Archive for August, 2005
Maddy’s Monday Night Photos (Best of the West)
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005ASA Major Down to Six Teams, No Bracket Revisions
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005ASA Men’s Major Tournament
Altamonte Springs, FL
August 4-6, 2005
The So Cal Bombers have withdrawn from this week’s ASA Major tournament in Altamonte Springs, Florida, leaving six teams in the three day tournament:
The Farm Tavern, WI
Quaker Riversharks, PA
Keating Fitness, PA
Team Iowa, IA
Florida Fastpitch, FL
Tampa Bay Smokers, FL
ASA advises that since the bracket was already drawn, it will remain as is, with forfeits and byes where the Bombers are shown. Their first round opponent, Team Iowa will advance by forfeit to the winner’s bracket semi-final, playing the winner of the Tampa Bay Smokers vs. Keating Fitness at 2pm on Friday, August 4.
With first round byes, Florida Fastpitch or Team Iowa could capture the National Championship with two wins.
The tournament starts Thursday, August 4, 2005 at 6pm, with the first championship game slated for Saturday August 6, 2005 at 7pm, and the “if” game at 9pm.
The updated bracket is posted at:
http://www.fastpitchwest.com/asamajor.htm
(click refresh to see update)
Complete Recap of Best of the West
Monday, August 1st, 2005And Then There Were Six…
Monday, August 1st, 2005An update to our earlier Morning Brief post regarding the ASA Major Tournament set for August 4-6, 2005 in Altamonte Springs, Florida: The So Cal Bombers have withdrawn, leaving six teams at last count:
The Farm Tavern, WI
Quaker Riversharks, PA
Keating Fitness, PA
Team Iowa, IA
Florida Fastpitch, FL
Tampa Bay Smokers, FL
So Cal Bombers Top High Desert Dawgs for Best of West Title
Monday, August 1st, 2005Peeples, Solano Garner MVP Awards
After a three-year Team Rainey reign, there is a new champion at Best of the West, the So Cal Bombers. The Bombers topped San Diego Primetime, Portland C/R DeMarini and the High Desert Dawgs on Sunday, to capture the 2005 Best of the West tournament at Winchester, California, with temperatures running into the 100’s. Team Rainey fell in the semi-finals to the High Desert Dawgs, after topping Raymar early Sunday morning.
The Bombers escaped a near-upset Sunday morning, rallying for an extra inning win over San Diego Primetime, then defeated Portland C/R DeMarini to reach the title game. In the Championship Game, Bombers pitcher Travis Price picked up the win, 3-1, with Tony Peeples getting the save.
Tony Peeples was named the Most Valuable Pitcher for the second year in a row, while the Bombers Arturo Solano was the Most Valuable Player.
We’ll post all the scores, details and photos later tonight.
Scarletts wins South Dakota ASA Masters at Watertown South Dakota
Monday, August 1st, 2005Broken Bow Wins Rubber Match with Grey Sox at Vancouver Challenge
Monday, August 1st, 2005Vancouver, BC The 4th Annual Vancouver Challenge Mens FP tournament concluded just prior to 6:00 pm local time on Sunday evening. The large crowd of fastpitch enthusiasts were once again treated to some high quality team and individual performances. Mother nature also cooperated again for the third consecutive day with beautiful hot summer weather at South Memorial Park in Vancouver.
Sunday’s playoff matchup results were as follows:
Vancouver Grey Sox 3 – Broken Bow Spirit 0 WP – Nick Underhill with relief from Rick Smith (5) LP – Gerald Muizelaar with relief from Mike Piechnik (6) A entertaining and well played ball game for the early morning crowd. Scott Newitt provided the spark for the Grey Sox with a 2nd inning solo home run. With the win the Grey Sox advanced to the final, Bow would await to play in the semi – final vs. the Saskatoon / Prince George winner.
Saskatoon Black Sox 3 – Prince George 0 WP – Sean Whitten LP – Collin McKenzie Saskatoon scored early in this contest and behind the solid pitching of Sean Whitten notched the victory. Full marks to a gutsy Prince George squad who throughout the weekend played good ball and were lead by Pitcher Collin McKenzie who was very solid throughout the tournament. With the loss Prince George was eliminated and were awarded 4th place in the final standings. Saskatoon now advanced to play Broken Bow in the semi final.
Broken Bow 4 – Saskatoon 0 WP – Mike Piechnik LP – Trevor Ethier Bow capitalized on its offensive chances with some key hits and behind the strong pitching from Mike Piechnik captured the win and advanced to the final game. With the loss Saskatoon was eliminated and awarded 3rd place prize money. Credit goes to the Saskatoon ball club who competed hard in each and every game and endured 4 games on Saturday as a result of their 3rd place finish in their pool. The Saskatoon side battled all the way back in the playoffs with a single life to finish 3rd in the event.
Championship Game
– Broken Bow 5 – Vancouver 2 WP – Mike Piechnik (4) in relief of Gerald Muizelaar LP – Rick Smith with relief from Nick Underhill (4) This matchup was the third game of the weekend between these clubs. Heading into the championship final each team had beaten the other one time during the weekend. Broken Bow struck at key opportunities in this game and were paced by a 2 run homerun from Craig Wallace and a solo homerun from Darren Box to capture the tournament title. Bow compiled an overall 5 win 1 loss record on the weekend, including as indicated previously 2 wins and a loss against the host Grey Sox squad, along with victories over New West Van City, Calgary and Saskatoon. Full marks to Doc Simmons and his Broken Bow crew as they appear to be peaking at the right time prior to the ISC World Tournament. The host Grey Sox squad also performed at a high level throughout the weekend, finishing with an overall record of 3 wins and 2 losses, with victories over New West Van City, Prince George and Broken Bow, along with the defeats noted coming at the hands of Broken Bow.
Individual Tournament Awards
Top Hitter – Rob Giesbrecht, Broken Bow Spirit – .438 batting average in the entire tournament.
Top Pitcher – Nick Underhill, Vancouver Grey Sox – 0.48 era in 3 appearances, including 17 k’s
MVP – Mike Piechnik, Pitcher, Broken Bow Spirit – 0.00 era, 5 wins, 21.2 innings, including 29k’s
Tournament Highlights:
* A very committed and dedicated volunteer group who worked long hours to execute the event. To the many people who staffed the gate, concession area, beverage gardens, groomed the fields etc. sold 50 /50 tickets and did everything possible to make the event happen we extend a special thanks. Also kudos to George Morneau (father of rising major league baseball star – Justin Morneau – Minnesota Twins) who went out of his way to assist the event in any way possible including personally selling 50/50 tickets and assisting with raffles etc. * Easily the largest crowds in recent history for Senior Mens FP in the Lower Mainland area, reminding us what makes being at the ball park so special on a nice summer’s day. * A strong field of teams, who for the most part were evenly matched and used the event as a final tune up prior to the ISC World Tournament and the Softball Canada Senior Mens FP Nationals. * Excellent ball weather with sunny, warm summer conditions throughout. * Sincere thanks to our partners South Hill Sports for co – operating the event. As well of course to our participating teams the Broken Bow Spirit, Saskatoon Black Sox, Calgary Smokers, Prince George Black Bears and New West Van City … our appreciation for attending and we look forward to doing it all over again in 2006. Larry Kancs President Vancouver Grey Sox