The U19 Austrailian National Team (Jr. Men) took two against two separate teams of Golden Horshoe Fastball League All Stars, by scores of 7-5 and 2-0, played at Ker Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and broadcast live on the internet by ISC II Commish Blair Setford, on Ballparkradio. The first game was all offense, with the score 6-4 after two innings of play, while the second one proved to be a pitcher’s duel.
Adam Folkard, the young Aussie ace had 10 strikeouts in the 4 innings he pitched, including 6 in the final two innings of the first game for the save. Folkard will be with the Fargo IS Knights later this summer at the ISC World Tournament in Eau Claire, WI, following the ISF Jr. Men’s World Championships June 24-July 3, at Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Australian team are two time defending champions at the ISF Jr. World Championships.
Blair will be on the road heading home from Niagara Falls, but keep an eye on his website in the next day or two for his post game thoughts and impressions on the Aussies and GHFL All Stars.
Kudos to Blair for his work in bringing the games and broadcasts to fruition, for an outstanding job behind the mike Monday night, and for making the Aussies’ tour a memorable one. hanks to all of you who took the time tonight to drop us an email at ballparkradio during the broadcasts. Blair was a one-man band, so didn’t get to see them during the game, but he will shortly, and they are appreciated. Speaking from personal experience, it’s nice to know that people are out there listening, and enjoying the games.
Tonight, we received a couple of emails from Austrailia, one from some folks in Melbourne, and another from the Bronze Medal-winning Australian National team wishing their Jr. counterparts good luck. It reminded me a bit of the time that the mother of former Dodger (and Australian) Luke Prokopec called in from down under to talk to Dodger announcer Ross Porter. Australia may be an 18 hour flight from here, but with internet radio, they’re just down the road. We were also pleased to have Al Doran in the listening audience tonight.
We’d be interested to hear your impressions of the broadcasts, and what your login experience was, be it good, bad or indifferent. Email us at blair@ballparkradio.com.
There will be an archived copy of tonight’s broadcasts available. Watch Ballparkradio for more details.
Looking ahead, the next men’s fastball broadcasts on Ballparkradio will be June 25-265, 2005 from the Rose Cup Tournament in Portland, Oregon.
The ISF Jr. Men’s World Championships get underway June 24-July 3, 2005 at Prince Edward Island. We invite you to peruse the articles by their PR man, Pat Healey, which we have been posting here at the Morning Brief. (click the titles of the articles to see the full text).
You may also wish to visit the official ISF Jr. Men’s website for the tournament.