The Panteras Valentine Tournament in Norwalk, CA was rained out Sunday. The single elimination championship round will resume next Saturday, February 25, 2005. Watch here at Fastpitchwest for the bracket, and any schedule changes (in the event that any teams are unable to return next week)
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Norwalk Rained Out Sunday, To Resume Next Saturday
Sunday, February 19th, 2006Sonny Perkins Pitches Soboba to # 1 Seed at Norwalk
Sunday, February 19th, 2006A month ago, Sonny Perkins helped pitch Team USA to the AAU Championship in Orlando, Florida. Saturday in Norwalk, CA he spun a couple of gems, surrendering but one run in each of two games, and pitched Soboba to the #1 seed for Sunday’s single elimination bracket.
Rain started to fall again late Saturday night, so Fernie Ramirez and his crew will have their hands full getting the fields ready for Sunday’s 8:30 a.m. games. The final seeding for Sunday’s bracket was still being determined at press time. We’ll try to post a schedule on Sunday morning.
Calgary Invitational Fastball Tournament – May 27-28, 2006
Thursday, February 16th, 2006Calgary Invitational Fastball Tournament
Hosted by Calgary Cobras Men’s Fastball Club
Governed by ISC Playing and Pitching Rules
$3000.00 in prize money—$ 400.00 entry fee
May 27 – 28, 2006 Calgary Industrial Diamonds
Open to Senior A and Senior Open Men’s Teams
1st Prize————$1800.00
2nd Prize————$ 800.00
3rd Prize————$ 400.00
3 Game Guarantee Pending Mininum 8 teams. Increased Prize money if replies
from more than 8 teams are received.
Contact :
Darren White
ccobras@shaw.ca
1-800-310-6484
—–OR—–
Todd McCabe
ISC Canada West
Travel League Commissioner
Todd_mccabe23@hotmail.com
(780)714-7799 CELL
Yer Out! No Baseball, Softball for 2012
Thursday, February 9th, 2006Yer Out! No Baseball, Softball for 2012
TURIN, Italy – They’re out! Baseball and softball won’t be played at the 2012 London Olympics. And this time, the call stands.
Baseball and women’s softball remain on the program for the 2008 Beijing Games, and will be eligible to reapply for readmission to the 2016 games.
London, however, is no longer possible.
“We will work with them at the Olympic Games at Beijing and see if there’s a chance to come back in the program” after London, IOC president Jacques Rogge said. “I understand the disappointment of those who pleaded for the reinstatement.”
Click link above for the complete story.
Get the Morning Brief Via Email
Tuesday, February 7th, 2006For those of you who like knowing when new posts go up at the Morning Brief blog, but don’t like to bother with checking back all the time, we have an easy, automated solution — Feed Blitz. In short, you just sign up to receive Morning Brief via email.
For more info, click the Feed Blitz logo above, or the link over there at the upper right that says “Get Morning Brief via Email”
‘Hawks made L.B. a softball mecca
Friday, February 3rd, 2006‘Hawks made L.B. a softball mecca
http://www.presstelegram.com/greatestmoments/ci_3469962
By Bob Keisser, Staff writer
Posted: 02/03/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
Before there was Sean Burroughs and the Little League heroes, before the Dirtbags were born, before Lisa Fernandez, before Tony Gwynn, before Sean’s dad Jeff, before Joe Hicks, before Blair Field, before all those CIF champs and stars, even before Bob Lemon became a star, there were the Long Beach Nitehawks.
Born in 1933, relocated to Long Beach in 1939. Winners of 10 International Softball Congress world championships. Twenty-three Hall of Famers. That is not a misprint.
The franchise folded in 1988 and scarcely anyone but the old-timers in town noticed because men’s professional fast-pitch softball had lost whatever modest appeal it once held for the masses. On the sports menu, it went from entree to appetizer to fast-dissolving after-dinner mint.
But in its own time, the Nitehawks were a source of pride and success in town. The ball-and-bat lineage of Lemon and Vern Stephens can be traced to the Nitehawks, and former Cubs and PCL star Lou Novikoff had an entire second act on the field with the Nitehawks.
Nick Hopkins was one of the finest-fielding shortstops in pro softball history, and the Wilson product and one-time Boston Red Sox prospect played 19 seasons for the Nitehawks. Saturday night, he’ll be inducted into the Century Club Hall of Fame, joining two other Nitehawk legends, team founder Joe Rodgers and former player, manager and owner Red Meairs.
Amid all of Long Beach’s rich baseball history, the Nitehawks
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also earned a lofty spot on the Century Club’s 50 Greatest Sports Moments List that was compiled in honor of the club’s 50th anniversary.
“Back in the ’50s and ’60s, people really liked coming out to watch the Nitehawks,” Hopkins, 68, said from his home. “We’d draw a couple of thousand people for our big games and our holiday tournaments. We’d play the Lakewood Jets and there would be people lined up along the tennis court fences.
“Then we’d go to the world championships, usually in the Midwest, and draw crowds of 6,000 or more. Back then you could get three cans of beer for a buck, too. It was a pretty good deal.”
Back then, Hopkins estimates there were at least 350 city league men’s teams playing in Long Beach, and there were a dozen pro teams in Southern California playing high-end softball in search of a Western Softball Congress title and a trip to the world championships, which ranged from 16-to 48-team double elimination tournaments.
Four of those World Championships were held in Long Beach (1958-60 and 1976) and sponsored in part by the Century Club. The original ISC Hall of Fame opened here in 1972, and has since moved. It was only proper considering the Nitehawks’ hold on the sport.
The team won the 1953 world title, six in a row from 1955 to 1960, and then in 1968, 1971 and 1975. They finished second six times and in the top four five other seasons. They missed the world tournament just once between 1951 and 1977.
Forty different Nitehawks earned all-American or all-world status for their play in the world championships, and 12 players from the core 1950s teams are in the Hall of Fame (see list). Six former Nitehawks LeRoy Zimmerman, Stan White, Larry Silvas, Cleo Goyette, Clint Herron and Lucky Humiston, plus manager Rodgers were chosen to the ISC all-time team two years ago.
Hopkins was all-world in 1966 and 1969 and inducted into the hall in 1992. As a kid, he recalls getting caught sneaking into a game at Joe Rodgers Field, by Rodgers himself, and thinking he’d never be allowed back. Instead, Rodgers invited him to stick around. “I remember thinking ‘does anyone ever hit the ball in this game?”
“What I learned was that this was a pitcher’s game, low-scoring. If you had good pitching and caught the ball in the field, you could win.”
Hopkins never forgot those games. After starring in baseball at Wilson, he signed with the Red Sox and played in their system from 1955 to 1958, getting as far up their chain as Memphis.
“I got married young and had a son, and was probably a little too young when I signed,” he said. “There was a lot of travel and I was getting homesick. The Giants offered me a second chance to play closer to home, but by then I had a good job (route salesman for a bakery). I’m not sorry I did that.”
He was playing ball, after all. Like a lot of the Nitehawks, he played for the Long Beach Rockets Sunday semipro baseball team as well as fast-pitch. He was playing ball four or five nights a week, often year-round.
“We had great teams,” he said. “Third-baseman Clint Herron played until he was 50. Stan White was a great catcher who threw so hard to second that the ball would still be rising when it got there. The same guys stayed together for a long time and we got better each year.
“Joe and Red always had good pitchers. If you could pitch and catch the ball, you could scrape a run in here and there and win. When I joined the Nitehawks, I wasn’t much of a hitter, but I was pretty good in the field, and when Jimmie Jones (another Nitehawks Hall of Famer) retired, I got the job.”
Nick’s son played for the Nitehawks in the ’80s, but the drift of the sport was pretty obvious then. Modest city stipends dried up, as did attendance, the number of teams and ability to find quality players.
Meairs, a Wilson baseball and basketball player who was on LBCC’s 1942 state title basketball team, was a postal employee in real life who went into hock every year the last decade or so to keep the team afloat.
The one-time Dodgers minor leaguer considered shutting down the team in 1986, then finally pulled the plug in 1988, after the Nitehawks’ last trip to the world championships.
“I’ve been to the Century Club’s banquet a lot, and always felt it was great that athletes in our city were always honored,” Hopkins said of his induction. “I’m a Long Beach boy, and it’s a great honor for me and to all those guys who played for the Nitehawks.”
Men’s Fastball at 2007 Pan Ams in Brazil ? (Maybe)
Wednesday, February 1st, 2006Hope for reinstatement of Men’s Fastball at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Brazil. Click here for details.
Cap tip: Blair Setford, at GHFL.ca
Sad News of the Passing of David Echeveste
Thursday, January 26th, 2006I am deeply saddened to note the passing of our friend, David Echeveste. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Margaret and children, his dad, teammate and manager, Manny, his brother and teammate Eddie, and to the entire Echeveste family. The Echevestes, including David, have been big part of the fastpitch community in Southern California for a long, long time. I was honored to call David a teammate for two years, while playing for the Riverside Merchants . Information from the Press Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, CA is reprinted below:
ECHEVESTE, DAVID MANUEL Age 35, of Riverside, CA., passed away on 01/22/2006. David was born 04/09/1970 in Lynwood, CA. He was employed by MBM Food Distributors as a Transportation Manager in Riverside for 15 years. He attended Harvest Christian Fellowship and managed the Jurupa Pony League. David is survived by his wife, Margaret Echeveste; daughter, Alexis Nicole Echeveste; son, David Jordan Echeveste; parents, Manuel and Diane Echeveste; brother, Edward Echeveste; sister, Deena Echeveste; grandmother, Lucille Villarreal. Funeral Fri., 01/27, 10am at Acheson & Graham Garden of Prayer Mortuary with interment to follow at Olivewood Memorial Park, Riverside. ACHESON & GRAHAM GARDEN OF PRAYER MORTUARY (951) 688-1221. Published in the Press-Enterprise on 1/25/2006.
Click here if you wish to make an entry in the guest book provided. We encourage you to take a moment and add a note there. I am told that the services at Acheson & Graham are at 7944 Magnolia Ave, Riverside, CA. It’s in the Arlington area of Riverside, off Jefferson St, west of the 91 Fwy.
Photos of David and family.(Click “images” link on right side of page that follows)
Travis Price, Frank DeGroat Jr. Pick Up MVP’s for Team USA at AAU
Monday, January 23rd, 2006From the USA Softball website and Brian McCall:
Team USA Stats
Team USA Photo Gallery
Team USA Box Scores and Play-by-Play
Roster for Team USA, 2006 AAU International Tournament Champions
USA Softball wins 2006 AAU International Men’s Fastpitch Tourney
Orlando, Fla.—The USA Softball Men’s National Team completed a stellar week by capturing the 2006 AAU Men’s International Fast Pitch Tournament with a 3-2 win over Team Minnesota in the finals. Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, U.S. centerfielder Adam LaLonde (Kentwood, Mich.) delivered a single through the left side to score Blake Miller (Albany, Ga.) for the winning run.
Team Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead when shortstop Greg Cascaes singled, advanced to second on an error and scored on a double by designated hitter Scott Deutch.
Shutout through three innings, Landy Rodriguez (West Haverstraw, NY) tied the game with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the fourth, his fifth home run of the tournament.
The U.S. took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Ben Fjelland (Slater, Iowa), who entered the game for the injured Rey Garcia (North Andover, Mass.), led off with a double to center field, advanced to third on a single by Miller and scored on a throwing error.
Down to their last six outs and trailing by one run, Team Minnesota came up with a run in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2. Cascaes led off with a double to left field, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Elsworth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Deutch.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Miller walked and was sacrificed over to second by Chris Miljavac (St. Joseph, Mo.) to bring up LaLonde. With the winning run standing at second base, LaLonde came up with a hard single that ricocheted off the glove of the shortstop to allow Miller to score the winning run.
Travis Price (Santa Ana, Calif.), who was named as the Tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, got the complete game win after allowing only one earned on seven hits. Catcher Frank DeGroat, Jr., (Ringwood, NJ) was named as the Tournament MVP after compiling a .412 batting average that included three home runs and a team leading eight RBI.
Team USA Claims 2006 AAU Crown
Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
(click logo for AAU website)
The 2006 AAU Men’s International Fastpitch Tournament ended today with Team USA taking a 3-2 win over Team Minnesota in the championship game. Adam LaLonde hit the game winning single in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Earlier, Team USA defeated Hallman Twins of Kitchener, Ontario, 4-1 and Team Minnesota took a 6-4 win over Heflin Builders of Stillwater, NY to set up the championship game.
Team USA took both individual honors when Travis Price was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher and Frank DeGroat took the Most Valuable Player honors. Price was the winning pitcher in the championship game, going the distance while DeGroat hit .467 for the tournament and caught every Team USA game.
The tournament was played in outstanding weather conditions all four days. Today’s temperature is in the low 80’s under sunny skies.
The AAU thanked all 28 teams and their fans for supporting this 7th annual tournament and welcomed everyone back in 2007.
Game Summaries for Sunday
Team Minnesota 6
Heflin Builders 4
WP Muizelaar & Twordik
LP Vasquez, Ezekeil (5) & Gasaway
Team USA 4
Hallman Twins 1
WP – Luster, White (7) & DeGroat
LP – Koert, T. Martin (5) & Shewfelt
Team Minnesota – 2
Team USA – 3
WP – Price & DeGroat
Muizelaar, LP Lang (5) & Twordik