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THE RECORD • SPRING 2016
45
ΣAE World Series
30th Annual Tournament
SOUTH FLORIDA
ALUMS REGAIN
NATIONAL TITLE
BY GEARY MASON,
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
FOR
30 years, the New Orleans Alumni Association successfully
has hosted the ΣAE World Series softball tournament in
New Orleans. This fun-filled weekend brings together
collegiate and alumni brothers from all over America to
compete and share the brotherly bonds we enjoy.
The 30th annual tournament brought 18 All-ΣAE teams to New Orleans
on June 26-27 last year, and the 2015 ΣAE World Series was dedicated to
longtime event supporter Kevin P. Mahony, who graduated from LSU in
1984. He participated in and sponsored the ΣAE World Series for more
than 15 years and passed away recently after a courageous fight with cancer.
Mahony’s widow, Alesia, and his daughter, Brenna, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to kick off the two-day event. Before the first pitch, Mahony’s
former team, the Rejects, sang the Star Spangled Banner with Brenna.
< The South Florida
Alums team
re-gained the
title of Eminent
Supreme
Champions at the
2015 tournament.
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The double-elimination tournament
began Friday on a humid New Orleans
summer evening. The tournament’s first
game went as planned, as the tournament’s defending “Last Place Award”
winners from 2014, the Nicholls State
B team, got crushed 20-0 by the LSU
Alums team. The active chapter from
University of Texas-Tyler drove to town
for their first-ever ΣAE World Series and
earned a hard-fought 6-4 victory over the
Millsaps team from Jackson, Mississippi,
in their first game. Across the softball
quadriplex, the Nicholls State A team
easily defeated the Southern Mississippi
B team 12-1 in their first game. A
seasoned team from Christian Brothers
University in Tennessee was upset by a
first-time team from the University of
Texas 11-5. The defending champion
Southwest Texas Alums team was going
for their third-straight tournament
title and warmed up their bats in a 17-4
win over the home team, the Rejects.
Southwest Texas Alums team captain
Geoff Harris kept his team’s homerun
reputation alive as they chalked up 5
homers in the easy victory. The Rejects
June 2015
ΣAE World Series
WORLD SERIES
AWARD WINNERS
1st Place:
Best Dressed:
South Florida Alums
Texas State Alums
2 Place:
Last Place:
MVP:
Nicholls State Alums
Nicholls State B
3 Place:
Bourbon Street Award:
Neri Tijerino
(South Florida Alums)
Christian Brothers
Southwest Texas Alums
4 Place:
Old Timer’s Award:
Texas State Alums
Tom Foley
(South Florida Alums)
nd
rd
th
Most Improved:
Christian Brothers
Farthest Distance:
Texas State Alums
Ʃ AE Spirit:
Southern Miss A & B
Sheri Dusek
(Millsaps)
Steve Birk
Dedication Award:
Robert Rendon
(Southwest Texas Alums)
Young Gun Award:
Blake Sawtelle
(South Florida Alums)
twin team, the Rejects 2, didn’t fare any
better as they fell 14-1 to the Texas State
Alums in their opener. Later that night,
the winners would square off, and the
losers would play elimination games with
the hopes of keeping their slim title hopes
alive. The young Texas-Tyler team found
out what kind of competition existed at
this event because they couldn’t muster
a single run, falling 19-0 to the defending champion Southwest Texas Alums in
their second-round game.
Friday night’s consolation games were
action-filled as the hometown Rejects
actually won a game that eliminated the
Millsaps team 5-4. The Rejects victory
celebration was short-lived since the
Texas State Alums would defeat them
10-1 in the next game and eliminate them
from play. The Christian Brothers team
that was upset in their first game refused
to go quietly into the night — eliminating
five teams in a row to make it all the way
to the final three teams in contention.
Team captain John Voitier’s Christian
Brothers squad eliminated, in order, the
THE RECORD • SPRING 2016
Ʃ AE World Series Queen:
Southern Mississippi B team 15-2; the
Southern Mississippi A team 15-6; the
LSU Alums 11-2; the Nicholls State A
team 15-13; and the Texas State Alums
10-8. On the adjacent field, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Alums and the
Texas State Alums played an elimination game that had the lead change four
times and was decided in the bottom of
the final inning by a walk-off solo home
run by Texas State Alums team captain
Clint Carr, winning the game 12-11 to
eliminate the Lafayette Alums.
The Nicholls State Alums team won
their first two games defeating the LSU
Alums 10-3 and Texas State Alums 11-3,
thereby earning the right to play the
Nicholls State A team in the semifinal
game. Both teams brought friends and
family to watch, and the stands were
packed for this all-Nicholls State game.
The always loud Nicholls State crowd
cheered for both teams as the Alums
teams held back the young Nicholls
actives 12-6 in a very spirited game.
The other semi-final game pitted Geoff
47
The 2015 ∑ AE
World Series
was dedicated to
longtime event
supporter Kevin
P. Mahony, who
graduated from
LSU in 1984.
Harris’ defending champs against Steve
Birk’s South Florida Alums team, which
had just edged the Southern Mississippi
A team 11-10 in a come-from-behind
victory. Harris’ squad has claimed
seven tournament titles over the years,
and Birk’s team has claimed eight titles
dating back to 1994. In fact, the South
Florida Alums team has played in every
ΣAE World Series for more than 25 years
and last won the event in 2007. Birk’s
team has aged over the years and has not
been in the finals in seven years. In the
off season, he recruited some new young
alums from his chapter to upgrade his
squad because many of his loyal team
members are well into their 40s.
These two teams have met many times
over the years and know each other on
a first-name basis. The game began, as
always, with hitting by both teams while
the lead changed four times until the
South Florida Alums earned a 18-11 victory and berth in the tournament finals.
ΣAE World Series
30th Annual Tournament
On Saturday afternoon, the Southwest Texas Alums lost their consolation game to their chapter’s younger alumni team in an 11-6 upset, which
eliminated them from repeating as champs. This intra-chapter rivalry
created a strong bond between chapter brothers that are easily 15-20
years apart from each other in age. The South Florida Alums and Nicholls
State Alums would play in the finals while the bleachers were filled by
Nicholls State family and fans. The game was close to the end, but Birk’s
South Florida Alums team held off a late rally to preserve a 11-9 victory.
The Nicholls State Alums had now lost their first game, and because of
the tournament’s double-elimination format, they needed to beat the
Christian Brothers team to earn a re-match against Birk’s squad. The
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Christian Brothers team had just won five
straight consolation games and ran out of
gas — falling to the Nicholls State Alums
11-9 in the final inning. This victory by
the Nicholls Alums gave them another
shot at the title, but they would have to
win twice to be tournament champions.
Birk’s team roster was younger and
ready for their fifth tournament game,
and Rene Labat’s Nicholls State Alums
team was ready for their sixth game.
South Florida Alum Neri Tijerino got his
team out to an early 3-0 lead, but Tyler
Koster answered with a three-run RBI
that put the Nicholls State Alums up 5-3
after two innings. The game stayed close
as the South Florida Alums held a fiverun lead in the sixth inning. Meanwhile,
the Nicholls State Alums mustered only
one more run, and Birk’s South Florida
Alums held on for a hard-fought 14-10
victory and their ninth ΣAE World Series
championship.
Neri “the Nicaraguan Nightmare”
Tijerino won tournament MVP honors
and Robert Rendon, the chapter adviser
for the Texas State chapter, won the
Dedication Award. A post-tournament
celebration took place on Bourbon Street
in the historic French Quarter, as brothers from all across the country celebrated
for the 30th successful time.
Visit www.SAEworldseries.com or Sigma
Alpha Epsilon’s Flickr account at www.flickr.
com/sigma_alpha_epsilon for photos from
the 2015 ΣAE World Series and full details
on the event’s details and history. END