- PoliceSoftball.com - Complete Guide to Police Tournament Softball

Name	Jeff Leikauf
Nickname	Junior
Uniform #	7
Team	Eldo Cartel
Agency	El Dorado County Sheriff's Department
Assignment	Deputy Sheriff
PS.com Nick	JUNIOR ''I’m All over the board''

Past Police Teams – El Dorado Lawmen

Nickname (and story behind it) My Nickname is JUNIOR. I started with the El Dorado County sheriff's Department at the age of 20. 17 years ago! (boy how time flies) At the same time I began playing with the Department softball team and a lot of the senior members or "Old Timers" started calling me "Junior". I didn’t really care for the name at first but it grew on me and it has stuck. Eventually other teams started calling me Junior and I have been Junior ever since.

Name on PoliceSoftball.com Message Board: JUNIOR "I’m All over the board"

Sports background: I played Baseball and football at Valley high
school in South Sacramento. I ended up playing Baseball at Sac City College for a year before transferring to Cosumnes River Jr. College. I got lucky my second year and was voted All Bay Valley conference catcher.

Softball History: I began playing when I started with ELDO. I was
hooked on it. Along with playing for ELDO, I began playing on a few tournament teams. In Fact this is how I met my lovely wife Jenny. I along with ELDO player, and West Police Softball.com All Star Alfonzo "Zo" Trujillo were on our way to USSSA Worlds in Tucson Arizona when I met her in the LAX airport. The next weekend I flew her to the CHP Vegas Tournament, where we ended up winning the tournament for the second year in a row by beating out the Sac County Razorbacks. Now 11 years later, I am sitting here with 3 kids wondering where the time went and what the hell happened!

Although I have spent my 17 years with the ELDO team I did have a cup of coffee with the California Quake! I was able to play in a few tournaments with them. I must say that the time spent with them was great. They are a classy bunch of guys and great to be around. Playing with them showed me that there was a whole other world of Cop softball out there (i.e.DAYTON)and what it takes if you want to play at the next level. It was a great experience.

Current Police Team: My current team is the ELDO CARTEL.

Past Police Teams: None, other than the California Quake!

Proudest Police Softball Moments: I could sit here and say winning
tournaments or making an all tourney team or being voted Tourney MVP are my proudest moments, but I think when someone appreciates the job I do whether its throwing a tournament, hosting a Friday night players party/skills competition, outfitting your team with new uniforms and gear, or pay for a team hotel or meal is a nice reward. I get a great feeling knowing that a person appreciates their experience I was able to provide. Those to me are my proudest moments in softball! Oh Yeah, and being voted in as a member of the official West Coast Rooster's organization!

Lowest Softball Moment. I hate to bring it up. cause we've mended
fences but I got to go there "Wood". We were playing Concord in the Championship game in the North Lake Tahoe Tournament two years ago! The game is close and guys are playing hard. Fast Eddie hit a come backer to our pitcher "Donny Moe" Donny Moe threw the ball to out shortstop Chris "Stiffy" Steiferman, who was coming across the bag at second. Stiffy planted to throw and turn the double play when a Concord player slid into Stiffy. The result was a compound fracture of Stiffy's TIB FIB! The sound was sickening as was his screaming. Like I said since that time we've mended fences and that player apologized.

That incident along with when D-Long from the Quake hit a ball that hit Stiffy in the face shattering his cheek bone while he was running out a ground ball to short. So I guess anytime one of our brothers is carted off a field is a low point for me. ........ Ok It was also a low point when a dude blew up the middle on H-Wood and broke his hand in North Shore three years ago......

Future personal goals in Police Softball: Continue to host one of the best Law Enforcement tournaments in the country in what I think is the best venue, (LAKE TAHOE!) while providing a fun experience for the teams that come. And I think "Wood" said it best when he spoke about the new friendships. But don’t get me wrong, I want to win every game and have the best team, and hit bucket loads of Jacks as well. I want to also provide a team for my guys to play on that they are proud to play on, and to take the sponsorship thing to the next level thus making our hobby enjoyable!

Where do you see our sport in 5-10 years: With the creation of this website, I think the opportunities are endless. I truly believe Police softball will continue to grow so I feel we need to do everything we can to promote Law Enforcement softball. With this in mind, the opportunities for more/better sponsorships come into play. This web site has definitely bridged the gap between the East Coast and West Coast, so I look forward to playing more tournaments against the Beasts from the East and the new friendships that will come along with that!

What is one thing you would change about police softball: I don’t really know. I know there is always room for improvement, however I like the direction we are going in. I guess if I could improve one thing, I would improve how we govern things related to Law Enforcement Softball. I would like to see a board in place, made up of members from across the nation. Example (a member from the west, Midwest, east, south, north etc. or maybe we break it down even more. Board members would have to be voted in. These members would vote on items such as how combo teams are made up, to pitch height, to team registration etc..... I think it would be good for our sport. If we had this type of board/leadership in place and became organized, we could start targeting corporate sponsorships for the "organization". We could then start seeing cash prizes, and a way to have the organized get-togethers that H-Wood talks about as well as a vehicle to give back to the players and their families! That is my pipe dream.

MISC: I would like to thank DP, JB and especially Leo for making this site a reality. I mean how else would I have a way to meet and set up a hunting trip with guys like KILSMOKE, BADPIG, and NYBLUES52. These are guys you play against never knowing they have the same interest as you do. And how else would I have a way to make the bet that when we beat the NYPD BLUES this year at the World Series Spinelli will have to pay for my hunting trip!

Lastly I want to thank everyone who plays Law Enforcement softball. It’s a great way to compete and meet new people to strengthen our brotherhood even more!