The Wet Demons, who won the class D title at the Gay Softball World Series last year, are fighting for a return trip. The team struggled early in the season and hopes to win a one-day tournament next month for a berth at the World Series. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
Hotlanta Softball teams look ahead to World Series Champions from last year hope to win back-to-back titles
THE WET DEMONS tend to start slow and finish strong.
The Hotlanta Softball League team stumbled out of the starting gate when the season opened in April, losing its first two games in blowouts with their opponents outscoring them 43-7. It’s not quite what the Wet Demons had in mind as they began the defense of their championship from the Gay Softball World Series in October 2007.
“The first week we came out, we gave up 20 runs to the first two teams we played,” said Aaron Sones, the Wet Demons coach. “After that weekend, we knew we had our hands full. We knew coming in that this would be a more challenging year because we were taking a step up.”
THE WORLD SERIES trophy meant the team moved up a classification this season, from D to C, bringing tougher competition and a 2-9 start. But they’ve found their touch and are riding a five-game winning streak into the league’s Commissioner’s Cup. The one-day tournament, set for July 13, determines two of the four berths to the World Series for classes C and D in the Open Division, or men’s side of HSL.
The Wet Demons were in a similar situation last season. They didn’t win the regular season division title and the automatic World Series bid that comes with it, but found their winning stroke during the Commissioner’s Cup, won and went on to become one of three HSL teams that won a World Series title in 2007. For two of those teams – the Wet Demons and Riptide – it was their first-ever championship.
“There is still a chance that we can get back to the World Series. That is the ultimate goal. We feel like we have a chance if we can hit the softball. It comes down to hitting,” Sones said.
FOR NINA COLE, the coach of the riptide and a veteran of 15 consecutive World Series, a chance to defend the team’s 2007 title in the women’s division and a return trip to the World Series provides a perfect end to the season.
“I’ve coached in every World Series since 1993 and it is just a wonderful experience,” Cole said. “You meet people that will be friends forever.”
Cole was a member of the Atlanta Heat, a team that won back-to-back titles beginning in 1997. Repeating that feat with the Riptide has been on her mind.
“It would be great. We’re going to do our best, that’s for sure. We’ll see what happens,” she said.
The Venom, the only HSL team to win two World Series titles in the last four seasons, broke the stranglehold of Los Angeles teams in the top class (A) last season. Teams from Los Angeles had won the A title in 12 of the last 14 years.
“We definitely want to repeat,” said Mike Crocker, the Venom coach. “That is a realistic goal in our opinion. We have the same nucleus of leaders. We believe in ourselves and we don’t doubt ourselves because we’ve been there before.”
The Gamma Light, which finished third in the D class on the women’s side of the World Series last year, returns to the tournament with the goal of winning a title, said Angela Smith, the team’s coach.
“This year, I have my same core of people,” Smith said. “I’m expecting to place or win it for sure.”
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
