YAKIMA, WA - The 2006 Early Bird Invite was held on April 1st and 2nd in Yakima, WA at the Gateway/Kiwanis Sports Complex. There were fourteen teams entered in the tournament with teams being divided into three brackets, upper, middle and lower.

On a weekend where some of the teams were not sure if the tournament would even happen, Saturday would be a day of hurry up and wait. The prior few weeks the Pacific Northwest had been hit with constant rain that would not stop. But when Saturday morning arrived and the first pitch was released the players thought that this would be the end of the rain_ which it was for the first round of games. But the clouds rolled back in and the rain came down for over four hours. With the great work of the field crew all of the teams got their Saturday games in even though they had to wait the many hours for the rain to stop.

When Sunday came it was a perfect day for softball. In the end five teams ended up with a 3-2 record in the upper bracket. Since they were playing a round robin bracket the Tournament Director went with a plus minus to decide the champion. Peppers (Yakima, WA) came out on top with the highest total to take the championship. Angry Beaver (Spokane, WA) took 2nd while Jailbreak (Walla Walla, WA) came in 3rd.

In the middle bracket there were two teams with the same record but Elk Creek Tribe out of White Swan, WA had a higher plus minus to take the title. They needed to beat Scrubs/Grants Crew (Yakima, WA) to force a tie and they did just that by a score of 12-8. B&D Transmission (Yakima, WA) came in 3rd place.

In the lower bracket the Shockers (Sunnyside, WA) went undefeated for the tournament to take the title. Heritage Eagles (Wapato, WA) came in 2nd and Far West Fab (Yakima, WA) took 3rd place.