The NY Knights won the Memorial Day weekend tournament in Linden, NJ going 5-1 and improving their overall season record to 7-2-1. The Knights were lead by the pitching of Bill Hillhouse and Craig Pidcock. John Rozich was named tournament MVP clubbing 7 homeruns.

Round Robin

Game 1

Knights 2 0 3 3 0 0 1 – 7 14 0
Adco 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 3 0

WP – Hillhouse 5 innings, 3 hits, 1 ER, 8 K
Pidcock 2 innings, 0 hits, 3K
LP – Vassos (3), Plesciwicz(6) Jones (7)

Knights – John Rozich hit 2 Homeruns and drove in 4 , Steve Platt had 3 hits, Ed Jackson, Chad Busch, & Jesse Campanelli had 2 hits each.

Game 2

Knights 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 4 1
TNT 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 – 3 8 1

WP- Tracy 7IP
LP – Pidcock 7 innings, 8 hits, 3 ER, 8K
Knights – Chad Busch had 2 hits for the Knights

Game 3

Knights 3 0 2 0 2 1 0 – 8 16 0
Pa Power 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 3 0

WP – Hillhouse 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 ER, 9 K
LP – Rutt 7IP
Knights – John Rozich hit 3 homeruns and drove in 5. Ed Jackson had 3 hits while John Heinsch, Chad Busch, Jesse Campanelli and George McConnell had 2 hits each.

Game 4

RAC 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 – 2 6 1
Knights 1 0 1 0 1 0 x – 3 10 1

WP – Pidcock 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 ER, 12 K
LP – Mark 7 innings
Knights – John Heinsch and Jesse Campanelli had 2 hits each while RAC worked carefully to the Red Hot John Rozich issuing him 3 walks.

Game 5

Adco 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 – 4 8 1
Knights 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 – 5 9 2

WP – Pidcock 1/3 inning 0H, 1K Hillhouse 6 2/3innings, 8 hits. 0ER, 10 K
LP – Jones 7 IP

Knights- Bill Hillhouse pitched a gem but the Knights defense sabotaged what should have been a shut out effort with 2 costly errors in the 7th with 2 out that opened the door and allowed Adco to tie the game. Chad Busch had the walk off hit in the bottom of the 7th for the Knights. Chad McConnell had 2 hits and Jesse Campanelli had a long homerun to lead the offense.

Game 6 – Finals

Knights 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 – 6 13 1
TNT 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 – 5 5 3

WP – Pidcock 7 innings, 5 hits, 4 ER, 9 K
LP – Tracy 7 IP

Knights – John Rozich continued his HR barrage hitting 2 more in the final. George McConnell and John Heinsch had 2 hits each. Pitcher Craig Pidcock seemed to get stronger as the game went on recording the final 9 outs in order.

The Knights are off until the weekend of June 13-15 when we will be playing in Midland, Michigan at the Midland Explorers ISC II qualifier.

Gregg Leather
NYSoftball@aol.com
www.leaguelineup.com/NYKnightsFP

Via

The #27 Sioux Falls Sox traveled to Fargo, NDover the weekend to compete in the Memorial Day Tournament. The Sox went 3-2 overweekend, raising their overall record on the season to 8-3.

Saturday May 24 – Roundrobin game 1
Sox-5
Gladstone Whips-0

Saturday May 24 – Roundrobin game 2
Sox-10
Winkler, Manitoba-6

Saturday May 24 – Roundrobin game 3
Sox-0
Kegal Black Knights-3

Sunday May 25-Elimination game
Sox-7
Watertown-0

Sunday May 25- Semi Final game
Sox-2
Kegal Black Knights-5

The Sox will return toaction this weekend in Sioux Falls

Mike Mueller

By DAN SERNOFFSKY
Daily News Sportswriter
Lebanon Daily News

TNT will be hosting the first Mid-Atlantic Fastpitch Travel League tournament this weekend, a tournament that marks TNT’s first game of the season. The tournament will also mark the first game for TNT as the top-ranked team in the International Softball Congress II rankings.

“We were hoping to be ranked No. 1,” said Irv Lutz, TNT’s general manager, “because there’s a lot of good teams out there. Everyone’s been talking about how we’re the team to beat. We’re gonna have a bull’s-eye on our back.”

The rankings were released last week.

For TNT, this week marks the start of the journey Lutz, and the rest of the team, hope will once again end with a championship. After finishing fourth two years ago, last summer TNT became the first team from the United States to win the prestigious international tournament, posting a 4-2 victory over the California Lumberkings, a team from Bakersfield, in the championship game in Kitchener, Ontario. That victory capped an 8-0 run through the tournament by TNT while wrapping up a 51-5 season that included a sweep of the three MAFTL tournament titles.

Completing another MAFTL sweep — in addition to this weekend’s tournament at Prescott and Stoever’s Dam fields, the league will also hold tournaments in Lancaster County in June and July — won’t be easy. TNT might be No. 1 heading into the tournament, but four other teams in the 10-team field are ranked in the ISC II top 20, including third-ranked Hoffman Rise, fifth-ranked Keating Fitness, the sixth-ranked NY Knights, and 20th-ranked PA Power.

“It’s not going to be easy,” said Lutz. “We’re anxious to get going, and we’re looking to repeat, but it’s going to be tough. There are a lot of good teams.”

This week’s MAFTL tournament will begin Friday with two games at Prescott. KCC, a team from Maryland, will play Cornerstone Excavating, a Pennsylvania team, at 7 p.m., and PA Power will play Cornerstone at 9.

Saturday will feature a full schedule of games at Prescott and at both Stoever’s Dam fields. TNT opens play at Prescott at 9 a.m., then plays again at 11 before finishing with a game at 3 p.m. The top eight teams from preliminary round play will be seeded for the start of the single-elimination playoffs, which begin at 7 p.m. Saturday. The semifinals will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, followed by the championship game at noon at Prescott.

The field for the tournament includes TNT, PA Power, Hoffman Rise, Keating Fitness, Aqua and Cornerstone Excavating, all from Pennsylvania; NY Knights and ADCO Tool Shed from New York; KCC from Maryland; and Peninsula Merchants from Virginia.

Still, Lutz said, TNT is ready.

“We’ve got a good bunch of guys,” said Lutz. “Everyone’s looking forward to this year.”

TNT returns pitcher Jeremy Tracy, voted the most valuable pitcher in the ISC II tournament last summer, and infielder Jay Herr, the ISC II tournament MVP who set or tied four tournament records. TNT also added outfielder Rob Loglisci, who was named to the ISC II All-Tournament team while playing with PA Power, and infielder Lance Bower from Hoffman Rise. Lee Lutz will once again serve as the field manager for the team.

Villard, Minnesota

ASB-Villard ISC II Roster and Schedule

General manager Dave Dziengel is pleased to announce the upcoming schedule and team members for the 2008 ASB-Villard men’s fastpitch season.

ASB will be starting their 40thyear of competitive men’s fastpitch softball and are looking to improve ontheir 32-17 record in 2007. With the ISC II’s returning stateside ASB-Villard has accepted a bid to attend the ISC II Tournament of champions in Appleton, Wisconsin after a two-year lay off.

In league play ASB-Villard will be competing in the always tough Freeport Select league, Freeport, Minnesota and also in the West St. Paul league in West St. Paul, Minnesota. Before the season starts we would like to thank long time booster Larry Zavadil of American Solutions for Business in Glenwood, Minnesota for his long time and continued support of fastpitch softball in Minnesota and Brett Breshnahan for the construction and upkeep of our team’s website. Look for the Villard website to be updated early next week.

Roster Position Town State
1 Zach Goring 2nd Burnsville Mn
2 Joel Cooley P St. Paul Mn
3 Andy Dziengel P/OF/DH Champlin Mn
4 Luke Goring OF St. Paul Mn
7 Josh Albers OF Villard Mn
8 Dave Reiter SS Elgin Mn
10 Jack Rowan OF/1st Albertville Mn
11 Randy Albers Utl. Villard Mn
12 Chris Duda OF Hopkins Mn
13 Jeff Schoeberl P/OF WhiteBear Lake Mn
14 Shawn Reiter OF Elgin Mn
15 Kevin Bahn OF NewMarket Mn
16 Dave Dziengel P Watkins Mn
17 Tom Schoberl C Eagan Mn
19 Jeff Henery 3rd WestSt. Paul Mn

Lucas Goring is rostered ONLY for play in West St. Paul.

MGR Dave Dziengel
Coach “Black” Jack Rowan

2008 Tournaments

May 31/June 1 Baldwin,Wisconsin
June 14/15 Rice Lake, Wisconsin
June 21/22 Eau Claire, Wisconsin
July 12/13 Waverly, Minnesota
July 19/20 West St. Paul, Minnesota
July 26/27 Freeport, Minnesota
August 10-13 ISC II ToC Appleton, Wisconsin

Thank you,
Dave Dziengel
ASB-Villard
Dave.dziengel@mail.evw.k12.mn.us
http://www.villard.minnesotafastpitch.com

Ashland Stockpack Schedule
Ashland, Ohio

The Stockpack have finalized their schedule for the 2008 season.

May 9-11 Millgrove Early Bird Tournament Millgrove, ON

May 17 DH vs. Ashland Mets Ashland, OH

May 23-25 Michigan Twisters Tourney Bay City, MI

June 6-8 Snapper Shootout Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON

June 20-22 Ashland Invitational (ISC II Qualifier) Ashland, OH

July 11-13 Pete Schwab Memorial Tournament Frankenmuth, MI

July 26-27 DH vs. Ashland Mets and Midland Explorers Ashland, OH

Aug 10-13 ISC II Tournament of Champions Appleton, WI

jasonwhiteley2000@yahoo.com

Bakersfield Ca:

The California LumberKings announced today that they have signed pitcher Jeff Kawaguchi for the upcoming season. Looking to replace injured pitcher Darren Strang, the LumberKings signed Kawaguchi who is from Vancouver, B.C.

Along with assuming the pitching duties vacated by Strang, Kawagucci will add a strong bat to an already deep lineup. In addition to pitching, he can also play in the field at 1st base and the outfield adding even more versatility to the Kings roster.

Jeff has been one of the top pitchers and hitters in the Premier league of Vancouver and is a former member of the Vancouver Grey Sox. With the addition of Kawagucci and the merge with Taylor Farms, the LumberKings are very optimistic about the upcoming season and are very excited to hit the field. They will open the season in early April in Taft, Ca. and continue their goal of improving on their second place finish at the 2007 ToC.

Via

De Kalb, Il.

The De Kalb Hustlehogs will attempt to qualify for the ISC II Tournament of Champions in Appleton, Wisconsin. The tournament takes place August 10-13.

Referred to by many as “The Deuce,” the Hogs will play in two ISC II qualifying events in May. The club will be hosting a qualifier the weekend of May 9-11 before playing in the Rockford Dick Tracy Tournament the following weekend of May 17-18.

The Hog organization’s mission is to introduce the game of fastpitch to new players. Every fall, the Hogs organize a Development League and receive a grant from the International Softball Congress to help with expenses.

“The ISC has been very supportive in our organization’s efforts to expose the game of fastball to men in the Northern Illinois area,” Hog General Manager Tom Crouch said, “The Hogs have never played in an ISC event and we feel it is time to give back to the fastball organization that has helped us so much with our efforts to improve the game. Therefore, we have decided to try and qualify for the ISC II. The players and coaches are very excited about the opportunity.” Crouch (Circle Tap) and Mike Drew (Aurora D&M) who play with the team in league games will not be able to participate in the ISC II as both players will be playing with their respective ISC teams in the World Tournament.

The Hogs will have to add a player or two to fill the void of Crouch and Drew and will release a roster in the next month.

Please visit the Hogs web site www.hustlehog.com

Les Johnson
seanamattchad@yahoo.com