For our Spanish speaking friends:

Ballparkradio transmitirá el ISC World Tournament en Español

Ballparkradio se complace en anunciar su primera transmisión de un juego de softbol masculino en idioma español, el próximo martes 17 de agosto, con un juego del 2010 ISC World Tournament.

La transmisión será en colaboración con Softbol Radio, sitio web que opera desde Argentina, a cargo del jugador de softbol Cristian Lacout.

La emisión de estos partidos se originará en Argentina, pero los oyentes de todo el mundo podrán conectarse a través de la página web de Ballparkradio, que alojará la transmisión y el streaming. Los oyentes encontrarán un botón en castellano para escuchar los partidos en vivo.

“Conocimos a Cristian y a Softbol Radio a través de Martin Jorge, el webmaster de Softbol News LA, y hemos estado discutiendo la posibilidad de realizar esta transmisión por más de un año” cuenta entusiasmado Jim Flanagan, Editor de Fastpitchwest y responsable de Ballparkradio. “Toda esa planificación está dando sus frutos, con una serie de pruebas exitosas realizadas en los últimos meses”.

“Cuando Kyle Smith y yo transmitimos el Mundial Juvenil ISF del 2008 en Whitehorse, tuvimos oyentes de Argentina y otros países de América Latina, aunque obviamente limitado a los oyentes que hablaban Inglés”, agrega Flanagan. “De hecho tuvimos un oyente bilingüe de Argentina que abrió una sala de chat durante el juego Argentina-Nueva Zelanda, y realizaba una traducción de nuestro relato del juego, para que los fans que no hablaban Inglés pudieran seguir el partido”.

“Me llamó la atención la gran cantidad de aficionados que siguen a sus equipos, y me prometí que iba a trabajar para ofrecer alguna transmisión para los fanáticos y equipos que no hablan inglés”.

Hay un interés enorme en el softbol en países de habla hispana, entre ellos Argentina, Venezuela y México (tres países con presencia en el mencionado Mundial Juvenil del 2008). Argentina se ha convertido en una cantera de talentos para Norteamérica, con jugadores como Lucas Mata, Sebastián Gervasutti, Sisko Sabaté, Juan Potolicchio, Matías Tessore, Bruno Motroni, y también jóvenes como Guido Silbert entre otros.

Por su parte, Venezuela ha enviado un gran contingente de equipos al torneo de la AAU en Orlando, con equipos muy competitivos como Los Socios, que ganó el torneo en dos ocasiones. El año pasado, el Himno Nacional de República Dominicana se escuchó en el Torneo Mundial de la ISC, con la asistencia del equipo de Dominica al evento. Este año ha recibido un gran interés el Peligro Sports Tournament en Nueva York, que recibió un gran número de jugadores de habla hispana, muchos de ellos de República Dominicana.

“Me alegro de que, en colaboración con Cristian Lacout y Softbol Radio, seamos capaces de hacer realidad este sueño, y abrir la ventana del softbol a un público más amplio”, concluyó Jim.

En breve se publicará el calendario de partidos que serán transmitidos en español, aunque se puede adelantar que se buscará transmitir los partidos con participación de jugadores y equipos latinos.

Did you miss the Erie tournament broadcasts over the weekend? Perhaps you were working but want to catch the reply. Or maybe you were busy on the field actually playing in the games, but want to hear how the game(s) sounded to fans?

You can catch all the action “on demand” at the Ballparkradio archives. (click the blue “Archived” buttons after you click the link)

The “instant archives” are part of the newly designed Ballparkradio website, which permit us to get the games up moments after the final out is recorded. Hope you enjoy them. For those who have asked, we will be working, at season’s end, on getting many of the broadcasts from prior years posted to the archives.

Editor’s notes: The broadcasts featured our lead play-by-play man, Kyle Smith. Judging from the emails we received from listeners, his work on the four games was well received. I listened to the games from California, getting a “fan’s ear view”, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Kudos to Bill Hillhouse as well. Bill is one of the best color men around, and somehow found the time to wear three hats over the weekend – pitcher for the NY Gremlins, color commentator on Ballparkradio when he wasn’t playing, and, tournament director. Some of his behind the scenes work may not have been noticed, but was appreciated. Bill listened to the teams when they said they want 6 teams, not 4 to advance to Sunday’s championship bracket, incurring the extra cost of making that happen. Additionally, he made several trips to the field to test out our Rovair.com internet card, to make sure that we could connect for the broadcasts in a place where no internet existed. The little things often make the biggest difference.

Kyle Smith is fresh off of anchoring the broadcasts at three major tournaments in past month with top flite teams – Legends of Fastball in Kitchener, the Tavistock tournament in Tavistock Ontario, and the Erie Tournament in Erie PA. No rest for the weary though, as he will be right back in the broadcast booth on Tuesday night, where will anchor four nights of broadcasts from the Canadian Midgets youth tournament in Stratford, Ontario. Keep an eye out for the schedule of games, but last we heard, Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 8pm EDT was the first broadcast. A half dozen or so broadcasts, culminating in the championship game at week’s end. On Ballparkradio.com of course. The Stratford tournament will be the seventh tournament of the year carried live, starting with the AAU International tournament in Orlando, Florida, back in January.

And, last, but anything but least, Kyle will be sitting in the anchor’s chair for the upcoming ISC World Tournament from Midland, Michigan, August 13 through the 21st.

Click Here for Saturday Scores
Listeners can tune in to the broadcasts at the Ballparkradio website, free of charge.
(click logo below)

Kyle Smith/Ballparkradio will broadcast Erie Tournament on live streaming audio to a worldwide audience. Kyle will be joined in the booth by Bill Hillhouse and Derek Pukash — at least when their team, the NY Gremlins, isn’t playing. Hillhouse will wear a third hat as well, serving as the tournament director.

Ballparkradio’s lead play-by-play man, Kyle Smith, will be in Erie PA on July 31-August 1, 2010 to bring you live streaming broadcasts from the Erie Tournament.

From GoErie.com website.

From staff reports

Six of the world’s top-ranked softball teams will converge on Erie this weekend to take part in a fastpitch tournament in preparation for this August’s national and world championships.

Erie’s Bill Hillhouse put together a world-class eight-team field that includes the top-ranked Kitchener (Ontario) Riversharks among a field of other top-flight teams and individuals. Hillhouse pitches for the Gremlins of Clifton Park, N.Y.

Saturday’s first round at the Hess Avenue fields starts at 9 a.m. and will feature two pools of round-robin play. Six teams will advance to Sunday’s final rounds starting at 8:30 a.m.

Admission is free.

Listeners can tune in to the broadcasts at the Ballparkradio website, free of charge.
(click logo below)

Some of the top players to watch include the following:

– Adam Folkard, Jarvis Travelers, pitcher: Led the Australian national team to the 2010 world title with a no-hitter over New Zealand in the final game of the ISC World Championships.

– Brad Rona, Jarvis Travelers, third base: The co-captain of three-time ISC world champion New Zealand led the Black Sox with 13 hits and a .464 average in the 2009 World Cup.

– Rhys Casley, New York Gremlins, second base: The co-captain of the New Zealand national team is a three-time ISC all-world selection and veteran for the 2009 national runner-up Gremlins.

– Sean Cleary, Blue Light Construction, pitcher: The Newfoundland native is considered by tournament coordinator Bill Hillhouse to be a promising up-and-comer.

Tournament schedule
At Hess Avenue fields

Saturday’s games
– 9 a.m. — Blue Lake Construction vs No. 4 New York Gremlins; No. 3 Chicago/New York Dominican vs. Budweiser All Stars
– 11 a.m. — No. 6 Midland Explorers vs New York; Chicago/New York vs. No. 8 Albaugh, Inc.
– 1 p.m. — No. 1 Kitchener Riversharks Twins vs. All Stars; Midland vs. No. 2 Jarvis Travelers
– 4 p.m. — Kitchener vs. Albaugh; Jarvis vs. Blue Lake
– 6 p.m. — Kitchener vs. Chicago/New York; Albaugh vs. All Stars
– 8 p.m. — New York vs. Jarvis; Midland vs. Blue Lake

Sunday’s games
– 8:30 a.m. — B3 vs. A2; A3 vs. B2
– 10:30 a.m. — A1 vs. B2/A3 winner; B1 vs. A2/B3 winner
– 12:30 p.m. — Championship

Kyle Smith/Ballparkradio will broadcast Erie Tournament on live streaming audio to a worldwide audience. Kyle will be joined in the booth by Bill Hillhouse and Derek Pukash — at least when their team, the NY Gremlins, isn’t playing. Hillhouse will wear a third hat as well, serving as the tournament director.

Ballparkradio’s lead play-by-play man, Kyle Smith, will be in Erie PA on July 31-August 1, 2010 to bring you live streaming broadcasts from the Erie Tournament.