Here’s a sneak preview of the cover of the 2009 ISC Guide that will soon be available. You can order it from the ISC website or ask your regional ISC rep about getting a copy.
The ISC II shot, middle left, is of the California LumberKings’ Jeff Twist taking out Ross Herold of the Bridgeport Braves in their playoff game.
All photos on the cover were taken by the ISC II’s own Maddy Flanagan.
The 2009 Hoffman Rise Fastpitch roster is substantially complete and is detailed below.
P Ryan Cummings
P Mike Smith
C Chad Oechsle
IF Chad Walters
IF Brian Miller
IF Matt Daley
IF Steve Moore
OF Bart Fenstermacher
OF Jon Hurst
OF Andy Sabo
OF Justin Cevette
UT Lance Bauer
UT Zac Fenstermacher
UT Zach Fullman
UT Matt Daley Jr.
Mgr. Chip Savini
Coach Joe Roslin
GM Keith Hammerschmidt
Sponsor Bob Hoffman
Our tentative schedule includes the 3 MAFTL weekends, Molly Sherman Tournament (Elkland, PA), 4th of July Tournament (Allentown, PA), ToC, and Elkland Labor Day. We would like to find a tournament for the last weekend in July so if anyone has any suggestions please get in touch.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the retirement of Tom Vogel. Tom gave everything he had to the creation of The Rise; he will be sorely missed for his leadership, passion, knowledge for the game and performance on the diamond. Tom will continue as the President of the MAFTL and will undoubtedly remain involved with the game he loves so much. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him wearing a uniform at a tournament before the season is over. Tom, thanks for a lot of great years.
Sincerely,
Keith Hammerschmidt
Hoffman Rise Fastpitch
dozen12@comcast.net
Editor’s Note: Still some roster kinks to be worked out, but the Decatur Pride, a long-time ISC team, are reforming and bringing back many of the game’s stars of yesteryear for a crack at the ISC II division.
From Al’s Fastball:
Decatur Pride is Back!
The Pride will participate in the ISC II Tournament of Champions in Rock Island (if we qualify) and will be host for the ASA Class A Nationals in Decatur, IL this season.
Head Coach Scott Standerfer will try to gel a mix of OLD and young. The Pride consists of 8 past Pride players as well as two sets of father-son combinations.
Roster
Brent Stevenson – P
Bobby Ginger – P
TJ Dobson – P
David Scott – P
Rick Minton – IF
Drew Minton – IF
David Boys – IF
Cole Koester – IF
Todd McQuality – IF
Larry Moffett – IF
Doug Williams – IF
Dustin Curran – IF
Paul Carlton – IF
Robbie Tirpak – OF
Tyler Morganthaler – OF
Blake Martin – OF
Dean Lambert – OF
Greg Morganthaler – C
Mike Hopkins – CThe Pride has the following Saturday and Sunday open HOME dates, which are played in Decatur, Illinois
August 15 – 6pm start
August 16 – 1pm startWe are wanting to host a team that may be traveling through Decatur, IL heading to Rock Island to play in ISC II Tournament of Champions.
We may be able to work on discounts on hotels with City of Decatur Better Business Bureau. Interested teams please contact Robbie Tirpak at Robert.Tirpak@adm.com
Tirpak, Robert
Robert.Tirpak@adm.com
Editor’s note: While all of this is subject to change, based on the preliminary discussions, the 2010 ToC games would be played on Diamonds 2 & 3 at Emerson Park, site of Currie Stadium, the main WT facility. Additional games would be played at nearby Redcoats Field with a handful of ISC II games played in Currie Stadium.
Midland to host ISC World Tournament
By Dan Chalk
of the Daily News
Published: Friday, March 13, 2009 11:03 PM EDTMore than $2 million of potential revenue pouring into the local economy.
Up to 80 men’s fastpitch softball teams staying in the Midland area for the course of a week, and up to 20,000 spectators visiting the city over that time.
Twenty nine jobs to be created locally.
It all adds up to one big economic ray of sunshine headed this way in August of 2010, when the Midland Explorers Booster Club is set to host the International Softball Congress World Tournament and two other concurrent tournaments at Emerson Park and Redcoats Fields.
While the contract is not yet signed, organizing committee co-chairman Kyle Beane said no other city has put in a bid for the tournament, and it’s just a matter of working out contract details with ISC officials.
“There is a mutual agreement between the Explorers Booster Club and the ISC that Midland will be the host in 2010,” said Beane, who also plays for the Midland Explorers men’s fastpitch team. “We’ve got contract details to work out that will be taken care of in the next couple of weeks.”
The ISC World Tournament will feature either 24 or 32 of the best men’s fastpitch teams from around the world. The concurrent ISC II Tournament of Champions will have about 40 fastpitch teams that are just a notch below those in the World Tournament; and the 19-and-under ISC Youth Tournament will draw eight to 12 youth teams from around the world.
Fans will come in large numbers from Ontario, Beane predicted.
“We think a lot of fans are going to come from Ontario, which is still a hotbed for fastpitch,” he said.
Beane is thrilled at the prospect of having the event in Midland, which last hosted a world fastpitch tournament in 1984 and 1996.
“It’s a great feeling, because it’s something that a lot of people have wanted to see,” he said. “We know what kind of venue we’ve got, one of the best in the country. I think a lot of people are going to be really excited that this tournament is finally going to come to Midland.”
The tentative dates for the tournaments are Aug. 14-21, 2010, Beane said. The 2009 tournament is in Quad Cities.
Beane said that after researching and consulting with Jim Peckrul of the Midland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the organizing committee came up with a figure of $2.35 million as the economic impact of the tournaments.
Beane’s fellow committee co-chairman Dave Lach said the committee determined that the visitors and convention bureau would receive about $9,000 from the 2 percent local tax on lodging during the tournament.
A portion of any profit generated from the tournament will go to the Explorers Booster Club, but most of the profit will go to local teams, leagues, parks and other worthwhile groups as determined by the committee, Lach said.
Beane said the committee of about 25 members also includes softball notables Marty McGuire, Laura Currie, Pete Finn, Jeff Servinski, Gregg Sauve and Jack Starling, among others.
Lach said about 100 more volunteers will be needed to plan and run the tournament.
Lach said the committee is setting out to raise about $25,000 to meet expenses for the tournament, which include paying the city for the use of the fields.
Beane said the committee has already done a lot of planning over the past few months.
“We’ve got logos designed, we’re working on a website. A lot of work is already done; now it’s just time to start executing the plan,” Beane said.
Lach expects that the cost of admission to tournament games will be about $8 per fan per day, and about $20 per fan for the entire tournament.
He said that spectators will also receive coupons for area businesses with their admission tickets.
The International Softball Congress is pleased to announce that Darren Zack has been granted eligibility to play in the ISC II division effective for the 2009 season.
This decision keeps a living legend active in the game. The decision was made by a specially convened panel of the ISC Regional Vice-Presidents.
Not only does this give a new set of players an opportunity to say they played with and against Darren, it also enables Darren to have the opportunity to play with his son, Darren Jr. This is a very important factor for Darren because as a young pitcher, he had the opportunity to play with his father.
Other factors that entered into this decision include Darren’s age (48) and very limited opportunities for father and son to play on the same team. Darren’s eligibility is exclusive to the Ohsweken Redmen team from Ontario and is not transferrable to another team should Ohsweken fail to qualify for the ISC II Tournament of Champions. It is also reviewable at the conclusion of the 2009 season.
Ken Hackmeister
At the ISC Board of Directors meeting in Kimberly, the following changes were approved for implementation in 2009. They appear below in no particular order of importance.
1. ISC II Player Reclassification Request Deadline – Appeals to have current World Tournament players reclassified for ISC II eligibility, must be submitted no later than June 1. See new process for requesting reclassification below.
2. Reclassification and Appeal Form Created – A new form and process for reclassifications and appeals has been created and is now displayed on the ISC Web Site www.iscfastpitch.com Click on Rules & Forms link in the left margin of front page.
A. The initial team request or appeal must be sent to the Regional Vice President.
Decision to be made within 5-business days.
B. Player reclassification requests from teams, denied at the Regional level, may be appealed to the ISC II Reclassification Committee jrwilliamson@foodfacility.com and blairjs@rogers.com and a decision will be made within 5-business days.
C. Player reclassification requests denied by the ISC II Reclassification Committee and all other appeals denied at the Regional level, may be appealed to the ISC Executive Committee by submitting the appeal form and a non-refundable $100 credit card fee and sending it to the ISC Executive
Director. Decision to be made within 5-business days.
D. Appeal decisions made by the ISC Executive Committee are final.
3. PRAWN Age Factor – If a non-PRAWN player makes an ISC All-World team in or after the calendar year of his 45th birthday, that player will be considered a PRAWN for only one year. PRAWN players who have made or make an ISC All-World team in the calendar year of their 41st through 44th birthday may request to be excluded from the PRAWN list in the calendar year of their 46th birthday by providing proof of age to the ISC Executive Director by May1.
The changed PRAWN rules are shown on the ISC Web Site (Rules & Forms) and the 2009 PRAWN list is also on the web site (Tournaments link and scroll down to the bottom of the page).
4. ISC II Move-up Berths – Beginning with 2009 ISC II Tournament of Champions, the top two finishing teams will be provided automatic berths in the following year’s ISC World Tournament (2010), and will not be eligible for ISC II qualifiers or the Tournament of Champions in that following year.
5. Mexico and Caribbean Return to US Regions – For 2009 ISC play, residents of Mexico and Caribbean countries will be attached to US Regions as they were in the 2007 season. Mexico is divided between US West and US Central while all Caribbean countries become part of US East. The revised Regional Definitions will appear on the ISC Web Site and in the 2009 ISC World Championship Guide.
6. South American Player Rep – Due to the number of South American players, now participating in ISC and ISC II play, a South American Player Rep has been named to serve on the ISC Player Rep Committee. Juan Potolicchio has been named to this new position and can be reached at juanpotol@hotmail.com
7. Out of Region Form Discontinued – The Out of Region – Player Letter of Intent Form will be eliminated beginning in 2009. The new process involves having the Out of Region player, send an email commitment to the ISC Executive Director iscken@comcast.net no later than May 1. The team manager is to be copied on the email. On or before May 1, the team manager completes the Out of Region Team Recap Form and mails it to the ISC Executive Director with the appropriate fee. The Team Recap form is displayed on the ISC Web Site (Rules & Forms link).
Sample email commitment from player is simply: “I intend to play the 2009 ISC season with (team name). My home region is (insert region of residence)”. Most player email addresses contain the players name so few if any problems are expected with this new, simplified process.
8. Roster Forms – Beginning in 2009, there are roster forms for both World Tournament and ISC II teams. The difference between the two are the list of email addresses the rosters are to be sent to. Those email addresses appear on the roster forms themselves. Both roster forms are available for downloading from the ISC web site (Rules and Forms). If you’re unable to download, email iscken@comcast.net and request the proper roster and we will email attach it to you. Preliminary rosters for both World Tournament (PRAWN declaration) and ISC II are due by May 1. Rosters can be changed during the season on July 15 and again on August 10.
9. Courtesy Runner Rule – While the ISC generally adopts ASA playing rules, we do have some differences. For 2009, the ISC is rejecting ASA’s new rule that allows courtesy runners for both pitchers and catchers. The ISC rule is: Courtesy runners are not allowed in ISC play.
Congratulations to 2008 ISC II MVP Marcus Tan and Ashland Stock Pack’s Ty McKinney on being named to Team USA.
Marcus was asked to attend the USA national team tryout camp last fall on the heels of his knockout MVP performance at the ToC in Appleton with the champion California LumberKings and was one of the final two members named to the team today.
Also named to the team was Ashland Stock Pack’s Ty McKinney. McKinney, who had been out of the game for two years, made a successful comeback in 2008, helping to lead Ashland to a 5th place finish in Appleton.
“I believe the two new additions offer us an opportunity to grow the program in a positive direction,†said USA head coach Pete Turner. “It also shows that our committee continues to lookfor new talent that can help us compete now and in the future.â€
On behalf of everyone in the ISC II program, congratulations and best wishes to Marcus and Ty with Team USA at the ISF World Championship in Saskatoon this summer.
Official ISC II photographer Maddy Flanagan was on hand to capture the Team USA tryout camp action last fall as about 30 hopefuls gathered prior to the team being selected.
Marcus 1
Marcus 2
Marcus 3
Ty 1
Click here for the complete photo set.
ISC Canada East VP Blair Setford is asking for Ontario men’s fastball leagues to confirm their affiliation with the Ontario ISC Home League Program for the 2009 season.
Affiliation enables a league to send a representative to the 2009 Ontario Challenge Cup or the 2009 Challenge Cup East (details below).
Each tournament will provide the winner with a berth in the 2010 ISC II Tournament of Champions.
For further information, please contact
Blair Setford
ISC Canada East VP
blairjs@rogers.com
or
Joe Todd
ISC Regional Commissioner
ftode739@rogers.com
2009 Ontario Challenge Cup ISC II Qualifier
September 18-20 – Stratford, ON
Berths: 1 2010 ISC II ToC berth to winner – Canada East teams only
Format: Double-knockout
Entry fee and deadline: $225 CDN – August 31, 2009
Local contact: Murray Patterson – murraypatterson@wightman.ca
ISC contact: Joe Todd – ftode739@rogers.com
UIC: TBD
2009 Challenge Cup East ISC II Qualifier
September 18-20 – McNab/Braeside, ON
Berths: 1 2010 ISC II ToC berth to winner – Canada East teams only
Format: Double-knockout
Entry fee and deadline: $225 CDN – August 31, 2009
Local contact: Harold MacMillan – jh.mac@gozoom.ca
ISC contact: Blair Setford – blairjs@rogers.com – 905-826-2697
UIC: Sal Gara – sal.gara@sympatico.ca (tentative)
Maddy Flanagan has posted her galleries from the 2009 AAU International Tournament, held January 23-25, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. It marked the sixth consecutive year that she has traveled to Orlando to shoot the tournament for the AAU. Click the logo above to see the entire gallery.
ISC II photos:
Ashland, OH Stock Pack
Ty McKinney, 2
With BPR’s Jim Flanagan and Kyle Smith
Gregg Garrity
Gregg Garrity
Gregg Garrity
Joe Hineline
Joe Hineline
Frank Rogers
Steve Horning
Steve Horning
Kyle Beane, not ISC II, but a friend of the TD
Kyle Beane
Kyle Beane
Nick McCurry and Frank Rogers
Shane Flinner
Jason Whiteley
Dundas, ON CPI/ADS
Jeff Lane steals a base 1, 2, 3
Mike Cutro
Shaun Winship 1, 2, 3
Winship & Mark McCallum
Jason Smith
Mike Sorzickas 1, 2, 3
1
2
3
New York, NY Gremlin Knights
Bill Hillhouse
Bryan Newton
Chad McConnell
Derek Pukash
Elmira, ON Advance Millwrights
Casey Halstead 1, 2, 3
Danny Martin
1
2
Niagara Falls, ON Fury
Jeff Wilson (he’s not ISC II, but a friend of TD)
Mark Korten (left) and umpire Doug Cundell
Craig Smith
Kenosha, WI Earl’s Club
Paul Skora
1
2
Miscellaneous
ToC Umpire Gary Kipfer
Paul McCart
Dave Drotzmann 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Drotzmann (right) & Jason Porto
A pair of ISC II teams remain in contention in the championship round at the 10th Annual AAU International Tournament in Orlando, Florida at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.
See our brother blog, the Morning Brief, for full scores.
10 am
Championship Bracket
Quarter-finals
Ohio Battery/Stock Pack 2
Chicago/New York 4
WP – Gervasutti and DeGroat
LP – McKinney and Flinner
New York Gremlin Knights 0
Sebringville Sting 1
WP – Koert and Crawford
LP – Newton and Rozich
12 pm
Semi-finals
Chicago/NY 9 Mac’s C Fastpitch 6 – Ballpark Radio
MidWest 3 Sebringville 0
2 pm
Championship final
Chicago/NY 8 MidWest 0 – Ballpark Radio
Two games Saturday, live from the AAU Tournament in Orlando:
Saturday, January 24, 2009, 11:00 a.m. EST – CPI/ADS Dundas, ON vs. Team Minnesota
Saturday, January 24, 2009, 5:00 p.m. EST – Teams TBD
To listen to the broadcasts, just go to the Ballpark Radio website, www.ballparkradio.com and click the black “Click to Listen” button, then choose the link for the game you want to hear, turn on your speakers and sit back and enjoy the action. (or turn down the volume/don the headsets for those of you listening at work)
The 10th annual AAU International Tournament will be held January 22-25, 2009 at the Disney complex in Orlando, Florida, hosting 40 teams from around the world. Selected games will be broadcast live on Ballparkradio.com
