This past weekend marked the end of the 2004 Fall Ball season for the America’s Finest City Softball League (AFCSL). Twenty teams participated in the short season this fall, playing every Sunday at the Poway Sportsplex since early September.

“Besides the rainouts, everything went pretty well,” said Martin Cherrier, Open Division Membership director for the AFCSL. “We had pretty good competition for the fall and a lot of new teams came out, and a lot of new players came out and started playing. I think they’ve enjoyed their time so far.”

In the Open C Division, Moby Dick’s Trojans took first place in the field of nine teams. With an impressive 15-1 record, the Trojans clenched their first-place trophy with two weeks left in the season.

“I’ve got a good team,” said Bill Walsh, the Trojans’ coach. “It is a team effort; if you see our team it’s all about team effort. We don’t have any one person who feels like they have to be the hero on the team, where you see some other teams get up there and everybody up there feels like they have to be the one to win the game. That’s not the way it is on this team. Everybody plays, knows their role and it’s a good team.”

Coming in second place in the open C Division was Hamburger Mary’s, who, in addition to having an impressive Fall Ball season with a 12-4 record, also took home the first-place trophy in the annual Autumn Classic softball tournament last month. Right behind Mary’s in third place was Notarize This with an 11-5 record.

In the Open D Division, the Bourbon Street Cocks dominated with a 13-3 record. Trailing them in second place was the rookie team Golden State Badgers with a 7-9 record.

Over in the Women’s B Division it came down to the final weekend of games for On The Run, who finished their season with a 15-1 record. Coming in second place was Aberration with a 13-3 record.

Rounding things out in the Women’s C Division, Happy Hour took first place with a 9-7 record and Clean Sweep took second with a 7-9 record.

With Fall Ball coming to a close, the AFCSL is turning its attention to preparing to host the 2005 Gay Softball World Series.

“Right now we’re starting our fundraisers,” said Cherrier, who will be serving at the World Series as Open Division commissioner. “We’re going to start doing fundraisers at a lot of the local bars. Our kickoff party is Dec. 11… We’re doing a wine and cheese party and tickets are $10.”

The wine and cheese event will be held at the home of Tom Abbas, and more information on the event can be obtained by calling the league hotline at (619) 283-5911. In addition to fundraising for the World Series, sponsorship opportunities are available and organizers are looking for volunteers who are interested in participating in the tournament.

“We encourage anyone who is interested to contact anyone on the 2005 board,” Cherrier added. “They can go to our website and contact anybody on that board.”

Series 2005 will take place Aug. 14-20 and teams from across North America will be participating in the tournament. The last time the Gay Softball World Series was held in San Diego was in 1997.

Visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the 2005 board’s website.