Bridgeton, MO

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The ISA Senior Program took a giant step in the right direction by hosting its 2006 Men's Seniors World Tournament in Bridgeton, MO. The complex was one of the finest in the country. It has five brand new fields with a huge air conditioned concession building that would seat about 200 people. I want to thank Mr. John Bell and his staff at Bridgeton Complex for making our tournament a success.

ISA Vice President of Softball Operations, Don Stratton, stated the Complex, ISA Staff and Umpires did an outstanding job of reviving the ISA Seniors Program. Both Jerry Jackson and Mike O'Donnell should be commended for running a first class event.

The event was started Thursday night with the managers meeting. All but 3 teams in the tournament attended the meeting. Play started on Friday with all teams playing two games. All teams were guaranteed 5 games for the tournament.

In the 50 AAA Division, Metro Coors Light from Collinsville, IL went 7 - 1 to capture the World Title. Metro went 2-0 in pool play. Metro won their first two games in bracket play by defeating Mitchell Foundation from St. Paul, MO, 26-4, and KC Renegades, 19-12. In the third game on Saturday, Metro played a very good Bagbey's team from Iowa and Bagbey's won 11-5. On Sunday, Metro showed up on a mission. First they defeated KC Renegades for the second time 14-8. This earned them the right to play Bagbey's for the title. In the first game, Metro pounded Bagbeys 17-0 and in the "if game", Metro was in control the entire game, winning 25-6.

The 50 AAA All-Tournament Team was: From Metro Coors Light - Jim Bone, Larry Vogel, Dave Potts, Rich Fischer, Hank Dunham, and Jim Holshouser. From second place Bagbey's ' Mick Lee, Ed Sirfus, and Jim Bailiff. Third place team KC Renegades placed two players on the all tournament team - Hank Bower Jr. and George Kramer

The 50 Major Division was won by Travel Lodge from Indiana. They were the first seed by going 3-0 in pool play. In bracket play, they won their first game over Cajun Coast from Morgan City, LA 30-14. Then they lost to Kittrell from Alabama, 28-27. On Sunday they defeated Goodman Racing from Washington, 19-10. This advanced them to the championship game against Kittrell. Travel Lodge came out on top by defeating Kittrell 17-2 in the first game and 13-12 in the second game.

All-Tournament Selections in the 50 Major Division were: Travel Lodge was led by MVP Gary Ratliffe, Robert Drake, Tim Barker, Bill Koleszar, and Bill Brown. From Kittrell- Phillip Kittrell, Joey Adams, and Earl Brown. From 3rd place finisher Goodman Racing- Len Hover and Emery Smith.

The 50 Major Plus Division had 3 teams, Pine Knob from Michigan, Ploog from Minnesota, and Randy Smith from Louisiana. These teams played 3 games of pool play against the Major teams which seeded them into a double elimination bracket. Pine Knob went 5-2 for the tournament to win the Major Plus Division. Randy Smith beat Pine Knob 23-12 in the 1st game of bracket play. Pine Knob then went on a roll defeating Randy Smith 23-19. Then Pine Knob double dipped Ploog, 21-8 and 17-3 for the title.
50 Major Plus All-Tournament Team Selections were: Pine Knob -MVP Johnny Johnson, Mike McDowell, Gary Perkins, Craig Feaman, and John Van Wagner. Ploog Dale Kohlis, Bobby Kolrich, and Jesse Adamadez.

55 Major Plus Division was won by All-State Miken from Florida. All-State Miken went 3-0 in pool play and then went on to beat Mission Softball from Texas in the best 2 out of 3 games, 29-4 and 22-3.

All-Tournament Selections in the 55 Major Plus Division were: From All-State Miken - MVP Bruce Fairchild, Bruce Meade, Jim Decker, Jim Lyle, Gary Deaton, and Manager Jim Truncell. Selected for Mission Softball were Bobby Saenz, Bill McDaniel, and Larry Moore.

The 55 Major/AAA Division was won by W. E. Ruth from Kent, WA, with Miller Lite/Rhinos from Granite City, IL finishing second and AMI from Alabama third.
WE Ruth went 6-0 for the tournament. In bracket play, they beat MN Masters 17-1 and Miller Lite/ Rhinos 29-14.

All-Tournament Selections in the 55 Major Division were: From W.E. Ruth - MVP Dennis Christophersen, Gene Moser, Tim Headrick, Mike Hartung, and George Stormo.
AMI - Mike Jackson and Bill Gieger.

All Tournament Selections in the 55AA were: Miller Lite/Rhinos - Randy Walker, Steve Angelo, Kenny Sheffield, Mark Mirth, and John Anderson. From KC Blues were Larry Rodger, Ron Thomas, Steve Likes, Jack Knight, and Larry Walker

The 60 Major Plus Division was won by Tharaldson Enterprise for Las Vegas, NV. Tharaldson went 5-0 for the tournament. For the championship they defeated Hendricks Sports for Houston, TX 24-6 and 37-31.

All Tournament Selections in the 60 Major Plus Division were: From Tharaldson - MVP Hank Cluess, Dave Barnes, Russ Curtis, Jim Peacock, and Chuck Stuart. From Hendricks Sports were Mel Colwell, Terry Perryman, and Jim Fulmer.

The 60 Major Division was won by Fire from Stiwell, KS, and man were they on fire. They lost their fist game in bracket play to the Texas Legends 12-5 and then ran off four victories in a row by defeating Texas Legends twice, 20-16 and 17-11 to claim the world championship title.

All Tournament Selections in the 60 Major Division were: Fire- MVP Gary Johnson, John Dearmond, Charlie Jent, Jim Kock, and Richard Long. Nick Nickolson, Robert Moore, and John Kinsel from Texas Legends were also selected to the All Tournament Team. Teeters, a AAA team playing in the Major division, had five selections to the All Tournament Team. MVP Charles Lambert, Ed Petlak, Jerry Neal, Johnny Haney, and Jerry Sims.

The 65AA Division had three teams, Budweiser from St. Louis, MO, Quad City Old Stars from Davenport, IA, and Midwest Driving School from Independence, MO. The 65AA played a double round robin that seeded them into a single elimination tournament.
Budweiser went 4-2 in the tournament and defeated Quad City Old Stars in the championship game 28-21.

All-Tournament Selections in the 65AA were: Budweiser - MVP John Meeden, Rich Rein, Harold Deepont, Ron Litzler, and Jim Welch. Quad City Old Stars had 3 selections to the all tournament team: David Johnson, Al Savala, and Gene Konrahdy.

I want to congratulate all the teams for the great sportsmanship that was shown at this tournament. I really enjoyed watching all of you play. It was a great event and I look forward to seeing all of you there again next year.

I could not close this article without acknowledging the umpires that worked this tournament. I had all good compliments regarding the umpires during this tournament. But two gentlemen that I have a lot of respect for, Jim Cary and Randy Hendricks from the Hendricks Sports Management team, said it best. This was the best umpiring we have seen in 30 years of playing. Gentleman, I agree. The umpiring was great and I want to again say,THANK YOU! to all the umpires for a job very professionally done.

Article By:
Jerry Jackson
ISA Northern Region V. P.

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