SPA News

DALTON, GA - In a best two-of-three showdown for the SPA 70 AA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, the TEXAS RAIDERS downed the TEXAS CLASSICS in two straight to take home the title.

MEMBERS of the CHAMPIONSHIP 70 AA TEXAS RAIDERS are: LEE BLANTON, BILLY DRESSER, GARY GRAVES, MAY GROUNDS, FERNANDO LOPEZ, CHARLES MYERS, RICHARD RENFRO, JOHN SCHHEISER, STEPHEN SMITH, CATARINO VILLARREAL, RICK POWERS, TERRIL MILLER, VICTOR VARGAS, TIM WEAVER, RODRIGO DRISCOLL. PATRICK POWERS, MARLON MOORE, STEVEN JOHNSON and ABEL FLORES.

LIBERTY, MO - FOUNTAIN PARK SPORTS COMPLEX in LIBERTY, MISSOURI played host AUGUST 2-3 to the 2019 SPA  MID-AMERICA NIT for 65/70 Divisions.

Three teams made the most of the round-robin opportunity as KC KIDS 65 AAA,  OAKIES 70 AA and MIDWEST EXPRESS 70 AAA all went home with championship hardware.

The KC KIDS had a battle in going 5-0 winning two games by one run and two by three.

Falling to the KC KIDS were OAK-ARK 25-24, BOYD'S METAL 17-16, KC RENEGADES 20-11, ST.LOUIS VISION 19-16 and MID-WEST EXPRESS 18 15 to capture the 65 AAA crown.

MID-WEST EXPRESS claimed the 70 AAA title thanks to wins over ST.LOUIS VISION (22-14), BOYD'S METAL (19-13), KC RENEGADES (8-5) and OAKIES (21-8).

The OAKIES edged ST.LOUIS VISION 19-18 to be awarded the 70 AA crown.

Teams in the seven team event were OAK-ARK 70 AAA, BOYD'S METAL 70 AAA, ST.LOUIS VISION 70 AAA, MIDWEST EXPRESS 70 AAA, KC RENEGADES 70 AAA, OAKIES 70 AA and KC KIDS 65 AAA

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.

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.

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.

The HEART OF OHIO is back!!

Ten years ago it used to be one of the top drawing senior softball tournaments east of VEGAS when the Columbus Senior Softball Organization was running the tournament.

When COSSA dropped it attendance went way down but a revival took place this year with 57 TEAMS ATTENDING.

In one of the bigger brackets TEN TEAMS squared off for the 50 AAA title.

LOWES LEGENDS  won it with bracket wins over AREA FIFTY-ONE SOFTBALL (20-10), AREA FIFTY-ONE (17-16), MIAMI VALLEY (22-7) and OHIO HITMEN (17-9).

AREA FIFTY-ONE beat OHIO HITMEN (24-19) to take second.

Other teams in the group were CIRCLE CITY PLAYMAKERS, DAYTON LEGENDS, TEAM 216, GO SPORTS PLUS, DAYTON LEGENDS FIFTIES and BULL MOOSE 50's.

GEM CITY MERCHANTS lost the first game 30-31 to AMERICAN METAL RECYCLING but bounced back with 19-3 and 25 22 wins to win the best-two-out-of-three for the 50 MAJOR CROWN.

The finishers in the 55 MAJOR were DLB SOFTBALL champ and CPOA Runner-up. OHIO ELITE/AMK, MOTOR CITY PUSH and DAYTON LEGENDS rounded out the 55 MAJOR bracket.

ANTIQUE ROAD SHOW downed TOUCH EM AA (23-19), BULL MOOSE (20-9) and TOUCH EM ALL (17-11) to win the 55 AAA title. TOUCH EM ALL beat  BULLMOOSE 23-8 for second.

DETROIT PONY EXPRESS was the fourth team in the group.

JUST ONE MORE beat DURHAM SILVER STICKS 22-12, 18-10 for the 60 AA title. DURHAM edged DAYTON DIAMOND DAWGS 12-11 for second place.

JP MOTERMEN went 4-0 in bracket play with wins over LOUISVILLE SILVER SLUGGERS< CINCINNATI 60's, LOUISVILLE and OHIO ELTE DOCS and capture the 60 AAA top prize.

Others in the bracket were PEPCO/SFS, CHAMPAIGN SOFTBALL, DAYTON LEGENDS and OHIO SIXTIES.

The MINUTEMEN/SFS edged UNIVERSAL SOFTBALL twice in bracket play (27-25. 9-6) and a long with a 20-6 victory over UPSTATE EXTREME ROYALS took the 65 AAA crown.

UNIVERSAL beat CAVCO 21-9 for second place. Others in the bracket were MCMAHON<COYNE<VITANTONIO; and SIDELINE BULL MOOSE.

The 70 AA saw ROCHESTER CLASSICS end on top followed by MICHIGAN LAKERS, LEGENDS OF DAYTON, ROCHESTER ROYALS, INDY 70's and DAYTON LEGENDS SILVER EXPRESS.

DAYTON LEGENDS had a long day in order to win the 70 AAA Crow.

They started with a win over CHICAGO HITMEN (24-10), dropped to the loser's bracket with a 10-16 loss to STEEL CITY. They beat DR VINYL (26-11), MIDSTATE SENIORS (16-14) LEFEGUARD FINANCIAL (20-5) and STEEL CITY twice (25-21. 19-12)  for the title.

Yhers in the bracket were DOC MARTINS ROPE COURSE and COSSA.

The 75 AAA went to RARE BREED with a pair of wins (21-12, 18-3) over DAYTON LEGENDS.

Quoting SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE'S poem THE ANCIENT MARINER with some modification.

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE

AND ALL THE BOARDS DID SHRINK

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

THIS WEATHER REALLY DID STINK

Only the 70 and 60 Divisions were played at Barberton June 11,12,13,14,15 as the rest of the schedule was not only rained out but flooded out.

The fields were actually best suited for the first SPA COMBINED CANOE and KAYAK individual and team racing.

It was the first time in the tournaments 18-year history it was rained out.

The 75 SCARLET bracket saw the INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS finish (6-0,5-0) in the round robin to edge HILL CONSTRUCTION (5-1,4-1)  INDIANAPOLIS beat HILL 16-15 in head-to-head action.

MICCHIANA MERCHANTS (2-3,2-2), JERSEY MASTERS (1-4,1-3), CAROLINA  BLUE SKY (1-5,1-4) and DAYTON LEGENDS (1-5.1-4) rounded out the six-team bracket.

SYRACUSE CYCLONES edged RUSH TRUCKING 10-9 in the GREY DIVISION to finish (5-1,4-1) to the TRUCKERS (5_1,4-1) but one the title and the tie-breaker win.

ROCHESTER CHESS (4-2,3-2), CHICAGO GREY SOX (3-3,2-3), AMR (2-4,2-3) and RARE BREED (1-5,0-5) were the others in the bracket.

OHIO ELITE DOCS (4-1) won the 60's GREY Division edging out JUST ONE MORE (3-2) on the strength of a 29-17 win in a head-to-head match. JUST ONE MORE win the 60 AA bracket edging DURHAM SILVER STICKS (2-3) 25-23.

PELLY'S STIX (1-4) and OHIO SIXTIES (1-4) were also in the GREY Division.

The CHICAGO PRIME beat JP MOTERMEN 23-18 to break a tie between the two teams (each 4-1) and win the 60 SCARLET bracket.

The MINUTEMEN finished a close (3-2), CARDOT MADALINA  CONSTRUCTION (2-3) and LOUISVILLE SUPER SLUGGERS (1-4). rounded out the group.

Twenty-two teams participating in the SPA 2019 TEXAS LONE STAR NIT learned first hand how to spell WAXAHACHIE June 7-9 as they battled for titles at its SPORT COMPLEX. When the dust cleared TEN TEAMS were crowned champions.

The TEXAS LEGENDS beat the TEXAS THUNDER in a third deciding game 19-13 to take the 60 AA crown. The Thunder won the second game 15-14 and the LEGENDS the first by a 22-18 count.

The THUNDER took the 60 AAA title.

LA LEGENDS beat OAK-ARK 9-6 and 12-9 for the 70 AAA title. The LEGENDS also beat OAKIES 17-2 in the opening round. OAK-ARK downed the OAKIES 22-12 to reach the finals.

Others in the bracket were TEXAS CLASSICS and TEXAS RAIDERS.

The 75 DIVISION saw HILL CONTRACTING drop TEXAS 75 KNIGHT RAIDERS 16-3 and 19-3 for the top prize.

GONZALEZ INSULATION edged TEXAS THUNDER 24-22 in winning the 65 MAJOR TITLE while the THUNDER claimed the 65 AAA award.

TEXAS ACES defeated TEXAS ELITE 27-15, 30-24 and ETX 23-22 to win the 50 AAA CHAMPIONSHIP.

Others in the bracket were UNDISPUTED TRUTH and UNDERDOGS 55"s.

ESCOBAR BODY SHOP took home the 50M PLUS crown beating ROCKIN N LEGENDS 26-25 and OK RHINO 27-25.

ROCKIN N LEGENDS downed MANCAVE 29-7 for the 55 MAJOR title while MANCAVE took care of OK RHINO 29-18 for the 50 MAJOR top prize.

SPA continued to be the number one men's senior softball tournament drawing card in MARYLAND attracting 33 teams to the GLEN BURNIE TOURNAMENT may 1-4 at the BACHMAN SPORTS COMPLEX.

"GLEN BURNIE has been a fixture with SPA over the years always drawing between 30-50 teams," SOFTBALL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT RIDGE HOOKS said. "We were a little down this year with 33 teams but we will probably bounce back to 50 teams next year."

ELEVEN DIVISION champs were crowned in 2019 which saw winners in all age brackets.

The HIGH STREET BUCS won the 70's beating NORTHERN VIRGINIA FORCE (18-0) and SPICERS (17-11) in the finals. NORTHERN VIRGINIA reached the finals downing SPICERS 17-11.

The 70 MASTER crown went to the NEW YORK STATESMEN who beat BRADFORD WHITE 16-9 in the third game in a two-out-of-three showdown. The STATESMEN took the opener 12-10 but BRADFORD rallied to win the second game 17-11.

HAMEL BUILDERS BEAT PEACHTREE 23-10 and JERSEY MASTERS 18-11 for the 80's title.

PEACHTREE reached the finals with wins over BAILEY CAVALIERS 23-22 and 27-10.

The HIGH STREET BUCS downed ROCHESTER TITANS (26-18)and SPRINGFORD (26-25) to win the 65 MAJOR championship while the TITANS claimed AAA title.

ROADHOUSE BLUES and NORTHERN VA FORCE rounded out the five team bracket.

MARYLAND CLASSICS tripped PINEBELT CARS 30-20 AND 18-3 for the 50 AAA title. TIME BANDITS were third in the three team bracket.

THOMAS LAW lost the opener in the best two-out-of-three 28-29 to TEAM USA in the opener but rebounded taking the next two 32-25, 34-28 for the 50 MAJOR + title.

The 50 MAJORS saw BOB JOHNSON run the table in bracket play with wins over PHOENIX TUBE (24-19), COVELLO SANITATION (19-18) and WV HOTSHOTS (22-11) for the championship 50 MAJOR TROPHY.

PHOENIX TUBE beat CAVELLO SANITATION 21-16 for second.R

ROBELL PAINT was the fifth team in the group.

It was another bracket sweep as ACTION AUTO downed BUILDING INNOVATION (25-10. 29-13) and PHOENIX TUBE 24-5 for the 55 MAJOR crown.

THE NATIONALS filled out the four team bracket.

MARYLAND COUGARS beat CRUNCH IT 20-17 and MONECARY BREWERS 29-23 TO WIN THE 55AAA/60AAA title.

NORTHEAST STORM wrapped up the tournament as the 55 MAJOR + STORM beat 60M PROMOTION 17-16 and 28-13 in the 55 M+/ 60 M finale.