SPA News

DALTON, GA - The SR REDBIRDS flew over the competition winning the four-team SPA 75 WORLD SERIES SEPT 4-8 at DALTON, GEORGIA'S HERITAGE PARK.

The BIRDS went undefeated (3-0) in bracket play to take the title but it wasn't a cake walk.

The edged RARE BREED 11-10 in the opener, INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS 17-14 in the second round and 9-6 in the finals.

The CLASSICS beat HILL CONTRACTING 20-12 and 11-5 to make it to the finals.

HILL CONTRACTING had some consolation by beating the CLASSICS 20-13 in pool play to win the 2nd leg of the TRIPLE CROWN.

The BIRDS went 5-1 overall (pool and bracket) for the tournament with the only loss 7-8 to RARE BREED.

SENIOR REDBIRDS SPA 75 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS ROSTER CHAMPIONS: JAMES BEATTIE, ELMER CHESTNUT, RALPH GROTELUESCHEN, PAT HEROD, TOM KADLEC, JOHN LAURENTI, LENNY SEUSS, JOSEPH VARADY, DEAN LARSON, RICH REIM, RICK RAKOWSKI, GERALD FELDOTTO, GARY SCHAD, HERB WEAVER, ED KNARR, PAUL SMITH, JERRY IMMING, BOB BAIRD and LARRY KIGHT.

RAYMORE, MO - The weather was not friendly to the 2019 SPA ISENHOWER MID-AMERICA NIT JUNE 22-6/23 in RAYMORE MISSOURI.

Only nine teams were able to last out the rain delays with four champs being crowned in the round-robin events.

KC CLASSICS took the 50 MAJOR TITLE  with wins over ELITE 50 (19-17) and SENIOR DOGS (18-17). They did suffer two losses to KC VINTAGE 15-21 and IOWA DEAMONS  18-23.

The SENIOR DOGS BEAT kc vintage 19-16 and IOWA DEAMONS 15-9 for the 50 AAA crown. Their only defeat was 17-18 to the 50 MAJOR CHAMP KC CLASSICS.

OMAHA SILVER BULLETS beat KC STAMPEDE 14-13, KC RENEGADES 17-16 and SCRAP IRON EXPLOSION 16-12 TO WIN THE 55 AAA TITLE.

SCRAP IRON was the 60 AAA winner.

LIBERTY, MO - FOUNTAIN PARK SPORTS COMPLEX in LIBERTY, MISSOURI played host AUGUST 2-3 to the 2019 SPA  MID-AMERICA NIT for 65/70 Divisions.

Three teams made the most of the round-robin opportunity as KC KIDS 65 AAA,  OAKIES 70 AA and MIDWEST EXPRESS 70 AAA all went home with championship hardware.

The KC KIDS had a battle in going 5-0 winning two games by one run and two by three.

Falling to the KC KIDS were OAK-ARK 25-24, BOYD'S METAL 17-16, KC RENEGADES 20-11, ST.LOUIS VISION 19-16 and MID-WEST EXPRESS 18 15 to capture the 65 AAA crown.

MID-WEST EXPRESS claimed the 70 AAA title thanks to wins over ST.LOUIS VISION (22-14), BOYD'S METAL (19-13), KC RENEGADES (8-5) and OAKIES (21-8).

The OAKIES edged ST.LOUIS VISION 19-18 to be awarded the 70 AA crown.

Teams in the seven team event were OAK-ARK 70 AAA, BOYD'S METAL 70 AAA, ST.LOUIS VISION 70 AAA, MIDWEST EXPRESS 70 AAA, KC RENEGADES 70 AAA, OAKIES 70 AA and KC KIDS 65 AAA

COLUMBUS, OHIO - LOTA SOFTBALL left no doubt as to who the top team in SPA 80 WORLDS was AUGUST 5-8 at COLUMBUS, OHIO BERLINER FIELDS.

LOTA, short for LOUISIANA, OKLAHOMA, TEXAS, ARKANSAS the states they are from, not only went 6-0 in the 12-team two division brackets but beat all the top teams.

In addition to beating all the teams in the 80 GOLD group in bracket play they downed FIRST, RUNNER-UP and FOURTH place finisher from the SILVER bracket.

However, it wasn't a cake walk for LOTA as they only won by 65-57 in five of the games for a two-run margin difference..but who cares it only takes one run.

in pool play LOTA beat SILVER DIVISION fourth place CHICAGO GEEZERS 13-12, runner-up PRO HEALTH CARE 15-4 and SILVER CHAMP PEACH TREE RESTAURANT 16-15.

In the 80 GOLD BRACKET double-elimination LOTA beat PFEIFFER AUTO twice 12-10, 14-11 and HAMEL BUILDERS 10-9.

By winning the SPA 2019 80 WORLDS they are now the only 80 team which has won both the 80 WORLDS and the 80 WORLD SERIES (2018 Dalton).

Individual awards earned by LOTA : SPA 2019 GOLD 80 MANAGER OF THE YEAR DON HARRIS and TOURNAMENT MVP LENNY YAFFE.

Named to the tournament ALL-AMERICAN TEAM were ELDEN BRAST, DON HARRIS, ROBERT BRAKER, EDDIE GLOVER and ROSCOE SMITH.

Other members of the 2019 SPA 80 GOLD WORLD CHAMPIONS  LOTA SOFTBALL are:

ROBERT BUISSON., RON FORTE, ED HARDY, JOE HOUSLEY, HARLAN JENSEN, ED PETLAK, FERRELL ROTON, MARLYN SCHROEPFER, JESSE SMITH,  DON SWIFT and F.JAMES TINELLI..

COLUMBUS, OHIO - PENNSYLVANIA'S PEACHTREE RESTAURANT recovered from an opening pool play disaster (0-3) to go undefeated (3-0) in bracket play and win the 2019 SPA 80 SILVER DIVISION WORLDS  AUGUST 6-9 AT COLUMBUS , OHIO'S BERLINER PARK.

Although PEACHTREE had won a 75 DIVISION WORLDS a few years back it was their first SPA 80's WORLD

title.

The RESTAURANT gang started the bracket run beating NY STATESMEN 18-11, WISCONSIN'S PROHEALTH CARE 15-2  and MICHIGAN'S MAIN STREET PUB 80'S  21-3 to reach the finals.

PEACHTREE wrapped up the crown beating PROHEALTH 20-7 in the finale.

PROHEALTH came out of the losers bracket by downing MAIN STREET 17-13, SAN ANTONIO 80'S 16-9  and CHICAGO GEEZERS 14-12. The seventh team in the SILVER bracket was KC ANTIQUES.

BILL REGAN was the SPA 80 SILVER DIVISION MANAGER of THE YEAR while HAROLD WHITE was  TOURNAMENT MVP.

Selected to the 80 SILVER ALL-AMERICAN TEAM were: ART BARNES, BRUCE DE BRIGADA, FRANK GORDON, MARVIN KRAVITZ and CALVIN FREEDMAN.

Others on the 2019 SPA 80 SILVER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM are; LEN BECCHETTI, KARL HORST, PETE PETITO, AL SCHULMAN, RON WEIDMAN, BILL DEPUTY, TOM SIEWIOREK, JIM HARRIS, GEORGE MERLO, MORT TIRNAUER, ROBERT HOSTETLER and JOHN CARTER.

The ILLINOIS SENIOR REDBIRDS flew high at the 2019 SPA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AUGUST 5-8 at the COLUMBUS, OHIO BERLINER SOFTBALL COMPLEX to win the 75 AAA title in the five-team bracket.

After losing their opening pool game 6-20 to the INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS the BIRDS rallied from an 8-run 7th inning deficit to edge RARE BREED 16-15 in their next game.

After that it was all over as they finished pool play with wins over DAYTON LEGENDS WHBC (17-8) and CHICAGO GRAY SOX (15-12).

In the double elimination bracket it was a straight flight for the BIRDS as they took down DAYTON LEGENDS 16-0, RARE BREED twice 15-6, 15-7 for the SPA 75 AAA WORLD TITLE.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD went to LENNY SEUSS while the MVP award was given to DEAN LARSON.

ALL-AMERICAN HONORS went to PAUL SMITH, ELMER CHESTNUT, GARY SHAD, JIM BEATTIE and PAT HEROD.

Other team members of the 2019 SPA 75 WORLDS CHAMPS are: RALPH GROTELUESCHEN,  TOM KADLEC, JOHN LAURENTI, RON LITZLER, JOE VARADY, RICH REIM, RICK RAWKOWSKI, GERAL FELDOTTO, HERB WEAVER, ED KNARR, JERRY IMMING, BOB BAIRD and LARRY KNIGHT.

Two SPA mini-tournament in NC and VA crowned champs this summer.

The 2019 SPA PLAYERS AWARDS EXPRESS in CONCORD, NC JULY 2-28 had champs in the 50 and 55 Division.

TN CONNECTION bested LEXINGTON MERCHANTS 20-17 and 1-12 to win the 50 AAA while THE GRILL disposed of the GA RENEGADES 18-3 and 23-18 to claim the 55 AAA CROWN.

The SPA EASTERN NATIONALS JULY 12-14 a GLEN ALLEN, VA saw the MARYLAND COUGARS outgun both the CHESTERFIELD CLASSICS and MARYLAND COUGARS to take home the 55 AAA title.

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Some things never seem to change, one being somebody besides CENTER FOR SIGHT winning the SPA 85 WORLDS. It definitely didn't happen this year.

Playing in the SPA 85 WORLDS AUG 5-8 at COLUMBUS BERLINER PARK,CENTER FOR SIGHT beat PROHEALTH CARE 6-1 and 24-9 to run their consecutive string of any and all SPA 85 DIVISION softball championships to who knows how many.

They did lose one game in pool play losing to one of the kids teams, the NY STATESMEN 80's 10-17. However, they also beat a pair of 80's teams SAN ANTONIO 80'S 16-11 and ANTIQUES OF KC 16-13.

CENTER FOR SIGHTS also hauled in a ton of individual hardware.

DON GSELL, who filled in for HUGH BROTHERON who had to stay home because of an illness, took home the 2019 SPA 85 MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD while BOB JOHNSON was the tournament MVP.

RAY BOSETTI, DAVE BUSH, STUART SELLINGER, AL DEWERTH and LARRY MC CURDY were all selected to the ALL-AMERICAN team.

Other members of the WORLD CHAMPION 85 CENTER FOR SIGHT team are; ROCCO CAMBARERI, BOB DARNELL, DAVE GOLDBERG, DWIGHT MC VICKER, HOWARD SCHOEN, ED SCHULTZ, FERRELL SPARKS, ROGER THRESHER, JOE SYKES and NORMAN HALTRIC.

The 2019 SYLVANIA OHIO SPA GREAT LAKES NIT hit a new high this year drawing 44 teams, this despite the SPA WORLDS for 75 and 80 were the following week in COLUMBUS, OHIO,

Champs were crowned in two 50 AAA brackets, 60 AAA, 65 AA, 65 AAA, 70 AA and 70 AAA AUGUST 1-4 at SYLVANIA'S PACESETTER PARK.

Fourteen teams entered the 50 AAA division which was divided into a GOLD BRACKET and SILVER BRACKET.

OHIO'S LOWE'S LEGENDS came out of the losers bracket to defeat  ONTARIO, CANADA'S RAM POWER 24-21 AND 10-7 to take the six-team GOLD DIVISION title.

LOWE"S fought their way to the title beating AREA 51 SOFTBALL 15-12, HOMER LOVERS 21-10, losing to RAM POWER 11-18 and downing HOMER LOVERS 15-14 to set up the battle with RAM POWER.

Others in the GOLD GROUP were DIVERSIFIED MACHINE and FLYTIME.

The OHIO HITMEN bested ONTARIO'S LAKESHORE CONSTRUCTION 18-15 and 18-16 to win the 50 AAA SILVER BRACKET. On the way to the title the HITMEN also beat the DAYTON FIFTIES and DAYTON 50's.

LAKESHORE reached the finals by beating MOTOR CITY PUSH 19-3.Others in the eight-team bracket were SYLVANIA BULL MOOSE, MIAMI VALLEY and TEAM 216.

UNIVERSAL MACHINE dropped ONTARIO"S BRANTFORD NISSAN 23-14 and 19-15 to win the 65 AAA title. UNIVERSAL had lost to BRANTFORD earlier 14-22 in bracket play but reached the finals with a 23-5 and 12-2 wins over CAVCO.

BRANTFORD went 2-0 with wins over SIDELINE BULL MOOSE 16-13 and UNIVERSAL 22-14 before losing twice to UNIVERSAL IN THE FINALS.

BRANTFORD NISSAN 70'S AA also lost to a team coming out of the losers bracket for the eight-team 70 AA crown.

KENTUCKIANA beat LEGENDS OF DAYTON 17-8, MICHIGAN LAKERS 22-21 before losing 6-9 against BRANTFORD dropping them in the losers bracket.   They bounced back beat RUSH TRUCKING 15-17, gave BRANTFORD its first loss 20-19 and won the "if" game 17-14 for the 70 AA title.

Other teams in the bracket were TORONTO, ROCHESTER ROYALS and COSSA.

The 70 AAA crown went DAYTON LEGENDS who also had to come out of the losers bracket.

DAYTON beat RUSH TRUCKING 17-10 in their opener but lost to STEEL CITY 9-15 in their next game. They knocked off CHICAGO STRIKERS 20-3 and then forced an "IF" game dropping STEEL CITY 11-8. In the finals DAYTON LEGENDS edged STEEL CITY 11-7 for the 70 AAA title.

HANDLAND FLOORING was the other team in the five-team bracket.

PONY EXPRESS delivered the mail going 3-0 in the four-team 55 BRACKET. The CHAMPS beat ANTIGUE ROADSHOW 10-7, TEAM ELITE 15-14 and  ROADSHOW AGAIN 17-7.

SYLVANIA BULL MOOSE 55'S was the fourth team in the bracket.

CHICAGO PRIME also went undefeated in bracket play to capture to 60 AAA championship.

The PRIME beat JP MOTERMEN twice 13-5 and 19-9 as well as PEPCO/SFS 24-8.

DAYTON LEGENDS 0'S, OHIO 60'S and SYLVANIA 60'S were the other teams in the six-team bracket.

Only three teams were entered in the 65 AA division and JUST ONE MORE beat bot (OHIO SILVERADO'S, DIAMOND DAWGS) to win the title.

DALTON, GA - SUNCOAST ADDIDAS SHADES is the 2019 SPA 55 MAJOR PLUS champs earning the title JULY 19-21 at the SPA WORLDS held at DALTON, GA's HERITAGE POINT PARK.

Although they went 2-0 in bracket play it wasn't exactly a cake walk.Counting their two wins in pool play, they won the four games by a total of 13 runs. In pool play they beat DLB SOFTBALL (15-14) and RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT(30-25). In bracket play ADDIDAS

But they did enough and at the right time to win the SPA 2019 SPA 55 MAJOR PLUS CROWN.

ADDIDAS downed RBC 25-20 in the finals and NORTHWEST STORM )(17-15) in the semi-finals

RBC eliminated SA 55 SOFTBALL CLUB 25-21 to reach the finals.

LEE TROTTER was the SPA 2019 55 MAJOR PLUS MANAGER-O-THE-YEAR while TROY PICKLES took home the MVP AWARD.

Selected to the AA;AMERICAN TEAM were DAVID BOGATZ, PHIL HARDY, ROBERT NOETH, GERALD REYNOLDS, and JOSEPH WINNER.

Other members of SUNCOAST ADDIDAS SHADES are: REGINOLD BROWN, RICHARD PAT BURKHART, PATRICK BURNETT, DAVID CRAWLEY, ROBERT P. DAVIS, DAVID DOERBAUM, HENRY GARRIS  and LARRY VEAHMAN.