SPA News

PANAMA BEACH, FLORIDA - With ANN HUMBLE looking down from above  the initial SPA ANN HUMBLE MEMORIAL WINTER WORLD SERIES went off in perfect weather November 1-3 at the PANAMA BEACH'S FRANK BROWN PARK COMPLEX.

HUMBLE (1948-2018) was a well loved and dominant force in women's softball, especially in the GULF area where she spent 30 years with the HILTON SOFTBALL team as player, manager and coordinator.

HUMBLE was also a member of THE SPORTS HALL OF FAME.

She along with her husband ROBERT HUMBLE , who is still involved with HILTON SOFTBALL, together were mainstays of women.s softball.

In its initial appearance as a SPA TOURNAMENT, the ANN HUMBLE MEMORIAL saw champions crowned in five divisions.

In a white-knuckler 55'S BRACKET, SHO ME 55'S won by edging SLUGGERS 22-21 and 13-12 in the bracket finals. In opening action they beat SHO-ME 60'S 21-9.;

In bracket play the champs edged SLUGGERS 22-21 for the title  and 13-12 in an earlier bracket game. In pool play.

The SLUGGERS reached the finals by beating SHO-M 60's 22-9.

But talk about close games, in pool play the SLUGGERS beat SERIOUS FUN 9-8 lost to FIRE&ICE 12-13 but beat SHO-ME 55'S 10-9. Then in bracket play they lose to SHO-ME 55's 21-22 and 12-13.

In five of their six tournament games they scored 63 runs and their opponents 65 with all games decided by one run. In their only non-one run game they beat SHO-ME 60'S 22-9.

The champion SHO-ME 55's were similar scoring 63 runs in five games and gave up 69 with the sixth a 21-9 win over SHO-ME 60's.

FIRE&ICE downed JWP 50'S twice 19-10 and 14-11 in winning the 50 PLUS CROWN.

EAST COAST GEMS continued their domination of SPA WOMEN'S 55 PLUS division by going 6-0 in pool and bracket play to easily take the title.

The Champs beat SERIOUS FUN 19-6, 12-8 and THE PLAYERS 12-6 in bracket play. SERIOUS FUN downed THE PLAYERS 21-15 to reach the finals.

HIGH CALIBRE dropped LADY SHOT CALLERS 20-6 and 13-3 in winning the 45 PLUS championship.

PITCHES BE CRAZY 35's downed HILTON 40's 35 PLUS 15-13 and 11-7 to take the 35/40 title. PITCHES other bracket win was 26-13 over their sisters the PITCHES BE CRAZY 40's.

HILTON 40'S 35 PLUS bear PITCHES BE CRAZY 40'S 22-3 to reach the finals.

DALTON, GA - TM FORCE made quick work of PITCHES BE CRAZY to win the 2019 SPA WOMEN'S 40 WORLDS SEPT 18-22 at DALTON, GA'S HERITAGE PARK.

Only two teams were entered in the SPA 40 DIVISION, TM FORCE and PITCHES BE CRAZY. The two settled who was the top dog by squaring off in the best-two-out-of- three showdown with the FORCE coming out on top.

The FORCE took the first game 26-14 and outlasted PITCHES BE CRAZY in the tight deciding game.

MEMBERS of the 2019 SPA 40 WORLD CHAMPS are: TANYA LEE, KELLYE BERNING, MARIA ELENA FUTCH, MARLYS MAY, GAYLE BORGEN, NICOLE BROWNELL, KEITHA HALL, NICOLE FAGAN, NICOLE BASILE, KATIE MATTHEWS, LAURA MOENEYHAM, KIRSTEN CRUMPACKER, LARA KEENE, MELINDA ARCHER, JOBINA JOHNSON, KARINA STONG  and CARISA MILLER.

The Women's SPA TWITTY SENIOR WOMENS NIT TOURNAMENT June 16-19 at DRAKE CREEK PARK in HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE was music to a number of team's ears.

Acting out a pair of CONWAY TWITTY hits "The Games that Daddies Play" and "You've Never Been this far before", 29 teams took part in the tournament.

Showing why they love coming to HENDERSONVILLE the TN SR STARS 50;S, EAST COAST GEMS 55'S and JOLICO 65's all were repeat champs with JOLICO making it a THREE-PEAT.

SMOKEY MOUNTAIN STARS was the fourth team in the bracket.

In a re-run from 2018 JOLICO'S 65's beat the OHIO CARDINALS 16-2 and 10-9 to win the 60 PLUS bracket. Jolico also beat the GOLDEN GALS 12-8 on the way to their straight TWITTY title.

TN SR STARS bounced the DREAMGIRLS 17-14 and 21-19 for their repeat 50 PLUS crown. The champs also beat 50 CALIBRE 20-11.

DREAM GIRLS dropped FIRE & ICE 13-6 to reach the finals. JWP was the fifth team in the bracket.

In the 55 PLUS it was EAST COAST GEMS repeating with wins over THE PLAYERS (19-8), SERIOUS FUN (17-8) and 19-4 over SHO ME #1..

THE PLAYERS made it to the finals edging SERIOUS FUN 12-11. In the battle for MISSOURI "bragging rights". SHO-ME #1 downed SHO-ME #2 14-11.

SUNNY BEACHES kept JOLICO 60's from repeating by beating the 2018 TWITTY champ 10-7. The Michigan team didn't go down without a fight forcing a third game beating SUNNY BEACHES 9-5 in the "IF" game.

The champs had put JOLICO into the loser's bracket earlier with a 12-9 win after barely edging HAMEL LADIES 7-7 in the opening round.

Others in the bracket were NOREASTERS and SHO-ME602"s.

Six teams squared off in the 35 PLUS group with MIDWEST MAYHEM downing HILTON 40's 11-9 and 18-7 for the crown.

MIDWEST MAYHEM took the long way around to win the title by after winning the opener 20-19 over OUTER LIMITS they lost to HILTON 40's 13-15 to fall into the loser's bracket. They earned their way to the finals beating SAVE SECOND BASE 20-16, OUTER LIMITS 24-14, PITCHES BE CRAZY 18-4  and HILTON 40's 18-17.

Wicked game was the sixth team in the bracket.

KRYPTONITE downed HIGH CALIBRE 21-5 to take the 45 Plus CROWN.

PITCHES BE CRAZY were the 40 plus champs.

 LADY SHOT CALLERS were the fourth team in the bracket.

PENSACOLA,FLA - The 2019 SPA WOMENS TOURNAMENT opened the season APRIL 12-14 at MICHAEL J. DESORBO EXCHANGE PARK in PENSACOLA with the SPA WOMENS SPRING NATIONALS.

Twenty-one  teams took part in the event which featured lots of close and "IF" games as the ladies battled for titles in the 35,40,45,50 and 55 Divisions.

The TN STARS captured the 50 AAA bracket by beating JWP twice 25-17 and 24-11. They also disposed of H-TOWN SISTERS 16-1 and FIRE&ICE 19-4.

The STARS went 6-2 in bracket and pool play with the only defeats being to JWP. 

JWP went undefeated in pool play and through the first two games of bracket play before losing the final two games to the TN STARS.

Others in the bracket were H-TOWN SISTERS and FIRE&ICE.

THE PLAYERS went undefeated (6-0) in both pool and bracket play to capture the six-team 55 DIVISION.

The champs took down SERIOUS FUN twice in the finals of bracket play 14-0  and 12-9 along with an opening round 17-8 win over SHO-ME.

SERIOUS FUN also had six wins in the tournament but was saddled with three defeats, all to THE PLAYERS.

Others in the 55 DIVISION were H-TOWN SISTERS, SHO-ME, SUNNY BEACHES. and LA SPORTS. The 35 DIVISION also saw an undefeated team win its bracket as PITCHES BE CRAZY went 5-0 in the six-team field to take home the top prize. The PITCHES knocked off JWP twice in bracket play to wrap it up.

JWP downed OUTER LIMITS 17-13 to make it into the finals.

Teams in the six-team group were PITCHES BE CRAZY, JWP, OUTER LIMITS, HILTON, WICKED GAMES and MIDWEST MAYHEM.

KRYPTONITE beat PITCHES BE CRAZY, TM FORCE and ARKANSAS SYNERGY in bracket play for the 45 PLUS crown while ARKANSAS SYNERGY edged TM FORCE 10-9 for the 40 PLUS title.

Teams in the 40/45 bracket were KRYPTONITE, ARKANSAS SYNERGY, TM FORCE, PITCHES BE CRAZY and LADY SHOT CALLERS..

"It was a great tournament with plenty of outstanding players and individuals," TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR MIKE DESORBO played," The ladies really had their hitting shoes on and played outstanding defense. They really are outstanding softball players."

MONTGOMERY, ALA - MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA entertained 27 teams for the SPA MENS SOUTHERN SPRING NIT MARCH 14-17.

Champs were crowned in NINE DIVISIONS with the 40/50 group having the most teams with nine.

SIX ONE FIVE bested SOUTHEAST WATER SWARM 36-35 in the title game after losing to SOUTHEAST 32-36 earlier to force the "IF"  championship showdown.

While SIX ONE FIVE had an easier road to the finals with wins over WALKER BROTHERS 27-19, ATLANTA MONARCHS 35-34 and SHIELD CONSULTING COLOR BY DESIGN 44-42 it was not the case for SOUTHEAST.

The SWARM beat DOCS SOFTBALL 31-19 but lost its next game 31-32 to WALKER BROTHERS to fall into the loser's bracket,

SOUTHEAST faced a marathon trip to the title game beating LIGHTHOUSE 31-20, TEAM ARKANSAS 36-21, WALKER BROTHERS 24-18 and SIX ONE FIVE 36-32 to make it to the finale.

Teams in the nine-team bracket were SHIELD CONSULTING COLOR BY DESIGN, SOUTHEAST WATER SWARM, TEAM ARKANSAS, LIGHTHOUSE LOOKOUTS, RIVER ROCK CONSTRUCTION, DOC'S SOFTBALL, ATLANTA MONARCHS, SIX ONE FIVE SENIOR SOFTBALL and WALKER BROTHERS.

T-REX SOFTBALL won the 60 MAJOR CROWN with SEASONED VETS the 60 AAA CHAMPS. Others in the field were BAND OF BROTHERS and GAS.

TRAVELERS 70 were the 70 MAJOR winner with THE TITUS COMPANY 65 AAA champion and COLUMBUS LXV taking the 65 MAJOR TITLE. DEEP SOUTH SOFTBALL was the fourth team in the bracket.

KPI SOFTBALL bested MONSTER SOFTBALL in a 2-out-of-3 match-up winning 21-18 and 37-22 and losing 31-30.

Four teams battled it out for the 55 AAA crown with MONTGOMERY SWARM after losing its opening bracket game 17-19 to PANHANDLE won four in a row including the championship game.

The CHAMPS beat DARELL HARRIS 22-6, PANHANDLE 16-13 and TENNESSEE CONSTRUCTION 26-14 and 25-14.

TENNESSEE had beaten PANHANDLE 20-18 and DARELL HARRIS 28-26 to reach the finals.

KENTS PLAYERSbeat BRICKYARD SOFTBALL 43- 36 and GEORGIA RENEGADES 27-26, 33-18 to go undefeated in bracket play and claim the 50 AAA crown. ACTION SOFTBALL was the fourth team in the bracket.

"It was a good way to start the 2019 year," RIDGE HOOKS SOFTBALL PLAYERS PRESIDENT said. "There were great games in all the brackets, I expect next year to see a huge increase in the tournament."

The PITCHES BE CRAZY FORTIES actually went CRAZY celebrating their first ever SPA TOURNAMENT title of any kind.

The champs pulled it off August 19-23 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK in the 2018 SPA 40’s WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

“It was really great,” PBC 40’s manager BRENDA DEWITT said. “We are an offshoot of the PITCHES BE CRAZY 35’s and we just put the team together this year.”

It has been a long year for PBC 40’s as their record was 3-7 in SPA tournaments (TWITTY, ROCKY TOP, SPRING NATIONALS).

“In pool play at DALTON we went 0-2 playing teams like KRYPONITE before we got to bracket play,” DEWITT said.

In bracket play they defeated ARKANSAS SYNERGY 40’s 10-5 and 21-9 for the title.

“I think that may have been the first time we beat SYNERGY this year,” she said,”When we beat them in the finals at DALTON, we actually did go crazy celebrating.”

“We have a great team and a great attitude,” DEWITT said.”It was great to finish the year on a positive note, we all excited now anticipating the 2019 season.”

Individual Awards: BRENDA DEWITT SPA 40’S MANAGER OF THE YEAR and JANE COLSON TOURNAMENT MVP. Selected to the ALL-AMERICAN TEAM were BARBARA HARE, NICOLE BASILE, DEANN DEITSCH, JEANIA HASTINGS and TIFFANY MACKEY GUTHERIE.

Members of PITCHES BE CRAZY FORTIES are; HARE, DEWITT, MACKEY-CUTHERIE, BASILE, HASTINGS, DEITSCH, COLSON, CRYSTAL WHITE, SHERRI RUF, JAN GREATHOUSE, SABRINA CAMPBELL, ERIKA ROACH, CONNIE JONES, JULIE DAVIS, SHERI YOUNG, JULIE KELSO, LISA LONG GILES, CONSTANCE RAMIREZ and REBECCA DAY.

More umbrellas were in demand than bats at the SPA WOMEN'S ROCKY TOP NIT held in KNOXVILLE’S CASWELL COMPLEX JULY -8.

“It was a shame because we had such a great turnout for the tournament and the weather didn’t cooperate, “SPA President and CEO RIDGE HOOKS said.

Despite the weather problems ROCKY TOP was still able to declare champs in the 50, 55, 60 and 65 division with only the 35 and 40/45 groups coming up empty.

The OHIO CARDINALS flew away with the 65 PLUS crown beating the GOLDEN GALS 7-1 and SR DIAMONDS 12-2.

The GOLDEN GALS reached the finals with a 2-1 win over the SENIOR DIAMONDS. SMOKEY MOUNTAIN STARS rounded out the bracket.. The CARDINALS left no doubt as to who was champ, having also gone 3-0 in pool.

SUNNY BEACHES went 3-0 in pool and 2-0 in double elimination to easily take the 60 PLUS bracket.

In bracket play they defeated HAMEL LADIES 10-7 and SHO ME 60’S 12-1 to win the crown.

HAMEL LADIES were the finalist followed by third place MARYLAND ROAR RUNNERS.

EAST COAST GEMS took the 55 PLUS title with SERIOUS FUN the finalist. SHO-ME 55’s rounded out the field..

FIRE & ICE took the 50 PLUS title followed by JWP AR MIX . WAYPOINT FINANCIAL was the third team in the bracket.

No bracket play was started in the 35 and 40/45 Division.

Teams in the 35’s with pool play records were TZKG SOFTBALL (1-1), pitches be crazy (1-0), MIDWEST BALLERS MAYHEM (0-1), OUTER LIMITS (1-0), HILTON 40 PLUS (1-0) and SAVE SECOND BASE (0-2) .

40/45 PLUS pool play results.

TM FORCE (40) 2-0, KRYPTONITE (45) 1-1 and PITCHES BE CRAZY (40) 0-2.

The SPA TWITTY SENIOR WOMEN’S NIT TOURNAMENT honored the 25^thanniversary of CONWAY TWITTY’s passing with 33 teams participating in the tournament named in his honor.

Held at DRAKES CREEK PARK ATHLETIC COMPLEX at HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE the tournament saw an increase in teams from the previous year.

“I believe there is a bigger and brighter future out there for all women in slow pitch softball,” JUDY LEE SCHREIBER, SPA NATIONAL WOMEN’S DIRECTOR said. “This tournament named for CONWAY is typical of how the program is growing.”

Nine division winners were crowned during the event held MAY 16-20 with two teams EAST COAST GEMS (55) and GOLDEN GIRLS of VIRGINIA (70) the only repeat champion.

Adding another 2018 tournament title after winning the SPA WOMEN’S SPRING NATIONAL, the GEMS also remained undefeated for 2018 taking four team 55 DIVISION crown.

On the way to the title the EAST COAST GEMS downed the SLUGGERS (4-7), SERIOUS FUN (28-10) and SHO ME 24-8..

The SLUGGERS beat SERIOUS FUN 13-11 for runner-up honors.

The GOLDEN GIRLS OF VA took their title beating the CALIFORNIA SPIRIT 20-5 and 18-8 as well as CHATTANOOGA CHARGERS 10-9.

The. Bested the CHARGERS 17-8 for second place.

The three-team 75 Crown went to the OHIO TRI STARS who beat the TENNESSEE STARS 22-4 and FREEDOM SPIRIT 10-2 in bracket play. The STARS beat the SPIRIT 15-12 to reach the finals.

Four teams squared off in the 65+ group with JOLICO SENIORS 65’S taking home the top prize.

JOLICO took care of the OHIO CARDINALS twice (11-10, 10-6) and SENIOR DIAMONDS 10-6 for the title.

The CARDINALS dropped their first game in bracket play to JOLICO but fought back through the loser’s bracket beating DIAMONDS (12-3) and SMOKEY MOUNTAIN STARS (18-4) to reach the finals.

The JOLICO 60’S followed their sisters’ lead winning the 60 + crown besting five other teams.

JOLICO had a close call in the finals edging HAMEL LADIES 15-14 but had an easier time beating HAMEL 19-6 the first time around. The champs slipped by the NOR’EASTERS 13-10 in their opening round game.

HAMELS beat SUNNY BEACHES 13-1`0 to reach the title game. MD ROADRUNNERS and SHO ME were the others in the bracket.

TN SR STARS downed FIFTY CALIBER 20-8 in the “IF” game to take the 50’s division crown. The STARS lost 11-15 to FIFTY CALIBER forcing the “IF” game. In earlier bracket play the STARS beat FIFTY CALIBER 17-12 forcing them into the loser’s bracket.

The STARS also beat FIRE and ICE 19-4, JWP AR MIX 18-4 and SUNNY BEACHES 17-12 in bracket play.

ARKANSAS ENERGY defeated PITCHES BE CRAZY 40’S 14-13 AND 28-9 for the 40/45 title. PITCHES beat WICKED 21-18 to make the finals.

OUTER LIMITS beat WICKED 13-5 in the “IF” game to capture the 35’s division bracket...

MiIDWEST MAYHEM, SAVE 2ND BASE and PITCHES BE CRAZY rounded out the five-team bracket.

“Two great tournaments and turn out for the ladies,” SPA PRESIDENT RIDGE HOOKS said about the TWITTY and SPRING NATIONAL. “The SPA women’s program is going great thanks to JUDY, MIKE DESORBO, SHELBY WILLIAMS, the teams and the managers.”

“We look forward to seeing everyone back in TENNESSEE for the ROCKY TOP TOURNAMENT July 5-8 in KNOXVILLE at CASCADE PARK>”

The rain tried but it couldn't stop the 2018 SPA WOMEN'S SPRING NATIONALS April 14-15 at PENSACOLA, FLORIDA EXCHANGE PARK .

"The weather tried but we were able to come up with results in all age groups," TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR MIKE DESORBO said."We didn't get all the bracket games completed but enough games were completed to determine the winners in all five brackets."

ARKANSAS JWP and Florida's HILTON FORTY PLUS were co-champs in the 35-division.  Michigan's MIDWEST MAYHEM BALLERS , Kentucky's OUTER LIMITS, SAVE SECOND BASE of Tennessee and Alabama's PITCHES BE CRAZY were also in the  six team bracket.

The STAR of the 35-division was MIDWEST MAYHEM BALLERS PATRICIA ROE. ROE smashed a 300-ft over the fence grand slam home run.

KRYPTONITE gave the home towners something to cheer about as the Florida squad took the 45 Division crown.

ARKANSAS SYNERGY nosed out TM FORCE, Florida for the 40 bracket title Tennessee's BATGIRLS RETURN was the third team in the bracket.

The 50 Title stayed in Florida as FLORIDA GIRLS came home ahead of ARKANSAS's runner-ups JWP and third place finisher FIRE AND ICE of Tennessee.

 H TOWN SISTERS WITH BATS (Texas), JWP AR MIX (Arkansas) and PENSACOLA SENIOR LADIES rounded out the six - team group.

EAST COAST GEMS (Virginia), THE PLAYERS (Florida) and SUNNY BEACHES (Florida) finished 1-2-3 with the GEMS taking home the top prize in the 55 group.

SHO ME (Missouri), SERIOUS FUN (Tennessee) and LA SPORTS also participated in the six-team bracket.

"It was the best tournament we ever held here in terms of competition and quality of the teams," DESORBO said. "I just wish we could have gotten all the games in on the last day."

Kryptonite used its “powers” to win the SPA 40/45+ World Championship September 23-23 Heritage Point Park in Dalton, Georgia.

Kryptonite beat Bat Girls Return two-out-of-three for the title as others in the age group did not wish to match talents with the top two teams in that age bracket.

“We are used to playing only one other team in our age brackets at tournaments” manager Veronica Shaw said. “There are only five 35’s, one forty and one forty-five teams in our age bracket.”

At Dalton It was an even battle until Bat Girls Return couldn’t get their wings going in the rubber game losing 20-2. The teams split the first two games with Kryptonite winning 20-16 and losing 8-16.

“We didn’t hit in pool play or in our second game with the Bat Girls,” Shaw said. “In the title game we only played eleven players to allow their top hitters more at bats.”

The champs have won six out of seven tournaments they have played this year.

“Most of us have been playing together for twenty + years,” Shaw said. “We also have been fortunate to have Ed Bouchard SPA 40/45 Manager-of-the-year coaching us. He is the biggest asset to our team".

It isn't only softball on the team's mind as they promotes Autism awareness on their uniforms, especially the jerseys.

Valorie Mullins was the tournament MVP, she was 16-for-17 at the plate. Selected to theAll-American All-Tournament team were: Colleen Smith, DJ White, Sara Payne, Karen Hunger and Shaw.

Members of the Kryptonite team are: Smith, April Blke, Rhonda Cline, Carolyn Deeb, Theresa Walburger, White, Verbia Behe, Payne, Mullins, Hunger, Sonja Brooks-White, Lynelle Westra, Shaw, Coleen Dague and Bouchard.