2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions
Final Order of Finish

1 South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.
2 Bakersfield, CA California Lumberkings
T3 Castro Valley, CA A-1/Taylor Farms
T3 Niagara, ON Snappers
T5 Wilkes-Barre, PA Keating’s Fitness
T5 Palermo, ON Athletics
T5 Perkasie, PA Hoffman Rise
T5 Ashland, OH Merchants
T9 Shakespeare, ON Falcons
T9 Jarvis, ON Rock
T9 Waterdown, ON Hammer
T9 Oswego, NY CPI
T9 Glencoe, ON Astros
T9 Tavistock, ON Merchants
T9 Rockwood, ON Rush
T9 Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils
T17 Wyevale, ON Tribe
T17 Elora, ON Wellington Brewers
T17 Kitchener, ON Outlaws
T17 Bridgeport, ON Braves
T17 Alvinston, ON Indians
T17 Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder
T17 Ephrata, PA Pennsylvania Power
T17 Harriston, ON Mercury’s

MVP – Jay Herr, South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.

Top Hitter – Jay Herr, South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.

Most RBIs – Jay Herr, South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.

Top Pitcher – Jeremy Tracy, South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.

Catchers
Jeff Twist, Castro Valley, CA A-1/Taylor Farms
Todd Swift, Linwood, ON 86ers

Pitchers
Jeremy Tracy, South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.
Dave Drotzman, Castro Valley, CA A-1/Taylor Farms
Jeff Van Hooser, Ashland, ON Merchants

Infielders
Glenn Inglehart, Palermo, ON Athletics
Brent Moyer, Wilkes-Barre, PA Keating’s Fitness
Jay Herr, South Lebanon, PA T.N.T.
Ryan Dudgeon, Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils
Jeff Detta, Elora, ON Wellington Brewers

Outfielders
Kent Campbell, Rockwood, ON Rush
Joe Allen, Blackburn, ON Bombers
John Sexton, Kitchener, ON Outlaws
Rob Loglisci, Ephrata PA, Pennsylvania Power

Designated Player
Jon Nimmo, Bakersfield, CA California Lumberkings

T.N.T.’s dynamic duo of Jeremy Tracy and Jay Herr exploded on the California Lumberkings Saturday morning combining for three home runs, four RBIs and a dominating three-hit pitching performance as the ISC II title heads south of the Canadian border for the first time ever and will reside in South Lebanon, Pennsylvania with T.N.T.

Tracy set the tone early, following a lead-off walk to Bob Wengert with a two-run home run. In the the third inning, Tracy ended Lumberkings’ starter Darren Strang’s day with a solo shot. Herr greeted reliever Ed Gaspar with a first pitch line drive HR, his record 7th of the tournament, to complete the scoring for the new champions.

The Lumberkings got two back in the 5th inning as Jon Nimmo belted another tape measure home run to score Kevin Castillo who had led off the inning with a walk. But that was all for the #2 ranked California team as Tracy shut the door the rest of the way, inducing a ground ball to second for the final out.

Herr was named the MVP and also garnered awards for Top Hitter, .571 heading into action Saturday, and Most RBIs with 16.

Tracy, who finished 7-0, was the Top Pitcher.

After three days of close competition in the round robin portion of the Tournament of Champions, the three playoff rounds on Friday produced even better games and ever-increasing pressure that culminated in two semi-finals that may never be duplicated for sheer drama.

On diamond one, Herr clobbered a rise ball from Niagara Snappers’ ace Corey Costello in the bottom of the first inning to plate himself and Tracy who had walked. The two-run lead would stand into the top of the fifth when Adam Dearborn sent one over the left field bleachers to make it 2-1. In the Snapper sixth, Costello drove a ball into right-center that was never more than 15 feet off the ground when it disappeared between the bleachers to even things at two.

With nothing settled in the 7th, the two teams headed into the eighth using the international tie-breaker rule starting a runner at second. Scott Young executed a perfect sacrifice bunt moving pinch runner Kres Anderson to third. After a walk to Jarrod Burtt, Costello hit a hard two-hopper through a drawn in infield to put the Snappers out in front 3-2. However, that was as far as the last Ontario team would get as they were unable to extend the lead.

In the home half of the 8th, Herr crushed the second pitch over the left-center bleachers for the come-from-behind, walk-off home run to send T.N.T. to the final, setting up the first all-American final.

Over on diamond two, it was a lock that a California team would make the final for the first time as the California Lumberkings were facing A-1/Taylor Farms, their rivals from upstate. A-1/Taylor took an early 3-0 lead on RBI singles by Jason Gluckman in the 2nd inning and by Greg Oliver and Jeff Twist in the 3rd.

The Lumberkings got one back in the 4th as Tim Hunt scored on a passed ball. In the top of the 7th, the Lumberkings closed the gap to 3-2 on an RBI double by Brian Teeters to score pinch runner Ryne Hicks. With the bases loaded, Tim Hunt worked A-1/Taylor pitcher Dave Drotzman for a walk to score Kasey Knight, sending the game into extra innings.

In the Lumkerkings’ 8th, ITB runner Kevin Castillo was sacrificed to third by Chris Hunt and scored on a wild pitch. Jon Nimmo then launched a massive solo HR for what turned out to the be the winning run. For A-1/Taylor in the bottom of the 8th, Rich Moore singled to score Eddie Martin. After a single by Marcus Tan and a walk to Greg Oliver, Jeff Twist bounced into a controversial game-ending double play as it was ruled that Oliver was off the baseline trying to avoid the tag.

Three games. Two extra innings games. Bases loaded pressure. Walk off home runs. Unrivaled drama. One champion. Memories that will last a lifetime. Priceless.

From the KW Record

August 20, 2007
CHRISTINE RIVET
RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER

With their familiar-sounding surnames like Wengert, Getz, Lutz and Lechtel echoing from the sound system, it was destiny that the South Lebanon TNT would come to Kitchener from Pennsylvania to find a home away from home.

The TNT ignited for three homers en route to a 4-2 victory over the California Lumberkings, in the International Softball Congress II (second-tier) championship game at the Peter Hallman Ball Yard on Saturday.

Affectionately known as The Deuce, the ISC II tourney is the little brother of the ISC world tournament for senior teams.

Thanks largely to Canadian import pitcher Jeremy Tracey, of Waterville, N.B., South Lebanon becomes the first American entry to win the intermediate title in the event’s six-year history.

Named the 35-team event’s outstanding pitcher, Tracey’s complete-game three-hitter in the final took care of the defence.

His mighty stick, which accounted for a pair of homers and three RBI, provided the necessary offence.

“Our team is mostly all Pennsylvania Dutch,” said TNT field manager Lee Lutz, whose squad amassed a nine-game winning streak in Kitchener. “There’s lots of Mennonites and Amish where we are from, too. It was great coming up here. People here were really nice to us. It was like home a little bit.”

South Lebanon’s third baseman Jay Herr who added a homer in the final was named the tournament’s top hitter. He rang up tournament-leading 16 RBI and batted a glittering .571.

The Bakersfield-based Lumberkings staged a fifth-inning rally, scoring two runs off John Nimmo’s round-tripper. But Tracey retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced.

“We fell a little bit short but we had a pretty good run at it,” said Lumberkings relief pitcher Mike Egerdeen. “That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Born and raised in Kitchener, Egerdeen, 37, is an electrical contractor based in Maple Ridge, B.C. The Bluevale Collegiate grad is one of three Canucks on the Lumberkings’ roster.

South Lebanon bounced the tourney’s top-seeded Niagara Snappers 4-3 in semifinal play.

Kitchener Outlaws right fielder John Sexton was named to the tournament’s all-star team.

In the ISC’s 19 and under North American championship tournament, McDermott’s of Baltimore, Md., captured the title with an 8-1 win over the Glanworth (Ont.) Gators.

The days of Ontario domination at the ISC II Tournament of Champions has ended (for this year, at least) as five of the seven pools were won by American teams, six of the Elite Eight were from south of the border and three of the Final Four come from below the 49th.

A howling wind seems to have blown in a changing of the guard at the ToC as the eight American teams in the tournament flexed their collective muscles and pushed most of the Ontario teams to the sidelines.

The upsets started in the first playoff game as wildcard Port Elgin Blue Devils finally woke up their slumbering bats and mercied the Harriston Mercury’s 9-1 before falling to A-1/Taylor Farms from California. It took A-1/Taylor nine innings to outlast the scrappy Ashland Merchants team 5-3 after Ashland eliminated the upstart Rockwood Rush. Rockwood had earlier turned out the lights on Pennsylvania Power 3-2.

Another wildcard, Jarvis Rock, ended the hopes of the Elora Wellington Brewers with a walk-off two-run HR by Brian Auld and were then knocked out by South Lebanon T.N.T. The final wildcard, Keating’s Fitness, eliminated Wyevale Tribe and Shakespeare Falcons, before getting dumped by T.N.T. in the the last quarter-final of the night.

Cutro Professional Inspections got a walk-off HR from Shaun Winship to eliminate the Bridgeport Braves before getting raked by the Niagara Snappers in the second round. The Snappers, in an all-GHFL quarter-final, triumphed in a 1-0 nailbiter to end the hopes of last year’s finalist Palermo Athletics. The last Ontario hope, Niagara Snappers, will play T.N.T. in the first semi-final.

California Lumberkings woke up their slumbering bats late in the game to eliminate Glencoe Astros 3-1 after Glencoe had disposed of Alvinston Indians 2-0. The Lumberkings would go on to eliminate Hoffman Rise 3-0, setting up an all-California semi-final matchup against A-1/Taylor.

Possible MVP candidates include Jeremy Tracy of T.N.T., Trevor Falk of Niagara and Jeff Twist of A-1/Taylor while Top Pitchers include Tracy, Jeff Van Hooser of Ashland, Corey Costello of Niagara, A-1/Taylor’s Dave Drotzman and Mike Egerdeen of the Lumberkings.

All three of the ISC II games on Championship Saturday can be heard at www.ballparkradio.com with both semi-finals starting at 9 am.

Several playoff positions in the 24-team ISC II playoff bracket came down to the wire as the final two games of the night determined the final postions of no less than six teams.

With first place on the line in Pool G, the Hoffman Rise shut out Elora Wellington Brewers 5-0 in the second-last game on the schedule behind the stellar pitching of Rich Haldane and a massive solo HR by Matt Daley over the new scoreboard on Budd #1!

The five runs allowed by Elora was enough to give Palermo the advantage for the best second-place team and a bye into the second round. With Palermo’s move, Bridgeport slid into the first-round game against CPI.

In the last game of the round robin, Waterdown Hammer edged Ottawa Team Easton Thunder 4-3 to claim second-place in Pool F and avoid a first-round date with defending champion Tavistock who will face the Thunder. Waterdown will take on Kitchener Phoenix who needed a win over A-1/Taylor Farms to squeak into the playoffs.

Despite losing to both Ottawa and Ashland, Port Elgin managed to snag one of three wild cards based on fewest runs allowed. Jarvis Rock also grabbed a wildcard with a wild win over Harriston as did Keating’s Fitness with their win over Shakespeare Falcons after the latter clinched their division with an extra innings win over Alvinston Indians.

CPI nabbed third in their pool with a win over Quyon Combat Flyers … Niagara dropped Wyevale to third in Pool A with a convincing 6-3 win … Bridgeport sowed up second in Pool B dumping Hamilton 7-1 … California Lumberkings remain undefeated after an 8-0 shellacking of Carp … Rockwood Rush back into the playoffs via a three-way tie-breaker working in their favour and against Kingston Cowboys and Ingersoll Crush.