from all of us at “The Deuce”!
Archive for December, 2005
Wishing you a safe & prosperous 2006!
Friday, December 30th, 2005ISC Develops an In-Area Player Commitment Form
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
The International Softball Congress has developed and made available a player commitment form for use by teams with in-area players for the 2006 fastball season.
This form was developed to provide documentation through which in-area players may commit to a given team for the upcoming season
The form can be found in the Rules and Forms section of the ISC website.
ISC Executive Director Ken Hackmeister notes that teams are not required to use this specific form and can develop their own similar form for obtaining this commitment.
Southeast Area ISC II Qualifier
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
Robert Gray, ISC Area Commissioner for the Southeast Area, is announcing that the qualifying tournament for the Southeast area berth to the 2006 ISC II Tournament of Champions will be held in Auburn, Alabama, at the Auburn Softball Complex, April 21 – 23.
The format for this tournament will be round robin.
The entry fee is $225. Checks should be made payable to War Eagle Fastpitch Classic. Game balls will be furnished.
Deadline for entry is April 20, 2006.
This event will also serve as an ASA national qualifier for classes A, B, and C.
Entries should be mailed to:
Mr. Robby Carter
307 S. Dean Road
Auburn, AL 36830
phone: 334 – 501-2976
E-mail: rcarter@auburnalabama.org
CPI Fastpitch (formerly McKie’s) Announces AAU Roster
Thursday, December 29th, 2005The following is one in a series of team profiles for the AAU Tournament, January 19-22, 2006:
CPI Fastpitch formerly McKie Sports Fastpitch out of Oswego, NY, will start their season off at the AAU International in Orlando, FL, January 19th-22nd. McKie Sports won the National Championship in 2004 at the ASA “A”, and finished 12th in last year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions, at Chippewa Falls, WI. (McKie’s advanced to the playoff round of the ISC II tournament, defeating the Colorado Rage behind pitcher Shawn Sampson’s 5-hitter and Charlie Walseman’s 4 RBI, before falling to the 2004 ISC II runner-up, Tavistock, ON, a tough 2-1 loss.)
Photo: Mike Sorzickas and Mike Cutro at last year’s AAU Tournament
Mike Cutro, Cutro Professional Inspections has taken on sponsorship of the team and will take on a managerial and players role as well. CPI teamed up with the Knoxville Ontario Fastpitch team and added some pitching to help out for this years AAU International tourney. Here is the CPI roster for that event at present, with the final roster to be posted to Al’s Fastball soon:
Shawn Sampson P
Jason Smith P
Dan Konkle, P
Lyle Brown, UT
Mark Blanchard 1B
Jeff Lane, 2B
Derek Stevens SS
Kip Adams, 3B
Mike McKie, DH/3B
Charlie Walseman, OF
Mike Sorzickas OF
Hugh VanKonete OF
Jorge Sepulveda CMike Cutro C/manager
Jim Adams Coach
CPI Fastpitch is in the AAU’s Pool F, along with the Cherokee Pirates of North Carolina, the Quad City Sox of Iowa, and the Texaco Pirates of Bahamas. (The Pirates nearly upset last year’s eventual winner, Circle Tap/The Bar of Appelton, falling 6-5 in one of the tournaments’ best games) Editor’s note: Stay tuned — we’ll have a team profile on the Quad City Sox up next.
Kenosha, WI Earl’s Club at AAU
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005
Earl’s Club, 4-1 15th at the 2005 ISC II ToC, will be competing at the AAU Tournament in Florida in January.
On the roster from Earl’s: Paul Skora, Dale Horton, Tim Barsuli, Mike Froederman, Eric Klabunde. Joining them from Willkomm Mobil are Ken Seiberlich, Todd Lubkeman, Mark Nelson, Jim Kulakowski, Jerrod Dulmes. Others players making the trip south with Earl’s are Chad Hoeppner and Josh Johnson with another player or two to be added.
Best of luck to Earl’s Club!
KMV Rise Set for 2006
Monday, December 19th, 2005
Perkasie, PA
The Rise Fastpitch Team is excited to announce our Roster for 2006. The Rise will be playing in the Mid-Atlantic Faspitch Travel League and numerous other tournaments, and are looking to qualify for the ISC II ToC in Kitchener, Ontario in August. We have made a few additions to last season’s squad, and these players will provide the extra punch that will put us on top. (more…)
Year End Housekeeping at Fastpitchwest.com
Friday, December 16th, 2005
During the next week or so, we’ll be doing some year end housekeeping at Fastpitchwest.com to get it the site ready for the new year. Hard to believe it, but 2006 will be our ninth year on the internet covering men’s fastball.
Because the size of our site has grown so much, we may be moving to a new “server” at the company that hosts our website, and it’s possible that the site will be down briefly, or that some features will be offline temporarily. In case we do lose touch with you during this server move, we set up a temporary site set up using our Word Press blogging software, at:
http://fastpitchwest.wordpress.com
We recommend that you bookmark it for future reference. On most browsers, that means clicking the link and then hitting “Control-D” . This site is for temporary use only, in the event that our main site is down for any appreciable length of time.
We look forward to another great year of men’s fastball in 2006. First stop: Orlando, Florida for the AAU International Tournament, January 19-22, 2005.
Update, Friday night, 12/16/05: Well, I’m pleased to say that the transfer of our website to the new server was completed this evening without problems. The site, blogs, forums, and calendar appear to be up and running – and noticeably faster thanks to the new server. Drop us a comment if you note any problems, but things look good from here.
Stocking Stuffer – ISC II T-of-C Broadcast CD
Thursday, December 15th, 2005
Looking for a Christmas idea for that ISC II fastball player on your list? Consider a Gift CD of a broadcast the 2005 ISC II Tournament of Champions, featuring the ISC II Broadcast crew of Blair Setford, Joe Todd, Lance Winn, Brett Bresnahan, Chris Bach and Jim Flanagan. A great stocking stuffer.
Click here to see the list of 25 broadcasts available. Games are $3.95 per game, $6.95 for two, $9.95 for three, or get the entire set for $34.95. Complete details on pricing here. Purchases can be handled online.
For more information on how to order, email jim (at) ballparkradio.com
Bar of Appleton looking for pitcher
Thursday, December 15th, 2005The Bar of Appleton is currently searching for a pitcher for the upcoming 2006 season. The Bar is an ISC II / NAFA AA tournament team. We are looking for a young man who is interested in spending the summer in Wisconsin beginning in early May and staying until the NAFA World Series in late August. (more…)
Parity at ISC II
Wednesday, December 14th, 2005
How close is the competition at ISC II? The answer is that the division is incredibly competitive with parity across most of the board. Any team that manages to make the playoff round has a legitimate chance to win the ToC.
Here’s a quick comparison between the 2005 & 2004 scores.
Round robin games
During the 2005 round robin, 79% of games were decided by 6 runs or less, compared to 70% in 2004.
2005
1 run: 22 = 29%
2 runs: 19 = 25%
3 runs: 9 = 12%
4 runs: 4 = 5%
5 runs: 4 = 5%
6 runs: 2 = 3%
7+ runs: 16 = 21%
2004
1 run: 12 = 17%
2 runs: 10 = 14%
3 runs: 7 = 10%
4 runs: 12 = 17%
5 runs: 5 = 7%
6 runs: 3 = 4%
7+ runs: 21 = 30%
For the 2005 round robin, 66% of games were decided by three runs or less and over half – 54% – were decided by two runs or less!
In the 2005 playoff round, 19 of the 23 games were decided by 4 runs or less.
The breakdown is as follows:
2005
1 run: 6 = 26%
2 runs: 6 = 26%
3 runs: 4 = 17%
4 runs: 3 = 13%
5 runs: 1 = 5%
6 runs: 0
7+ runs: 3 = 13%
2004
1 run: 7 = 30%
2 runs: 4 = 17%
3 runs: 2 = 9%
4 runs: 3 = 13%
5 runs: 2 = 9%
6 runs: 1 = 5%
7+ runs: 4 = 17%
For 2005, 69% of playoff games were decided by three runs or less, and again, more than half – 52% – were decided by two runs or less!
2006 Iowa ISC Area Tournaments Set for Walcott
Tuesday, December 13th, 2005It will be 22 consecutive years for the event that is a highlight of the fastball season in Walcott, Iowa.
International Softball Congress Iowa Area Commissioner Pat Sullivan has announced that the 2006 Area Tournament for that state will be held June 16 through June 24.
The location (as always) will be Walcott, Iowa.
The format will be double elimination.
The event will qualify a team for the ISC World Tournament and another team for the ISC II Tournament of Champions, both of which will be held in Kitchener, Ontario, between August 11 – 19.
The entry fee is just $85. Deadline for entry is May 31, 2006.
To enter, or for more information, contact Pat Sullivan at: 563-583-4381, or by e-mail at PatSullivanISC@aol.com or at 1449 Tomahawk Drive, Dubuque, Iowa, 52003.
December 13, 2005
Gordon Wise – ISC Information Officer
www.fastpitch.com
sgwise@woh.rr.com
A-1 Tank merges with NorCal Mavericks, sign Gerald Pyle for ISC II ToC
Sunday, December 11th, 2005Some ISC II news from Northern California from Jim Flanagan’s Fastpitchwest forum:
Sledgehammer22 wrote:
News Break!!! Fresh off the phone with Chris Wright of the Nor Cal Mavericks. The Mavericks have announced a merger between them and A-1 Tank. The deal was said to be done last week and the details have been ironed out. The team will take on the A-1 Tank name and compete at the ISC II level. Wright, who will assume the duties of General Manager and Field Manager, says the merger is a two year deal with options after the first year. The merger instantly makes the northern California based team a serious player at the “B” level and ISCII level. When asked about the deal, Wright added, “It’s tough to watch my Mavericks team name go but this could turn out to be a great thing for Nor Cal fastpitch. I’m excited for the season to start.” The Mavericks look to compete in Red Rock, Portland and a travel league in preparation for the Tournament of Champions. Details of the roster will be released later this month. In other news, The So Cal Bombers are rumored to be close to a deal with “a star pitcher.” More to come.PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 6:37 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
GERALD PYLE THE G MAN JUST SIGNED WITH A-1 TANK TODAY, AS A PITCHER,AN A BIG BAT STAY TOON FOR MORE UP DATES WITH THE MERGE. GENERAL MANGER BOB PIDDOCK,MANGER CHRIS WRIGHT,AND ASST MANGER SHAWN CHING
NorCal Mavericks finished 3rd in NAFA AA last year while A-1 Tank were in the top 10 in NAFA A Major. Gerald Pyle is a kid with tons of potential – he’s been named to the USA developmental squad even tho’ he’s never pitched any higher than ASA “C”. Could these guys be a team to look out for?