Archive for June, 2010
Revised California Classic Schedule of Games
Thursday, June 17th, 2010California Classic players and fans – please be sure to take note of the REVISED schedule of games for this coming weekend in San Diego:
Click photo to visit their official website.
The California Classic schedule was revised, due to the So Cal Tribe dropping out of the tournament. The new schedule is:
Saturday, June 19, 2010
8:00
California A’s vs. Cal State Builders
Bakersfield Silverhawks vs. Portland
Vancouver vs. IAC
10:00
California A’s vs. Maccabi
Rude Pac vs. Pala Braves
Vancouver vs. Tow Pro’s
12:00
Rude Pac vs. Portland
Bakersfield Silverhawks vs. Cal State Builders
IAC vs. Barona
2:00
California A’s vs. Portland
Maccabi vs. Pala Braves
Vancouver vs. Barona
4:00
Rude Pac vs. Silverhawks
Cal State Builders vs Pala Braves
IAC vs. Tow Pro’s
6:00
Rude Pac vs Maccabi
Tow Pro’s vs Barona
The Cal Classic will be held at the brand new Sportsplex in Santee, California, about 20 miles northeast of downtown San Diego.
Smitty to HOF
Thursday, June 17th, 2010Congratulations to Mike Smith on his pending induction to the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame tonight at Pates Park.
(Photo by Maddy Flanagan) Can he still get that kind of air? Ask Smitty !
Mike has had more than his share of moments in the sun. One that stands out in my mind that I had a chance to watch, was his performance pitching for the Quaker Riversharks in the NAFA AA World Series in 2003 at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where he single-handedly pitched his team into the championship game. (Photo above) It was Mike Smith in the circle and Smitty in the pen. All week long.
Below is a photo of Mike at last night’s Hall of Fame ceremony, and his fastpitch biography:
Mike’s Fastpitch Bio:
Mike Smith #8
Mike Smith began his softball career as an infielder int he AllentownChurch League for Grace UC Cattheage of fourteen. After four years he advanced to the East Penn Fastpitch League and played five seasons with the Allentown Patriots.
In 1985 he received the call that elevated his softball career.
The call came from Rocky Santilli, coach of the Reading Sunners Major Men’s Fastpitch team.
Playing with the Sunners, Mike traveled across the country including representing the East Coast in the 1986 Olympic Sports Festival in Houston, Texas. In 1989 heplayed on Team USA in the Men’s Softball World Cup which was the last USA team to defeat New Zealand’s team to date. While playing with the Sunners, Mike had the opportunity to play with legendary pitcher Ty Stofflet who inspired his interest in becoming a pitcher.After sharpening his pitching skills during the 80’s and 90’s playing in the East Penn League with Duke’s Pub and Poppa’s Pizza, he got his shot to pitch with the Philadelphia based team, DC Tire at the Men’s Class “A” level. In 1992, Mike played with DC Tire in the 64 team field ASA Tournament in Sacramento, CA. In the tournament, Mike pitched and won three games,and hit the walkoff championship winning home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to assist DC Tire in claiming the National Title. His play earned him First Team All-American Honors, Most Valuable Pitcher, and Most Valuable Player. In1994, DC Tire again claimed the ASA Men’s Class “A” National Title in Salem, OR. Mike contributed with a 4-0 pitching record, including a win in the Championship game and again received First Team All-American Honors.
Throughout the 90’s, while pitching and playing with such teams as Rookie’s Sports Pub and Fullerton Fire Company, his teams won numerous league and playoff championships.
Between 1999 and 2002, Mike played on weekends with the Can-Am Windmillers and All Seasons Patriots. In 2002, All Seasons wonthe NAFA AAA World Series,and Mike was named as a First Team All-World Player. He then joined the Quaker Riversharks in 2003 and that year at the NAFA AAWorld Series, Mike led his team to the championship game by pitching eight games in four days, totaling 56 innings, and tallying 28 consecutive innings on
the final day.Unfortunately the Riversharks came up short in the final game and finished in second place.His effort earned him a place on the First Team All-World Team and he also claimed the Most Valuable Pitcher Award.During the next five years, Mike accomplished additional All-World Honors at both theNAFA World Series and theNSA World Series tournaments. Mike finished his ISC career with the Rise assisting them with back to back top four finishes in the ISC II Tournament of Champions in 2005 and 2006.
In addition to playing on weekend traveling teams, Mike continued to play in theEast Penn League. From 2002 to 2009, Mike played with the Jordan AC and Stooges Pub winning seven league and playoff titles, including last year’s final seasonof the East Penn League.
After turning forty he was recruited by the Matarazzo Seadogs ou tBoston, MA to play at the 40 & Over Nationals. With Matarazzo, Mike won three titles in 2005, 2006, & 2009.
Mike has been married to his wife Jill for fifteen years and his daughter Kourtney is now a junior at Penn State University. Mike plans to make golfing his next passion and he’s hoping to get his handicap into single digits at some point this year.
Stats
World&National Titles: 8 Wins: 425*
All-American&All-WorldHonors: 9 Strikeouts: 4300*
EastPenn LeagueTitles: 17 No- Hitters: 31
PerfectGames: 8
Homeruns: 265*
* approximate
NY Gremlins 2010 Roster & Schedule
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010From Al’s Fastball:
(click logo for original news story)
The New York Gremlins are finally ready to announce their roster and schedule for the 2010 season. The Gremlins will be returning with most of our key players from last season including ASA All Americans John Rozich, Derek Pukash & Bryan Newton. In February we announced the additions of Paul Koert, Travis Wilson, Landy Rodriguez and Jeff Hook. We are pleased to add 3 more notable names to that list. All 3 of these players have worn the Gremlin Green before and we welcome them back to the squad.
Paul Walford – Paul’s accomplishments in the game are too numerous to list. Paul helped coach the Gremlins at the AAU and provided a strong bat off the bench. The team was so impressed with his leadership and ability to share his knowledge that we begged and pleaded with him to reconsider his pending retirement decision. Fortunately for us it worked.
Frank DeGroat – A member of the US National team, Frank is a 2 time ISC All Word selection as well as 2X ASA All American. Frank played with the Gremlins for a short time many years ago in modified and has always been a favorite of our sponsor. After opposing Frank for so many years it will be nice to finally have him on our side. Frank will be used primarily as a DH this season.
Rhys Casley – Rhys is a member of the New Zealand Black Sox and a 3 time ISC All World selection. Rhys spent quite a few seasons as a Gremlin and our squad is excited at the thought of having him back in our lineup. Rhys is a versatile player that we can use at several positions. We expect him to play in the OF this season.
The New York Gremlins 2010 Roster
13 Bryan Newton Pitcher Fort McMurray, AB
#45 Paul Koert Pitcher Stouffville, ON
#29 Jeremy Tracy OF/INF Waterville, NB
#14 Travis Wilson 2B Chattanooga, TN
#10 Rhys Casley OF West Sand Lake, NY
# 8 Frank DeGroat DH Ringwood, NJ
#20 Bill Hillhouse Pitcher Erie, PA
# 9 John Rozich C/OF Oxford, PA
#22 Landy Rodriguez C/INF West Havestraw, NY
#18 Jeff Hook 1B Flanders, NJ
#23 Jay Herr 3B Lancaster, PA
#25 Chad McConnell SS Riverdale, NJ
#26 Derek Pukash OF Morristown, NJ
#42 Reggie Barrau OF Teaneck, NJ
#32 Chad Busch OF/INF Vernon, NJ
#27 Varm Mateosien UTIL Montvale, NJ
#94 Ed Jackson OF New York, NY
#12 Paul Walford Coach/UTIL Tampa Bay, FL
# 7 John Heinsch Coach Brooklyn, NY
# 5 Gregg Leather Manager Staten Island, NY
# 1 Bruce Tanski Sponsor Clifton Park, NY
Schedule
May 22-23 Mid Atlantic ISC Travel League – Lancaster, PA
May 29-30 ISC US East Qualifier – Clifton Park, NY
June 11-13 ISC US East Qualifier – Midland, MI
June 18-20 Mid Atlantic ISC Travel League – Lancaster, PA
June 26-27 Legends – Kitchener, ON
July 2-4 Peligro Tournament – NY City
July 16-18 Walsh – Allentown, PA
July 30- Aug 1 Erie, PA
Aug 5-8 ASA National Championship – South Bend, IN
Aug 14-21 ISC World Tournament – Midland, MI
Editor’s note: The NY Gremlins are currently the #3 ranked team in the world.
Peligro Cup Mens Open Fastpitch Tournament
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010Peligro Cup Mens Open Fastpitch Tournament
Dates: July 2-4, 2010
Peligro Sports of NY is happy to announce the 2 time defending ISC Champion Kitchener Rivershark Hallman Twins will be attending the Peligro Tournament this year. The tournament has 1 spot open for any team interested.
Teams
1. ISC # 1 Kitchener
2. ISC # 3 NY Gremlins
3. ISC # 4 Chicago/NY
4. Dominican National Team
5. Puerto Rican National Team
6. Venezuela National Team
7. Guatemala National Team
8. Excellent (Adam Folkard)
9. Indios – Venezuela
10. Las Guaranas
11. Dominican USA
12. [Insert your team here!]
Call Jose at Peligro Sports (212) 568-0222 or email peligrosports (at) verizon.net
Gregg Leather
NYSoftball (at) aol.com
Location:
Randall’s Island Park
1 Randalls Is Road
New York, NY 10035
(212) 830-7722
Softbol Argentina Video
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010Nicely done video by Softbol Argentina: (cap tip Bateando Softbol via Gente de Softbol)
ISF Jr. World Championships will be in Parana, Argentina in 2012.
Click here for our earlier feature on the “Argentine Pitching Pipeline”.
Among the Argentine players expected to be in Midland Michigan for this year’s ISC World Tournament are Sebastian Gervasutti (Bakersfield Silverhawks), Manuel Godoy, Bruno Motroni, and Juan Potliccio all of the Minnesota Angels.
Maddy’s Photos from Best of the West
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
(Panfilo Valdez of Santa Cecelia Mexicali Mexico)
This past June 6th, I dropped by the 2010 Best of the West fastpitch tournament being held in beautiful Santa Barbara, California. As always, this tournament did not fail to provide many gifted players and many an exciting play. Although, I was only there for one of the two days of the tournament, I think you will agree that there was plenty of action to go around as well as some unique moments. You can see the photos by clicking on the 2010 Best of the West gallery under the Sports/Fastpitch galleries or simply click HERE.
(click banner above to view the largest collection of men’s fastball photos known to man — and there are tons of old ones yet to be uploaded)
(click logo to become a fan of Maddy’s Photos on Facebook)
2010 ISC Roster – Donnacona Blue Sox
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010Leclair Francis 53 P St-Léonard d’Aston, QC
Savard Steve 43 1B Pont-Rouge, QC
Darveau Jonathan 7 Util Donnacona, QC
Doucet Jean-Daniel 37 2nd St-Léonard d’Aston, QC
Lessard Mathieu 55 SS St-Wenceslas, QC
Pare Philippe 33 Util St-Léonard d’Aston, QC
Mottard Miguel 69 OF St-Basile, QC
Morrison Cory 22 OF Ottawa, Ont
Savard Jean-Pierre 88 OF Cap-Sante, QC
Roy Mathieu 26 OF St-Gervais, QC
St-Pierre Frederic 24 Cat Ste-Marie de Beauce, QC
Alkerton Cory 46 P Ottawa, Ont
Thibault Luc 45 Util Donnacona, QC
Blue & Gray Tournament 2010
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
(photo from Facebook page of Bobby Ramos)
Who is the giant in the middle of the photo?
Big Red’s wins Oregon Booster championship at Portland
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010Cap tip to Mark Seward for this information.
(click logo for original news story)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Jim Robinson, the MVP Pitcher, pitched a complete-game shutout, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out seven in a 3-0 victory over Ivory Headwear that gave Big Red’s Diner won the championship at the Oregon Booster Cup tournament.
Jason Scheibner, the MVP player, finished the tournament with two home runs and 11 RBI. Kevin Root, Shane Jones, Mo Lebron and Tim Roimstad were all named tournament All-Stars for Big Red’s.
Game 1
Rose City Merchants 101 10 — 3 4 3
Big Red’s Diner 831 2x — 14 12 2
Bill Woods and Scott Brooks; Mark Seward and Jason Scheibner.
Highlights: Jason Scheibner (BR) 3-4, 3b, 4 RBI; Tim Roinstad (BR) 2-3, 2b, 3 RBI; Tony Cox (BR) 1-2, 2 RBI.
Game 2
Cleon’s Auto 000 02 — 2 3 2
Big Red’s Diner 130 24 — 10 10 1
Ryan Divish and I. Piquette; Mark Seward and Jason Scheibner.
Highlights: Jason Scheibner (BR) 3-3, 2 2b, 3 RBI; Shane Jones (BR) 2-3, 2b, 3b, 3 runs; Mark Seward (BR) 6 K’s, 1 BB.
Championship game
Big Red’s Diner 002 000 1 — 3 6 0
Ivory Headwear 000 000 0 — 0 2 1
Jim Robinson and Jason Scheibner; Tom Smith, Greg Soule (4) and Michael Nakashinba.
Highlights: Jim Robinson (BR) 7 K’s, 2 BB; Tony Cox (BR) 2-3, run, RBI; Ross Scuderi (BR) 2-3, HR, RBI.