John Scollo Memorial Tournament Delivers Big Action!

South Florida Lawmen earn the heavyweight division championship while Connecticut Lawmen earn light-heavy honors!

John Scollo Memorial 2026 – Tournament Recap

The 2026 John Scollo Memorial Tournament took place Thursday and Friday at the Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida—home of USSSA—and featured 20 teams from across the country.

The week kicked off Wednesday night with the host party at the American Muscle Car Museum, which once again exceeded expectations. Andrew and Mark did a fantastic job, and a special thank you goes to Brevard County Sheriff Ivey and his grill team for providing great food in an incredible setting.

Due to weather, Thursday’s start time was pushed back to 11 AM and the opening ceremonies were unfortunately canceled. Despite this, donations will still be made to First Help/Blue Help.

This year’s tournament presented some logistical challenges, particularly with bracket formatting and rule differences between PS.com and USSSA. I take responsibility for trusting that everything was set correctly and not catching issues earlier. That said, we pushed through and made it work.

Thursday’s games were played in difficult conditions—rain and heavy wind—but thanks to the turf fields, play continued without interruption. After three round-robin games, the top seeds were:

• Upper Division: TBL, Miami Dawgs, Great Lakes 

• Lower Division: CT Lawmen, 305 Elite, NY Express 

The tournament used pre-determined brackets with 11 teams in the upper division and 9 in the lower. Equipment held up extremely well in the weather, including bats from Easton, Worth, and Miken, along with PS-stamped balls provided by Jason Kendrick. Players also had the opportunity to swing the new, unreleased Joseph Kampfer AXE Fury bats, courtesy of HB Sports.

Gold Division

CT Lawmen, four-time Gold Scollo champions, once again proved their consistency. After competing well against Major teams in bracket play, they dropped into Gold and captured another title. Tommy has built not only a strong roster but a respected group of players who compete at a high level. Moving forward, they’ll be playing up in future Scollo tournaments.

Teams like 305 Elite, NY Express, MDF, and NYPD Finest also showed they can compete at a high level and are pushing toward Mid or Major status heading into Vegas.

Major Division

Competition in the Major division was intense, with strong performances from Florida teams as well as Great Lakes, Suffolk, Brotherhood, Minnesota, Angel Armour, and TBL.

Great Lakes and the Miami Dawgs remained undefeated and met in the winner’s bracket final on the stadium field, with the Dawgs edging out a 25–23 win.

In the loser’s bracket, South Florida Lawmen (SFL) made a spirited run after an early loss. They defeated Suffolk (who finished 4th with another strong showing), then beat Great Lakes 42–38 to advance to the finals.

SFL went on to double-dip the Miami Dawgs—winning 35–21 and 38–26—to claim the championship after seven straight wins in the loser’s bracket. This marked their first Scollo title, made even more special with John’s son Kyle on the team.

Awards

Major Division Champions – South Florida Lawmen

• MVP: Jamin Cephus (P) 

• Defensive MVP: Julio Gonzalez (SS) 

• All-Tournament: Brandon Vicens, Craig Turner, Danny Ferreiro, Sam Kimmel 

Runner-Up – Miami Dawgs

• Offensive MVP: Antonio Gomez (LF) 

• All-Tournament: Julio Fernandez, Jorge Gutierrez, Rob Fuentes 

Gold Division Champions – CT Lawmen

• MVP: Tyler Favreau (OF) 

• Defensive MVP: Brian Murphy (OF) 

• All-Tournament: Mike Aquilino, Jimmy Aronne, Lou Arbelo, Eddie Araujo 

Runner-Up – 305 Elite

• Offensive MVP: Ian Santana (OF) 

• All-Tournament: Gabriel Cox, Danny Delgado, Tommy Mendoza 

Winners from both divisions received rings, bats, trophies, custom bourbon bottles, and shirts (courtesy of HB Sports). Awards were structured similar to the USSSA Conference format, with custom embroidered bourbon bottles replacing traditional plaques.

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This year came with its challenges, but it was still a success thanks to the teams, players, and supporters who continue to make this event special. If we host again, we’ll implement additional measures to ensure everything runs as smoothly as in years past.

So many people to thank, who all played a part in the tourney:

USSSA and staff ( Chuck, Ralph, Lexi, Dustin, Justin, JC etc), American Muscle Car Museum (Andrew Mackey) Donnie and Becky Meyer, Dave Bernhardt, Kevin Drummond, Jason Kendrick (Easton, Worth, Miken), Steve Rubiano (Dunkin Donuts), Kyle Scollo and Tiffany Vanyo, Karen Solomon and Erin (Blue Help), Good Greek Moving and Storage, HB Sports (Chris Bastien and Mike Talbott). Joe Monaghan and 1st Phorm for the great beef sticks and protein bars.

Truly takes a village to put this on.

Respectfully,

The South Florida Lawmen Team,

Brandon West, Dave Bernhardt, Kevin Drummond