June 1, 2006
Strong showings against top ISC-level competition through the month of May was enough for the Niagara, ON Snappers to move up one spot to the top rung of the ISC II rankings released today, edging out the Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils by a single point.
Bridgeport, ON Braves also inched upward in the rankings after their win in the St. Clement’s, ON tournament while the defending ISC II Champion Elmira, ON Cubs fell to #3 after a poor outing.
Making the biggest jump in the rankings was the Bakersfield, CA California LumberKings, leaping up to #13 from #46 after signing of a pair of highly regarded B.C. pitchers.
Teams debuting in the rankings include Kitchener, ON Phoenix Outlaws and Thomson, IL Area Merchants.
The top 10 break down as follows with preseason ranking in brackets:
1. (2) Niagara, ON Snappers
2. (4) Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils
3. (1) Elmira, ON Cubs
4. (5) Bridgeport, ON Braves
5. (3) Alvinston, ON Indians
6. (8) Oswego, NY Cutro Professional Services
7. (6) Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder
8. (7) Hermann, MO Black Gold
9. (10) Harriston, ON Mercurys
10. (9) Perkasie, PA Rise
A total of 37 teams received at least one vote from the panel of 12 judges. Two sets of rankings were chosen at random to be dropped from this term’s final rankings. A different two sets will be dropped in all future rankings.
To see the full list with each judges score, please see the ISC II section of the ISC website at www.iscfastpitch.com.
The rankings will form the basis for seeding teams in the fifth annual ISC II Tournament of Champions which will be played August 13-18 at Budd Park in Kitchener and Kinsmen Park in Cambridge, Ontario. The tournament will feature 40 teams from across North America playing a four-game round robin schedule in eight pools of five teams each. The top three teams from each pool advance to a single elimination playoff bracket.
Full rankings are as following:
2006 ISC II June 1 Rankings
Rank Team
1 Niagara, ON Snappers
2 Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils
3 Elmira, ON Cubs
4 Bridgeport, ON Braves
5 Alvinston, ON Indians
6 Oswego, NY Cutro Professional Services
7 Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder
8 Hermann, MO Black Gold
9 Harriston, ON Mercurys
10 Perkasie, PA Rise
11 Elora, ON Wellington Brewers
12 Palermo, ON Athletics
13 Bakersfield, CA LumberKings
13 Tavistock, ON Merchants
15 Ashland, OH Merchants
16 Denver, CO Colorado Rage
16 Micksburg, ON Twins
18 Marshall, MI Rice Creek Lightning
19 Toronto, ON Champion Indians
20 Waterdown, ON Hammer
21 Yakima, WA JRW Associates
22 Glencoe, ON Astros
23 Saginaw, MI Up-to-Date Painting
24 Orrville, OH Orr Park Knights
25 Hayward, CA A-1 Tank
26 Kitchener, ON Phoenix Outlaws
27 St. Paul, MN ABS-Villard
28 Harrisburg, PA PA Power
28 Shakespeare, ON Falcons
30 Lancaster, PA Lancaster Motors
30 Mitchell, ON Mets
30 Thomson, IL Area Merchants
33 Grand Prairie, AB Pride
33 Ludington, MI Kelder’s Poured Walls
35 South Lebanon, PA TNT
36 Morpeth, ON Magic
37 Lloydminster, AB Scope Dodgers
NOTES:
1. 26 is recorded for a team not ranked by a given committee member.
2. The ISC II rankings will form the basis for seeding teams in the 2006 Tournament of Champions.
3. Ranking committee member identities will be kept confidential.
4. Committee makeup: 9 American, 3 Canadian.
5. Teams which don’t plan to participate in ISC II competition have not been considered for and/or will be dropped from the rankings.
*Denotes replacement committee member’s ranking used
Two sets of rankings picked at random were not used this term: #7 & #12 from preseason rankings.