SPA News

What's Happening in Senior Softball

Eyes of Texas on Layla Bryan Memorial

The Layla Bryan Memorial Georgetown, Texas SPA tournament played host to 32 teams with eight champions crowned.

The April 20-23 event had participants in the 65, 70 Gold, 75 Plus, 80 Plus, 60 AA/AAA, 50 AAA, 50 Platinum, and 55/60 plus, AAA and Major brackets

The largest group faced off in the 70 Gold bracket with San Antonio Legends beating Hendricks Sports 26-19, 27-11 and Texas Legends 26-20 to win the title.

Hendricks finished second followed by Oakies, Austin Merchants, Texas Greyhounds and Still.

Houston Classics captured the 65 Plus title beating second place  Texas Rattlers 12-4, 27-11 and the third place

Texas Legends 26-20. Centex was the fourth team in the bracket.

Hill Contracting with wins over the runner-up Texas Greyhounds 26-14, 21-12 and Alamo City finished on top in the 75 plus group.

Team Classics lost 15-19 to the Kansas City Antiques 16-19 in their  first game but bounced back to win the next two 26-14, 24-18 for the 80 Plus championship. The Texas Greyhounds were third.

The 60 AA/AAA went to Texas Thunder who beat  second place Texas Rangers 23-19 and Dallas Spurs 25-14.

ETX lost to Bullets 21-13 in their first game but rallied to beat them 20-13 and 18-10 for the 50 AAA title.

The 50 Platinum crown went to the Texas Mavericks with two wins (35-27, 30-23) over runner-up Legends of Texas  and a 37-17 victory over Texas Rock 55.Others in the group were Texas Vets and  Mixed Breed.

The 55/60 Plus AAA and Major combination bracket saw Smith Mason, Dudley downing second place Gonzales Insulation 32-10, Crossfire 30-15 and Texas Rampage 22-7 for the crown.

"This tournament continues to grow," SPA president Ridge Hooks said. "Last year we had 28 teams and we get bigger each year. This was Layla's tournament and teams attend to show their respect and honor her memory. We all miss her."

Teams Turnout at Valley City NIT

The Men's Mid-South NIT at the Valley Sportsplex Valley City, Alabama saw thirty-eight teams suit up for the April event.

Nine teams went home with championship trophies during the April 21-23 event.

"We has some weather problems but we got through it and all divisions got a lot of games in," Pete Fowler. tournament director said. "It was a very competitive tournament with "if" games and close games throughout the tournament."

One of the "IF" games was in the 70 AAA bracket where Time Bandits after losing 16-18 to Freedom bounced back to edge them 14-13 for the title. LA Legends were third.

In the 65 AAA Crystal Heat beat The Farm 17-0 and 22-18 for the championship while Tag was third and Deep South fourth.

Edge beat the Travelers 28-6 and 26-14 in a best two-out-of-three in the 65 Major bracket.

GAS never ran out of it running the table for the 60 AAA crown. The champs downed RDG 20-0, Atlanta Recycle 23-9 and Boys of Summer 13-12. Following GAS in the standings were RDG, Atlanta Recycle, Boys of Summer and Columbus LX.

The Tennessee Comets did not have time to take a breath in winning the 50 AAA bracket. The Comets beat runner-up SE Water Swarm 14-12 and 19-17 to go along with 24-23 first round decision over third place Maj LG Miken.

Kent's Players and Atlanta 50's rounded out the five-team bracket.

Team One took the rain shortened 50 Major Crown. Others in the group were Walker Bothers, Monster Softball, Lighthouse, Doc C's, Team Kitty, Good Times and Atlanta Monarchs.

Rain also shortened the 55 Major bracket with Florida Automated the winner. Others in the six-team field were Montgomery Swarm, Alpha Life, Tennessee Connection, Next Level and Darrel Harris,

Carolina A's were the 55 AAA champs while David Bowen won the 60 Major crown. Others in the mixed 55 AAA/60 Major bracket were JR Smith, Southern States and DT Express.

Pensacola Hosts Womens Spring National

The 50, 55 and 60 women's teams met in Pensacola April 7-9 for a rain shortened Spring Nationals Tournament.

The 50 bracket was won by Tennessee Stars who beat Pensacola Sr. Ladies 30-15, 37-11 and Bat Girls Return 33-6. Fire n' Ice rounded out the group.

Serious Fun had a lot of it beating East Coast Gems twice and Jolico 55's once to take the 55's title. Sunny Beaches was the fourth team in the bracket.

Sunny Beaches downed runner-up Road Runners 30-13 and 13-4 along with a 21-7 win over the Southern Stars for the 60's title.

The 35/40 bracket was rained out.

Military Appreciated at Mustang

Mustang, Oklahoma appreciated the Military with  an April 6-9 tournament in their honor.

Carriage Homes won the 60 plus bracket with Nebraska Silver Bullets crowned 55 champs. Second place went to Okla. Street Outlaws and K.C. Thunder.

The 65 Plus crown went to Boyd Metal. Dallas Spurs were second followed by Ola City Relics and USA Patriots.

Midwest Driving School won the 75 tournament with a pair of wins (12-11, 18-1) over the Texas Greyhounds.

SPA Salutes Veterans

College Station, Texas played host to the 27-team SPA Salute to Veterans Tournament crowning eleven divisional champions in the process.

The March 20-April 2 event featured brackets in 50 AAA, 50 major and major plus, 55 AAA, 60 AA, 65 AA, 65 AAA, 70 AAA/Major, 70 AA, 75 AAA and 75 Major.

The largest group was the 50 Major/Major plus bracket with seven teams squaring off for the title. Escobar Body Shop took the top spot by beating Texas Mavericks (31-11) and Texas Players (32-31, 29-24).Texas Players took second followed by Mixed Breed, Team Woodlawn, Texas Mavericks, Texas Vets and Team Arkansas.

The 55 AAA division saw S.A. Softball Club beating Scrap Iron RMT (23-22, 27-13) and Legends of Texas 29-11 to win it all. Scrap Iron RMT was second with Crossfire fourth.

The Bullets beat ETX  50's two out of three (18-9, 12-13, 15-11) for the 50 AAA crown.

Dallas Spurs beat the Texas Legends 9-3 and 11-9 to capture the 60 AA title.

The 65 AA Dallas Spurs echoed the performance of their younger brothers downing Robson Ranch Texas 14-13 and 13-7 for the 65 AA championship.

The Houston Classics needed three games to beat the Texas Legends (26-25, 16-31, 19-8) to win the 65 AAA top spot.

Louisiana Legends downed Austin Merchants 13-12 and Hendricks Sports 16-6 to win the four team 70 AAA/70 Major bracket. with the Merchants second, Hendricks third and Texas Classics fourth.

Texas Greyhounds won the 70 AA with the Alamo City Travelers  75 AAA champs. The 75 Major title went to Hill Contracting.

"I expect next year this tournament honoring our veterans will grow into at least 35 teams," SPA president Ridge Hooks said. "Everyone enjoyed themselves and next year we will try to add more teams to the 70 and 75 groups."