2022 World Championships – Women Bring the Competition to Session 3

Sept. 1, 2022

By Nic Francois

LAS VEGAS – The youngest group – the 40 Masters Men and Women – competed Session 3 of the Senior Softball World Championships, here last weekend in the world’s largest senior tournament.

The 40 Masters totaled 148 teams (103 men’s and 45 women’s teams) of the 662 teams that competed or will compete in all four sessions of the Worlds.

“The strong participation of 40 Masters teams is a great indication of the future growth of our sport,” said Terry Hennessy, chief executive officer of Senior Softball USA.

Teams came from 24 states and Guam for Session 3 - all hoping to bring championship titles back to their home state… along with bragging rights.

Only one team, 40 AAA Golden Girls Softball of Maryland (photo below), won the premier title in the sport - the Triple Grand Slam.

Teams achieve a Triple Grand Slam by winning their age and rating division of either the Western or Eastern National Championships, then winning the USA National Game at the Worlds and finally winning their overall division in the World Championships.

Coming in as the 40AAA Eastern Champ, the Golden Girls defeated Not Today of Nevada in the National Game, 20-6.

After they won their other seeding game, the Golden Girls went undefeated until the Championship Game, losing 16-4 to Firestyx of New Jersey, before making a comeback in the IF Game, winning 17-13.

While no other teams were able to claim a Triple Grand Slam, four teams won National Championships by either defeating their cross-country opponents in a USA National Game or by default, having won their Western/Eastern National division, but lacking an opponent in the USA Game.

In the Women’s 40+ Major division, TABU of California (photo below) won the USA title by default because they won the Western National Championships and no Eastern Women’s 40+ Major team qualified for a USA National title.

After losing their first seeding game, JK Inc. of California won the Men’s 40+ Major Plus USA National title, defeating Killman’s/Lewis Lawn/Rockhill Merchants of South Carolina.

In the Men’s 40+ Major USA National Game, Cheap Suits/Republic Realty/Express Athletics of California narrowly defeated The Riddlers of New York, 21-20.

Lastly, the Men’s 40+ AAA USA National title was taken by Rough Ryders of Maryland, who defeated GTR of Oregon, 17-16.

World Championships results by division:

In the overall seeding and bracket play, three women’s teams and one men’s team earned TOC Berths across four states: Arizona, California, Kansas, and Missouri.

Women’s 40+ Open Division: In the three3-team bracket, the smallest of Session 3, Red Athlete/Dudley/DeMarini of Kansas (photo below) went 3-1, losing their first seeding game and then winning each of their following games. Red Athlete defeated finalists, Comin’ In IcyHot from Texas, by double digits, 19-6. Shut-D Blue of Hawaii finished third.

Women’s 40+ Major: First-seeded St. Louis Storm of Missouri (photo below) went 6-0 in the 17-team bracket, winning every bracket game. They defeated finalist TABU of California 16-13, after TABU had worked its way through the entire elimination bracket, losing their first bracket game. FRSTeam of Colorado took third.

Women’s 40+ AAA: In addition to winning their USA National Game, first-seeded Golden Girls Softball of Maryland went 7-1 to win their division and become Triple Grand Slam Champions. Their division victory was unique as they won both seeding games and went undefeated until the Championship Game. Golden Girls lost 16-4 to Firestyx of New Jersey, before making a comeback in the IF Game, winning 17-13. Firestyx finished as finalists and Fear No One, also from Maryland, took third.

Women’s 40+ AA: Second-seeded team, JOY (Just Older Youth) of Arizona (photo below), went 5-1 to defeat first-seeded FIGO Islanders of Guam twice in a row, winning the first game 14-12 and the Championship game 16-12. Sandlot Sluggers of Nevada finished third in the four-team bracket.

Men’s 40+ Major Plus: After being seeded 10^th, Suncoast Adidas 40s of Florida (photo below) went 6-1 in the 17-team bracket to win the Championship Game, 47-33, against the first-seeded team, JK Inc. of California. JK Inc. lost their second bracket game, 29-25, and worked their way through the elimination bracket to take second place after being defeated by Suncoast. Twelfth-seeded Front Row/MVP Sports of Texas won their first two bracket games before being defeated by Suncoast then JK Inc, finishing third.

Men’s 40+ Major: The 58-team division was the largest of Session 3 and had to be split into two initial brackets, the American pod, and the National pod. Eighth-seeded West Coast United of California (photo below) won seven games, ending with the Championship Game, defeating 14th-seeded Sudden Impact NM, 24-21. Twelfth-seeded Headcase of Washington, which only lost two games, both to West Coast United, took third.

Men’s 40+ AAA: Out of 28 teams, seventh-seeded Team Amaya of California (photo below) went 8-0, winning all seeding and bracket games, at times defeating their opponents by double digits. They defeated finalists Built to Last 40s of Arizona, 18-13, in the Championship game. Built to Last 40s was seeded fourth but suffered two back-to-back loses against Amaya. Rough Ryders, who were seeded first, went 5-3, losing their third and final game to Built to Last 40s, taking third.