2005 ISC-II Tournament of Champions Feature Story & Photos in Softball Magazine

November 14th, 2005

The Fall 2005 issue of Softball Magazine, which just hit the newstands, features ISC II MVP Casey Halstead on the “inside” cover, along with a feature story penned by ISC II Commish Blair Setford, “Changing of the Guard at ISC II” and photos by Fastpitchwest’s own photographer, Maddy Flanagan.

The magazine is available on a subscription basis, which we heartily recommend. During 2005, the magazine carried 5 feature length articles and photos of men’s fastball, including the AAU Tournament, Red Rock, Rose Cup, and now the ISC II.

Click the PDF logo to view a PDF copy of the feature story with photos. (Requires Adobe Reader)

Posted in 2005 ISC II ToC, Players | Comments Closed

Decatur withdraws bid for 2007 WT & ToC

November 14th, 2005

Decatur Withdraws as 2007 ISC Host

After being awarded the 2007 ISC World Tournament and ISC – II Tournament of Champions, the Decatur Sports Foundation became aware of issues which may have jeopardized their ability to host quality ISC Tournaments. According to ISC Executive Director, Ken Hackmeister, “we have been in communication with them the past several weeks, seeing what options might be available to allow Decatur to retain and conduct our 2007 championship tournaments.”

Unfortunately, it was felt by both Decatur Sports Foundation and the ISC that in the best interests of all concerned, it would be best for Decatur to withdraw from hosting the tournaments in 2007. This withdrawal is mutually agreeable with both entities, and the ISC has given Decatur Sports Foundation encouragement to bid for future ISC tournaments.

The Decatur withdrawal letter states:

“Due to unforeseen issues after our successful bid on the 2007 World Tournament and ISC-II Tournament of Champions, the Decatur Sports Foundation regretfully must rescind their bid. The Decatur Sports Foundation looks forward to bidding again in the future.”

We sincerely thank Decatur Sports Foundation for taking a professional and objective approach to this difficult decision, and we welcome a future bid from them.

The ISC plans to announce a new host city for 2007 later in November.

November 14, 2005
Gordon Wise – – ISC Information Officer

Posted in General | Comments Closed

St. Thomas Fastball League 2005 Award Winners

November 14th, 2005

The St. Thomas and District Fastball League held it’s annual awards banquet on Saturday evening, November 12’th at the Shedden Keystone Complex.

Here are the 2005 award winners from the St. Thomas and District Fastball League.

Batting Awards
Average—–Gary Cooke, Shedden Mission—–.475
Homeruns—–Gary Cooke, Jason Dawdy, Jeff Wilcox, Shedden Mission—–6 each
RBI’s—–Jamie Wolf, Morpeth Magic—–23

Pitching Awards
Best ERA—–Dan Beecroft, Union Storm—–1.46
Most Valuable—–Dan Beecroft, Union Storm—–16 & 3 (.842)

Rookie—–Geoff Gunson, Highgate Rock

League MVPs—–Dan Beecroft, Union Storm, Todd Winkworth, Aylmer Cardinals

League and Playoff Champs—–Union Storm
Dan Beecroft, Dusty Brown, Mark Coleman, Ryan Cummings, Dave Ferguson, Aaron Gould, Brian Harvey, Tyler Lessard, Kevin Lynch, Chris Payne, Jamie Peat, Troy Rick, Chris Wismer coaches: Dan Denniss, Tom Edie

Playoff Finalists—–Glencoe Astros
Greg Eichenberger, John Fletcher, Rich Galbraith, John Gougoulias, Ed Gould, Greg Huston, Rob Ireland, Shane Johnson, Kyle Mitchell, Brett Neal, Ron Pazitka, Bill Piskorowski, Tim Stover, Chris Welch, Jamie Welch, Shaun Winship, Ryan Wolfe Coach: Chris Manchester

Playoff MVP—–Dan Beecroft, Union Storm

Memorial Awards

Elmer “Dude” Locke Memorial Award for “Sportsmanship and Dedication”—–Barry Luscombe, St. Thomas and Aylmer Umpire’s Association

Jeff Carder Memorial Award for “Enjoyment and Love of the Game”—–Mike Unwin, Shedden Mission

Steve Palmer Memorial Award for Excellence in Defensive Ability and Performance —–Rich Galbraith, Glencoe Astros

Lorne Thomson Memorial Award for Coach/Manager of the Year—–Matt Haskell, Blenheim Homerun Restaurant

Team MVPs
Alvinston Indians—–Doug Charlton
Aylmer Cardinals—–Todd Winkworth
Blenheim Homerun Restaurant—–Paul Ceppi
Glencoe Astros—–Shaun Winship
Highgate Rock—–Ben Blonde
Morpeth Magic—–Jeff Hope
Shedden Mission—–Gary Cooke
Union Storm—–Dan Beecroft

The players and coaches from the League that were members of the St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials, the 2005 Canadian Senior Men’s Champions were also recognized.

Dan Beecroft, Mark Coleman, Brian Harvey, Tyler Lessard, Chris Payne, Kevin Lynch, Troy Rick, Chris Wismer, Ryan Wolfe

Bill Horne, head coach/manager, Dan Denniss, coach, Tom Edie, coach

batgirl: Taylor Edie

Aaron Gould
Union Storm

Posted in General, Leagues, Ontario | Comments Closed

Joseph & Woolridge among those pitching in Dominican winter league

November 9th, 2005

Ontario ISC II pitchers Mike Joseph (incorrectly noted as an American) and Tracy Woolridge are among a dozen North American pitchers playing in the Dominican winter league.

Here’s a horrible translation of a story that appeared in a local Dominican paper and was posted on the Illinois Fastpitch board.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in General, Ontario, Players | Comments Closed

ISC Rules Changes that impact ISC II

November 4th, 2005

In actions taken by the International Softball Congress Board of Directors when they met in August in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, several different areas of regulations were addressed. Among the changes were:

ISC AREA DEFINITIONS – – a new list is displayed on the ISC Web Site at http://www.iscfastpitch.com/webstart/forms/ardef.htm From the front page of the ISC Web Site, click on Rules & Form. States and Areas affected include: California; Nevada; Colorado; New Mexico; Arizona; Canada West; Minnesota; Wisconsin; Illinois; and Northern Illinois. Generally, the changes liberalize and expand areas. Area Definitions are the responsibility of the affected Area Commissioners. This same document will appear in the 2006 ISC Guide to be published in next spring.

ISC-II TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS ENTRY FEES – – Beginning in 2006, entry fees are: $250 for Area and Travel League Champions and $300 for Host Team, Defending Champ, Runner Up, and any invited teams.

PLAYER HARDSHIP REQUESTS – – Requests are to be sent to the appropriate ISC Area or Travel League Commissioner who will approve or disapprove before sending it on to the ISC Executive Director.

PARTICIPANTS OWING ISC, COMMISSIONERS, OR TEAM SPONSORS – – No one will be allowed to participate in ISC programs if they owe any money, equipment, or other property belonging to the ISC, its Commissioners, or Team Sponsors.

Gordon Wise – – – ISC Information Officer
www.iscfastpitch.com
sgwise(at)woh.rr.com

Posted in 2006 ISC II ToC, General, Rules | Comments Closed

2006 Snapper Shootout firming up – updated

October 31st, 2005

A very early look at who is, so far, apparently coming to the 2006 Snapper Shootout:

Niagara, ON Snappers – defending champions finished 5th at the 2005 ISC II ToC.

South Lebanon, PA TNT – 2nd at the Elkland Labour Day tourney, featuring pitcher Jeremy Tracy.

Mississauga, ON Arrows- 3rd in the GHFL in 2005, 2-2 at last year’s Shootout.

Alvinston, ON Indians – tied for 3rd at the ToC – 3-2 at last year’s Shootout.

Orrville, OH Orr Park Knights – merged with the NY Bombers, adding pitchers Chuck Smith and Justin Heyman.

Waterdown, ON Hammer – 2nd at the Elkland First Tournament, won the Waterdown league.

Niagara, ON Selects – 1-2 last year, but upset Tavistock, the Selects are looking to playing the ISC II qualifier, too.

Elmira, ON Cubs – 2005 ISC II Champions with ToC Top Pitcher and MVP Casey Halstead.

Perkasie, PA KMV Rise – disappointing ToC, but rebounded to win Elkland Labour Day tourney – were 2-2 last year.

Jarvis, ON Rock – perennial power in the Erie league with ace Dave “Farmer” Martin.

Harrisburg, PA PA Power – ASA “C” Champions.

Toronto, ON Champion Indians – 2005 Ontario Challenge Cup champions

Oswego, NY CPI (formerly McKie Sports) – 12th at ISC II ToC

Posted in General, Ontario, Tournaments | Comments Closed

Happy Halloween

October 31st, 2005

Happy Halloween from Fastpitchwest & Ballparkradio. Keep an eye out for those little folks tonight.


Photo: Maddy’s award winning pumpkin carving. Any resemblance to the editor purely coincidental. (click to enlarge)

Posted in General | Comments Closed

New at GHFL.ca

October 29th, 2005

New at GHFL.ca:

2006 ISC II Preview Page

Plant your Flag on GHFL.ca

Game 57 Photo Sequence

Cheers,

Blair

Posted in 2005 ISC II ToC, 2006 ISC II ToC, General, Ontario | Comments Closed

Stake Your Flag at Fastpitchwest’s Readers Map

October 26th, 2005


Frappr is a new online mapping service which allows readers of Fastpitchwest.com to post a flag showing where they are, add a note (and photo if they wish). Just enter your name and zip and Google Maps does the rest !

Take a look, or better still, add yourself to our map.

Check out our Frappr!
Click here to view and/or add yourself to our map !

We strongly encourage you to post a photo; as you will see, it’s more fun to peruse the flags when photos are attached ! Feel free to use a photo of yourself posted at Fastpitchwest. The Frappr system will automatically resize the photo for you. Note that you can “zoom in” on any flag by using the grid on the left hand side of the page. (Zooming in will show you the city and surrounding area for the zip code entered)

Update: Thanks to those of you who have take the time to “plant your flag” on the map, and especially those posting photos (most have). If you decide you’d like to change your photo, or run into any problems, please email me (jim (at) fastpitchwest.com and I’ll delete you and you can do it again.

Posted in General | Comments Closed

Union, ON Storm looking for pitching help for AAU

October 21st, 2005

The Union, ON Storm is looking for a pitcher for the AAU tournament in Orlando, FL in January 2006. Click here for contact information. The tournament is played at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, one of the finest fastball facilities in the country. The fastball diamonds are adjacent to the Atlanta Braves spring training facility at the complex.

Last year’s tournament hosted a number of international teams, hailing from the Caribbean, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada and the U.S., 28 teams in all. For a complete recap of last year’s tournament, click here.

For a look at the five galleries of photos from last year’s tournament, click here.

Posted in General, Ontario, Teams, Tournaments | Comments Closed

GHFL.ca Forum is back

October 19th, 2005

The popular GHFL.ca Forum is back online after an “interesting” diversion and a lesson in internet security, if nothing else.

In the next day or two, we will be upgrading the forum software to a more secure version provided by phpbb. This will NOT affect your registration, screen name(s) or password. Please note that at no time was your personal computer security at risk to a virus or spyware if you logged into the Forum during the past few days.

With the help of Jim Flanagan and phpbb, we have been able to recover all the posts up to October 8, so if you had something to say after that, please re-post it.

Thanks for your patience and welcome back!

Cheers,

Blair Setford
www.ghfl.ca

Posted in General | Comments Closed

Additional Photos at FastpitchWest

October 17th, 2005

More of Maddy Flanagan’s pictures from the 2005 ISC II Tournament of Champions can be found at FastPitchWest.com at by clicking here. Click menu buttons for galleries 7 & 8.

Ontario ISC II fans in particular will want to click here to see this one.

Posted in 2005 ISC II ToC, General, Photos | Comments Closed

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