SPA News

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.

MN MASTERS/ANCEL emptied the guns in the SPA 60 MAJOR WORLDS title game winning 42-18 over HENDRICKS SPORTS MANAGEMENT July 22 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK.

The champs set up the title game with HENDRICKS by beating CAROLINA COBRA’S (23-20) and INDIANA LEGENDS (23-30).

HENDRICKS made it to the finals b wins over CAROLINA COBRA’S 22-7 and INDIANA LEGENDS 23-21 after losing their bracket opener 23-24 to CAROLINA.

Individual awards were earned by DON BOWMAN JR, MANAGER OF THE YEAR and LON STOLE,MVP.

ALL-AMERICANS were DARYLY COOPER, GARY HAMILTON, GARY MORRIS, STEVEN SCHLETTY, LUDWIG NORDAHL and JEFFREY HANEVIDT.

Other members of the WORLD CHAMPS are GARY BENNETT, LARRY NELSON, JOHN ORF, WAYNE PETERSON, RANDALL SIMONSON, GARY HAENDEL, STEVE PEASE, RAYMOND GLYNN and MICHAEL HALEY.

WINDY CITY SOFTBALL blew through bracket play at the SPA July 19-22 at DALTON, Georgia's HERITAGE PARK to win the 2018 SPA 60 MAJOR WORLDS.

The champs beat ATLANTA RECYCLE 28-21 and 22-17 along with disposing of HOUSTON FIRE by a 27-14 count.

ATLANTA RECYCLING reached the finals by EDGING GONZALES INSULATION 14-13.

Taking individual awards for WINDY CITY were: MIKE PEURA MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR, JIM PHAD MVP and ALL-AMERICANS ROY AMBROSE, BRIAN CAMPBELL, JIM CUSHING, MIKE MCCALL and BOB TORTORICI.

Other members of WINDY CITY are: DAVID KOELPER, MATTHEW THOMPSON, JAMES WALLER, STEVE MISEWICZ, TOM CAHILL, RICHARD OLSEN, SALVATORE CIRRINCIONE, REX DANLEY, TODD NIEMUTH and DANIEL OSBERG.

TEXAS CRUSH SIXTIES made short work of the competition at the 60 MAJOR PLUS SPA WORLDS tournament July 19-12 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE PARK.

The LONE STAR STATE team beat OMEGA IT SERVICES 19-3 and 23-14 to take the three-team bracket and the 60 MAJOR PLUS CROWN.

OMEGA reached the finals beating HOLLIS APPRAISAL twice.

Taking home individual hardware were: JOHN ROACH, MANAGER OF THE YEAR and ALL AMERICAN status. MIKE GARIBAY was tournament, MVP and while ALL AMERICANS were JUAN NAVARRO, MURRAY WILLIAMS, MARK HENSON, RODOLFO ZAPATA and EDUARDO ORTIZ.

Other members of the TEXAS CRUSH team are: ANYHONY BALTAZAR, ROBERT GARCIA, REGINOLD SIMMONS, MIKE TEPERA, DON WILSON and DONALD COLBATH.

The value of SCRAP IRON increased July 19-22 at the SPA 55 MAJOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

held at HERITAGE POINT PARK in DALTON GEORGIA.

The COLORADO senior softball team bested five other 55 MAJOR teams to win the 2018 SPA 55 MAJOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

SCRAP IRON ROCKY MOUNTAIN THUNDER roared through bracket play beating DAYTON LEGENDS 16-13, DUDLEY DEMOLITION 31-22 and WOODLAWN FUNERAL TWICE (26-8, 19-11).

WOODLAWN FUNERAL reached the title game by downing DUDLEY DEMOLITION 19-12.

Others in the six-team group were DAYTON LEGENDS, CAROLINA A’S and OHIO ELITE

Taking home individual awards for SCRAP IRON were MANAGER OF THE YEAR MARK HAUPT,

TOURNAMENT MVP BARRY MORTEN and ALL-AMERICANS JACK DONNELLY, JIM TERRELL, DAVE FORTIER, MARKIS HARPER and STEVE ANTONCZYK.

Other members of 55 MAJOR champs are BRAD EDGINTON, MARK TROXEL, CHRIS MCTIQUE, KERRY ECKER, THOMAS A. EDWARDS. BRUCE LOSTROM, DAVID DIX, TIM DEJARNETTE and KIM OLIVERSON.

SAN ANTONIO 55 SOFTBALL CLUB took the important “IF” game to win the 2018 SPA 55 MAJOR PLUS WORLD July 19-2 at DALTON, GEORGIA’S HERITAGE POINT PARK.

BOB JOHNSON CHEVY/DOMINO’S probably has nightmares dreaming about what could have been if they only could have beaten SAN ANTONIO.

SA beat BOB JOHNSON’S 14-10 in pool, 29-4 the first game in bracket play and after losing to BJ 29-31 to force an “IF” game came back to take the title game 34-11.

To reach the title game BOB JOHNSON disposed of RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT 30-9 and 35-16

Ironically BOB JOHNSON lost to SA in pool play and beat RBC in pool play making them 5-3 in the tournament all against the same two teams.

Others in the five team bracket were NEXT LEVEL INCREDIWEAR and TSC.

INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS for SA are JOHN ROACH MANAGER OF THE YEAR, MICKEY RODRIQUEZ MVP, ALL-AMERICANS MIKE GARIBY, TONY CLARK, DAVID VELASQUEZ, LARRY CARTER, JIMMIE PINA, BOBBY GILBERT and PATRICK REA.

Others on the championship team are: CHARLES MUELLER, JUAN NAVARRO, REGGIE SIMMONS, SAM WILLIAMS, MIKE TEPERA, MARK HENSON, FRANK VIVIER, DONALD,

COLBATH, MICHAEL HOFFNER and ROBBIE RODRIQUEZ.

They didn’t have enough room on the shirts for their team name but there was enough room to engrave it on the 2018 SPA 50 MAJOR WORLDS championship trophy.

FENCE BUSTERS TEAM KITTY MIKEN WORTH went 3-0 in bracket play to capture the 50 MAJOR crown.

FBTKMW disposed of SUNCOAST ADIDAS twice (35-29, 29-2) and B&B LEGENDS (36-18) in bracket play for the title.

SUNCOAST ADIDAS came out of the loser’s bracket defeating KELLHER FIRM SOFTBALL 32-22, TEAM USA 2-21 and B&B LEGENDS 27-3 to reach the finals.

Teams in the six-team bracket were FENCE BUSTERS, SUNCOAST ADIDAS, B&B LEGENDS, TEAM USA, HUNTERS BAD BOYS ELITE and KELLEHER FIRM SOFTBALL.

Taking home individual awards for FENCE BUSTERS were MANAGER-OF-THE-YEAR RICHARD OTINGER, MVP BOB O’BRIEN, ALL-AMERICANS DENNIS RULLI, BRADLEY STILLWELL, ALAN TANNER, CHRIS WALKER, STEVE HELLER, ROBERTO RODRIQUEZ and KEVIN JOHNSON.

Others on the roster were KEVIN GILLET, SPENCER KENNEDY, ROBERT BROWN, GERALD DONALDSON, MICHEL DILL and PAUL HARDIN.

DAYTON TOURNAMENT A SUCCESS

Despite the problems with a date change and the dreaded JULY 4 weekend schedule the DAYTON FIRST FLIGHT TOURNAMENT held JULY 6-8 at KETTERING FIELD COMPLEX came up only three teams short of the 2017 event.

“It took a lot of scrambling,” TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR JOHN ZAMPATTI said. “We were planning on 40 plus teams this year but we lost teams because they had already scheduled a tournament elsewhere because they were unaware of our new dates. We also ran into competition with the SHELBYVILLE tournament.”

“We survived this year and I am sure now that teams are aware of our new dates we can have forty entries in 2019..” he said.

The attendance at this year's FIRST FLIGHT may have been down a little but the competition didn’t suffer with “IF” games and close games scattered throughout.

MJ LOWE took the 50 AAA crown with a 25-21 “IF” game victory over the DAYTON LEGENDS. The LEGENDS forced the “IF” game beating MJ LOWE 21-6. Dayton also beat TEAM ILLINOIS 18-13 to reach the finals.

MJ LOWE was undefeated with a 20-10 win over the LEGENDS and 23-20 against FREDERICKS WINE AND DINE in earlier bracket play until the LEGENDS beat them in the semi-finals.

The other team in the five-team bracket was OHIO HITMEN.

The DAYTON LEGENDS 55’S beat IS/WB 29-28 and 21-18 to take the 50/55 MAJOR championship. IS/WB beat JJ FINANCIAL 34-25 and 28-24 to reach the finals.

TOUCH EM ALL took home the trophy in the 55 AAA bracket with a 19-15 verdict over I IUNDER CRAFT AND BEER in the finals. They had previously beaten ANTIQUE ROAD SHOW (18-17) and SIDELINE BULL MOOSE 25-16 in opening games.

I UNDER reached the finals out of the losers’ bracket 26-18 over ANTIQUE ROAD SHOW.

Others in the seven team bracket were BUCKEYE CLASSICS,DETROIT CONNECTION and SENIOR PSYCHOSIS>

The 60 AA/AAA crown went to the CINCINNATI 60’S with a 34-15 win over UNIVERSAL SOFTBALL in the title game.

CINCINNATI has sent UNIVERSAL to the loser’s bracket earlier but UNIVERSAL came back reaching the finals with a 27-17 win over the DAYTON DIAMOND DAWGS.

UNIVERSAL SOFTBALL downed CAVCO 27-24 in an “IF” game championship game in the 65 AA/AAA bracket.

CAVCO had forced the game with a 16-12 win over UNIVERSAL.

Until the loss to CAVCO, UNIVERSAL had bested DAYTON LEGENDS 29-18 and CAVCO 24-22 in the opening bracket game. INDY FOG was the fourth team in the bracket.

The 70AA/75 crown went to COSSA with 21-20 and32-22 wins over the DAYTON LEGENDS 75’s.

DAYTON DIAMOND DOGS and LEGENDS OF DAYTON were the others in the bracket.

The DAYTON LEGENDS 70’S beat WINDSOR CHIEF 18-15 twice for the title.

ESCOBAR BODY SHOP took no prisoners in either pool or bracket play going 7-0 to win the SPA 50 MAJOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP JULY 29-22 at HERITAGE POINT PARK in DALTON, GEORGIA.

ESCOBAR started tournament play with a 23-15 win over TEAM DUDLEY and 19-18 over SE WATER/SWARM.

In bracket play they disposed of TRINITY RIZZO’S 31-16, DOC C’S 24-13, WALKER BROTHERS 27-26, LIGHTHOUSE 29-21 and 7-0 over DOC’S.

DOC’S was worn out by the time they reached the finals having won five games in the loser’s bracket before the final game.

DOC’S beat LEMAY CONTRACTING 33-26, TEAM ARKANSAS 26-20, TEAM DUDLEY 29-19, WALKER BROTHERS 27-26 and LIGHTHOUSE 27-20.

The 16-team field included ESCOBAR BODY champs, DOC C’S runner-up, LIGHTHOUSE, WALKER BROTHERS, B&H MAINTENANCE, TEAM DUDLEY, CORVETTE SANITATION,TEAM ARKANSAS, LS DB, TRINITY RIZZO’S, LEMAY CONSTRUCTION, SEWATER/SWARM, RIVER ROCK and LAF DEMARINI.

ESCOBAR individual awards: MANAGER OF THE YEAR DANNY ESCOBAR, MVP CARL RANDLE and ALL-AMERICANS JERRY STOTTS, GEOFFREY ORR, CHARLES RUSSELL, MARTIN FERGUSON, MELITON VILLARREAL, ART PEIFER and LUCIANO CASTANEDA.

Other members of the team are PAUL ALVAREZ, GERALD DESALDO, TOM CLARK, KENNY SEYMOUR, LARRY MARTIN, RICARDO HERNANDEZ, ROBERT SAUCEDO and OWEN GARLAND.

The SPA HOOSIER CLASSIC in SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA JUNE 11-12 due to weather problems was forced to shorten the entries from 40-to 27 but still had a great outing.

“SHELBYVILLE always has a great tournament ever since DUANE LAIRD started it 26 years ago,” SPA PRESIDENT RIDGE HOOKS said.. “It was a shame they had to cancel the 50/55 groups but the 60-and-up had a great tournament”

SHELBYVILLE had one of the year’s highest turnout for the 75’s with seven teams taking part in the seven team round-robin.

COSSA and PROHEALTH tied at 5-1 but the COLUMBUS team won the tie breaker with a 17-12 win over PROHEALTH.

Ironically COSSA’s only loss was 6-8 to FRICKERS which was their only win.

Final results COSSA 5-1, PROHEALTH 5-1, MICHIANA MERCHANTS 4-2, INDIANAPOLIS CLASSICS 3-3. SENIOR REDBIRDS 2-4, AKRON FRICKERS 1-5, CANTERBURY CRUISERS (MAJOR) 1-5.

STEEL CITY lost its second game in bracket play 21-23 to the SILVER STICKS and then won five in a row to take the 70AAA title

The PITTSBURGH team beat the previously unbeaten CHICAGO STRIKERS 21-20 and 19-18 in the “IF” game to sneak by in the championship rounds.

COLUMBUS SILVER STICKS, RUSH TRUCKING, INDY 70’s and MICHIGAN LAKERS filled out the six-team field.

The CHICAGO HITMEN ran the table beating LEGENDS OF DAYTON 26-12 and INDIANA LEGENDS 11-3, 19-4 for the 70 AA crown.

The INDIANA LEGENDS beat LEGENDS OF INDIANA 22-17 to reach the finals.

Others in the bracket were DAYTON FARM TEAM and KENTUCKIANA.

The three-team 65 AA bracket saw OHIO SILVERADO’S beat (by) GRACE REDEEMED 26-7, 26-8 and INDY FOG 21-12 to take the title in the three-team group.

UNIVERSAL SOFTBALL took no prisoners in going 4-0 in bracket play capturing the 65 AAA title.

On the way to the title UNIVERSAL beat BLUE CHIPS 18-10, THE BOMB SQUAD 23-19, STEEL DAWGS 16-12 and THE BOMB SQUAD 12-10 in the finale.

Also in the 65 AAA group were DOC MARTEN/ROPE COURSE and SIDELINE BULL MOOSE.