DEA Connection and New York Express claim West Coast Championships in the Triple Crown Series!
DEA Connection ECC AND WCC Champions
The West Coast Championship was the 2nd point in our TRIPLE CROWN SERIES for the 2026 season. It started off with a highly successful East Coast Championship in Nashville, Tennessee and the winners of that event were: DEA Connection (Majors), 172 Combo (Mid Majors), Connecticut Lawmen (Gold) and Desert Connection (Silver). The dates for Nashville next year will be May 20-21, 2027. The final and crown jewel to the Triple Crown Series will be our 21st annual Police Softball World Series in Las Vegas, October 8-11, 2026. We have several teams who attended Worlds last year who are not on our attendance list and the payment for all teams will be Sept 1, 2026.
This was the RETURN of the WCC that had to be cancelled last year due to lack of interest. Although it started out with quite a bit of interest this year, we had numerous teams drop out, leaving us with only 14 which is the smallest turnout since the advent of the event back in 2009.
This was the first year the tournament was held at the Big League Dreams facility in Perris, Ca. Perris is in inland Southern California (in between Palm Springs and San Diego), The facility itself was top notch, and the fields were in pristine condition. We had 2 turf fields and 2 dirt fields, and all of them were extremely well maintained. The 2 dirt fields are supposed to be turf by this time next year so of all the BLD complexes, this one is in the best condition outside of Las Vegas that was recently given a complete facelift.
Away from the fields, players enjoyed Old Town Temecula which could be compared to a mini-version of Broadway Street in Nashville. It is one main street lined with restaurants and bars and it becomes very lively at night with live bands, sporting events etc. Most teams chose to stay at Air B & B rentals, but the host hotel was only 15 minutes from the fields and it was a good value.
The games were very competitive and every team won at least one game. All teams played at least 5 games with most teams playing 6-8 over the course of the weekend. A brand new SoCal based team, Diamond Kingz opened some eyes by winning their first game against Sac Razorback Gold, but then their jets cooled and although competitive they were the first eliminated. It felt like they were not all on the same page when it came to game script, but if they ever do all get on the same page, watch out for them. They are legitimate Gold Division World Series contenders.
The cream of the crop of the Gold Division was no surprise as two of the top projected teams New York Express and Desert Connection were facing off in big dance. Keep in mind, these two just met up in Nashville last month with Express narrowly defeating DC. DC went on to win the Silver Division in Nashville while Express finished runners up to Connecticut in Gold. DC was in the kings seat and needed to be double dipped. They looked to be the sure bet, but somehow the Express battled through the loser bracket playing several games back to back and they managed to defeat DC twice (double dip) to win the Gold Division WCC Championship. Following the game a very “ripe” Express team had to hustle off to the airport to catch a flight so they didn’t have much time to celebrate on the field. Instead, they shared the smell of victory with the passengers who shared that loooong flight with them!
There were only 5 teams in Majors, but these 5 were 5 of the top 20 teams in the entire nation including 2 inside the top 5. The DEA Connection had competed the first time as a team in Nashville and after a sluggish start, they got firing and breezed through the playoffs to be the first West Coast team to ever win the ECC. Meanwhile, the LAPD Blue have multiple World Championships on their resume and have not lost a WCC in almost a decade. There are 2 things that the WCC is known for and that is LAPD Blue winning Majors and (previously) Utah Metro winning Gold. The other teams in Majors were Sac Razorbacks, 172 Combo and the LA Empire. All 5 teams could win any tournament with the latter 3 having all shown glimpses of just how good they are but missing the consistency of DEA and LAPD.
This weekend played out as expected with LAPD Blue and DEA Connection facing off in the championship game and LAPD needing to be double dipped. LAPD being double dipped has not happened in the recent history of police softball so the Vegas odds makers swung heavily toward LAPD Blue come “ship” time. But, DEA Connection apparently did not check the Vegas sportsbooks and were undaunted. DEA forced an “IF” game against the LAPD Blue and it felt like watching a chess match as both teams were playing on top of their game. The IF game was a nailbiter. LAPD Blue was home team, bases were loaded with 1 out. The tying run was on 3B and winning run on 2B but there were no home runs left for either team. They had one of their best hitters up and he hit an absolute missile worm burner on the ground but the AJ Reyes the DEA 3B went into hockey goalie mode and knocked it down. He stepped on 3rd, threw home and sealed the game with a perfectly executed double play! DEA Connection claimed their 2nd consecutive championship and were now the winners of the ECC AND WCC!!!!! There are 3 points to the crown and DEA Connection owns 2 of them. What was thought to be an impossible challenge to win the Triple Crown Series is suddenly in reach for the squad.
NOTE: One could argue that NY Express is also a candidate to win the TRIPLE CROWN SERIES in the Gold Division since they were the highest finishing Gold team in Nashville after the promotion of Connecticut to Majors following their win. But, the fact is, at the time, Connecticut was Gold so a Gold Triple Crown winner will have to wait until next year. BUT, NY Express clearly established themselves as the #1 ranked team in the Gold Division going into Worlds.
MAJORS MVP: Torin Miller-DEA
MAJORS ALL TOURNEY : Robert Bristol, AJ Reyes, Kevin Mort-DEA
MAJORS ALL TOURNEY: Daulton Cabacungan, Andrew Avila, Carlos Vasquez- LAPD Blue
GOLD MVP: Nick Cappiello- NY Express
GOLD ALL TOURNEY: Anthony Vano, Tom Martin, Chris Rincon- NY Express
GOLD ALL TOURNEY: Ty Webster, Garrett Brown, Bruce Butler- Desert Connection
WCC results
Majors
1. Dea connection
2. LAPD blue
3. Sac razorbacks
4. La empire
5. 172 combo
Gold
1. New York express
2. Desert connection
3. Slaps
4. San Bernadino hit squad
5. San Diego lockdown
5. Riverside sheriff
7. Nitro2go
7. Sac razorback gold
9. Diamond Kings
NOTE:
We would love to bring back the Triple Crown Series next year, but to do so we will need a minimum of 16 teams and realistically 20 teams to secure the Perris complex next year. We have requested the same dates, so when your teams sets your 2027 schedule, we would like you to consider this event and let us know at the beginning of the season so we can guarantee we will have enough teams in order to get field allocations. If you want California police softball to survive and you are from California (or any WC team for that matter) you NEED to prioritize this one. And for the East teams, please ask NY Express leader Nick Cappiello about his experience at the event and the activities away from the fields.
On behalf of PS.COM JB, AMB and WITT, thanks for your support and we will see you all in Vegas!