June 2, 2008 – A pair of tournament wins in Sonora and Sacramento propelled the California Lumberkings to the top of the ISC II rankings, edging out preseason favourite and defending ISC II champion South Lebanon, PA TNT.
Click here for the full story at our brother blog The Deuce.
The 18th Annual Best of the West Tournament, the longest running open level tournament in California will be held in beautiful, sunny Santa Barabara, with David Blackburn once again serving as Tournament Director. David is the head of streaming media for the ISC, and responsible for bringing live broadcasts — audio and video – to men’s fastball.
We’ve updated our “Best of the West” pages inside Fastpitchwest, including historical coverage that dates back more than a decade.
Maps and Directions to the two Ball Park facilities can be found through any standard Internet map program. Use the following addresses:
Pershing Park
100 Castillo St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Cabrillo Ball Park
800 E. Cabrillo Blvd
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
Please contact me if anyone has any questions.
See you all in Sunny Santa Barbara!
Dave Blackburn
Tournament Director
2008 Best of The West Tournament
310-266-7803
daveb (at) virtvent.com
(click logo to visit Ballparkradio.com website)
Ballparkradio broadcaster Kyle Smith will be in Niagara, Ontario to broadcast two games live at 7pm and 9pm EST:
7pm EST – Niagara Snappers vs. the California Lumberkings
9pm EST – Golden Horseshoe Fastball League (GHFL) All Stars vs. the Lumberkings.
Kyle was the lead broadcaster at this year’s AAU International Tournament, part of the crew that broadcast 10 games in four days. Kyle is the youngest and newest member of the Ballparkradio crew, having started with the 2006 ISC II Tournament of Champions, and has quickly become a fan favorite. He is a graduate of the School of Broadcasting at Mohawk College in Ontario, Canada, and currently resides in Hickson, Ontario.
No games have ever been broadcast from the Snapper Shootout before, and arrangements are still underway for the internet connection, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Be sure to check the Ballparkradio website for further updates on Thursday night.
Click the logo, then the black “Click to Listen” button.
Game times are Eastern Standard Time (EST), adjust for your time zone accordingly.
Just an update on the fundraiser fastball exhibition games that will be taking place at Lancaster Park on June 5th. First game gets underway at 7pm and pits the Niagara Snappers against the California Lumberkings, second game begins at 9pm with the GHFL all-stars hosting the Lumberkings.
A Ball Park Radio (www.ballparkradio.com) broadcast of both games is in the final stages and looks to be on track. Keep checking for more updates. We encourage all players, fans and coaches not only from the GHFL but from all fastball leagues to come down for a night of fastball in one of the most beautiful parks in Ontario and help support a good cause. Storm’s Deli will be on hand serving up hot food and soft drinks and you can purchase tickets to be used to bid on donated items (including a brand new Wilson glove and an Easton ball bag and many more). Also, both the California Lumberkings and the GHFL will be creating T-Shirts to commemorate the night, these will be available to purchase as well.
Background on the Fund Raising Effort
Proceeds from the gate and several activities at the park including a 50-50 draw, silent auction and souvenir sales will be donated to Melissa Brideau. Melissa is the long time girlfriend of Niagara Falls Furyplayer Tommy Watkinson who has played ball in the Niagara Falls Men’s League for the past 15 years. Melissa is stricken with a very aggressive from ofMultiple Sclerosis. Melissa is 35 years old and has reached a point in her illness where a wheelchair or scooter have become her source of mobility. Melissa is having no luck with North American treatment and is traveling toVenezuela to seek treatment from world renowned specialist Dr.Yepetz utilizing rainforest natural therapy. As one can imagine this is a very costly endeavor but one that needs to be explored now. Dr. Yepetz has successfully reversed the effects of MS in many patients and Melissa feels this type of treatment is one of the few remaining options available for her. If treatments go well, Melissa will in all probability be revisiting Venezuela multiple times.
California and Niagara will both be taking part in the 6th annual Snapper Shootout which runs from Friday June 7th- Sunday June 9th. Both teams will be competing along with 14 others to claim more than $3500 in prize money. Previous winners of the Shootout include Niagara Snappers (2004, 2005 winners, 2007 co-winner), The Rise (2006 winner) and the Elora Brewers (2007 co-winners). Another very strong field is set for this year’s tournament.
Check back to www.ghfl.ca or www.niagarasnappers.com for more updates.
Click here for our ISC II Blog, “The Deuce”, where you’ll find plenty of updates on ISC II action, as things heat up in June and July, in the run-up to the 2008 ISC II Tournament of Champions, set for August 13-18, 2008 in Appelton, Wisconsin. The latest team rankings are due out any day. Current # 1 TNT fell to the # 6 NY Knights, so it will be interesting to see how that might impact their ranking.
The California Lumberkings, River City Rockers, Innovative Communications and Rude Pac are among the teams vying for a spot in the prestigious tournament. The California Lumberkings competed in the 2006 and 2007 T of C, finishing second, to the TNT squad out of Pennsylvania. The Lumberkings were the first ever California team to compete, and their 2008 roster will be bolstered by a number of the members of last year’s A-1 Taylor Farms team, which finished third, including All-World pitcher Dave Drotzmann.
River City, Innovative and Rude Pac will all be in Santa Barbara this coming weekend for the 2008 Best of the West tournament. The Best of the West Round Robin schedule on Saturday features a match-up between the River City Rockers and Innovative:
Game #14 River City Rockers Vs Innovative Communications
5:45 PM Pershing Park – Field #1
The Lumberkings will be in Niagara, Ontario, competing in one of the top ISC II tournaments on the continent, the “Snapper Shootout”, hosted by one of last year’s semi-finalists in the ISC II Tournament of Champions.
[Grande Prairie, AB] – The Vancouver Grey Sox were eliminated this morning from further competition at the inaugural Horse Lake Thunder Challenge event being held in Grande Prairie, AB. The host Thunder defeated the Grey Sox 7 – 2 in one of the semi final games played, and will now advance to today’s championship final vs the Saskatoon, SK Aspen Interiors Black Sox. * Note: the Saskatoon side later won the event with a 5 – 3 victory over the host Horse Lake team.
Horse Lake, AB Thunder 7 – Vancouver Grey Sox 2
WP – Karl Gollan, 4 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2ks, relief from Darren Zack (5), 3 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2ks.
LP – Mike Piechnik, 1.1 innings, 3 hits, 4 runs, 2BB, with relief from Collin McKenzie (2) 6 hits, 3 runs, 5ks.
The Grey Sox concluded the tournament with a record of 2 – 2, recording round robin wins over Camrose, AB Fury and Horse Lake, AB Thunder, and losing to the eventual tournament champions from Saskatoon. The Grey Sox season’s overall record now stands at 12 – 2.
Next Grey Sox Action is next weekend when we will host a super series in Vancouver vs. Horse Lake Thunder
Saturday June 7 – 3:00 & 5:00 pm
Sunday June 8 – 11:00 am & 1:00 pm
All games played at South Memorial Park – Vancouver.
From :
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Money is getting tighter, top-caliber teams are dwindling and players are retiring, but world-class men’s fastpitch softball lives on for another summer.
The Midland Explorers opened their 23rd season of major fastpitch softball this weekend at the Legends of Fastball Tournament in Kitchener, Ontario. The Explorers again are regarded as one of the top men’s teams in North America, but will play this season without one familiar face on the mound.
Saginaw native and world-class pitcher Doug Gillis isn’t playing with the Explorers this season for the first time since 1998. Instead, the 43-year-old Gillis is pitching for Dolan-Murphy of Aurora, Ill., as he continues in his attempt to make a full recovery from a stroke he suffered two years ago this month.
Click here to read the rest of the story at The Saginaw News.
Aspen Black Sox over Vancouver Grey Sox as Rick Smith Beats Former Teammates
Click here for scores and more at Al’s Fastball.
Al Doran is providing some great game-by-game coverage of the Legends of Fastball Tournament at Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, this weekend. Kitchener is home to the Rivershark Twins (merger team of 2007’s Orillia Riversharks and the Hallman Twins), and host to the last two ISC World Tournaments and ISC II Tournament of Champions.
Sunday’s action.
Click here for the complete schedule of games, posted at Al’s Fastball, which includes scores.
And click here for the PDF poster, listing all of the teams in the tournament.
