You know summer is approaching, because Sunday, it was time for another running of the annual Parents' Softball Classic. Sunday's was the 19th installment of the tournament, which began in 2006.

Each year, the event draws crowds of families, with kids and dogs roaming the stands, snack bar and unused areas of the Marine Sports Complex, while friendly competition among parents roars on each of the three softball fields. 

On Sunday, there were 11 teams of parent players, representing schools across Manhattan Beach. The tournament has been going on for so long, with such loyalty to the event, there's now a "Founders" team made up of players whose kids have graduated out of the Manhattan Beach school system, along with teams representing all five elementaries, the middle school, Mira Costa High School, American Martyrs, and one more all-women's team known as the Softball Mamas, which returned for its second year.

The fun day is also a big fund-raiser, with this year's total reaching a tournament-record $26,000. Funds go to the MBX Foundation, and primarily benefit the Mira Costa girls' softball team.

About 140 players contributed through registration fees, and the snack bar – with its continuous output of hot dogs and burgers (including donated Manhattan Meats bacon burgers), drinks and treats – brought in $2,700 in its own right. 

The assembled crowd was treated midday to a beautiful a cappella rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, by 11-year-old Teagan Miller, a 5th-grader at American Martyrs.

 

Ceremonial "first pitches" were thrown out by young players associated with the Beach softball program.

Mayor Amy Howorth appeared to ring in the playoff portion of the day.

"Events like this don't happen everywhere," Mayor Howorth said. "This is just one of the things that makes Manhattan Beach such a special community to live in." 

The tournament operates with the volunteer labor of softball boosters and many of the team's players. Dave Fratello, local real estate broker with Edge and publisher of MB News, serves as organizer and director of the tournament, with 2025 being his 9th year in that role after taking over for tournament founder Ross Kay. Official sponsors for the event were Fratello's Edge Real Estate Agency, MB Confidential and MB News.

How the Games Were Played

Although all 11 teams come out just looking for a good time, each year, there are a few teams that also expect to have a chance to win it all. 

Traditionally, it's almost always an elementary school's parent team that prevails, although in 2024, it was the Manhattan Beach Middle School parents who triumphed. 

Coming into Sunday, teams from Pennekamp, Pacific and Martyrs all showed the swagger of potential champs, and MBMS made a statement early that they were back to defend their title. 

The Martyrs team, perhaps nursing a grudge from narrowly missing last year's playoffs due to tie-breaker rules, gave up just 2 runs in its first three games (all victories), before succumbing to Pennekamp 6-3 in their final game of pool play. Both teams advanced to the semifinals as the top two teams in their pool.

Pacific supplies two teams each year, and while no one officially calls one the "A" team and the other the "B," one squad does seem to come in with certain expectations. After all, the school won the tourney back-to-back in 2021 and 2022 and made the final in 2023. This year, with the two teams cheekily nicknamed "Chewbacca" and "Han," it was "Han" that seemed to be aimed at the final.

But Pacific's "Han" squad faced an early test and a setback at the hands of MBMS, losing a tight 2-1 game and jeopardizing their hopes for the playoffs. A later 2-2 tie with Meadows almost seemed to seal the team's fate as a disappointment, as it could be difficult to emerge from pool play with just two wins.

But the standings after that tie left Pacific an opening. "Han" and Meadows shared second place in their pool with records of 1-1-1 going into each of their last games.

Pacific faced a solid Robinson team, and Meadows squared up against a 3-0 MBMS team that clearly was out to prove that 2024's tournament victory was no fluke. (Somewhere in the background, everyone knew that a Meadows squad had strung together 5 consecutive tournament victories in recent years, with the new crop of players beginning to aim high as well.)

 

Both Meadows and Pacific did what they needed to do, with the Panther parents pasting Robinson with an 8-0 defeat, and Meadows handing the defending champion Waves their first defeat of the day – also a shutout, 4-0. 

That's when the tourney's tie-breaking rules kicked in.

The first tie-breaker goes to whichever team gave up the fewest runs in its four games. Both teams had been excellent, with Meadows surrendering just 9 runs (with 7 in its first game), but Pacific had allowed only 6 runs all day, nudging the Panthers' "Han" team up into the 4-team semifinals.

In playoff action, Martyrs jumped ahead of MBMS, holding on for an 8-0 victory. There would be no repeat for the Waves. Across five games, Martyrs had held all opponents to a total of 8 runs, with three shutouts – including that semifinal – earning them home-field advantage for the final.

Meantime, Pacific had its hands full with the Pennekamp team, which had railroaded through pool play with a 4-0 record for the second consecutive year. It was a matchup familiar to both teams. The Dragons had made the final versus Pacific in 2022, and won the tournament in 2023 by defeating the Panthers, but PK was still smarting from a 13-inning semifinal loss in 2024 to eventual champion MBMS.

The dramatic semifinal ended with Pacific's "Han" group on top 6-5, advancing to the final after what had started out as a middling day.

In the fast-paced final, Martys loaded the bases with 2 out in the bottom of the 2nd, and cashed in the opportunity, jumping ahead 2-0. Pacific edged back with 1 run off a sacrifice fly in the 4th, then got one more to tie with a hit in the 5th with 2 out and the bases loaded. 

The Martyrs team controlled their fate going into the bottom of the 6th and final inning, with the score still tied 2-2 and with a chance to walk it off if they could score. Martyrs put one runner on with a hard shot to third that was bobbled, and got a second base runner with a hit up the middle. Nobody was out. Just one hit would deliver the trophy. Pacific shut down the effort, however, pushing the final into extra innings.

The Panthers scored two in the top of the 7th, taking a 4-2 lead. The best Martyrs could muster in the bottom half was getting runners to first and third. A grounder to shortstop ended the game. Exuberant Pacific players gathered in a giant, bouncing group hug at second base, while kids, spouses and the Pacific "Chewbacca" squad streamed out onto the field to celebrate the team's third trophy in five years.