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2025 TOC Winners Heat Up a Chilly Tournament

Feb. 1, 2025

By Donna McGuire
Softball News Report

One of the coldest and dampest SSUSA Tournament of Champions concluded Jan. 26 under nearly ideal weather conditions – with 35 teams basking in the warmth that winning a championship delivers.

The 19th annual Original TOC also featured an all-star game, skills competitions, an award-filled reception, and a large cast of characters from across North America. (For more information about the All-Star Game, please find the All-Star Game story, left).


All-Star Game Champions, the National All-Stars in th red caps, posed with the finalists, the American All-Stars in the blue caps. Photo by Clover Schultz.

The 104 participating teams hailed from 28 states and Canada. All arrived as champions after winning qualifying tournaments spread across the country – a pedigree that makes this the annual showcase event among all SSUSA tournaments played each year.

Participating teams played nearly 330 games in three days, including a whopping 56 contests decided by just one run.


More than 300 teams from the U.S. and Canada earned TOC berths in the 2024 season. Photo by Clover Schultz.

The 35 championship teams hailed from 13 states and Canada, with multiple titles won by teams from Florida, California, Minnesota, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Texas and Canada.


The National All-Star team defeated the American All-Star team and was rewarded at the 2025 TOC Reception, attending by hundreds of players, spouses, friends and family. Photos by Clover Schultz.

Persistent rains saturated Polk County early in the week, creating challenges for ground crews preparing fields at the four parks where TOC events took place.

That included the four-field Diamondplex Sports Complex in Winter Haven, where tournament directors helped prep one diamond so that the Wednesday night all-star game could proceed.

The next morning, contestants entered hitting, running and pitching competitions that took place during a steady mist in temperatures that never climbed out of the 40s. Light rain continued all day and into the night – which led to some delayed and rescheduled games when tournament play kicked off on a very chilly Friday morning.


More than 400 players joined the 2025 TOC Skill Contests, with 21 winners across four contests with five divisions each, along with 1 tie in the Women's Precision Hitting contest. The largest divisions were the Men's 65-74 and All Women's. Photos by Clover Schultz.

Asked to summarize the tournament, Director Tim McElroy spit out one sentence: “Damn, it was cold!”

Temperatures finally climbed into the 60s by Saturday afternoon and crested into the low 70s for championship Sunday.


Photo by Clover Schultz.

Results:

Women’s 40+ Masters Gold: The top-seeded Lady Panthers of Ontario, Canada, lost the first title game 15-7 before capturing an “if needed” championship game victory 21-4 over the second-seeded Fireballs of Massachusetts. The win earned the Lady Panthers the AAA crown. Firestarter Oldies of Washington, which finished third in the four-team bracket, won the Major division title.


Lady Panthers, Women's 40+ Gold Championships, with finalists Fireballs.

Women’s 40+ Masters AA: Playing a best-of-three format, the Arizona Desert Belles swept Idaho Spirit 11-9 and 22-7. That gave the Belles a perfect 5-0 tournament record.


Women's 40+ AA Champions, Arizona Desert Belles, went undefeated against finalists, Idaho Spirit.

Women's 50+ Gold: Top-seeded TTAU of Florida went 3-0 in pool and lost only one bracket game, 16-10, enroute to claiming the Major division championship with a 4-1 record. The Cali-Gold Ladies of California -- the only team to defeat TTAU -- earned the AAA title while finishing 5-1 overall. Get Dirty of New Mexico took third in the three-team bracket. 


TTAU, Champions of the Women's 50+ Gold division, and finalists, Cali Gold Ladies both walked away as champions, Women's 50+ Major and Women's 50+ AAA, respectively.

Women's 55+ Gold: The top-seeded Lady Scorpions of Arizona capped a 4-2 tournament and earned the Major division title by nipping G.W. Construction of Florida 8-7 in the “if needed” championship game. G.W. Construction, which won the first championship game 16-10, earned the AAA crown. The Homegrown Legends of Florida finished third in the three-team division.


Lady Scorpions, Champions of the Women's 55+ Gold division, and finalists, G.W. Construction, both walked away as champions, Women's 55+ Major and Women's 55+ AAA, respectively.

Men's 40+ Masters Platinum: After a 0-2 start in pool play, the Major Plus team Suncoast Adidas 40s of Florida fought through tight bracket play unbeaten, finishing with a 27-17 title game victory over Major champion Detwiler Roofing/Treedem NE 40s of Pennsylvania (photo below). Detwiler, which lost its first bracket game by one run, won three elimination games to reach the finale. Central Jersey Elite of New Jersey placed third in the five-team bracket.

Men's 40+ AAA: Top-seeded and unbeaten Unloaded of California (photo below) outscored its competition 146-73, including a 27-14 title game victory over second-seeded Sarafis Painting and Construction of North Carolina. Flatline 40 of Maryland finished third in the four-team bracket.

Men's 50+ AAA: Seeded eight out of eight teams, Racehorse Tavern/Girard Club/Old Skool of Pennsylvania (photo below) proved to be a long-shot winner. Consecutive bracket victories of 15-12, 26-23, 30-29 and 21-15 earned the division championship. Third-seeded Drouillard/Breakaway Gaming of Ontario, Canada, won three elimination games before finishing second. Oldtimers of Florida finished third in the tightly contested division.

Men's 50/55+ Platinum: Unbeaten in five games, Suncoast/Adidas 50s of Florida (photo lower left) earned the 50+ Major Plus title and overall bracket championship by defeating 50+ Major champion and second-seeded Florida-Onyx 22-17 in the finale. Fourth-seeded SSC/Persuaders of Kansas placed third in the five-team bracket. Third-seeded 50 Degrees of Missouri (photo lower right) was the 55+ Major Plus champion.

 

Men's 50/55+ Silver: In a division filled with close games, fifth-seeded Isle Edge Trucking of Wisconsin (photo below) shook off a 0-2 pool play record and a 20-19 loss in the first title game to edge second-seeded Florida Titans 20-19 in the “if needed” finale. Third-seeded Alliance/Scrap Iron 55 of Colorado finished third in the six-team bracket. The sixth-seeded Gulf Coast Hurricanes of Texas received the 50+ AA championship.

Men's 55+ Major: Playing a best-of-three format, Mitchells of Florida swept KC Vintage of Missouri 25-12 and 29-14 for the crown and a 5-0 overall tournament.

Men's 60+ AAA: The top-seeded Road Warriors of Arizona capped a perfect 6-0 tournament with a thrilling 13-12 championship victory over the second-seeded Hudson Valley Cyclones of New York. Hudson Valley’s only losses came against the Road Warriors. The sixth-seeded North Valley Seniors of California captured third in the nine-team bracket, which was the tournament’s largest division.

Men's 60+ AA: After a 0-2 pool play start, the sixth-seeded OKC Angels of Oklahoma (photo below) cranked up enough run production to claim the division. OKC won its bracket games 20-18, 19-18, 20-14 and 19-13. The fourth-seeded Markham Canadians of Ontario finished as runner-up. Third-seeded So Cal Riptide of California nabbed third in the six-team bracket.

Men's 60/65+ Platinum: The fourth-seeded Minnesota Merchants (photo below) won the 60+ Major title and overall bracket championship by defeating third-seeded Ted Todd Insurance of Florida, which earned the 65+ Major Plus title. The top-seeded Iowa Demons finished third in the four-team division.

Men's 65+ Major: Third-seeded Agway Steelers of Ontario, Canada, (photo below), defeated the top two seeds enroute to a 23-22 championship victory over top-seeded DT Express of Georgia. Agway finished 4-1 overall. Fifth-seeded Action Auto Parts of Rhode Island finished third in the five-team bracket.

Men's 65+ AAA: Unbeaten in five games, top-seeded Spring Ford of Pennsylvania crushed fourth-seeded Dinos of New Hampshire 17-2 in the championship game. The third-seeded Northeast Jackhammers of New York secured third place in the seven-team bracket.

Men's 65/70+ Silver: Top-seeded Spring Ford of Pennsylvania encountered only one hiccup – a 13-12 loss in the winner’s bracket finale – before resuming its winning ways and defeating second-seeded MP Components/Bomb Squad of Michigan 19-3 and 19-10 in the title games of the nine-team bracket. The fifth-seeded Long Island Jaguars White lost their first bracket game then won four elimination games in a row to finish third. The eighth-seeded Electrifiers of Texas received the 65+ championship.


Spring Ford 70+, 65/70+ Silver Champions, with finalists MP Components/Bomb Squad.

Men's 70+ Major: Unbeaten in its six games, the top-seeded Minnesota River Bats (photo below) won two lopsided bracket games, including a 21-12 title victory, to capture this three-team division. Second-seeded Pill & Pill of West Virginia edged third-place finisher Northern Virginia Force 9-8 to advance to the championship.

Men's 70+ AA: The top-seeded and unbeaten New Mexico Boomers topped second-seeded Robson Ranch Texans 22-18 for the title of the four-team division. Robinson’s Furniture/OTS of Delaware nabbed third place.

Men's 75+ Major: Top-seeded R&R of California fell 21-12 in the first title game but rebounded for a 22-8 championship victory over third-seeded JAG-ONE/Jersey Masters in the finale of the four-team division. Northern Virginia Force finished third.

Men's 75+ Silver: After opening with a 1-2 record in pool play, the third-seeded AAA team Midwest Fossils of Nebraska went 3-1 the rest of the way, including a 26-8 “if-needed” title game victory over the second-seeded Syracuse Cyclones of New York. Syracuse won the first championship game 27-24. The top-seeded Minnesota Lumberjacks nabbed the 75+ AA title.

Men's 75/80+ Major Plus: Playing a best-of-three format, Venom 75s capped a 4-1 tournament by sweeping Maverick Construction 80s of Texas 20-5 and 23-13. Both teams won their individual Major Plus age brackets.

Men's 80/85+ Gold: Unbeaten in six games, the 80+ AAA Minnesota Masters (photo lower left) defeated the third-seeded NorEasters of New York 20-5 for the title of three-team division. Center For Sight of Florida (photo lower right) nabbed the 85+ Major crown.

 

Men's 85+ AAA: Playing a best-of-three format, Main Street Pub of Michigan swept Team Rehab of Minnesota 12-11 and 19-12 to win the tournament’s most senior division.


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