California Lumberkings defeated Palermo Athletics 3-1 to win the Snapper Shootout in Virgil, Ontario, capping a highly successful roadtrip to Ontario, altho’ the Lumberkings have likely lost Kevin Castillo for the season.
See The Deuce for more details.
(click for schedule of games and more info)
Teams:
Group A
Casa Trejo – A1 Bombers (Palm Springs, CA)
River City Rockers (Citrus Heights, CA)
Team Rainey / IAC (Whittier / Stockton, CA)
DeMarini (Portland, OR)
Innovative Communications (Lehi, UT)Group B
Rude Pac (Sun Valley, CA)
Manor Dirtbags (Manor, TX)
Black Sox (Long Beach, CA)
Grillo’s (Santa Cecelia, MX)
Young Bucks (Santa Barbara, CA)
Sunday June 8 Elimination Schedule
Sweet Sixteen
Game #16 A5 Vs B4
8:30 AM Pershing Park – Field #1Game #17 A4 Vs B5
8:30 AM Cabrillo ParkGame #18 A3 Vs B2
8:30 AM Pershing Park – Field #2
Elite Eight
Game #19 A1 Vs Winner of Game #16
10:15 AM Pershing Park – Field #1Game #20 A2 Vs B3
10:15 AM Cabrillo ParkGame #21 B1 Vs Winner of Game #17
10:15 AM Pershing Park – Field #2
Final Four
Game #22 – Winner of Game #18 Vs Winner of Game #19
12:00 Noon Pershing Park – Field #1Game #23 – Winner of Game #20 Vs Winner of Game #21
12:00 Noon Pershing Park – Field #2
Championship Game
Game #24 –
Winner of Game #22 Vs Winner of Game #23
1:45 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
(click for schedule of games and more info)
Teams:
Group A
Casa Trejo – A1 Bombers (Palm Springs, CA)
River City Rockers (Citrus Heights, CA)
Team Rainey / IAC (Whittier / Stockton, CA)
DeMarini (Portland, OR)
Innovative Communications (Lehi, UT)Group B
Rude Pac (Sun Valley, CA)
Manor Dirtbags (Manor, TX)
Black Sox (Long Beach, CA)
Grillo’s (Santa Cecelia, MX)
Young Bucks (Santa Barbara, CA)
Saturday June 7 Round Robin Schedule
Game #1 Casa Trejo Bombers Vs River City Rockers
9:00 AM Pershing Park – Field #1
WP –
LP-
HR-
Game #2 Rude Pac Vs Manor Dirtbags
9:00 AM Pershing Park – Field #2
Game #3 Team Rainey / IAC Vs Innovative Communications
9:00 AM Cabrillo Park
Game #4 Casa Trejo Bombers Vs Portland DeMarini
10:45 AM Pershing Park – Field #1
SoCal Bombers (2)
Portland DeMarini (0)
WP –
LP- Matias Tessore
HR-
Game #5
10:45 AM Pershing Park – Field #2
Santa Cecelia Grillos 8
Manor Dirtbags 2
WP – Panfilo Valdez
LP – Johnny Miles
HR – Jesus Aguilar (SCG), Esteban Solano (SCG), Abraham Savala (SCG) and David Huang?
Game #6 – 10:45 AM at Cabrillo Park
Long Beach Black Sox – 7
Young Bucks – 5
WP – Randy Clay
LP – Guido Silbert
HR – Anthony Rocha (LBBS) (3-run homer)
Game #7 – 12:30 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
Portland DeMarini – 5
Team Rainey / IAC – 1
WP – Matt Barnes
LP – Cody Thompson
Jeff Reich – 2 hits; Ryan Dailey 2-3
Game #8 Rude Pac V Santa Cecelia Grillos
12:30 PM Pershing Park – Field #2
WP –
LP-
HR-
Game #9 Innovative Communications Vs Young Bucks
12:30 PM (Cross/Over Game) Cabrillo Park
WP –
LP-
HR-
Game #10 Casa Trejo Bombers Vs Team Rainey / IAC
2:15 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
WP –
LP-
HR-
GAME #11 Long Beach Black Sox Vs Santa Cecelia Grillos
2:15 PM Pershing Park – Field #2
WP –
LP-
HR-
Game #12 – 4:00 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
Portland DeMarini – 5
River City Rockers – 3
WP – Matias Tessore
LP – Ed Gasper
HR – Mark Sumner (RCR) (3 run homer); Rob Gehrke 2-3; Callum Ryan ? 2-3;
Game #13 – 4:00 PM Pershing Park – Field #2
Long Beach Black Sox –
Rude Pac
WP
LP – Mark Bennett
Chris Minogue 2-3 with 2 doubles; Dan Plesantz? RBI
Game #14 River City Rockers Vs Innovative Communications
5:45 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
WP –
LP-
HR-
Game #15 Manor Dirtbags Vs Young Bucks
5:45 PM Pershing Park – Field #2
WP –
LP-
HR-
Lumberking second baseman Kevin Castillo was injured late last night when a runner slid into him. He was carried off the field and eventually taken to a Buffalo NY hospital at 3am NY time.
Castillo is a 23 year old from Long Beach, California, and one of the bright young start in American fastpitch. Just last month, he had been named to Team USA, after a stellar career with the USA Jr. National team. Castillo normally plays first or third base, but was playing second base due to the fact that the Lumberkings were missing their regular players up the middle.
After getting the news late last night, Kevin’s dad, Paul and Mrs. Castillo caught a red-eye flight to Buffalo to be with his son. He was at the hospital, and, as of 1pm NY time, they were waiting for him to go into surgery. Kevin has a broken fibula and torn ligaments, and according to the doctors, will not be able to start rehab for at least two months.
The California Lumberkings won their opening night game in Niagara Falls, Ontario, at the Snapper Shootut, a 6-2 win over Ohsweken, but it was a costly win, as they suffered the loss of second baseman Kevin Castillo, whose ankle was broken by a sliding baserunner. It was just a week or so ago that Castillo was named to TEAM USA Men’s Softball team. We are told the injury will require surgery, and that Kevin is expected to be out at least 6-8 weeks.
Kevin was taken to the hospital in St. Catherine’s, just down the road from Niagara Falls. We were told that they would not accept his insurance, and told him that it would cost $3000 for an ambulance ride to a Buffalo, New York area hospital, about a half hour away.
The team paid for the doctors to put Kevin in a soft cast, and his teammates drove him to the Buffalo hospital. They were just pulling into the Buffalo hospital about 3:00 a.m. New York time when I spoke with them by phone.
Meanwhile, back in the “other” Ontario — Ontario, California, Kevin’s mother and father (Paul Castillo) were racing to catch a midnight flight to Buffalo to meet up with Kevin, and are expected to arrive by 11:00 a.m. Buffalo time. We caught up with Kevin’s dad just as they were boarding, so they will arrive Saturday morning.
If Dan Bernard or Jay Paylove, or any Snappers read this post, (and have not already spoken with Lumberking’s manager David Weldin, please call him at 661.472.1716, as he was trying to reach you about the tournament’s insurance information.
From:
Six men’s fast-pitch softball teams, including two locals, will compete in the 2008 Larry Smogoleski/Willie Strzynski Memorial Tournament at Oriole Field this weekend.
All games in the double-elimination tourney will be played on Oriole Field’s No. 1 Diamond with action starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and continuing on into the evening.
Play resumes at 9 a.m. Sunday with the championship game slated for 11.
The local teams are Manpower Rookies and GLC1, both of Ludington. The other four teams are Wright Way Tree Company of Eaton Rapids, Hastings Merchants, Munn Manufacturing of Middleville and Excel Appraisal of Lansing.
The schedule:
SATURDAY: Game 1, Manpower Rookies vs. Wright Way Tree Company, 8:30 a.m.; Game 2, GLC1 vs. Hastings Merchants, 10:15 a.m.; Game 3, Munn Manufacturing vs. Manpower, Wright Way winner, 12 p.m.; Game 4, Excel Appraisal vs. GLC1, Hastings winner, 1:45 p.m.; Game 5, GLC1, Hastings loser vs. the game 3 loser, 3:30 p.m.; Game 6, Manpower, Wright Way loser vs. the game 4 loser, 5:15 p.m.; Game 7, Winner’s bracket game, winner advances to championship game, 7 p.m.; Game 8, Loser’s bracket game, 8:45 p.m.
SUNDAY: Game 9, Loser’s bracket game, winner advances to championship, 9 a.m.; Game 10, Championship game, 11 a.m.; Game 22, Second championship game, if necessary, 1 p.m.
Familiar Faces Back on the Mound for Team Rainey This Weekend at Best of the West
Sebastian Gervasutti (shown above) is back. Back in Black. Back from a winter season in Guatemala and his home country of Argentina, and back with his former team, Team Rainey. And from colder regions north, hard-throwing Bricklen Anderson is back. And, of course, Team Rainey is back, after a one-year hiatus.
“Seba”, “Brick” and Team Rainey will be back together again this weekend in beautiful, sunny Santa Barbara, for the 18th Annual Best of the West Tournament. They will be among the favorites in the tournament, along with fellow ISC teams, the So Cal Bombers and Portland DeMarini. The last time we saw Sebastian with Team Rainey, it was in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, in the 2006 ISC World Tournament, where he/they played very well, knocking off two higher ranked teams, and nearly making it to the Top 10, falling to a powerful Heflin Gremlin team.
Sebastian figures to be in mid-season form, having spent the winter pitching at the AAU (where his team Mac’s Sprayers won the title), and in Guatemala. We caught up with him last weekend as he was making his way through the airport, enroute to California. He was excited to be here, and excited to be pitching with his old teammates.
Team Rainey is a local success story. Founded by its namesake, Rod Rainey in 1998, the squad began playing at the “C” level, and worked their way up, the old fashioned way, through hard work, and adding talent as they went, one piece at a time. Starting with the core nucleus of Rod Rainey, Jesse Duncan, Tony Acedo, Ralph Salcido, Dee Nieblas, who played together locally, they added the Hunt brothers, Chris and Tim (both Team USA players), then Nate Devine (also Team USA member) and Mike Butler.
They arrived on the game’s biggest stage, the ISC World Tournament, in 2003, with pitcher Travis Price as the centerpiece. They upset a # 6 ranked Owen Sound, Ontario team that year, and nearly made it to the Sweet Sixteen, falling in a first-ever round-robin playoff game for the final slot, at Kimberly, Wisconsin. The team continued to build and grow in 2005 and 2006, adding pitcher Tony Peeples (who is now with Rainey rival So Cal Bombers). Along the way, the team notched some big wins against some big teams and pitchers, including a 2005 Rose Cup victory over Korrey Garreau, last year’s ISC Outstanding Pitcher at the Rose Cup tournament.
The 2006 season brought two top pitchers to the fold, Bricklen Anderson from British Columbia, and Sebastian Gervasutti, from Argentina. But with fewer teams and tournaments out west, the team found itself traveling to the midwest and parts east so they could continue to play the top level teams, in preparation for the ISC World Tournament. Three hour time zone differences and jet lag take their toll, as does the cost of operating an ISC World Tournament level team. So in 2007, Rod Rainey decided to shutter operations. But his love of the game and top level competition kept him around the diamond, as he and a few of his players wound up playing up north for Portland in 2007. But after securing commitments from his two pitchers, Sebastian Gervasutti and Bricklen Anderson, and adding players from Team USA Manager Pete Turner’s IAC squad, Team Rainey is again a team. And once again, they have their sites set on the Best of the West title, which they held for three years running (2002-2004). The competion for this year’s trophy will be stiff. Standing in their way is last year’s ISC World Tournament runner-up, the So Cal Bombers, with All-World pitcher Lucas Mata. The Bombers were the team that finally dethroned Rainey as Best of the West champion in 2005 after Rainey’s three consecutive titles, and are currently ranked # 5 in the world. Team Rainey enters the 2008 season at # 16. Defending Best of the West champions Innovative Communications of Utah will be back in Santa Barbara as well. They have won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 and looking to match Rainey’s three-in-a-row record. Portland De Marini will be there as well, and a host of others. This one figures to be the strongest field of teams in the 18 year history of the tournament — and one that So Cal fastpitch fans don’t want to miss.
“Mr. Smith Goes to the Yukon”
As announced by Kyle Smith during tonight’s California Lumberking broadcasts, Ballparkradio will be on hand in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, to broadcast the final four days of the ISF Jr. World Championships, including the medal round games over the final weekend, June 25-29, 2008. Broadcasters Kyle Smith and Jim Flanagan will be bringing you all the action.
The 12 country tournament gets underway on June 21, 2008, including teams from:
1. Canada
2. United States
3. Mexico
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Japan
7. Argentina
8. Venezuela
9. Denmark
10. Czech Republic
11. Botswana
12. South Africa
For more information on the tournament, click the ISF Jr. logo, above.
Click here for a PDF of the complete schedule of games.
(click photo for official tournament website)
A fastpitch player and friend in San Diego passed along a bit of interesting news today — that the winning lottery ticket – – worth a cool $40 million — was purchased in Vista, California, at a place familiar to all who have followed fastpitch in San Diego – “Slick’s Liquor”. (Click here for the story in the North County Times)
“Slick’s Liquor” was established by its namesake, Carl “Slick” Davis, founder, owner, sponsor and manager of the Vista Bombers, one of fastpitch’s premier franchises during the 1970’s, when it competed in the Western Softball Congress and ISC World Tournaments. Slick’s Vista Bombers boasted the likes of pitcher Cary Weiler, slugging catcher Steve Turigliatto, slappers Steve Miner (now coaching the women’s team at SDSU), Jimmy Williams, Dickie Campbell, Slick’s son Cory, and a long list of San Diego greats. I had the privilege of wearing the Vista Bomber uniform during the 1980’s, after Slick’s son, Cory took the reigns, and again in the 1990’s, when I had the team, along with Slick’s sons Cory and Tommy.
The store was sold in 1986 after Slick passed away, but his name lives on, and, apparently, so does his magic…
June 2, 2008 – A pair of tournament wins in Sonora and Sacramento propelled the California Lumberkings to the top of the ISC II rankings, edging out preseason favourite and defending ISC II champion South Lebanon, PA TNT.
Click here for the full story at our brother blog The Deuce.