(click photo to enlarge)
In this photo: L to R back: JP Peterson, Dave DeMaio, Dave Carlton, Rafael Gonzales, Dave Jordan.
L to R front: Steve Garcia, Ricky Sivilla, Chris Paiva, Ricky Moore, Ty Fogarty, Kevin Nishinaga.
More at the Cal State Builders’ Facebook page.
(can’t see the photo? click link above and “like” the page)
Looks like team photo day at the Morning Brief. Here’s one of the New York Gremlins at the 2010 AAU tournament in Orlando, Florida. With the beefed up roster, including Travis Wilson, look for the Gremlins to be among the top ranked teams in the ISC pre-season rankings.
Kneeling L – R Reggie Barrau, Jeff Hook, Derek Pukash, Travis Wilson, Jay Herr, Chad McConnell
Standing L-R John Heinsch, Jim Busch, Chad Busch, Gregg Leather, Jeremy Tracy, Bruce Tanski, Bryan Newton, John Rozich, Ed Jackson, Bill Hillhouse, Landy Rodriguez, Sean Cleary**, Paul Walford, Blair Ezekiel**
** Cleary will be with PA Power
** Ezekiel still with Kitchener Rivershark Twins
Allan Joe OF Ottawa, Ont
Armitage Nick IF Quyon, Qc
Craig Tim IF Quyon, Qc
Fleck Kenny IF Quyon, Qc
Graham Joran P Micksburg, Ont
Greer Matt IF Shawville, Qc
Hargrove Chad P Ottawa, Ont
Hathway Drew P Brampton, Ont
Laframboise Shawn Util Shawville, Qc
Langford Joel IF Ottawa, Ont
McCleary Joe C Shawville, Qc
McCord Steve OF Shawville, Qc
Noftall Mike P ST. John’s, NFLD
Young Luke IF Quyon, Qc
Coach Fleck Kenny 9 Quyon, Qc
Tournament Schedule
May 14-16 Millgrove Ontario
June 4-6 Snapper Shootout
June 11-13 Jim Bradford Classic
July 9-11 AuSable NY
July 23-25 Gil Read Memorial
August 14-21 ISC World Tournament
Last Name First Name Uniform # Position Region
Hackert Brad 22 2nd Conestogo Ont
Culling Jim 6 CF Palmerston Ont
Hatt Jeff 39 1si Kitchener Ont
Hurley Kevin 20 RF Kitchener Ont
Dubois Tim 55 C Kitchener Ont
Martin Derek 8 LF Kitchener Ont
Ross Mel 5 P Kitchener Ont
Cook Steve 44 P London Ont
Shannon Ryan 33 SS -P Fergus Ont
Bradley Mark 54 C Guelph Ont
Hoffman Doug 32 P Elmira Ont
Harris Don 28 3rd Cambridge Ont
Stagg Matt 16 2nd Kitchener Ont
Roefer Brandon 15 3rd Kitchener Ont
Last Name First Name Uniform # Position Region State/Province
Martin Travis 64 C Elmira, ON
Martin Dan 72 P Elmira, ON
Martin Geoff 7 CF Elmira, ON
Halstead Casey 34 P Linwood, ON
Freeman Tim 12 2B Linwood, ON
Brohman Josh 5 SS Drayton, ON
Gutscher Kevin 44 RF Baden, ON
Gutscher Mark 2 OF Kitchener, ON
Harnock Mike 23 Utility Baden, ON
Beatson Trevor 9 LF Kitchener, ON
Wellwood Kevin 15 OF Linwood, ON
Brohman Doug 10 OF Elmira, ON
Hauck Cam 6 3B Waterloo, ON
Martin Corey 11 Utility Elmira, ON
(click logo for original story at official NZ website)
23 Apr 2010
NZ Junior Black Sox Squad Announced
National Office SNZ
The following boys have been named in the 2010 NZ Junior Black Sox Softball Squad. The team will play in the Sydney-based Friendship Series in July followed by a seven match test series against Australia.
1. Pita Rona
2. Morgan Cook (Nth Harbour)
3. Campbell Enoka
4. Ben Bull
5. Mark Sorenson
6. Matt Oxley (Auckland)
7. Levi Elliot (Waikato)
8. Horowai Puketapu (Hawkes Bay)
9. Isaac Hekenui (Taranaki)
10. Campbell Gaunt
11. EJ Albright
12. Zane Siolo (Hutt Valley)
13. Josh Pettett
14. Brad Worsley
15. Jerome Raemaki
16. Te Wera Bishop (Wellington)
17. Sam Church (Nelson)
18. Sam Hazeldine (Canterbury).
The team will be coached by John Love (Auckland) and Phil Johnston (Canterbury).
The squad will be preparing for the World Series Under 19 Tournament to be held in Parana Argentina in 2012.
Editor’s notes: As is so often the case in major league baseball and in men’s fastball, talent seems to run in the genes, with some families continuing to produce top notch players. Peruse this list and a few names jump out at you, even for those of us living far away from New Zealand……Rona, Enoka, Sorenson, as the next generation of fastball stars spread their wings….
The Jr. Black Sox finished 4th in the ISF Jr. World Championships at Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada in 2008, making the 4 team playoff round, but missing the medal stand, behind Australia, Canada and Japan, respectively. The Jr. Black Sox showed flashes of gold medal play — as the only team in Whitehorse to knock off the 4 time-gold medalists from Australia (during round robin play), but did not play consistently enough to medal. If they were building momentum towards the playoff round, it appeared to be extinguished by a late inning loss to Argentina, with a memorable game ending triple play by Argentina. Their rematch with Argentina should prove to be one of better draws in 2012, with Argentina hosting in Parana, just outside of Buenos Aires.
At the ISF Jr. Worlds in 2008, the teams seemed to break into three distinct groups:
Medal Round Playoff teams:
AUSTRALIA
CANADA
JAPAN
NEW ZEALAND
Of this group, with four consecutive gold medals over nearly two decades of play, AUS remains the team to beat, in spite of the loss to NZ and near loss to Canada in the title game. Game in, game out, they are the deepest and most seasoned team, and the one that looked like they had played a great number of games together– a key element that I think separates these teams from the rest — high level game experience. In 2008, other than the Kiwis win over Australia, Canada appeared to be the only team that could really go toe to toe with the Australia in the talent department. Canada went from bronze to silver, and figure to vie for gold in 2012. In the two prior World Championships, Canada played at home (PEI in 2005, Whitehorse in 2008). It will be interesting to see how they play as the visitors. (It worked out well for another Canadian squad, the Kitchener Rivershark Twins, who were twice denied in the 2007 and 2008 ISC World Tournaments, at home in Kitchener, only to win back-to-back titles on the road in Kimberly WI and Quad Cities, IA. )
Mid-tier-battling to get onto the medal stand
ARGENTINA
USA
MEXICO
VENEZUELA
An evenly balanced group, with a slight edge to ARG and USA ahead of MEX and VEN. Of these four, Argentina might be the most likely to break through to the next tier, with good pitching, and the hometown fans to cheer them on. Pitching will be the big question mark for the USA, with ace BJ Hunhoff graduating from the program, as well as James Hartman. The USA was 1-4 in close games, losing to Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Argentina, defeating only Mexico. Had they beaten South Africa, as most thought they would/should, and win one of the one-run games, they finish 7-4 and are knocking on the door for medal contention. The USA coaching staff will be back again, with Tim Lyon, Scott Standerfer and Gary Mullican, providing a strong base to build on. Their challenge will continue to be to find and develop pitching, something hard to come by for the Yanks. Even at the senior level, the top spots on the staff were occupied by Canadian born hurlers (Koert and Price). Lyon is determined though, and continues to beat the bushes for raw talent, and in hope that he has time to develop it by 2012.
Bottom-tier-not yet competing
DENMARK
CZ REPUBLIC
SOUTH AFRICA
BOTSWANA
These bottom tier programs are still building a talent base to compete. The European teams were a notch above those from Africa, consistent with the number of years the countries have had, or not had a 19u program. Each of the bottom tier teams had a player or two that stood out, making this group capable of knocking off someone at the next level in a given game (as South Africa did to the USA), but still a ways from moving into the mid-tier group.
By 2012, nearly all teams with have complete new rosters, so these comments are based more on the programs than the teams that we’ll see in Parana in two years.
Triest Joe 95 2B Alvinston ON
Triest Andy 14 OF Alvinston ON
Drew Chris 37 IF Chatham ON
Smith Scott D 21 OF Sarnia ON
Smith Scott 7 C Wyoming ON
Ingram Jeff 77 IF Union ON
Metron Theo 93 IF London ON
Donald Steve 11 IF/OF Chatham ON
Hyatt Eric 18 OF Petrolia ON
Chapman Ryan 8 OF Alvinston ON
Young Brad 17 P PT Edward ON
Swift Ryan 19 P Oshawa ON
Winship Shaun 10 P London ON
McCallum Mark 88 C/OF Belmont ON
Brown Tim 4 OF London ON
Ferguson John 3 P Wyoming ON
Field manager McCart Paul 13 Glencoe ON
Coach Wren Gary 20 ST Thomas ON
The 2009 ISC II Champions, the Port Elgin Blue Devils:
Click here for the story on their 2009 Championship win at Rock Island, Illinois.
Name/Number/POS/Hometown
(pitchers in bold)
Christie Scott 32 p/inf Toronto Ontario
Detzler Shawn 57 2b Mildmay Ontario
Dudgeon Ryan 39 ss/c Port Elgin Ontario
Fawcett Rob 60 p Port Elgin Ontario
Hamilton Matt 77 p Owen Sound Ontario
Lantz Brian 8 3b Hanover Ontario
Lisk Tony 6 1b/dp Owen Sound Ontario
Maas Brian 24 1b/of Port Elgin Ontario
Reiley Mike 3 c/of Port Elgin Ontario
Reinhart Matt 18 of Drayton Ontario
Smith Scott 9 p Mildmay Ontario
Thede Greg 7 of/3b Port Elgin Ontario
Turcotte Matt 50 c Port Elgin Ontario
Underwood Blake 20 of Port Elgin Ontario
Whitney Aaron 10 of Tara Ontario
Whitney Ryan 74 1b/ss Tara Ontario
Barfoot Troy 1 inf Wiarton Ontario
McKinnon Darryl 5 2b/3b Port Elgin Ontario
Click Logo to visit the Facebook page for the Kitchener Fastball League
Courtesy of Trevor Botting.
As posted on the website, here is the breakdown of the 2010 teams.
Black division
Bell Cartage
Losing in the semi-finals to the eventual champions can be a hard pill to swallow. Especially when it followed a trip to the finals the year before. Bell is back again to try to make that final push back to the finals and maybe win a few more games once they are there.
Cardinals
Winning the B division last year just made this junior team hungrier to come back and show the rest of the league what they learned in their rookie season. A push to the A side playoffs is on their minds now.
Kings
The defending champs. Everyone in the league will be aiming for them this year so they will need to be on their toes and show the rest of the league why the finished on top.
Moonshiners
This will be their second year in the league and they will be looking to surprise a few teams. Getting knocked out in the first round of the B playoffs did not sit well with this young team so they will want to come out swinging this year. And they get that chance by facing the defending champs in their first game.
Reds
Regular season champs two years ago. Runner up league champs last year. This teams knows how to win in the regular season but the playoffs seem to be another story. First round losses, three years in a row will give the Reds all the incentive they need to place high in the regular season and carry that through the 2010 playoffs.
Selects
2010 regular season champions, lost in the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive year. They would love to duplicate the regular season effort by finishing first and then will look to make the push past that semi-final wall they seem to hit.
Wizards
A rough regular season (0-19) was then followed by an improbable run to the B side finals. The eventually lost to the Cardinals but those late game gave them a taste of winning that they hope to continue going into 2010.
Red division
Black Sox
The Sox lost the toughest series in the first round of the playoffs last year. Barely. So they are back to get a little revenge.
Bulldogs
A staple in the KFL, the Bulldogs have bounced around between the A side playoffs and the B side playoffs year to year. They hope 2010 will be an A side year, followed closely by a run in the playoffs.
Classics
The 2008 champions were eliminated in the first round of the 2009 playoffs and that did not sit well with them. They are back again to show that the first round exit was an anomaly and the finals is where they belong.
Diamond Jaxx
Their first year in the league ended with a first round elimination. Their second year ended with a loss in the finals. In their third year with the league, the Jaxx just want to take that final step, the league championship.
Hornburg
A brand new team to the KFL. The Hornburg will have a tough year ahead. In a short time, they are going to have to learn how to come together all while facing some very strong teams. Young players and an enthusiasm for the game, these guys are going to try to surprise as many teams as they can.
Predators
The Preds are back again. Falling just short of the A side playoffs in 2010, this young team will try their best to make that push to the top of the league and back to the playoffs.
Smoke
Three years of first round losses. Thats what the Smoke want to stop in 2010. Always near the top of the league, the Smoke plan on getting back there again, and changing that playoffs streak.
Click banner to visit the official KFL website
From “Otto in Focus”, by Bob Otto
Written by Bob Otto on April 22nd, 2010
The 2010 Cal-State Builders.
“…I decided I would like to start my own team.†– Dave Carlton
BAY AREA, CA – The 2010 fastpitch season marks a couple of firsts for Dave Carlton. It’s the first time he’s grabbed the reins as a full time manager. And it’s the first time his team – the Cal-State Builders – will play a full season.
“We have dabbled in the NAFA Masters, NAFA AA, and a couple other tournaments prior to this season,†said Carlton, 39, of Hayward, California. “But this is the first full season for the team,â€
Carlton began playing fastpitch in 1990 in Seattle. And from the get-go the first baseman has loved the challenge of hard-fought games.
“It is fantastic to play games that are close and count,†he said.
POST-SEASON SUCCESS
And the Builders have done quite well in close games. In 2008 Cal-State finished second in the NAFA Masters age 40-over. And in 2009 they topped the field, winning the 40-over championship, as well as taking third in the NAFA AA.
With last season’s success whetting his appetite, Carlton made a decision: Cal-State would play a full schedule in 2010. Including Carlton managing the team.
“I still like to play,†he said. “But after last season I decided I would like to start my own team, make the calls, and put the money up (limited sponsorship).â€
So during the off-season, Carlton went on a recruiting mission. He’s assembled a ball club that he plans on entering in the NAFA AA World Series and ASA Class B National Tournament.
CHALLENGING TOURNEY SCHEDULE
Building up to post-season play includes several weekend tournaments – including a trip to Seattle for the 50th anniversary of the Seattle Invitational, and a return trip to Grants Pass, Oregon and the Boatnik Tournament, which the Builders won last year.
But possibly Cal-State’s biggest challenge will come when the Builders travel to Southern California for the “2010 California Classic†in Santee, June 19-20. The tournament features12 top-flight teams from California, Oregon, New Mexico, Nebraska, Mexico, and Canada.
And at stake are two ISC World Tournament berths.
“This is will be a high-class tournament with top-notch ISC major teams,†he said. “It will be a challenge for us. Do I expect us to be standing in the winner’s circle? No, but we will see great pitching (against such pitchers as) Sebastian Gervasutti (Parana, Argentina) of the (Bakersfield) Silverhawks. And I expect the California A’s will be extremely strong. We hope to play hard and have close games, and see where we stack up.â€
STRONG LINE UP
A look at the Cal-State roster finds it filled with talent. Darren Strang of Richmond, BC, Canada, and John Peterson from Lake Crystal, Minnesota will anchor the pitching staff along with veteran Dave Jordan.
Carlson likes what he’s seen so far – variety.
“Darren throws a good rise ball and has good movement on his pitches,†Carlton said, of the 34-year-old right-hander, who is considered a top ISC II / ISC pitcher. “He’s strong, intelligent, and brings us experience.â€
Jon Peterson, pitcher from Lake Crystal, MN.
And Peterson? The Minnesota native has a sharp-breaking drop ball that gives hitters fits and compliments Strang’s riser. And in Jordan the ball club has a veteran pitcher who hits his spots. And his change up contrasts nicely with the power pitching of Strang and Peterson.
Carlton also plucked another Canadian from the country’s vast pool of talent: Doug Cain. Carlton says that Cain is a proven ISC and Canadian national championship caliber player. The left-side hitter hits the ball where it’s pitched and goes to the opposite field with line drive power, Carlton said.
“He’s the Barry Bonds of our lineup,†Carlton said. “Doug is a veteran ISC player and won the Canadian championship with the (Vancouver) Grey Sox. He’s a veteran with major-level experience and a reliable glove at third base. He gives us clutch hitting in the clean up position.â€
TWO GOOD CATCHERS
Behind the plate, Ricky Moore II and Jon Abbott will share the catching duties. When Strang toes the rubber, Moore will call the pitches. And when Peterson gets the call, Abbott – also a Lake Crystal native – will catch.
“They are both excellent catchers,†Carlton said, adding that at a recent tournament in Lodi, California, Abbott impressed him with his bat, power and speed. And Moore is, “a true utility man who can catch and play every position on the field, and he’s learning to pitch,†added Carlton.
A look at the infield finds Carlton and Rusty Newman sharing time at first base. Chris Paiva and Kevin Nishinaga’s speed and defense will anchor the middle infield, and Ty Fogarty, Ricky Sivilla, Dave Jordan, Dave Demaio, and Steve Garcia will patrol the outfield.
What can fans expect from the Cal-State Builders at the California Classic?
“The Builders combine speed, defense, and pitching for a balanced strategy,†Carlton said. “We have the potential for power at the plate, but we don’t rely on it. Our goal is to play competitive games.â€
The current Cal-State roster:
Darren Strang (Richmond, BC)
John Peterson (Lake Crystal, MN)
Doug Cain (Burnaby, BC)
Jon Abbott (San Francisco and Lake Crystal, MN)
Chirs Paiva (Pico Rivera, CA)
Kevin Nishinaga (Alameda, CA)
Ty Fogarty (Gresham, OR)
Ricky Sivilla (El Cerrito, CA)
Dave Jordan (Rancho Murrieta, CA)
Dave Demaio (Simi Valley, CA)
Steve Garcia (Fresno, CA)
Rusty Newnan (Penn Valley, CA)
Dave Carlton (Hayward, CA)
Ricky Moore II (Concord, CA)