The 52nd annual National Police Championship changed venues in 2023 by relocating to the Union County Sports Complex in Marysville, Ohio. The complex’s staff were extremely welcoming and excited to have the police softball teams for the weekend.
Thin Blue Line Proves Why They Are Elite
Thin Blue Line wins the Majors Division, Great Lakes prevails in Gold.
The weekend started off with an excellent player’s party at Leon’s Garage where players enjoyed a live country band performance and a large selection of cold beverages. The tournament kicked off with a 3-game round robin format which seeded teams into one double elimination bracket. The first four teams eliminated from the double elimination majors bracket played in a single elimination bracket for the gold championship. After bracket play, Kentucky Blue earned the number 1 seed followed by Great Lakes, Thin Blue Line, Missouri, Chicago Metro, Dayton Metro, Midwest Heat, Columbus PD and Metro Detroit Finest.
The tournament started as expected with the top four seeds advancing past the first round. The second round of the winner’s bracket consisted of Thin Blue Line and Missouri knocking Great Lakes and Kentucky to the loser’s bracket. A very solid Thin Blue Line squad then beat Missouri in the winners bracket final, putting them in the King seat and needing to be double dipped. The shocking game of tournament involved Great Lakes being upset in the loser’s bracket by Metro Detroit’s Finest who all the sudden caught fire and started playing very well. This knocked one of the top teams in the nation down to the Gold Division.
Dayton Metro also had some big wins as their new revamped team is much improved. The gold championship was taken by Great Lakes as they defeated a Chicago team that fought hard and fell a little short. Kentucky Blue and Missouri met up again in the losers bracket final. It was a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final couple at bats. Missouri beat Kentucky Blue for the second time this weekend and gave themselves another chance to take down Thin Blue Line in the Majors ship. The two teams battled extremely high winds making outfield defense extremely difficult; however, Thin Blue Line prevailed as the 52nd annual NPSC champions.
Majors
1. Thin Blue Line
2. Missouri
3. Kentucky Blue
4. Metro Detroit Finest
5. Dayton Metro
Tournament MVP- Cody Young -TBL
Defensive MVP- Matt Smallen-Missouri
All Tournament Selections
Andy Sides-Missouri
Justin Beal-Missouri
Brian Marr-TBL
Landon Sinclair-TBL
Justin Mazza-TBL
Gold
1. Great Lakes
2. Chicago
3. Midwest Heat
4. Columbus PD
