I always thought a “full” name gave a team a bit more of an identity: Happy Hollow adds a name….(Al’s Fastball List)
Archive for the ‘Teams’ Category
Happy Hollow adds a name….
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005GHFL All-Stars to Play Australian Junior Men
Friday, February 25th, 2005My friend (and broadcast partner) Blair Setford sends the following news from the Ontario province in Canada:
[Niagara Falls, Ontario] – The Golden Horseshoe Fastball League is pleased to welcome the Australian Junior Men’s National Team to Niagara Falls, Ontario on Monday June 13, 2005 when the GHFL All-Stars will play the defending World U19 Champions.
Led by young hurler Adam Folkard, the Aussies will follow a day of sightseeing at one of the seven wonders of the world with a doubleheader at Ker Park in Niagara Falls against the best of the GHFL, one of Ontario top intermediate men’s fastball leagues.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase some high quality fastball for fans of the game in the Niagara Region,” said GHFL President Blair Setford.
Several events are being planned to make the evening a special one for players and fans, including a possible webcast.
Stay tuned to the GHFL’s web site at www.GHFL.ca for further information.
Cheers,
Blair Setford
Golden Horseshoe Fastball League
www.GHFL.ca
mail to: blairjs@rogers.com
The Pride is Back ! (Decatur Pride)
Friday, February 11th, 2005[PRESS RELEASE – Decatur, IL] – The Pride is back! As in the Decatur Pride men’s fastpitch team! The Decatur Sports Foundation is proud to announce that the Decatur Pride men’s fastpitch team is being re-established and will begin play in the 2006 season. A new booster club is being formed presently to support the team and a manager is already under agreement for the new program, which will include not only a men’s team competing at the major level of the sport but also a youth team designed to homegrow talent for the team.
Scott Standerfer will be introduced as the organization’s guiding hand and field manager at an upcoming press conference. Standerfer is a Charleston resident with deep roots in area men’s fastpitch, competing as a player during a 16 year career and as both coach and manager since 1994. He is currently involved as an assistant coach for the USA Jr Men’s Team, a national 19under team, with duties as hitting and outfield coach as well the team’s first base coach. Scott also assists with the EIU softball team and in 2005 will be a coach with County Material men’s fastpitch team, one of the premier teams in the sport.
2005 will be spent organizing the booster cub, fundraising for the team and with publicity to familiarize the public with the new teams and their schedule of events.The Decatur Sports Foundation, owner and operator of the Borg Warner Sports Complex on Rt 51S in Decatur, will oversee the operations of the booster club and assist them in re-establishing the Decatur Pride program and with the hosting of events for the team. The focus of the program will be to field a competitive top 10 team in the near term with development and growth into a top contending team every year. A very important part of the program will be to interest and develop local talent rather than importing a roster full of paid position players, and the program is already at work identifying and contacting area college baseball players. Standerfer’s commitment to and knowledge of developing talent and his willingness to make a long-term commitment to the team and program are part of what made him sought after by the team organizers and the Decatur Sports Foundation. Eventually the program will suppport a youth 19under team, a mid-level class A team as well as the Pride. Standerfer strongly believes that there has always been sufficient area and local talent to compete, noting past Pride players such as David Boys, Brian Rothrock, Rick Minton, Bob Sagle, Pat Pownall, Robbie Tirpak (and many more) all grew up in the area and learned to play the game locally, and he believes that his experience with the USA 19under National team will help with young talented area players into talented Decatur Pride players, while noting there are times, particularly with pitchers, where you may still have to spend a few dollars to compete at the top level. Decatur has always been a favorite place for the top players and teams in the sport to compete and the Borg Warner Sports Complex has continued to host men’s fastpitch tournaments and teams, keeping the fastpitch world’s eye on Decatur.
During the 2005 season Standerfer will be talking with current and prospective players as will Chad Seeman of Chenoa, player/manager of the current Bloomington Stix team, who has been involved in the organizational efforts and is already committed to playing for the new Decatur Pride in 2006. Seeman believes that just the opportunity to play in Decatur will interest many players in the game. And for area fastpitch fans in 2005 there is a men’s area fastpitch league with two doubleheaders every Wednesday night from May through July (free admission), the softball-world famous Decatur ShootOut – a premier men’s fastpitch tournament featuring 12 of the top teams from across the country on June 17-19, the Illinois ASA’s two weekend state championship tournaments on 7/27-31 and 8/3-7, plus the ASA Nationals Class B championship on 9/1-9/5 with over 60 teams from around the country expected to compete. The Cerro Gordo Broncos Fastpitch team also calls the complex home, and they are expected to again challenge for the Illinois ASA Open Division State Championship in 2005, as well as hosting the national tournament.
A press conference with Standerfer will be announced in the very near future as will a public orgainzational meeting of the new booster club, and it’s hoped that a lot of the former boosters will have an interest in getting involved again. Community sponsorship and support will be crucial but team organizers and Standerfer believe they can fund the program properly at about half the previous levels of the club, and believe with the rich history of fastpitch in the Decatur area and when the economic benefits of the sports complex and team are realized the community will proudly support them again. People seeking information about the booster club or becoming involved with the team as well as young players interested in learning more about opportunites in fastpitch may contact Lynne Durham at 433-2507 or Doug Gray at 423-1951.
Scott Standerfer softball biography:
* Player for various Central Illinois & area teams from 1979 to 1995
* Champaign Merchants: Manager – 1994 – 1996
* Peoria River Rage: Manager – 1997 – 2001
* 5 top 10 finishes ASA Men’s majors Nationals\
* 2 top 10 finishes ISC Worlds
* St Louis Lafayette Pub: Manager – 2002
* 5th place finish ASA Men’s majors Nationals
* HIS Construction, Houston,TX: coach – 2003 – 2004
* 2 top 10 finishes ASA Men’s majors Nationals
* 1 top 10 finish ISC Worlds, County Material, Wisconsin:
* coach – 2005 – one of the premier teams in the sport
* Also: volunteer assistant coach will EIU softball team
* USA Jr National team – coach- hitting & outfield coach, first base coach
Source: Decatur Sports Foundation
PO Box 4536, Decatur, IL 62525 217-429-0788
Contacts: Doug Gray 217 423-1951 or rdgray@insightbb.com
Lynne Durham 217 433-2507 or durham@pietalent.com
Scott Standerfer at standerfer@consolidated.net
Team Rainey Alive and Well
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005To borrow a phrase from Mark Twain “the reports of the demise of Team Rainey have been greatly exaggerated.” Make no mistake, it was big news to hear that longtime Team Rainey ace Travis Price was moving over to cross-town rivals, the Bombers. Along with their other ace, Tony Peeples. And starters Jason Porto, Mike Butler and Nate Devine. Not surprising then, that rumors would start to circulate that Team Rainey was folding. But the rumors were just that — Team Rainey is alive and well, having reloaded their roster for the upcoming 2005 campaign.
For their pitching staff, they’ve signed British Columbian, Bricklen Anderson, Tony Hunoff and Sonny Perkins. Anderson, who hails from Duncan, British Columbia actually pitched in a tournament with Team Rainey last year, no doubt getting notice from sponsor Rod Rainey for the way he pitched in last year’s Portland Rose Cup tournament, a 1-0 shutout of Team Rainey, and the 3-hit performance against two-time world champion ISC World Champions Broken Bow, in a 3-1 loss. We first saw “Brick” in Salem, Oregon, in 2002, when he tossed a perfect game in the NAFA World Series. He can pitch with the best of them, and will provide Team Rainey with a front line ace. Hunoff is no stranger to ISC caliber competition, having pitched for such teams as the Long Beach Painters in the 90’s. And Sonny Perkins is as dangerous at the plate as he is on the mound. Perkins notched a win over Team Rainey in last year’s ISC qualifying tournament, nearly costing them a trip to the ISC World. Perkins is one of the more talented players out west, and will get an opportunity to display his talents on a larger stage.
Team Rainey will also add a trio of players from longtime local rival, Captain Dan’s, which shuttered its operation after many years of play, adding Dwayne Fowler, Chad Hardesty and Neil Sauerheber. Hardesty is more than capable as a pitcher, should the need arise, but was signed as an outfielder. It was Hardesty that had fans talking at last year’s Red Rock tournament in St. George Utah with a monstrous home run against eventual champion (and ISC World Champion) Broken Bow. Don Didion, Captain Dan’s player/manager will get the reigns from Rod Rainey to manage the club in 2005.
Returning players will include unofficial captain Tony Acedo behind the plate, Jesse Duncan, Roy Guinaldo, Chris Hunt, Dee Nieblas, Ralph Salcido, and of course, the team’s namesake, Rod Rainey. Stan Grebeck will re-join the club after a one-year hiatus. A talented fastpitch veteran, Stan was named to the “All Decade” team for NAFA for his accomplishments from 1993-2003.
Youth will be served as well, with young Josh Hunoff joining his dad on the team, as well as Jason Obregon (“J-Rod” to his former teammates on Raymar Fastpitch). Obregon is an outstanding infielder, with great hands, good speed and a quick bat at the plate. Though only 22, Jason is almost a veteran in local fastpitch circles. More talented than his years, he will enjoy a chance to take his game to the next level. Josh Hunoff is 26, making the transition from college and semi-pro baseball where he was quite a pitcher.
There have been plenty of roster changes on both Team Rainey and the So Cal Bombers to be sure, which should make for a budding local rivalry the likes of which we have not seen since the days of the Nitehawks and the Jets, starting in just two weeks, at So Cal’s first Tournament, the Panteras Valentine’s tournament, in Norwalk, California. Wouldn’t that be a great Friday night matchup ?
New Look So Cal Bombers in 2005
Monday, January 31st, 2005What has been a well know rumor in Southern California for some time, is now officially “news”, with the So Cal Bombers releasing their roster for the 2005 season. The rumor, of course, was that Team Rainey’s 2004 pitching staff of Travis Price and Tony Peeples were moving over to the So Cal Bombers, along with a number of Rainey regulars, including Jason Porto, Nate Devine and Mike Butler. The Bombers will also add former Team Lyons teammates Dean Waltier and Troy Morrison, both members of the 2003 NAFA “AAA” World Champions. Peeples and Porto were also members of that squad, along with one more player that has been rumored, but missing from the official press release: all world catcher Todd Garcia, who spent last year with the ASA Major Champions, The Farm from Madison, Wisconsin. Panfilo Valdez will return for 2005 to round out the strong trio of pitchers, with longtime pitcher Lonnie Brooks moving to the coaching staff. For the complete roster, click the title of this article.
And so the speculation continues — what of Team Rainey? Well, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of their demise are greatly exaggerated. Stay tuned.
Speaking of 2008
Thursday, November 4th, 2004With the election season concluded, and both parties already looking ahead to 2008, they have some company. Advance planning is not limited to politics. USA Jr. Men’s Head Coach Tim Lyon is already laying the groundwork for next generation of Jr. Men’s fastpitch players. His official announcement follows:
The 2005 USA Jr. Men’s (19 and under) National Team (listed below) was selected on September 15, 2004. Many feel this will be the finest team ever assembled to represent the United States when they take on the world at Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada in the International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship next summer. One of the many reasons for that is because of people like you, members of the softball community, who have made the USA Jr. Men’s Coaching Staff aware of athletes in your area who have the ability to receive an opportunity such as this.
While we move toward the 2005 World Championships with high expectations, we also realize that we must continue to look to the future. With that in mind, we are currently in the process of assembling a pool of athletes who would be eligible for the 2008 World Championship. We would ask that you assist us once again in identifying players either in your area or ones that you know about who might be interested in the USA Jr. Men’s National Team program. This is a tremendous opportunity for any young man who has the desire and the ability to become part of a program that will represent the United States in international competition.
The age group we are seeking for the next cycle is any male, who is a US citizen, that was born on January 1, 1989 or later. The current team is made of up several high level baseball players who had no fastpitch experience prior to their association with the National Team, so we would ask that when you consider a player to recommend, keep in mind that they don’t have to have any softball experience if they are quality baseball players.
We thank everyone who has helped us in the past and look forward to any assistance you might be able to give us in the future.
Please write or call if you know of a player who might be interested in this opportunity.
Tim Lyon
Scott Standerfer
Gary Mullican
USA Jr Men’s Coaching StaffTimothy Lyon
Head Coach
USA Jr Men’s National Team
11222 South 2515 West
South Jordan, UT 84095
801-253-0712
timlyon@earthlink.net
Long Beach’s Kevin Castillo among those selected for USA Jr. Men’s Team
Saturday, September 18th, 2004Kevin Castillo (son of Paul Castillo) of Long Beach, California was among the players making the final cut for the USA Jr. Men’s team that will travel to Prince Edward Island, Canada next summer to represent the United States. Paul is a member of the baseball team at Long Beach Poly High School, the same school that produced the great Tony Gwynn, and has learned the game of fastpitch from his father Paul, a longtime player from the Long Beach area, nicknamed “the guru” by his former teammates on the El Segundo Rounders. Also among the players selected were a few more with “fastpitch genes”, Curtis Leavitt (son of 1981 ISC World Champion Camarillo Kings catcher Jerry Leavitt) B.J. Hunhoff (nephew of pitcher Tony Hunhoff), and Nick Santos, son of Pueblo Bandit catcher, Jerry Santos and nephew of Pueblo Bandits field manager and sponsor, Chris Santos. Nick Santos and B.J. Hunhoff are alternates for 2005, but only 15 years old and will still be still eligible for the next cycle in 2009.
Fastpitchwest congratulates these young players who will proudly wear “USA” across their chests and wish them well in the international competition. What a great opportunity for these young players. If you wish to learn a bit more about the members of the team, be sure to visit our “USA Jr. Men” team pages, complete with photos:
The USA Jr. Men’s team issued the following press release yesterday:
Oklahoma City, OK—USA Softball has announced the roster for its 2005 Junior Men’s National Team that will represent the United States at the 2005 ISF Junior Men’s World Championship in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 22-July 1. These players were selected after a year long process that involved tryouts, various training camps and evaluation at the ASA National Championships.
The 17 players selected for the 2005 Junior Men’s National Team are:
Matt Bezzant (Cedar Hills, UT); Drew Bode (Prairie de Chien, WI); Mike Bowden (Aurora, IL); Kevin Castillo (Long Beach, CA); Kyle Davis (Sioux Falls, SD); Bobby Donley (Templeton, CA); Brandon Huerta (Atascadero, CA); John Kelly (Chester, IA); Sean Krohse (Sioux Falls, SD); Curtis Leavitt (Acton, CA); Jason Loe (Sioux Falls, SD); Brian Malakowsky (Wells, MN); Andy Mathews (Cameron, WI); Bobby Olson (Amboy, MN); Evan O’Reilly (San Luis Obispo, CA); Zach Warne (Sioux Falls, SD) and Riley White (Lehi, UT)
Alternates are Camden Decker (Aurora, IL), B.J. Hunhoff (Harrisburg, SD) and Nick Santos (Pueblo, CO).
The coaches selected to lead this team are head coach Tim Lyon (South Jordan, UT), assistant coach Gary Mullican (Aliso Viejo, CA) and assistant coach Scott Standerfer (Charleston, IL).
The USA Junior Men’s National Team will attempt to win its first medal at a World Championship since 1985. Despite winning silver medals at the first two (1981 and 1985) ISF Junior Men’s World Championships, the USA Junior Men have been unable to reach the medal stand in the last four World Championships finishing a disappointing eighth in 2001 in Sydney, Australia with a record of 2-7.
“I am excited at the opportunity to build the USA Junior Men’s program back to where it belongs, at the top of the top,†said head coach Tim Lyon. “We have worked extremely hard to put together the best possible team to represent the U.S. at next year’s World Championship.â€
The Junior Men’s World Championship, which is held every four years and is comprised of teams whose players are 19-years-old or younger, represents the highest level of international competition for junior men’s fast pitch softball.
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. As the National Governing Body, the ASA is responsible for identifying, selecting and training male and female athletes to compete in World, Pan American and Olympic competitions. In addition to those duties, the ASA conducts the only recognized National Championship competitions in the United States.
Cup Check
Wednesday, August 11th, 2004The first ever California Cup Tournament was played this past weekend. After months of banter in the Fastpitchwest Forum, the teams finally took to the fields to compete. When it was all said and done, Fred Hanker’s Black Sox were crowned as the 2004 Cal Cup champs and will get to hold onto “the Cup” until 2005.
For those of you who have not followed the Forum discussion about the California Cup, it is an all comers tournament for ASA “C” level teams for teams from anywhere in the State of California, designed to crown a “California Cup Champion”, which takes home a perennial trophy for the year (a la Stanley Cup), passing it on to the next year’s champion, after engraving the name of the prior year’s winner. The idea for the California Cup did not surface this year until almost Memorial Day, and while not all of the teams in California were able to make it this year, we were pleased to have all three regions of California represented at the tournament, and hope to have even more include “the Cup” in their plans next season.
For the first year, the tournament was hosted by Eddie “Dude” Ybarra and the City of Fresno Parks and Recreation Department, which provided the facilities, balls, umpires, scorekeepers, trophies, logo, T-shirts, and full time grounds crew all for a remarkable $150 entry fee.
Job well done, Dude.
The concept is to “take the show on the road”, moving the tournament locale each year, to give each region an opportunity to host (and to be fair about the travel required for each region). The hope is to expose the fastpitch teams of the State to new places to play, give them the opportunity to play against opponents that they might not otherwise get a chance to face, and finally, to spur interest in the game of men’s fastpitch across the Golden State.
With host Fresno in Central California, the Cup will be in either Northern or Southern California. Cities or teams interested in hosting the tournament or people wishing to lend a hand to the organizing committed are invited to send an email to calcup@fastpitchwest.com
We also invited teams and players (both those who played this year and those who did not) to send comments on things you liked about this year’s eveng, or suggestions on how to improve the tournament in the future. The tournament committee will revisit such topics as the tournament format, roster eligibility and the like, in an effort to be responsive to the wishes of the teams that compete for The Cup.
For 2004, those in attendance will probably remember the remarkable 8-game performance of The Tribe’s pitcher Mark Manuelito whose teammates said they would “ride him ’til he dropped” (he didn’t), and the three wild games played between the Black Sox and the Tribe to decide things. While the Sox escaped with the rubber game, and the Cup, the Tribe impressed everyone with their “never-out-of-it offense” and refusal to surrender to fatigue or the heat. In the last couple games against the Tribe, Sox centerfielder Steve Tollington was dubbed “The Fugitive”, because of the number of times that he hand his hands in the air to signal “ground rule double”. For all of the teams, it seemed like an “Earl Weaver” weekend, as home run ball reigned. Cal Cup MVP Gerald Pyle hit three, each one seemingly further than the last, and eliciting plenty of eye-popping reactions ’round the field. Even the slo-pitch fences behind the championship fences weren’t safe from his and a few others. Jerome Arteberry of the Native American team hit a couple of key homers to swing the momentum in two of their games, turning 5 run deficits into 11-10 wins. Valley Lyons , the pre-tournament pick by many and still regarded as one of the best teams in the state, carried the banner, along with the Shockers for the home-town Fresno fans, finishing in a tie for third, losing only to the Sox and Tribe in hard fought games.
A personal thank you goes out to all of the teams that did make it to Fresno, to take a chance on a first year tournament, including the Knights, Gaines Liquor, The Tribe, Raymar, Energy Link, the Amigos, Valley Lyons, the Black Sox, the Native Americans, the Shockers and KHT Pumpers. Win, lose or draw, you were there to compete. We hope to see all of you and many more at next year’s Cup, wherever that may be.
Jr. Men in Camp Today, Corona CA for the weekend
Friday, July 23rd, 2004Head coach Tim Lyon and assistants Scott Standerfer and (So Cal’s) Gary Mullican have the USA Jr. Men’s team in camp this week, at the Olympic training facility in Chula Vista, CA (near San Diego, by the border with Mexico) for it’s second summer camp in preparation for next year’s international competition at Prince Edward Island. The team will travel to Corona, California this weekend, to compete for the second time against teams in the ASA So Cal Alliance league, which consists of ASA “C” level teams. The Jr. Men’s team competed in an earlier tournament in Lancaster, California last month, finishing the week of play with an admirable 3-2 record. This weekend, the team will feature a couple of “favorite sons”, literally, with the offspring of Jerry Leavitt and Paul Castillo vying for spots on the team. Jerry, as many of you know, anchored the ISC World Champion Camarillo Kings, catching Hall of Fame pitcher Mark Smith in the early ’80’s. Paul Castillo continues to play in the local So Cal leagues, after retiring as a teammate of the editor, on the El Segundo Rounders. We wish both of them well. (Click here to view photo of Paul’s son, Kevin, playing for USA Jr. Men in So Cal ASA Alliance tournament.)
The team’s games this weekend are 9:45am, 11:30am and 3:00 p.m. For the complete schedule of games, click the title of this story above. For a map or driving directions to the fields in Corona, click here.
For more on the team, visit our Jr. Men’s team pages by clicking here.
Sparring With Giants
Friday, July 23rd, 2004How’d you like to work your way up to being the #12 team in the country, head to a tournament and find yourselves the lowest ranked team in the tournament? Well, that’s exactly what Team Rainey will experience this weekend competing in the prestigious Bob Walsh Memorial tournament this weekend, July 24-25, 2004. The tournament is an invitation-only affair, limited to eight teams. This year, the field of teams has the #1,2,3,4,6,8, 11 and 12 ranked teams in the world. The eight teams are: County Materials WI (1), The Farm Tavern WI (2), Broken Bow Spirit NY (3), Circle Tap WI (4), Fedlock DC (6), Heflin Gremlins NY (8), Imaging Systems Knights ND (11) and Team Rainey CA (12)
The tournament committee sparked a bit of controversy earlier in the year by leaving out two local teams that wanted to play in the tournament. One team was particularly vocal about the committee’s decision to leave them out, the Quaker Riversharks. The Riversharks were last year’s NAFA “AA” runner-up and finished at #26 in the ISC World rankings. The Sharks stepped up this year to open level competition, adding a number of the defunct Can-Am Windmillers, who were regulars (and even won) the Bob Walsh tournament in a prior year. But that controversy is in the books, and this year’s field of teams could well be the toughest ever.
Team Rainey flew out to Allentown yesterday and are getting ready today for the start of play on Saturday. They decided to add a travel day, to avoid a repeat of their 5:30am arrival on game day in Wisconsin earlier this month for the “Boys of Summer” tournament. For a west coast team like Rainey, the rigors of travelling to face the best competition in the world can be extremely demanding.
Team Rainey will be without ace Travis Price for the weekend, but are picking up Bricklin Anderson, from Vancouver, British Columbia. Anderson pitches for Morgan Transfer of Olympia, Washington, and shut out Team Rainey in a 1-0 pitchers duel against Tony Peeples at this year’s Portland Rose Cup. The two (Anderson and Peeples) will now be teammates for the weekend. Anderson came into the spotlight in the 2002 NAFA World Series at Salem, Oregon, when he tossed a perfect game. Peeples was recently named to the All Tourney team for this year’s Portland DeMarini Rose Cup tournament, posting a 0.70 ERA in 20 innings pitched, with a Gagnesque 37 strikeouts and only 2 walks. “Peeps” took a hard line drive off his arm at “Boys of Summer” a couple weeks ago, but appears to be OK. Team Rainey also had two other players make the Rose Cup All Tourney team, Mike Butler and Jason Porto. Butler had three home runs, including two in the upset win over Victoria Travellers Inn in the quarterfinals, while Jason Porto was a one-man wrecking crew with 9 hits, a .476 batting avergage, including a homer, double, and 5 RBI.
Their pool play schedule on Saturday, July 24 pits them against the (new) #1 ranked team in the world, County Materials, WI, #2 The Farm Tavern, WI, and #9 Houston H.I.S. Construction. Team Rainey faced County Materials at the Boys of Summer tournament, facing the legendary Darren Zack. County topped former #1 Broken Bow recently in the Casino Ramo tournament in Ontario Canada. Houston was the team that knocked Team Rainey out of the World Tournament last year, though Team Rainey has already beaten them in 2004, as well as notching wins against other higher ranked teams including Victoria Travellers Inn and Midland Michigan. Click the title of this story above to visit the Team Rainey website for game times and results of their games, or just click here: www.teamraineyfastpitch.com