The “Z Man”, Darren Zack among inductees for Hall of Fame Class of 2010

[Midland, MI] – Teams/Fans/Players….the 2010 ISC Hall of Fame breakfast will be held at the Great Hall at the Valley Plaza Resort (5221 Bay City Road, Midland, MI, 48642) on Sunday, August 15th. Doors open at 7:30, breakfast at 8:30, and the induction ceremony will begin at 9:15.

Tickets are $20 and will be available during team registration at Valley Plaza and available to fans at Emerson Park on Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th near the ticket booth at the entrance of Currie Stadium.

Take this opportunity to relive some great moments from the history of the ISC with some of it’s biggest names. The 2010 inductees:

– John Becker
– Joe Avila
– Dennis Johnson
– Alan Rohrback
– Mark Sorenson
– The Sonnetag Family
– Darren Zack

See you in Midland!

Kyle Beane
2010 ISC Host Committee

From the Lighting Team website:

Lightning Finish 4th at ASA Major

The Lightning had a great weekend at the ASA Major National Championship in South Bend, IN. The opening game was a 7-0 victory over the Anderson Lawmen of Anderson, IN followed by a 2-1 victory over the ISC #13 ranked Minnesota Angels.

The Lightning then faced the defending ISC Champion Kitchener Rivershark Twins and dropped a 9-0 decision. Kitchener went on to win the tournament with an 11-2 victory over the Broken Bow Travelers. The next game for the Lightning was a 2-0 victory over the ISC #6 ranked Midland Explorers. The Lightning finally scratched out 2 runs in the top of the ninth inning off of All-American pitcher Frank Cox to earn the victory. The following game also lasted nine innings as the Lightning were eliminated from the tournament in a rematch with the Minnesota Angels by a score of 1-0. The Angels pitcher, Mitch Hardy, did not allow a hit in the game.

This was the best finish for the Lightning in three appearances at the ASA Major Tournament and a great step up after winning the Class A National Championship in 2009. The Lightning finished ahead of several teams that have much bigger budgets and bring in players from all over the world. Adam Saylor was named 2nd Team All-American as an outfielder and Sean Kelly was named 1st Team All-American after pitching all 5 games for the Lightning.

Editor’s notes: The # 25 ranked Lightning certainly look like a team on the rise as they head towards the ISC World Tournament in their home state of Michigan. Sean Kelly has turned in a number of outstanding pitching performances against top 10 teams and the Lightning hitters have found ways to score in the clutch, as they did in their 9 inning win over # 6 ranked Midland Explorers. Though falling in an elimination contest to Minnesota, the 1-0 score against a very strong #16 team shows consistency by the Lightning. Great efforts, even against higher ranked opponents.

The Lightning drew the honor of playing the very first game at the 2010 ISC World Tournament, this Friday night, (as in Friday the 13th) at 5pm EDT against the Shakespeare Falcons of Ontario, Canada.

The winner of that contest draws the honor of playing in the first video broadcast from the tournament, against two-time defending champions, #2 ranked Kitchener Rivershark Twins, at 4pm Saturday, August 14. That video broadcast is being streamed free of charge, before the start of the pay-per-view broadcast program that begins at 7pm

For further details on the streaming program, visit the ISC website, http://www.iscfastpitch.com

Cap tip: Brian Helwig

(click banner above for original news story)

SOUTH BEND — The Rivershark Twins of Ambler, Pa., exploded for nine runs in the fifth inning Sunday and defeated the Broken Bow (Neb.) Travelers, 11-2, in the championship game of the ASA Men’s Major fast-pitch national softball tournament at Belleville Park.

Ryan Wolfe, Jeff Goolagong and Pat Shannon hit home runs during the rally as the Twins completed a five-game unbeaten sweep through the 14-team tournament.

Todd Martin won his second game of the tourney for the Twins, who also play out of Kitchener, Ontario, in other major tournaments. Don Scott also won two games and Grant Patterson one.

Runner-up Broken Bow finished with a 3-2 record and the Minnesota Angels fought through the losers’ bracket to place third at 6-2.

The only Michiana-area entry, the Duncan Outlaws of Elkhart, were 1-2. Ex-Goshen athlete Allen Hodge was the winning pitcher in an 8-4 victory over the Dolan & Murphy Shamrocks of Aurora, Ill., and former Fairfield hurler Lane Bender lost a 2-1 duel to the Pueblo (Colo.) Bandits.

The Anderson Lawmen went 0-3.

Both Michigan entries fared well. The Marshall Lightning, last year’s ASA Class A national champions, finished fourth and the Midland Explorers tied for fifth, each at 3-2.

It was the fifth time in the last seven years that Belleville Park has hosted the event.

From the Midland Daily News:
By John Kennett jkennett (at) mdn.net

The 64th International Softball Congress World Tournament promises to be much more than just a fastpitch tournament.

The Midland host committee and the ISC have put together a full lineup of events for the tournament that runs from Aug. 13-21 at Emerson Park and Redcoats Softball Complex.

Youth Clinic featuring Gillis, Candrea

Aug. 14 features a Youth Clinic from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., with Mike Candrea and pitcher Doug Gillis. As a softball coach, Candrea has earned eight NCAA championships at the University of Arizona and has led the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal and a silver medal.

Gillis, a former Midland Explorer who will pitch for Mickey’s Sleds of Midland in the ISC Tournament, is a six-time member of the USA National Team and owner of the Doug Gillis Softball Academy in Wixom.

Admission to the clinic will be included in either a participant’s daily or tournament pass. No additional fee is necessary. All passes allow youth admission to all of Saturday’s games, the clinic, and the opening ceremonies, which will take place at 6 p.m. at Currie Stadium.

Darren Zack being inducted into Hall of Fame

On Sunday, Aug. 15, former Explorer Darren Zack will be inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame along with John Becker, Alan Rohrback, Joe Avila, the Sonnentag family, Mark Sorenson, and Dennis Johnson.

The ceremony takes place during a breakfast from 8-11 a.m. at the Great Hall at Valley Plaza. Tickets are $20.

Zack is the only player to have been selected ISC Outstanding Player four times, and has been a member of four ISC championship teams.

ISC/Special Olympics game

The third annual ISC/Special Olympics exhibition softball game, between ISC players and the Midland Special Olympics All-Stars, will take place on Wednesday Aug. 18, at Emerson Park Field No. 2.

Introduction of the Midland Special Olympics All-Stars, coached by Kathy Peariso, will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Currie Stadium. The All-Stars and the ISC players will then march together over to Emerson No. 2 for the game.

Ticket information

Tickets for all events can be purchased at Sports Junction locations in Midland (152 Ashman Circle) or Saginaw (5605 State Street), or online at www.Midland2010ISC.com. Fans may also purchase tickets by mailing a check to Midland Explorers Boosters Club, P.O. Box 1311, Midland, MI. 48640.

An adult tournament pass is $40 and a daily pass is $8. A single evening pass will be $6. For youth (11-18), the cost will be $15 for a tournament pass, $5 for a daily pass and $3 for an evening pass. Admission is free for children 10 and under. Parking is free during the entire tournament.

Live video and audio broadcasts

The ISC is offering live broadcasts of selected tournament games. The broadcast schedule kicks off with the two-time defending champion Kitchener Rivershark Twins at 4 p.m. on Aug. 14. This game will be free of charge to viewers at iscfastpitch.com.

The ISC is offering an All Access pass, which will provide fans with access to at least 24 live video broadcasts along with archived broadcasts for any games they may have missed. The cost for the pass is $49.95 before Aug. 9 and $59.95 thereafter. Details via the ISC website.