One of the toughest brackets to call but our gut tells us:
Quake
Direct Impact
Dirty Dirty
Santa Cruz

Bracket B: LAPD Blue went deep at Vegas although they were missing some key pieces. Rich Bengston is looking healthier and his stroke is looking great. If this team has all their boys, look out. The Aftershock has one of the scariest offensive line ups in the west and it took a walk off homer by NY Metro to beat them last weekend. We haven’t seen former World Series Small Market Champs Sac Probation yet this year but we expect them to play with their usual emotion. The LAX Enforcers are the new team in the mix and are a complete unknown to PoliceSoftball.com. Our call with a dogfight for first:

LAPD Blue/Easton
Aftershock
Sac Probation
LAX Enforcers

Bracket C: This is the so-called “cupcake” bracket that everyone is looking forward to. Brief history lesson. The Razorbacks provided some bulletin board fodder for Sin City and LAPD Lawmen when one of their players posts agreed to a message board post that the SoCal Alliance were playing "cupcakes" in Chino Hills earlier this year. The Sacramento Razorbacks have been busy beefing up in the off season as they are confident and are ready for a breakout tournament. But they might be wishing they had not launched that scud missile in the direction of Sin City who finished 5th in Vegas and knocked off the Michigan Lawmen twice last weekend. They also defeated the Aftershock. The San Diego Force loves to mash and will bring with them a hard nose style of softball. This is the team that first debuted current Razorback slugger Chris Meat Oliver on the cop circuit. And the LAPD Lawmen have been a team that comes to play every tournament. Roy Brown is one of the best USSSA pitchers in the game and it was no fluke that they finished with a silver medal in the Vegas Games last year. In our minds this "cupcake" bracket is the hardest bracket to call so with the help of a PoliceSoftball.com medallion, the coin flip says: (Sorry Bigtone.....we had to go all cupcake on you)

Sin City
Sac. Razorbacks
SD Excessive Force
LAPD Lawmen

Bracket D: Hard-Cor looks primed for a run and our sources say they may have royalty swinging a big stick for them at this tourney. (Having two World series HR Derby champions on one team should be outlawed  ) Sac Police looked great in Vegas splitting their two games with the LAPD Blue. (Great looking uniforms by the way). The Outlaws looked much improved this year when we saw them at Guns and Hoses and the OCSD Hitmen have picked up some new faces. Our call:

A-1 Towing/Hard-Cor
Sac. Police
OCSD Hitmen
Outlaws

Bracket E: The Alliance showed last week that every game is tough and this should be the case in this well rounded bracket. It seems everyone reaches down a little deeper when playing the defending Ps.Com World Series Champs. State Razed is another team on the rise and one who keeps improving every tourney. Folsom Sac lost some bodies in the off season but they also reloaded and are one of the top CDC based teams. Springs CHP is another team that plays very sound ball and cannot be taken lightly as was evident in their Chino Hills victory over Sac Police Softball. Our call:

SoCal Alliance/Easton/KME
State Razed
Folsom Sac
Springs CHP

Bracket F: The Ohio boys track record out West has been impressive to say the least. 2005 World Series Champs. 2006 World Series Runners-up. They are traveling 2000 miles to play in this event so you are fooling yourself if you think they won't be loaded. Enough said. The Choir Boys are an extremely talented team and are always in the West Top 10. The Cal Syndicate has played well since their merge and can beat anyone. Pomona is a small market team that when they have all their players, can slay giants. Our call:

Ohio Lawmen
Choir Boys
Cal Syndicate
Pomona P-Towners

Everyone is looking to see how the provided bats will affect things and the big fields of the new BLD complex will also factor in to the mix. 7 home runs on the big fields will be hard for some teams to get but this tourney will go to the team who can hit their 7. Our call in the finals if the draws place them on opposite sides will be A-1 Towing/Hard-Cor and the Ohio Lawmen/Minutemen Express. As PoliceSoftball.com sees it, the tourney comes down to these factors:

Having a good U-Trip pitcher: Edge goes to Hard-Cor with Mark Tolliver on the hill

The ability to hit well with any bat: Tie as both teams have great hitters.

The weather calls for 75 degrees and partly cloudy skies: Edge goes to Hard-Cor as Ohio had to deal with the winter snow

The ability to hit all of your homeruns on big fields: With two former HR Derby champs and big Mark Jackson on their side, the edge goes to Hard-Cor

Having speed in your outfield to cover the big fields: This is a close call but our call here goes to the Ohio Lawmen due to a potential leg injury to one of Hard-Cor's key outfielders.

Having the horses to play 6-7 games in one day and deal well with the fatigue: We think the Ohio Lawmen will bring the bigger roster so our call goes to Ohio on this one.

By edging out Ohio 3-2 with one tie in the factors that we think will determine this tourney, our call is that the 12 Brett Helmer bats will go home to Hard-Cor.

Good luck to all and we hope you enjoy the tournament.

Pictured is new Hard-Cor player and Hall of Famer, John "Wasabi" Birtcher

*Don't forget there is a social gathering at the West Covina Hooters on Friday night at 7:00 PM. Tell them you are with the softball tournament and they will lead you to a private area for the players party.