SPA News

COLUMBUS LXV went into the 2018 SPA 65 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP at DALTON, GEORGIA Sept 6-9 with one thing in mind...win it for HENRY!!

HENRY SOLIC had been the manager and third basemen for COLUMBUS LXV and unfortunately passed away earlier this year.

“HENRY meant a lot to our team and we all miss him greatly,” COLUMBUS LXV Manager-of-The-Year PHIL DUNLAP said. “We remember HENRY before every tournament game and spread his ashes at third base after the tournament.”

“I know he was watching and rooting for us at DALTON,” DUNLAP said. “I know he is just as excited at winning the WORLD TITLE as we are.”

If SOLIC was watching from above, he had some anxious moments as his teammates won nine games in the tournament but five were by one run in the bottom of the seventh.

“We were lucky and won the toss in all five games, so I took last bats,” DUNLAP said.

They also had to come out of the loser’s bracket to win it.

In the only breather in the tournament COLUMBUS won the first bracket game 17-2 over THE FIRM. That was followed by a 25-24 win over SIDELINE BULL MOOSE before losing 14-17 to the DAYTON LEGENDS.

The CHAMPS started their journey out of the loser’s bracket with an 18-17 over RPR and forced the “IF” game beating DAYTON 15-14. The finale was more of the same with COLUMBUS rallying in the bottom of the seventh for the 18-17 tournament title.

“We were kind of lucky winning both the coin flip and then the game,” DUNLAP said.” We just played really, really well. We are not a soon-to-be MAJOR team, we didn’t win a lot of games this year. We just got really lucky in this one.”

COLUMBUS’S pool wins were over INDY FOG (20-14) and SIDELINE BULL MOOSE (10-8), They lost to SCRAP IRON MILE HIGH (10-11). Counting pool games DAYTON LEGENDS had won five in a row before losing the final two to COLUMBUS.

Teams in the nine-team bracket were: 1, COLUMBUS LXV, 2. DAYTON LEGENDS, 3. RPR, 4. BOYD METALS, 5. SIDELINE BULL MOOSE, 5. THE FIRM, 7. MIDSTATE STARS, 7. SCRAP IRON MILE HIGH and 9. HOOKS.

Members of the 65 AAA WORLD CHAMPION COLUMBUS LXV; NATE DOWDELL, DODGER FOWLER, ANDY HARBIN JR, RON INGRAM, ELMO MOSER, RONNIE SPANN, DINO SULLINS, DANNY WILSON, DOC YATES, RANDY LUNSFORD, DOUG DODSON, DANNY BAKER, VAL VALENTINI, PHIL DUNLAP JR, WALTER BROOKS, RODGER ALLEN, JIM THOMPSON, NICO NICOMETO, JEFF GOLLOTTE and LARRY MAFFIT.

JACK isn’t the only GIANT SLAYER, you can add CAROLINA FIVE-O to the list. CAROLINA earned the recognition by not only winning the 2018 SPA 50 WORLDS at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK but knocking off the TENNESSEE COMETS to do it.

The COMETS came into the tournament already having won SPA TOURNAMENTS at PLAYERS/AWARDS EXPRESS; PEACH STATE, SOUTHERN SPRING NATIONALS and the MID SOUTH NIT and won their first two pool games and three bracket games at DALTON.

CAROLINA FIVE O slowed down the COMETS with a 19-10 victory in the tournament’s winner’s bracket finals. CAROLINA reached the finals with wins over BLACKBURN TRUCKING (23-7), WDMS (22-21) and BRICKYARD SOFTBALL (20-17).

TENNESSEE fell into the loser’s bracket and promptly downed CANADA’S LAKESHORE CONTRACTING 21-15 to earn another shot at CAROLINA.

This time the COMETS came out on top 12-11 to set up the “IF” game. CAROLINA FIVE-O came out charging winning 20-15 for the 2018 SPA 50 AAA WORLD TITLE.

CAROLINA finished 7-1 having won two games ( DIVERSIFIED MACHINE 17-11 and MAJOR LEAGUE SRS 19-14) in pool play.

Teams in the 16-team 50 AAA bracket were: 1. CAROLINA FIVE-O, 2. TENNESSEE COMETS, 3. LAKESHORE CONTRACTING, 4 TEXAS BULLETTS,5. BRICKYARD SOFTBALL, GEORGIA RENEGADES, 7. DAYTON LEGENDS, 7. BOMANI/OHIO REAL ESTATE, 9. MAJOR LEAGUE SENIORS 9. WDMS, 13. CINCY 50’S QUALITY SOFTBALL, 13. BLACKBURN TRUCKING, MJ LOWE PLUS, 13 and ETX 50’S.

Team members of the champion CAROLINA FIVE-O team: JIM PEARSON, ANTHONY HOLMES, RICHARD KIRK, SCOTT CARTER, MIKE RIPBERGER, JEFF LESTER, GREG WATKIN, DAVE POOLE, EVERETT GRAHAM, HOWARD BOYD, JAY SHOTWELL, CLEO SUMMERS, GLEN ROSS, GREG BONNER, TROY BOWLING and JAMIE SANDERS..

ELITE SOFTBALL roared through the 2018 SPA 60 AAA WORLDS Sept 13-16 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK COMPLEX going 6-0 in combined pool and bracket play..

The champs were at the top of their game averaging 17.5 runs per game while holding their opponents average to single digits (8.6) in their six tournament games.

ELITE was 3-0 in bracket play beating CARRIAGE HOMES (18-3), SEASONED VETS (14-6) and KC THUNDER 23-18 in the title game.

In pool play they disposed of KC THUNDER 12-8, CHATTANOOGA RAZORS 21-9 and CARRIAGE HOMES 17-8.

Runner-up KC THUNDER had a rough start losing all three pool games and their bracket opener to CARRIAGE HOMES 6-7 which put them into loser’s bracket after only one game..

They responded by beating CINCINNATI 60’s 24-23, CARRIAGE HOMES 21-13 and SEASONED VETS 13-12 before losing to ELITE SOFTBALL in the title game of the six-team division.

For ELITE SOFTBALL it was their first 2018 SPA tournament title after finishing second at the PENSACOLA SOUTHERN NIT and the MID-SOUTH TOURNAMENTS.

Members of the SPA 60 AAA WORLDS champs are: STEVE SOUTHERN, DAVID TAYLOR, DAVID MASHBURN, JIMMIE YOUNG, ALLEN MICKLER, JACK MELSON, ED BLACKMAN, JOHN SMILEY, RON BRUMMETT, RICHARD BRUMMETT and MARK HUGHES.

No other tournament bracket at the 2018 SPA WORLDS in DALTON, GA was as loaded with as many  2018 Regional tournament champs and runner-ups then the 70 AAA WORLDS group.

SPA 2018 70 AAA champs and runner-ups  participating were TRAVELERS (TOM WILLIAMS, MIDSOUTH, RUNNER-UP PEACH STATE), TIME BANDITS (PEACH STATE,RUNNER-UP MIDSOUTH), DAYTON LEGENDS (HEART OF OHIO, FIRST FLIGHT), LOUISIANA LEGENDS (LAYLA BRYAN, LONE STAR, RUNNER-UP SOUTHERN NIT), US PALLET (MID-AMERICA), LIFEGUARD FINANCIAL (RUNNER-UP THEE BUCKEYE CLASSIC) and CHICAGO STRIKERS (RUNNER-UP MOSQUITO LAND, RUNNER-UP HOOSIER CLASSIC).

But when the dust cleared there was only one 2018 SPA 70 WORLD CHAMP among the 13 teams entered… the TRAVELERS from GEORGIA.

The TRAVELERS moved through the 70 AAA field going undefeated in both pool (3-0) and bracket (4-0).

In Pool play the TRAVELERS beat the TEXAS GREYHOUNDS 20-4, CHICAGO GREY SOX 11-1 and LIFEGUARD FINANCIAL 9-8.

First to fall in bracket play was CHICAGO STRIKERS 16-6 followed by TIME BANDITS 19-12,, DAYTON LEGENDS 15-14 and in the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME US PALLET fell 24-9.

US PALLET came out of the loser’s bracket winning three-in-a-row including a 15-12 win over DAYTON LEGENDS to put them in the finals.

Teams in the 70 AAA bracket were TRAVELERS, US PALLET, DAYTON LEGENDS, TIME BANDITS, CHICAGO STRIKERS, LOUISIANA LEGENDS, LIFEGUARD FINANCIAL, AVENGER, FOR FREEDOM, OKIES, NORTHERN VIRGINIA FORCE and DOWN SOUTH.

Team members of the champion TRAVELERS: HARLON BAKER, THOMAS BALLARD, RAY BRYANT, JOHN DAVIS, JERRY DUPREE, LLOYD FERGUSON, HARRY MANSELL, MICHAEL MCFARLAND, RICH MEST, JIM MYERS, RON PETRE, KEN SPANN, JOHNNY STANFORD, LOREN VEACH, DONALD WILLOUGHBY, KEN REESE and KEN SMITH.

ONE UNDER CRAFT BEERS AND EATS ran the table Sept 7-9 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK to win the 2018 SPA 55 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

The CHAMPS went 2-0 in pool and 3-0 in bracket for a perfect 5-0 record.

It wasn’t a total cake walk because ONE UNDER had to edge CPOA 27-26 in the finals to wrap up the crown. They started bracket play beating CPOA 20 -12 and MARYLAND COUGARS 21-10 to set up the title game with CPOA.

In pool play they beat DARRELL HARRIS & ASSOCIATES (30-17) and JAMES R.SMITH (14-12).

CPOA gave it a good try opening with a 20-14 over DARRELL HARRIS but lost to ONE UNDER 12-20 in their

next game. They earned their way to the title game with loser bracket wins over DARRELL HARRIS 20-14 and 21-16 over MARYLAND COUGARS.

The sixth team in the bracket was TENNESSEE CONNECTION.

Members of the ONE UNDER CRAFT BEERS AND EATS champs are MANAGER JEFF SHEEHAN, RUPERT ZUBKOFF, BRUCE ANTIOCH, DAVE W. JASKA, MIKE MCLELLAN, BRUCE WOOD, JEFF MILBRATH, PAUL LABARA, ROGER BREEDING, ROBERT MILLER, LARRY MERCER, FRANK NICKOWSKI, GREG KANCLEIZ, JIM CATES, FRANK DELUCA, RICHARD WAYNE, BILL REARDON and MICHAEL FORDE.

The CHICAGO HITMEN finished off a championship season by winning the 2018 SPA 70 AA WORLDS Sept 14-16 at HERITAGE PARK in DALTON, GEORGIA.

The CHICAGO team came out of the loser’s bracket to beat LEGENDS of DAYTON 25-16 and force an “IF” game. The HITMEN took the title deciding game by a 13-9 count.

CHICAGO started their run out of the loser’s bracket with a 10-3 over the TEXAS GREYHOUNDS after losing 21-22 to LEGENDS of DAYTON in the bracket opener.

The HITMEN added the WORLD’S crown to SPA TOURNAMENT titles they had won previously at the HOOSIER CLASSIC and HEART OF OHIO. Ironically the runner-up team in those events was LEGENDS of DAYTON.

In pool play at the WORLDS the HITMEN went 3-0 with wins over OKIES (19-14), DEEP SOUTH SOFTBALL (21-5) and NORTHERN VIRGINIA FORCE (9-5), all AAA teams.

Members of the champion CHICAGO HITMEN are: Manager MIKE SABATINO, STEVE DECORI, AL BARTOLOTTA, FELIX GARCIA, JACK JOST, JIM KUPIEC, RICK MASINO, PHIL WHITMAN, STEVE GAJDA, DAVE VORWALD, WARREN YORK, DANIEL TODD and PAT JOPS.

The BIRD was not the word at the 9/9-9/11 SPA 2018 75 AAA WORLD SERIES at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK.

The INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS downed the SENIOR RED BIRDS two out of three times in the double-elimination bracket competition to win the WORLD SERIES TITLE.

The CLASSICS beat the BIRDS 23-19 in their first encounter in bracket play sending the winged wonders to the loser’s bracket. The BIRDS fought their way out of the loser’s bracket beating the TEXAS LEGENDS (9-7) to get another shot at INDIANAPOLIS.

This time the BIRDS won (10-9) to set up an “IF” game but the CLASSICS came back to win 9-5 in the finals.

For the tournament the two teams (CLASSICS and REDBIRDS)  were 2-and-2 against each other since the BIRDS edged the CLASSICS 15-14 in pool play which making the REDBIRDS 3-0 and the number one seed. In the end all it earned them was the runner-up spot in the 75 AAA 2018 SPA WORLDS SERIES TOURNAMENT.

Ironically it was a repeat of the SPA JIM WELCH CLASSIC in TROY, ILL when the CLASSICS beat the SENIOR REDBIRDS twice to win that tournament. For the year the CLASSICS won three SPA TITLES the WORLD SERIES, JIM WELCH and THEE BUCKEYE CLASSIC. They also finished second in the WORLDS in COLUMBUS to PRO HEALTH.

The other two teams in the 75 WORLD SERIES were TEXAS LEGENDS and FLORIDA’S PREMIUM SEATS.

Members of the championship INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS are: KEN BONHAM, ROBERT BRABENDER, LARRY COOPER, JEFF CRUMP, DICK DOUGLAS, FLOYD EDWARDS, CHARLES FEDERLE,ELDEN FORTHUM, WILLIAM GREENWALD, WILLIAM HUDSON, HAROLD KENNEDY, JOHN LOIACANO, ROBERT WILLOUGHBY, WES WORLEY, GEORGE MILLS, GEORGE HULL, ROGER REVEAL, KEN KEELER, JAMES PATTERSON and STEVE SWICK.

The CANTERBURY CRUISERS added their second SPA 2018 75 MAJOR WORLDS to their resume winning the SPA 75 MAJOR WORLD SERIES at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK September 9-11.

In August they won the SPA 2018 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP played at COLUMBUS, OHIO’S BERLINER PARK.

It only took two bracket games to add their second title in DALTON. They knocked off SE LEFTOVERS 24-9 in the first game and HILL CONTRACTING 21-6 in the championship battle.

HILL made it to the finals beating SE LEFTOVERS 17-6.

CANTERBURY wasn’t perfect in the tournament losing to 75AAA WORLD SERIES winner INDIANA CLASSICS 14-7 in pool play. However, they did win their other pool games over two other 75 AAA teams PREMIUM SEATS (21-7) and SR REDBIRDS (29-8).

Members of the new 75 MAJOR 2018 SPA WORLD SERIES champs are:

RON HELLIER (mgr.), DAVE BEEBE, AL BROWN, VAUGHN COVERT, GERALD DEMARA, RAY DYE, CHARLES HROBOWSKI, RON HUSER, SAM LOPICCOLO, JIM RANISZEWSKI, RON SANNER, BRAD SMITH, LEWIS SOTO, MANUEL FENECH, JERRY L. JOHNSON and DOUG HOGUE.

The OHIO SILVERADOS won the SPA 2018 65 AA WORLD Championship played Sept 6-9 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK.

For the OHIO team it was their fourth SPA championship in 2018 tournaments. They had previously won THEE BUCKEYE CLASSIC, HOOSIER CLASSIC and the GREAT LAKES CLASSIC.

Ironically of the four tournaments, only the HOOSIER CLASSIC with three AA’s had more than two 65 AA teams in the event.

There are only six AA teams (thirty AAA teams) in SPA. The six teams are BRANTFORD (CAN), (by) GRACE REDEEMED (TN), INDY FOG (IND), ROBSON RANCH TEXANS (TEX), UPSTATE EXTREME ROYALS(NY) and the SILVERADO’S (OH).

Tough to have a tournament with more than two teams.

The SILVERADO’S made the most of the opportunity beating INDY FOG 20-11 and 19-7 in a two out of three for the crown..

In pool play the SILVERADOS played three AAA teams losing to RPR SOFTBALL 9-23 , SCRAP IRON MIKE HIGH 3-20 and MIDSTATE SRS 9-11. RPR and SCRAP IRON both went 3-0 in pool play while MIDSTATE was 2-1.

Members of the OHIO SILVERADO’S are manager RANDY BALLARD, JEFF BRENNEMAN, DAVE CAPLINGER, BILL FOLK, KEN SPOERNDLE, LARRY OMALLEY, JIM KIRBY, RANDY MILLER, STERLING MELODY, KEN PODOLAK, LYLE CARPENTER, JOHN WALDSMITH, DAN GERIN, MARK MARINI, LARRY CHIMENTO, THOM BLASDEL, LE GERIN and DANA PAUL BARNETTE

SUPERIOR SR SOFTBALL and VENOM used five head-to-head games to decide the 2018 SPA MAJOR PLUS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CROWN played Sept 14-16 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK

When the smoke cleared SUPERIOR SENIOR SOFTBALL had the 3-2 edge winning the final game 28-13.

Not only were the two teams close on wins 3-2 but VENOM only had a 83-82 edge in runs scored for and against.

SSS won a close first game 25-24 and the second game 16-4 before VENOM fought back winning 25-5 and 17-7 to force the deciding contest.

Some interesting facts about the two teams SSS had four impact players on their roster C. BALLARD JR, DON CLATTERBOUGH, CHARLES CREGAR and JOHN DAVIDE while VENOM had only two DAVE CLOVER and TOLS MIHAILOFF.

The SSS 15-man roster had players from six states (VA 5, MD 4, NC 3, NJ, TN, NY) while VENOM’S 11-man contingent had 10 from FLORIDA and one from KENTUCKY.

Members of the champion SUPERIOR SR SOFTBALL team are; C.BALLARD JR, PHIL BIEDRONSKI, GEORGE CHANCE DON CLATTERBOUGH, MEL COLWELL, CHARLES CREGAR, JOHN DAVIDE, THOM DOMMEL SR, JAMES MCLAMB, JOHN SCRUGGS, WILLIAM TIPTON, THOM TUDOR, RAY WIMBROUGH, ANDREW ZITNAX and JAMES SEARS.