Bentley Village bocce squad defies odds with Final Four appearance

ESTERO, Fla. (WINK) — The 15-seed Bentley Village bocce ball squad made an underdog run to the Final Four at the Spring Run bocce ball courts before their season came to an end.

The Bentley Village Blue team, with players in their 80s and 90s, is used to finishing near the bottom of the standings. The team typically finishes 22nd or 23rd out of 24 teams.

"Oh heavens no - we've always been bottom dwellers ,out of 24 we're usually 22 or 23," said 91-year-old Jerry Weiss.

Weiss said everything changed when team captain Don Rizzo joined the squad. Rizzo said the turnaround didn't happen by accident.

"It's very, very competitive," Rizzo said.

He said it started with repetition. "Practice, practice, practice. And that's what they started doing. They started practicing and developing some pretty good players," Rizzo said.

With a shot at the title, Weiss said the bracket-busting Bentley Villagers wanted to win it all.

"It's about skill sets, hand-eye coordination. And, yes, we probably have lost some of that over the years, but we're here today to prove that we haven't lost all of it," Weiss said.

The team's Final Four appearance capped off a great season for Bentley Village.