Information courtesy of Dave Birnie, Ontario, Canada
[Waterdown, Ontario] – The Waterdown Hammer ( ISC II ) are pleased to announce 2 significant roster additions for 2008. Today’s signings include pitcher, Wayne Wells who has officially committed for the 2008 tournament season and catcher Troy Gilmour for selected tournaments. Click here to read the rest of the story on our ISC II blog, “The Deuce”.
Click the camera above to view Gallery 4.
The first half of this one appeared in what is now a temp Gallery 1a. So from here on in, it’s all new material.
Player notes to follow, but it’s the pics that you want, right?
May 1 Deadline for Pre-season team rosters and PRAWN Declarations
Rosters – Pre-season team rosters (and PRAWN declarations) are due by May 1 for both World Tournament and ISC II teams. The roster form is available from the ISC web site www.iscfastpitch.com and click on the Rules and Forms link on the front page. If you’re unable to save the roster form from the web site, let me know and I’ll send you an email attachment of one.
Rosters can be changed during the season and future roster submissions are due July 15 (for printing in the tournament programs) and August 4 (final roster for World Tournament and ISC II Tournament of Champions.
Rosters are to be sent by email attachment to:
ISC World Tournament
iscstat@hotmail.com
stats4u@iscfastpitch.com
iscken@comcast.net
dcarney1@new.rr.com
aschaefer@vokimberly.org
ISC II Tournament of Champions
hdewild@milwpc.com
tschaaf@kimberly.k12.wi.us
jrwilliamson@foodfacility.com
blairjs@rogers.com
rudiereed@aasd.k12.wi.us
jody.lockhart@thedacare.org
Out of Region (Letter of Intent) Forms – The OOR filings are to be postmarked to me by May 1. The form is also available on the ISC web site, Rules and Forms link. It is important to remember, OOR players cannot be added after May 1 without specific approval of the ISC Executive Committee. World Tournament teams are reminded that only 2 OOR pitchers per team may participate in official ISC competition. ISC II teams are reminded of the special OOR limitations applicable to ISC II teams and players. Region definitions are also shown on the ISC Web Site, Rules and Forms link.
Out of region fees are $100 each for the first three players per team and $300 each for OOR’s beyond three.
Championship Tournaments Preliminary Schedule of Events – With the 2008 World Tournament being only 7-days and the ISC II Tournament of Champions being only 4-days, we have had to alter the times of various functions as follows:
World Tournament – Here is the tentative schedule of events
Saturday – August 9
5-7 PM – Team registration at Hilton Garden Inn in Kimberly
7-8 PM – Team manager meeting at Hilton Garden Inn
Sunday – August 10
8 AM – Hall of Fame induction breakfast at Tanner’s Grill & Bar in Kimberly
1 PM – World Tournament games begin at Sunset Park in Kimberly
7 PM – World Tournament Opening Ceremonies at Sunset Park
ISC II Tournament of Champions
Saturday – August 9
7-8 PM – Team Registration at Settle Inn in Appleton
8-9 PM – Team Manager meeting at Settle Inn
Sunday – August 10
10:30 AM – ISC II games begin at Memorial Park in Appleton (tournament ends Wednesday)
5 PM – ISC II Opening Ceremonies at Memorial Park
Team Rankings – Pre-season team rankings for both World Tournament and ISC II teams will be available and distributed in early May. Final rankings determine the seeding for both championship tournaments. We remind teams again, to fully utilize the Internet to update everyone (including ranking committees) of your team roster, schedule and tournament results during the season.
Ken
I noticed the other day that the list of “Morning Brief Archives” links over on the right hand side of this page was getting awfully long. It caught my eye that the first posts date back to March of 2004, meaning that this month marks the start of our fifth season of blogging men’s fastpitch here at Fastpitchwest.com. (Longtime readers may remember that the Morning Brief actually ran for a short while on Google’s Blogger site, before finding its permanent home right here. ) Four-plus years and over 2300 post later, and we’re still at it.
Click here for a stroll down memory lane, back to those first posts in March 2004, one entitled “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and another about “Lord of the Rings”, a recap of 2003 MVP award winners. (Click the headlines to expand to the entire posts)
Remember you can sign up for a Feedblitz email update which sends you a short summary when new posts are added. We appreciate your readership, and hope that you continue to enjoy our coverage of the world of men’s fastpitch.
My good friend and ISC II commissioner Blair Setford is posting links to AAU photos of ISC II players over at The Deuce. The list is getting longer by the day, so be sure to check back periodically. Blair has provided outstanding leadership for the ISC II program since 2004, resulting in a big jump in interest from teams around the country. If your team is considering a trip to this year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions, in Appleton, Wisconsin, August 10-13, 2008, be sure to contact Blair to get on his email list, and find out more about how to qualify for the tournament.
After listening to Kyle Smith and I talk about the AAU tournament so much, Blair made the trip himself this year, playing for the Fury, and doing some of the broadcasts on Ballparkradio. Who will be the first eagle eye reader is that spots a photo of Blair in uniform in Maddy’s Photo Galleries?
Update: Cal Lumberking pitcher Dave Drotzman won the prize, unknown as it may be, spotting the ISC II commish playing third base for the Ontario Fury in this photo, and in one that I missed, # 19 in this conference at the mound.
For those who may not be familiar with “The Deuce”, it is a blog much like this one, but devoted solely to the ISC II program. Blair is a regular poster over at the Deuce, so it’s a good place to find the latest news and information on the upcoming ISC II Tournament of Champions. The Deuce also has a “Feed Blitz” email list that will send you an email when a new item is posting. Posting at The Deuce is not as frequent as the Morning Brief, so you need not worry about being inundated with too much email. (well, except for the four day ISC II Tournament of Champions, when we post after each set of games).
Click the camera above to view Gallery 3.
If this gallery feels like deja vu, you’re right — the first 11 photos appeared in the original Gallery 1 on Monday night, which sorted out of order. The second half of this gallery contains brand new pictures, including a good one of CPI player/manager Mike Cutro.
At this year’s AAU, Mike’s squad made it all the way to Sunday and the Final Four, falling to eventual champion Mac’s Sprayers. CPI finished in a third place tie with Broken Bow, NE, a remarkable run for an ISC II team, or any team for that matter, competing against some of the top ISC World tournament teams and players. On Saturday night, before one of the largest crowds of the tournament, CPI played eliminated former two-time-AAU champion Los Socios of Venezuela, to advance to the Final Four, where they eliminated a very solid Chicago/NY team from the Dominican Republic. Pitcher Shaun Winship, who hit a walk-off home run in the ISC II playoffs, Winship again played a key role in CPI’s success this year at the AAU. Their strong run at Orlando will no doubt have the ranking committee for the ISC II taking note, something the fans back in Oswego have been doing for some time.
Gallery 3 also includes some early tournament shots of this year’s Champions, Mac’s Sprayers, including a shot of pitcher Rob O’Brien, one-quarter of the four-headed pitching monster that shared the Most Valuable Pitcher’s Trophy.
There are also a couple of Salt Lake City’s Cody Thompson, who pitched for Ohio Battery at this year’s AAU.
Another pitcher in Orlando from out west was Robby Epps, in uniform here for Los Socios of Venezuela.
Gallery 3 also has a couple good ones of one of the games best pitchers, Frank Cox, with the Broken Bow Gremlins, along with skipper Steve Kooser, shown here enjoying the sunny portion of this year’s tournament.
Click the camera to view. This is Tuesday’s gallery, albeit a little late going up. Watch tonight for Gallery 3.
Click here and tell me that is not a perfect Fernando Valenzuela impersonation, with eyes looking to the heavens. As most of you know, it’s actually Panfilo Valdez, pitching for Tijuana, Mexico. He pitched very well, helping his team win their pool. Many of the Tijuana players (including Panfilo) were former members of the Mexicali team, which finished 2nd in 2004 and third in 2005, losing out both years to Los Socios of Venezuela. They always seem to do well in Orlando.
Maddy seems to have a knack for getting some good pics of the kids out at the ballpark. This young fan seems to be enjoying herself, though I bet the smile is because she’s thinking “I’m going to Disneyworld!”.
Broken Bow’s beefed up roster at this year’s tournament included the like of California’s Todd Budke, as well as New Zealander, Rhys Casley. The duo hit 3-4 in the Broken Bow batting order, something sure to sell lots of aspirin to opposing pitchers in the run-up to the ISC World Tournament in Kimberly this year.
California’s Taylor Farm Lumberkings, a merger of two of the top four ISC II teams from last year, did not play in this year’s AAU, but their pitching staff of Dave Drotzman and Mike Egerdeen looked to be in mid-season form, pitching for the St. Thomas Virgin Island Ambassadors. Drotzman was named to the All-Tournament team at last year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions, opening the event with a no-hitter and leading A-1 Taylor Farms’ charge into the Final Four where they fell in an extra inning nail biter with the Lumberkings.
On Saturday night, Drotzman matched Florida Fastpitch’s Sean Whitten, inning for inning through regulation, in perhaps the best pitcher’s duel of the tournament despite being played in a steady rain. Despite the rain, a good crowd of AAU fans stuck it out to see Florida squeak past in extra innings, in a game that was all about fine pitching.
Also spotted in Gallery 2 was Texaco Pirates’ (Bahamas) skipper Haziel MacDonald, seen here smiling as he delivered his talent-laded lineup card to the umpires before an early round game. The Pirates boasted one of the deepest pitching staffs in the AAU tournament this year, with Rob Schweyer, Rob Scheller, Doug Sleep and Dewey Dyck, and added catcher Frank DeGroat (who’s been in two AAU finals), as well as highly regarded Steve Mullaley. The Pirates did win their pool in round robin play and got past a strong Venezuela team on Saturday night, but ran into the Team Minnesota buzzsaw Sunday morning.
The latest updated list
US East Region – Bill Howell, Vice President bhowell5@yahoo.com
April 19 – 20
War Eagle Tournament – Auburn, AL
Format: Round robin
Entry Fee: $225
Berths: 1 ISC II ToC berth to highest finishing ISC II team
Contact: Robby Carter 334-501-2976 rcarter@auburnalabama.org
UIC: Sam Kelly 334-416-6459 alaump@aol.com
ISC Rep: Robert Gray – 334-567-9797 rgray77271@aol.com
June 13-15
Midland Invitational – Midland, MI
Format: 4-game guarantee
Entry Fee: $400
Berths: 1 ISC World Tournament and 1 ISC II ToC for US East region teams
Contact: Kyle Beane – 810-813-5178 kbeane8@yahoo.com
UIC: Joe Squires heyumpy@yahoo.com
ISC Rep: Lee Isenhart – 989-835-9146 isenhartlee_@hotmail.com
Rude Pac takes the title at the 7th annual Billy’s Bash mens fastpitch tournament…
Rude Pac wrap up the weekend with a perfect record of 5-0 to take the title, making short work of KHT Pumpers out of Visalia 9-0 in the championship game, and taking home $500. Rude Pac made quick work of their opponents on Saturday but had a scare on Sunday in the Semi Finals against the Young Bucks from Santa Barbara. The Youngbucks took a 2-0 lead into the 6th inning but were unable to hold on as Rude Pac came from behind to beat the Youngbucks 3-2.
In the other semi final game the KHT Pumpers sought revenge for a Saturday loss and outlasted the Silverhawks 11-10 fo advance to the final, and knocking off the undefeated Silverhawks the number 2 seed after saturdays games.
Finishing order:
Rude Pac: 5-0
KHT Pumpers: 3-3
Silverhawks: 3-1
Youngbucks: 2-3
West Bishop: 1-3
Rez Dawgz: 0-4
All in all in was a great tournament for the limited number of teams that showed up, and we hope more can make it out next year and take a shot at the title. Hopefully we will get more teams from Southern and Northern Cal to come together to see who is the best. Because you can’t say your the best until you come out and face the the best.
6:20pm PST: Click here for “Gallery 1”, with the first 32 photos. The full set has 375, so we’ll be posting a gallery a day for the next couple weeks. If you want to write to Maddy, send to maddy (at) maddysphotos (dot) com.
Hope you enjoy them!
