Jacksonville 2013 Tournament Masters Champions: Great Lakes Lawmen (dedicated to PHILL). Co-mvp's- Darren Stevens and Eddie Piacenza. All tournament awards- the rest of the team. Special thanks to Andy Wurm, Donny Meyer, Popeye, Terry Dugan and the Jacksonville/North Florida guys for making this tournament possible and giving us the opportunity to play some ball.

The Nitro2Go Team has suddenly made a claim to be a team to watch in the Gold Division this year. The team, coached by longtime police softball veteran Lyle Reyes, has quietly picked up the right pieces and has put together a team that should contend all season long.

2013 Baconball was down in numbers this year but was of the most enjoyable ever! The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend which set the tone for a great weekend of softball. The weekend started with a welcome party Friday night hosted by no other than Rocco from Rocco's Tacos in Palm Beach Garden's. About 125 people showed up for food and drinks all generously donated by Roccos. The after party took place at one of the hottest spots in the area......Dirty Martini, where there was plenty of free drinks and eye candy.

The best of the best in the West Coast traveled to West Covina Big League Dreams to open up the 2013 Police Softball season. If the annual DEA Kickoff was any indication of the Police Softball season, every tournament will be a competitive shootout and anyones to win. After Round Robin play Lockdown, Cal Showtime, SoCal Alliance, Sin City, Hardcore and DEA Combo all won their brackets much like the pre-season rankings predicted. Going to the Gold division were SoCal Riot and NoCal Shockers and both teams were favorite to run through double elimination play and meet up in the Championship.

It was the first tournament of the year for many teams and there was some rust. The weather was perfect and the host party at Roccos Tacos was a big hit. A new team on the circuit made their debut, the Florida Enforcers who are made up of players from the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office. North Florida Showdown made their first Aselton appearance and they are entering their sophomore year in the circuit. Both teams are loaded with talent and are a threat to even the most accomplished veteran teams.

This will be the second of two pre-season preview installments. Instead of separating the preview between East and West we are going to throw you a curve ball and combine both Conferences together and group them by division, Gold & Majors just like we do at the World Series. This article will feature the Gold Division, and going into the 2013 season these are our projected seeds for the World Series. Obviously, a lot can and will change between now and October, but if we were playing the World Series next week this is how the teams across the nation would be seeded. For details of the Majors Division see the previously posted article.

This will be the first of two pre-season preview installments. Instead of separating the preview between East and West we are going to throw you a curve ball and combine both Conferences together and group them by division, Gold & Majors just like we do at the World Series. This article will feature the top 24 teams in the nation, and going into the 2013 season these are our projected Majors Division for the World Series. Remember, the Majors Division is always the top 24 in the nation and that is a firm number. Obviously, a lot can and will change between now and October, but if we were playing the World Series next week this is how the teams across the nation would be seeded. Our next installment will feature the projected Gold Division rankings (1-30) for 2013. Who will land on top in Gold, the defending champs Greene County or maybe the 2011 champs Metro Detroit? Or will it be the locked and loaded Mid Atlantic Lawmen? Or will a West Conference team finally step up and represent in the Gold Division? Next week you will see our projections.

Policesoftball.com sadly has learned that Police Softball Hall of Famer Walter "Red" Conry passed away early this morning. Red was the long time Manager of the famed NY Metro team and a fixture in this sport for over 25 years. He was named the Manager of the All-Time Police Softball team and considered by many to be the most iconic manager in the sport.

Once again 3N2 Sports represented by PS.com Hall of Famer Dennis Leonard has sponsored the 3N2 MVP Series. Several tournaments throughout the year were selected as 3N2 MVP Tournaments which means the MVPs of those tournaments received a prize package from 3N2 Sports.The World Series Major and Gold Division were honored to be selected as the final tournaments in the 3N2 Series.The 3N2 MVP from the Gold Division is Bryan Mangin. Bryan is with the Ohio State Patrol and is currently assigned full time to the Special Response Team as a Sniper.

The 8th Annual Police Softball World Series was hosted once again by www.policesoftball.com at the Big League Dreams facility in Las Vegas, Nevada the second weekend of October. The tournament has grown every year as it started with 32 teams in 2005 and swelled to 73 teams this year. Unfortunately, the open division is capped and for the first time ever teams were turned away for failing to qualify before the deadline. Every year the tournament follows a theme based on the numerical year since the advent. Being the 8th year, the theme was the “Dead Man’s Hand” Aces & Eights. The biggest change this year was the switch to a provided bat tournament. Title sponsor Easton Sports and Brett Helmer supplied the new line of Easton’s and Miken’s Denny Crine outfitted the fields with their latest bats. For many it was the first time they ever played in a provided bat tournament, and although there was some hesitancy it was refreshing to lift the specter of juiced/shaved/rolled bats and just concentrate on playing softball on an even playing field.

Mike Snyder came on to the PoliceSoftball.com circuit in 2009 and immediately showed the pedigree of a great athlete. At that time he was one of several "Young Guns" featured in Softball Magazine as an up and coming player on the circuit and he has not disappointed.

Scott Waxweiler got his start thirteen years ago in police softball with Georgia 5-0. Wax also played on the great Kentucky TPS team, Illinois Police Association (IPA) and also started up the Illinois Lawmen which later developed into the Great Lakes Lawmen. Over the years Wax has won numerous tournament championships, all tourney awards and MVP awards. Wax at age forty one, plays a great outfield in a five-man defense but also sees time in the infield when needed. Without question Wax is one of the top five hitters in the country and always leads his team in hitting for average and power. Although primarily being a hitter who makes runners think twice about being on base when he is hitting, his game has developed a very good opposite side slap and run shot which has been an effective addition to his game.