DAYTON – The 37th annual National Police Softball Championship was played on July 11, 12 and 13th at Kettering Fields. Teams participating in the tournament included seven past National Champions and only three teams not currently ranked in the PS.com East Coast Top Twenty-Five.

For the past three years, PoliceSoftball.com has accepted nominations for the Police Softball Hall of Fame. These nominations were turned over to a West coast and East Coast committee that represented many areas of the country. These committees, led by Dennis Leonard (Jax612) and Anthony “Bigtone” Costanzo, worked very hard and took their task very seriously. The committees were comprised of many long term softball players and current members of the Hall of Fame. With the work of the 2008 committee finally done, PoliceSoftball.com is proud to announce the 2008 class of the Police Softball Hall of Fame.

The Shamrock Enforcers proved they are a team to look out for by taking the crown in Montgomery County. A good time was had by all and the tournament was completed despite the hot, humid weather and several thunderstorms. Bracket play started out as follows: In bracket 1 the Dirty Jersey boys went 3-0 and advanced as the number 1 seed. The Shamrock Enforcers and Secret Service both went 2-1 but only the Shamrock enforcers advanced to gold on run differential. Ocean State and Prince Georges County both finished 1-2 and Capital Police rounded out the bracket at 0-3.

This years West Palm Beach Bacon Ball promised to be a great event. As always, Jack Olson and John Scollo were great hosts. The weather was just about perfect with only one 20 minute rain delay. The nightlife near the host hotel was a lot of fun and the caliber of teams that showed up made it one of the best tournaments of the year. John Scollo had 20 total teams and he did something unusual with the schedule that seemed to work out well for everyone. John took the 12 teams that regularly play on the Police softball circuit and grouped them together for pool play. John then took the 8 other teams and grouped them for pool play. The 12 team group was vying for the #1-12 seeds and the 8 team grouping was vying for the #13-20 seeds. This allowed for some great competition right from the get go and made for some very evenly matched games.

There was a little "edge" to this years Concord/OSS Softball tournament, as several teams came in to the Big League Dreams-Manteca complex looking to solidify their spot in the 2008 Police Softball World Series. Many of the teams were "on the cusp" of making it into the top 15 West Coast spots, and new they had to bring their A-game to gather enough points to make it in.

36 teams descended on Palm Springs this weekend and with them came an early heat wave that brought temperatures upward of 110 degrees. The heat was fatiguing on the players as many teams only had 10-11 players. The heat also affected the game as runs were hard to come by in mid day and many teams never reached their allotted six home runs. This tournament was the first Boombah Gold Points tournament to be played in the West this year as the DEA tournament was rained out. With the only other West Gold tournament to be played in a few weeks in Manteca, these points meant a lot to West teams who are trying to earn a spot into the 2008 World Series.

The 29th annual Rick Hall Memorial Police Softball tournament recently took place in Jacksonville Florida initiating the first Gold Ranking Points Tournament this year on the east coast. There was a change of venue this year due to on-going construction at Drew Park, so the tournament was moved to Jacksonville Beach. The upside was being right on the beach and minutes from the host hotel but there were only 2 fields available.

On Saturday May 17th, Guns & Hoses Softball held their annual “Drinko De Mayo” Tournament. There were a few other big Law Enforcement and Firefighter tournaments happening this month so this one was bound to be smaller then normal. The field was narrow as only five teams signed up to battle it out for the title. But, because of the limited amount of teams, all teams were guaranteed a minimum of 5 games for the same entrance fee as usual, $315. All the ballers in attendance were stoked for the amount of games, because this was a good opportunity for all teams to get a lot of at bats and field time in preparation for some of the bigger tournaments coming up within the next few months. The weather was warm as it stretched into the low 90’s, deep in the heart of Tustin, CA.

1ST ANNUAL CHP CHOIR BOYS SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT Although it was called their 1st annual tourney, it ran more like their 25th. Combining great fields, free water and Gatorade drinks in the dugouts, and their well-known hospitality, the Choir Boys put on a spectacular first tournament. As smoothly as everything ran, you would have been hard-pressed to believe that they were still scrambling (because of teams dropping out at the last minute) to finalize balanced brackets and convenient game times for all teams. By Saturday morning however, everything was perfectly prepared and some great softball was ready to be played.

CONCORD SOFTBALL, NEWLY SPONSORED BY PRESIDENT GLENN DAGGS AND OSS ( OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES) INTERNATIONAL CAME OUT ON APRIL 19TH IN TULARE,CA AND AVERAGED NEARLY 30 RUNS A GAME OVERALL TO POWER THEIR WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP WIN OVER STANISLAUS. LEADING THE WAY WERE CO-MVP'S BOBBY "BOO-SHAY" UNDERWOOD WHO BATTED .727 WITH 4HR'S AND AL "BIG WHIT" WHITTEN WHO HIT .696 WITH 2 HR'S AND WHOM BOTH BROUGHT THEIR WIVES AND NEWBORN CHILDREN TO THE TOURNEY SO THEY COULD PLAY. tHAT ALONE PER MANAGER HOLLYWOOD GASKINS MADE THEM MVP'S IN HIS EYES. BIG PROPS TO THE WIVES OF THESE TWO MEN AND CONGRATULATIONS ON BEHALF OF THE POLICESOFTBALL NATION ON THE NEW ADDITIONS TO YOUR FAMILIES AND TO CONCORD SOFTBALL FOR GAINING A NEW SPONSOR IN PRESIDENT DAGGS AND OSS INTERNATIONAL. ON WITH THE TOURNEY AND HOW IT PANNED OUT:

The first annual Easton "Bring Ur Real Skilz" tournament was held this past weekend and it was unquestionably a huge success. Earlier this year Armando Acosta contacted Policesoftball.Com and presented the idea of a provided bat tournament. Armando offered to supply all the bats for the tournament and provide the most lucrative prize package on the cop softball circuit. Some team would go home with a dozen brand new 2009 model Easton Helmer bats. It didn’t end there. Armando also inked Easton major players Brett Helmer and Brian Wegman to come out and be part of the event. Policesoftball.Com jumped at the opportunity and sealed the deal. The venue was the brand new Big League Dreams facility in West Covina (Los Angeles area). The fields were in mint condition and boasted replicas of Dodger, Angel, Tiger, Wrigley, Fenway and Yankee stadiums. The format was simple. Every field would have a 26, 27 & 28 oz Easton Stealth+ bat provided and those were the only bats allowed. These were all stock bats supplied by Armando Acosta and Easton Sports. On this weekend there would be no complaining about juiced, loaded or “special” bats. Teams would have to literally bring their real skills to the table. Many people anticipated what affect the stock bats would have on certain teams and players. In the end, the same teams that always do well did well.

Vegas Bacon officially kicked off the police softball circuit this year with 24 very good teams coming together in the desert to see who would grab that first tourney win of the year. The tourney was set up in 6 brackets of four teams each. Bracket play seeded into double elimination which guaranteed every team 5 games. After pool play was finished, only three teams were undefeated which we think is a sign that parity is almost upon us. NY Metro rolled through their bracket with the biggest margin of victory. Hard-Cor looked impressive as usual and the Alliance was the third team to round out the undefeated trio. All the other 21 teams had at least one loss after pool play was finished. Double elimination started on Saturday and when the dust settled, the four still undefeated teams were NY Metro, California Quake, A-1 Towing/Hard-Cor and the Alliance/KME/Easton team. NY Metro stayed hot and took down the Quake. The Alliance and Hard-Cor battled back and forth but in the end the Alliance came out on top. This set up a match between two ends of the country with SoCal and NY going at it.

Here is a little PoliceSoftball.com preview of West Covina. Have some fun with it and take it for what it is, nothing more than fodder for discussion.Bracket A: The Quake are the class of any bracket they are in and their finish in Vegas shows this team is still among the elite in the west coast. The Dirty Dirty showed last weekend they can play with the best. Direct Impact is a team on the rise and a team no one wants to see. They beat the Quake in Vegas and at the World Series which shows this team can roll with anyone. Santa Cruz Combo showed in the shortened DEA tourney this year that they plan on making some noise this year.

No Swami predictions for this tourney but PoliceSoftball.com did want to point out some marquee match-ups people should watch for in the round robin. In pool A, the game to watch is the San Diego Excessive Force vs. the DEA Combo. For the last several years both of these teams were constructed in similar ways. They both brought power and lots of it. This year the DEA will be a little younger and quicker version so expect to see a clash of styles. One of these teams will win this bracket and it will be the team who wins this match up. Game time 1110 on Wrigley. In pool B, the game to watch is the Alliance vs. the Sin City team. These two teams have never played each other and it should be a fun game to watch. The Sin City team has undergone a change over since last year with a new name and some new faces. The Alliance will be debuting two new faces at 1B and the OF for this game. Whose new faces will make the bigger impact for their new team is the question.

In 2006, PoliceSoftball.com gave some long overdue recognition to our sport by creating the first ever Police Softball Hall of Fame. 34 individuals were inducted in our inaugural year and they were all very deserving of this honor. In 2007 PoliceSoftball.com inducted 21 individuals into our Hall of Fame ranks to bring our HOF total to 55 members. We are now asking for nominations for the 2008 PoliceSoftball.com Hall of Fame class. To nominate someone, please go to the Hall of Fame section from our home page and there you will find the nomination form. This form will require you to write out a summary of the nominee’s qualifications.

This is the last of the PoliceSoftball.com 2008 Season Preview. It took 22 pages and a lot of work but we hope we gave you an idea of what is possibly in store for 2008. For the West, all the talk stops in two weeks and then the real fun begins on the field. For the East, Bacon Ball Vegas will be the kick off for some teams but then the East season starts in earnest in Jacksonville. Good luck to all the teams this year. Now on to the final 2008 season preview.

Over the last seven days, Policesoftball.com has brought you the 2008 East season preview. Now we are bringing you the 2008 preview of who we think will be the top 10 West teams in the West. Some of the information is merely speculation and/or conjecture but much of it came from reliable sources. Remember, the Boombah Points Chase does not necessarily determine the best team. What is does do is reward teams for how they play in Gold and Silver division tournaments. If you would like to comment on this story or give us your picks, please go to the message board titled "Policesoftball.com Season Preview" We hope you enjoy the West preview and we want to thank all the teams who assisted us with information. Now, on to the West!!

This is part 2 of a 4 part segment PoliceSoftball.com is doing on the 2008 season preview and projections. Part one showed 86% of all poll respondents said our rankings, previews and outlooks were reasonable. We believe this one will not be met with as much agreement because this is where the tough decisions are made. The top 10 order was relatively easy compared to this order. These projections include how we believe the Boombah Points Chase will shake out once the 2008 season is over. Some of the information is merely speculation and/or conjecture but much of it came from reliable sources. Remember, the Boombah Points Chase does not necessarily determine the best team. What is does do is reward teams for how they play in the Gold, Silver and Diamond division tournaments. If you would like to comment on this story or give us your picks, please go to the message board titled "Policesoftball.com Season Preview" We hope you enjoy the preview and we want to thank all the teams who assisted us with information. Check back on Friday morning for the West top 10, but for now, on to part 2 of the East preview!!!

Over the next 10 days, Policesoftball.com will preview all the main teams in police softball and we will also give our projections on how the Boombah Points Chase will shake out once the 2008 season is over. Some of the information is merely speculation and/or conjecture but much of it came from reliable sources. Remember, the Boombah Points Chase does not necessarily determine the best team. What is does do is reward teams for how they play in Gold and Silver division tournaments. If you would like to comment on this story or give us your picks, please go to the message board titled "Policesoftball.com Season Preview" We hope you enjoy the preview and we want to thank all the teams who assisted us with information. Now, on to the preview!!!

Last year was a great year in police softball and left us with many great memories. During the year we saw the emergence of the Buckeye Lawmen as a legitimate force as they finished in the top 3 of both Dayton and the World Series. The Minnesota Lawmen turned back the clock and showed why they have the reputation they have for excellence and sportsmanship. The Jacksonville PSC showed why every tournament champion seemingly must go through them to be crowned. The Alliance started the season hot and after a mid-season stumble, finished it hot. Many deserving Hall of Famers and Year End award winners were recognized nationally for their efforts. The hard shell exterior of Keith Benjamin disappeared for all of us as he introduced Chandler Arizona Police Officer Shevy Wright into our lives. As a sport and profession, we also took some bumps and bruises through the year but in the end, we survived like Law Enforcement professionals always do, by taking the blows and continuing the fight.

Disclaimer – These awards have been compiled from many sources to include your fellow brother Law Enforcement Officers. I have received E-Mails, PM’s and Phone calls from brothers wanting to be heard. Some of the awards are serious, but most of them are an attempt at humor, so please don’t become upset. Remember “we are not laughing at you, we are laughing with you”. At the end of the day we all are “Fellow Brothers in Law Enforcement”, well most of us are……..Please enjoy them with the spirit they were intended…Dennis Leonard.

Team spots for the 2008 World Series will be done a little differently this year. Due to demand and field constraints, PoliceSoftball.com decided to change the way teams are granted spots for the 2008 World Series. Once again the cap will be 45 teams with a split of 23 East and 22 West. There will be 26 reserved spots providing these teams pay for the World Series by May 1st, 2008 (See Upcoming Tournament Section for details on how to pay for the World Series) As always, teams who do not pay by that date will relinquish their reserved spot. These 26 reserved spots were awarded for many reasons but the biggest factors were distance needed to travel to the World Series, team history, and support/involvement with PoliceSoftball.com. (Since travel considerations were given so much weight to this decision, most of the 26 reserved teams are from the East/Central United States)

PoliceSoftball.com is always looking to bring new and exciting things to police softball and we feel we have hit a home run with this tournament. PoliceSoftball.com, in conjunction with Brett Helmer, Easton Sports and Armando Acosta of the SoCal Softball Tournament Series will be hosting Police Softball’s first ever “Bring ur Real Skilz” tournament. This tournament will be held on Saturday April 5th, 2008 at Big League Dream’s newest facility in West Covina which offers 6 replica fields. This tournament has something for every team. The police major teams will fight it out over the 12 Brett Helmer Easton Bats and the lower division teams will fight it out over the rare World Series berth that is offered.

Some teams may be taking a double take when they see their round robin math ups this year as a new name has surfaced in police softball. The Iowa Lawmen Softball team is a group of Law Enforcement Officer’s from the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. The Iowa Lawmen are not known to many in the police softball circuit, because they have been playing mostly in the “Bacon Ball” a series. In that series, they have won many tournaments and had some great success. Now they are ready to challenge teams in the more established tournaments in the police softball circuit. Coach Nick Nolte believes his team is ready to make the leap and play against some of the well known teams. He looks forward to playing in Dayton and at the World Series. Nick feels if he can find the funding, his team has a shot to be somewhere in the mix of the Boombah Points Chase.

The Inglewood Outlaws will be rolling out in 2008 as known only as the Outlaws. Jimmy Sola from Torrance PD will be the manager helped out by Etahn Siddall (Inglewood PD) and big Gus Rubio. You might know Jimmy from playing SS for the Cal-Quake on occasion including in the 07 World Series. Gus played 3B for the SoCal Alliance in the 05 World series. They will be looking to compete in 8 to 10 tournies and have some old faces and a couple of new ones. If Jimmy gets commitment from the guys he wants they have some solid ball players.

Saul Enriquez 2007 West All-Star who previously played on the Cal-Syndicate squad is a Federal Agent. He was recently transferred to the to the El Paso, Texas region and since that area did not have a traveling tournament team, Saul decided to contact Adrian Garcia of the El Paso Police Department and coach of the EL PASO HEAT. Saul convinced Adrian to seek out some talented players in the area and take their show on the road.

The Suffolk County Police softball team is getting back on the Open Circuit after a little layoff. With the success of Suffolk's over-40 team and the desire to have Suffolk County compete in the open division again before its too late Suffolk is forming an Open team that will consist of members from Suffolk County PD; Suffolk County Corrections and Nassau County PD.

PoliceSoftball.com has selected the 2008 Tournaments that will be part of the 2008 Boombah Points Chase. Every team attending these tournaments will earn points towards the Boombah Points Chase title. Once the 2008 World Series is over, the highest East and West ranked teams will be named Champion of their respective region and the Boombah Points Chase title will be awarded to the team that finished highest at the World Series between those two teams. The Boombah Points Chase winner will receive 15 sets of Boombah Uniforms and be known as the 2008 PoliceSoftball.com/Boombah National Champion.

Today our little hero Shevy Wright was laid to rest. Shevy's body will no longer be with us but his spirit will last for years to come. Shevy showed us the power of laughter, love and hope and he embodied the values we look for in the PoliceSoftball.com Sportsman of the Year Award. Because Shevy typified the ideals of being a good sportsman, the award will forever be known as the “Shevy Wright Sportsman of the Year Award”.

On Saturday November 10th, 2007, Guns & Hoses Softball held their annual “Best in the West – Tournament of Champions”. The battles for Public Safety Softball Supremacy were scheduled to be waged at the Glendale Sportsplex, in Glendale CA. This event was Co-sponsored by Anderson Bat Company and the prize packages were purchased through them. The winners of each division would receive the big Anderson Bat Bags, Anderson (Flame) Batting gloves to runner ups, and 3rd place in each division were slated to gain the official Anderson “Go Deep” T-Shirts. Additionally, Team Plaques with 8x10 team photos would go to 1st through 4th place in both divisions as well.

The rumors have been flying for weeks about a new team based out of Northern California. Talks of this team have sent tremors through the West Coast wondering which teams will be impacted by the news when it breaks. Well PoliceSoftball.com has the official inside scoop on this team.

As anyone knows who has watched police softball, there are many great athletes in the sport. Many of these athletes were accomplished athletes in High School and College and their pedigree is evident in how they play on the field.

The Central Valley Kings came on the police softball scene several years ago when they won a small market tournament held by the LAPD Blue. No one had heard about this team much before that but since that time they have been very active.

The Policesoftball.com World Series is firmly established as the most anticipated weekend in the cop softball season. The Worlds are played in October and mark the official end of the season by crowning a world champion. This year, 50 teams descended on the Palm Springs, Ca. region for a shot at the crown. It was a three-day event that featured two round robin seeding games followed by a double elimination tournament. The event was sanctioned by USSSA and officially sponsored by Easton Sports.

While the PoliceSoftball.com World Series was playing on Sunday, there was another battle going on that many did not see. This battle was among some teams that many may not know by name but their desire and talent are every bit as large as the teams playing in the WS. This year PoliceSoftball.com held its’ second annual Small Market World Series. The Small Market World Series is a separate tournament held in conjunction with the World Series where the winning team gets a chance to return the following year and play with the best teams in the nation.

Looking to change teams next year? If so, please be aware of the new state rule for the 2008 World Series when making your decisions because the old adjoining state rule will be changed starting on 12-1-07. When the PoliceSoftball.com World Series began, we looked at the one state rule as used by the Dayton tournament. We really liked the one state rule because we felt it gave less chance for muliti state combo teams to develop which in our minds could eventually hurt the sport and lessen the amount of overall teams in the long run.

In 2005 PoliceSoftball.com started a ranking system as a way to add some interest to the game. By 2007 the rankings developed into a points system with the only real spoils being bragging rights for the year. Now that the 2008 season is just around the corner, Boombah has stepped up to the plate and has signed on with PoliceSoftball.com to be the official sponsor of the 2008 Rankings Points Chase.

The Beauty of police softball and the brotherhood are not the games against each other (which are great) but the feeling someone always has your back.On Monday, PoliceSoftball.com Staff found out they were going to be down in San Diego preparing for the World Series so they decided to hold an impromptu meeting at Dick’s Last Resort to fix the world’s problems and talk a little softball. Dennis Leonard and Alan Westfall of Jacksonville found out about the trip and drove 200 miles to attend the meeting.

Guns and Hoses Softball held their annual “Oktoberfest” Tournament on Sunday October 7th. Twelve teams signed up to battle it out for softball supremacy. The night before, some were seen out at the Oktoberfest Party at Old World Village. The festivities there were as lively as it gets! The band flown in from Germany was rocking the house while plate after plate of German grub was served up. Cigars were lit and European Beer was flowing fast and furious. There was beer drinking contests for both the guys and the girls as well as a stein holding contest in which each participant had to hold a beer stein out at a straight 90 degree angle with only one arm! Too much fun was had by all, and even the G & H Directors found themselves wearing the much-celebrated “Chicken” hats as they guzzled German beers all night long.

The Rock has always been a great player but this year he has stepped up his game and raised it to a new level. The Rock is a career .700 hitter and this year he is having a monster season with an OBP of nearly .800. The Rock is one of the most feared and respected players on the circuit and when you are facing the NYPD Blues line-up, the Rock is one player you don’t want up if the game is on the line. The Rock has an aura of confidence that seems to help every player around him be a better player says Blues veteran Dan Spinelli. The Rock is a past Dayton MVP and he is frequently found on All Tourney teams. When the Blues do well, the Rock can always be found leading the charge. When asked about the Rock, Spinelli said, “Although the Blues are not having the season they would like to have, the Rock is having a career year and I have never seen him so dialed in”.

When PoliceSoftball.com looks at player of the year candidates, we look at players that drive their teams and who have raised their games to new levels. We look at players who can place their team on their back and will their team to win. Last year our West coast player of the year was Jeff Regino of the California Quake. Jeff embodied those traits and set the tone for this award. This year the PoliceSoftball.com recognized these same attributes in Ryan Coe of the SoCal Alliance. Ryan has always been an exceptional player but this year he has raised his game to a new level. Every team has one player you think of when you look at how to beat that team and Ryan Coe has been that player all year for the SoCal Alliance.

Keith “Benjie” Benjamin has been involved in police softball for many years. Benjie has a storied career and has won many championships with some great DEA Combo teams. If you ever played against Benjie, you would know he is as tough a player between the lines as you will ever see. Benjie is always the player that gives 100% and his intensity level never wanes. Outside the lines this year, Benjie has revealed his soft side that very few people involved in the sport knew about. This year Benjie used his well known intensity and applied it toward helping a young man facing a very tough medical situation.

Carl “Hollywood” Gaskins is a the longtime player on the Concord Police Softball team and recently he took over as their full time manager. Concord has always been a great team but this year they have played extremely well finishing in the top 5 in 3 out of the 4 tournaments they have played. Hollywood also took his team on the road by going back East to Sterling Hts and finishing in an impressive 7th place against arguably the toughest competition in a law enforcement tourney this year.

When PoliceSoftball.com looks at the Manager of the Year award, we look at selfless coaches who run good programs and whose teams reflect their ideals of hard play and sportsmanship. For this year, PoliceSoftball.com felt that Chris Moore and Tom Siedlecki of the Buckeye Lawmen embody that ideal to the letter.

Easton Sports has recognized that police softball is a legitimate player in the softball world and they are becoming very active in the police softball circuit. They have given the LAPD Blue and the SoCal Alliance full bat sponsorships for several years now and they give discounted equipment deals to many other teams.

The Minutemen Human Resource Staffing Service out of Cleveland Ohio has been serving their community for the last 35 years. For the last few years they have sponsored the Ohio Lawmen Softball team and have helped them become one of the best Law Enforcement teams in the nation.

This year the West has put together an extremely strong line up for the 2007 All Star game and they hope this line up will help them end the East coast win streak in the All-Star game.When asked about the team’s chances this year, Co-Manager D. Longmire of the California Quake said, “This year's West squad was selected by three of the games most tenured and valued men to law enforcement softball. Tony “Bigtone” Costanzo, Skip Stephenson and Tommy Larocque have contributed over twenty years respectfully of devoted effort to police softball. Regardless of the outcome, the West has championed the notion of "putting their best forward" by electing Tommy, Tony & Skip to lead the charge against the villainous East”.

The East coast has handily won the first two East vs. West All-Star games and this year the coaches feel confident they will prevail again. The East All-Star team was to be managed by Brad Borowy but Brad is currently campaigning for Mayor of his hometown and he may not be able to make the trip to this years World Series. If Brad cannot make the trip, the East All-Star team will be managed by Ohio Lawmen Ross Contipelli. The Ohio Lawmen earned the right to manage the team based on their team finishing higher than any other East coast team at last years World Series. Joining the Ohio Managers will be East Coast Hall of Fame Manager Walt “Red” Conry of NY Metro and Wayne Oakland coach Steve Perkola.

Many times we at PoliceSoftball.com will speak of a Memorial Tournament and we sometimes tend to focus on the softball instead of the officer we lost. For this article, we want to open up with the man and let the softball take a backseat. The reality is we have people in our society who want to prey on our community members and kill us in the process if it serves their purpose. The vast majority of times we win these battles but sadly, sometimes we lose. Brian is a hero who was taken from us because he chose early on in life to run towards danger, and not away from it. We at PoliceSoftball.com want to thank him for being a hero and making the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of society.

Darin Ries and Steve Margetts hosted the 20th Annual Desert Classic Softball Tournament this weekend and once again, the tournament lived up to everyone’s expectations.This year the tournament wanted to give teams a chance to prepare for the World Series next month so Darin and Steve followed the USSSA rules format, "6 HR and out" modification and they also used the same balls the World Series will be using. The tournament started with bracket play on Saturday which will feed teams into an A, B and C division for the single elimination playoffs which started on Sunday.

Guns and Hoses Softball held their annual “9-11 Memorial” Tournament on Sunday Sept. 9th 2007. This tournament is held every year around the anniversary of the most tragic attack upon American soil in history. 18 teams rolled out to battle for top honors in 2 separate divisions. All 18 teams observed a pre-scheduled moment of silence to honor all of the innocent victims of September 11th, 2001. Just prior to the start of the 11:00 games, all teams, family, fans, friends (and Hooters Girls) either lined up along the base lines, or stood in observance near the fields and faced the American flag waving high above the registration booth. The moment of silence was a full 60 seconds and allowed for each individual out there to show their respects. After the 60 seconds was completed, the shout of “Play Ball!” was given and play ball they did!

The Incline Village Tournament has been an annual staple for many Northern California Law enforcement teams for the last twenty years. The tournament is put on by HOF Ellwin Jobe, and has been slowly declining in popularity. This year, Ellwin Jobe can to Sac Razorbacks player/coach Steve Buccellato with a winning idea. We will get back to that in a minute.

The 2nd Annual Star 6 Memorial Softball Tournament was held in Folsom California over the Labor Day Weekend. A ten team Open Division Field was on hand to open the tournament, to be joined on Sunday by 8 inter-department squads. The tournament opened with a thud for the Sac Razorbacks as they were thumped by a strong Santa Cruz squad 21-10.

Original Alliance player Erik “Big E” Grove has announced his police softball retirement effective after the 2007 PoliceSoftball.com World Series. Erik has been a mainstay on the Alliance since its inception but now that fatherhood has taken on a bigger role in his life, Erik has decided to focus on his family. Erik has played all over the infield for the Alliance spending time at Shortstop, 3B and 1B. It was 1B where Erik found his niche and cemented himself as one of the top defensive first basemen in police softball. At 6’5”, Erik has given Alliance infielders a great target to throw to and his soft hands and long reach has scooped up many errant throws.

To submit your Roster 1. Send an email to roster2007@policesofball.com 2. Fax it to 443-335-0070

Some of the names signed up already are a virtual "who's who" of the nations best long ball hitters. There will be an estimated 1000 people in attendance so if you can handle the pressure, sign up now!!!

Policesoftball.com is pleased to announce the details of the World Series Golf Outing. The event is planned for Thursday October 18th, 2007 at 12-Noon. We have secured 10 consecutive tee-times beginning at noon which will accomodate 40 players.

This tournament has always been one of the best run tournaments in the West and this year is no different. This tournament will replicate the World Series which will give teams a great chance to get dialed in for the big finale next month.

The 2007 World Series East vs. West All-Star Game will once again be held in conjunction with the Friday night festivities at the Big League Dreams facility in Cathedral City, Ca. This year the event falls on Friday Oct. 19th and the opening ceremonies will begin at 1930 hours at the replica Fenway Park. We moved to the Fenway venue to accomodate a larger beer garden and BBQ area adjacent to that field. We expect close to 1500 to be in attendance!

It was PoliceSoftball.com's Honor to induct Chris Wouter's into the PoliceSoftball.com Hall of Fame.

The weekend of August 10-12, 2007 was special for the law enforcement softball circuit because the USSSA National Wouters/Sawyers Memorial tournament was held in Sterling Heights, Michigan. What made the event unique was there was four teams from California that made the trip for the first time and the competition was at an all time high. There were 23 participating teams and 15 of them were ranked in the Top 20 in their respected regions. Many teams checked into the host hotel on Thursday afternoon and those who arrived early enough took in a Tigers game at Comerica Park.

The Colusa County Bash Police and Fire softball tournament was held this past weekend in Williams, California (Nor-Cal). It is a local tournament known for its great camaraderie and the never ending flow of beer from the Budweiser beer trailer parked between the fields.

The 36th Annual National Police Softball Championship was played in Dayton, Ohio on July 13-15, 2007. The event was first played in Cleveland, Ohio in 1971 and has seen teams such as Pittsburgh, Nassau County, Clayton Co. Georgia and the Delaware Lawmen previously claim the title. No tournament on the police softball circuit is more steeped in tradition and historical significance.