Friday night finished bracket play in just enough time to avoid some serious thunderstorms that was brought on by the humidity which made the the air as thick as Potter’s Neck who was in attendance for the event! Rain put the HR Derby Finals on hold but it did not stop the party! As a brotherhood which we are, we all stood together under the tent and had our moment of silence for our brother Del who was looking down on us through the storm! Once the Pipes were done, it was back to Police Softball camaraderie at its best. The rain in an essence forced all the teams to be under the tent at the same time for that moment, and that night turned into one of the best players parties I’ve ever seen! I’m pretty sure Del helped me out with the rain to force everyone to a standing room only event, every time I think of it I get the chills. The Hounds tournament has always been a celebration of what we put our lives on the line for, a give back to our brothers in the way of a Softball Tournament with a party sprinkled in. In the end we Honor our Heroes with a little give back to their families in remembrance.

Saturday started off HOT and HUMID, which would set the stage for some lower than normal scoring games, where defense was going to be king of the diamond today. With 3 teams going 3 & 0 (Nassau Blues, Cen Cal, Hounds) it would be only 1 of those teams that would ride through the day undefeated. There were tight games in both divisions this day with more cases of water and beer drank then runs scored throughout the day. Nassau and the Hounds were sent back to the party tent on their home turf as Shamrocks continued their stellar play this season and would find themselves in a game with a revamped Thin Blue Line team that is all business. Unlike Cincy tournament, TBL would win this battle and set up a rematch with the team traveling the furthest from the Left Coast! Cen Cal who was lighting up New York all week, winning tons of raffles at the tournament and winning the HR DERBY; nothing looked to stop the Connection as they truly were taking a bite of the BIG APPLE!!! TBL lead by their leader, Jim Smith, were more than up for the challenge and not looking to make things easy for Rueben and the Cali boys!! Well the Sun was down and the balls were moving a lot differently than earlier in the day. With Cen Cal having a long break TBL jumped out early taking advantage of their own momentum coming off a win against Shamrock. The game would go back and forth for the first 4 innings, but the Cen Cal “D” which was spot on all tournament came up with 2 goose eggs which enabled the Valley Boys to get back to striking distance! TBL was still playing at a high level and was on their way to the “IF” game. Unfortunately for TBL Steve Abina from Cen Cal had other plans, stepping into the box with 1 out and bases loaded, TBL holding a 1 run lead and looking for the 2 ball, Cen Cal meanwhile would be happy with a fly ball! Steve took the situation into his own hands and hit a walk off GRAND SLAM to seal the deal for the Connection giving them the 18-15 win! Wow what a game to end a great Tournament. Congrats to both teams that played and partied hard all weekend!! For those 2 teams to be in the finals at the Hounds Tourney was a great finish! Both TBL and Cen Cal are close with the Hounds Family and we are grateful for your support!

I want to just thank my wife Selena “Momma Hound” Wolters for all the hard work she does for this event, A lot of tourney directors and coaches have police softball wives that are very helpful and go above and beyond for what we do “ON and OFF” the field. Without her this event doesn’t happen. While I am thanking people, I can’t express enough gratitude to Dan Potter coming out to our event! You made my job easier with all your help. Thank you for all you do with Police Softball! My Team puts a ton of work into this event as those who have attended can see. We enjoy giving back to the game and circuit we Love and hope the teams continue to support the event that is a celebration for all of us!!!

HR Derby Winner- Jorgie Vina

Tourney MVP-Stephen Bautista-CC

All Tourney Players

Steve Abina-CC
Stephen Martins-CC
Danny Rutlidge-CC
Jorgie Vina-CC
Eric Matos-CC

Jarrett Martin-TBL
Mike McCormick-TBL
Jaimie Caterino-TBL
Shawn McCormick-TBL