Southern Championships Makes Debut In Volunteer State

July 1, 2021

NASHVILLE – Teams played the 14th annual Southern Championships here July 9-11 through threatening rain that finally dumped from the skies Sunday, washing out the last day of the tournament.

And rain hit even before the tournament started.

“The field prep crew did a fantastic job of getting fields ready the first day after rains that hit on Wednesday,” said Tournament Director Donna McGuire.

Fortunately, enough games were played the first two days of the tournament to determine winners in the six divisions that competed.

The six winners came from five different states, with two winners from Indiana and one each from Tennessee, Illinois, Alabama and Missouri. The 28 teams came from nine states – as far away as Arizona.

In the 50 Major Division, 615 Honored/Sumner from Tennessee ran the table with five straight wins.  615 Honored went 3-0 in the seeding games, beating all three of the other Major teams in the bracket, before beating Connecticut Vipers 17-10 in the first bracket game and then KB 50’s/ Huey Designs from Kentucky in the semifinals to become the only unbeaten team in the bracket and winning the championships.

KB 50’s took second place and Walker Brothers from Alabama came in third in the 50 Major Division.

In the four-team 50 AAA Division, Dudley Lightning of Illinois also posted a perfect weekend record of 5-0 to win the division.  Dudley also beat each team in the division in the seeding rounds to take top seed.  In bracket play, Dudley edged the No. 4 seed, Our Dirt from Indiana 20-19 and then handily beat 615 Senior Softball of Tennessee in the semifinals to take the division.

615 Senior Softball, the No. 2 seed, took second and the Outlaws and Outsiders from Texas took third place in the 50 AAA Division.

In the 55/60 Platinum Division, which included four 55 Major teams and one 60 Major-Plus, Warner Roof/Nail Gun of Indiana (a 55 Major team) won the division.  Warner went 2-0 in seeding rounds and then won two bracket games, beating Dudley Lightning of Missouri 26-12, and Legacy Sports USA from Arizona 13-11.  That left Warner the only undefeated team on Sunday to win the division.

Arizona’s 60 Major-Plus Legacy Sports – which traveled the farthest by far to the tournament – came in second and K & I 55’s from Indiana came in third.

In the 55 AAA Division, Bob Sykes BBQ/Hitmen from Alabama claimed the title with five straight wins.  After beating each of the other three teams in the division in pool play, Bob Sykes defeated the No. 4 seed, KC Stampede from Missouri, 24-17 in the first bracket game.

The last bracket game was close, with Dudley Lightning from Illinois posting 7 runs in the open inning to threaten the champs. But Sykes held on and defeated Dudley 23-19 in the semifinals to become the only unbeaten team in the division. 

In the 60/65 Platinum Division, which included four 60 Major teams and one 65 Major-Plus, Suncoast Midwest 60s of Missouri captured the title.  Suncoast notched the top seed with two impressive victories in pool play, then beat the BJM Bomb Squad of Indiana 14-10 and Scrap Iron Rocky Mountain Thunder of Colorado 24-14 to clinch the championship.

Scrap Iron Thunder came in second and DT Express of Georgia captured third place.

In the mixed 60/65 AAA Division, Antique Roadshow of Indiana went 2-1 in seeding games, losing a game to (By) Grace Redeemed 65s of Tennessee.  Then Roadshow got serious in bracket play, beating GA-AL Seniors / GAS 19-14 and Tennessee Connection 16-11 to win the division.

Tennessee Connection came in second place and The Power of Tennessee took third.