MEDWAY, MA - The New England Intensity of the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) held a no-holds-barred Dodgeball Tournament on Sunday, May 20^th at Teamworks in Northborough, Massachusetts.  Amazingly, no broken bones or profusely bleeding injuries resulted!

Eight teams were accepted into the highly-competitive field.  Among the participating organizations were the "Wicked Pissahs", a Boston-based Roller Derby Team, two squads from The Brandon Residential Treatment Center in Natick, a team from The Blackstone Academy Charter School in Pawtucket, one from Greenpoint Mortgage Funding in Waltham, and several other teams comprised of various "hired guns" as well as member of the New England Intensity, your local women's tackle football team.

The fierce double-elimination tourney was off to a furious start as the Average Jojos narrowly clawed their way into the winner's bracket out of the first round, along with The Ball Busters, The Hurlers (from Blackstone Academy) and The Pain Producers. 

The second round was a good round if you were from Brandon, as their two teams, the Snipers and Duck Dodgers rebounded from first-round losses to dispose of the Sitting Ducks from Greenpoint and Wicked Pissahs, led by Kath Poehler, respectively.  Unfortunately for both of those teams, they would be watching from behind the safety net for the rest of the afternoon.  A shame too, as Rae Rae O'Neal, Michelle Pacheo, and Kelly Kraynak battled valiantly for their team.  

In other second round action, the Blackstone Hurler's led by Juan Martinez, Kyle Duhamel, Omar Gomez, Jason Fall and Kenny Carrier won a slug-fest versus the Average Jojo's sending them to the loser's bracket.  The Ball Busters (AKA the Donovan Express?represented by Tricia, Jimmy, and Ryan "Mini Man of Muscle") well-oiled machine of a team was able to defeat the Pain Producers and advance.

Round three had The Snipers from Brandon, captained by Kevin "The Rocket" Edwards (but we all know the brains and muscle of that operation is Lesley Lopes) knocking the Pain Producers into front row spectator seats for the rest of the day.  The Average Jojo's with some gutsy front-line play by Lizz Vogel and Jojo Gauthier propelled the AJs to a bounceback victory over Brandon's other squad and a berth in the semi-finals of the loser's bracket.    While over in the winners bracket, The Hurler's Gilbert Rodriguez, Vivian Lima, and Alfonso Acevedo were too much for the Ball Busters who were given a first class ticket on a private jet to the loser's bracket. 

In one of the most spectacular comebacks in all of sport, the Average Jojos, down to just two players (Kim Herrig and Kelly Patterson) versus five for The Snipers in round four dug their heels in, refused to be intimidated, and miraculously came back to win the match!  When asked what was going through her head when facing elimination, Kim replied, "I remembered Patches O'Houlihan didn't give up, and I got into winning mode". The crowd was going wild and rumor has it the Professional Dodgeball scouts were lighting up the phone lines after the game!  

You've heard of the adage "No rest for the weary", well the AJs personified the saying as they had to now face the well-rested Ball Busters for the loser's bracket finale and the rights to play the undefeated Blackstone Hurlers for championship!   Some questionable pre-match substitutions to the roster of the Ball Busters was not enough to rattled the Average Jojos, who quickly dispatched the BBs, thanks largely to the scrappy play of Stacey "The Hulk" DeLuca who continued to make interceptions on the Dodgeball court the way she been doing lately on the football field!!

So it all came down to this . . . a rematch of second round opponents . . . The Hurlers from the winners bracket, where Santiago Alvizurez, Michael Gutirrez and Michael Murphy had been blazing a trail to glory with the sweat of their opponents (as their heads snap back from the well-aimed dodge ball shots), versus the never-say-die Average Jojos.   In anticipation of a veritable pressure cooker of a match, extra referees were brought in, anchored by Cliff "the ?Keep it fair' man" Ashley, Maggie Koosa, and Anita Barnes. 

Given The Hurlers Mercurial rise throughout the tournament that included a stomping of the AJs earlier on, nobody gave the Average Jojos a shot . . . except the Average Jojos!   "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood," said Jojo Gauthier, ready for the rematch.  And doing what they do best, the pesky Average Jojos played solid team ball and executed the fundamentals well behind Ben Brown (averaging 3.87 kills per game) along with Lizz Vogel, Kim Herrig, Kelly Patterson, and the Hulkster to  beat the odds and prevail as the first-ever New England Intensity Dodgeball Tournament Champions!  Please note, that the Dodgeball Tournament was a fundraiser to help offset New England Intensity game day costs so no $50,000 pot was awarded.