Saturday, November 14, 2026
Shortstop Tom Vander Aarde turns a double play.
Team members and their spouses gathered at 2Shea’s Salty Dog to celebrate the championship.
Mike Schwab, 2Shea’s Salty Dog Manager, receives the championship trophy from Bill Shurina, commissioner of the Marco Island Senior Softball Tournament.
The 2022 Senior Softball Championship team from 2Shea's Salty Dog and their championship trophy. Back row from left: Mike Schwab, Tom Vander Aarde, Glenn Davis, Jeff Robinson, Brian Alexander, Jim Ramage, Wayne Bombaci, Rick Bennedetti. Front row: Jim Vitas, John Nicholas, Tom Angelo, Joe Lazzarotti, Jeff Kaczka, John “JR” Rysak, and Mike Garofalo. Not pictured is Peter Karl.
The underdog came away as the top dog in the top division of this year’s Marco Island Senior Softball Tournament.
In a rare occurrence, a team came from the tourney’s losers’ bracket to capture the Island Division crown when third-seeded 2Shea's Salty Dog defeated top-seed DaVinci’s to capture the championship. The tournament was held recently at Winterberry Park.
Salty Dog beat DaVinci’s two games in a row for the crown, 13-to-8 and in the final contest, 15-to-11, in extra-innings.
DaVinci’s earned the double-elimination tournament’s top seed by finishing the 20-game regular season in first place in the six-team division. “They figured they were going to take that too, but we had other plans,” Salty Dog manager, Mike Schwab, said of the tourney.
This was his third year managing the Salty Dog Island Division team, his fifth year managing in the senior softball league and his first time winning it all.
“I’ve gotten close before, but never reached and grabbed it,” said Schwab. “This team was exceptional. There were 13 great guys. Everybody had a great year. We were the underdog, so we were everybody’s favorite. It was just an incredible thing.”
“It was probably the biggest crowd we’ve ever had. It was pretty cool.”
For the post-championship celebration, the team headed to 2Shea's Salty Dog Marco, in the Walk Plaza. Because DaVinci’s Ristoranté Italiano was not yet open for the day, the eatery’s team gathered at another Marco Walk restaurant, Nacho Mama’s, where they displayed the good sportsmanship the league is known for.
“They are very generous and sent over three pitchers of beer, at their expense, which was very nice,” said Schwab.
He had high praise for the tournament and for the camaraderie the league fosters.
“It was a great week and there are so many friendships formed that are for the rest of our lives,” said Schwab. “This is just a bunch of guys who are reliving their youth and the wives are all there cheering us on. It’s just so incredible.”
The tournament also saw the Snook Inn capture the Marco Division title, while in the Gulf Coast Division, the American Legion, also the third seed, won the championship.
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