As we mentioned earlier, Maddy was not permitted to shoot photos at this year’s ISC World Tournament. She did manage to shoot this one off site, though, as California A’s catcher Jeff Twist was being taken away to the hospital after collapsing on the playing field with muscle cramps.
All kidding aside, it’s wasn’t Maddy’s photo. We thank Dr. Dave Drotzman for sharing the photo from TMZ with us.
The ISC is pleased to announce the appointment of Gregg Leather as an ISC Regional Commissioner in the US East Region. Gregg replaces Mike Cutro who recently resigned.
Gregg has been the manager of the NY Gremlins team the past several seasons and in 2009 moved his team up from the ISC II Tournament of Champions into the ISC World Tournament where they finished with an impressive 4-3 record in Quad Cities.
Gregg’s background is in the modified ranks and has his sights set on bringing more modified teams into the ISC for both the ToC and the World
Tournament.
Gregg, 43, is married to JoAnn and the father of a daughter 14 and son, age 9. He is employed by New York Police Department (NYPD) and based in their Manhattan headquarters. Gregg and his family reside in Staten Island.
Please join us in welcoming Gregg Leather – nysoftball (at) aol.com
Ken
Cap tip to Dave Blackburn for spotting this one.
From my hometown newspaper, the Long Beach Press Telegram
Mark Bailey impressed Eddie Feigner with his speed and his between-the-legs throws. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)
HALL OF FAME: Long Beach native recalls his time with 4-man softball squad.
By Bob Keisser, Staff Writer
Mark Bailey impressed Eddie Feigner with his speed and his between-the-legs throws. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)
Ask most people how many players you need for a baseball and softball team, and the answer will be nine.
But Mark Bailey knows you can get away with four.
For five years, Bailey was the shortstop on the King and His Court softball team, the legendary squad headlined by Eddie Feigner, arguably the greatest fast-pitch softball player ever.
This was no ordinary team. It was a show squad that traveled the country and played exhibitions against other teams, the difference being that the court played with just four players – Feigner, a catcher, first baseman and shortstop.
Starting in 1965, Bailey was the King’s shortstop, which meant he also played third base, left field and a little center field, on those rare occasions an opponent would make contact with Feigner’s array of pitches.
“I had a tryout for him in 1965,” said Bailey, a Long Beach native who will be inducted into the Long Beach Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame next Saturday (Oct. 10) at Blair Field. “He had heard of me and his shortstop had just retired, and he needed someone who could also pitch.
“When he saw I could do a few things, some of that between-the-legs stuff, and cover a lot of ground, he signed me. He liked that he could use me in more than one spot.”
The tours were more than a grind. Bailey estimated that the team would play 200 dates a year and the calendar often featured weeks of eight or nine games, including the occasional tripleheader.
“We once played five games in three days in four states,” Bailey said. “It was serious travel. Thing is, I was a good ballplayer but when you start playing with just four guys, you really improve. You get to a point where you play so much that you don’t even notice.”
Bailey noted with a laugh that first baseman Al Jackson was the oldest guy on the team, so his coverage area could also include right field. “Sometimes I wished I was the old guy,” he said.
Many of the games were against town teams, but this being at a time when fast-pitch softball had a national footprint, they’d also face teams that were powers in either Amateur Softball Assn. or International Softball Congress leagues. “We did play the defending world champs several times, and some of those games were pretty intense,” he said.
“We all had our things. Catcher Jim Herrick was the team comedian and I was fast, always running. When Eddie set his mind on it, there was no pitcher like him. He could make the ball curve and fade and put it anywhere within 360 degrees, and there was the behind the back and between his leg tricks, too.”
Bailey is as Long Beach as they come. He was born here and went to McKinley Elementary, Hamilton Middle School, Jordan High School, Long Beach City College and Long Beach State, and he was a teacher at Washington Middle School for 35 years.
He started playing baseball and softball when he was a fourth grader and played baseball at Jordan and Long Beach City College before putting his emphasis on softball.
He played on several of the legendary open-class softball teams in the Southland, including the Anaheim Bobcats, Lakewood Jets and briefly with the Long Beach Nitehawks. Bailey, whose nephew is former UCLA and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, went back to an ISC World Series with the Nitehawks and won several ASA titles with the Jets. He was a member of the 1974 Jets team that won a ISC world title, too.
“I tell people about those days and they have no idea how big it was,” he said. “The Nitehawks were the team because they went to the ISC World Series every year and they were so popular here, but the ASA was the Big Dog. More teams, bigger tournaments.”
Few teams were bigger than the King and his Court, and with players like Bailey, they weren’t exactly playing short-handed.
bob.keisser@presstelegram.com
(Click photo below to enlarge)
(Photo: Inaugural plaque for Long Beach Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame, circa 2004. (Photo by Maddy Flanagan, click to enlarge)
Editor’s note: Must be the week for stories about the King and his Court, this one coming on the heels of a story earlier this week in New Jersey paper, clear across the country on Rich Hoppe. The story above appeared in my hometown newspaper, the Press Telegram (a paper I delivered at age 12), profiling a player that I watched for a number of years. Though the story focuses on his four years with the King and his court, Mark Bailey will be remembered in Long Beach for the years he played on other teams, including two of the powerhouse squads of his day, the Lakewood Jets and the Long Beach Nitehawks. Bailey was in the twilight of his career as I was starting to play in tournaments around town, but even then remained one of the better known and liked ballplayers around.
Our congratulations to Mark on his pending induction into the Long Beach Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame. He will join other Long Beach greats, including former Long Beach Nitehawk shortstop Nick Hopkins and Nitehawk skipper the late Red Meairs, on the softball side and MLB Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn on the baseball side.
Click here to view our prior story about the Long Beach Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame, inaugural inductions, 2004.
During the ISC Hall of Fame Committee meeting in Quad Cities in August, an oversight occurred which removed Mark Sorenson’s name from consideration. Only after the ISC meetings were completed was this error discovered and steps were immediately taken to address it.
In a recent email vote of the ISC Board of Directors, Mark Sorenson was unanimously voted into the Hall of Fame for induction in 2010 in Midland, MI
We congratulate Mark and all other previously announced 2010 inductees into the ISC Hall of Fame:
Joe Avila – Hanford, CA (Old Time Player category)
John Becker – Holmen, WI (Manager category)
Dennis Johnson – St. James, MN (Administrator category)
Alan Rohrback – Lakeside, CA (Player category)
The Sonnentag Family (Tim, Billy and John) -Marathon, WI (Recognition of Services category)
Mark Sorenson – New Zealand (Player category)
Darren Zack – Garden River, ON (Player category)
Dean Oscar
ISC President
Reedsburg, WI
Class of 2010 announced for ISC Hall of Fame
By John Thompson
The ISC Hall of Fame held its 2009 induction breakfast for a half dozen of fastball’s finest and within days announced the stellar Class of 2010.
Royce Heath, chair of the ISC Hall of Fame Selection committee, announced that the ISC Board of Directors approved a stellar slate of softball luminaries for induction in Midland, MI in August 2010.
Six inductees will be recognized for their collective accomplishments and achievements as players, management and sponsors.
Darren Zack, Garden River, ON
Heading the list is legendary Canadian pitcher Darren Zack who toed the rubber for 18 seasons in the ISC World tournaments between 1987 and 2008. His pitching achievement includes 54 career wins (3rd All-time), including 29 shutouts. His career was punctuated by a 15-game consecutive winning streak (1994-96), the second best all-time in ISC. Zack’s life-time ERA is a miniscule 1.57. The “First Nations†native was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher four times between 1992-2000, and was ISC All-World nine times between 1992-2004. His personal success carried his club teams to ten “top four†finishes, with a quartet of ISC World Championships – Toronto Gators 1993 and 1995; Tampa Smokers 1998 and Decatur Pride 2000.
Darren is active in this year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions in Rock Island, IL with the Ohsweken, ON Redmen.
John Becker. Holmen, WI
Success as a player came to John Becker as a catcher with the Madison Farm Tavern (1987-91) and was highlighted by his final season with Green Bay All Car as 1994 ISC World Champions and a personal 1st Team All-World selection. In 1995, John doffed the catcher’s tools and instantly established himself as a bona-fide and successful team leader. His ten seasons as a field manager span 1995-2006 and include seven “Top-3†finishes, all with Wisconsin based squads. The pinnacle of success was the four-year string of ISC championship game appearances from 2003-06. Following two “runners-up†finishes, John’s County Materials squads won back-to-back ISC crowns in 2005-06. In a true season of competition dominance, the 2006 County Materials won every tournament in which it played – Eau Claire, Orillia, Boys of Summer, Monkton, Allentown, Madison and finally the ISC in Kitchener.
Alan Rohrback, Lakeside, CA
In 1981, Alan Rohrback was named as “rookie of the year†in the Western Softball Congress with the San Diego Vista Bombers. His youthful skills resulted in his being added to the Camarillo Kings roster for his debut ISC World tournament in Saginaw, MI. The Kings won that memorable tournament, and Alan was selected ISC 1st Team All-World player, with team-mates Larry Nolan (ISC HoF 2002) and Floyd “Blue†LaVergne (ISC HoF 2008). In 1983, Alan joined the Lancaster, CA Chameleons, where he won the WSC batting championship (.411) and MVP honours. The Chameleons won the ISC tourney and the following year placed third, when Alan was named to his second ISC All-World team. Two years later, with the new-look Lakewood, CA Chameleons, he acquired his third ISC All-World Selection. Alan continued to play with various competitive teams in California, highlighted by an ASA championship ring in 1991 with Santa Rosa CA Guanella Brothers.
Joe Avila, Hanford, CA
From his debut in 1964 with the Armona CA Merchants, Joe Avila was a skilled player and great ambassador for softball. As a shortstop possessing lightning speed, great hitting and fielding and an intensive competitive desire, Joe was among the best in the business. In ten ISC State tournaments, he was selected to the All-Tournament team each year. At the ISC tournaments in Kimberly, WI (1972) and Sun City, AZ (1974) Joe was named to the ISC All-World team as a member of the Clovis, CA Cowboys.
The Sonnentag Family (Tim, Billy and John) – Marathon, WI
Since 1986 when the Sonnentag family’s County Materials formed its first open level fastpitch team, with sponsorship based on the principle of “Chemistry and Culture†and doing things right both on and off the field, the game of softball has benefitted. In addition to a commitment to excellence, the family has been true promoters and ambassadors of the game, locally, state-wide and internationally. While winning is important, winning with class is the true measure – a trait synonymous with the Sonnentag family.
Mark Sorenson, New Zealand
Mark came on the international softball scene in 1984 as a 16-year old who was named to the New Zealand national men’s team. Five years later he was named captain of the New Zealand national team and led them to 3-consecutive ISF World Championships in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
He began his ISC career in 1986 with The Farm Tavern team of Madison, WI and ended in 2004 with County Materials. During that 18 year span, Mark’s teams won 4-ISC World Championships, Mark was named ISC All-World a record breaking 12-times, was MVP and RBI Leader once each. More important than titles and individual accomplishments, Mark was known throughout the sport as a great teammate. He was one of those who inspired his teammates to be better. He led by example and understood the mechanics behind the “team†concept and the chemistry needed to build a championship team.
When discussions are held about the best men’s player of all time, Mark Sorenson’s name is at the top of the list. Not only a great player and a tough out, he held the respect of his teammates, opponents, umpires, tournament officials and fans.
Dennis Johnson, St. James, MN
The love affair with softball for Dennis Johnson began June 4, 1959 when he got three hits in his first game of local rounders in the Augustana Lutheran Church League in his hometown. A half century later, he is being recognized for his decades of service to the sport including his stint as the ISC Commissioner of the Gopher State Softball League in 1981, a position he held until 2004 when he was appointed as an ISC Commissioner Emeritus. In recognition of his tireless efforts to have two new fastpitch diamonds built at the Watonwan County Fairgrounds, the city named the facility the “Dennis Johnson Field.†An example of his longevity and dependability is his record of having attended every game, home and away, since 1961 of his local high school basketball team, for whom he serves as scorekeeper – 1,060 consecutive games. WOW!
Update:: For those asking about the facility hosting the new “California Classic” tournament next June, we provide additional information and photos below.
CALIFORNIA CLASSIC MEN’S ISC FASTPITCH TOURNAMENT
Hosted by the California A’s & Bakersfield Silverhawks
Date: June 5th & 6th, 2010
Where: SanDiego/Poway, CA
SportsplexUSA Complex
Entry Fee: $450
Format: Round Robin Single Elimination
With a 4 Game Guarantee
For more information, please contact:
David Weldin: davidw@expressinsurance.com
Bobby McCormick: mccormickservices10@yahoo.com
Chris McGehee: garageworks@bak.rr.com
(click logo to visit official SportsplexUSA website)
Sportsplex USA, 12349 Mcivers Ct in Poway, CA 92064.
Sportsplex USA Constructed in 1994, a beautiful 15 acre facility is San Diego’s Premier Sports and Recreational complex. They have three tournament quality softball fields, two indoor soccer arenas, batting cages, children’s playground and a sports pub with draft beer and your favorite ballpark food items.
Sportsplex USA in Poway was built in the 1990’s, and is located about a half hour north east of Petco Stadium, downtown San Diego, CA. (home of the San Diego Padres)
and a half hour east of the Solano Beach Amtrak station.
and a half hour from the San Diego airport (Lindbergh International):
From The Midland Free Press
Posted By IAN SHANTZ
Forget about that hardball game. Grant Patterson shoots from the hip.
Fastball is the specialty for this 36-year-old monster of a hurler.
And the team he joined prior to the start of the summer specializes in victories.
For the six-foot-seven, 225-pound Penetanguishene native, it all worked out in the end.
“These past few weeks have been a dream come true,” said Patterson, who grew up playing in the Toanche Fastball League his dad helped start. “It really hasn’t hit me yet, to be honest.”
Patterson was there when the Kitchener Rivershark Twins — a morphing of the Orillia Riversharks and Kitchener Twins — captured the first Canadian senior men’s fastpitch championship in its 42-year history a few weeks ago in St. Thomas.
The Rivershark Twins edged out the Jarvis Gamblers, 3-2, in extra innings.
“It’s weird,” said Patterson, who reaches speeds of more than 80 miles an hour with his windmill delivery. “I was warming up for most of (the final) at world’s, and the guys dragged me back to the bench for the last inning. They said, ‘You have to be here to see this.’ It was absolutely incredible to be a part of.”
The Rivershark Twins scored in the ninth to win the national crown. For Patterson, who left his former Michigan-based Midland Explorers teammates in the off-season to join the all-world Kitchener-based squad, things went exactly as he’d hoped.
“We had a great bunch of guys in (Michigan), but we could never win,” said Patterson, who lives in Toronto with his wife, J. J., and young daughters, Sydney, and Avery.
“I told the guys, basically, that I want to win, that I want to experience what it feels like to win. They understood.”
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En route to the final, Patterson pitched a two-hitter, helping his team blank the Charlottetown Fawcetts.
Patterson also helped his team solidify a first-place finish in preliminary action, tossing another two-hitter, this time in a 4-0 shutout over the host St. Thomas squad.
“For me, it was amazing,” said Patterson, who works as a chief compliance officer in the investment sector. “There were 3,000 fans there watching it. Their fans.”
The heroics in St. Thomas were a dramatic follow-up to the Rivershark Twins’ 1-0 win over the Broken Bow Patsy’s of Nebraska a few weeks earlier in the final at the International Softball Congress world championship in Quad Cities, which borders Illinois and Iowa.
Patterson was one of five new players to join the all-star calibre Rivershark Twins this season.
The team features players from New Zealand, Newfoundland, Calgary, Texas and everywhere in between.
“I think for the five of us, it might take a bit more time to set in,” he said. “But when we get our rings … that’s what we all play for.”
Prior to moving to Toronto, Patterson spent several years playing for the Toanche Eagles in the Simcoe Rural Fastball League.
For the past two years, Patterson has played for Canada’s national fastball team.
He said there are a lot of talented players coming out of the Simcoe league. At the worlds in Quad Cities, the Wyevale Tribe competed in the ISC II championship, while players from Vasey and Toanche were also represented.
Cap tip The Inside Curve and Al’s Fastball:
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Vancouver, B.C.
(click logo to visit official Vancouver Grey Sox website)
We regret to advise that the Vancouver Grey Sox Senior Men’s Fastpitch Club is ceasing operations. It has become too costly to run an open level team on the West Coast. A number of factors have led to our decision to wind up the team, but the ISC’s efforts to limit roster movement by imposition of the PRAWN rule is not one of them. In fact, we applaud the ISC for its recent efforts to regulate rosters of ISC teams and assist withcontrolling the costs of fielding a competitive club at this level.
A previous version of the Grey Sox operated for a few years in the mid 1990’s and the team was resurrected in 2000 by Doug Challoner and the South Hill Sports Association. In 2000 and 2001 the Grey Sox played in the BC Premier League and competed at the Senior B level, with a roster of young players who had graduated from BC junior teams. In 2002 the Grey Sox moved up to the Open level. Although we have always had a majority of BC- based players, in recent years we added out of province players in an effort to stay competitive with the upper echelon teams. However, we are proud to have continued to contribute to the local fastpitch community by co-hosting the Vancouver Challenge tournament every year, helping run youth clinics, and supporting all other Open level teams in our region. In 8 years as an Open level teamthe Grey Sox played in 7 Canadian Championships and 5 ISC World Tournaments.Our crowning achievement on the field was our Canadian Championship win in Newfoundland in 2007. At the Canadians we were also the silver medalists in 2004 and bronze medalists in2003. At the ISC World Tournament we consistently placed in the top 12 and were8th many times, but could not crack the top 6. We won several Vancouver Challenge Tournaments in front of large hometown crowds, including in 2008 and 2009. We enjoyed our involvement in the senior men’s fastpitch community in North America for the last decade and we are saddened that the team is coming to an end. We will miss the game at this level and are hopeful that it will be rejuvenated on the West Coast overtime, as the economics change.
We would like to thank the many volunteers of the South Hill Sports Association, the ISC, Softball Canadaand Softball BC for their contributions to the game.Special thanks as well to all of our coaches, players, Directors, Boosters,corporate contributors, wives and children, the Media and of course the fans of the Vancouver Grey Sox, for your support.
We wish all of you the best of luck in the seasons ahead.
Sincerely,
Larry Kancs, Conrad Margolis and John Stuart on behalf of the Vancouver Grey Sox Senior Men’s Fastpitch Club
One of the most often asked questions we receive here at Fastpitchwest is “How do pitching speeds in fastpitch compare to those in baseball”. A great feature with the answers appears at the new Midland 2010 ISC website. Click the banner below to view the feature at their website.
Midland Michigan is the host for the 2010 ISC World Tournament and ISC II Tournament of Champions. Their new website has plenty of information, some great features (like the one above), and more to follow. Click the banner below for the main page of the Midland2010ISC website.
First hand reports from Zenon Winters and Jason Kurylyk, that two of last year’s top 5 teams are shuttering operations and will not compete in 2010.
“THE FARM BOYS ARE HANGING IT UP FOR GOOD. a shame though just an amazing sponsor of the game rod peterson.”
So says Zenon Winters at his Facebook page:
Aspen fastpitch is officially over! It was a great 7 years!
Source: Jason Kurylyk’s Facebook page.
PRAWN RESTRICTIONS
(click link for official ISC posting)
A PRAWN (Player Rep All World Name) list will be maintained by the ISC containing each name of the two all-world teams for the most recent 3 years, including MV Player and Outstanding Pitcher. The PRAWN list will be released on Al’s list by mid-September each year and posted on the ISC web site as soon as possible.
Each team will be limited to 6 players (combination of 1 pitcher and position players), plus exceptions (see below) that have been named All World in the last 3 years – only one of which may be a PRAWN pitcher. Teams are still limited to 2 OOR pitchers for the season. All teams must name their PRAWNs to the Executive Director by May 1 each year. If a player who is also a pitcher is selected to either one of the All World teams at a position other than pitcher, he will NOT be considered as a pitcher for PRAWN status but rather as a player.
Current hardship rule will be allowed given the following: the team replacing the player is still required to abide by the PRAWN limits for both players and pitchers. E.g. if the player being replaced is a pitcher with PRAWN status and he was the only pitcher with PRAWN status on the team then that team may replace that pitcher with another PRAWN pitcher.
No team may add a PRAWN to their roster until their total PRAWN count falls below 6 except when a team loses its only PRAWN pitcher they may add a replacement PRAWN pitcher regardless of their total PRAWN count.
EXCEPTION FOR A TEAM THAT HAS 6 CURRENT PRAWNs:
If a non-PRAWN player or players make an All World team in the current year, that team will be allowed to carry that player or players until such time that a PRAWN player leaves the team or drops out of the 3 year criterion. If a player makes All World while with Team A and they have 6 current PRAWN players, then Team A would be allowed to carry 7 until one of the 7 leaves the team (or they fall outside of the 3 year boundary), then they will only be allowed 6 for the following year.
This also applies for the one pitcher All World status restriction. If a pitcher is selected to an All World team in the current season and that team already has one or two pitchers on their team with PRAWN status, that team will be allowed to carry 3 (or however many) prawn pitchers until such time as one of the prawn pitcher(s) leaves the team or falls outside of the PRAWN status.
AGE EXCEPTION FOR PRAWN PLAYERS
If a non PRAWN player makes an All World team in the calendar year of or after their 45th birthday, that player will only be considered a PRAWN player for one year. PRAWN players who have made or make an All World team in the calendar year of their 43rd or 44th birthday can request to be excluded from the PRAWN list in the calendar year of their 46th birthday by providing proof of age to the Executive Director by May 1st of each year.
PRAWN INPLEMENTATION CHART 2010 – 2012 & BEYOND
Year PRAWN Team limit PRAWN Pitcher Team Limit Duration of PRAWN Status
2010 6 per team 1 3-years
2011 5 per team 1 3 years
2012 & 4 per team 1 3-years
Beyond
Revised September 10, 2009