Any time four Top 25 teams (from the ISC rankings) square off, it is deserving of some attention. This past weekend, it was #5 Circle Tap, #14 The Bar on the Avenue, #17 Shoots/Townline, and #22 Happy Hollow, in Wisconsin Classic League play.
The weekend produced one upset, with #17 Shoots/Townline knocking off #5 Circle Tap in the final game, Tane Richardson picking up a 5-1 win. Perhaps the most exciting game of the weekend was an almost-upset, with The Bar on the Avenue falling to Circle Tap 8-6 in 9 innings. The Bar’s John Zipperer hit a home run in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game and send it into a 9th inning. Circle Tap’s pitcher Robbie O’Brien helped himself out by driving in a run in the 9th to pick up the win. Fastpitchwest readers will remember Circle Tap and The Bar as the “combined team” that won the 2005 AAU International Tournament in January. Circle Tap finished the weekend 5-1, ahead of Shoots/Townline at 4-2, The Bar on the Avenue 3-3, and Happy Hollow winless in six tries. The State of Wisconsin is becoming the fastball capital of the U.S., with six teams in the top 25, including the four mentioned above, and of course, the top 2, #1 ranked County Materials and #2 The Farm Tavern, of Madison, WI. It’s only fitting then, that the Badger state will host this year’s ISC World Tournament in Eau Claire, and the ISC-II Tournament of Champions just down the road in Chippewa Falls, WI. Eighty of men’s fastball’s finest teams.. (40 at the ISC and 40 at the ISC-II)
WI Classic League Results, Weekend of May 7-8, 2005 (Al’s Fastball)