SPA News

DALTON,GA - It took two trips to the party but HAMEL'S 80 BUILDERS came home with a MAJOR TITLE winning the SPA 2019 WORLD SERIES Sept 4-8 at DALTON. GA's  HERITAGE PARK.

The MARYLAND team claimed the crown by beating SCRAP IRON 12-8 IN THE FINALS.

On the way to the championship game HAMEL'S beat SCRAP IRON 14-11 in the second round. SCRAP IRON reached the finals beating CURRIN GRAPHICS 20-13 and 15-9.

The title made up for HAMEL'S meltdown in the WORLD TOURNAMENT in COLUMBUS,OHIO in September when they finished third.

HAMEL BUILDERS 80 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER: BILL BAHNMAIER, FRANK CARLMAN, VINCENT DEL VECCHIO, FRANK DERAMO, ROBERT ETCHBERGER, JAMES FLECKENSTEIN, LARRY GAERTNER,JR, RAY GROVE, MARVIN HUNTER, ROGER KELLY, CLARENCE LEWIS, EVAN LLOYD, PAUL MATH, ED MORRISON, RICHARD SHERMAN, MAYNARD WELLS, FRNCIS WILLIAMS and RICHARD HILL.

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.

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.

It was an actual SENIOR SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT at the SPA 27th ANNUAL HOOSIER CLASSIC (formerly DWAINE LAIRD) event JULY 8-12 at the SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA BLUE RIVER MEMORIAL PARK.

TWENTY-SIX teams in the 65,70,75 and 80 age group participated in the event as the kids (50,55,60) stayed home.

DR VINYL made the most of their opportunity to play in the 70AAA bracket taking seven games to win the title

The INDIANA team beat MID-STATE SRS 26-24 in their DE opener but were routed 19-7 in their next game against the DAYTON LEGENDS.

DR VINYL won the next five but it wasn't easy. They beat ICEMEN SOFTBALL 25-12, MID-STATE SRS 10-8, DOC MARTENS ROPE COURSE 20-19 and DAYTON LEGENDS twice 16-15, 11-9 for the crown.

DAYTON LEGENDS was 2-0 beating DR VINYL 19-7 and DOC MARTEN ROPE COURSE 16-12 before losing two straight to DR VINYL in the finals..

RUSH TRUCKING and CHICAGO HITMEN rounded out the seven-team field.

Two old friends INDY FOG and DAYTON DIAMOND DAWGS met for the umpteenth time in a tournament for a 65 AA title with the FOG downing the DAWGS 15-2,9-5 for the crown.

UNIVERSAL SOFTBALL downed CHICAGO PRIME 16-7, 20-11 in winning the 65 AAA championship trophy. CAVCO SPORTS was the third team in the group.

RUSH TRUCKING downed INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS  8-6 and 10-7 to claim the 75 AAA/MAJOR to claim the 75 AAA/ MAJOR crown.

RUSH also beat SENIOR REDBIRDS 18-11 in the DE opener.

The CLASSICS beat CHICAGO GREY SOX 21-18 to reach the finals. PROHEALTH CARE and DAYTON WHC were the others in the six-team bracket.

In an all-MICHIGAN finals PFEIFFER AUTO downed CANTERBURY CRUISERS the "IF" game for the 80 PLUS title.  The CRUISERS forced the "IF" game by defeating the AUTO gang 15-13.

PFEIFFERS had gone 2-0 in the bracket with a 19-14 earlier win over CANTERBURY and 20-15 against the CHICAGO GEEZERS.

CANTERBURY reached the finals by beating the GEEZERS 24-21.

Others in the six-team field were AMR 80's, MAIN STREET PUB and PROHEALTH CARE.

Twenty-six teams mainly from Minnesota and Wisconsin invaded PIONEER PARK, MINNESOTA JUNE 6-9 to play in the SPA/SSUSA STEVE SIMMONS MOSQUITOLAND CLASSIC.

In a mixture of AAA and MAJOR championships were earned in 50, 60,70 Majors and 50, 60, 70, 75/80 AAA.

MN LUMBERJACKS defeated MAHER HOMES 24-11, 25-24 for the 50 AAA title while CPD/ANCEL downed IOWA DEMONS 24-15 for the MAJOR crown.

CT VIPER also participated in the 50's groups.

The 60's saw WISCONSIN PLAYMAKERS lose twice to MINNESOTA LUMBERJACKS 12-14, 14-19 as the LUMBERJACKS won the 60 AAA title.

MINNESOTA MERCHANTS downed ALL AMERICAN RESTORATION 22-14 to take home the 60 MAJOR crown.

Other teams playing in the 60's group were MINNESOTA MERCHANTS and MINNESOTA MASTERS/ANCEL.

The MINNESOTA PRIZE defeated ALL-AMERICAN 19-9 TO WIN THE 70 major  with CHICAGO STRIKERS beating BADGER CLASSICS 18-13 for the 70 AAA Crown.

Also participating in the 70's were MIDWEST EXPRESS, CHICAGO HITMEN, ROCHESTER RAPTORS, MINNESOTA MASTERS and MINNESOTA LUMBERJACKS.

PROHEALTH  75's  was the winner over MINNESOTA MASTERS 80'S IN THE 75/80 BRACKET.

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."

The Alphabet team, LOTA SOFTBALL easily won the four-team 80 SPA inaugural WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP at DALTON, GEORGIA’S heritage park SEPT 9-11.

LOTA which stands for LOUISIANA, OKLAHOMA, TEXAS, ARKANSAS was perfect (3-0) in bracket play and 2-1 in pool.

The champs only loss came in their first pool game 28-20 to the CHICAGO GEEZERS. After that defeat they finished pool play with wins over PRO HEALTH CARE 80’s (20-16) and EAST COAST LEFTOVERS (20-10).

In bracket they got revenge against the GEEZERS beating them 18-9 in the opening round. The EAST COAST LEFTOVERS fell 15-2 and LOTA SOFTBALL finished the tournament with an 18-8 win over PRO HEALTH in the title game.

LOTA SOFTBALL also won the SPA 2018 JIM WELCH CLASSIC in TROY beating the CHICAGO GEEZERS and KC ANTIQUES. They did not fare as well at THEE BUCKEYE CLASSIC in BARBERTON going 1 -5.

Members of the championship LOTA SOFTBALL team are: DAVID BOONE, ELDON BRAST, RICHARD BULLOCK, ARNO CHASTEEN, EDDIE GLOVER, ED HARDY, ARTHUR HARRIS, EDDIE HOGAN, JOE HOUSLY,HARLAN JENSEN, RON PERDUE, FERRELL ROTON, MARLYN SCHROEPFER, JESSE SMITH, DON SWIFT and F.JAMES TIBELLI

DON HARRIS is the manager.

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.