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Western Canadian Bantam Championship

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Ball players make the switch to Fastpitch at Western Canadian Bantam Championship

From The Daily Graphic
Posted By Eric MacKenzie

The Toba U16 softball team will act as host for this weekend’s Western Canadian Bantam Boys Fastpitch Championships at the John Blumberg Softball Complex, and will feature four local residents on the roster.

Zack Waldvogel, Chad Miller, Shane Dewis and Landon Thomson have all been added to the provincial squad for the nine-team tournament, to which teams will travel from four provinces and the Northwest Territories to take part.

The players that call Portage and the surrounding area home are all baseball players-turned softball players, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have experience to draw from.

Take Waldvogel, for example, whose older brother, Tanner, and father, Gregg, are both key pieces of the Portage Phillies men’s team, while Tanner also just returned from the U19 International Men’s Softball Championship in Prince Edward Island where he was a member of Team Manitoba.

Seeing first-hand the success that his family members have had in the sport, the youngest Waldvogel said he’s looking forward to making his debut at the inter-provincial level.

sports.dailygraphic@shawcable.com

Posted in Canada, Youth | No Comments »

Botswana won’t go down quietly at world softball championship

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

From THE STARPHOENIX
BY KATHRYN WILLMS
JULY 22, 2009

It was quiet morning at the ballpark on Tuesday as the United States and Botswana took the field for the first game of the day. Fans settled in for a long day of ball, coffees in hand, chatting among themselves. Two hours later, the same crowd was on the edge of their seats as a 0-4 Botswana team took its best shot at upsetting the 3-1 Americans. A morning round-robin formality had morphed into an epic battle between David and Goliath.

The United States were the first to get on the board. Shortstop Don Garvey got his team’s first hit, a single, and then utilized his speed to round the bases in quick succession before stealing home. Botswana responded in the top of the third by loading the bases but pitcher Travis Price struck out the final batter to save his team’s lead. After another inning stalemate, Adam LaLonde was walked to first then hit home by a Kyle Magnusson single. Botswana launched its attack in the sixth. Gomolemo Tshelametsi hit a single to get on base and was brought home on a double by Obusitswe Lekgothu. Lekgothu would, in turn, swiftly steal third but U.S. closer Paul Koert delivered two easy outs at first and struck out a final batter to stem the Botswana tide. Botswana couldn’t manage the tying run in the seventh, leaving one batter on base at the close of the game. The Botswana team out-hit the Americans 3-2.

“Because we have been scouting on how these guys play and hit, we decided it’s not about striking out guys,” said Botswana’s starting pitcher Tony Moyo, who allowed two hits and struck out five. “Let’s hit the spots and play a defensive game. If we get guys on base, let’s turn it into runs.”

The only people not surprised at the tight contest were the Botswana players. Moyo confirms what everyone at Bob Van Impe came to realize on Tuesday morning: Botswana came to compete.

“The U.S. team, Denmark, Mexico, Philippines, Great Britain,” said Moyo, “they were actually teams that we had targeted to play brilliantly against. With five losses down, things haven’t gone our way. This game we said let’s go full out. We have nothing to lose.”

Botswana may have the worst record of the tournament — now 0-5 — but a careful review of their its round-robin games shows Moyo’s optimistic take is far from misplaced. All tournament, the Botswana team has kept games close, flashing potential on both sides of the plate and refusing to roll over in the face of even the most intimidating opponents. It lost to Denmark 4-1, Japan 9-4, Mexico 7-0 and New Zealand 10-0.

Winning pitcher Travis Price, who allowed three hits while striking out nine in six innings pitched, was giving props after the game, clearly relieved that the U.S. escaped its flat play to earn a win.

“We never take any team lightly,” he said. “Their starting pitcher kept us off balance. We played solid defence but they hung around. They’re a decent team.”

Botswana is refashioning itself as a spoiler for the remaining games of the round-robin. It takes on the Philippines today and Great Britain Thursday, two teams with long-shot playoff aspirations.

“Nobody should get it easy,” said Moyo. “A win for us will just justify that we qualified to come here.”

kwillms@sp.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Posted in Canada, ISF, Tournaments | No Comments »

Canada edges Venezuela in ISF Men’s World Championship Thriller

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

(Saskatoon,SK) – The Canadian Senior Men’s National Team showed a lot of character withanother come-from-behind victory against a tough opponent, as they came back from a 4-3 deficit to edge Venezuela 5-4. After Canada took 2-0 and 3-2 leads,Venezuela came back to take the lead and the momentum going into the sixth.Canada scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead, andheld on for the victory in front of a raucous crowd.

Earlyin the game, Venezuela starting pitcher John Garcia and Canadian starter SeanWhitten (Maddox Cove, NL) shut down the opposing hitters, retiring the side inorder in each of the first two innings. In the top of the third, Jeff Ellsworth(St. Lawrence, PEI) registered the first hit of the game, lashing a single toright field. After being sacrificed to second on a bunt by Sean O’Brien (St.John’s, NL) and advancing to third on an illegal pitch, Ellsworth came in toscore on an infield single by Ryan Wolfe (Melbourne, ON), beating the throw ofthe shortstop. Keith Mackintosh (Melfort, SK) then hit a single to centerfieldto place runners on the corners, and Ian Fehrman (Townsend, ON) drove in a runwith a single through the right side past a diving second baseman, givingCanada a 2-0 lead.

Keepingup with Canada every step of the way, Venezuela scored two runs to tie thegame, both scoring on a homerun just over the fence in straightaway centerfieldby Rafael Flores. Canada broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Wolfeand Keith Mackintosh hit back-to-back singles before Fehrman ripped a single tothe right side of the infield, allowing Wolfe to score from second and givingCanada a 3-2 lead.

Afterpitching four solid innings, Whitten was relieved by Todd Martin (Bracebridge,ON) in the bottom of the fifth. Martin surrendered three straight singles asVenezuela produced two runs to take a 4-3 lead, which lead to Martin beingreplaced by Trevor Ethier (Saskatoon, SK), who struck out two batters to getout of the inning.

Inthe top of the sixth, Stephen Mullaley (Freshwater, NL) hit a fly ball toshallow centerfield, and the centerfielder seemed to have made a great divingcatch, but the ball popped out on the landing as Mullaley reached second on thedouble. Jeff Ellsworth then sacrificed Mullaley to third, and Sean O’Brien hita single to centerfield to push Mullaley to the plate to tie the game. With RobGiesbrecht (Landmark, MB) pinch-running for O’Brien, Dale Levy (St. Mary’s, ON)drilled a pinch-hit double to right that was misplayed by the right fielder,allowing Giesbrecht to score all the way from first, giving Canada the 5-4lead.

Afterthe first Venezuelan struck out in the bottom of the sixth, Joe Vilchez hustledinto second for a double, and was replaced by a pinch-runner, who moved up tothird on an illegal pitch. Ethier was able to force the next hitter to groundout to first without allowing the runner to score, followed by a huge strikeoutmuch to the delight of all of the fans in attendance. Ethier kept the momentumin the bottom of the seventh, striking out a hitter and forcing a ground outright back to him to end a very tight ballgame.

SeanWhitten pitched four solid innings for Canada, allowing two runs on only twohits with seven strikeouts. Todd Martin allowed two runs on three hits withoutrecording an out, while Trevor Ethier allowed only one hit over three inningsand struck out five. At the plate, Ryan Wolfe, Keith Mackintosh and Ian Fehrmanall collected two hits for Canada, while Stephen Mullaley, Jeff Ellsworth, SeanO’Brien and Dale Levy each added one.

Withthe win, Canada sits atop the Pool B standings with a 5-0 record, and will takeon South Africa (1-4) at 3:30pm on Wednesday.

Inother Day 5 action, the United States edged Botswana 2-1, Puerto Rico outscoredSouth Africa 16-7, New Zealand defeated Denmark 16-0, Argentina nipped theCzech Republic 2-1, Great Britain trimmed Mexico 7-6, Australia beat Indonesia10-0 and Japan defeated the Philippines by a score of 5-0.

Forgame results and tournament standings, please visit the tournament website at http://www.2009worldmensfastpitch.com/

Formore information, please contact:

GillesLeBlanc
Manager– Marketing and Communications
SoftballCanada
(613)797-7171
gleblanc@softball.ca

Posted in Canada, General, ISF, Tournaments | No Comments »

Record not indicative of how P.E.I. played at U-19 softball tournament

Monday, July 20th, 2009

From The Guardian:
By CHARLES REID

P.E.I.’s 1-7 record at the recent under-19 international men’s softball championship in?Charlottetown isn’t a great accomplishment, but it’s the job of Jeff Ellsworth, Team P.E.I. co-coach, to look closer.

Those seven defeats included two one-run losses and two two-run losses. That from a team with no league to play in, which forced it to scrimmage with the Charlottetown Fawcetts senior men’s team and a hodge-podge squad of former fastpitch devotees before the under-19 tourney.
“Sometimes the score does not always reflect how well the game went for a specific team. We came into the event with a goal to give ourselves a chance to win each game and for the most part we did that,” said Ellsworth in an email interview. “We played in a lot of close ball games that were won late in the game or extra innings were needed. We put the bat on the ball and didn’t make too many errors and we got the pitching from all our starters.”

Ellsworth, who’s in Saskatoon, Sask., this week with Team Canada for the International Softball Federation world men’s fastpitch championship, shared P.E.I.’s bench duties with Darcy Harris.
P.E.I. started the under-19 tourney with a 9-3 loss to the Northwest Territories but stuck it out and remained competitive before losing 1-0 to Alberta in the relegation tournament.
So how does Ellsworth compare the province’s softball program to the rest of Canada?

“We are a little weak in the numbers department, but rank up there in the skill department. With a few breaks this past week we were right there. We have many talented ball players on P.E.I., but not all play softball, which is fine. We just don’t have thousands of players to choose from when selecting a team, but I have to say sometimes that’s a good thing because the players that we selected all came for the right reasons and had the heart to play,” he said.

His current job, a fourth-year outfielder with the national squad, has him suiting up for one of 16 countries in Saskatoon. Canada is 3-0 midway through its seven-game round-robin schedule. Playoffs start Friday. The worlds operate on a four-year rotation like the Olympics. New Zealand is the three-time defending world champ. Canada last won in 1992.

Ellsworth hopes to be asked to coach P.E.I. for the next under-19 international event (it replaced the Canada Games men’s softball dropped for 2009), but will be onboard for the eastern Canadian championship next month in Quebec.

The Tignish native said his team’s will to compete proved a strength and with more games and time improvement is inevitable.

“These kids all know the game and can play well, but to succeed at this level you need to play all the time and for what we did leading up to the event, we exceeded our team and personal goals,” he said.

“Overall, the boys played really well.”

creid@theguardian.pe.ca.

Posted in Canada, International, Youth | No Comments »

XII ISF World Championship Day 4 – July 20

Monday, July 20th, 2009


(click logo to visit the official ISF XII World Championships website)

Digital clock shows local Saskatoon time.

Day 4 schedule:

MONDAY, JULY 20

25 11:30AM AUSTRALIA 11, SOUTH AFRICA 2
Click here for scores
26 1:00PM DENMARK 6, MEXICO 4
Click here for scores
27 1:30PM UNITED STATES 9, PHILIPPINES 4
Click here for scores
28 3:00PM GREAT BRITAIN 4, JAPAN 3
Click here for scores
29 3:30PM ARGENTINA 8 , PUERTO RICO 6
Click here for scores
30 5:30PM NEW ZEALAND 10, BOTSWANA 0
Click here for scores
31 6:30PM CANADA 9, INDONESIA 0
Click here for scores
32 8:30PM VENEZUELA 9, CZECH REPUBLIC 2
Click here for scores

Follow all the action on Al’s Fastball. Al Doran is in Saskatoon, has the best seat in the house and is posting play-by-play updates throughout the tournament. Click logo below to go to his website, then click the links on the left hand side for each game.

Click here to see the view of the playing field that Al Doran enjoys.

Previous scores after the jump. (more…)

Posted in Canada, ISF, Tournaments | No Comments »

Note on Streaming Video for ISF XII Men’s World Championships

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Note from Al Doran of Al’s Fastball re: Streaming Video of ISF Worlds at Saskatoon:

We have received numerous notes of inquiry since then from fans from all over the world asking for more details. I am sorry but I am as much in the dark here as everyone else. The host site still has no information on its subject link:

http://www.2009worldsmensfastpitch.com/Webcam.phpg

So all I can recommend is you keep watching that site and/or contact the host committee.

Excellent questions posed to us include:

– who are the announcers, play by play and colour commentators – do they know senior men’s ball?
– What video and audio quality will we have?
– What is the schedule for the games to be covered?
– will other games have at least a video image?

Hopefully we will have more information very soon as the countdown is on, we play ball in 3 more days!

The official site is:
http://www.2009worldsmensfastpitch.com<

[…]

I am counting on the host committee to provide me with our standard Game Summary Sheets right after every game so that we can keep the information flowing on all the action. I have been assured a reserved spot in the press box and a wireless connection so we should be good to go on Friday morning.

Safe travels to all the fans, players, umpires, and officials headed to Saskatoon, see you in the park on Friday morning.

Stay tuned to www.alsfastball.com

Click here for more info on the tournament.

Al’s earlier post on streaming video at Saskatoon:

XII ISF World Men’s Softball Championship – web streaming

Thursday, July 9, 2009
Media Release

Re: XII ISF World Men’s Softball Championship

The organizing Committee of the XIIISF World Men’s World Softball Championship Softball is pleased toannounce that fans from around the globe can watch the best softball in theworld, through video streaming. As a result of a partnership with Softball Canada all games played at Bob Van Impe Stadium will be made availablethrough pay per view, video streaming. A number of the games will include live play by play. The cost for a complete tournament package is $59.95 or $39.95for the final 10 games. Fans can gain access through the tournament websitemedia link at the top of the page.

www.2009worldmensfastpitch.com

Editor’s note: We have also received a number of emails from fastpitch fans around the world asking for more information on the streaming video broadcasts of the ISF Worlds in Saskatoon. Some had heard that Ballparkradio might be handling the broadcasts. We are not. (As mentioned in prior post, we did submit a proposal, but we were not selected). If we hear anything further, we’ll post in all the usual places, including here at the Morning Brief.

Posted in Broadcasts, Canada, ISF, Tournaments | No Comments »

Ontario Over Saskatchewan in 19u

Monday, July 13th, 2009


(click logo to go to official website)

Click here for scoreboard.

Gold – Ontario (7-1)
Silver – Saskatchewan (7-2)
Bronze – Nova Scotia (6-3)

Editor’s note: Curious who handed Ontario their only loss? It was silver medalist Saskatchewan, 4-3, back on July 7, the first day of the tournament. Ontario avenged that defeat, and claimed the gold by beating Saskatchewan twice on the final day of the tournament, by scores of 3-2 and 5-1.

Team Wins and Losses (more…)

Posted in Canada, General, Tournaments, Youth | No Comments »

Vancouver Challenge – Saturday night and Sunday morning scores

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Japan vs. Great Britain in Semi-Final


Vancouver, BC

Up to date information as of 10:30 am PDT regarding the 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge is enclosed.

Games played Saturday July 11th in the afternoon and evening:

Japan 4 – Vancouver South Hill 0
Kamloops 4 – Vernon 2
Vancouver Grey Sox 8 – Kamloops 2
Denmark 7 – Sooke 2

Standings at the conclusion of the round robin

RED POOL
(1) Vancouver Grey Sox 2-1
(2) Great Britain 2-1
(3) Kamloops 1-2
(4) Vernon 1-2

BLUE POOL
(1) Japan 3 – 0
(2) Vancouver South Hill 2 – 1
(3) Denmark 1- 2
(4) Sooke 0 – 3

Playoff Round
Game played Saturday evening

Kamloops 1 – Sooke 0 – in 11 innings – great ball game to finish the day. *Scheduled game between Denmark and Vernon moved to Sunday am due to Vancouver Parks Board restrictions on use of the facility after 11:00 pm PDT.

Sunday July 11th
Games played at 8:00 am PDT
Vernon 8 – Denmark 4
Great Britain 5 Kamloops 0

In progress
Vernon vs. South Hill Giants winner advances vs Vancouver Grey Sox at 2:00 pm PDT

Noon PDT
Great Britain vs. Japan winner advances to Championship Final at 4:00 pm PDT

Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox
www.vancouvergreysox.com



(click logo to visit official Vancouver Grey Sox website)

Editor’s note: Click here for our earlier post on the Vancouver Challenge which includes complete schedule of games.

Click here for our earlier post with Friday night scores.

Click here for our earlier post with Saturday scores.

Posted in Canada, ISC, ISC-II, Tournaments | No Comments »

Vancouver Challenge – Saturday Scores

Saturday, July 11th, 2009


Vancouver, BC

The 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge commenced day two of action under a bright sunny sky with very warm temperatures, and continued large crowds. Today’s results as of 3:15 pm PDT are as follows:

Japan 10 – Sooke Junior A’s 0
WP – Kengo Terui 3IP,3K, 0H with relief from Kunihiko Iida 1IP,1K,1H
LP – Scott Lieph 4IP,10R,4BB,3K,9H
Japan showed their speed and power early in this one to cruise to a victory over the young junior side.

Vernon, BC DC Arrows 6 – Vancouver Grey Sox 3
WP -Travis Kunz 4IP,3R,3H,2BB,4K with relief from Rob Johnson 3IP,0R,0H,0BB,4K
LP – Travis Price 1.2IP,6R,3H,4BB with relief from Nick Underhill 4.1IP,0R,0H,0BB,7K
Rene Blanleil delivered a three run homerun to provide the Vernon squad with the margin of victory.

Great Britain 5 – Kamloops 2
WP – Rich Haldane with relief from Tony Kelly (5)
LP – Scott Austin

Japan 8 – Denmark 1
WP – Tatsuya Hamaguche with relief from Hirokazu Murakama (4)
LP – Thomas Bonde with relief from Japer Parduro (5)

Vancouver South Hill 4 – Sooke 0
WP – Collin MacKenzie
LP – Ben Oates

Great Britain 5 – Vernon 0
WP -Mark Elson
LP – Rob Johnson with relief from Andre Blanleil

Standings after 8 games

RED POOL
Great Britain 2-1
Vernon 1-1
Vancouver Grey Sox 1-1
Kamloops 0-1

BLUE POOL
Japan 2 – 0
Vancouver South Hill 2 – 0
Denmark 0 – 2
Sooke 0 – 2

Games still to be played today:
3:30 pm – Japan vs. Vancouver South Hill
3:30 pm – Kamloops vs. Vernon (Diamond 2)
5:15 pm – Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Kamloops
5:15 pm – Sooke vs. Denmark

The single life playoffs commence Saturday evening at 7:00 pm Red 3 vs. Blue 4 with the final game of the day slated for a 9:00 pm start featuring Blue 3 vs. Red 4.

Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox
www.vancouvergreysox.com



(click logo to visit official Vancouver Grey Sox website)

Editor’s note: Click here for our earlier post on the Vancouver Challenge which includes complete schedule of games.

Click here for our earlier post with Friday night scores.

Posted in Canada, Tournaments | No Comments »

Vancouver Challenge – Friday Night Scores

Saturday, July 11th, 2009


Big Crowds on Hand Opening Night at Vancouver

The 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge Mens FP tournament commenced this evening under sunny skies and warm temperatures at South Memorial Park in Vancouver. The results from tonight’s opening games were as follows:

Vancouver Grey Sox 4 – Great Britain National Team 2
WP – Nick Underhill 5IP, 1R, 0BB, 9K, 4H with relief from Derek Mayson 1IP, 1R, 1BB, 2K, 3H
LP – James Darby 5IP, 4R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K, 2H

Pat Mackintosh homered for the Grey Sox who capitalized on 3 Great Britain errors to score their runs. Kevin Stockford homered for Great Britain who led 1-0 early in the contest, and had loaded the bases in the final inning with 2 out, before Grey Sox pitcher Derek Mayson recorded a strikeout to end the contest.

Vancouver South Hill Giants 5 – Denmark National Team 2
WP – Craig Pidcock 5IP, 1R, 0BB, 6K, 3H with relief from Collin MacKenzie 2IP,1R,1BB,2K,3H
LP – Kim Hansen 5IP, 3R, 3BB, 7K, 1H with relief from Thomas Bonde 2IP, 2R, 2BB, 2K, 3H

Giants DP Frank DeGroat broke open a 1-1 game with a 6th inning bases loaded triple to pace the Vancouver side to victory.

One of the largest opening night crowds in the history of the event turned out for what has the makings of a good weekend of Mens FP softball. The large turnout of fans was most encouraging considering the playoffs also commenced this evening for the week long Canada Cup International Womens Softball Tournament being held in South Surrey, BC and the BC Lions kicked off their 2009 CFL football season this evening with a home game vs. Hamilton.

Saturday’s pool play games are as follows:

8:00 am – Japan vs. Sooke
9:45 am – Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Vernon
10:00 am – Great Britain vs Kamloops (Diamond 2)
11:30 am – Japan vs Denmark
11:45 am – Sooke vs Vancouver South Hill (Diamond 2)
1:15 pm – Great Britian vs. Vernon
3:30 pm – Japan vs. Vancouver South Hill
3:30 pm – Kamloops vs. Vernon (Diamond 2)
5:15 pm – Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Kamloops
5:15 pm – Sooke vs. Denmark

Playoffs commence Saturday evening at 7:00 pm with the final game of the day slated for a 9:00 pm start.

Playoff games will continue on Sunday commencing at 8:00 am with the Championship Final game scheduled for 4:00 pm.

The weather forecast remains positive for Saturday with sunny skies and highs of 23 c (which is approx. 75 F) and thus bodes well for the teams and the many fastpitch enthusiasts.

Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox



(click logo to visit official Vancouver Grey Sox website)

Editor’s note: Click here for our earlier post on the Vancouver Challenge which includes complete schedule of games.

Posted in Canada, Tournaments | No Comments »

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