Bay Area Merchants: 2009 Nafa Western National Champions
50 & Over.
Most Valuable Player: Ray Biagini (Shortstop) .650 3 HR
Most Valuable Pitcher: Ray Camacho 6-0 .575 4 HR
All World Players: Larry Schofield (Catcher)
Chris Newbold (3rd/Util)
Second Team: Mark Linnell
Fred Kronenberger
Thanks to Herb Dower for the latest edition of “The Dower Report” on the NAFA 45+ World Series:
CARSON CITY, NV — Santa Rosa Fastpitch didn’t stand a chance against the very talented QMax team of Calgary, Alberta, but despite two lopsided losses to the Canadian team, Santa Rosa captured third place in the Over-45 Division in the NAFA Masters West World Series held here Sept. 18-20 at Centennial Sports Complex.
Santa Rosa opened Friday night with a 9-3 win over Savala Painting, which recently finished second in the Over-45 Division of the Amateur Softball Association’s Masters Tournament. Matt Smith pitched the win and Tony Lopez, Tom Dower and Dana Faccini led the way offensively. Lopez collected five straight hits, Dower hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Faccini had two extra base hits.
QMax brought Santa Rosa down to earth Saturday morning as Lanky Johnson pitched a four-hitter in a 9-0 victory. Lopez held the Alberta team at bay for three innings as Santa Rosa trailed only 1-0, but QMax erupted for five runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to put the game away.
Lopez continued his hot hitting with a pair of singles, giving him seven consecutive hits to start the tournament. Dana Faccini added a double and Gary Dower had a single.
Santa Rosa then lost 6-3 to the Tulsa Gray Sox, with Gary Dower taking the loss. Lopez doubled in his first at-bat for his eighth straight hit and Tom Dower and Dana Faccini each had two hits.
In the first game of the playoffs, Santa Rosa took on the No. 4 seeded Ladner Masters of British Columbia and rallied for an eight-inning 9-6 victory behind Matt Smith (2-0).
Santa Rosa led 3-1 after three innings, but Ladner came back to take a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning.
Gary Dower singled to start the Santa Rosa comeback, Lopez was hit by a pitch, Tom Dower singled across a run to make it 5-4, and Tim Grund tripled to right to drive in two runs to give Santa Rosa a 6-5 lead. Grund was left stranded on third.
In the bottom of the seventh, Kelly Wenstrom singled for Ladner’s, Jim Bruce lined out to left, and Sammy Aldridge walked. Troy Grow followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 6-6, but Aldridge, trying to advance to third, fell down and was eventually tagged out. Keven MacDonald flied out to left to end the inning.
In the eighth, Gary Dower ignited the game-winning rally with a two-out bunt single, Lopez doubled, and Tom Dower launched his second three-run home run of the tournament to give Santa Rosa its 9-6 victory.
QMax made short work of Santa Rosa in Sunday’s second game pounding out 13 hits in the first two innings off Matt Smith, including a three-run homer by Tony Davis. Tony Lopez, Tom Dower, Tim Grund and Rick Kane got hits for Santa Rosa. In two games, the Alberta powerhouse outscored Santa Rosa 22-1, and Santa Rosa did not have to face Alberta’s best, pitching legend Rob Scheller.
Three members of the Santa Rosa team received All-World honors. Lopez, who hit .625 (10 for 16) and scored seven runs; Tom Dower, who hit .533 (8 for 15) and had two home runs and seven RBI; and Grund, who was 5 for 14 (.357). It was the second year in a row that Dower received All-World honors, earning it last year while playing for Fat City, when he also hit two home runs.
NAFA MASTER’S EAST WORLD SERIES
(Rockford, IL) September 14, 2009 – It was an awesome event with perfect weather and great fields, great umpiring and the new four-game guarantee was well received by all, except for a few players with really sore muscles today.
Congratulations to the Champions of this year’s event:
35 & over – New Image, WI
40 & over – Seadogs, MA
45 & over – Eagle Pack, IN
50 & over – Nietzer’s/Kelly, MI
55 & over – Co-Champs Texas Stars, TX & Bower Electric, WI
For the complete brackets and All-World Teams, please see the results on our web site at www.nafafastpitch.com .
Thanks to Marianne Larson of Rockford Parks District for having an awesome friendly staff and taking care of all the players and staff like they were her own. Field Prep Supervisors Dave and Gene and the entire field prep staff were awesome. Concession Manager Gene and his staff were great. Hospitality Ambassadors Cindy and Mary took care of everyone working the whole weekend and it was much appreciated by all. The gate staff and scorekeepers were friendly and accurate. Thanks to tournament directors Loren Lathrop from Wisconsin, Mike Watson from Kansas, UIC Carley Parish from Canada, Business Manager Kris Russom from Oregon and Masters Committee member Mike Clark from Iowa.
Every team that played in this event and the West Masters are invited to the “East vs West Battle†in Vegas in late October where we will play a regular four-game guarantee tournament for all who attend. In addition to the regular event, the West Masters Champ will play the East Masters Champ in each age division in a one game winner takes all World Championship game Saturday night. There will be no Friday games.
The teams voted overwhelmingly to return to Rockford for the East Masters next year on the same weekend September 10-12 in 2010, the weekend after Labor Day. They also voted to keep the same four-game guarantee format with one round robin Friday night game at 5PM or later, two more round robin games on Saturday that seed all teams into a single elimination on Sunday. The championship games will be scheduled at 4:45PM or earlier and preferably at 3PM.
The teams wished to continue using the NAFA ball but nearly 50% want to change to a yellow ball for visibility, especially for night games, so we will look into that some more. Almost half the people wanted to allow the courtesy runner be the last out like the present. They would also like a player not in the game to be able to be a designated runner once per inning. I will give other players and coaches the chance to fill out the survey for another week and post the rest of the survey results as soon as possible.
To the Teams that have made NAFA the first choice in Masters play, we thank you for your support. 60 masters teams from the U.S. and Canada are participating this year in the East and West and the growth is surely due to your participation and your willingness to give input to our NAFA Directors who guide your program and it is truly the “Players Program”.
The awards, fields, field preps, ball, format, , supervision, the friendliness, openness & willingness to make things right, along with the camaraderie between the teams in the Masters program is unmatched anywhere. Overall the umpiring was very good and consistent.
From the 31 year old who is turning 32 this calendar year to the 71 year olds(there are 7 of them), the NAFA Masters program is supremely successful because of you the players. We wrote down pitching velocities for most pitchers and the new player photo ID check went well and was well received and appreciated by all coaches.
Every event is not without hiccups and we had a couple, but we made every attempt to make them right when they were brought to our attention.
Thanks to each and every player, coach and spectator for making this an event to remember.
Yours in better Men’s Fastpitch,
Benjie Hedgecock
NAFA Executive Director
Nafafastptich ( a t ) gmail.com
www.nafafastpitch.com
Click logo for links to all brackets and info.
Local softball team wins NAFA wood bat tourney
J Train wins four straight after starting 0-2
Newton Kansan
LONGMONT, Colo. — The J Train of Newton won the North American Fast-Pitch Association Wood Bat World Series, which concluded Sunday in Longmont, Colo.
The tournament drew 11 teams.
J Train lost its first two games of pool play but won the next four games for the title. J Train downed the Denver Dawgs 4-1 in the championship game.
Pitcher Ray Foster was named the tournament MVP.
“We were on it today. Everything was just clicking,†J Train coach Ray Jaso said. “Our hitting came around. We were just on top of our game today.â€
“We went in there with the mindset that we were swinging aluminum — don’t change anything, just go with your regular approach,†left fielder Ray Jaso Jr. said. “Just swing the bat like usual. On defense, you have to play a lot more shallow, because not everyone can hit the ball 275 feet.â€
Foster, of St. Joseph, Mo., led the Houston Diablos to the past four Latin national championships. He also pitches for the Maynard, Texas, Dirtbags and the Ohio Battery 50-and-older team. It was his first wood bat tournament.
“It was great. It’s an experience I will never forget,†said Foster. “… We’ve known these kids for quite a few years. They’ve come up through the hardball leagues. Now they’ve started into fastpitch as young men. They’re starting to develop pretty good. We had a real good time.â€
J Train lost to the Denver Dawgs and the Colorado Rage in pool play, beating Los Camoesinos.
In tournament play, J Train downed the Englewood (Colo.) Dragons and the Colorado Rage 5-3 in the semifinals. J Train scored four runs in the fifth inning of the semifinals on RBI hits by Ray Jaso Jr. and Rico Garcia.
In the championship game, the Dawgs scored in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly. J Train tied the game in the top of the third. Andy Jaso and Donavan Scott hit RBI singles for J Train the fourth. J Train added a run in the sixth.
“We had a great day,†Foster said. “We had a rough time (Saturday) with our sticks. The wood bats were a little different for us. Today we kind of put it together and our sticks came around. It took a whole team effort to win it.â€
Ray Jaso Jr., Tony Jaso Sr., Rico Garcia and Albert Garcia were all named to the all-tournament team.
(click logo to visit the official NAFA website)
2009 NAFA Men’s Open World Series – Middleton, WI
2009 NAFA “AA Major” Tournament Report
2009 NAFA Men’s “AA” World Series – Sioux Falls, SD
2009 NAFA Men’s A-Major World Series – Sioux Falls, SD
2009 NAFA Men’s “A” World Series – Sioux Falls, SD
After not being able to play a single game on Saturday, the Tournament Committee had the fields ready for play and for the completion of the Double Elimination Bracket. But through all their efforts, it rained again at 4am and the fields were again deluged. The Tournament was converted to a Single Elimination Bracket and two of the teams were unable to continue. Games began at 7am on one field, and at 8 am on the other field. The Championship game was an awesome pitching duel with no earned runs and the only runs scored were on a pickoff play that was just off barely off target. The Championship game was won 2-0 by New Image over Marshall Lightning. Most people expected the two teams that dominated Friday in round robin play to do the same, but in single elimination anything can happen, and it certainly did, with 3 upsets in the quarterfinals. It made the day very exciting.
Thanks to the Host Committee and their leader Heather Bauman and to Shirley Roberts of the Bay County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and to Bay City and Bay County Parks and Recreation and to the Bay City Softball Association for their support.
The umpiring was tremendous and the event was enjoyed by all, despite the weather, and several hundred fans attended the event making it one to remember. Thanks to UIC Steve Vail from Wisconsin and the great umpire staff of Rick Havercrof, Dave Seldon, Joe Squires, Ted Germain, Mike Clark, Jeff Yorke, Mark Larson, Jim Fitrakis, Steve Jahnke, Larry Tait, and Vic Cena.
Thanks to the NAFA Tournament Staff of Vice President, Loren Lathrop, Wisconsin, Dewey Yoke, Washington, and Jan Tokorcheck of Southern California doing the statistical analysis.
Benjie Hedgecock
Executive Director
Final Order of Finish
1st – New Image, Wisconsin, 4-1
2nd – Marshall Lightning, Michigan, 4-1
3rd – Munger Softball, Michigan, 2-2
3rd – Twisters, Michigan, 1-3
5th – Hickson Reds, Ontario Canada, 2-1
5th – Ingersoll Crush, Ontario Canada, 2-1
7th – Keating Fitness, Pennsylvania, 1-2
8th – Tiffany’s, Michigan, 0-3
9th – CPI, Ontario, Canada, 1-2
10th – UTD, Michigan, 0-3
Quarter Finals:
New Image-2 – Tiffany’s-1
Winning Pitcher – Bryan Lathrop
Losing Pitcher – Pete Loachridge
Munger Softball-4 – Ingersoll Crush-3
Winning Pitcher – Mike Joseph
Losing Pitcher – Ryan Cummings
Marshall Lightning-3 – Hixson Reds-0
Winning Pitcher – Sean Kelly
Losing Pitcher – Mark Vanvliet
Twisters-7 – Keating Fitness-6
Winning Pitcher – Rick Engle
Losing Pitcher – Dave Stokes
Semi-Finals
New Image-3 – Munger Softball-2
Winning Pitcher – Jeremy Holman
Losing Pitcher – Mike Joseph
Marshall Lightning-9 – Twisters-2
Winning Pitcher – Sean Kelly
Losing Pitcher – Rick Engle
Championship Game
New Image-2 – Lightning-0
Winning Pitcher – Jeremy Holman
Losing Pitcher – Sean Kelly
All-American Team Selections
Most Valuable Player Jeff Jahn, Catcher, New Image
Most Valuable Pitcher, Sean Kelly, Lightning
Name Team Avg RBI HR
Eric Scott Ingersoll Crush:2009 700 1 0
Adam Learn Hickson Reds:2009 667 3 1
Frank Keating Jr Keating Fitness:2009 500 0 0
Steve Myers Marshall Lightning:2009 500 4 0
Shea Bryant Munger Softball:2009 455 1 1
Sean McLaren Hickson Reds:2009 444 4 2
DJ Latford Ingersoll Crush:2009 444 2 0
Jeff Jahn New Image:2009 385 1 0
Todd Moore Munger Softball:2009 385 0 0
Trevor Kelly Marshall Lightning:2009 333 2 0
Todd Burlage New Image:2009 313 4 1
Chris Rivard Marshall Lightning:2009 267 5 2
Adam Fishbach Hickson Reds:2009 333 4 2
Name Team ERA SO
Bryon Lathrop New Image:2009 0.00 12
Sean Kelly Marshall Lightning:2009 0.49 42
Mike Joseph Munger Softball:2009 1.59 14
Jeramie Holman New Image:2009 1.64 29
Results from the third day of play at the NAFA “A†World Series at Harmodon Park, Sioux Falls, SD. Games begin again on Sunday at 8:00 AM with the lower bracket. Weather was hot and humid, with games being postponed for one hour-thirty minutes due to tornado watches mid-afternoon.
Winner’s Bracket
Crowbar, SD – 5, Flor de Cana, CA – 0
KC Angels, MO – 9, GLC, MI – 1
Lower Bracket
9:00 AM
Graber & Assc, SD – 7, Communiquest, MI – 0 (forfeit)
Boulder Rebels, CO – 12, San Prairie, WI – 9
Priority Mortgage, MI – 12, J & D Tube – 0
NW Implement, KS – 14, Palm Springs Express, CA – 6
Clark Construction, IN – 14, Winterset A’s – 1
Youngs Prime #2, SD – 10, Firesteel Snakes – 6
Panteras II, CA – 8, Mac-O-Che, OH – 3
Ricola, FP, NJ – 14, John’s Plumbing, NB – 3
10:45 AM
Cornerstone, PA – 7, Graber & Assc, SD – 2
Boulder Rebels, CO – 11, Alchins Disposal, MI – 9
MG Construction, WI – 9, Priority Mortgage, MI – 0
Kassan State Theatre, MN – 5 , NW Implement, KS – 1
Castle Plumbing, MI – 5, Clark Construction, IN – 0
Ramona FP, SD – 11, Youngs Prime #2, SD – 1
Silver Stars, SD – 6, Panteras II – 5
Ricola FP, NJ – 7, Budweiser, WI – 5
Delay due to tornado watches, times were adjusted from the original schedule
4:00 PM
Cornerstone, PA – 3, Preston Merchants, MN – 1
Winnipeg Bullets, Canada – 12, Boulder Rebels, CO – 2
MG Construction, WI – 7, Main Street FP, WI – 0
Kassan State Theater, MN – 5, Ramsey Financial, IL – 4
Rice Lake Orangemen, WI – 7, Castle Plumbling, MI – 6
Ramona FP, SD – 7, Grumpy’s, IA – 4
Crouch Electric, MI – 10, Silver Stars, SD – 0
Ricola FP, NJ – 6, Wizards of Oz, KS – 4
5:45 PM
MG Construction, WI – 5, Cornerstone, PA – 4
Winnipeg Bullets, Canada – 12, Kassan State Theatre, MN – 1
Crouch Electric, MI – 5, Rice Lake Orangemen, WI – 1
Ricola FP, NJ – 11, Ramona FP – 6
9:15 PM
Scarletts, SD – 11, MG Construction, WI – 8 vs Scarletts
Winnipeg Bullets, Canada – 12 vs Premier Bank, IA – 0
Crouch Electric, MI – 3, Wilson/Point Blank, WI – 2
Deluth, FP, MN – 17 vs Ricola FP, NJ – 16 (not a typo)
11:30PM
Scarletts, SD – 10, Winnipeg Bullets, Canada – 1
Crouch Electric, MI – 12, Deluth FP, MN – 3
Sunday
Winner’s Bracket
9:45 AM
Crowbar, SD vs KC Angels, MO
Lower Bracket
8:00 AM
Scarlet’s, SD – 10, GLC, MI – 11
Flor de Cana, CA – 12, Crouch Electric, MI – 5
9:45 AM
GLC, MI vs Flor de Cana, CA
Veteran’s Park, Bay City, Michigan
Aug. 7-9
Friday’s Round Robin Seeding Games delivered some great pitching and timely hits to great crowds on every Field at the Veteran’s Sports Complex in Bay City, Michigan.
Pitching Duels such as Jeremy Holman vs Shawn Winship. Pete Lockridge, Sean Kelly, Dave Stokes, Todd Winkworth, Ryan Nichols, Jeff Murphy, MIke Joseph, Brian Lathrop, Mark Van Vleet, Brian Whitman, Jeff Hoover, Ryan Cummings just to name a few of the hurlers in attendance this weekend.
Marshall Lighting, Michigan, Hickson Reds, Canada and Ingersol Crush, Canada went undefeated in pool play. Keating Fitness, Pennsylvania, Munger Softball, Michigan and New Image, Wisconsin all went 1-1 in pool play. Up to Date Painting, Twisters and Tiffanys went 0-2 in pool play but Tiffany’ barley lost both pool play games and took Lightning to extra innings in a thriller to end the day which attracted a large crowd.
Saturday’s Schedule was complety rained out with over 2 inches of rain which lasted all day. All Teams advance to a Double Elimination bracket beginnning at 6am on Sunday with opponents as follows:
Munger Softball vs Ingersoll Crush at 6am and the winner plays the winner of
Twisters (won over Up to Date) vs Lightning at 6am
New Image, 1-1, plays Tiffany’s, 0-2 at 6am and the winner plays Hickson Reds at 7:30am and that winner plays the winner of the Keating Fitness, 1-1 vs CPI, 1-1 game at 6am
The Bay City Pig Gig annual 20,000 person celebration created alot of excitement with the players and the Host Champion Diversified and owner Heather Bouman working with PIg Gig Operater Wendy Dure provided free passes to every player in the tournament.
NAFA appreciates the Bay County Convention & Visitors Association and Executive Director, Shirley Roberts and Heather Bouman’s Champions Diversified for hosting the event in Bay City.
Tournament Directors Loren Lathrop and Dewey Yoke as well as UIC Steve Vail and Statistician Jan Tokorchok are overseeing the event with an excellent umpiring crew.
We will post a full report late Sunday/early Monday with results and stats.
Benjie Hedgecock
NAFA Executive Director