Davids Meet Goliaths at 2005 AAU
International Men’s Tournament
by Jim Flanagan, Editor, Fastpitchwest.com
(this story featured is featured in the
April 2005 issue of Softball Magazine - see menu button at left)
[ORLANDO, FL - 1/23/05]- The “Davids” in the world of men’s
fastpitch met the “Goliaths” at the Sixth Annual AAU Men’s
International Fastball tournament at the Disney Complex in Orlando,
Florida, January 20-23, 2005 with sometimes surprising results. At
the end of the day, it was a pair of Goliaths, The Bar/Circle Tap of
Denmark Wisconsin, USA and Los Socios of Venezuela squaring off for
the title. However, the Goliaths of the tournament met some stiff
competition from some upstart “Davids” of the tournament along the
way.
More often than not, tournaments in the world men’s fastball today
are organized according to classification. The ISC (International
Softball Congress) has two divisions of play, an open division, and
intermediate division, the ISC II. The ASA (Amateur Softball
Association) holds national tournaments with at four main
classifications of play, Major, “A”, “B” and “C” , while the third
national organization, NAFA (North American fast its association)
holds national tournaments in five divisions, Open, “AAA”, “AA” “A
Major”, and “A”.
The AAU International Men’s Fastball tournament is unique in
combining all of the teams into one division of play, regardless of
classification. The level of competition is remarkably balanced, due
in part to the fact that the tournament is played in the winter, and
the rosters are wide open. Many world class players are sprinkled
among otherwise lower division teams. Players from the lower
divisions are also fans of the upper divisions, so one of the
attractions of the AAU Tournament is that they get a chance to play
alongside, or compete against upper division players that they
wouldn’t otherwise see. Additionally, some of these lower division
teams enjoy adding a big name player or two from upper division
teams, helping them compete with “the big boys”. Both fans and
players alike spend part of the first day of the tournament sizing
up the rosters of the various teams, to see who’s playing for who, a
bit like major league baseball does early in the year. (The
tournament is held in the shadow of the Atlanta Braves spring
training facility)
One of the more poignant comments was heard during one of the games
involving the Six Nation Chiefs, led by the legendary pitcher Darren
Zack and an underdog opponent. The opposing pitcher met Zack at the
pitcher’s mound in between innings, and told him “It is an honor to
share the circle with you”. As might be expected, pitcher Gerald
Muizelaar of the ISC World Champion Broken Bow team got plenty of
attention from other players at the tournament. Tournament
photographer, Maddy Flanagan received a request by a couple of Radio
560 players from Mexico City, Mexico, to have their
picture taken
with Gerald Muizelaar, the pitcher they had only heard about before
traveling to Orlando for the AAU tournament. (see photo that
accompanies this story and many more posted online at
www.fastpitchwest.com)
Another player who enjoyed stepping up to the higher level of
competition was 64 year old Rich Markam, of the Orlando Kings, who
has been pitching for 35 years on two continents and 19 states. Rich
will be 65 this season, but has no intention of giving up the game
anytime soon.
Among the notable performances in the role of “David” were by the
Texaco Pirates of the Bahamas, who gave eventual champion Circle
Tap/The Bar one of their toughest games of the tournament. Texaco’s
pitcher,
Edney “The Heat” Bethel, had a lot to do with that. Last
year, Bethel pitched his team from the Bahamas to the consolation
championship. Against Circle Tap/The Bar, Bethel went the distance,
striking out 10 and losing a hard fought 6-5 battle. Bethel started
out as a catcher, catching for the Bahamas’ Pan-Am games team,
before learning to pitch from International Softball Federation Hall
of Famer, “Dougie” Smith of the Bahamas.
Bethel surrendered three runs in the first inning to Circle Tap/The
Bar, but, but settled down and kept his team in the game, until a
three-run homer by teammate William Weatherford in the third inning
got them even. Circle Tap/The Bar then took a five to three lead in
the fifth inning on back-to-back solo home runs by Chris Delarwelle,
the tournament’s most valuable player, and Don Garvey. But the
Pirates, stormed right back in the bottom of the fifth with two runs
of their own to tie the game at five on a triple by designated
hitter Greg Gardner, which brought home Andrew Albury and Edney
Bethel.
The final 6-5 margin of victory for Circle Tap was provided by a
sixth inning solo home run by one of the world’s best players, Chris
Miljavic, but fans were impressed by the gutsy performance by Bethel
and his teammates. Bethel also helped his team in other games not
only on the mound but with his bad as well, including a home run,
pictured on these pages
Another team in the “David” category was the Orlando Kings, who
grabbed the 28th and final spot in the tournament when another team
withdrew. The Kings consisted largely of a local modified fastpitch
team, plus the solid pitching of Tom Vogel, on loan from his KVM
Concrete Team in Pennsylvania. The Kings fell to one of the Goliaths
in the elimination round, the Peterboro Pros of Ontario Canada, but
by only a 1-0 margin, coming within one run of advancing in the
elimination round to face another Goliath, the NY Gremlins.
Jimmy Yates team from Ohio, the Orr Park Knights were another of the
“Davids” who normally compete at the intermediate level of play, but
putting on a fine performance in this year’s tournament. Orr Park
finished second in their pool, suffering their only two losses to
last year’s champions, and the 2005 runner-up, Los Socios of
Venezuela.
ISC Broadcasting pioneer David Blackburn was in uniform for the
weekend, instead of behind the microphone, pitching well for the
Maccabi team which is due to compete in Israel this summer.
Blackburn pitched well, dropping a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Jaime
Simpson-led Florida Fastpitch team in the elimination round. Maccabi
was one of the teams adding some big-name talent, taking Victoria
pitcher Collin McKenzie with them.
The Final Four and Championship Game
Last year’s champion, Los Socios bested last year’s runner-up,
Mexicali, in one tournament semi-final, while The Bar/Circle Tap
bested top seeded the New York Gremlins in an extra inning 8-7 with
a wild finish for the other spot in the championship game. The
Bar/Circle Tap followed that win with an 8-6 win over Los Socios of
Venezuela for the 2005 AAU International Tournament title.
The Bar/Circle Tap’s Road to the Title
(with thanks to Tony Schaaf)
The 2005 AAU champions, was actually a combined team made up of last
year’s #4 ranked team in the ISC World, Circle Tap of Denmark,
Wisconsin, and the ISC II third place finisher, The Bar of Appelton,
Wisconsin. The Bar/Circle Tap lineup was loaded from top to bottom,
starting with Chris Miljavic, through the power part of the batting
order, Chris Delarwelle, Robbie O’Brien and Don Garvey. The
Saskatoon pitching trio of Dewey Dyck, Rob Scheller and Trevor
Ethier gave The Bar/Circle Tap one of the best pitching staffs in
the tournament. It was their first trip to Orlando, but doubtful it
will be their last.
The Bar/Circle Tap (TB/CT) was a perfect 7 and 0 enroute to the
title:
• Game 1: 6-1 win over the Memphis Posse. y behind the 4 hit
pitching of Rob Scheller. Chris Miljavac, Trevor Ethier, Don Garvey,
Chad Mix all had two hits and Chris Delarwelle hit his first home
run of the tournament. (but not his last)
• Game 2: In game two TB/CT managed to score four against the
Legendary Darren Zack and his Six Nations Team. Dewey Dyck threw a 3
hitter for the win, while getting support from Chris Delarwelle, who
hit his second home run, and Robbie O'Brien and Steve Sells who
chipped in two hits each.
• Game 3: After surrendering 4 runs to the Miami Cardinals,
TB/CT came back with seven runs for the win. Jon Zipperer had three
hits, while Chris Miljavac and Darren Derricks had two. The win
clinched first place in their pool and a first round bye in the
elimination bracket.
• Game 4: On Friday the bracket play began with the TB/CT
team facing the Texaco Pirates out of the Bahamas. In a spirited
game the level of intensity picked up. The TB/CT jumped out to a 3
to 0 lead but the Pirates answered with 3 in the third. The TB/CT
added two in the fifth but the Pirates answered with 2 in the bottom
of the fifth to tie it. Chris Miljavac then led off the 6th with a
solo homerun to take the lead for good.
• Game 5: On Saturday, TB/CT shut out the tough Bloomington
Stix, one of last year’s final four teams. TB/CT used small ball to
take a 2 to 0 lead in the bottom of the second on Darren Derricks’
bunt. TB/CT added two more in the 4th when Steve Sell scored on a
passed ball and two batters later Tony Schaaf scored on a passed
ball from second. Rob Scheller pitched his second complete game to
secure the win.
• Game 6: In a tournament semi-final, TB/CT took on the
number 1 seeded NY Gremlins and Gerard Muizelaar. While one might
have expected a low scoring affair, it turned out to be anything
but. TB/CT jumped out to a 1 to 0 lead in the bottom of the first on
Trevor Eithier's double and Robbie O'Brien's single. The Gremlins
answered with a run in the top of the third. TB/CT added one in the
fourth. Then the flood gates opened. With 1 out and a runner on
first TB/CT thought they had turned a double play, but did not get
the call. With a runner on first and two outs the Gremlins exploded
for 5 runs, highlighted by a 3 run homer by Paul Walford. A fired up
TB/CT team responded with 3 runs on homers by Chris Delarwelle and
Don Garvey to cut the lead to one, at 6-5. TB/CT added two in the
sixth to take a 7 to 6 lead on Trevor Ethier’s two run homer, but
the Gremlins rallied for one in the top of the seventh to tie the
game and send it to extra innings. The Gremlins started the 8th with
a runner on second but weree not able to advance him past third,
thanks to the pitching of Trevor Ethier, on in relief of Dewey Dyck.
TB/CT started the bottom of the 8th with Chad Mix on second. He
advanced to third on a wild pitch while the Gremlins were trying to
intentionally walk Chris Miljavac. Miljavac then walked. Ethier’s
shallow fly to center was not deep enough to score Mix. Mike
Piechnik, on in relief of Gerald Muizelaar, walked the hot hitting
Chris Delarwelle to load the bases. Then the wild finish: Mike
Piechnik struck out Robbie O'Brien, Chris Miljavac wandered off of
second base, Piechnik whirled and threw to second but Miljavac beat
the throw. Chad Mix alertly took off for home and scored the winning
run in a wild game.
To listen to this game, click the
Ballparkradio.com logo at left.
• Game 7: In the finals TB/CT faced the two time defending
Champions Los Socios from Venezuela. TB/CT jumped to a 2 to 0 lead
in the top of the first. TB/CT added 2 more in the third but Los
Socios kept fighting back adding 3 in the bottom of the third. TB/CT
added 3 more in the 5th but Los Socios notched single runs in the
5th and 6th to keep it close Chris Delarwelle hit his 6th home of
the tournament to clinch the title for
The Bar/Circle Tap
• Individual Awards: Chris Delarwelle secured MVP honors with
his .526 batting average, 10 RBIs and 6 home runs. Rob Scheller
secured Outstanding pitcher honors with two complete game victories.
• Other outstanding performances by TB/CT players were Jon Zipperer,
.500 avg., Trevor Ethier .417 avg, with 2 doubles, Darren Derricks
.364 avg, Chris Miljavac .364 avg, Don Garvey .350 avg, Brock Bisick
.333 avg., and Chad Mix .333 avg.
The Oklahoma Redskins were the 2005 consolation bracket champion.
International Flavor
Last year’s “Final Four” boasted four different teams from four
different countries, champion Los Socios of Venezuela, runner-up
Mexicali of Mexico, and third-place finishers the Sebringville Sting
of Canada and the Bloomington Stix of the USA. In 2005, three
different countries were represented in the “Final Four”, third
place Mexicali, Mexico, runner-up Los Socios of Venezuela, and the
New York Gremlins and champions The Bar/Circle Tap from the USA.
AAU Tournament Continues to Grow
The AAU International tournament started in 2000, with a modest
eight teams, growing to 16 seems the following year, 17 teams in
2002, 18 teams in 2003, and 24 teams in last year’s tournament and
to its largest field of teams this year, with 28. The AAU
International tournament is organized as a collaborative effort by
Alex Linares of the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), and Ken
Hackmeister, executive director of the ISC, the premier organization
for men’s fastball. The past two years, the tournament has added
streaming audio broadcasts of selected games, produced by Jim
Flanagan of Fastpitchwest/Ballparkradio.com, enabling fastball fans
worldwide to follow the action live on the internet.
The talk of the tournament in 2005 was the dramatic increase in the
number of ISC World caliber players, including a number of the
world’s best pitchers, such as the legendary Darren Zack, Gerald
Muizelaar, Dean Holein, Mike Piechnik, Paul Algar, Rob Scheller and
Dewey Dyck, and some of the games best hitters, like Chris
Delarwelle.
Not surprisingly, many of the pitchers from Canada enjoy the trip to
Orlando in the midst of their winter. One of the managers joked that
there were no Canadian pitchers left in Canada during the
tournament. Looking at the list of Canadian pitchers in Orlando for
the AAU, he may have been right: Derrick Mayson, Jaime Simpson,
Darren Zack, Greg Garrity, Collin Mc Kenzie, Blair Ezekiel, Fabian
McCarty, Paul Koert, Rob Fawcett, Rob Scheller, Dewey Dyck, Jeff
Wilson, Craig Hollingsworth, Trevor McCabe, Mike Piechnik, Joe
Robbins, Gerald Muizelaar, Luke Raymer, Wayne Wells, Rob O’Brien,
Jason White, Dan Valachy, Kurt Clark and Ian Knott.
As the worldwide reach of the tournament continues to expand,
invites for 2006 are being extended as far away as Japan, New
Zealand and Australia, with as many as 32 teams expected. The AAU
International tournament has become one of the most popular
tournaments around, so interested teams would be well advised to
make their plans early to bid for a spot, as most of the teams in
attendance in 2005 were already talking about their plans to return
in 2006. As the manager of this year’s champions, The Bar/Circle Tap
said: “I would definitely recommend the AAU International tournament
for those who love fastpitch and would love to get out of the cold.”