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Rival California Teams Nab Two of Top Three Spots in Prestigious Thirty-Five Team Tournament at Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Squaring Off in Semi-Final
The golden state nabbed second and third place in the 2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions, with the Bakersfield Lumberkings edging A-1/Taylor Farms of Castro Valley 5-4 in a hard fought, extra inning battle. The Lumberkings dropped the final to South Lebanon TNT of Pennsylvania. Jon Nimmo was named as the All Tournament Designated hitter, entering the final day of the tournament 9 for 14, with three tape measure home runs in the tournament, including the game winning homer in the semi-final that cleared the perimeter fence and another moon shot in the title game against Pennsylvania that left the stadium, clearing the bleachers in left field. .
A-1 Taylor Farms’ pitcher Dave Drotzman was named to the All Tournament team, pitching the lion’s share of innings, going 4-1 in the tournament, including an opening day no-hitter, as well as batterymate Jeff Twist, who was named as the tournament’s outstanding catcher. Twist was among the top hitters heading into the final day, and among candidates for tourney MVP.
In the semi-final game between the two California squads, A-1/Taylor Farms scored three runs early, and Drotzman held the Lumberkings to just one run through six innings, needing three outs to advance to the title game. But the Lumberkings rallied for the come from behind victory, tying the game in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk, and clutch hit by Brian Teeters, and winning it in the eighth scoring the tie breaker run, followed by the booming home run into the trees beyond the perimeter fence in left by Jon Nimmo which proved to be the game winner. A-1/Taylor Farms did not go quietly though, coming back to score a run of their own in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring their tie breaker run with no outs, then loading the bases with one out. The game ended on a somewhat controversial call, on a grounder to second that turned into a double play ball to end the game. The controversy arose from the attempted tag by Lumberking second baseman Greg Hicks of A-1’s Greg Oliver, who was running from first to second and called for being out of the baseline.
The Lumberkings were a perfect 4-0 in pool play, going on to win three consecutive playoff games, before falling in the final, finishing with a 7-1 record in the tournament, while A-1 Taylor/Farms also won their pool, going 3-1 including a win over defending champions Tavistock Ontario, and won two playoff games, finishing 5-2 in the tournament.
The All-California match-up in the semi-final game guaranteed a California team in the final.
Ontario Canada teams have dominated the ISC II division, with only one American team reaching the finals before 2007, Zeeland MI, a runner-up in the inaugural year. 2005 saw an all-Ontario final four, while three of the final four in 2006 were from the talent-rich province, with Rise Fastpitch of Pennsylvania breaking through.
California’s two teams, the Lumberkings and A-1/Taylor Farms, and South Lebanon PA’s victory in the title game marks a milestone, and erased the notion that American teams could not compete in the division. Ontario remains a hot-bed of top drawer talent and high caliber competition in the division, sending more than two dozen teams to the 2007 tournament — something that proved to be a draw rather than deterrent to the American teams in 2007.
The 2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions tournament was the second year in a row that Kitchener, Ontario, Canada hosted the tournament, with Decatur IL withdrawing as host of the 2007 tournament. Kitchener drew rave reviews from teams and fans alike for their community-based organization and supportive fans. The 2007 tournament drew even larger crowds than 2006, providing a “big game” atmosphere during the tournament’s games, culminating in a first-ever video telecast, on local Rogers Canadian television, as well as video streaming to a world wide audience thanks to a big assist from streaming media maven David Blackburn. Blackburn, from Southern California, introduced streaming audio to men’s fastpitch in 2001, producing audio broadcasts of the ISC World Tournament each year since, and adding video streaming the last couple years, with a record twenty telecasts produced in 2007.
The 2008 ISC II Tournament of Champions will be in Appleton, Wisconsin.
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