When there is a holiday weekend it’s a pretty sure bet that there is a gay softball tournament going on somewhere around the country. Over the 4th of July weekend there were tournaments taking place in Irvine, Portland, Chicago, and, most notably, New York City, which saw the return of the Playing for Life tournament. After an 11-year hiatus, Playing for Life was back in full force with 48 teams from all over the country, including The Center Starz of San Diego, competing in three divisions of play. Held in Central Park, proceeds from the tournament went to benefit Equity Fights AIDS.

“The Center Starz was the only California team participating in the New York tournament and the one that traveled the furthest for the tournament,” said Rich Valdez, the manager of the Starz. “It allowed us to make new friends and tell them all about our upcoming Autumn Classic in October, [while exposing] them to our softball league and to our LGBT Community Center. It was a great opportunity. Taking third place wasn’t too bad either.”

The tournament started off with two rounds of pool play to determine seeding for the double elimination tournament. The Starz shook off their jet lag from a five-hour flight across three time zones in time to play the New York Sharks in their opening game of the tournament. The Sharks jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the first inning, but The Starz battled back, going into the last inning trailing, 9-6, then coming back to win the game, 10-9, on five straight hits.

In their second game of the day, the Starz made quick work of the New York Vikings, winning the game, 11-2, after taking the lead in the first inning and never giving it up. The back-to-back wins earned the Starz the number three seed at the end of pool play and set the stage for them to face the New York Sharks again in the first round of tournament play.

Still hungry for a victory, the Sharks were quick on the attack again, taking a 10-2 lead over the Starz in the second inning of the game. Once again, the Starz stuck to their game plan and slowly battled back until they were tied, 13-13, going into the last inning of play. In the last inning, Greg Trevino came through for the Starz, hitting a three-run homer to win the game, 16-13, and give the Starz a 3-0 record at the end of the first day of play.

Day two got started with the Starz playing the South Florida Sluggers, who were the number two seed in the tournament. The Starz rose to meet the competition and beat the Sluggers, 20-6, with eight out of the twelve batters for the Starz scoring at least twice in the game.

It was downhill from there on for The Starz as they lost their fifth game of the tournament to the Desert Heat of Phoenix, 13-3, sending them to the consolation game, where they fell behind the New Haven Outcast, 11-1, in the first inning and never recovered, losing the game, 15-7.

The Outcast moved on to play the Heat in the championship, which they lost, giving them a second place finish and leaving the Heat in first.

“I don’t think that any one person was the [standout],” Valdez said of the Starz performance. “Except, if I had to give an MVP award to one player, it would be to Greg [Trevino]. He was awesome at the plate and in the field.… But, every win was a team effort.”

San Diego’s participation in the Playing for Life Tournament was a unique opportunity for the team to play against east coast teams, who don’t normally see any west coast competition until the gay softball world series in August.