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Hot time in Phoenix
at Gay Series
Temps and play are blazing at
softball championships
By
Greg Moser
For
Outsports.com
The Atlanta
Venom in the "A" Division, Orlando Force in the "B" division,
Memphis Heat in the "C" division and Atlanta Wet Demons in the
"D" division won their respective brackets at the 2007 Gay
Softball World Series held Oct. 1-6 in Phoenix.
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More than 4,000
athletes, fans and volunteers from across the United States and
Canada came to Phoenix for the 31st series, hosted
for the first time by the Cactus Cities Softball League. The
annual weeklong tournament crowned champions in the eight
divisions of softball competition organized by the North
American Gay Amatuer Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). The tournament
is normally held in August but was moved to October because of
the extreme summer heat in Phoenix.
The "Feel the
Fire!" Festivities started out with Opening Ceremonies at
Phoenix Municipal Stadium (spring training home of the Oakland
A's) and comedian Scott Thompson of Kids in the Hall fame. Pool
play started Tuesday morning at four different complexes across
the valley, all with a great backdrop of the mountains in the
distance. Temperatures reached the mid to upper 90's every day.
Double
elimination games started on Thursday and the level of
competition was incredible. No teams were eliminated until
Friday.
Saturday saw
some fabulous games in the championship games. The Atlanta
Venom faced a tough Houston Force team in the "A" division. The
Venom were down 21-10 at one point and mounted their comeback to
take the lead 24-22 in the bottom of the 6th inning. Houston
got two base runners on with two outs but weren't able to get
the runs across and the Venom won the championship.
In the "D"
division, the Milwaukee Woody's Kosmos took on the Atlanta Wet
Demons in the title game. Milwaukee was playing up through the
loser's bracket and had to beat the Demons twice to take home
first place. Things looked promising for Kosmos as they won the
first game 24-13 but the Demons held on in the second game to
win bragging rights for Series 2007.
The Series moves to Seattle next year (www.series2008.org).
For 2009, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Kansas City are all bidding to
host.
The GSWS is the
largest predominantly gay sporting event in the world with 188
teams from 35 member cities, over 3,000 players and fans, and an
economic impact of $5-$7 million dollars to the city of
Phoenix.
Interested in
finding a gay softball league to play on? There are currently
nearly 9,000 players in 34 member cities in the "Open Division"
of NAGAAA. Go to
http://www.nagaaasoftball.org/memberCities.php
Greg Moser
is secretary of the Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League.
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