SENIOR SOFTBALL
Idaho’s Other National Team

These have been exciting times for Idaho sports, the Boise State Broncos have given Idaho fans a reason to be proud of our State and prove that an Idaho team can play with anybody in the Nation.
Boise State isn’t the only local team making a name for itself nationally. There are a few “minor” differences between the Boise State football team and this other local team, however.
The team is Blaine County Title, the sport is softball, and the players are all over 60 years old. This group of Senior athletes won the AAA “World Championship” crown in Phoenix three weeks ago beating 18 other teams from all over the Nation. This accomplishment was submitted to the Sport’s Dept. at the Statesman. They put it in the “Community” section, where even those of us who were watching for it, didn’t see it. We were amazed, here was a chance to let our community know that we have some older guys who have done something we can all be proud of. You would think the Statesman would want to be a part of that. Take “Pride” Idaho, you have a ”World Championship” Team right here in Idaho. Too bad you have to learn about it in an Editorial and not on the Sports Page of the Statesman.
If anyone is interested in looking in to Senior Softball please call Ken Rhodes @ 891-0101

Wayne Clark
Meridian

Blaine County Title's (BCT) men's Senior Softball team made up mostly of seniors from the Treasure Valley area continues to be a force on the National Softball scene. The World Championships for Senior Softball was played in Phoenix this past week-end (Oct. 16-18) with over 361 teams in all age brackets from all over the country. BCT played teams from New Jersey, California, Colorado, Texas and Georgia/Alabama. After seeding games BCT entered the double-elimination tournament as the #1 seed and continued its dominance thru out, averaging over 20 runs a game finishing with a 9-1 record and this years 60AAA World Championship. Earlier this year BCT won the Western Nationals in Salt Lake City which qualified them to play in the US Nationals in Phoenix and combined with wins at the Western Nationals, Us Nationals, and now the World Championship they won the Triple Grand Slam award as well. BCT placed 5 players on the "All Tournament Team" they are Wayne Clark, Scott Shumway, Bob Hildeman, Bob Sarchett and Jim Pierce. Other members of the team were George Quiggle, Wayne Schmidlkofer, Dave Bixby, Larry Harpe, Larry Hoffman, Dean Merrill and Ken Rhodes.
Anyone interested in playing Senior Softball (50+ and over) next year contact Ken Rhodes @ 208 891-0101

Major Tire and Hitch 60+ team plays in Bend

The Major Tire and Hitch 60+ team competed well and won some games at Bend over the July 11, 12 weekend. Great job guys.

BCT wins at Bend

The Blaine County Title 60+ team went 5-0 at Bend and took the division championship mug. All the BCT players contributed and received a pottered mug as a remembrance of their hard fought victories.

Expertise Landscape takes title at Bend

The Expertise Landscape team took the 50+ AA title at Bend on July 11 & 12, 2009.
The defense was good, the offense was explosive and the final victory was commanding. The final score in the championship game was Expertise Landscape 29 and the Bend Brewers 8.
Team Members were: Steve Abo, RC Arce, Cliff Boxer, Rick Carringer, Terry Demoss, Dave Fleming, Gilbert Gallegos, Jeff Kelley, Randy Livingston, Tom Lopez, Matt Mitchell, Steve Rayburn, and Scott Shumway. Special mugs were awarded to the players.

60's Spring Standings - 2009

1. Peasley Allied 8-2
2. Black 7-3
3. Gray 6-4
4. Orange 4-6
5. Major Tire & Hitch 3-7
6. Instant Imprints 3-7

Major Tire and Hitch beat Instant Imprints head to head 11-10 to gain the fifth spot in the standings.

Wednesday Draft League 2009 Spring Standings

1. East/West #2 8-2
2. Peasley Allied***** 7-2-1
3. Keith Enterprises***** 6-4
4. Rudy's # 2***** 3-6-1
5. EWAS #1 3-7
6. Boise Online Mall***** 2-8

38-49 final spring 2009 standings

1. Stimulus Package 5-5
2. Wright 4-6
3. Katsumoto 3-7
4. Owsley 2-8

50 + final Spring standings - 2009

1. Shiloh Fog 9-1
2. McU Sports 9-1
3. Expertise Landscape/Secure Horizons 8-2
4. Enterprise Electric 7-3
5. Rudy's 6-4
6. East/West Aircraft 5-5
7. Silver Bullets 2-8
8. Tired Old Men 0-10

Big Game

On Monday, June 29, 2009 Shiloh Fog and McU Sports battled it out for the league championship. McU' won the first meeting of the year 16-12. Shiloh Fog would need to win by 5 or more runs to claim the championship. Shiloh jumped out to an early 10 to 1 lead, but the ever scrappy never say die McU team narrowed the gap and gave themselves a chance to win. Shiloh put on a dominating display of hitting in the open inning and came away with an eighteen to ten victory and the 2009 Spring Senior League championship.

Fall Ball sign ups are closing soon

June 26 is the last day to register for fall ball.

Openig day for Fall Ball

July 27

Bend is a go

Major Tire and Hitch 60's and Expertise Landscape/Secure Horizons 50's will play in Bend July 11 & 12.

web site for Boise Senior Softball

Scott and Kevin at Boise Online Mall have done a great job putting the web page for Boise Senior Softball together. All of the Monday 50 teams have either a picture and bio or a bio on the page. Major Tire and Hitch from the 60's is represented, as well as Boise Online Mall from the Wednesday League. Katsumoto and Wright from the 35-49 league will soon be there too. Go to boiseseniorsoftball.com to view the interactive web page.

FYI -senior rule

Just an FYI note for all teams playing in a SSUSA sanctioned qualifier - the home run rule always reverts to the home run rule of the lower classification team. Check with SSUSA at seniorsoftball.com for confirmation of any rule questions you may have.
The e-mail address is
info@seniorsoftball.com

McU Sports plays in Reno

The McU Sports Major team played the Reno Qualifier in late May. This is the first season McU's has played in the major division. Ken Rhodes, the McU manager says playing majors is quite different than playing AA or AAA, because all the major teams have good power and speed.

Enterprise plays in Reno

The Enterprise Electric AA team played the Reno Qualifier in late May. EE did very well in the tournament, highlighted by two wins against Scrap Iron, a very good team out of Colorado. Enterprise will play the Senior National Tournament in Salt Lake City in August.

rule book - SSUSA

A SSUSA rule book can be obtained at seniorsoftball.com. The SSUSA rules are a bit different than the ASA rules we play by in league.

35-49 League - Fall Ball 2009

The 35-49 Slow Pitch Softball League is now accepting players and teams for the fall league. The inaugural season this spring was successful and featured four teams. The 35-49 teams played amongst themselves and also played games against the 50+ senior teams. If individuals or teams are interested in playing this fall, contact Russ Wright at 890-9236, russelwright@wellsfargo.com or send an e-mail to boiseseniorsoftball@yahoo.com.

Senior Games 2009

All Team Managers, Courtesy of Bill Goodin - tournament coordinator

Here is the information about the annual Senior Games tournament. I will be coordinating the tournament for the Games along with whatever volunteer help I may need to get everything done.

Senior Games Tournament August 22nd and 23rd.
Four game minimum guarantee.
Cost $290 per team;
Includes player registration for the games and a Senior Games t-shirt,
Balls will be provided and one umpire per game will be used.
ASA sanctioned tournament. If the roster is not an existing ASA team then the $26 ASA fee is added to the tournament fee. A team may pick up no more than four players on an existing ASA roster without it constituting being a new ASA team.
ASA and Senior Games (YMCA) roster and tournament fee must be submitted to Bill Goodin by August 10th. Please make your check out to the YMCA.
The games will be played at Willow Lane Athletic Complex.
We will divide the teams into age divisions and playing levels if there is an adequate number of teams.

Ted Shields

Ted Shields, an avid senior softball player passed away this season. A very nice memorial for Ted was held at the Plantation Country Club. Many family members, friends and softball players were on hand to celebrate Ted's life. God bless you Ted.

Fall Ball

Fall Ball sign up is upon us. Teams have until June 26 to get signed up.
The Fall Draft Leagues are also forming. If you are interested, send an e-mail to
boiseseniorsoftball@yahoo.com

Salt Lake City Qualifier

Expertise Landscape/Secure Horizons played in the Salt Lake Qualifier on June 12/13, and won the AA division. ELSH played close games against the AAA and Major teams but fell short each time. ELSH will play at Western Nationals in SLC in August.

Seniors play against the young guys

Trips, a Seniors 70 team played in the BODYBUILDING.COM/ALLSPORT TROPHY TWILIGHT CLASSIC INVITATIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT On April 18 & 19 at Willow Lane Athletic Complex. The Trips played in the ASA E Division. The E tourney was a round robin format. I spoke with Rico, who said the whole team had a good time.

The season and the teams

Games will start April 13 and run through June 29. There are 2 bye weeks, May 25 and June 22. There will be 4 35-49 teams, 8 gold teams, 8 silver teams and 6 bronze teams.
The 35-49 teams will cross over and play the silver teams.

The new season begins

The new season starts April 13. There is a chance the senior teams will play some crossover games with the 35-49 league. The senior board wishes each team well. Remember to stretch before you play and remember to always exhibit good sportsmanship.

Boise Senior Softball web page

The senior softball website is up and running.The address is boiseseniorsoftball.com
Check it out. There are many features for teams, players, schedules and much more. Thanks go out to the senior softball board of directors and Scott Yant of

boiseonlinemall.com
323-1100
6109 Overland Road
Boise, ID 83709

Give Scott a call if you need a web page created and built.

Managers Meeting

There will be a managers meeting April 6, 2009 at Riverglen Junior High. All managers need to attend. The time is 6:30 to 8:30. Schedules, rule books, and score books will be handed out at this time. Riverglen is located at 6801 Gary Lane off of State Street.

Field Rental

Softball fields can be rented from Boise Parks and Recreation for $6.50 an hour. Call 384-4256 for more information.

Bend Senior Classic

The Bend Senior Tournament is back after a one year hiatus. It is called the Bend Senior Classic and will be played on July 11 & 12. Contact michaelmaffai@bendcable.com
for more information.

2009 Draft League

Boise Senior Softball is running the Wednesday Draft League for senior players age 50 and up. Contact Gaylan or Cliff at boiseseniorsoftball@yahoo.com for more information.

35-49 League

Russ Wright has formed a new men's league. It is for players ages 35 to 49. Contact Russ Wright at 890-9236 or russelwright@wellsfargo.com for more information.