While Kim's Barrel Inn took top honors among local teams at the 1999 Amateur Softball Association Men's Class D Slow Pitch Midwest National Tournament, an Illinois team won the title.
Miller/McGaffer's/Sportin' Wood of Forest Park, Ill. held off a seventh inning rally by Browbeat of Schaumburg, Ill. to take the championship, 16-15, at Zenoff Park in Stevens Point.
Kim's Barrel Inn won its first two games of the tournament, starting with a 10-3 victory over Team Worth/Lions of Metro Cincinnati. Barrel Inn then topped B.K. German Builders of Delphi, Ind. 10-8. However, the team ran into Newport/O&S Technologies of Milwaukee in the next round, losing 15-3.
The defeat dropped Barrel Inn into the consolation bracket, where the team dropped an 11-1 game to Gateway Bar & Curt's of Crivitz.
The other three local teams all dropped their first games and found themselves in the consolation bracket.
Route 66 fell in its first game to Team Impact of Tinely Park, Ill., 24-17. In the consolation bracket, Route 66 shut out Champions Pro Shop of Fort Wayne, Ind., 7-0, only to lose 15-2 in its next game against Betty's Sports Inn of La Crosse.
Golf Plus/Kim's Barrel Inn and Copps South fell in both of their games of the double elimination tournament.
Golf Plus lost to Bandits of Merrillville, Ind. 15-3 and to B.K. German Builders 12-11. Copps South dropped its opener 7-4 to Rademacher's Auto Repair of Grand Haven, Mich. and then fell to Krown/Lighthouse of Wausau, 20-7.
In the championship, Miller/McGaffer's/Sportin' Wood scored six runs in the fourth and five in the fifth to take a 16-9 lead. But Browbeat came back with four in the sixth to get within three runs and then had the tying run at third in the seventh.
With two runs already across and a two away, Browbeat had runners on second and third. But Joe Bleers hit a grounder to third and first baseman Ron Hause scooped the throw to end the game.