Top three seeds advance in opening day of USA Wheelchair Softball World Series
For the first time in his 20-year playing career, Brian Chavez saw a first at the 2026 USA Wheelchair Softball World Series on Thursday afternoon.
With the No. 3-seeded Courage Kenny Minnesota Rolling Twins trailing 5-2 against their in-state rival and No. 11-seeded Minnesota Flamethrowers, umpires called the Twins’ third out in the top of the fourth inning, and both teams went back to their respective dugouts to prepare for the bottom half of the frame at First Interstate Sportsplex in Valley, Neb.
But after a lengthy discussion, that all changed. Umpires reversed their own call, saying there were only two outs, and the Twins got one more chance to score. They capitalized big time.
Courage Kenny scored nine runs with two outs in that inning to take a six-run lead and finished with a 14-5 victory over the Flamethrowers in a wild second-round Championship Bracket game.
The 54-year-old Chavez says that recall gave the team an energy boost and changed the game.
“It’s just energy. Because if you were watching us, we were all kind of really somber… Because to be completely honest, they’ve never scored a run on us, like ever scored a run on us. So, to have them be up five, we were all like, kind of deflated a little bit, you know?” says Chavez, a Minneapolis resident who sustained a level T12/L1 incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) after trying to commit suicide by jumping off a seven-story building in Orlando, Fla., in 2005. “And then once we started scoring, then it just changed, you know? And then it just changed the energy. And I think everybody was a little bit more rejuvenated. And then, yeah, just kind of put the pedal to the metal.”
Besides that crazy comeback, Thursday’s opening day of the Wheelchair Softball World Series, which is celebrating its 50th year, featured some rain, little upsets and a pickoff move to end another second-round Championship Bracket game.
Thunderstorms rolled in early but ended just before the event kicked off at the four-field First Interstate Sportsplex. Three of the top four teams advanced to Friday’s third-round, as the No. 1 seed and defending champ Nebraska Barons, No. 2 seed Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks and Rolling Twins each won two games, while the No. 5 seed Columbus Pioneers out of Ohio also advanced with two victories — defeating the No. 12-seeded Wheelchair Giants (Sacramento, Calif.) 10-3 in the first round and upsetting the Kansas City Royals, 7-2, in the second round.
Courage Kenny will take on LWSRA at 10 a.m. Friday, while Nebraska will take on Columbus at 11:30 a.m. Friday, with the winners meeting at 2:30 p.m. Friday with one Championship Bracket division spot on the line.
Nebraska dominated its games, winning 15-0 in four innings against the National Wheelcats out of Kentucky in the first round and recording a 15-1 victory over the Chicago Wheelchair Cubs in the second round.
Barons pitcher Travis Hasenkamp closed their second-round win with a pickoff attempt, getting a Cubs runner out at first base. Players can’t steal bases in wheelchair softball. And with two outs, he noticed a Chicago baserunner trying to be aggressive with a longer lead at first base and got her out. He says that’s happened a few times during his career.
“And as long as the the ball is thrown to the right location, we usually get them every time. The opportunity don’t arise very often. But when it does, trying to hold your adrenaline back a little bit is tough because you know what you’re about to try to do. So, it’s fun when it all works out though,” says Hasenkamp, an Elkhorn, Neb., resident who sustained a level L1 SCI in 2000 during a construction accident and is playing in his 16th USA Wheelchair Softball World Series.
2026 USA Wheelchair Softball World Series
Thursday
At First Interstate Sportsplex in Valley, Neb.
First Round
No. 16 National Wheelcats 8, No. 17 Tucson Saguaros 0
No. 1 Nebraska Barons 15, No. 16 National Wheelcats 0
No. 9 Chicago Wheelchair Cubs 7, No. 8 Deep South Hurricanes 4
No. 4 Kansas City Royals 13, No. 13 Be Abled Colt .45s 2
No 5 Columbus Pioneers 10, No. 12 Wheelchair Giants 3
No. 2 Lincolnway Special Recreation Association (LWSRA) Hawks 12, No. 15 West Michigan Rollin’ Whitecaps 0
No. 7 Parasport Wheeling to Play 9, No. 10 Shepherd Sluggers 6
No. 3 Courage Kenny Minnesota Rolling Twins 23, No. 14 New York Wheelchair Yankees 3
No. 11 Minnesota Flamethrowers 13, No. 6 Ability360 Arizona Diamondbacks 8
Third Round
No. 1 Nebraska Barons 15, No. 9 Chicago Wheelchair Cubs 1
No. 5 Columbus Pioneers 7, No. 2 Kansas City Royals 2
No. 2 LWSRA Hawks 18, No. 7 Parasport Wheeling to Play 2
No. 3 Courage Kenny Minnesota Rolling Twins 14, No. 11 Minnesota Flamethrowers 5
Consolation Bracket
First Round
No. 16 National Wheelcats 11, No. 17 Tucson Saguaros 0
Second Round
No. 10 Shepherd Sluggers 10, No. 15 West Michigan Rollin’ Whitecaps 0
No. 6 Ability360 Arizona Diamondbacks 12, No. 14 New York Wheelchair Yankees 3
No. 8 Deep South Hurricanes 6, No. 16 National Wheelcats 4
No. 13 Be Abled Colt .45s 4, No. 12 Wheelchair Giants 2
No. 10 Shepherd Sluggers 5, No. 9 Chicago Wheelchair Cubs 0
No. 4 Kansas City Royals 11, No. 6 Ability360 Arizona Diamondbacks 8
No. 7 Parasport Wheeling to Play 10, No. 8 Deep South Hurricanes 8
No. 11 Minnesota Flamethrowers 11, No. 13 Be Abled Colt .45s 4