June 2, 2008 – A pair of tournament wins in Sonora and Sacramento propelled the California Lumberkings to the top of the ISC II rankings, edging out preseason favourite and defending ISC II champion South Lebanon, PA TNT.
Click here for the full story at our brother blog The Deuce.
The 18th Annual Best of the West Tournament, the longest running open level tournament in California will be held in beautiful, sunny Santa Barabara, with David Blackburn once again serving as Tournament Director. David is the head of streaming media for the ISC, and responsible for bringing live broadcasts — audio and video – to men’s fastball.
We’ve updated our “Best of the West” pages inside Fastpitchwest, including historical coverage that dates back more than a decade.
Maps and Directions to the two Ball Park facilities can be found through any standard Internet map program. Use the following addresses:
Pershing Park
100 Castillo St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Cabrillo Ball Park
800 E. Cabrillo Blvd
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Please contact me if anyone has any questions.
See you all in Sunny Santa Barbara!
Dave Blackburn
Tournament Director
2008 Best of The West Tournament
310-266-7803
daveb (at) virtvent.com
Just an update on the fundraiser fastball exhibition games that will be taking place at Lancaster Park on June 5th. First game gets underway at 7pm and pits the Niagara Snappers against the California Lumberkings, second game begins at 9pm with the GHFL all-stars hosting the Lumberkings.
A Ball Park Radio (www.ballparkradio.com) broadcast of both games is in the final stages and looks to be on track. Keep checking for more updates. We encourage all players, fans and coaches not only from the GHFL but from all fastball leagues to come down for a night of fastball in one of the most beautiful parks in Ontario and help support a good cause. Storm’s Deli will be on hand serving up hot food and soft drinks and you can purchase tickets to be used to bid on donated items (including a brand new Wilson glove and an Easton ball bag and many more). Also, both the California Lumberkings and the GHFL will be creating T-Shirts to commemorate the night, these will be available to purchase as well.
Background on the Fund Raising Effort
Proceeds from the gate and several activities at the park including a 50-50 draw, silent auction and souvenir sales will be donated to Melissa Brideau. Melissa is the long time girlfriend of Niagara Falls Furyplayer Tommy Watkinson who has played ball in the Niagara Falls Men’s League for the past 15 years. Melissa is stricken with a very aggressive from ofMultiple Sclerosis. Melissa is 35 years old and has reached a point in her illness where a wheelchair or scooter have become her source of mobility. Melissa is having no luck with North American treatment and is traveling toVenezuela to seek treatment from world renowned specialist Dr.Yepetz utilizing rainforest natural therapy. As one can imagine this is a very costly endeavor but one that needs to be explored now. Dr. Yepetz has successfully reversed the effects of MS in many patients and Melissa feels this type of treatment is one of the few remaining options available for her. If treatments go well, Melissa will in all probability be revisiting Venezuela multiple times.
California and Niagara will both be taking part in the 6th annual Snapper Shootout which runs from Friday June 7th- Sunday June 9th. Both teams will be competing along with 14 others to claim more than $3500 in prize money. Previous winners of the Shootout include Niagara Snappers (2004, 2005 winners, 2007 co-winner), The Rise (2006 winner) and the Elora Brewers (2007 co-winners). Another very strong field is set for this year’s tournament.
Check back to www.ghfl.ca or www.niagarasnappers.com for more updates.
Click here for our ISC II Blog, “The Deuce”, where you’ll find plenty of updates on ISC II action, as things heat up in June and July, in the run-up to the 2008 ISC II Tournament of Champions, set for August 13-18, 2008 in Appelton, Wisconsin. The latest team rankings are due out any day. Current # 1 TNT fell to the # 6 NY Knights, so it will be interesting to see how that might impact their ranking.
The California Lumberkings, River City Rockers, Innovative Communications and Rude Pac are among the teams vying for a spot in the prestigious tournament. The California Lumberkings competed in the 2006 and 2007 T of C, finishing second, to the TNT squad out of Pennsylvania. The Lumberkings were the first ever California team to compete, and their 2008 roster will be bolstered by a number of the members of last year’s A-1 Taylor Farms team, which finished third, including All-World pitcher Dave Drotzmann.
River City, Innovative and Rude Pac will all be in Santa Barbara this coming weekend for the 2008 Best of the West tournament. The Best of the West Round Robin schedule on Saturday features a match-up between the River City Rockers and Innovative:
Game #14 River City Rockers Vs Innovative Communications
5:45 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
The Lumberkings will be in Niagara, Ontario, competing in one of the top ISC II tournaments on the continent, the “Snapper Shootout”, hosted by one of last year’s semi-finalists in the ISC II Tournament of Champions.
2008 ISC Qualifiers
5-30-08
Update # 8
The change is the addition of the July 6-8 Boys of Summer tournament in Denmark, WI as a 2009 WT Qualifier.
US East Region – Bill Howell, Vice President bhowell5@yahoo.com
April 19 – 20
War Eagle Tournament – Auburn, AL
Format: Round robin
Entry Fee: $225
Berths: 1 ISC II ToC berth to highest finishing ISC II team
Contact: Robby Carter 334-501-2976 rcarter@auburnalabama.org
UIC: Sam Kelly 334-416-6459 alaump@aol.com
ISC Rep: Robert Gray – 334-567-9797 rgray77271@aol.com
The # 1 ranked team in the ISC II division will be playing over the Memorial Day weekend, in the Metro tournament in Linden, New Jersey. Two other top 20 teams will also be in the field, # 6 NY Knights, and # 20 PA Power. Click here for more.
TNT hails from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and won last year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, behind the pitching of Jeremy Tracy and the hitting of Jay Herr, who smashed the old tournament home run record, belting seven (7) round-trippers. (Herr’s home run swing is featured on the cover of this year’s ISC Media guide, courtesy of Maddy’s Photos)
Last year’s runner up in that T of C, the California Lumberkings will be in action next week, in the “Snapper Shootout”, in Niagara, Ontario, which boasts one of the strongest ISC II fields in the country. The Lumberkings are currently holding down the # 2 spot in the ISC II rankings, and are bolstered by the addition of the core of last year’s A-1 Taylor Farms team, which tied for third in the T of C themselves. Among the additions is pitcher Dave Drotzman, who earned All-World ISCII honors in last year’s tournament, tossing a no-hitter in his first game of the tournament.
The Lumberkings will play a charity benefit game on Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 7pm, against the host Niagara Snappers. The Snappers finished third in last year’s T of C, falling in extra innings in the semi-finals to the eventual champions, TNT. Plans are underway for an audio broadcast of the Lumberkings-Snappers game, with ISC II Commissioner Blair Setford behind the mike.
Speaking of Blair, he is celebrating his 40th birthday this weekend. We send our best wishes along to him. (Now come the phone calls from the 40-and-over clubs seeking a left-handed power hitter ! ) See the next post above for more.
Lots more info on the ISC II teams in our ISC II blog, “The Deuce”.
There are currently 11 teams entered in the 2008 Best of The West Tournament in Santa Barbara, on June 7 – 8. One more team is needed to round out the field of 12 teams.
The 11 teams currently entered are:
1. Casa Trejo Bombers (Palm Springs, CA)
2. Team Rainey / IAC (Whittier / Stockton, CA)
3. DeMarini (Portland, OR)
4. Rude Pac (Sun Valley, CA)
5. Innovative Communications (Lehi, Utah)
6. River City Rockers (Citrus Heights, CA)
7. Grillos (Mexicali, Mexico)
8. Panteras (Whittier, CA)
9. Black Sox (Long Beach, CA)
10. Manor Dirtbags (Manor, Texas)
11. Young Bucks (Santa Barbara)
If anyone has any suggestions for a 12th team, please pass on this email to them.
Entry fee is $400. make check payable to “Dave Blackburnâ€
Mail it to:
Dave Blackburn
1720 Pacific Ave., #106
Venice, CA 90291
Thanks,
Dave Blackburn
Tournament Director
2008 Best of The West
Men’s Fastball Tournament
310-266-7803
daveb (at) virtvent.com
Final game
Kelowna Clayface 6
Abbotsford Swing West 3
WP Kevin Sutherland
LP Harv Weins
HR: Kelowna: Andre Blanliel, Rene Blanliel, Ryan Volk
HR: Abbotsford: Jose Weins
For Day 3 results, and a recap of the action, visit our ISC II blog, “The Deuce”.
Thanks to Jans Marten for reporting all results throughout the weekend, and to The Inside Curve for their reporting on the tournament. For those of you not familiar with “The Inside Curve”, it is hosted by our good friend Milt Michael, who provides great coverage, photos, stories and more on fastball in the Pacific Northwest. We heartily recommend it.
ISC II #2 Bakersfield, CA California Lumberkings won their second tournament of the year with a 7-3 victory over #35 Sun Valley, CA Rude Pac. The Lumberkings avenged an earlier loss to Stockton, CA IAC by beating them in the semi-final while Rude Pac topped Castro Valley, CA A-1 Pape in the second semi-final.
Saturday May 17th Round Robin
IAC-4
Team Pape-1
#17 River City Rockers-1
#2 Taylor Farms LumberKings-5
#35 RudePac-9
Fat City-1
IAC-9
Taylor Farms LumberKings-2
Team Pape-4
RudePac-2
IAC-3
River City Rockers-1
Team Pape-6
River City Rockers-5
Taylor Farms LumberKings-2
RudePac-6
Sunday May 18th single elimination
River City Rockers-3
Taylor Farms LumberKings-6
Semi Finals
Taylor Farms LumberKings-3
IAC-1
Team Pape-3
RudePac-4
Finals
Taylor Farms LumberKings-7
RudePac-3
Click here for day 2 results at our ISC II blog, “The Deuce”.
Thanks to Jan Martens for providing information on Day 2 results from the ISC II Qualifer for the “Canada West” region.
