Here is the “unofficial” schedule of games for the Red Rock Tournament at St. George, Utah, April 30-May 1, 2005. We will be broadcasting selected games on Ballparkradio.com, so watch for further details.
Al’s Fastball: Red Rock Schedule
Archive for April, 2005
Red Rock Tournament Schedule (Unofficial)
Monday, April 11th, 2005Number 2 in the World and Trying Harder: 2005 County Materials
Saturday, April 9th, 2005One of men’s fastball’s truly elite teams, County Materials has been hair’s breath away from the ISC World title the past few years. County, with a good portion of the nucleus from the ISF World Champion New Zealand Black Sox, are a betting man’s pick to find their way back into the ISC World Tournament championship game in 2005, especially with defending champions Broken Bow losing a couple of starters from last year’s World Championship team. Pitcher’s Darren Zack and Lucas Mata from last year’s team will be back, and joined by the 6’6″, long, lanky lefthander, Andrew Kirkpatrick, who comes over from last year’s 3rd place Calgary Diamonds. A fixture on the New Zealand Black Sox team, Jarrad Martin comes over from Broken Bow to join the club.
If you haven’t had a chance to see a team like this play in person, click the link below and peruse that schedule for a game near you. If you live in the home state of County Materials (and the Farm Tavern of Madison, WI), you’ll have plenty of chances this summer. Or go watch the giants collide at the ISC World Tournament in Eau Claire, Wisconsin starting August 12.
Google’s Latest: “Keyhole” Software”, Joystick Control of the Planet
Saturday, April 9th, 2005No games this weekend? Tired of smacking that poor penguin around? Well, if you liked the “satellite photo” feature of Google Maps, you’re gonna love this one. Google has aquired “Keyhole” software, which provides a video/animated version of the satellite maps. It’s like having a joystick control of the planet:
http://www.keyhole.com/
(Be sure to try out the various controls, including “tilt”, which makes it seem like you’re flying a plane.)
Baseball stadiums are easy to spot. (click the box at left if you can’t see them right away) Fastball fields too, if you know where to find them. Kimberly Wisconsin’s legendary Sunset Park, Portland’s Delta Park (Rose Cup) were a couple that I was able to zoom in on. Even if you decide not to pay the $30 a year to keep the service, the 7 day free trial is worth the time it takes to sign up and download it. A great time waster at work. Your boss says get it out of your system this weekend, ’cause there’s real work to be done next week!
Post an address or coordinates in the “comments” section if want to share a fastball field or something interesting with the rest of our readers.
Raymar to Red Rock
Friday, April 8th, 2005Speaking of Red Rock, among the So Cal teams headed to St. George, Utah, April 30-May 1, will be Raymar, who is playing at the A/B level this year, after being bumped up from the C division, following their “third in the nation” finish among 70 teams at last summer’s ASA “C” Nationals in Hastings, Nebraska. Rumor has it they’ll be taking a young hard throwing pitcher with them to round out their pitching staff. Look for them among the A/B teams playing locally at Little Lake Park in Santa Fe Springs, next weekend (April 16), to test their mettle against other upper division teams. Kudos to the Raymar squad for “stepping up”. So Cal will have three teams at Red Rock, including, of course, Team Rainey and the So Cal Bombers, the latter, fresh off their Las Vegas Spring Swing title last weekend. The Castlewood team that handed the Bombers their first loss of the season in Las Vegas will also be in Red Rock, having made it to the “Final Four” in last year’s tournament. The Bombers did rebound to defeat Castlewood in the finals, so it will be interesting if the two teams collide in St. George. If you’ve never been to the Red Rock complex, it’s worth the drive (or a short flight to Vegas and shorter drive to St. George). Last year was our first time there, and we found that it more than lived up to its billing as one of the nicest fastball complexes in the country. And for those of you who don’t make the trek to St. George, as noted in the article below this one, we’ll be broadcasting some of the games live on the internet. Teams entered in the Red Rock tournament are: Mexicali, High Desert Dawgs, Vannelli’s, Raymar, Pueblo, LM Chev, Painters, Socal Bombers, Castlewood, River City, Colorado Rage, Team Rainey, Page Brake, Nor-Cal Mavericks, and C/R Adidas. Last year’s champion (and defending ISC World Champion) Broken Bow will not be in Red Rock this year, meaning the championship trophy is up for grabs!
Live Broadcasts from the Red Rock Tournament April 30-May 1, 2005
Thursday, April 7th, 2005We’ll be broadcasting selected games from the Red Rock Tournament in St. George, Utah, April 30-May 1, 2005. The games will be carried live on our companion site, Ballparkradio.com. For those of you not familiar with the new site, Ballparkradio.com was created to make it easier for listeners to find the broadcasts. No more hunting for a lengthy URL (web address), or for a link hidden on one of the back pages of a site. Just go to “Ballparkradio.com” and you’ll find the broadcasts. We’ll post the schedule of games at Ballparkradio.com in the days leading up to the tournament, once the field of teams and schedule is set.
So Cal Bombers at Las Vegas Spring Swing
Thursday, April 7th, 2005Cesar Rodriguez, coach and webmaster for the So Cal Bombers, shares this note with us about his team’s Las Vegas Weekend:
The So Cal Bombers captured the Las Vegas Spring Swing Tournament out of the losers bracket with back-to -back 14 – 7 and 13 – 4 wins over the Castlewood Jesters of Utah. Castlewood Jesters knocked the So Cal Bombers into the loser’s bracket on Saturday night with a 7 – 6 victory. Bombers responded with a 9 – 2 defeat of last years Champions Desert Dawgs (FSR), Arizona/Utah. Lead off hitter Jose “Pepe” Aguila lead the Bombers with a .667 batting Avg and Arturo Solano led the Bombers to victory with 3 home runs on Sunday that probably have not landed yet.
Around Town
Wednesday, April 6th, 2005Damian Guerrero tossed three scoreless innings of relief and picked up a 3-2 win over Raymar as Fred Hanker doubled home the winning run for his Long Beach Black Sox team in the 5th inning Wednesday night in Artesia, CA.
ISC Press Releases
Wednesday, April 6th, 2005The ISC website has been updated, including the page of press releases: International Softball Congress – Press Releases (cap tip to Al’s Fastball)
John Hamaty Funeral Service
Wednesday, April 6th, 2005The funeral service for John Hamaty will be Friday at 1pm at the Holland & Lyons Mortuary in Ridgecrest. See SoCal ASA website for more info.
28 Teams for Vancouver Connaught Icebreaker!
Tuesday, April 5th, 2005When is the last time you saw a (non-nationals) tournament with 28 teams ? Tom Taylor’s Vancouver tournament has 28 with four spots available. Click here for more info at Al’s Fastball (Cap tip to Tom Taylor)