Archive for August, 2007

ASA Major – Day 2 Scores

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

From

Click here for the updated bracket at Al’s Fastball

As of Friday night:

Unbeaten:(4)

Broken Bow (2-0, def. The Farm, Florida)
Patsy’s (2-0, def. Duncan, Quad City)
Riversharks (2-0, def. Midland, Stampede)
Circle Tap (2-0, def. Thomson, MinnDak)

One Loss (7)

The Farm (1-1, def. Dolan & Murphy, lost to Broken Bow)
Midwest Stampede (1-1, def. Bloomington, lost to Riversharks)
Minn Dak Millers (1-1, def. Ashland, lost to Circle Tap)
HBC Rice Creek (1-1, def. Duncan, lost to Quad City)
Thomson Merchants (1-1, def. Bloomington, lost to Circle Tap)
Quad City (1-1, def. HBC Rice Creek, lost to Patsy’s)
Midland Explorers (3-1, def. Ashland, Plangger, and Bloomington, lost to Riversharks)

Eliminated (6)

Planggers (0-3, Losses: Florida, Dolan & Murphy, and Midland)
Ashland Mets (0-3, Losses: MinnDak, Midland, Duncan)
Duncan Outlaws (1-3, def. Ashland, lost to Patsy’s, HBC Rice Creek and The Farm)
Dolan & Murphy (1-2, def. Planggers, lost to Midland, Bloomington)
Bloomington (1-3, def. Dolan & Murphy, lost to Stampede, Thomson and Midland)
Florida Fastpitch (1-2, def Plangger, lost to Broken Bow and Thomson)

Friday Scores

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ASA Major – Day 2 Preview

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

ASA Major Winner’s Bracket Down to Elite Eight

After an opening round of games yesterday, the ASA Major winner’s bracket is down to eight unbeaten teams, and provides the following matchups today:

Florida Fastpitch vs. Broken Bow, 1pm EST
Quad City Sox vs. Patsy’s, 3pm EST
Midwest Stampede vs. Riversharks, 3pm EST
Minn Dak Millers vs. Circle Tap, 3pm, ESQ

The top opening night matchup was The Farm vs. Broken Bow, with the Gremlins coming out on top. That sends an awfully good team to the loser’s bracket early, no picnic for teams in their path. Dolan and Murphy & Planggers play for the privilege in a “loser’s bracket play(back) in” game today.

In the winner’s bracket, Bow, Patsy’s and the Riversharks (ISC World # 1, # 2 and # 3 ranked teams) would have to be considered favorites in their games today, with the MinnDak v. Circle Tap (ISC World # 7 and # 8.) figuring to be the closest contest of the afternoon. But of course, teams have been proving the rankers wrong all year, so we’ll let these games play out on the field. Florida Fastpitch always seems to do well in the Major, with a couple of runner-up finishes the past couple years, but faces ISC # 1 Broken Bow in their second game of the tournament.

In the Loser’s Bracket, (ISC # 13) Midland starts the long road back, winning it’s “play in” game against Dolan and Murphys before falling 3-0 in a close contest against the Riversharks. From their standpoint, at least they are at the opposite end of the bracket from ISC # 6 The Farm. The loser’s bracket alternates teams from the winner’s and loser’s bracket, meaning that advancing losers won’t see a team from the winner’s bracket until their third and fifth games.

First day surprises? The Midwest Stampede came in as the ISC #26 ranked team, and knocked off # 17 Bloomington Stix, inspiring a Butch Cassidy-Sundance Kid-like commentary from fans about the Stampede, “Who ARE those guys?”. Stampede pitcher Kim Hansen may not be a household name (yet), but he tossed a two hit shutout, striking out 12 against a solid Bloomington Stix team.

Duncan Outlaws and Rice Creek Michigan are both playing up in class, and will face each other in the loser’s bracket after opening night losses, with the winner facing the Circle Tap-Minn Dak loser.

Click here for the updated bracket at Al’s Fastball

Friday morning update: While we were posting this, the 9am games finished up, with Midland topping Ashland while Dolan and Murphy beat Planggers. That means Planggers drops to 0-2 and will have to get past Midland to avoid going 0-3 and being the first team of the tournament to be eliminated. In some odd bracketing, if Planggers had beaten Dolan, Midland and Dolan would have faced each other twice in their first three games. Dolan’s victory this morning will put them in the path of the freight train called “The Farm”, right now.

ASA Major – Day 1 Recap

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

From

Recap of Opening Day at the ASA Men’sMajor Fast Pitch National Championship

South Bend, Ind.—The 2007 Men’s Major Fast Pitch NationalChampionship is underway in South Bend Ind., at the Belleville SoftballComplex as 17 teams compete for the title of “Best of the Best”.This marks the third time that this event has been hosted at the BellevilleSoftball Complex.

Game one between Dolan & Murphy of Aurora, Ill.and the Midland Explorers of Midland, Mich., proved to be the most excitinggame of the day. Explorers Craig Crawford hit a walk-off home run in the bottomof the seventh inning to give Midland a 4-3 win. Doug Sleep was the winningpitcher while Juan Potolicchi suffered the loss for Dolan & Murphy.

Florida Fastpitch of Jacksonville, Fla., had no trouble dismantlingPlangger Furniture of Benton Harbor Mich., in game two. FloridaFastpitch scored 10 runs off 10 hits in 4 ½ innings of work. Terry Luster gotthe victory in the circle allowing just four hits in the 10-0 win. RickPlangger was tagged with the loss.

In one of the most anticipated match-ups of the day, the Broken BowGremlins of Clifton Park, N.Y., sent the Farm Tavern of Madison, Wis., to the losers’bracket with a 4-2 win. Jarred Martin led the way for the Gremlins with a3-for-3 performance that included two singles, a home run and two RBI. AndrewKirkpatrick held the Farm to just three hits to earn the win, while RobSchweyer took the loss.

Henry Schelb led the Quad City Sox of Davenport, Iowa, to a 5-3 winover HBC Rice Creek Lightning of Homer, Mich.in game four. Schelb had a single, a home run and three RBI to pace the Soxoffense. Al Rebling collected the victory in the circle while Sean Kelly wastagged with the loss.

Patsy’s of New York Citycruised past the Duncan Outlaws of Elkhart, Ind., 9-1, in just five innings tostay in the winners’ bracket. Catcher Frank DeGroat was the offensivestar for Patsy’s driving in six runs on a double and a home run. DeGroatis only the sixth player in ASA history to drive in six runs in a single game.Gerald Muizelaar held the Outlaws to just three hits in five innings of work tosecure the win. Allen Hodge suffered the loss for the Outlaws.

Kim Hansen was spectacular in the circle for the Midwest Stampede ofDes Moines, Iowa, fanning 12 to lead his squad to a 3-0 win over theBloomington Stix of Bloomington, Ill. Chris Anderson provided the run supportfor the Stampede by driving in three runs off two singles. Max Montero took theloss for the Stix.

The Midland Explorers, playing their second game of the day,didn’t fair as well in the nightcap and fell into the losers’bracket after being shut out, 3-0, by the Quaker Riversharks of Ambler, Pa. JeffEllsworth plated two runs in the victory with a single and a double. Frank Coxtook the win for the Riversharks while Grant Petterson was tagged with theloss.

The final two games of the night ended early due to the ASA run-rule.MinnDak Millers of Fargo, ND, slammed the Ashland Mets of Ashland, Ohio, 12-2,in five innings to move on in the winners’ bracket. Zach Goring led theMillers at the plate with a single, a home run and three RBI. Ward Gosseallowed just two runs off three hits to pick up with win. Ryan French was thelosing pitcher.

Circle Tap of Denmark, Wis., thedefending ASA National Champion, swept past the Thomson Area Merchants ofThomson, Ill.8-0, in five innings. USA National Team member, Chris DeLarwelle provided theoffensive highlight of the game with a solo home run. Matt Bramwell wasdominating in the circle allowing just three hits while striking out 12 in fiveinning of work. Roberto Bahler collected the loss for the Merchants.

The championship continues on Friday beginning at 9 a.m. with loserbracket games.

Brian McCall
bmccall@softball.org

ASA Major Gets Underway in South Bend, IN

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

Florida Fastpitch, Broken Bow, Quad City, Patsy’s, Stampede and Midland Winners on Opening Night

Click here for the updated bracket at Al’s Fastball

(Al’s Bracket is updated, ASA’s is not, yet)

Click here to view the ASA Bracket for the ASA Major Tournament in South Bend, IN, August 2-5, 2007. (PDF file, Adobe Reader required — since it’s on most computers, try double click and wait for it to load)

Opening night scores From

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ISC World Rosters for West Coast Teams

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

The West Coast will be sending three teams to the ISC World Tournament this year, # 4 ranked So Cal Bombers, # 10 ranked Vancouver Grey Sox and the # 12 ranked Portland De Marini. Here is a look at their rosters for the tournament.

Casa Trejo So Cal Bombers
Palm Springs CA

1 Pinocchio, Steve 5 IF Merced, CA
2 Mendibles, Albert 6 IF Prescott Valley, AZ
3 Butler, Mike 7 IF Sonora, CA
4 Porto, Jason 8 OF Elk Grove, CA
5 Crawford, Greg 9 OF Calgary, AB
6 Ghostkeeper, Chad 10 C-OF Prince George, BC
7 Lalonde, Adam 11 OF Mt. Pleasant, MI
8 Potskin, Evan 15 OF Prince George, BC
9 Parra, Raymundo 16 UT Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
10 Evely, Geoff 20 IF St.John’s, Nfld
11 Devine, Nate 22 OF Merced, CA
12 Box, Darren 23 C-OF Edmonton, AB
13 Rodriguez, Landy 24 IF-C West Haverstraw, NY
14 Whitten, Sean 27 P Calgary, AB
15 Tilley, Darrell 34 P Edmonton, AB
16 Mata, Lucas 42 P Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
17 Santillano. Marc 45 INF Stockton, CA
18 Peeples, Tony 99 P San Miguel, CA
McGiffin, Kelly 21 Mgr
Shick, Rob 19 Coach
Chase, Doug 2 Coach

Vancouver Grey Sox
Vancouver BC

1 Trevor Johnstone 2 IF Vancouver, BC
2 Doug Cain 6 IF Victoria, BC
3 Scott Newitt 7 OF Delta, BC
4 Derek Mayson 9 IF-P North Vancouver, BC
5 Eric Reisinger 12 IF Chilliwack, BC
6 Calem Gardner 17 OF Squamish, BC
7 Rick Smith 21 P Duncan, BC
8 Nick Underhill 24 P Surrey, BC
9 Sean Cameron 27 OF North Vancouver, BC
10 Rob Geisbrecht 30 OF Landmark, MB
11 Craig Halliday 32 C Squamish, BC
12 Kevin Smillie 33 IF Squamish, BC
13 Bryan Abrey 34 OF Richmond, BC
14 Brian Banner 38 C Sooke, BC
15 Doug Allin 43 OF Summerland, BC

John Stuart 11 Mgr
Todd Morrison 44 Coach
Doug Van Os 4 Coach

Portland OR
Portland DeMarini
Portland OR

1 Paul Reyes 2 IF Sacramento, CA
2 Bricklen Anderson 3 P Victoria, BC
3 Terry Traverso 4 IF Seattle, WA
4 Jeff Reich 6 OF Stockton, CA
5 Rod Rainey 9 IF Whittier, CA
6 Brian Ree 10 IF Portland, OR
7 Randy Potskin 11 IF Prince George, BC
8 Mike Piechnik 13 P Victoria, BC
9 Todd Garcia 18 C Stockton, CA
10 Jesse Duncan 20 OF Long Beach, CA
11 Rick Rosychuck 21 IF LacLaBiche, AB
12 Ryan Daly 24 UT Seattle, WA
13 Kris Waverick 25 OF North Delta BC
14 Dean Waltier 27 IF Seattle, WA
15 Michael White 30 P Eugene, OR
16 Kevin Rasmussen 35 UT Everett, WA
17 Rob Gehrke 42 UT Portland, OR
18 Craig Pidcock 51 P Surrey, BC
Terry M. Smith 44 Mgr
Len Potskin 77 Coach
Eddie Wilson 7 Coach

Portland DeMarini at the Vancouver Challenge

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

Thanks to Tom Ree for this report from Portland, OR

2007 Vancouver BC Challenge

Portland DeMarini finished 3rd at the 2007 Vancouver Challenge beating the host Grey Sox in a close game on Sunday before losing to eventual champs So Cal Bombers. Mike Piechnik picked up the win for Portland. Kris Waverick and Brian Ree homered for Portland. Portland finished with 3 wins at the tournament. Next came the So Cal Bombers. Those Bombers sure can hit. The Bombers also had an impressive win over NY Gremlins in the final.

Portland finished the season at 27-10 and will travel to Kitchner, Ontario for the ISC World Tournament next week.

The team really enjoyed the tournament as did the 11 fans I counted from Portland in the stands. Speaking of fans, there were several hundred each day at the games. The place was packed a few times.

The story of this event, however, is what a great job the hosts did. Starting with newspaper articles. There were several articles including some with photos of Mike Piechnik and Darren Zack who the tournament hosts had a special tribute to. I have never seen so much publicity in a large metro paper(s) for a fastpitch tournament before. IMPRESSIVE! I am told it took a lot of time and effort to get the papers interested in doing these articles.

John Stuart, coach of the Grey Sox, told me he estimated half of the crowd size was due to the newspaper articles. Regardless, the place was packed for a few of the games and good crowds at all games. It is such a bonus to see so many fans. The players, umpires, fans and tournament staff all enjoy the games so much more with a good crowd.

Jimmy Johnson and Craig Donaldson did a superb job of announcing the games and doing the stats. I am not just saying that because they recognized me… inside joke…

The food was excellent, good bbq, sandwiches, soft drinks and beer garden. The servers were all friendly and accomodating.

Justin Morneau’s dad was there selling 50/50 tickets all three days and raised about 5k for the big split on Sunday. His son is the reigning American League MVP. It was all volunteer work with Morneau’s great sense of humor a bonus.

Conrad Margolis, Jimmy Johnson, John Stuart, Craig Donaldson, Larry Kancs, George Morneau and countless other volunteers, thanks for making this such a special event. You undoubtedly raised the bar for Men’s Open Fastpitch tournments on the West Coast. Hope to see you again next year and thanks!

Regards,

Tom Ree
Portland DeMarini

ps We tip our hats to the Grey Sox Organization

Rosters for California Teams at ISC II Tournament of Champions

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007


(click link to visit official site)

Here are the rosters for the two California teams headed to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, for the ISC II Tournament of Champions. The Lumberkings were the first ever California team to compete in the ISC II tournament, last year. This will be the first trip for A-1/Taylor Farms, though several of their players were members of last year’s ISC II Lumberkings squad.

A-1/TAYLOR FARMS
Castro Valley, CA

2 Jarrod Vassure 2B Bakersfield, CA
5 Pat Fuentes SS Sacramento, CA
6 John Bishop Pit Victoria, BC
9 Marcus Tan IF Union City, CA
11 Bob Piddock Coach/Util Castro Valley, CA
12 Dave Drotzman Pit Hermiston, OR
13 Matt Barnes Pit Westlake Village, CA
19 Jason Gluckman Utility Van Nuys, CA
21 Shawn Mandolesi CF San Diego, CA
24 Rick Moore IF Fremont, CA
25 Dave Kimura LF Pleasanton, CA
26 Bob Smith IF/OF Castro Valley, CA
29 Greg Oliver DH/IF Taft, CA
32 Jeff Twist Cat Bakersfield, CA
33 Shawn Ching 3B Hayward, CA
34 Ron Guzman Coach/Util Salinas, CA
44 Eddie Martin 1B Taft, CA

CALIFORNIA LUMBERKINGS
Bakersfield, CA

1 Jeff Graham Coach Bakersfield, CA
2 Carlos Flores SS Bakersfield, CA
3 Kevin Castillo 1B Long Beach, CA
4 David Weldin Fld Mgr Bakersfield, CA
5 Jon Nimmo Cat/OF Surrey, BC
6 Greg Hicks 2B Bakersfield, CA
7 Ed Gaspar Pit Merced, CA
14 Tim Hunt OF/3B La Habra, CA
17 Chris Hunt OF Whittier, CA
20 Kasey Knight 2B Olympia, WA
21 Trevor Knight OF Olympia, WA
22 Darren Strang Pit Richmond, BC
23 Brian Teeters OF Bakersfield, CA
24 Mike Egerdeen Pit Maple Ridge, BC
25 Dan Harbison Cat Las Vegas, NV
34 Troy Parker 3B Fullerton, CA

ISC II Rosters for Tournament of Champions now online

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

From


(click link to visit official site)

The complete list of rosters for the 2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions is now available in the ISC II section of the ISC website at www.iscfastpitch.com.

To view the rosters, click here.

The 2007 ISC II ToC starts on Tuesday August 14 at 11:30 am with games at Budd Park in Kitchener and Riverside Park in Cambridge. The championship game is slated for 11 am on Saturday August 18 at Peter Hallman Ballyard.

For additional information, please contact:

Jim Williamson
ISC II VP
jrwilliamson(at)foodfacility.com
or
Blair Setford
ISC II Commissioner
blairjs(at)rogers.com

Around the Horn – Softball Canada

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

Here is the latest edition of “Around the Horn” from Softball Canada. Some notes about the KFC American Challenge, and the upcoming 2007 Senior Men’s Canadian championships.

(PDF format, Adobe Reader required) Don’t have Adobe or want a smaller, quicker software program to read PDF’s? Download FoxIt PDF Reader for free.

Rocky Mountain Fastpitch Association Merges with NAFA

Thursday, August 2nd, 2007

[Longmont, Colorado] – It’s official, the Rocky Mountain Fastpitch Association officially merged with NAFA. The North American Fastpitch Association better known as NAFA holds the Largest Fastpitch Tournament in the World with teams and players from 8 Countries and over 35 States in the U.S.

NAFA holds championship play for every class of player in the sport of fastpitch including 23-Under, Men’s Open, Men’s AAA, Men’s AA-Major, Men’s AA, Men’s A-Major, Men’s A, and Masters 35-Over, Masters 40-Over, Masters 45-Over, Masters 50-Over and now with this announcement the NAFA “Wood Bat” World Series with pitching restrictions of pitchers of AAA and lower from our Master Pitchers list on our website at www.Nafafastpitch.com

NAFA and the RMFPA are pleased to announce this merger which takes effect today. The work that the Rocky Mountain Fastpitch Association has done developing the “Wood Bat” events in the Rocky Mountain States has been invaluable to a sport that needs new energy injected into it for future growth. In addition the focus on safety that is shared by both NAFA and the RMFPA will serve the players of our fine sport in the future as well.

NAFA will take over the operation of the 2007 “Wood Bat” World Series to be held Labor Day weekend in Longmont, Colorado. It will now be officially called the 2007 NAFA “Wood Bat” World Series. To enter the NAFA Wood Bat World Series, contact the NAFA by email at Nafafastpitch@aol.com or call Executive Director Benjie Hedgecock at 503-559-5398.

NAFA Executive Director, Benjie Hedgecock has appointed Dave Parker as the NAFA Rocky Mountain Multi-State Director representing teams and players and state directors from New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and West Texas. Those State Directors will report to Dave Parker as the regional contact and Dave Parker will report to Jon Kegel, NAFA Western Vice President.

Dave Parker will also serve on the Development Committee which is presently outlining a three step outline to assist people in forming local leagues with developmental pitching guidelines, teaching players how to pitch from the ground up with a local mentor and followup and setting up a Multi-national program to sponsor, outfit and organize 23-under teams in the U.S., Mexico and Argentina. You can contact Dave Parker at daparker@wyoming.com All events and activities formerly operated under the RMFPA will now bear the NAFA moniker. NAFA will continue to work will all national affiliations in the promotion of the sport of men’s fastpitch.

For more information on joining NAFA’s Wood Bat program or entering the Wood Bat Nationals contact Executive Director, Benjie Hedgecock at Nafafastpitch@aol.com