Many of the bracket games went as expected with few upsets. Unquestionably the most balanced bracket was the Quake, Direct Impact, LAPD Lawmen and the Nitro2Go Hitmen/SBSD bracket as all four of these teams expect to go to A flight so something had to give in this bracket. In the end, the Quake and Direct Impact went up while the other two teams went down.

The other spotlight was on the bracket which held the #1 and #2 ranked teams going into the tournament. In this match up, #1 Hard-Cor cruised to a victory over the #2 Alliance behind strong hitting and defense. Both teams only had 10 players which meant the team which dealt with the heat the best would win. Ultimately the sun had no affect on the Hard-Cor bats as they peppered the gaps and fences with balls all game. Because Har-Cor only had 10 players, people had a chance to see Big Mark Jackson play the 5 man. Mark is a big man at 6’4 and tipping the scales at 300 plus pounds but he moves quickly, has very soft hands and can play the field extremely well. Mark snagged every shot the Alliance hit his way and kept the Alliance from ever getting a rally going. Mark is arguably the most athletic big man in the police game.

After several hot hours on Sunday, the A flight final four was ultimately set with the Alliance playing the Quake and LAPD Blue playing Sacramento Police Softball. The Quake and Alliance game was tight throughout with the Quake ultimately winning by 3 in 7 innings. The LAPD Blue and Sac. Police game was tight early but the Blue pulled away near the end to set up the showdown with the Quake.

In the finals, the Blue and Quake went back and forth all game and after 6 innings, the game was tied 12 all. In the top of the seventh, the Quake busted out with 8 runs and the Blue could only answer with 4 making the final score Quake 20, LAPD Blue 16.

Quake coach D. Longmire would like to give thanks to Dan Rose for sacrificing his time; Police Softball for always giving more than all others; D. Longmire would also like to recognize all his brothers for their daily, unselfish service.

This tournament shook up the rankings some with the Alliance moving up from second to replace Hard-Cor in the #1 spot. The Quake also jumped Hard-Cor and claimed the #2 spot in the West. LAPD Blue made a big jump to #4 and can solidify their top 5 position with a good tournament in Manteca. Other teams setting themselves up pretty well in the rankings after Palm Springs were Sac. Police Softball, Aftershock and Concord. These teams virtually assured themselves a World Series spot.

In addition to everything else this tourney offered, it also saw several streaks come to an end. The San Diego Excessive Force had been playing great and was on an 11 game win streak until Sunday came. Concord had won two tourneys in a row until their bats went cold late on Sunday. The Alliance saw their streak of playing in 10 consecutive championship games end at the hands of the Quake. Lastly, at age 57, Hall of Famer Skip Stephenson showed the youngsters how to do it with a streak of 7 straight hits on Saturday until a line drive was snagged by the pitcher ended it.

Co MVP goes to

Robert Solis (Quake) who hit 670 to include timely hitting, three inside the park round-trippers and multiple extra-base cuts. He played the best defensive 1st base I've seen in 5 years, turning 3 - 2 double plays and fielding smashes to his left and right.

Lowell Buck (Quake) who hit 770 (phenomenal). Buck hit several clutch home runs and doubles. He pitched outstanding, throwing minimal pitches and fielding his position with precision.

Quake All Tourney

Guillermo Guerra, he hit 780 and was virtually automatic all weekend. When the power was out for all members of the Big Green Machine, G delivered the shock that jump started our hearts. As always, his shots were majestic and timely.

Derwin Longmire, rarely seen at this level of excellence but fully complete this weekend. He recorded a 720 average with 5 home runs. As always his greatest value was being the Big Green's # 1 fan.

LAPD Team MVP (LAPD Stats are all Sunday Stats)

Todd Patino--13-18, .727, 7 HR. Todd was intentionally walked 3 times including twice with bases loaded.

LAPD Blue All Tourney

Gabe Rodriguez -11-14, .785, 5-5 in Championship Game, pitched well kept us in the game

Tim Poncy - 14-19, .736, in the lead-off spot, played well in right field

Jeremy Hershey - 13-17, .764, new kid, our shortstop, hit in 10 hole (got us to the top) and had a streak of 9 hits in a row during our last 3 games
Sacramento Police All Tourney

Sacramento Police Softball All Tourney

Jimmy Sanders - Jimmy was 16/21 (.762) He hit 3 hr's took 4 BB and was clutch everytime they needed him. What an outstanding weekend of softball played by Jimmy. His defense in LC was just as strong as his offense.

Mike (Nevbone) Nevis - Mike was a monster at the dish going 16/23 (.696). Mike hit 6 hr's on the weekend with numerous RBI's. 11 of his 16 hits were for extra bases.

SoCal Alliance All Tourney

Kris Ulibarri – Kris went 25 for 31 (.806) with several homeruns. Kris played some great defense in the infield as well as the outfield and gave 100% effort on every play. Kris charges out of the box every at bat and thinks double on every hit. He is one of the Alliance’s brightest rising stars.

Robert Rocque – The Rock went 22 for 29 (.759) and had a team high batting average on Sunday going 14 for 16 (.875) against the Quake, Concord, RSO and SD Force. The Rock played stellar defense at 3B and ran hard all the time. It was rare the Rock didn’t go from first to third on a hit.

FINAL A FLIGHT RESULTS

1. Quake
2. LAPD Blue/Easton
3t. SoCal Alliance/Easton/KME
3t. Sacramento PD
5t. Sin City Combo
5t. West Coast Aftershock/Easton
5t. A-1 Towing/Hard-Cor
5t. Concord/OSS
9t. Direct Impact
9t. DEA Combo/Easton
9t. CHP Choir Boys
9t. State Razed
9t. Culver City
9t. Santa Cruz Combo
9t. San Diego Excessive Force
9t. Desert Dirt Bags
17t. Palm Springs PD
17t. RSD Red


In the B-Flight, Burbank/Glendale upended the Nitro2Go Hitmen/SBSD to claim the B Flight Championship. Burbank/Glendale is a team we would like to see play regularly on the circuit as they are a good team who can do some damage. The Nitro2Go Hitmen had the misfortune of being seeded in a very tough bracket but they did what they had to do by making the B Flight finals. The Nitro2Go Hitmen were very gracious as they were handing out Nitro2Go product from their motor home to players who needed a pick me up.

PHOTO: Longtime Quake veteran Will Mannion comes out of the box hard as Coach Longmire waits his turn to hit