Hitting/Training at On Deck in Signal Hill, CA

December 2nd, 2008

Long Beach Black Sox Player-Manager Fred Hanker Onboard as Hitting Instructor


(click logo to visit their website)

On Deck Batting Cages /Training

2499 Willow Street
Signal Hill, CA 90755
562-426-HITS (4487)
http://www.ondeckbattingcages.com

GRAND OPENING PARTY!!!
December 6th 9:00 am – 7:00 pm

On Deck Batting Cages & Training is a brand new 17,000 sq ft. facility and we invite you to our grand opening party December 6th 9:00 am – 7:00 pm

Batting Cage Highlights
– 10 Indoor Batting Cages – Specialized “Home Plate” Pitching Machines
– Professional Instruction in Hitting, Pitching & Defense
– Explosive / Plyometric and Fast Twitch Training – Sports Motivation Training

On Deck Batting Cages and Training facility is a brand new 17,000 square foot facility offering baseball, softball and slow pitch cages for the recreational or serious athlete. We are located at 2499 Willow Street in Signal Hill across street from Cosco, and just minutes away from Heartwell Park, Long Beach City College, and California State University Long Beach.

Co-owner of On Deck, Rose Rogers is a pitching coach and manager. Rose has managed youth leagues as well as the Junior Olympic travel team. Rose’s teams have been competitive at both the local and national level.

Owner Mike Rogers has been a fixture in local community youth programs for the past twenty years. Mike is currently the Varsity Softball Coach at Gahr High School in Cerritos. Mike has also served as Assistant baseball coach at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower. (former home to Nomar Garciaparra)

Long Beach Black Sox owner Fred Hanker is an on site instructor for On Deck.


View Larger Map

Posted in General, So Cal | No Comments »

2008 AAU Clip on YouTube – Budke Triples

December 2nd, 2008

Speaking of the AAU, here is a clip from last year’s tournament, semi-final game between Team Minnesota and the NY Gremlins. In this clip, Todd Budke triples home Rhys Casley for a run, though Minnesota would come back to win the game and advance to the championship game against the eventual champions, Mac’s Marauders.


Click here to watch this video in high quality.

Posted in General, Tournaments, Videos | No Comments »

AAU Roster – New York Gremlin Knights

December 2nd, 2008

NY Gremlin Knights 2009 AAU Roster

3 – Bryan Newton – P
9 – John Rozich – C
12- Nathan Craigue – OF/INF
13- John Heinsch – DH/C
19- Steve Price – OF/DH
20- Bill Hillhouse – P
21- Dave Simon – OF/INF
23- Jay Herr – 3B
24- Chad McConnell – SS
26- Derek Pukash – OF
27- Dan O’Brien – UTIL
29- Jeremy Tracy – P/INF
32- Chad Busch – 2B
42- Reggie Barrau – OF
51- Craig Pidcock – P
94- Ed Jackson – OF
##- Jon Nimmo – C

1-Bruce Tanski – Sponsor
5- Gregg Leather – Manager
33- Jim Busch – Coach

We invite other teams to email their AAU rosters, to jim (at) fastpitchwest (dot) com.

Posted in International, Tournaments | No Comments »

Anthony Martinez Homers on YouTube

December 1st, 2008

Here’s a YouTube clip of Anthony Martinez of the Santa Barbara Bucks homering in a SCIFL league game against the So Cal Hustlers, at Little Lake Park in Santa Fe Springs, July 26, 2008.

I got to pinch-hit against Anthony in the game, and reminded him that I had the video. You think he’d lay one in there for me? Not a chance. Good morning, good afternoon and good night. Sit down, Mr. Videoman. I threatened to auction this footage on eBay after that 🙂 . But in the spirit of Christmas, Anthony, here it is.

For bonus points, can anyone i.d. the runners that score ahead of him?

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

Black Sox win Parana International at Argentina

December 1st, 2008

From the New Zealand Herald

The New Zealand men’s softball team won the Parana International in Argentina by beating the tournament hosts 3-1 in today’s final.

The world champion Black Sox opened the scoring in the first inning when captain Jarrad Martin hit a home run with Thomas Makea on base.

Argentina pulled one back in the second inning before Donny Hale scored a third run for the New Zealanders in the fifth.

Argentina were unable to find an answer to tight pitching from Jeremy Manley, who pitched the first five innings, and then Marty Grant, who came on for the final two.

The Black Sox finished the tournament with six wins from eight games, with the losses against the Venezuela national team and the local side Parana.

– NZPA

Posted in International | No Comments »

Happy Birthday, Vin Scully

November 29th, 2008


(Young Vin Scully in Brooklyn)

We send along our birthday greetings to Hall of Fame Baseball announcer, Vin Scully, who celebrates his 81st birthday today, with fifty-eight (58) years behind the mike for the Dodgers. His career as the Dodgers announcer started in 1950. Eight seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, fifty with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is as reliable as the seasons, a touchstone of life, as time goes by.

One of my favorite Vin Scully quotes underscores baseball’s connection to life:

“Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day (pause). Aren’t we all?”


Click here to listen to Vin’s famous call
of the last inning of Sandy Koufax’s first no-hitter on June 30, 1962

From his National Baseball Hall of Fame biography:

Scully’s remarkable tenure as the “Voice of the Dodgers” began in 1950 when he joined Red Barber as a member of the Brooklyn club’s radio team. Scully followed the Dodgers’ move west in 1958. As Scully recalled: “Red was my teacher … and my father. I don’t know—I might have been the son he never had. It wasn’t so much that he taught me how to broadcast. It was an attitude. Get to the park early. Do your homework. Be prepared. Be accurate. He was a stickler for that. He cared. He was very much a taskmaster, or I might have developed bad habits.”

Many adjectives have been used to describe Scully and his style since his declaration to a teacher at the age of eight of his ambition to become a sports announcer: entertaining, precise, proficient, charming, friendly, outgoing, smooth, relaxed, warm, knowledgeable, intelligent, literate, concise, well-prepared, colorful. Los Angeles Times columnist and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Jim Murray once called him “the Fordham Thrush with the .400 larynx.”

Scully has covered many of baseball’s most thrilling moments, including Sandy Koufax’s four no-hitters, Hank Aaron’s 715th home run, Maury Wills’s 104 stolen bases, Don Drysdale’s and Orel Hershiser’s scoreless inning streaks, and Kirk Gibson’s dramatic home run in Game One of the 1988 World Series.

For a bit more on his illustrious career, click here.
(He is an honorary member of the Ballparkradio broadcast crew)

Speaking of radio broadcasts, Ballparkradio will be on the air again in Orlando – 2009 being our sixth consecutive year of bringing you live AAU broadcasts. Back for his third year, and heading things up will be broadcaster Kyle Smith, now a fixture on the ISC II broadcasts during the summer, and featured broadcaster at this past summer’s ISF Jr. Men’s World Championships from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Keep an eye out for the Ballparkradio schedule of broadcasts for the 2009, which will be the largest field of teams ever, at forty !


(click logo to visit Ballparkradio.com website)

Here’s a short clip of Kyle Smith, with yours truly, broadcasting at the 2008 ISF Jr. World Championships in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Remember you can view in high quality by clicking the little YouTube logo in the lower right, after you start playing this video.

Posted in Broadcasts, General, Videos | No Comments »

YouTube Goes Wide Screen

November 25th, 2008

YouTube has gone wide screen. The old 4:3 “TV” format has been upgraded to a wide screen version. (16:9)

Want to see what it looks like? Revisit Dean Holoien’s grand slam at this year’s ISC World Tournament. To see the wide screen version, click the YouTube logo in the lower right hand corner of the photo below after starting the video with the the arrow button in the middle.

Dean Holoien, of Aspen Interiors of Saskatoon, Canada hits a grand slam home run against defending champions, The Farm Tavern of Madison Wisconsin at the 2008 ISC World Tournament at Kimberly, Wisconsin, August 15, 2008.

The grand slam came in the bottom of the 5th inning, with Aspen trailing 2-1, and catapulted Aspen into today’s winner’s bracket final against Kitchener. Scoring ahead of Holoien is the pinch runner for Keith Mackintosh, Ron Head, Carl Crawford and Dale Levy.


(Video by Jim Flanagan)

Here is a look at the Aspen 5th in that game:

Aspen Interiors 6th – Hale B to lf. Mackintosh K singled. Crawford C walked; Mackintosh K advanced to second. Head R pinch ran for Mackintosh K. Lawton M pinch ran for Crawford C. / for Lawton M. Levy D walked; Lawton M advanced to second; Head R advanced to third. Holoien D homered, 4 RBI; Levy D scored; Lawton M scored; Head R scored. Mackintosh P struck out. Ethier T grounded out to 2b. O’Brien S flied
out to lf. 4 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Posted in Videos | No Comments »

Selects get second crack at Jr. Nationals

November 23rd, 2008

By BILL WALKER, SUN TIMES SPORTS EDITOR

[Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada] – The dust didn’t get much time to settle on the 2008 Canadian Junior Men’s Fastball Championship in Owen Sound when Softball Canada announced the event would return for a second consecutive year.

Owen Sound Volkswagen Selects president Bill Simpson said Friday that the 2009 Canadian Junior Men’s Fastball Championships will run from Aug. 2 to 9 at Duncan McLellan Park.

The Scenic City submitted the only bid for the event.

“I like to think (we were selected) because of the good job we did but in a roundabout way all of the details they send you to hold a tournament scared away the other bids,” Simpson said.

“Having seen everything you have to do and read, I know now why it scares people away.”

The 2008 organizing committee is just completing its final report for that tournament. Simpson plans to meet with tournament chair Maxine Parker about the 2009 tournament.

“We’re going to go through the good, the bad and the ugly of what we did (in 2008) and how we can do it better (in 2009),” said Simpson. “We don’t have an opportunity to change very much because Softball Canada basically says what’s what.”

The 2008 tournament failed to turn a profit after heavy rains wreaked havoc with the schedule late in the week. Simpson is hoping better weather next summer will help the tournament make a little money.

The Selects will once again serve as host for the tournament. The squad finished third in August when it simply ran out of steam on the final day.

The tournament was won by the Scarborough Wolverines, who defeated Elmira in the final.

While such players as ace pitcher Andrew Scott have moved up to the city’s senior team due to age, Simpson said the Selects should not have a problem finding replacements for the veterans because joining Owen Sound means an automatic trip to the Canadians.

Posted in Canada, Youth | No Comments »

Black Sox strike early form

November 23rd, 2008


(click photo for original story)

The New Zealand men’s softball team opened their South American tour this weekend with wins against a club team and the Argentina national side in Santa Fe.

In the exhibition games, the Black Sox beat Parana 7-0 in five innings with five runs coming in the fifth inning, including a home run from Wellington’s Wayne Laulu which also scored his captain Jarrad Martin and Patrick Shannon.

The Black Sox then backed up that performance with a hard-earned 1-0 win over the Argentina national side, with Shannon scoring the sole run in the second inning.

The Black Sox have a further three exhibition games before they play in a tournament which will also involve the Argentina and Venezuela national sides as well as a number of club invitation teams.

Posted in International, ISF | No Comments »

Six recalled to Black Sox

November 23rd, 2008


(click banner for original story)

Oct 29, 2008

Six players, including pitcher Karl Gollan after a four-year absence, have been recalled to the Black Sox softball team for next month’s trip to Argentina.

After playing against four club sides, the Black Sox contest a tournament along with Venezuela, Argentina and the Parana All Stars.

Gollan, who last played for New Zealand at the 2004 world championship in Christchurch, has been based in the United States but returned to New Zealand to enhance his chances of making the national team.

“He deserves his selection in this team based on some really strong performances in the US which culminated last year’s most valuable player award at the International Softball Congress tournament ,” Black Sox coach Eddie Kohlhase said.

Also back in the Black Sox are Stacy McLean, Steven Ratu, Fabian Makea and brothers Michael and Thomas Cameron.

Ratu and McLean have been regular members of the Black Sox, but were overlooked for the Oceania world championship qualifying tournament in April.

Makea last played for the Black Sox at the Commonwealth tournament in Melbourne in 2006, Michael Cameron was a member of the team in 2005 and was also in the New Zealand A team the following year while his older brother Thomas was last in the side in 2006 for the Pacific Series tournament in Japan.

Forced changes

The six changes have come mainly through a combination of work, family commitments and injury.

Kohlhase lost the experienced Travis Wilson through his fielding coaching commitments with the New Zealand cricket team, pitcher Heinie Shannon pending fatherhood, catcher Aaron Neemia (wedding), and infielder Nathan Nukunuku recovering from an injury.

Another player who will also come under close scrutiny during the South America tour is Wayne Laulu, who was the 2007-2008 most promising men’s player.

Laulu made his debut for the Black Sox at the world championship qualifying tournament where he was the top batter with an average of .600.

For Kohlhase the tour to South America, which also involves games against Venezuela, is crucial in the side’s preparation for a fourth consecutive world championship crown next July.

Argentina have a number of players involved with American club sides and have on their roster two world class pitchers, while Venezuela are traditionally among the top six sides in the world.

“They play a different brand of softball, they are very free spirited,” Kohlhase said.

“This is a good opportunity for us to play against some teams we will see in 2009 and also do some hard serious training in between those international games.”

The team leave New Zealand on November 14 and return December 4.

Black Sox: Michael Cameron, Thomas Cameron, Roman Gabriel, Donny Hale, Patrick Shannon (Auckland), Daniel Milne, Stephen Ratu (Canterbury), Rhys Casley, Jeremy Manley (Hutt Valley), Marty Grant (Nelson), Brad Rona (North Harbour), Wayne Laulu, Stacy McLean, Fabian Makea, Thomas Makea (vice captain), Jarrad Martin (captain, Wellington), Karl Gollan (US-based).

Posted in General | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »