DIRECT IMPACT
2009 Rank: 16
Direct Impact has dipped into the Free Agent Market during the Winter Meetings. Frank Terronez has left Concord and has returned to Direct Impact to play SS. Gil Valle (original Hard Cor) member will be manning 3rd base. 2 young bucks were also picked up to cover the middle outfield. One played minor league baseball and the other played in college. They play plenty of civi ball and are looking forward to play LEO ball. You can expect Cen-Cal correctional based teams DI, State Razed and the upstart Quit Resisting to wage some good battles in the upcoming year. 2010 Theme song: “Break em off some” by Cypress Hill

HARDCOR
2009 Rank: 1
We couldn’t dream up a more bizarre scenario than the real one that played out following their World Series win. Essentially HardCor folded. Some of their players inked with other teams, others announced retirement or semi-retirement and others shopped for new teams. Then HardCor announced they were going to re-form and field a team in 2010. The new HardCor should have an extremely different look as they will most likely have only 4 returning players. But team leader and former West Coast Player of the Year, Mark Tolliver is such a talented player he can put a team on his back and carry them to the top. He is clearly one of the best players on the circuit. And don’t overlook returning veterans Jarrod Dodson, Perry Flowers and Paul Blandford as they are top shelf players with big game experience. Now add in free agent signings such as Keith Benjamin, Andrew McCormick, Ray Arvizu, and Chad Johnson and you have the recipe for another title run. A key to their success could be the availability of WC defensive player of the year Jason Hart. Once Hart joined the team, HardCor was nearly unbeatable last season. It looks like Hart will most likely be shelved until summer and he is even considering focusing on the competitive rodeo circuit so softball is in limbo for now. Although it will be a tough road to repeat as World Champs, don’t bet against Tolliver and the HardCor gang. 2010 theme song: “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake

SAN DIEGO EXCESSIVE FORCE
2009 Rank: 18
The Force is an old-school style ball club. You won’t see any fancy “caca” shots over the infield. No flat brimmed hats. They run a straight 4 man outfield. Their pitcher and team leader Joe “Chuy” Castillo won’t be seen juking and jiving on the bump. Instead, this team thrives off of the way the game was designed to be played, not by trickery but by power. They simply pound the ball and put runs on the board. They have one of the most potent offenses in the circuit and to beat them you will have to put up 20+…sometimes more. But, being old-school wasn’t just their style of play, it was their operational constrictions in that, they had very few sponsors. There are no primadonnas on the Force, no free meals or first class air tickets. Unfortunately that also meant that the Force typically stayed close to home usually playing in the typical SoCal tourneys and yearly visits to Arizona and Vegas. But 2010 will be different. You can expect the same style of play from the Force, power softball exemplified. The difference is they landed a huge deep pocket sponsor in the Barona Casino out of San Diego County. You can probably expect the Force to be sporting some modern uniforms and you can certainly expect to see them take their show on the road. They have already committed to the Mid-Summer Sacramento Classic and there is talk of them heading East for the first time. And, it gets even better! The team is now hosting a Spring tourney in San Diego (check the upcoming tournaments listings). Things are definitely looking good for the 2010 Force. 2010 theme song: “The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)” by Timbuck 3