By Breven Honda

The Mesquite Senior Games hosted the Huntsman Tune-up softball games on Oct. 6-8, 15-16 at Pioneer Park.  While these games are chances to get the teams ready to play the Huntsman World games, which are a national qualifier event, all the games were hard fought but with a slightly more relaxed feel. 

The Sun City Rockets from Arizona won the 75-plus division of the Mesquite Senior Games softball tournament. (Courtesy photo)

A lot of times, the Huntsman games include “pick-up” players who have not played together before, so these games give teams the opportunity to try new lineups and fielding positions for some of the players.

Mesquite Senior Games President and softball event coordinator Sandy Tudor said everything went according to plan both on and off the field, including the organization for each game.

“The games went very well and there were no issues,” Tudor said. “The teams and families could not help complimenting us on the condition of the fields and the prep that the City did.”

In the first session from Oct. 6-8, there were 15 teams across three age groups: 60-plus, 65-plus and 74-plus. Of those, we had five teams from Canada.   

In the 60-plus bracket, Medicine Hat Huff & Puff from Canada won. The Vegas Elite took the silver medal and Mountain Men of Salt Lake City took home bronze.

In the 65-plus group, the difference between gold and silver came down to one run when the top two teams met.

The So Cal Suns from Southern California and the Sun City Rockets from Arizona went a perfect 4-0 before facing each other with a gold medal on the line in the championship match on Oct. 8.

“Because of the format for this age group, every team played every other team and total wins was the first deciding factor, until we got to the very end,” Tudor said. “We did not realize that the game between those two teams would be so significant.” 

When the two teams faced off, both squads were filing up the scoreboard.

Ultimately, it was the Suns, who pulled out a 15-14 victory over the Rockets to earn the gold medal.

“It was an intense game. Everyone knew that the winner would get gold,” Tudor said.

The Cascade Thunder from Canada rounded out the podium, taking home the bronze medal.

Concluding the first week of play in the 74-plus age group, The Rockies out of Arizona took home the gold medal. The Mavericks out of Las Vegas took the silver medal.

Softball action from Oct. 16 and 17 started with the 50-55 age group. Of the eight teams in this category, there were four from Canada, two from Alaska, one from Florida and one from North Dakota. 

The Mulligans, who are from North Dakota, won the gold medal. Finishing second and third were two teams from The Last Frontier state. Claiming the silver medal were the Alaska 49’ers and Team Alaska took the bronze.

With so many teams coming a long way to compete in the yearly fall tournament, Tudor said her the rest of the committee ensured to schedule the games for the players to also enjoy their time in and around the area.

“Because the games in St. George go for three days, these are really family-oriented games,” Tudor said. “A lot of the players have spouses with them and use this as a mini vacation. The wives tend to be as competitive as the players but in the end, it is really just a big social event. Some of these teams have been coming here for eight years, excluding the COVID season.

“They all liked the fact that we try to have the games over by 3:00 or so in the afternoon, so they have time for family, sightseeing and other team activities,” Tudor said.

After the conclusion of the softball event on the 17th, the Mesquite Senior Games rounded out the month of October with a couple of bocce and pickleball tournaments.