The Baconball National Championship started out a little shaky with 4-5 hours of rain Friday night into Saturday morning. The grass was a little soupy but the fields ended up great. We started buy honoring two Kansas City Kansas fallen officers, Captain Dave Melton and Det. Brad Lancaster.

Last Year Vaughan Garrett of Garrett Metal Detectors wanted to start an award that recognized a police officer who made a significant and positive contribution to his community. Garrett Metal Detectors has been a long-time supporter of Police Softball so it was only natural when they approached PoliceSoftball.com with their idea of creating the OPOC/Outstanding Police Officer of the Community Award.

Matt is a defending World Series Champion and one of the fastest rising stars in this game. He is an absolute blast to watch as he gives you 100% effort in all aspects of the game. He is the type of player who can play multiple positions and can beat you with his bat, arm or legs.

Stephen Bautista, formerly of HardCor, is one of the hidden gems on the west coast. Playing left field for the #4 ranked team in the West Conference, West Coast United, he has always hit with great power and this year he has became an even bigger threat by harnessing that power and using his homeruns when needed.

Every year PoliceSoftball.com names its' Yearly Award Winners which is sponsored by the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association (SCDSA). SCDSA has sponsored these awards for over a decade and we are very thankful for their support over the years.

On August 19th and 20th, 2016, Cali Force hosted the 7th annual Brad Moody Memorial Tournament at the Big League Dreams in Manteca, California. We had 13 teams battle it out. Six teams in “A” flight and seven teams in “B” flight. The following teams attended; Cali Force, Stanislaus, Alliance, West Coast United, Cen Cal Connection, Nor-Cal Elite, El Dorado Cartel, Degenerates, DVI Gladiators, Most Wanted, Richmond PD, Oakland PD and Nor Cal Warriors. Thank you to all the teams that attended.

We would like to announce the following players as our 2016 inductees into the Police Softball Hall of Fame. These player/managers have all gave so much to our sport and this award puts an exclamation point on an amazing career.We would like to thank the very difficult work by our HOF Committees and their chairmen Anthony Costanzo and Dennis Leonard. Without the hard work by these people, this program would suffer greatly.We would like to invite all Hall of Fame Members to come out to the field on thursday night at the World Series and welcome these new members into your very exclusive club. Congratulations gentlemen!

The 11th Annual St. Louis Bacon Ball Tournament was held Saturday August 6th, and amazingly we had a great day of weather, for this time of year. The tournament format was a double elimination bracket, with all 14 teams seeded according to the current PS rankings. The field of teams this year was stronger than any other year previous, with 9 of them being World Series Majors teams.

The 45th annual National Police Softball Championship was held on July 16th, 17th, at River City East Sports Complex in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the first ever triple elimination tournament put on by NPSC. Brackets were split up by Major and B Flight teams, 8 Major and 9 B Flight teams. Event kicked off with great player’s party on the river at the Beer Sellar with free pizza and chips, along with discounted drinks, music, fireworks.

Law’s 2nd annual Texas Showdown started at the beautiful Hilton Garden Inn at the Rim, on Friday, June 24th. A team mixer with plenty of food, adult beverages, inspiring words from Father Danny Hubble and ending with an exclusive look at the “Good Cop, Bat Cop” video produced from the 2015 Policesoftball.com World Series was a great kickoff to the tournament. The next day found the teams showing up to the fields for a Texas breakfast specialty, barbacoa tacos, along with free face painting for kids. The San Antonio Police Officers Association event barbeque pit was on hand to provide food and drinks along with a covered tailgate trailer with TV, free beer, and music for the players to enjoy during the down time between games.

Round Robin Each team played 4 Round Robin games, with Steel City and Metro Detroit going 3-1. Steel City clinched the number 1 seed with a 21-9 win over Metro Detroit. Miami Valley and Buckeye Alliance both finished Round Robin play at 2-2. Buckeye Alliance clinched the 3rd seed with a win over Miami Valley. Miami Valley had an impressive win over Steel City and earned 4th seed. Motor City Mayhem ended up as the fifth seed.

West Coast United’s 3rd Annual Reno/Sparks tournament took place on May 20th and 21st this year. As usual, the Golden Eagle Complex in Sparks provided a beautiful backdrop to the event. The weather offered some sun, some wind and even a little frozen rain this year but that didn’t hamper the fun.Our PS.Com family once again came through to raise $700 to help Nik Jackson (Mark Jackson’s son) with his battle against Hodgkin Lymphoma. A new Easton bat was donated by Dan Potter to raffle off and it was greatly appreciated.

The West Palm Beach Bacon Ball tournament turned out to be a huge turnout. The reason why was to remember our good friend John Scollo, and to retire his number. We had 19 powerhouse teams from around the country come pay tribute to John. The ceremony was great, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office honor guard presented the colors and Johns jersey was presented to Johns son Kyle. Scollos #3 will never be worn again for the South Florida Lawmen.

The West Conference Championship theme was “Back to the Future” as the tournament was held at the Big League Dreams facility in Cathedral City (Palm Springs), Ca. The venue was the site of the first 5 Police Softball World Series tournaments before that event moved to its current location in Las Vegas. This facility is the flagship Big League Dreams park and used to host some of California’s largest police softball tournaments. It has been 7 years since a major police tournament was held here, so Policesoftball.com decided to visit our roots and take a walk back through time.

Once again we kicked off the East Side with this long running much anticipated Memorial Tournament. A huge strong field of teams and near perfect weather made for a great weekend of softball. This event for me has always been about keeping Brian Aselton name alive along with his spirit. Its an honor for me to provide that and I wish to thank each and every team that participated along with the countless others that make this event happen. Never Forget #251

The official start of the 2016 West Conference season begins with the annual DEA Kickoff in Riverside; CA. Before the softball season kicked off, twenty players participated in a golf tournament. After the scores were counted, Jeremy Hershey (La Lawmen) was the winner of the tournament. For winning the golf tournament, Jeremy received a gun case, donated by www.seahorse.net.

The 3N2/D2E Lawmen arrived in Las Vegas with a purpose! Earlier in the year one of their teammates, John Scollo took his own life for reasons we will never know. If anything, it confirmed what most police officers already know and that is the stresses of the profession are often internalized which is believed to be why suicide is a common cause of death for police officers. The 3N2/D2E Lawmen had been in Police Softball World Series championship game a few short years ago and finished as runner’s up, but on this weekend they were determined to win the World Championship to celebrate John’s life. *