Make Room, World Series Texas Rangers, for the RR Softball Tournament Teams

Rosemary Myers-Neagli

The Texas Rangers unveiled new 2024 uniforms, and our RR softball tournament teams, thanks to the generous support of several donors, including RR corporate, sported a new look at this year’s Texas State Championships. Players Johnny Blecher and Tim Hughes designed a new jersey with matching softball hats, shorts, and pants. A team uniform is what opponents see, fans cheer for, and our players wear with pride.

But what boosted RR tournament softball to a star cameo spot on ABC (WFAA’s) radar (see YouTube RR softball), well, 65+ Coach Louis Berthold explains: “Probably this is a historic event in the USA Senior Softball world. This is the first time one community, one sub-division, neighborhood, has entered a team with four different age brackets (60+, 65+, 70+, and our 75+) in a single tournament. Softball is alive and well at Robson Ranch.”

For competitive senior softballers in Texas, late spring signifies that all those chilly, wet, and windy winter practices culminate into a well-groomed team prepared to play hard against other senior teams—all hoping to earn distinction as the Texas State Champions. Senior softball tournaments are organized in “brackets,” determined by youth (60+, 65+, 70+, 75+, and 80+) and talent level (AA and AAA ratings).

The 65+ and 70+ RR tournament teams have already amassed a lengthy resume of tournament wins and plaques over the years, and last year, in 2023, they created the 75+ tournament team who began to collect their own reputation and winner plaques. Star player Dale Hill in a recent report describes this year’s 75+ experience: “To find enough ol’ guys who moan when they slowly lift themselves out of their recliner—to take on a kids’ game—requires leadership (Mick Calverley and Larry Studinski) and salesmanship (Clyde Ziegler)—combined with a total love of the game—and the joy experienced when competing with fellow neighbors. It quickly tips the I-go/no-go gauge to let’s go,” and they did, holding on to the title Texas State Champions. Not to be outdone, our RR 70+ tournament team fought a hard battle, but in the end, successfully defended their Texas State Championship title. As the championship week progressed at the beautiful Oak Grove Softball Park near Grapevine, so did the frequency and number of heavy rainfalls, which ultimately cut short the tournament for our 65+ and newly formed 60+ teams. Reducing the 65+ game schedule by half, last year’s State Champions were forced to settle for a respectable second place. Our newest tournament team, 60+, had been practicing hard and were excited to test their talent and skill, but the weather gods had a different perspective. They did complete five shortened games, winning two of them, which is a huge accomplishment, as Coach Sean Curry explained that our 60+ AA team must play 60+ AAA teams in their first year of tournament play. The good news is that our tournament teams have several other trips planned and will be proudly wearing their new RR uniforms.

Perhaps, in a few years, a few of those Texas Rangers will reside at Robson Ranch and want to play on one of our four-star tournament teams. But, of course, they will have to try out just like everyone else here on the Ranch!