A postscript from Erie, courtesy of Al Doran of Al’s Fastball
Thanks from Bill Hillhouse, tournament director of the Erie tournament which featured 6 of the top 8 teams in the world
Thanks to everyone who came to Erie this past weekend to make the tournament a success. It takes a lot to put on any kind of tournament but hosting a tournament with the teams we had in Erie this weekend takes it to another level. Without the teams and fans coming in from all over, the weekend would not have been a success. The weather was absolutely perfect, which was one of my goals when switching from the old Erie dates of Memorial Day to now. The other goal, obviously, was to attract the best teams possible as many teams are starting later in the year now. Hosting a tournament in May means having fewer top notch teams and very “iffy” weather.
I want to thank the ISC umpires who came to town, Rich Silva, Chris Techonica, and Jay Hart. Having some ISC level umpires was an absolute must for a tournament with these teams and you guys were great.
Thanks to BallParkRadio (Kyle Smith and Jim Flanagan) for making the weekend’s games possible over the airwaves. I know the folks around the world appreciate listening to them when they cannot be in attendance so it was an honor to have the games covered. Thanks Kyle for coming.
Thanks to Al Doran for coming and keeping everyone up to date with scores. I know everyone wants to know results in a timely manner and having you here to handle that aspect meant I had one less thing to worry about. And it’s always great to have Al at the ballpark.
I want to thank PA Power’s Eric Fogel for coming in and running the Budweiser All Star team. Getting that team assembled was a bit difficult but your willingness to run it for me was a huge relief.
A special thanks to the fans who were in attendance from different parts of North America. ISC President Dean Oscar came from Wisconsin for the weekend, as did fans from all over the region.
Obviously a special thanks to all the teams for attending. Without the teams, it doesn’t make for much of a tournament. A few surprises in Saturday’s round robin games led to some unexpected match ups Sunday. Thanks to all the teams for coming.
Erie Beer and Budweiser helped me with some of the costs associated in this tournament. I am EXTREMELY grateful to them for that. Budweiser supports fastball here in Erie in so many ways, I can only hope that players and fans will support Budweiser too. The game is in dire need of sponsors and we are lucky to have the one we have here. Thanks Budweiser.
A final thanks to my girlfriend Jamie Clark, who was supplying Al Doran with scores from the NYC Peligro tournament over July 4th weekend. She supported and helped me do this tournament so many ways. I’m not sure I could have done this without her. Hopefully her photos will be up from the weekend’s games on her site soon, I will post a link to her Hot Shots Photos site when it’s ready.
Bill Hillhouse
www.houseofpitching.com
Editor’s note: Bill Hillhouse will be pitching with the NY Gremlins at the upcoming ISC World Tournament, as well as providing color commentary in the booth for the ISC broadcasts of the tournament.
