ECC Nashville Is A Huge Success
New York Empire and Connecticut Lawmen Conquer Music City
The Police Softball East Coast Championship tournament changed venues in 2025 from Marysville Ohio to Nashville Tennessee. The change of venue inspired teams from across the nation to show up resulting in a 17-team major division and 13-team gold division. Additional changes included Justin Witt being named Co-Director and Dan Potter being the UIC. Witt, Potter and Chris Jones were extremely helpful in making this event successful. We are also grateful for the help from the Kentucky Blue wives with the information booth. The logistical success of this tournament could not have been achieved without their help. Additional thanks needs to be given to Optimize U for taking time out of their busy schedule to set up IV stations and a cold plunge for players, Terry Dugan and Dan McIntyre for bringing merchandise, and Suncoast for providing bats for the tournament.
The players party took place on Wednesday evening at Dirks Bentley bar on Broadway in downtown Nashville. The establishment is pro law enforcement and went above and beyond to set up a well-known country music band, dedicating an entire floor to our group with security, as well as displaying PS Logos throughout. It was great catching up with players and managers from all over the circuit as the event was packed for hours.
The tournament kicked off Thursday morning at 0700 with the Majors round robin play followed by Gold round robin play. After pool play in the Majors division, NY Empire became the 1 seed followed by LA Blue, Kentucky Blue, Minnesota, Suffolk, Connection, Max Blues, Brotherhood, Missouri, TBL, Miami 5-O, Angel Armor, South Florida, Center Mass, DEA, NorCal Reloaded and 172-Combo. The Majors tournament started soon thereafter with NY Empire knocking team after team into the loser’s bracket. Top ranked teams LA Blue and Ky Blue were knocked into the loser’s bracket early by Max Blues and Connection. There were numerous close game games that were decided in the last innings with walk offs such as LA Blue knocking out an impressive South Florida squad in the bottom of the 7th with a walk off single. TBL was also playing very well as they were knocking off teams in the loser’s bracket left and right. They eventually met up with LA Blue where they came up short. The final two teams in the loser’s bracket were the two west coast powerhouses, LA Blue and The Connection. The game was going back and forth, however a tired Blue squad couldn’t keep up with the fresher Connection team as Connection advanced to the Championship game to face the undefeated NY Empire squad. NY Empire played better than most have seen in awhile with a locked down defense and powerful offense. Connection could not keep up and Empire as they became the 2025 East Coast Champs.
Tournament MVP-
Bruce Monro- NY Empire
Tournament DEF MVP-
Rob Briston- Connection
All Tourney-
Daniel Settoducato- NY Empire
Kyle Greene- NY Empire
Josh Chambers- NY Empire
Stephen Bautista- Connection
Travis Wright- Connection
Danny Rutledge- Connection
MAJORS RESULTS
1. NY Empire
2. Connection
3. LA Blue
4. TBL
5. S. Florida
5. Max Blues
7. Miami 5-0
7. Minnesota
9. Kentucky Blue
9. Brotherhood
9. Suffolk
9. Missouri
13. Angel Armor
13. Center Mass
13. DEA
13. NorCal Reloaded
17. 172-Combo
The Gold division tournament did not disappoint as there were 13 competitive teams from the East and West. Pre-Tourney, powerhouse gold teams such as the Texas Gunslingers and New York Express were predicted to win by the upper echelon of police softball, however this was an extremely talented field of new and veteran teams. After pool play, the veteran Chicago Metro squad became the 1 seed followed by New York Express, Connecticut Lawmen, Maryland’s Finest, Midwest Heat, Utah Metro, Texas Gunslingers, PAPD Twins, NYPD Finest, MDF, Garden State, PA Enforcers, and Necessary Force. Upset after upset started occurring when tournament play began starting with MDF knocking off the favored Texas squad in the first round. The PAPD Twins also knocked the young talented NYPD Finest squad into the loser’s bracket in the first round. The PAPD Twins continued to open viewers’ eyes as they knocked number 1 seed Chicago metro and Maryland’s Finest in the loser’s bracket. Midwest Heat and NY Express also caught fire and ultimately faced off in the loser’s bracket in an epic back and forth game with many watching. Midwest prevailed in the last inning, knocking out one of the predicted winners. The third-place game was between the PAPD Twins and a NYPD Finest squad that has fought their way back through the loser’s bracket. NYPD was too much for the Twins as the NYPD Finest squad advanced to play Connecticut in the championship game. The championship game went back and forth however the deeply talented Connecticut team’s offense was too much to keep up with as the Connecticut Lawmen became the 2025 East Coast Gold Division Champions.
Tournament MVP-
Brett Huber- Connecticut
Tournament DEF MVP-
Chris Rincon- NYPD Finest
All Tourney-
Ari Valez- Connecticut
Rich Davis- Connecticut
Eddy Araujo- Connecticut
James Rogers- NYPD
Steven Gutierrez-NYPD
Joseph Solomeno-NYPD
GOLD Results
1. Connecticut Lawmen
2. NYPD Finest
3. PAPD Twins
4. Midwest Heat
5. Maryland Finest
5. NY Express
7. Chicago Metro
7. Utah Metro
9. Garden State
9. Texas Gunslingers
9. MDF
9. Necessary Force
13. PA Enforcers