CONNECTICUT HOSTS SENIOR WOMEN'S PLAY FOR THE FIRST TIME AND CONTEMPLATES NEW DATES FOR 2011

June 1, 2010 – Steve Simmons New England & North Regional Director, Clubs & Leagues

NORTH BRANFORD, CT – The biggest news coming out of this year’s New England Classic, the CT SSWC Qualifier played on two weekends (May 15-16 and May 22-23) at the CT Sportsplex here didn’t deal with winners or losers. It had to do with who was participating and when the action was taking place.

For the first time in the five-year history of the New England Classic there was a senior women’s division. Jan Brown, who is affiliated with the Connecticut Senior Olympics, took the initiative to form two 50+ women’s teams and entered the qualifier with both teams as fully registered SSUSA teams. The two teams played a best-of-three series and Jan’s team, CT Senior Moments Too, won two straight games by identical 14-0 scores over the CT Senior Moments team.

The attendance at this year’s tournament was down significantly from last year (40 teams in 2009 to 22 teams this year). Contributing to the decline in registrations was the popularity of the SSWC Atlantic Coast Championship which was held in Virginia during the same time frame; the sparsity of economically available rooms due to college graduations on those weekends; and, with regard to the women, the reluctance of some women’s teams to compete two weekends in a row because the Connecticut Senior Olympics were scheduled just one week apart from the New England Classic.

Available dates will be explored for next year to see what might be a better fit for this tournament. Teams will be queried to see what they would prefer and dates of existing Northeast SSWC qualifiers will also be considered when establishing a new date.

In the men’s competition this year Action Auto Parts (RI) won the 50 Gold division. They were 2 & 2 in seeding play but then went undefeated in bracket play to win the division. In bracket play they beat My Cousin Vinny’s (MA) 27-13 and East Coast Softball (NY) 16-15 to gain the title. They previously had been 0 & 2 against East Coast Softball during the seeding round.

New York Motion won a best-of-three series against the Baystate Bombers (MA) for the 55/60 Gold division championship. After losing the first game 13-7 they came back to win the next two 14-7 and 14-5.

Commodity Haulers Express (RI) was the best in the five team 60 Silver division. The division champion was determined by round-robin play. The key game for Commodity Haulers Express was the very first game they played, a 15-5 win over the Jersey Masters. Both Commodity and the Jersey Masters finished with 3 & 1 records but Commodity’s head-to-head win determined the victor.

The two 65+ winners were Cozy Grille (RI) in a three-team round-robin playoff for the 65 AAA title and the Syracuse Cyclones 65’s (NY) in a best-of-three matchup with Western Mass 65’s for the 65 AA crown. Cozy Grille and Edge Technology 65’s (CT) entered the final game of the 65 AAA round robin playoffs with identical 1 & 0 records, due to wins granted over an exhibition team. Cozy Grille then won that final game 21-17. The Syracuse Cyclones double-dipped Western Mass by scores of 12-5 and 19-11.

The Back Office Associates (MA) team went undefeated to win the 70 Major championship. They beat both their 70 Major adversaries, the Jersey Jaguars 70’s (NY) and the Syracuse Cyclones 70’s (NY), twice on the way to their title.

The Edge Technology 70’s (CT) team won the 70 AA division with three wins over Wanskuck Post 56 (RI). The scores of those three games were 21-16, 14-12 and 14-10.

Following are the top finishers in each division:

50 GOLD

1. Action Auto Parts, RI

2. East Coast Softball, NY

3. My Cousin Vinny’s, MA

55/60 GOLD

1. New York Motion, NY

2. Baystate Bombers, MA

60 SILVER

1. Commodity Haulers Express, RI

2. Jersey Masters, NJ

3. Edge Technology 60’s, CT

65 AAA

1. Cozy Grille, RI

2. Edge Technology 65’s, CT

65 AA

1. Syracuse Cyclones 65’s, NY

2. Western Mass 65’s, MA

70 MAJOR

1. Back Office Associates, MA

2. Jersey Jaguars 70’s, NJ

3. Syracuse Cyclones 70’s, NY

70 AA

1. Edge Technology 70’s, CT

2. Wanskuck Post 56, RI