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ISC announces PRAWN changes, additional announcement pending

Monday, November 30th, 2009

For immediate release

As most know, the continuing loss of ISC World Tournament caliber teams is putting the tournament in jeopardy. Because of this, the ISC has been forced to make some major changes in rules and tournament operation for 2010 and future years. This release is one of two that will be issued this week, explaining the changes. The second change is currently being voted on by the ISC Board of Directors.

To fully explain the background of these changes, one must understand the economics of the ISC World Tournament. The World Tournament is a primary source of operational revenue for the ISC. The host city conducts the tournament with a financial commitment to ISC. The host city must have reasonable assurance of sufficient economic impact and revenue to make their operation viable and profitable. To successfully accomplish this, there must be a sufficient number of teams traveling to the host city and the tournament must be appealing to fans who attend the tournament games.

Perhaps most important is that the overall experience must be attractive to the teams and players to spend the necessary money to travel to and stay in the host city, take time away from work and families and to compete in the best club tournament in the world.

Last Friday, Larry Fisher and Blair Setford traveled to Michigan to meet with the Midland Tournament Directors for 2010 and explain our proposed changes. The Midland host committee has approved the change being announced today and the subsequent one to be announced later in the week.

The first announcement is the following change in our PRAWN rule:

For 2010, each team will be limited to six PRAWN players. Only one of the six may be a PRAWN pitcher. There will be no exceptions (grandfathering) for those players who have made PRAWN status and remained with their original team.

The above rule change has been approved by both the ISC Executive Committee and the ISC Board of Directors by a majority vote.

The primary intent of this rule change is to make more PRAWN players and pitchers available to more teams.

A PRAWN is a player who has been named to the ISC All-World Teams in the 2007, 2008 or 2009 ISC World Tournaments. There is no change in our previously announced rule of limiting PRAWN status only to those making All-World in the prior three years.

We plan to issue the second release later this week.

Ken Hackmeister
ISC Executive Director

Posted in General, ISC | No Comments »

Excitement building for ISC World Tournament

Monday, November 30th, 2009


(click banner for original news story)
By John Kennett
jkennett (at) mdn.net

With over 20,000 people expected to descend on Midland next Aug. 14-21 for the 2010 International Softball Congress World Championships, planning is paramount.

Fortunately, co-chairs Kyle Beane and Dave Lach of the host Midland Explorers Booster Club feel they have preparations well in hand.

“We’re in a pretty good spot,” said Beane, who plays for the Midland Explorers and is a product analyst for the General Motors Service and Parts Operation.

Two area hotels, the Midland Resort and Convention Center and the Valley Plaza Resort, have been chosen as the host hotels for the tournament.

“We’ll need a lot of meeting room space fro the ISC to conduct their business,” said Lach. “For instance, on Sunday morning (of the tournament), the ISC will hold a Hall of Fame breakfast for over 300 guests at the Valley Plaza.”

Along with the two host hotels, the H Hotel has agreed to be a partner while Sports Junction has signed on to be the tournament’s souvenir vendor.

With over $2 million expected to be pumped into the local economy, the host committee is raising the initial $30,000 of organizational money.

“Right now, we’re in the fundraising mode,” said Beane. “We’re contacting local businesses for funds. We want this to benefit the whole community.”

The process to hold next year’s tournament began over a year ago at the 2008 ISC World Championships in Kimberly, Wis.

“Typically, the host city is chosen two years prior by a bid process,” said Beane. “At Kimberly, nobody came forward for 2010, so we started talking to the ISC about hosting.”

After receiving details from the ISC about hosting the tournament, and then processing the information, the decision was made to move ahead with pursuing the 2010 tournament.

“We contacted the Midland Parks and (Recreation Department) along with the (Midland) Chamber of Commerce, and everyone was firmly behind it,” said Beane. “A verbal agreement was reached with the ISC late last year, and the contract was signed in July.”

Lach is impressed with the way the community has backed up its initial commitment.

“The openness and enthusiasm from the local community has been great,” said Lach, who works for Nexteer Automotive of Saginaw as a senior systems engineer. “Any business we’ve approached has given us a tremendous response. The (Midland) City Council, along with the (Midland) Parks and Rec, have provided us with everything we’ve needed. It’s been very rewarding to see everyone pull together.”

One change that fans will see in the 2010 ISC is the absence of perennial power The Farm Tavern of Madison, Wis. After 34 years and three World Championships, sponsor Rod Peterson decided to retire and disband the team.

“There was not a better sponsor than Rod,” said Beane. “I’m sorry to see him go.”

With the closure of The Farm, the Midland Explorers become the ISC team with the longest continuous sponsorship.

“We’ve been at every ISC Championship since 1987,” said Beane. “That’s 23 years. It really speaks highly of guys like Lefty Bartos and Lee Isenhart, who started the Explorers.”

August’s event will actually consist of three separate tournaments: the ISC Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament, ISC II Tournament of Champions, and the ISC Development Tournament (under-19).

All the games will take place at either Emerson Park or the Redcoat Softball Complex. The Explorers will be entered in the ISC Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament along with the best teams in the world.

“It’s kind of like the majors versus Triple-A,” said Beane of the difference between the ISC Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament and the ISC II Tournament. “The Fast Pitch Tournament has better players.”

Last year’s ISC Men’s Fast Pitch Championships drew 24 teams, while the ISC II Tournament had 40 teams.

“I expect there to be a real solid group of 20 teams this year in the Fast Pitch Tournament,” said Beane. “Due to some teams folding up, some of the (ISC) II teams will move up.”

With the re-signing of star pitcher Brian Urquhart, Beane expects the Explorers to have another strong showing after finishing ninth at the 2009 ISC, where Urquhart was named to the All-World Team.

“We’re trying to find another pitcher to go with Brian,” said Beane. “This time of year is when players typically move to other teams. We would like to make the Explorers as strong as we can, so we can make a deep run in this year’s tournament.”

For further information regarding the tournament, or to contact Beane or Lach, go to www.midland2010isc.com.

Some readers comments from the news story appear after the jump. (more…)

Posted in ISC, Tournaments | No Comments »

Islander to play softball with New York team

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

From The Guardian, Prince Edward Island
(click link for original news story)

Ellsworth sets sights on return to national team
ERIC MCCARTHY
Transcontinental Media

BROOKLYN — Another busy summer of competitive ball awaits Jeff Ellsworth.

The Brooklyn, P.E.I., resident recently signed to play for the Broken Bow Patsy’s out of New York City for the 2010 season.

The team finished second in the International Softball Congress world championship last year, up from fourth the previous year.
Ellsworth is also very interested in continuing playing with Canada’s senior men’s team.

“I’ll definitely be sticking around,” said Ellsworth.

Team Canada is currently in the midst of selecting a new coaching staff and a new players’ pool will subsequently be created.

“I’d expect the old players will be getting a call right away to see what their interest is,” Ellsworth suggested.

At the end of the 2009 season, Ellsworth indicated he would take some time to decide his future in the sport. Changes in the International Softball Federation’s schedule are working to Ellsworth’s advantage. Previously, the ISF held a world championship every four years but has since changed that to every two years.

“That’s more attractive for older players,” said Ellsworth.

Ellsworth, known for his strong play in the outfield, sound batting and swift base-running, will be one of two Canadians on a Patsy’s roster loaded with international talent. There are only two Americans signed with the team.

He also plans to play for the Charlottetown Fawcetts in the Canadian senior men’s fastpitch championship in Charlottetown in August. The last time the Canadian championship was on P.E.I., Ellsworth was just starting out in senior ball, and playing for the host Summerside Twins. That was nine years ago and he has been all over the map with his sport since then.

Posted in Canada, ISC, ISF, Players | No Comments »

CaringBridge Journal Update for Ken Vierling

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

For those following the progress of ISC II Umpire in Chief after his auto accident, click here the for latest update. . (He is resting after minor surgery)

Ken has also shared his Thanksgiving wishes for everyone in the fastpitch community, with these notes: (11/22/09)

Hello everyone

thought I would drop you all a note about my status. Tomorrow I’m having surgery on a pressure sore that needs to be taken care of. I will be at Fairview Riverside Hospital for the surgery and then moving to Regency Hospital for recovery. I don’t know how long I will be there, but I will keep you informed. For those of you who may not know, I was in a car accident last April that has left me as a quadriplegic. I am working hard to recover completely. I do not know if I will ever umpire or bowl again. My goal is to do both.

I will keep you informed, in the meantime enjoy the message below!

Ken Vierling


Editor’s note: The surgery that he mentions as “tomorrow” has taken place, and updated via the link above.

We encourage you to drop Ken a line directly, as his email address: comicdude1 (at) msn.com replace the (at) with @

Posted in General, ISC, ISC-II | No Comments »

California Classic – Revised Date – June 19-20, 2010

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Editor’s note: The California Classic has been rescheduled, to avoid a conflict with Best of the West tournament. The new date is June 19-20, 2010, so be sure to update your calendar accordingly.

CALIFORNIA CLASSIC MEN’S ISC FASTPITCH TOURNAMENT

Hosted by the California A’s & Bakersfield Silverhawks

Date: June 19th & 20th, 2010
Where: San Diego/Poway, CA
SportsplexUSA Complex
http://www.sportsplexusa.com/
Entry Fee: $450
Format: Round Robin Single Elimination
With a 4 Game Guarantee

Host Hotel:
Quality Suites San Diego
9880 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92131
Toll Free: (800) 822-6692
Local: (858) 530-2000
Use code “California Classic” when you call to get a room rate of $79.00
http://qualitysuitessandiego.com/

For more information, please contact:
David Weldin: davidw (at) expressinsurance.com
Bobby McCormick: mccormickservices10 (at) yahoo.com
Chris McGehee: garageworks (at) bak.rr.com

Posted in ISC, So Cal, Tournaments | No Comments »

A Legend Leaves the Game

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

Softball legend leaves the game
By DOUG MOE | dmoe (at) madison.com

Rod Peterson, who managed the Farm Tavern to three fast-pitch softball world championships, recently announced his retirement.
Photo by BRIAN EBNER

The word legend can get tossed around loosely, but Rod Peterson is a legend.

And when a legend leaves the stage, someone should take notice.

“The sport has been very good to me,” Peterson, 70, was saying the other day. “But it’s time.”
The arena where Peterson is legendary is fast-pitch softball. For more than three decades, Peterson managed the Farm Tavern, a team named for his bar on Moorland Road south of South Towne Mall. They won three world championships – the last in 2007 – and were almost always in the final four of that tournament, which is run by the International Softball Congress (ISC).
That’s why when it was recently announced that Peterson was retiring from managing, and folding his Farm Tavern team, the news shook the fast-pitch world.

In an appreciation published last month in Al’s Fastball, Peter J. Porcelli, sponsor of another top team, the Tampa Bay Smokers, recalled playing a game against Peterson’s Farm Tavern in Central Park in New York City in 1999.

Porcelli pointed out that the Farm had won two of the preceding three ISC world championships, and then noted: “But it was not their championships alone that gave them credibility. It was what the Farm stood for, reliability, consistency, competition, war, talent, world class play, world class players, classy ownership and sponsorship, and most importantly of all, great sportsmanship. How many of the top players in sports today and how many teams calling themselves elite can truly be thought of by the multitudes as great sportsmen? The Farm is all of that.”

Peterson, a Rio native, moved to Madison in 1955. He is a lifelong baseball fan, and one day in the early 1960s, as he was leaving his job at the Mendota State Hospital on the North Side, Peterson spotted a co-worker carrying baseball spikes. Peterson asked where he was headed.

“A fast-pitch softball game. Want to come?”

Fast-pitch was big in Madison. Peterson played first base and started managing in 1966, piloting a city recreation team sponsored by the Music Box Tavern on Madison’s East Side.
Peterson bought the Farm Tavern in 1975 and began sponsoring and managing a fast-pitch team. He played, too, for a while anyway, and participated in one of the Farm’s most memorable games, a 1981 34-inning classic that lasted nearly seven hours.

“I struck out seven straight times,” Peterson later told ISC information officer Gordon Wise. “Or maybe it was nine.”

The Farm lost that game 2-1 to the Valley Merchants of Midland, Mich. The Midland pitcher had 64 strikeouts all told.

The Farm didn’t lose often. Their first world title, in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1997, remains Peterson’s favorite. “I’ll never forget it,” he said last week, despite the fact that Peterson and his players drank champagne until dawn in celebration.

Those players, whom Peterson recruited from all over the world – one recent star, Jeff Goolagong, was from Australia and related to tennis great Evonne Goolagong Cawley – revered him.
In August 2007, after the Farm’s third and last world championship, his ace pitcher, Korrey Gareau, said this about Peterson to a Canadian newspaper: “Everybody plays their heart out for him. We are a team. We stick together. This is a brotherhood, and that goes a long way in our game.”

Peterson was set to retire in 2007, but came back to defend in 2008 and said a commitment to a few players kept him managing in 2009. The Farm didn’t win the world title this year, but they captured the national championship, in late summer in Indiana.

Giving up the game wasn’t easy. “I thought long and hard,” Peterson said. He’ll keep operating the bar, and he has a 900-acre farm near North Leeds on which he farms field corn and soybeans.
So he’ll stay busy, but Peterson said he probably won’t watch any fast-pitch next year. It’s still too close to him. Maybe after that he’ll be able to spectate without it hurting too much.
“It was a very good run,” he said.

Contact Doug Moe at 608-252-6446 or dmoe@madison.com.

Posted in ISC | No Comments »

Legends of Fastball Classic 2010

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

From Al’s Fastball:

(click link for original news story)

Legends of Fastball Classic 2010

The 7th Annual Legends of Fastball Classic will move to a new date in 2010 and tournament organizers are hoping to expand with a new junior division as well. Legends has traditionally been held the weekend after Memorial Day but declining major level teams and late start up of remaining teams has made it difficult to fill the schedule the last couple years. After much consideration the Legends weekend will move to June 25, 26 and 27, 2010 with the hope that conflicts in previous years can now be avoided. Peter Hallman Ball Yard in Kitchener will again be the host venue for this event.

The format will remain the same with 10 teams in two 5 team divisions. Each team will play a 4 game round robin schedule in their owndivision with the top 3 in each division advancing to the single eliminationplayoff round. The top team in each division will be given a buy in the preliminary playoff round.

With so many strong midget and junior aged teams throughout Ontario, organizers arehoping to attract 8 teams to compete in a similar format in the juniordivision. Details have not been nailed down yet in this regard but should becoming forth by the end of the year.

Entry fee for the men’s division will be $500 payable to Kitchener Fastball Promotions, c/o Larry Lynch, 206 Moore Avenue, Kitchener Ontario N2H 3S9

Any and all interested teams can contact Larry by e-mail at llynch9 (at) rogers.com or telephone , evenings at 519 579 2903.

Legends has been a designated ISC World Tournament qualifyingtournament in resent years. With another World Tournament scheduled in Kitchener in 2011 itmakes great sense to get a feel for the action before the main event.

Larry Lynch

Posted in ISC, Tournaments | No Comments »

2009 ISC Video Archives now online

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Oct 29, 2009 – The ISC Streaming Committee has posted the video archives of 14 complete games from the 2009 ISC World Tournament in Moline Illinois.

The games can be freely played on demand, and are found in the Archive section of the ISC Sportsjuice page:

The 2009 ISC World Championship game is directly accessible from the above page, and the other 13 games can be accessed from the pull down menu of the Archive section on the page. Coverage of the awards ceremony is also included with the Championship game.

The Ballparkradio.tv web site will also include direct links to the video archives.

“The 2009 ISC World Tournament was the first under our new reorganized streaming plan, and other than the rain, it was the most well received of all of our previous live video webcasts” said Dave Blackburn, ISC Commissioner of Streaming and Broadcasting. “We had satisfied viewers from all around the world, and we had very few, if any, disruptions to our live streams. With what we have learned in the last 4 years, I am quite encouraged about the future of our live video webcasts.”

With over 30 hours of game video coverage now accessible, fastball fans can now relive the tournament, and follow the action as the

Kitchener Rivershark Twins capture their second consecutive ISC World fastball Championship.

Editor’s note:

This was Ballparkradio’s first year of involvement with the ISC video broadcasts. I wanted to take a moment and thank the ISC video crew – including the guy that started it all, Executive Producer Dave Blackburn, along with his assistant Roseann Allen, and camera crew, Mike and Jerry Betz, all of whom did an outstanding job with this year’s video production. Judging from the emails we received, it was the best quality, most stable, reliable video stream ever. The credit for that goes to those four people, who worked extremely hard to make it happen.

That said, I was very disappointed with the unprofessional broadcast environment in the WT press box – disruptions from certain people in the press box who didn’t seem to care about the quality of the broadcasts, or that their conversations, cell phone ringers, noise and in some cases, profanity, were going out over the air.

As you watch or listen to the archived broadcasts, if you hear this, I would appreciate if you would email me with the game number and time of the disruptions or distactions in the background. (e.g. Game 12, 12:22-12:45 etc.) with any notes describing it. Send to jim (at) ballparkradio (dot) com.

Posted in Broadcasts, ISC | No Comments »

Possible ISC Changes For 2010 Season

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

With the recent influx of notices of teams ceasing operations for 2010, the ISC is taking steps to ensure that the ISC World Tournament remains a healthy and viable event that has appeal for teams, fans, host cities and the ISC.

Any proposed changes will require approval by both the ISC Executive Committee and then the full ISC Board of Directors. Our goal is to have this process completed and announced in the next five weeks.

Without going into specifics, some or all of the following may be impacted:
* PRAWN rules for 2010
* Out of Region fees
* Berth allocations to our five regions for Qualifying tournaments
* Team rankings
* Structure of both the ISC World Tournament and the ISC II Tournament of Champions

Because of the above, we suggest that teams take the above into consideration in discussions with prospective players until everyone knows exactly what changes will be implemented.

We are committed to making an announcement as quickly as possible.

Ken Hackmeister
Executive Director
www.iscfastpitch.com

Posted in General, ISC | No Comments »

Steve Kerian to Iowa Hall of Fame

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

From the Sioux City Journal:

FOLEY, KERIAN PLAYED ON MULTIPLE TITLE TEAMS
Former softball stars enter hall

By Terry Hersom – thersom@siouxcityjournal.com

SIOUX CITY — Two metro Sioux City men will be honored Sunday in Ames, Iowa, when the Amateur Softball Association announces its new inductees to the Iowa Men’s Fast-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame.

New hall of famers this year include former pitcher Francis Foley, who retired from softball at age 40 in 1963, and infielder Steve Kerian, who played on five ASA national championship teams.

Foley pitched for various teams in the Sioux City area, including Solomon Foods, Burnett Motors, the Le Mars Eagles, Johnson Biscuit and Blue Bunny in a career spanning from 1942 through 1963.

Compiling over 300 wins, Foley struck out 2,849 batters and had a career 1.51 earned run average, pitching in seven ASA state tournaments (11-3 record) and helping teams win state titles in 1949 and 1952.

Foley threw 20 no-hitters, including six perfect games, and also had 33 one-hitters and 37 two-hitters. He logged 80 shutouts and pitched another 75 games in which opponents scored just one run.

A 2000 North Central Conference Honor Award recipient for his support of Morningside College athletics, Foley also pitched in four western regionals, winning a championship in 1952, and also appeared in the World ASA tournament that same year.

Kerian, a native of Waverly, Iowa, who played college baseball at Ellsworth Community College and Florida International University in Miami, played the brunt of his softball career from 1978 through 1999.

After four years with the Waverly Merchants, he played for Cedar Rapids Vigortone and Decatur (Ill.) ADM before playing on Sioux City Penn Corp and NHCD teams that won four ASA national titles and finished second twice. He also helped Penn Corp win two ISC World Tournaments and finish second twice while playing on an ISC winner for Decatur and an ASA champ with Green Bay (Wis.) All-Star.

Kerian helped Team USA win its most recent gold medal in the quadrennial International Softball Federation Championships in 1988 and he also represented his country on two silver medalists in Pan-American Games competition. In addition, he was on ASA Olympic Sports Festival champions four times and played for the U.S. four times in New Zealand’s Winfield Challenge.

Kerian and his wife Tina, who make their home in McCook Lake, have three sons, Jeff, 20; David, 16; and Matthew, 10. The owner of a home building and development company, JDM Homes LLC, he continues to play baseball in a local league and still plays in an occasional fast-pitch tournament.

Posted in ISC, Players | No Comments »

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