It was a strict roster rule tournament. Teams had to play with their own players, so outside ringers could not be brought in. Teams would either win or lose with their own guys so once again there would be no allegations of stacking teams.

One important aspect of the event was the history and driving force behind the Star6 and that was the 6 Sacramento Sheriff Deputies who lost their lives in the line-of-duty. In order to keep their memories fresh in the minds of the players, each round robin/seeding bracket was named after a deputy. Proceeds from the event and food sales went to benefit the Star6 foundation and the hosts provided some outstanding tri-tip, burgers etc. at a very reasonable cost. The event coordinators wished to thank the Thunder Valley Casino for making that possible.

There were some interesting bracket match ups and a couple of what some would consider “upsets.”
Kievernagel (A) Bracket
1. NorCal Choirboys
2. RSD Red
3. Folsom J-Cats
4. North Sac CHP
Bracket A featured two teams that are considered very close talent wise, ChoirBoys and RSD Red. On this day Red prevailed for the top seed but it was a very close game.

Blount (B) Bracket
5. Cal-Quake
6. Direct Impact
7. Sac Probation
8. DVI Gladiators
This bracket was claimed by the red hot Direct Impact squad. It is clear that D.I.’s early season success has not been a fluke.

Mitchell (C) Bracket
9. DEA Combo
10. West Coast Aftershock
11. West Coast Combat/Syndicate
12. Far Northwest Heat
Bracket C is where the biggest “shocker” took place. On face value most would assume that the DEA Combo and Aftershock would battle for the top seed, but on this day West Coast Combat stepped into the spotlight and posted a perfect 3-0 record.

Nguyen (D) Bracket
13.A-1/Hardcor
14. Concord Combo
15 Stanislaus
16 El Dorado Cartel
As expected HardCor won the bracket, but they did suffer a blemish at the hands of Concord. The further complicate things the underdog El Dorado squad defeated Concord. And somewhere in the middle Stanislaus claimed the #2 seed.

Cannfield/Lara (E) Bracket
17. SoCal Alliance
18. State Razed
19. Sac Sheriff Razorbacks
20. Quit Resisting
It took a walk off HR to propel the Alliance over State Razed in order to claim the top seed. An entertaining game to watch was the Razorbacks/State Razed game up which was speculated to be a match-up purposefully orchestrated by the bracket-ologist. The Razorbacks prevailed which should have cemented them into the 2 seed, but the Backs let off the gas and the up&coming Quit Resisting squad jumped them early to notch the upset victory. With 3 teams tied at 1-2, the run differential played out for State Razed to ink the 2 seed.


By virtue of some of the round robin upsets the playoff brackets placed the three previous World Series winners along with two other teams that already have berths in the lower half. None of the teams in the top half had World Series berths yet, so based on mathematics it was likely that the majority of the six allocations would come from the top half. Some early round action included an extra inning nail-biter between Concord and the DVI Gladiators. In the top of the 8th inning Concord plated several runs and appeared to have the game in hand, but DVI answered and posted a solid upset victory. And despite the red hot start by Combat/Syndicate, they were derailed in the first round by State Razed. Another great opener was Aftershock vs. Quake. Aftershock jumped out big early but being the seasoned champions the Quake battled back and inked a solid victory. By the end of the first 2 rounds only 8 teams remained unbeaten: Direct Impact, State Razed, RSD Red and Stanislaus in the top and Quake, HardCor, Alliance and DEA Combo in the bottom.

Those undefeated games were hotly contested but when the dust settled, State Razed had toppled RSD Red, Direct Impact downed Stanislaus, HardCor bested Quake, and Alliance overcame the DEA Combo. The next round saw Direct Impact claim the top half by defeating State Razed and the Alliance advancing over HardCor. In the undefeated game the Alliance defeated Direct Impact and would have to wait out the loser bracket to determine their final opponent.

Meanwhile in the loser bracket the DEA Combo and RSD Red both had impressive performances and finished tied for 7th. The DEA already has a World Series berth, but RSD earned their berth with their performance this weekend. State Razed and Stanislaus both tied for 5th and both earned trips to Vegas. The Quake and HardCor battled it out for a shot at the finals but on this day HardCor prevailed and Quake finished in 4th place. Direct Impact had impressed all weekend but they did not have enough steam to overcome HardCor and Direct Impact notched a 3rd place finish and also a trip to Vegas. (It should be noted that two additional World Series berths were awarded to Combat/Syndicate and NorCal Choir Boys based on W/L record and run differential). In the end, the two previous World Series winners HardCor and Alliance agreed to share the title as co-champs capping a great weekend for police softball. The Razorbacks and ChoirBoys received rave reviews for hosting such a successful event.


Direct Impact All-Tournament Team:
Nick Ependendio, 3rd base, hit over .750 and held down the hot corner.
Jose Amaya, LC Hit over .700 and had 3 assists.
Ish Herandez 2nd base, hit over .700.
Defensive award: Frank Terronez, SS Hit over .700 and was MONEY on Defense.

SoCal Alliance All-Tournament Team:
MVP: Kris Ulibarri, displayed ridiculous bat control and turned nearly every hit into extra bases. Went 4-5 in the undefeated game and his average dropped! Finished the tourney with an .818 OBP.
Kevin Burger, lock down defense in left field and .778 OBP. First All-Tourney award for the rookie on the squad.
Alfonso Trujillo, was on base to lead off every game and finished with a .769 obp to earn his second consecutive All-Tourney award.
Mitch Brouillett who batted .743 and hit several key home runs to lead the team in all power categories. Mitch has been All-Tourney or MVP in all the tourneys the Alliance has placed in this season.
Defensive award: Tommy Hayes who manned the hot corner and played gold glove defense under adverse conditions. He was also a top HR hitter.

A-1 HardCor All Tournament Team:
MVP: Mark Tolliver. Tolly was his usual self on the bump, tying up batters with precision pitching and shutting down the middle. But his offense was what stood out even more as his .875 average led the team and he had some key HR’s to go along with the eye popping avg.
Paul Blandford, the reigning World Series MVP was on fire once again as he posted an impressive .714 obp and was hitting HR’s on command. Paul is clearly making a bid for WCPOTY.
Keith Benjamin, the veteran middle infielder led the team on the field and in the dugout. His .767 avg fueled the offense and his defense was spot on.
Jake Martinez, the returning veteran made his re-debut with his original team and did not disappoint. Jake hit .667 and flashed some slick leather while locking down the critical 5man position in the HardCor D. When HardCor gets Blandford, Martinez, Benjamin and Jason Hart on the field at the same time it will be tough to get a ball through their infield.
Defensive award: Jarrod Dodson anchored the stellar HC outfield. Playing center field JRod covered a lot of ground running down gap shots and cutting off balls that otherwise would have rolled to the fence.