ISA Kicks Off Winter Nationals with Skills Contest

June 1, 2013 – Jerry Jackson

The first annual ISA Seniors Winter Nationals was held March 2 -3 in Polk County, Florida. Twenty teams, making seven divisions, participated in this great event.

The weather was a little cool for Florida, but the teams dressed warm and played some great softball. Every team was guaranteed 5 games over the 2-day event. All bracket winners receive a berth to the SSUSA Tournament of Champions next February.

The managers meeting and a skills contest were held Friday night. The cold weather seemed to scare participants away. We had scheduled a home run contest, pitching contest, and running the bases contest in two divisions, 50 and 60. However, we only had one winner and that was Gerald Stigliano from Steve Levin 60’s team who won the home run contest in the 60 division. He received a new Miken bat for his winning effort.

The 65's and 70's played at the Auburndale Sports Complex. The 70’s division had 4 teams, Buc’s & Bulls 70’s, Port Saint Lucie Ramblers, American Legion Post 8, and Buc’s & Bulls 75’s.

The Buc’s & Bulls 75’s received an equalizer of 5 runs in every game. These teams played 2 seed games for seeding into a 3 game guarantee bracket. The Buc’s & Bulls 70’s won this division by first winning a very close game, 15-14 over Port St. Lucie.

The Buc’s & Bulls 70’s then faced American Legion and defeated them 18-3. This put them in the championship game against the Buc’s & Bulls 75’s who had lost their first game against American Legion 17-16.

The Buc’s & Bulls 75’s then fought their way through the losers bracket by defeating Port St. Lucie 27-21 and American Legion 20 – 7. This put the Buc’s & Bulls 75’s against the Buc’s & Bulls 70’s in the championship game. The Buc’s and Bulls 70’s defeated a very scrappy Buc’s and Bulls 75 team to win the 70AAA championship.

Five teams participated in the 65 division. There were three 65AAA teams, Lake Wales Legends, Oasis, and MCC Marketing and two Major teams, Voice Tech and Florida Beach Boys. These teams played 3 seed games, then the three AAA were seeded into a double elimination bracket and the two Major teams played the best 2 out of 3 for the championship.

In bracket play, Lake Wales went 3 and 1 by defeating MCC 22-13, Oasis 20-15 before losing to Oasis 37-29. This caused the 65AAA championship to be decided by an "if" game. In the "if" game the two teams fought back and forth, but Lake Wales came out on top by a score of 21-19. In Voice Tech and Beach Boys best 2 out of 3, Beach Boys won the first game 24 – 22.

Then Voice Tech put on their game face and defeated Beach Boys 30-23 and 22-15 to win the 65 Major Division Championship.

The 55/60 division and the 50’s division played all their games at the Diamond Plex Sports Complex in Winter Heaven, Florida. The 55/60 division had five teams and all teams played three seed games with Steve Levin 55, Hollis Appraisal, and South Florida Heat being seeded into a double elimination bracket for the major championship. AAG Mustangs and Clubhouse Pub then played the best 2 out of 3 for the AAA championship.

Hollis Appraisal went undefeated in the bracket by winning 26-15 over South Florida Heat. In their second game, they beat South Florida heat again 24-4 for the 55/60 Major Championship. In the 60AAA division, the AAG Mustangs won 26-12 in the first game against Clubhouse Pub and then in a very close second game AAG won 20-19 to claim the 60AAA Championship. In the 50 division there were 6 teams, consisting of four major teams and 2 AAA teams. All teams in the 50 division played three seed games and then the major division split off into a double elimination bracket and the two AAA teams played the best 2 out of 3 for their championship.

The Steve Levin 50’s team ran the table in the major division to go undefeated to win the 50 major championship. In their first game, they won 28-21 over Florida Blast. In their second game, they defeated Miami Power 26-20. Steve Levin 50’s then had to wait on Miami Power to come out of the loser’s bracket to play for the title.

In the championship game, both teams had some hot bats and played some great defense, but Steve Levin 50’s survived a very close win, 30-29, over Miami Power to claim the 50 Major title.

In the 50AAA division Freedom Ranch beat Cross Cut 19-14 in the first game. In the second game, Cross Cut fought back against Freedom Ranch, but came up one run short and Freedom Ranch won the 50AAA championship, 19-18.



All Tournament Selections

50 Major: Steve Levin 50’s - Brett Porche, Phil Mauri, Don Lloyd, Bob Kopperud, Kevin Burns

55/60 Major –South Florida Heat - Steve (Doc) Brand, Luis Latour, Tommy Mackey

Bucs and Bulls - 70 AAA - Sam Ferguson, Jerry Flannery, Cecil Hock, Don Williams, Bob Willoughby

Bucs and Bulls 75 AAA - Dick Leis, John Ormsby, Tie between Roy Gardner and Bob Allen

This is all of the All-Tournament selections I have received to date. Please email me your selections at jjackson@itv-3.com.

ISA’s next seniors event is our world tournament in Columbus, IN, July 26-28.