oldest in Illinois, Iowa

Sept. 1, 2009 – Gus Linke

The heat and humidity played a major role in the 14th Annual Quad Cities Classic, the oldest Senior Softball tournament in Illinois and Iowa. This year, 33 teams competed in June in one of the most competitive Quad City Classic tourneys to date.

In the 50 Division, Mick Lee’s J&J Sports from Des Moines, Iowa, defeated both Chicago Prime (19-14) and St. Louis Sting (21-14) to claim the Gold Division title.

In the Silver Division, 50 Caliber from Bridgton, Mo., came roaring out of pool play to defeat Softball Dads from Des Plaines, Ill., (30-17) and arch-rival from St. Louis Moudy’s Bar (17-16 and 7-6) in two thrilling games to win.

In the Bronze Division, Carpet Specialists / Antiques from Iowa City, playing in their first tournament, defeated the Fossils from Waterloo, Iowa, twice (21-17 and 22-15). Carpet Specialists advanced to the finals, only to be “schooled” by the veteran Ole Skool team from St. Louis. Ole Skool defeated Carpet Specialists (24-10 and 18-16) to win the Bronze. Ole Skool was a tremendous addition to the tournament and won the Tournament Sportsmanship Award.

In the 55 Gold Division, the perennial powerhouse Roberts Construction defeated Kansas City Kids (16-13 and 27-15) to win the crown.

Games raged back and forth in the 55 Silver Division. It took a grand slam homer in the bottom of the seventh to allow Chicago Prime 55 to claim victory over the Sonic Fossils (30-26). But the Fossils came back to win the Silver Division, defeating Chicago Prime (28-20) in the “IF” game.

In the 55 Bronze Division, two evenly matched teams fought tooth-and-nail, with Mattingly’s Bar defeating Omaha Spirit 55s (13-7 and 14-9) to win the division.

In the 60 Red Division, two old Midwest rivals squared off and, after the dust settled, US Pallet 60s defeated Miken/Fossils-Car City (18-10 and 18-16) to claim the title.

In the Blue Division, the Chicago Hitmen never quit, rallying in the seventh to defeat the Chicago Gray Sox (16-15), then rallied again in the seventh against KFC from Champaign, Ill., scoring 8 runs in the seventh to win (15-14).

In the 65 Gold Division, two very strong rivals matched talents again. This time Libby’s from Wisconsin defeated Budweiser out of St. Louis. The first game went to Bud (20-13), but Libby’s came back to win the next two (18-3 and 20-7).

The 65 Silver was the most balanced division of the tournament, with excellent play from Quad City Old Stars, Jim & Joe’s from Kentucky and The Prize Company from Minnesota. In the end, Michael’s 65s from Chicago claimed the champion ship with two victories over Prize Company.

In the 65 Bronze Division, the Chicago Seniors nipped KFC 65s of Champaign to win the championships. In the 70 Red Division, number 3 seeded Milwaukee Seniors put it all together to knock off Midwest Central 70s from Iowa and the powerful Chicago Geezers twice (12-1 and 15-14) to earn the title.

In the 70 Blue Division, Casey Automotive from Illinois defeated Quad City 70s twice (23-13 and 13-7) to claim the championship.

The Rock Island Complex deserves a great deal of credit for getting the diamonds ready to play Sunday morning, following Saturday evening’s tornado storm that washed out the final three games Saturday. Thanks, also to Aaron Linke, who kept the ballplayers hydrated and the dugouts filled with a full compliment of ice water.