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.

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - Ten teams challenged the weather OCTOBER 17-20 at MIKE DESORBO EXCHANGE PARK in PENSACOLA, FLORIDA.

TEAM LOUISIANA downed DOC C twice 23-17 and 20-13 for the 50 PLUS CROWN.

Four teams went at it in the 60 PLUS group with SMITH MASION beating BAND OF BROTHERS for the title. SMITH MASON reached the finals with a 23-20 over WESTROCK.

WESTROCK had the satisfaction of sending BAND OF BROTHERS to the loser's bracket 20-19 in first round play. The fourth team in the bracket was SMITH MASON.

TRAVELERS an DAG went best two-out-of-three for the 70 GOLD title with winning twice 25-9 and 14-13. DAG took the middle game 17-11.

THE 70 SILVER went to BOYD METAL over MISFITS.

DALTON, GA - DREAMGIRLZ had a  "DREAM" tournament in winning the 2019 SPA WOMEN'S 50 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SEPT 18-22 at DALTON, GEORGIA'S HERITAGE FIELD COMPLEX.

The DREAMGIRLZ did it by going 3-0 in the three-team bracket play with wins over tn TN STARS 21-9 in the opener. followed by a 30-6 trouncing of SUNNY BEACHES and wrapping it up with a 18-14 win over the TN STARS in the finals.

The TN STARS beat SUNNY BEACHES 17-10 to make the finals.

The 2019 SPS 50 WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPS ROSTER:MONA ONYEMELUKWE, FREDA JONES, ANGELA HOLLOWAY, CYNTHIA MOBLEY, BARBARA FOXX, KATHY OMEARA, SYLVIA ECHOLS, LYDIA CRANDALL, DEBORAH FRANKLIN, SHIRLEY SNELL, SHERYL CONNERS, VANESSA MITCHELL, SONYA FULTZ, BEVERLY VOVETT, MICHELLE BROWN, ANITA MCCALL, ADRIAN BROWN, PATRICIA R. MCGRIFF and MELINA FRANKLIN.

DALTON, GA - LOWES LEGENDS scored the SPA 50 HAT TRICK in 2019.

The OHIO team won the COLUMBUS, OHIO HEART OF OHIO tournament for the first crown, defeated two other regional champs in pool play (KENT'S PLAYERS 24-9. TEXAS ACES 22-17) at the DALTON WORLDS FOR THE SECOND and wrapped IT up by winning the 2019 SPA 50 WORLD CROWN at DALTON Sept 4-8.

In the SPA 50 WORLDS, LOWES after winning their first two bracket games (GRILL 584 25-9, BRICKYARD SOFTBALL 15-14) were ambushed 28-16 by KENT'S PLAYERS.

LOWES retaliated beating KENT'S 21-16 to force the "IF" game and taking the title with a 28-16 win.

KENT'S reached the finals with wins over ACTION SPORTS 19-11,DIVERSIFIED MACHINE 18-17 and KC VINTAGE 20-13 before the three-game showdown with LOWES

Others in the 14-team field not previously mentioned were DAYTON LEGENDS, MIAMI VALLEY SRS, FLYTIME SOFTBALL, CINCY 50, LAKESHORE CONTRACTING and GA RENEGADES.

MEMBERS OF THE TRIPLE-CROWN CHAMPION LOWE'S TEAM are:  GARY MEYER, JEFF POPPE, GARY LECKER, GARLAND CLIFFORD, JOHN TAYLOR, FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ, JAMES LOWE, TOM BECK, DENNIE ROE II, GEORGE MIRONES, RICHARD RAYMOND, BRYCE TUOHY, EUGENE WASIELEWSKI, PETE BRICKEY, JOHN MURPHY, ALONZIE WRIGHT, PHILIP ZURWELLER, ANDY DYER and BRAD BEARD.

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.

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.

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, GEORGIA - FENCE BROKERS/TEAM KITTY/MIKEN/WORTH is a 2019 SPA WORLDS repeat winner.

The FENCE BROKERS took their second straight SPA 50 MAJOR PLUS TITLE JULY 19-21 at DALTON'S HERITAGE PARK besting BRIAN PATTEN LAW 21-16 in the title game.

Along the way they also downed SUNCOAST ADIDAS 19-9.

BRIAN PATTEN reached the finals with a 44-18 triumph over ESCOBAR BODY.

KELLEHER FIRM/USA rounded out the four team field.

FENCE BROKERS' MANAGER MICHAEL WILSON took home the SPA 2019 50 MAJOR PLUS MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR.

REYNALDO GUTIERREZ was the 2019 SPA 50 MAJOR WORLDS MVP.

Recognized as ALL AMERICANS were MICHEL DILL, ALBERT DAVIS, BOB O'BRIEN, ALAN TANNER and CHRIS WALKER.

Other members of the champion FENCE BROKERS team are: GERALD DONALDSON, PAUL HARDIN, STEPHEN HELLER, JASON KENDRICK, GEOFFREY ORR, RICHARD SILLS and BRADLEY STILLWELL.

DALTON,GA - GOOD TIMES/CLEAN PLANET ran the table in the SPA 50 MAJOR WORLDS BRACKET at DALTON, GEORGIA HERITAGE POINT PARK JULY 19-21 to take home the 2019 title.

GOOD TIMES went 4-0 in bracket play downing WALKER BROTHERS 17-1 in the TITLE GAME. Leading up to the finale GOOD TIMES defeated TEAM ARKANSAS 18-2, TENNESSEE COMETS 23-9 and BEST WAY 17-5.

WALKER BROTHERS reached the finals with wins over BOB JOHNSON (17-10), GEORGIA CLASSICS (13-8) and LSDB (19-15)

Others in the 15-team bracket were SIX ONE FIVE SR SOFTBALL, ATLANTA MONARCHS, COVELLO SANITATION, DOC'S SOFTBALL, SOUTHEAST WATER/SWARM and LIGHTHOUSE LOOKOUTS.

GOOD TIMES manager GENE MYERS received the 2019 SPA 50 MAJOR MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD.

NED JOHNSON took home the MVP AWARD.

ALPHONSE BICHETTE, KEITH FELDON, JOHN HEFFLEFINGER, DAVID JOHNSON and JOSEPH ROBINSON all received ALL-AMERICAN recognition.

The CHAMPS roster in addition to the players already mentioned include; JACK BUTLER, CARL CASTELLO, JOSEPH FUHRMAN, TIMOTHT GRUNDMANN, JEFFREY JACOBY, JEFFREY KIGHTLINGER, THEODORE LEHR, BRENT MCGARY, EUGENE MYERS, ARBER PARHAM, KEVIN PEET and ABDREW SIMPSON.

MARIETTA, GEORGIA played  host to 21 teams JUNE 20-23 at the AL BISHOP SOFTBALL COMPLEX in the SPA PEACH STATE CLASSIC senior softball tournament..

Ten teams squared off in the 50+MAJOR bracket with LIGHTHOUSE going 4-0 in lighting up the scoreboard to take home the title.

In their four wins the champs touched home plate 134 times in wins over SE SWARM (35-5,35-33), BEST WAY (31-16) and RIVER ROCK (33-19).

SE SWARM reached the finals beating BEST WAY 28-27 to take runner-up honors.

Others in the bracket were DUDLEY, WALKER BROS, TN COMETES, DOC'S SOFTBALL, ATLANTA MONARCHS and TEAM INTENSITY.

The MONTGOMERY SWARM bested KENT PLAYERS 23-15 and 21-17 along with a 25-18 defeat of WDMS to win the 55 AAA bracket. KENT PLAYERS reached the finals by downing GEORGIA RENEGADES 19-8.

DARRELL HARRIS took the top prize in the 55 AAA group with a pair of wins over ATLANTA RECYCLE (20-12, 26-16) and a 23-18 defeat of TN CONNECTION.

ATLANTA RECYCLE edged PANHANDLE 22-21 reaching the finals.

Three teams battled in the 60 AAA/65 MAJOR group with GAS downing COLUMBUS LXV 24-11 and MOBLEY ROOFING 117-10 for the title. COLUMBUS LXV beat MOBLEY ROOFING 22-10 to reach the finals.