FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (770) 453-7832 Iver.maple@mizunousa.com

MIZUNO TO SPONSOR THE INTERNATIONAL SOFTBALL CONGRESS (ISC) TO PROMOTE MEN’S FASTPITCH SOFTBALL

Norcross, GA (April 25, 2007) – Mizuno, a leader in the men’s fastpitch softball arena, has signed on to become the newest sponsor of the International Softball Congress (ISC). The ISC is a non-profit organization for the promotion and administration of men’s and boy’s fastpitch softball in North America.

“If you’re going to be involved with fastpitch softball, then you need to be involved with the ISC,” said Larry Brushett, Softball Promotions Manager for Mizuno USA, Inc. “This partnership with the ISC is yet another sign of Mizuno’s commitment to fastpitch softball. We want to be involved with all aspects of the fastpitch community, both men’s and women’s, and we’re looking forward to a long relationship with the ISC.”

Mizuno offers high performance softball products to equip the fastpitch athlete from head to toe. Mizuno’s industry leading product line includes high performance ball gloves, batting gloves, footwear, bats, equipment bags, accessories, and apparel that can all be found online at http://www.mizunousa.com. Mizuno products are sold at major sporting goods stores throughout the United States, as well as through team dealers.

Mizuno USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mizuno Corporation, one of the largest specialty sporting goods manufacturers in the world. Mizuno USA, Inc. manufactures and distributes baseball, golf, softball, running, track & field, and volleyball equipment, apparel, and footwear for North America. Mizuno USA, Inc. is based in Norcross, Georgia.

[Salt Lake City, UT] – The 2007 edition of the annual ISC World Championship Guide is now available for purchase. This new edition has 152 pages filled with information about the 2006 ISC World Tournament, the 2006 ISC II Tournament of Champions, 2006 Developmental Tournaments for both 23U and U19 teams. It contains historical records of most offensive, defensive and pitching statistics going back to 1947. The 2007 Guide has more photos than any prior editions. The Hall of Fame section has 8-pages of photos of 2006 inductees and the text of a very inspirational talk given by 12 year old Johnathon Baker of Kitchener. It also includes a complete list of all Hall of Fame inductees, by year and the rules for nominating someone for Hall of Fame consideration. Photos of all 32-World Tournament teams, World Tournament umpires, ISC II umpires and ISC Commissioners are in full color. It shows the following from 1947 to present: ISC World Champions, Most Valuable Players, Outstanding Pitchers, Leading Hitters and Most RBI. It has a great feature article on Dave Blackburn and his streaming team’s efforts to successfully provide video streaming of world tournament games from Kitchener last year. The all-time list of ISC All-World players, from 1947 thru 2006, covers 14 pages. It has a separate list of the 47 players making All-World teams 5 or more times. The Guide contains ISC rules and newly revised Region definitions.

Orders for the Guide can be handled in two different manners.

1. From our web site www.iscfastpitch.com click on ISC Products and follow the links. Payment is made by Visa or Mastercard.

2. Mail a $7.50US check or money order, payable to ISC, to Ken Hackmeister – 153 E. 200 S. – #10 Farmington, UT 84025. Or email to iscken@comcast.net to order and pay by Visa or Mastercard. We feel all fastball fans and players will want to have the 2007 ISC World Championship Guide for their collection as well as seeing some very interesting articles, stats and photos.

Ken Hackmeister
iscken@comcast.net

Welcome

Editor’s note: We are pleased to appear as a sponsor, at page 98, and to see that the ISC has included many of Maddy’s photos, started at page 79, a large color photo of Travis Price, featured prominently on the AAU Tournament flyer, and lots of ISC II photos at page 80 and those that follow.

The May 1 deadline for ISC teams to file PRAWN declarations, preliminary rosters and Out of Region forms, is rapidly approaching.

This is a reminder of the upcoming deadline.

PRAWN Players – Each team having PRAWN players must file a preliminary roster form by May 1, declaring their PRAWN’s for the 2007 season. The new roster form was recently announced and is one submitted by email attachment. The form is available at www.iscfastpitch.com From front page, click on Rules and Forms in the left margin. We encourage teams to download the roster form to their computer, complete the form, save it to your computer and then send your roster by email attachment to the proper statisticians. Then, when the next roster due date arrives July 15, you only need to make changes to the saved form.

PRAWN declaration is not optional. It is an ISC rule.

Preliminary Rosters – Preliminary rosters for both World Tournament and ISC II teams are also due May 1. The roster form is found on the ISC Web Site www.iscfastpitch.com Click on Rules and Forms in the left margin. Preliminary rosters are to be submitted to the proper statisticians whose email addresses appear on the roster form itself. Review saving and filing process covered in PRAWN filings above.

Letter of Intent – Out of Region (OOR) Form – The 2007 season begins the new Out of Region concept, replacing the former Out of Area plan. The newly revised Out of Region form is also displayed on the ISC web site in the Rules and Forms page. To save teams and players time and to avoid 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation faxes, we will accept an OOR form without the players signature, provided the player sends an email to iscken@comcast.net, stating their intention to play for XYZ team in 2007. That email must arrive no later than May 1 and the team manager can mail the actual OOR form.

The operation is the same as the former Out of Area program. The forms and fee must be postmarked to the ISC Executive Director no later than May 1. The first three OOR players per team are subject to a $100 fee each. The fourth and subsequent OOR players per team are subject to a $300 fee each.

Out of Region rules apply to both ISC World Tournament and ISC II teams.

If anyone has difficulty downloading or printing these forms from the web site, please email iscken@comcast.net and a form or forms will be sent back to you as an email attachment.

Ken