As usual, Tournament Director Robbie Freitas was extremely accommodating to all the teams and provided free barbeque, beer, liquor along with a hotly contested poker game at the host hotel. All the teams which brought their families were treated to some serious sun shine and plenty of swimming locations between the pools and the Atlantic Ocean.

The tournament started on Friday with the Masters Division which included many Hall of Fame players such as Dave Woolf, James Roepken and David “Popeye” Stevens battling along side current open team players. When the dust was settled Suffolk County New York were again crowned Champions of the Masters Division. The team was led by Player/Coach Lenny Glover, Tim Conroy, Lenny Balesteri, Bobby Tedeschi, Kenny Walter and MVP Bobby Pescitelli. This classy group of ballplayers can always be counted on finishing up at the top of any tournament which they attend.

On Saturday, the open division began with teams from 11 different states ready to knock off the winter icicles and compete at the highest level of Police Softball. At this new facility which is right on the beach, all the teams had to battle the constant sun shine and extremely windy conditions. Most of the games were low scoring and followed true to the expected results but all the games were very competitive which was indicated by the final scores.

There were several new teams competing and they certainly opened many established teams eyes such as the Orlando Blue Sox, Knoxville, Tennessee and the Capitol City (DC) Lawmen.

The final four teams in the winner’s bracket pitted JPSC against Wayne/Oakland and New York Metro against The Ohio Lawmen. JPSC had to fight to the end to defeat The TOP Team from Michigan 19 -16. New York Metro (One of the greatest teams of all-time) had another hard fought battle against The Ohio Lawmen (PS.Com 2005 World Series Champions) where NY Metro won the game with a walk off Home Run.

In the finals of the winner’s bracket, JPSC gained the victory against NY Metro in a low scoring game playing into a hurricane like wind. NY Metro was able to work their way back to the championship games. When the wind and dust settled, NY Metro “played fiercely and with so much heart” that they were able to double dip the defending champions. Over the last 20 years there have been countless battles between these 2 teams with the results normally being crowned the tournament winner. Congratulations to a classy group of brothers in blue.

The final results were (1) NY Metro, (2) JPSC, (3) Ohio Lawmen, (4) South Florida Lawmen, (5) Wayne/Oakland & Maryland State Police, (7) Florida State Enforcers & Central Ohio Lawmen, (9) JAX FOP, Knoxville, Orlando Blue Sox & FDLE Softball, (13) Georgia Heat, Capitol City, DEA South & Secret Service.

ALL TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS FOR MASTERS DIVISION

Brian Mchargue- Dayton Metro GOLD
Mike Spaulding- Maryland State Police
Pete Spaulding- Maryland State police

Rob Troxel
Chip Moore (JAX-FOP)
Jon Horstmanshof
Ivan lanier Gold Glove

Timmy Conroy
Lenny Balesteri
Bobby Tedeschi (Suffolk County NY)
Kenny Walters
Bobby Pescitelli MVP

ALL TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION:

Carlos Rodriguez South Florida Lawmen

Jake Negray OHIO Lawmmen
Ron Collins

Scott Bridges
Brad Gidcumb JPSC
Paul Cullen
Brett Parnell Gold Glove

Dickie Malek
MikeTaylor
Mike Valenti NY METRO
Brian McDermott
Bobby Pescitelli MVP

Congratulations to all the teams and hopefully you and your families had an enjoyable trip to Jacksonville Florida.

This story is dedicated to Walt “Red” Conry who urged me to write this and to my 4 week old niece who was born premature with multiple medical issues, which is where most of my time has been spent since the tournament ended. My apologies for taking care of family issues before writing this story in a timely manner which some expected.

Dennis Leonard