Archive for May, 2009

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SCIFL Santa Fe Springs II Recap

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009


(Click logo for official SCIFL website)

From the official SCIFL website:

Panteras score four in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with the championship over Panteras II

The Panteras used the number one seed from the round robin to their advantage in reaching the Championship game. Their first game of the day was against Flor de Cana and they came out on top 12-2 with Robby Epps getting the win. Travis Price was in the circle in the second game and earned the win, 4-2, over the Long Beach Black Sox. This set up the Championship game with Panteras II and father & son. Not too mention guys from both teams who play together on other teams during the week or have played for the other squads.

The Panteras had Billy Montana in the circle against Matt Barnes. Panteras II jumped to a quick 3 run lead in the top of the first which included a two-run shot by Jason Gluckmen that easily carried the home fence and more. The Panteras brought in Robby Epps to finish the inning and in their half scored once to cut the lead to 2. Both teams settled down and the game remained scoreless through the sixth. In the fifth both Gerald Pyle came in relief for Barnes and and Travis Price came in for relief in the sixth inning for Epps.

Panteras II scored a run in the sixth to take a 3 run lead. The Panteras threaten in both the fifth and sixth innings but couldn’t get the runners across the plate. In the bottom of the seventh they got their lead off batters on base. A run scored on Jimmy Buentello’s base hit leaving runners at first and second. After an out was recorded, the Panteras had runners at second and third with first base open and Keith Barker at bat. Keith hit a hard ground ball between first and second scoring the tying runs. However the ball also got by the right fielder and then it was a foot race to home for Keith and the win by the Panteras.


(Panteras’ Keith Barker just after impact of his tournament winning, walk-off hit in the bottom of the 7th inning of the title game)

Panteras II finished second in their pool and were paired off against San Diego Primetime who had beat them in the round robin 1-0. In the single elimination Panteras II came out on top 2-1 to send them to the semi-finals. In their next game they faced the Silverhawks and came out on top 4-1.

Overall, Jason Pruitt of the Silverhawks either was the leader or tied for the lead in all of the major offensive categories. He had 15 hits for a .750 batting average which also included 3 home runs, a triple and 6 doubles. In addition he stole 3 bases. Not bad for a weekend tournament, way to go Jason. Four other batters hit for over .600 this weekend; Delroy Waters (Caribbeans) .667, Gerald Pyle, Mike Manlingus (Panteras) and Valentine Douglas (Caribbeans) all with a .600 batting average.

On the pitching side, Ronnie Rupp (Black Sox) and Travis Price each finished the weekend with 3 wins. Robby Epps lead the tournament with the lowest ERA at .088 and 24 strikeouts. Spud Barker (Silverhawks) and Price each had 22 strikeouts. The complete tournament list will be out shortly as well as the season tournament leaders

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ISF World softball tickets on sale

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

From: THE STARPHOENIX

Ticket packages for the International Softball Federation world men’s championship in Saskatoon this summer are now available.

The 66-game package of reserved grandstand seating goes for $299. The price increases to $349 after May 31.

Seats are behind home plate and between the dugouts. There will be 45 games at Bob Van Impe Stadium, including the playoff round. All other games are at Gordie Howe Park.

The championship, scheduled for July 17 to 26, features teams representing 16 countries.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

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60 Days ‘Til First Pitch at ISF Worlds

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Today marks exactly 60 days until the first pitch is thrown in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada) at the International Softball Federation’s XII Men’s World Championship. This marquee event will see 16 countries competing over ten days (July 17-26).

The national teams participating will be: Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Great Britain, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Africa, USA, and Venezuela.


(click logo to visit the official ISF XII World Championships website)

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Maddys Photos from Santa Fe Springs

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009


(Matt Barnes, pitching for Panteras II Sunday at Santa Fe Springs, CA)


(click logo to view photos from Santa Fe Springs Sunday)

Maddy has posted her photos from Sunday’s SCIFL league play at Santa Fe Springs, California. If you’re on one of the teams not shown, wondering why not – we were only there for the last few of games, (Silverhawks vs. Panteras II, LB Black Sox vs. Panteras and the championship game between Panteras and Panteras II (lots of maroon on that diamond). Hope you enjoy them.

“Free for All”

You’ll notice that you can right click and save the photos in this gallery, so if you like one, it’s yours. Maddy’s “free for all” gift to the local So Cal guys. (if you decide to post any on your team or other website, please add a “photo by Maddy Flanagan”)

Editor’s note: You’ll spot the wild finish to the Panteras walk-off win in the title game on the final page of the galleries, page 6. You can see the finish unfold, with Keith Barker at the plate, the swing, the game winning hit, and then the jubilation of the Panteras.

Feel free to peruse the Maddy’s Photos website to see what other events she’s been covering. The “featured” link on the top menu is a collection of shots that have been published in softball magazine. If you missed the earlier announcement, she is also blogging on her site, with some links to other galleries, including a video of a recent emergency response event at the airport, set to music.

Click here for the blog at Maddy’s photos.

You can always email Maddy directly, maddy (at) maddysphotos (dot) com

Posted in General, Leagues, So Cal | No Comments »

Joe Santos Memorial Tournament Schedule

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

From

6th Annual Joe Santos Memorial Men’s Fastpitch Tournament Schedule

The Pueblo Bandits will host the 6th Annual Joe Santos Memorial Men’s Fastpitch Tournament May 22nd – 24th in Pueblo, CO. There is one ISC WT and one ISC II Tournament of Champions berth at stake for Western US teams competing with ISC rosters.

Due to the number of teams entered (seven) the tournamment format was changed to bracket play with each team guaranteed 3 games.

Below are the teams playing in this years tournament and the first round pairings.

Bandits – Pueblo Colorado
Rebels – Boulder Colorado
N A LLC – Albuquerque NM
Dodge Oklahoma
Comets – Denver Colorado
Lee & Joe’s – Pueblo Colorado
Polito’s Beer Barrel / DILLIGAF – Pueblo Colorado

Friday
Joe Santos Field
7:00 pm: Opening Ceremony
8:00 pm: Pueblo Bandits vs Boulder Rebels

Saturday
Joe Santos Field
9:00 am: Lee & Joe’s vs N A Albuquerque
10:45 am: Polito’s Beer Barrel/DILLIGAF vs Comets Denver Colorado
12:30 am: Dodge Oklahoma vs winner Pueblo Bandits / Boulder Rebel game

Joe Santos Field is located at the corner of Northern Ave and
Pine. From I-25 go to the Central Avenue exit go west on Central
Avenue it will dead end at the Park.

Chris Santos
303-690-4847 – home
303-694-9880 x103 – office
303-694-3430 – fax
303-419-7352 – cell
jcsantos25 (at) msn (dot) com

Posted in General, Tournaments | No Comments »

2009 Yakima Fruit Bowl Results – JRW

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Yakima, Washington – JRW & Associates took second place in the Yakima Fruit Bowl. JRW lost to the Lynden, WA Outlaws 9-4 in the Championship game. A tired Dave Drotzmann took the loss.

JRW was 1-2 in Sat pool play. Two losses by Shayne Arndt and the victory by Kurt Penner.

In Sunday single elimination, JRW beat Spokane Screaming Yak 9-2 in 5 innings – Drotzmann allowed 3 hits, but struck out 15 batters.

Then JRW beat Yakima Gamblers 11-1 to reach the final game — Four singles and a solo HR allowed by Kurt Penner.

JRW All-Stars were 1B/C Casey Johnson, 3B Jason Grow, SS Tim Roinestad and Outfielder Tim Fischer.

Tournament Details to follow

Jim Williamson
Sponsor/Manager

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PA Travel League Scores – Week 1

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Pennsylvania Travel League Scores, courtesy of the PAfastpitch.blogspot.com

May 15-17, 2009
Week 1

Gm 1
KCC
0
PA Power
12

Gm 2
NY Gremlins
9
Hoffman Rise
2

Gm 3
Keatings
6
Peninsula
0

Gm 4
ADCO
6
Maccabi USA
0

(more…)

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Best of the West – Santa Barbara, CA – May 30-31

Monday, May 18th, 2009

We’ll be posting more info shortly on the upcoming Best of the West Tournament in Santa Barbara, May 30-31, 2009, including the schedule of games. In the meantime, a few “notes on my scorecard”:

Tournament director David Blackburn told me yesterday, that he has sixteen (16) teams lined up for the tournament (May 30-31) in Santa Barbara, the largest field of team ever in the tournament’s longstanding 18 year history.

Among the teams headed to the beautiful coastal city in 2009 are the Pueblo Bandits and Innovative Communications (the 2007 BoW champs). Last year saw a couple of classic pitching match-ups between Lucas Mata (So Cal Bombers) and Sebastian Gervusutti (Team Rainey). Mata and the Bombers won the Saturday round robin game, while Sebastian and Team Rainey came away with the win on Sunday in the playoff round, and went on to capture the 2008 title.

The tournament was started in 1991 by Long Beach Painter’s GM Allan Ruegsegger, and held that first year as the “Best of the West Shootout” at Joe Rodgers field in Long Beach. That one featured the two Salt Lake City powerhouses of the day, Larry Miller Toyota, with Peter Meredith, and Page Brake, with Neil Chadwick, the Guanella Brothers, the Painters and Vista Bombers. (held so long ago, that I played in it).


The image above is from an old T-shirt from the 2nd Best of the West in 1992.

Since then, the tournament has made the rounds, being held in places like Soboba, Winchester, but seems to have settled into a home in Santa Barbara the past few years. David Blackburn has been the tournament director for most of the tournament’s history and now getting a big assist from the tournament’s Santa Barbara host, Clyde Bennnett. The tournament has been up and down in terms of the number of teams (down to a half dozen a few years ago), but the most reliable event on the So Cal schedule for nearly two decades, thanks to Dave’s hard work.

Click here for a bit of history of the tournament.

Posted in ISC, ISC-II, So Cal, Tournaments | No Comments »

Panteras over Panteras II in SCIFL Final at SFS

Monday, May 18th, 2009

From:

(Click logo for official SCIFL website)

From the official SCIFL website:

SANTA FE SPRINGS II

PANTERAS WALK OFF WITH THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Panteras score four in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with the championship over Panteras II. Click logo above for more information.

Editor’s note: Maddy has some photos from the weekend to share with our readers, keep an eye out for a link soon.

And on a slightly different subject, our two favorite adversaries are polishing their barbs for the upcoming “Best of the West”. These two never fail to provide some great entertainment. Rumor has it their show due for syndication next year.

For the un-initiated, these two “characters” are members of competing teams in the SCIFL. Here is a “discussion” about pitching rules from earlier in the week 🙂

Both happen to be good hitting pitchers, so things tend to reach a fever pitch when their teams square off, and especially so when the grudge match becomes personal, pitcher vs. batter and vica versa. All in good fun…..

(and if you still can’t figure out the real life players in this matchup, see this exchange)

Lots more on So Cal fastpitch, posted by players, coaches and fans at the Fastpitchwest forum.

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New TSA “Secure Flight” Rule: Matching Names

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

New Rule Effective May 1, 2009, expected to expand to Int’l flights next year

Players and managers alike may have a new travel headache to contend with, thanks to the folks at the TSA. In short, if your boarding pass does not match your driver’s license – EXACTLY – the airline security folks (TSA) may not permit you to board that plane to that next tournament. A whole new layer of misery. Informal vs. formal name? (Dave/David, etc.) Drotz, I know you are reading this. Middle name on your driver’s license? Middle initial? No place for middle name or initial when using the online booking website? Arrrgh.

A saavy traveler explains:

I am just getting up to date with the new/upcoming TSA rules regarding “Secure Flight” (see links below) when TSA takes over the program from the airlines. Apparently, after May 1st, the name in a boarding pass needs to exactly match the name in the government issued ID (license or passport), including middle name. Date of birth and gender need to be added as well and I am sure those can be easily handled with the frequent flyer’s profile. Supposedly, a boarding pass will not be issued if the full name doesn’t match the ID or if it the booking hasn’t been approved by the new secure flight system that matches names with the no-fly list. This is data that will flow from airlines to DHS/TSA and just worries me that it may cause problems on last minute bookings and/or proper data transfer overall.

I have been reading and it seems unclear if they will accept just a matching first and last name or if a middle initial will be sufficient or if indeed a full name will be required.

Nevertheless, all these unanswered questions will be subject to interpretation by different airline agents in reservations or check in desk, TSA agents at security, travel agencies, etc etc. I guess TSA and airlines will come out with some clear rules.

But, are airlines ready for this? are they working on updating their reservation system to accept long middle names? how about the rush to change names on frequent flyer programs? are they ready for that too? It seems that TSA is causing a bigger problem, affecting the majority of flyers, to try to solve the problem of a small number of flyers that, unfortunately, are in the no-fly list by error.

Anybody from the airlines have an update on this? Or, as a frequent flyer, are you planning on adding your full middle name in all your frequent flyer programs?

More news coverage of the issue after the jump.

(more…)

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