WARRENDALE - The California Spirit like to hang out with a younger crowd.

Despite not having a player in its lineup younger than 60, this 15-member women's softball team from Orange County, Calif., is three-time defending Summer National Senior Games gold medallist - in the age 55-to-59 division.

"We want to play the best competition out there, and that's the age division that has it," Spirit coach Cathy Nicholson said.

But in the 2005 Summer Games, the Spirit was being forced to play in the 60-to-65 age division.

"We didn't have a player younger than 60, so we weren't eligible to play the younger teams," Nicholson said. "That's how it was explained to us … So we went out and got a younger player."

She is Jeannie Gray, age 57. But Gray wasn't available for the Spirit's game against the North Carolina After-Burners Tuesday at Warrendale Park.

During practice Monday, a bad hop struck Gray in the eye. The bad hop wasn't surprising, considering the team was practicing in a grassy area near the parking lot of their motel.

"We practice wherever we go," 63-year-old outfielder Colleen Riley said. "That's what makes us good.

"We don't accept mediocrity. This isn't recreational softball to us."

Indeed, this team, seeded No. 1 in the Senior Games again, plays seriously - and often. The Spirit players range in age from 60 to 77, compete in an eight-team league in Orange County and travel to 16 tournaments per season.

Formed in 1999, the team has played tournaments in Canada, Utah, Florida and Washington, along with the Senior Games. The Spirit play more than 100 games per year and lose no more than seven.

They've never finished lower than second in any tournament.

A juggernaut? A powerhouse? Not in their minds.

"We're nobody special, but we've combined to put together a special thing," said 77-year-old third baseman Margie Fitzgerald. "We take a lot of pride in what we do."

The team practices regularly on a high school field back home.

"The high school kids stand by the fence and watch us," Nicholson said. "You hear them say, 'Wow' or 'Look at that play.' … We get a kick out of that. They respect us as athletes and that's all anybody out here wants."

The Spirit have a team batting average of .500. Lorie Watson, their 68-year-old left fielder, is hitting .650 this year, as is Nicholson.

The team averages 10 runs per game and allows two per contest. The Spirit defeated the North Carolina entrant, 20-0, in five innings Tuesday, allowing only two base runners and erasing one of them on a double play.

Senior Games softball rules allow for a maximum of five runs scored in an inning per team.

Pat Craig, the Spirit's 62-year-old pitcher, has been a slow-pitch softball hurler for more than 30 years and has played for more than 100 championship teams.

"We practice every Wednesday and I throw 300 to 400 pitches every practice," Craig said. "If I'm not getting strikes early in a count, I'll move to another spot on the mound until I do."

That system works. Craig averages one walk - per season. She throws four different pitches: a flat pitch, a high arc, curve ball in and a spinner out.

"We scout teams we're playing and our catchers do a good job of remembering what hitters don't like what pitches," Craig said. "They'll signal me to leave my pitches short against this hitter, lob deeper against that hitter, etc."

"She's the best pitcher around," Nicholson said. "Of all the places we've been, she's the best pitcher I've seen anywhere."

Nicholson knows about quality. A longtime high school coach in California, she's guided volleyball and gymnastics teams to California Interscholastic Federation championships.

"Cathy's a wonderful coach," Riley said. "Since she's been here, she raised the intensity level in practice, raised the level of expectations.

"She wants to win and that rubbed off on the rest of us."

The Spirit's statistician is Charlie Sarver, husband of player Konnie Sarver and a former coach at Biola University in California. Sarver uses the Total Offense System to chart the performance of the Spirit players, the same system used by Major League Baseball teams.

"This system combines at bats, hits, walks, reaching on errors, runs scored, RBI and base running to give each player a performance figure," Sarver said.

"Mark McGwire had baseball's best (TOS) number in recent years at 1.74. Konnie Sarver leads our team at 2.36."

While the Spirit play serious softball, they play for the fun of it as well. They befriend players on opposing teams and thrive on national competition.

"I step on this field and I feel like I'm 15 again," Nicholson said. "It's just fun to play … and it's more fun when you win."