While Long Beach Black Sox player-manager-webmaster extended his vacation in Oregon, following the Grant’s Pass tournament over the Memorial Weekend, his Artesia city league Black Sox topped the Panteras Wednesday night, 6-3, and appear to have gotten off the bubble and into the playoffs, pending final announcements next week. Ken Shaw filled in for the Sox, hitting a solo home run to right field in his first at bat, the lone run for the first 5 innings, until both teams got their offenses going, scoring 8 runs collectively in the final inning, with the Sox hanging on for the win.
Archive for the ‘So Cal’ Category
Around Town, June 8
Wednesday, June 8th, 2005Rounders “Sleepless in Stockton”
Tuesday, May 31st, 2005Rounders Find Spark Enroute to Nationals Berth and Second Place Finish at National Qualifier at Stockton, CA
The Rounders finished their 2004 Alliance season by winning three of the last four Alliance tournaments played. They made it to the title game four times, winning all four.
In 2005, however, they have struggled to find their mark, failing to make it to the championship game in four Alliance tournaments thus far. Though holding down third place, something was missing. So the team hoped they could find the answer on their road trip to the National Qualifier in Stockton over the Memorial Day weekend.
A first game loss in which they could muster only three hits didn’t exactly inspire confidence, as they headed into the loser’s bracket, one game away from elimination, but a 17 run outburst in their second game set the stage for a long, productive weekend that resulted in a second place finish, with the Rounders claiming one of two National Tournament berths for the ASA “C†Nationals, back in Stockton over the Labor Day weekend. It didn’t come easily, especially against a strong field of teams that included the likes of Northern California’s McLaughlin Air, A-1 Tank, Santa Rosa Storm and the San Juan Pride, and Central California’s Mixed Company and the Painters. By the end of the day on Sunday, the Rounders had played 8 games, and seemingly spent every waking moment of their weekend at Louis Park in Stockton. The Rounders left town “Sleepless in Stocktonâ€, but having found their spark, and hopeful, when they return for the National tournament three months from now.
The team found success in a variety of places and players, with everyone contributing to the turnaround. Certainly among them were Gerald Pyle, the 27 year old pitcher-DH who clubbed five home runs and picked up 2 wins on the mound, and Linnell Culver, who had three home runs, and seemed to be on base all weekend long. Both Pyle and Culver had a two-home run game, producing runs that proved crucial to the Rounders’ survival in the loser’s bracket. Veteran pitcher Mitch Mendenhall found his mark, and pitched three outstanding games on Sunday, winning all three, including the loser’s bracket final that clinched a national tournmament berth for the Rounders. We provide the following recap of the Rounders’ eventful weekend.
(Editor’s note: If any other teams, including the champions, McLaughlin has info from your games, please send it to us for posting; email us at info@fastpitchwest.com. Click here to view photo galleries from the weekend. Credit David Echeveste of Santana Concrete for coming up with the “Sleepless” headline to this story.)
Game 1: A-1 Tank 5, Rounders 1 (0-1)
As the first place team in the Northern California travel league, A-1 Tank was one of the favorites for this tournament. A-1 lived up to the billing, shutting down the Rounders offense. A-1 Tank lefty Rich Rivera, and his unorthodox delivery stymied the Rounders, holding them to just one hit through the first six innings, a first inning double by Mark Villalobos. (Rivera keeps the ball hidden until late in his delivery, and comes off to the left side of the rubber as he releases the ball) A-1 Tank scored a run in the first on a solo home run by Ardu Panisotto, another in the second on a solo homer by Don Meyers, and two more in the third on singles by Craig Daruk, Shawn Ching and Erin Linnell.
Villalobos added another hit in the seventh, and Gerald Pyle singled him in for the only run for the Rounders in this one-sided affair. Mitch Mendenhall went the distance, holding a strong A-1 offense to five runs, while Rivera picked up the win in the 3 hit gem. To make matters worse, Rounder catcher Donald Younger suffered a dislocated thumb in the game. (more…)
McLaughlins Air Wins C National Qualifier
Monday, May 30th, 2005Al’s Fastball: McLaughlins Air Wins C National Qualifier
BY HERB DOWER
Stockton, CA
McLaughlin’s Air (Stockton, CA) finished undefeated to capture the Amateur Softball Association’s Men’s Class C Fastpitch National Qualifier held in Stockton, CA May 28-29.
McLaughlin’s reached the championship game with a come-from-behind 9-8 win over the Storm of Santa Rosa, CA, scoring three unearned runs on two dropped fly balls to the outfield in the sixth inning that erased an 8-6 deficit. Dropped into the loser’s Bracket, the Storm lost 4-3 to the Rounders. The win by the Rounders gave them a second place finish and enabled them to join McLaughlin’s in securing berths in the C Nationals to be held in Stockton. The Rounders forfeited the championship game, giving McLaughlin’s the championship.
The Storm finish third, defeating Country Club Villa 8-1, Pride of San Juan 7-5 and Elk Grove 5-4 in 9 innings to reach the winner’s bracket finals against McLaughlin’s Air. Jim Vargas pitched and won all three games for the Santa Rosa entry.
Unofficial results:
WINNER’S BRACKET
Stockton Outlaws d. Native Americans (Santa Rosa)
Elk Grove d. Mel’s Plumbing (Stockton)
Gaines Liquors (Stockton) d. Neilson Realty Gamblers (Sacramento)
Country Club Villa (San Jose) def. Mission II (Stockton)
Oroville Braves def. Savala Painters (Long Beach), 7-5
Italian Athletic Club (Stockton) def. Bad Dogs
West Coast Financial (Sacramento) def. Party TimeSECOND ROUND
KHT Pumpers def. Stockton Outlaws
Elk Grove def. Warriors
San Juan def. Gaines Liquors
Santa Rosa Storm def. Country Club Villa, 8-1
McLaughlin Air def. Oroville Braves
A-1 Tank def. Rounders
IAC def. Al’s Roofing
Mixed Company def. West Coast Financial
THIRD ROUND
Elk Grove def. KHT Pumpers
Santa Rosa Storm def. San Juan, 7-5
McLaughlin Air def. A-1 Tank
Mixed Company def. IAC
SEMIFINALS
Santa Rosa Storm def. Elk Grove, 5-4 (9 innings)
McLaughlin Air def. Mixed Company.
WINNER’S BRACKET FINALS
McLaughlin Air def. Santa Rosa Storm 9-8.LOSER’S BRACKET
Gaines Liquors def. Bad Dogs
Party Time def, Country Club Villa
Native Americans def. Oroville Braves
Rounders def. Mel’s Plumbing 17-3
Al’s Roofing def. Neilson Gamblers
West Coast Financial def, Mission II, 10-9
Second Round
Savala Painters def. Warriors
Party Time def. Gaines Liquors
Rounders def. Native Americans 19-15 in extra innings
West Coast Financial def. Al’s Roofing
Third Round
Savala Painters def. IAC 9-4
A-1 Tank def. Party Time 8-3
Rounders def. San Juan
West Coast Financial def, KHT Pumpers 13-7
Fourth Round
A-1 Tank def. Savala Painters 4-2
Rounders def. West Coast Financial 8-5
Fifth Round
A-1 Tank def. Elk Grove 8-0
Rounders def. Mixed Company
Elk Grove and Mixed Company tied for 5th place
Sixth Round
Rounders def, A-1 Tank 5-3
A-1 Tank finished in 4th place.
Loser’s Bracket finals
Rounders 4, Santa Rosa Storm 3
Santa Rosa Storm finished in 3rd place.Herb Dower
Mailto:dower@sonic.net
Long Beach Black Sox 2-2 at Boatnik , OR
Monday, May 30th, 2005Read about the Long Beach Black Sox trip to the Boatnik Tournament at Grants Pass, Oregon.
USA Jr. Men’s Roster, Bios and Schedule for Upcoming ISF Tournament
Wednesday, May 25th, 2005
The USA Jr. Mens’ team roster and schedule of games for the upcoming ISF International Tournament in Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 24, 2005-July 3, 2005 is posted at the ASA website.
The roster includes links to photo and bio of each player, including So Cal’s own, Kevin Castillo. Kevin grew up playing fastpitch in the city leagues with his dad Paul Castillo, including El Segundo and Artesia as a member of the Rounders (and sometimes playing against the Rounders). He is a standout player on the baseball team at Long Beach Poly, the same high school that the great Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres attended. The bios make for interesting reading.
Bonus points: Can you find another 2005 press release at the ASA site on men’s fastpitch? How many of the last 150 press releases posted are about men’s fastpitch?
L.B. Black Sox Head to Grants Pass, Oregon for Memorial Weekend Tournament
Wednesday, May 25th, 2005
Fresh on the heels of their second So Cal ASA Alliance tournament title of 2005, at Lancaster last weekend, Fred Hanker’s Long Beach Black Sox will be heading north for the Grant’s Pass Memorial Day tournament. It will be a family affair for Fred, who’s father lives in the area and will no doubt bring along some local fans to root on the Sox. Fred had this to say about the rapid progress of his club, from a first year team last season, finishing as the Cal Cup champions in 2004, and now, winning two of the four Alliance tournaments to date:
“In only their second year of existence the Long Beach Black Sox have won 2 ASA “C” Alliance tournaments and currently sit in 4th place in the Alliance standings. Manager Fred Hanker didn’t expect so much success this soon. “When you try to build the team that you want there is a constant process of adding and subtracting parts until you get all of the pieces of the puzzle together.” ” to build the team that I wanted I figured would take a few years and I am surprised that this team has come together so fast and played so well together almost immediately.” “To me the key was keeping some crucial players from last year such as: Dale Lopes, Randy Clay, Chuck Vranich, John Otte, Dan Fleming, Brett Semans and myself. “The additions this year were almost a perfect fit.” “I think we really starting taking off when we added Andy Martinez and Chuck Chaple.” “These 2 guys have been the glue in the middle of the infield and been great number 1 and 2 hitters.” “Chris Minogue and Damo Guerrero have been huge in the 4 and 5 spots in the order driving in runs every weekend.” Marcel Bernal is the fiery leader we didnt have last year and a great run producer at the bottom of the order.” Benny Guerrero is a soft spoken leader who still swings the bat very well and does everything you ask of a player to help your team.”
The Sox put it all together this past weekend in Lancaster and went 6-1 to win the tournament. There were many outstanding individual efforts this past weekend.
MVP Chris Minogue .476 avg 3 hr 12 RBI 7 runs
Fred hanker .650 avg (8) doubles 11 RBI 9 runs
All tournament Damo Guerrero .500 6 RBI 5 runs
Dale Lopes .400 4 bb’s
Andy Martinez .545 14 runs scored
Dan Fleming .437 5 RBI (1st game ever as a slap hitter)
John Otte 2 hr’s 5 RBI
Chuck Vranich 3 wins including two over Primetime
Randy Clay 3 wins 3 on Sunday
Who is Roman Lara?
Tuesday, May 24th, 2005“Who is Roman Lara?” was a question heard ’round the diamonds over the weekend in Lancaster, California.
The short answer to the question is: “The new 28 year old shortstop for Santana Concrete of the So Cal ASA Alliance league, who did a great Alex Rodriguez impersonation, clubbing seven (count ’em, 7) home runs over the weekend.” (click to enlarge his photo below)
The seven homers broke the old Alliance record of five (5), held by the Rick McCarthy and Keith Barker of the Edge and Tom Morton of the Rounders. Five of the home runs came in six consecutive at bats. He had to leave his last game with a disclocated knee, but injury or not, it was a phenomenal performance by the young shortstop. More likely for fans, next time around, it will be “Where is Roman Lara?”, curious to see what he’ll do for an encore.
Maddy’s Monday Night Photos from Lancaster, CA
Monday, May 23rd, 2005
Click here to view Maddy’s Monday Night Photos taken at the So Cal ASA Alliance tournament weekend in Lancaster, CA, won by the Long Beach Black Sox. Click here for tournament recap.
Editor’s Choice: Click here to see an amazing gravity defying feat by the Black Sox’s Dan Fleming.
So Cal Bombers and Mexican National Team, Jugando a Media Noche
Monday, May 23rd, 2005
(Jugando a media noche = Playing at Midnight)
[Ensenada, Baja California. Mexico – 5/23/05]- The #19 ranked So Cal Bombers went south of the border this past weekend and played in Ensenada, Mexico. The 2 day tourney was condensed in to a one day tourney because only 5 teams ended up entering the tourney, with the championship game starting at midnight on Saturday night. What a great place to play and great fans for the Mexican teams that rooted on their teams all day. Definitely one of the most hostile environments the Bombers have ever played a tournament! But it made for a great challenge and day of softball! The fields were all dirt with its share of rocks in the field which made it interesting. Also, the bases were rubber squares that the umpires just through on the field when the game started…including home plate!!
On to the games…
Game 1
So Cal Bombers……1
23-under Ensenada…0
Panfilo Valdez took the mound for the Bombers and threw a gem. He needed to because the Bombers could only muster 1 run in the game on a solo home run by Robert Renteria in the top of the 3rd. Valdez struck out 14 in the game and allowed 2 hits.
Renteria 1 X 3 HR, RBI
Game 2
So Cal Bombers……..8
Ensenada All-stars….2
The best hitting output for the Bombers on the day. The Bombers scored 5 in the first inning and 3 in the 2nd to put the game out of reach early. Arturo Solano and Jason Porto hit HR’s for the Bombers and Tony Peeples pitched a complete game striking out 13 and allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs.
Arturo Solana 2X3 HR, 2 RBI’s
Jason Porto 3X4 HR, Triple 4 RBI’s
Todd Garcia 2X3
Game 3
So Cal Bombers 1
Mexican National Team 3
Both the Bombers and the Mexican National Team had advanced to the championship game and this was the last game in the round robin. The National team took the early lead off of starter Travis Price in the first inning and held a 1-0 lead into the 4th. Todd Garcia hit a solo shot to right center to tie the game in the fourth, but the lead vanished in the bottom of the inning when the National Team struck for 2 runs. The National team held off the Bombers to take a 3-1 victory. Travis Price was the tough luck loser going the distance and giving up only 3 hits and striking out 12. It was his first loss of the season.
Todd Garcia 1X 3 HR, RBI
Dan Winnick 2 X 3
Nate Devine 2 X 3 2B
Game 4
Championship game
So Cal Bombers…………1
Mexican National Team…..2 (8 innings)
The best game of the day hands down and the fans loved it. After 16 hours of drinking cold beer they were definitely animated going into the championship. The Bombers got a run in the top of the first on back to back 2 out doubles by Porto and Garcia to take an early 1-0 lead. The National Team bounced back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning at 1-1.
The game went scoreless into the top of the 7th when the Bombers opened the inning with runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out and could not score and the game eventually went to the international tie-breaker in the 8th. The Bombers got the bases loaded with nobody out after a walk to Raymundo Parra and a bunt single by Arturo Solano but could not capitalize. A 1-2-3 double play got the first 2 outs in the inning and then a strikeout ended the top half of the 8th. The National Team only needed 2 pitches to win the game in the bottom of the 8th with a wild pitch moving the runner to 3rd and a single between short and 3rd ended the game. Ponfilo Valdez pitched outstanding in the championship giving up 4 hits and striking out 10
to take the loss.
It was an absolutely outstanding tournament put on by the city of Ensenada and the weather cooperated perfectly with the temperature in the high 80’s. We want to thank the city and hope to be back there next year. The Bombers record on the year is now 23-5.
Team Owner and sponsor Ralph Trejo spoke with the Mexican National team on Sunday about coming to California to play a best of three series with the winner to take home $1000.00. We wait to hear from the team Director and will post any info as soon as possible. Teams to play ISF rules that will be enforced by a adequate umpiring staff.
Information provided courtesy of
Jason Porto and Ralph Trejo Jr.
So Cal Bombers
http://www.bombersfastball.com
maito:info@bombersfastball.com
ISC #9 Midland Michigan Explorers Run Their Record to 7-0
Monday, May 23rd, 2005Explorers Weekend Results (Al’s Fastball) Two of the wins over the weekend were against Communiquest, Michigan, which finished third in the 2003 NAFA “A” World Series. For SoCal trivia buffs, Communiquest was the team that outsted 4th place finisher Anderson Homes of Wisconsin, the team that the Rounders’ Andy Lawry used to play on.