They tried several times before but were unsuccessful. That is, until now.
Finally, Just Play’n Around, a local women’s softball squad, won the Annual Women’s Slow Pitch Halloween All-Night Softball Tournament in Plant City.
“We had a strong team,” Melissa Courtney said. “We had a strong batting team, fielding team. We had no weaknesses.”
The tournament, which has been around for more than 25 years, is not your average tourney.
The event was a 42-team, one-pitch, timed-game tournament.
The games had a 30-minute time limit, and each batter started with a full count. If a batter swung and missed at the first pitch, she was out. If a batter fouled off a pitch, she was out. If it was a called ball the player walked.
Just Play’n Around played games at midnight and 1 a.m., but because they were winning they didn’t have to play again until the sun came up.
There was no commuting to and from hotels. Playing through the night eliminated that. So players brought their campers and stayed in the parking lot. They decorated the RVs, set up tents and socialized between playing and sleeping.
“Oh yeah, we go over there and have fun,” third baseman Amy Mazner said. “People go over there and have a good time. When they tell you it’s all night, we are playing all night. It’s just a crazy time. It’s a really fun and competitive tournament.”
Speaking of competition, the local team comprised of players from Manatee and Sarasota counties breezed through the double-elimination tourney into the championship game.
That’s where they hit their first speed bump.
Just Play’n Around gave All For One its lone defeat early in the tournament, but Just Play’n Around lost to All For One in the first title game, forcing a second game to determine the champion.
By this time, the local squad had played 14 innings that day, and fatigue was setting in. The players’ backs were hurting, legs were hurting and “the bat felt like 100 pounds,” Courtney said.
“It was frustrating, because we had beaten that team earlier,” she said. “We were hitting and playing good defense. We had been in that position before, where we would dominate tournaments and get to the championship game and lose.”
Just Play’n Around would prevail this time, though, in the decisive game. The team posted a 7-1 record.
“We’ve played in this tournament for years,” Mazner said. “But this particular team jelled really well. Whoever got the third out had to where a big afro wig on defense. We just had a great time. It felt good to win.”
The victory felt even better for Courtney, who watched her mother, Frankie Kenly, win the Halloween tournament 25 years ago, and Courtney had to listen to her mother rub it in her face every time she came home without the winning trophy.
“I was tired of hearing that,” Courtney said. “I’m happy that both of us have won the tournament.”
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