SPA News

GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - The EYES OF TEXAS smiled down on the SPA  LAYLA BRYAN MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT APRIL 10-15 at the MCMASTER ATHLETIC COMPLEX in GEORGETOWN, TEXAS.

For the second straight the event hit 30 teams with eight teams sharing in EIGHT BRACKET CHAMPIONSHIPS.

LA LEGENDS defeated SAN ANTONIO LEGENDS twice and OK-ARK once in bracket play to take the three-tea, 70 GOLD bracket.

The GRAY SOX came out of the losers bracket to defeat the TEXAS CLASSICS 28-24 and 14-12 for the crown.

The SOX also had to beat the TEXAS RAIDERS twice (28-12, 23-22) to offset their only bracket loss 16-5 to the CLASSICS in the second round.

LOTTA SOFTBALL PLAYED LIKE A "YOUNG 80'S team" beating SAN ANTONIO twice 20-8,21-6 to take the "SENIOR" senior citizens bracket.

The kids HILL CONTRACTING won the 75 title beating the SAN ANTONIO DESPARDO'S 75'S 22-2 AND 7-0. SA reached the finals by beating TEXAS 75 KNIGHT RIDERS 24-11.

TEXAS THUNDER won the 65 AAA/MAJ GOLD BRACKET fighting its way out of the loser's bracket to do it.

The THUNDER beat GONZALEZ INSULATION 29-28 in the opened before losing 20-36 to CENTEX 65's.

The champs bounced back with wins over DALLAS SPURS (21-6) and twice (17-14, 14-5) against CENTEX.

Others in the six-team bracket were USA PATRIOTS and HOUSTON CLASSICS.

The 50 GOLD championship award went to BEATTEXASVETS who downed HOUSTON FIRE 28-27, 20-11 and CROSSFIRE 21-19.

HOUSTON FIRE was second followed by CROSSFIRE and TEXAS ELITE.

The 50 PLATINUM crown was taken by MANCAVE with wins over MIXED BREED 37-30 and OKLAHOMA RHINO 21-6. MIXED BREED took runner-up honors.

"It was another great tournament to honor LAYLA (BRYAN)," SOFTBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT RIDGE HOOKS said. "LAYLA started this tournament and through the years it has been a staple of SPA, this year's tournament continued to honor her name."

COLLEGE STATION,TX -The SPA 2019 SALUTE TO VETERANS COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS TOURNAMENT  made up for last year's weather problems with near perfect skies and temperatures. This year's event drew 28 teams to the MARCH 21-24 event.

Eight teams went home with first place awards in the event.

GONZALES INSULATION won the five-team 65AAA- Major "MAJOR" title beating HOOKS 28-14 and TEXAS THUNDER 22-21 for the crown.

TEXAS THUNDER won the 65 AAA crown downing DALLAS SPURS 19-10 and 28-27.

Others in the five-team bracket were HOOKS, ROBSON RANCH and DALLAS SPURS.

The EIGHT TEAM 70'S BRACKET saw LA LEGENDS go undefeated (4-0) in bracket play in winning the championship. The LEGENDS bear OK-ARK 20-2, 11-4, SAN ANTONIO LEGENDS 20-19 and STILL 22-12.

OK-ARK fought its way to the title beating the OAKIES 11-10 and GRAY SOX 16-5 before falling into the losers bracket with a 4-11 loss to LA LEGENDS. OK-ARK bounced back bating SAN ANTONIO LEGENDS 13-10 before losing the title game to LA>

Others in the eight team bracket were: OK-ARK, SAN ANTONIO LEGENDS, STILL, TX RAIDERS, GRAY SOX and TEXAS CLASSICS.

Three teams went at it for the 75 AAA title with HILL CONTRACTING beating the SA DESPERADO'S 16-1 AND 16-6 to claim the crown.

TEXAS CRUSH was the 60 MAJOR PLUS champ. TEXAS THUNDER took the 60 MAJOR title and the TEXAS LEGENDS took home the 60 AA crown.

SAN ANTONIO SOFTBALL 55's was the 55 MAJOR PLUS champ and VIVID EASTON THE 50 MAJOR TITLE WINNER.

SA SOFTBALL beat ESCOBAR 27-14 TEAM ARK 39-23 TO EARN THE TOP SPOT.

VIVID EASTON disposed of MIXED BREED 19-18, TEAM ARK 24-9 and ESCBAR 27-24 on its march to the title.

MANCAVE was the sixth team in the field.

TEXAS ACES beat ETX 50 19-17 and UNDERDOGS 44-20 for the 50/55 title.

ETX downed UNDERDOGS 23-8 to reach the finals.

"It was a great tournament," SOFTBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT and CEO RIDGE HOOKS said." The weather cooperated and the teams all seemed to enjoy themselves. The winners also earned a spot in the SPA TRIPLE CROWN at DALTON."

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 VILLAGE GOLDEN GALS won their second straight SPA WOMENS’ 75 WORLDS August 19-23 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK COMPLEX.

The GOLDEN GALS beat OHIO TRI STARS 15-0 in the “IF” game to win the 2018 crown. TRI STAR forced the “IF” game beating the GOLDEN GALS 10-7.

The two teams played each other four times in the tournament, once in pool and three times in bracket. The GOLDEN GALS won the pool game 10-7 and the first bracket game 4-2.

In other games the GOLDEN GALS beat the TENN SR STARS 14-13 and the GOLDEN GIRLS 75’s 18-1.

The OHIO TRI-STARS beat TENN ST STARS 10-1 for second place. GOLDEN GIRLS 75’s were fourth.

In 2017 the GOLDEN GALS beat the SPORTACULARS 13-9 for the title while the OHIO TRI STARS finished third.

GOLDEN GALS individual award winners in the 2018 tournament were: MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR CHRIS EVANS and TOURNAMENT MVP MARIAN MILHAM. Selected to the ALL-AMERICAN team were BARBARA BAILEY, CAROL WALTHER, DOTTIE BURELL, GLORIA MILLER and CAROL KOSZOLA.

Members of the 2018 GOLDEN GALS WORLD CHAMP are: EVANS, BAILEY, WALTHER, BURRELL, MILHAM, MILLER, KOSZOLA, KAREN ADAMS, SHARON BARAN, MADELAINE CAZEL, DOLORES FAHRNEY, BARBARA HARJU, LOIS BORIE, EVELYN HAYES, NOREEN MURPHY, MARCIA HALVORSON, BETH QUESNEL, JUDY LEWIS, JEANNE HCKETT and JOYCE TURNER.

The trip from MINNESOTA to OHIO took a whole day for the LEGENDS OF MINNESOTA to finally wake up and compete in the SPA 80 SILVER DIVISION WORLDS August 6-9 at COLUMBUS, OHIO’s BERLINER PARK.

After losing their opening games in pool play (4-19 HAMELS, 6-9 NY STATESMEN6-12 CHICAGO GEEZERS) they put it all together in bracket play.

The LEGENDS started out with wins over ANTIQUES OF KC (16-6) and CHICAGO GEEZERS (10-8) before stumbling against 85 WORLD CHAMPS CENTER FOR SIGHT (7-10).

They rebounded in style downing the ANTIQUES 22-10 and beating CENTER FOR SIGHT 20-12 in the championship game.

Teams in the SILVER DIVISION were: LEGENDS OF MINNESOTA, CENTER FOR SIGHT. ANTIQUES OF KC, CHICAGO GEEZERS, SAN ANTONIO 8-0’S and PRO HEALTH CARE 80’S.

Taking home individual awards for the champs were: 80 SILVER MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR DICK ANDERSON and tournament MVP BOB DAMADIO.

Selected to the ALL-AMERICAN team were: STEVE AGARD, NORRIS KRUSE, DON EICHTEN, TOM DANIEL and DICK GOSSE.

Members of the Champion LEGENDS team are: DAMADIO, KRUSE, GOSSE, DANIEL, EICHTEN, AGARD, D.ANDERSON, EARLE ANDERSON, DAVID BELBIN, KNNETH BENTFIELD, DAVID BRAY, WAYNE CAMPBELL, RICHARD FULDY, ROBERT LENZNEIER, MICHALE SMEIJA, FRED SWENSON, LOWELL THOMPSON.

CANTERBURY CRUISERS 75 MAJORS must have scared the rest of the SPA 75 MAJOR teams away, because they were the only entrant at the AUGUST 6-9 SPA WORLDS at COLUMBUS, OHIO BERLINER PARK.

As a result they were crowned the 2018 SPA 75 WORLD CHAMPS...but not without first earning the recognition.

The CRUISERS played 75 AAA teams going 3-0 in pool with wins over COSSA 75’s (13-8), MINNESOTA MASTERS (20-5) and BAILEY TALENT CAVALIERS (19-11).

CANTERBURY beat PITTSBURGH GOLD 15-3 before losing to 75 AAA runner-up INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS 15-13 in their final tournament game.

INDIVIDUAL Awards went to: 75 MAJOR MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR RONALD HELLIER. RONALD SANNER was the team MVP.

ALL-AMERICAN honors went to: ROY SIMS,RAY DYE, VIC NUCATOLA, JERRY JOHNSON and SAM LAPICCOLA.

Members of the CRUISERS are: DAVID BEEBE, ALFRED BROWN. VAUGHN COVERT, GERALD DEMARA, HROBOSKI,DONALD HUSER, JAMES RANISZEWSKI, LOUIS SOTO, MANUEL FRENCH, DOUGLAS HOGUE, SIMS,JOHNSON,SANNER, LAPICCOLO, DYE, HELLIER and NUCATOLA.

What had been a dismal senior softball season for the HAMELS 80’s team turned to GOLD August 6-9 at the BERLINER SOFTBALL COMPLEX in COLUMBUS, Ohio.

The MARYLAND team was a perfect 6-0 (3-0 pool.3-0 bracket) in winning the 2018 SPA 80’s GOLD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

HAMELS beat LEGENDS OF MINNESOTA 19-4, CHICAGO GEEZERS 20-8 ANTIQUES OF KC 17-8 in pool play. The competition was a little stronger but the results the same in bracket play. The SILVER STARS fell 10-17 and PFEIFFER GREY SOX went down twice (9-10.7-15) as HAMELS took the five-team 80 Division GOLD title.

Individual awards went to 2018 SPA 80 GOLD MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR AL HUNTER. DONALD MORTON was the tournament MVP.

HAMELS ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS were DICK HILL, FRANK DERAMO, CLARENCE LEWIS, WILLIAM BAHNMAIER and HUNTER.

Members of the WORLD CHAMPS are: JAMES MARTIN, JAMES BUTLER, FRBK CARLMAN, VINCENT DELVECHIO, ROBERT ETCHBERGER, LARRY GAERATNER, JR, DON GALVIN, THOMAS GEARHART, EDWARD MORRISON, FRANCIS PILARSKI, ART POFFENBERGER, CHARLES WARNICK, MAYNARD WELLS, BOBBY ELLIS, HILL, MORTON, HUNTER, DERAMO, LEWIS and BAHNMAIER

The COSSA (COLUMBUS,OHIO) 75’s wrapped up a championship year by adding the SPA 75 SILVER DIVISION WORLDS to their trophy case.

COSSA earned the WORLD TITLE August 6-9 at the BERLINER SOFTBALL COMPLEX in COLUMBUS, Ohio.

It was the team’s FOURTH 75’s SENIOR TITLE in FIVE tries this year. COSSA won the COLUMBUS HEART OF OHIO May tournament, DAYTON FIRST FLIGHT in July and SHELBYVILLE HOOSIER CLASSIC in JULY, They also took runner-up honors at BARBERTON’S June BUCKEYE CLASSIC,

At the SPA WORLDS COSSA lost their first two pool games (8-13) CANTERBURY CLASSIC (MAJ) and GOLD BAILEY TALENT CAVALIERS (9-12).

They beat MINNESOTA MASTERS 15-10 in the final pool game.

COSSA took the three-team bracket title beating MINNESOTA MASTERS 15-11 and 18-12. The MASTERS reached the finals with a 12-11 edging of MIDWEST DRIVING SCHOOL.

Individual awards went to FRANK CLEMENTS MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR 75 SILVER DIVISION TOURNAMENT MVP DON PENROD.

COSSA players selected to the 75 SILVER ALL-AMERICAN team were TOM ROLLINS, JOHN FLOR, JOHN SKAGGS, DICK REIDENBACH and DICK GOLDSMITH.

Members of the SPA 1980 75 SILVER WORLD CHAMPS are: CLEMENTS, FLOHR, MO FOWLER, GOLDSMITH, JOHN HARWELL, TIM KLODNICK, BUCKY LOUDERMILK, DICK MARTIN, AL MUELLER, PENROD, REIDENBACH, ROLLINS, SKAGGS and ERNIE WICKER.

Some times it takes a village but in softball it takes a team and as a result PROHEALTH is the 2018 SPA 75 GOLD WORLD CHAMPS.

The WISCONSIN team did it the hard way. After losing their opening bracket game to the INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS (4-16) they came out of the losers’ bracket beating PITTSBURGH GOLD (22-2), CANTERBURY CRUISERS. INDIANAPOLIS CRUISER 20-5 to force an “IF” game and beat the CLASSICS 8-5 in the title game.

PROHEALTH manager MIKE HANEY felt so strongly that it was teamwork which won his team the title, he refused to accept ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS for his players

“We played as a team and I don’t feel picking out five players out of fourteen is the right thing to do,” HANEY said. “We feel our entire team should be ALL-AMERICANS”

Although not accepting ALL-AMERICAN awards, PROHEALTH did not go home empty handed in individual awards.

JERRY STREMIKIS revived the TOURNAMENT MVP AWARD and HANEY accepted the MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR- AWARD.

The INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS took runner-up honors. The CLASSICS started out the bracket play well beating BAILEY TALENT CAVALIERS 22-22, PRO HEALTH 16-4 and CANTERBURY CRUISERS 15-13 before losing the final two games to PROHEALTH.

PROHEALTH CARE 2018 ROSTER: HANEY, STREMIKIS, DICK BARTELL, FRANK BATI, GARY BENDER, GARY BLASCHKE, JAMES DUCHARME, THOMAS KRESS, DARRELL LESCHEN, HARRY NELEZEN, BILL RUTZINSKI, JOHN SIMONS, BERNARD SLOWEY, LAWRENCE VANNUEDEN, ROD WILTERDINK, JIM HANDLEY, EDWARD HURLEY and WAYNE STAPLETON.

Teams in the 75 GOLD BRACKET were PROHEALTHE CARE, INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS, CANTERBURY CRUISER, PITTSBURGH GOLD and BAILEY TALENT CAVALIERS.