As the ISC World Tournament heads into its final day and towards the Championship Game at 6pm this evening, one thing is for sure — there will be a Canadian team in the finals. The Kitchener Riversharks from Ontario, Canada will be taking on Aspen Interiors from Sasakatoon, Canada. Kitchener finished as high as third in the premier event of men’s fastball, back in 2002, and was the host in 2006 and 2007, but it has been the better part of a decade since a Canadian team reached the finals.
The two teams square off today at 12 noon today, with the winner advancing to the 6pm championship game, while the loser will play at 4pm, awaiting the winner of the loser’s semi-final between Patsy’s of New York and last year’s champion, The Farm Tavern, who will meet at 2pm. All games today on the main, lower diamond at Sunset Park, at Kimberly, Wisconsin, a picturesque diamond over looking the nearby Fox River. The crowd was estimated at 5000 people yesterday for home Farm Tavern’s game against Kitchener and figures to be a packed house today for the Grand Final.
The rosters for the two Canadian teams meeting in today’s winner’s bracket final are comprised of a who’s who in Canadian fastball, and a majority of the roster that Team Canada is likely to send to the once-every-four-years ISF World Championship competition. (See rosters below, pitchers shown in bold)
Kitchener ON Kitchener Rivershark Twins
1 Scott, Don 0 Pitcher Sebringville, ON
2 Shannon, Patrick 1 C Auckland, NZ
3 Fehrman, Ian 5 SS/2B Jarvis, ON
4 Bailey, Dave 7 DP/C Tavistock, ON
5 Sanford, Jason 8 C Nova Scotia
6 Loney, Dan 9 OF Cornwall, ON
7 Lynch, Matt 11 UT Aylmer, ON
8 Miller, Blake 13 SS/2B Kingsville, TX
9 Ellsworth, Jeff 19 OF Alberton, PEI
10 Ezekiel, Blair 21 1B/P St JOHNS, NFLD
11 Eidt, Jody 22 3B Absecon, NJ
12 Boyd, Evan 26 IF/OF Stouffville, ON
13 Martin, Todd 29 Pitcher Aurora, ON
14 Cox, Frank 30 Pitcher Owen Sound, ON
15 Mullaley, Steve 33 OF St JOHNS, NFLD
16 Wolfe, Ryan 77 OF Glencoe,ON
17 Shackleton, Derek 88 1B/3B St. Mary’s, ON
Bruckert, Denny 3 MGR
Lynch, Larry 6 Coach
Nydick, Bob 20 Coach
Saskatoon SK Aspen Interiors
1 Levy, Dale 2 OF St.Marys,ONT
2 Evely, Geoff 8 SS St.Johns, NL
3 Lawton, Mike 9 OF Saskatoon, SK
4 Joy, Darryl 10 2nd Calgary, AB
5 Hitchings, Jason 12 OF Saskatoon, SK
6 Ethier, Trevor 17 P Saskatoon, SK
7 Hanson, Chad 19 1B Saskatoon, SK
8 Smith, Rick 20 P Victoria, BC
9 Obrien, Sean 22 C Kitchener,ONT
10 Crawford, Greg 24 OF Saskatoon, SK
11 Mackintosh, Pat 38 OF Saskatoon, SK
12 Kostel, Ryan 41 C Fairview Heights,IL
13 Mackintosh, Keith 51 3B Melfort, SK
14 Bibby, Brad 54 OF Prince Albert, SK
15 Holoien, Dean 72 P Moose Jaw, SK
16 Head, Ron IF Camrose,Alberta
Jason Kurylyk MGR
Mike Guras Coach
Chris Wright Coach