Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.  On Monday night, the Champs and the Acers entered into the last week of league play, tied with 11 wins and 2 losses. Although they had the same amount of wins and losses, the Champs were in first place because they had previously beaten the Acers.

But all of that changed when the Acers won both of the double header games against their main competition, 11-4 and 14-3 to put them 13-2 for the season.

Some members of the Champs said they suffered the losses because this was first game they had played in sunshine. They also accused the Acers of stealing bases, hitting home runs and catching fly balls. Tom Ihme of the Acers said they had merely played better.

At the end of the every softball season, the team who ends up in first place owns bragging rights, but the real deal happens this coming weekend when all the teams play in the Tonya Putnam Memorial Tournament. The top league teams get top seeding and sometimes, the winners of the season are not the winners of the tourney and the big, shiny trophy.

Although the Champs were down two games at the beginning of this week, they could actually retain their championship status and their name this weekend.

The Players and the Mean Machine were tied for third place last week and will play their final games this week.

The tournament begins at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday with non-stop action-packed coed softball.

Standings as of Wednesday, July 22.

1. Champs, 11-2

2. Acers, 11-2

3. Players, 9-6

4. Mean Machine, 9-6

5. Blue Sox, 5-11

6. Misfits, 4-12

7. Whistler’s Cafe, 2-11