Nebraska Takes Home 2025 Wheelchair Softball World Series Title In Minnesota
Nebraska’s offense kept humming along.
After getting hot on Friday morning, the Barons stayed that way throughout the final day and a half of the Wheelchair Softball World Series.
Nothing slowed them down — not two long lightning delays, not rain showers and not their opponents in Bloomington, Minn.
No. 2-seeded Nebraska scored double-digit run totals in all five of its games, including an 11-5 championship game victory over the No. 4-seeded LWSRA Hawks, to win Saturday’s Wheelchair Softball World Series Division I title at the Mall of America north parking lot.
After Minnesota claimed the 2024 Wheelchair Softball World Series Division I title in Omaha, Neb., the Barons returned the favor in the Rollin’ Twins’ home state.
It left Nebraska’s Doug Bargman satisfied.
“Yeah, they’ve gotten us twice at home, but yeah, it was definitely sweet to get it back. We felt we kind of should have had it the last few, but yeah, definitely wanted to come out and really play hard today,” says the 43-year-old Bargman, who’s played wheelchair softball the past 18 years after sustaining a level T12 spinal cord injury (SCI) in a car accident on Sept. 12, 2004, in Lincoln, Neb.
After a two-and-a-half hour storm and lightning delay, Nebraska defeated the top-seeded Rollin’ Twins, 13-3 in six innings, to reach the championship game, while LWSRA rallied past Minnesota, 5-3, to advance from the consolation final.
Nebraska’s offensive firepower surged in the hot afternoon sun.
Nebraska jumped out on LWSRA early, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning. With a runner on base, Alex Nguyen had an RBI single, and Matt Johnson followed with an RBI single deep in the outfield. Then, David Nelson added a two-RBI double and Travis Hasenkamp added an RBI single.
That put the Barons up early and left LWSRA trying to climb back, which the Hawks did.
Down 9-2 after four-and-half innings, LWSRA’s Devin Lockett crushed a two-RBI double, while Keith Cooper added an RBI single to cut the deficit to four. But they didn’t get any closer.
Brent Rasmussen’s two-RBI single in the top of the sixth gave the Barons some extra insurance runs, leading to their 14th Wheelchair Softball World Series title overall and first since 2021.
The 39-year-old Johnson is a lower left leg amputee after developing synovial sarcoma, a cancer that develops in the body’s soft tissues, as a teenager. He’s played wheelchair softball the past 21 years and loves the camaraderie and the Barons’ team. As for their offense, he says patience helped them.
“But if I’m finding the right pitches to hit and being a little bit patient, but not too patient, and just finding holes, I mean, it’s really what the game’s about,” Johnson says. “Just if you can find the right holes, not hit it right to guys, make people move left and right, you know, that increases your chances a whole lot on getting on base when you make guys in the outfield move left and right and they have to make a throw.”
Wheelchair Cubs Nab Division II
Offense and crazy plays filled the Division II Wheelchair Softball World Series championship game.
But Chicago Wheelchair Cubs pitcher Angelo Cruz and his teammates just did enough in the final half inning to hang on, as the No. 7-seeded Cubs pulled out a 11-10 victory Saturday afternoon over the No. 6-seeded Shepherd Sluggers.
Chicago led 11-8 in the seventh inning, before Shepherd scored twice to close within one. But the Wheelchair Cubs hung on.
“We can’t make it easy. We’ve always got to make it interesting,” says the 61-year-old Cruz, who sustained a level T12 SCI after being struck by a stray bullet when he was 18 years old.
Cruz has played wheelchair softball for the past 30 years. And this game was fun, with all types of ups and downs.
“When it was time to bat, our hitters … pulled through. They just pulled through,” Cruz says. “We stuck together as a team, through the ups and the downs, and we pulled through when we had to.”
Colt 45s Swing To Division III Title
The patchwork Colt 45s took home the Division III title.
The No. 17-seed Colt 45s jumped out to seven-run lead in the first two innings and then held on for a 9-5 Wheelchair Softball World Series Division III championship game victory Saturday afternoon against the No. 16-seed New York Yankees.
After adding some new players and others transferred over in the past few weeks, the Colt 45s had a better Saturday, winning their final three games.
Edward Gonzales says they closed out against the Yankees, a team they had beaten 13-0 in their opening game Thursday. An Odessa, Texas, resident, the 29-year-old was born a double amputee and has played wheelchair softball for three years. He thought their teamwork improved plenty.
“So, we all kind of put into pieces and try to complete the puzzle. We obviously did,” Gonzales says. “It’s not how we wanted to, we could have gone further, you know, in the higher division. But this is good though. This is a good start. This is a good first for us all together.”
Wheelchair Softball World Series At Mall of America
Division I
No. 2 Nebraska Barons 13, No. 1 Minnesota Rollin’ Twins 3 (6 innings)
No. 4 LWSRA Hawks 14, No. 8 Kansas City Royals 2
No. 4 LWSRA Hawks 5, No. 1 Minnesota Rollin’ Twins 3
Seventh-Place Game
No. 5 San Antonio ParaSport Spurs 11, No. 9 Deep South Hurricanes 5
Fifth-Place Game
No. 3 Columbus Pioneers 11, No. 11 Ability360 Arizona Diamondbacks 1
Championship
No. 2 Nebraska Barons 11, No. 4 LWSRA Hawks 5
Division II
Friday and Saturday
No. 16 New York Yankees 6, No. 14 West Michigan Rollin’ Whitecaps 4
No. 12 National Wheelcats 6, No. 18 Tucson Rolling Saguaros 2
No. 10 Minnesota Flamethrowers 13, No. 16 New York Yankees 1
No. 6 Shepherd Sluggers 9, No. 17 Colt 45s 5
No. 15 San Francisco Wheelchair Giants 13, No. 13 STRAPS 4
No. 7 Chicago Wheelchair Cubs, won by forfeit over No. 12 National Wheelcats
No. 6 Shepherd Sluggers 10, No. 10 Minnesota Flamethrowers 6
No. 7 Chicago Wheelchair Cubs 10, No. 15 San Francisco Wheelchair Giants 4
Third-Place Game
No. 10 Minnesota Flamethrowers 6, No. 15 San Francisco Wheelchair Giants 3
Championship
No. 7 Chicago Wheelchair Cubs 11, No. 6 Shepherd Sluggers 10
Division III
Friday and Saturday
No. 14 West Michigan Rollin’ Whitecaps 10, No. 18 Tucson Rolling Saguaros 2
No. 17 Colt 45s, defeated No. 13 STRAPS (no score listed)
No. 16 New York Yankees 5, No. 14 West Michigan Rollin’ Whitecaps 4
No. 17 Colt 45s 9, No. 12 National Wheelcats 8
Third-Place Game
No. 14 West Michigan Rollin’ Whitecaps 5, No. 12 National Wheelcats 3
Championship
No. 17 Colt 45s 9, No. 16 New York Yankees 5