[Orlando, FL - January 22, 2006] – The USA Men’s
National team claimed gold at the 2006 AAU International
Men’s Fastball tournament when Adam La Londe of Kentwood,
Michigan singled home teammate Blake Miller with the
winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, for a
dramatic 3-2 win over Team Minnesota. Team USA was a
perfect 7-0 in the tournament, with a staggering team
batting average of .400.
For Team
USA, this year, “Price was Right”, as pitcher Travis
Price, from Santa Ana, California went the distance to
pick up the win in the championship game, and also the
trophy as the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, with 2
wins, 2 saves and a microscopic 0.70 ERA. Price struck out
13 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched, starting the
tournament with a mercy-rule shortened no-hitter and
finished with the championship game win.
Price’s
battery mate, catcher Frank De Groat, Jr. of Ringwood, New
Jersey was tabbed as the tournament’s Most Valuable
Player, hitting .412 for the tournament, with 7 hits, 7
runs scored, 8 RBI, 3 home runs and an on-base percentage
of .444, all in addition to handling the catching duties
in all 7 games for Team USA’s world-class pitching staff
consisting of Travis Price, Michael White, Terry Luster,
Cody Thompson and rising star, Sonny Perkins. Price, White
and Perkins had two wins each, with Luster picking up a
win in their semi-final win over Ontario Canada’s Hallman
Twins, a pitching gem against a team that finished third
in the (ISC) World last summer. The USA pitching staff as
a group had an unbelievably stingy ERA of .083, while
their teammates gave opposing pitchers a collective ERA of
.9.02. USA pitchers struck out 52 in 42 innings.
The
starting pitchers for this year’s AAU finalists, Team USA
and Team Minnesota are no strangers to international
competition. Travis Price pitched for Team USA at the ISF
World Championships held in January 2005 in Christchurch,
New Zealand, while Gerald Muizelaar pitched for the silver
medal winning Team Canada. In 2005, Team USA just missed
winning a medal, with New Zealand, Canada and Australia
finishing on the medal stand. Since then, USA head coach
Pete Turner and assistants Rich Clements and Mitch Munthe
have been hard at work toward the goal of winning a medal
next time around. If the AAU results are any indication,
the squad is headed in the right direction.
Team USA
received standout performances from Landy Rodriguez, who
hit .529 for the tournament, with 9 hits, 8 runs scored,
7 RBI and a tournament leading 5 home runs and veteran
Chad Boom, who hit .450, 9 hits, 6 RBI and 6 runs scored.
Runner-up Team Minnesota would like to have had Boom, who
lives in Minnesota himself on their squad.
In earlier
semi-final games on the final day of the tournament, Team
USA defeated the Hallman Twins of Kitchener, Ontario, 4-1
and Team Minnesota took a 6-4 win over Heflin Builders of
Stillwater, NY to set up the championship game. Hallman
finished third in last year’s ISC World Tournament and
will host this year’s ISC at Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
The
tournament was the 7th annual event held at the
Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida,
which once again hosted a field of 28 international teams
hailing from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the
Bahamas, Panama, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, and
Venezuela. (Last year a USA team from Wisconsin, Circle
Tap topped Venezuela) While many in colder regions were
shoveling snow, ballplayers on 28 teams enjoy gorgeous
sunny weather, with temperatures in the low 80’s during
the four day event, organized by Tournament Directors Alex
Linares and Ken Hackmeister. Linares established the
event seven years ago, starting with just eight teams,
growing each year to become one of the largest – and most
anticipated tournaments of the men’s fastball season. In
addition to Linares’ efforts and contacts throughout
Florida and that region of the world, a large reason for
the tournament’s success are the organizational skills of
Ken Hackmeister, who serves year ‘round as the Executive
Director of the ISC (International Softball Congress),
which hosts the premier tournament in all of men’s
fastball every August, the ISC World Tournament.
The
Road to the Championship
Game 1 –
USA 16, Burke Explosion, North Carolina 0
Team USA
set the tone for things to come, scoring 10 runs in the
first two innings, and breezing to a 16-0 opening game
against Burke Explosion of North Carolina. Frank DeGroat,
Jr. and Landy Rodriguez homered for USA, and everyone
marched in the hit parade, banging out 16 hits to support
pitcher Travis Price, who threw three no-hit innings to
pick up the win.
Game 2 –
USA 14, Florida Fastpitch 3
Terry
Luster, Sonny Perkins and Cody Thompson combined for the
win, scoring 7 in the first three innings, and coasting to
a 14-3 final. Ben Fjelland;, Adam LaLonde, Chad Boom,
Sonny Perkins, and Blake Miller all homered, while Frank
DeGroat hit two, for a total of seven in the game. Blake
Miller was 3 for 4, scoring three runs and driving in 5
with the homer and a pair of doubles.
Game 3 –
USA 8, Virgin Island Ambassadors 0
Michael
White and Cody Thompson combined for a one-hitter and easy
win, as USA scored eight runs on 11 hits. Landy
Rodriguez led the way for the USA offense with two home
runs, and Frank DeGroat and Craig Daniels added one home
run each. De Groat, Jr. was the eventual tournament MVP,
while Craig Daniels, from Northern California is the
newest member of Team USA. Daniels had 2 hits, driving in
3, while Rodriguez was 3-3 driving in 3.
Game 4 –
USA 7, Venezuela 2
Newcomer
Sonny Perkins picked up the win for USA, settling down
after Venezuela took an early lead, the only time USA
trailed in a game until the championship game. Venezuela
turned a couple of hits and wild pitches into a 1-0 second
inning lead. USA tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the
second inning, then exploded for six more on four hits and
three costly Venezuela errors in the pivotal third
inning. LaLonde reached on a fielding error, Rodriguez
singled up the middle, advancing to second on an error,
with LaLonde advancing to third. DeGroat, Jr. walked; Boom
reached on a fielding error with DeGroat, Jr. and
Rodriguez moving over to second and third. Sonny Perkins
drove in one with a sacrifice fly. Rey Garcia ten singled
home two more runs; Blake Miller doubled home another,
followed by an RBI single by Miljavic.
Game 5 –
USA 14, Texaco Pirates, Bahamas 0
USA scored
early and often in this one, pounding out 17 hits. Six in
the first, 2 in the second, 3 in the third and 2 more for
the 14-0 run-rule victory. Michael White and Cody
Thompson combined for the win, while teammates Chris
Miljavac; Chad Seeman, Landy Rodriguez; Sony Perkins; and
Rey Garcia all homered for USA.
Game 6 –
Semi-Final – USA 4, Hallman Twins, Kitchener, Ontario,
Canada 2
USA’s Terry
Luster pitched a gem of a game, holding a powerful Hallman
Twins, Ontario Canada team to one run on 6 hits. The
Twins finished third in last summer’s ISC World
Tournament.
USA scored
two in the first and two in the fourth, surrending just
one run to Hallman in the first for the semi-final win.
In the USA first, Adam LaLonde and Landy Rodriguez walked,
and scored on a two run single up the middle by Chad
Boom. The hit proved to be the game winner. The Twins
notched their lone run on a home run to center by bi Dale
Levy. In the USA fourth, it was Chad Boom again, leading
off with a double, scoring on a Sonny Perkins triple.
Matt Darling then drove home Perkins for the final 4-1
score.
Game 7 –
Championship Game – USA 3, Team Minnesota 2
A see-saw
battle saw Team Minnesota jump on top in the first inning,
1-0 when Scott Deutsh doubled home Greg Cascaes.
Excepting an early lead by Venezuela in a round robin
game, it was the only time that USA trailed in a
tournament game.
Team USA
tied the game in the fourth inning when Landy Rodriguez
hit a solo home run to right field, then took the lead in
the bottom of the 5th, when Ben Fjelland
doubled to center field, then scored on an error. Pitcher
Rick Lang came on in relief in the 5th, and his
teammates got things even in the sixth, for a 2-2 tie.
Once again, it was Scott Deutch driving in Greg Cascaes. A
line drive double play ended the Minnesota scoring threat
and set the table for the dramatic finish in the seventh..
Darling struck out looking. With one out, speedster Blake
Miller walked. A ground out put him at second, with two
outs. With the game on the line, Team USA’s Adam La Londe
single to deep short, driving home Miller who sprinted
home with the game, and tournament winning run.
Runner-up
Team Minnesota turned in a fine performance in their first
ever AAU Tournament, led by pitchers Gerald Muizelaar and
Rick Lang, veteran slugger Roman Foore, and a roster of
young, talented ballplayers. Minnesota finished with a
6-1 record:
Game 1:
Team Minnesota 4 Orlando Kings 0
Team
Minnesota scattered 6 hits in their opener. Jeff Ellsworth
(two), Gregg Cascaes and Eric Lewis drove in runs. Rick
Lang earned the win with 9 strikeouts in 5 innings of
work. Gerald Muizelaar worked two innings of relief.
Team
Minnesota 4 Team Colombia 0
Muizelaar
and Twordik
HR-Ellsworth (1, 2)
Jeff
Ellsworth led the charge with two home runs. Two more runs
were added in the sixth inning on Lucas Goring’s 2 RBI
double. Gerald Muizelaar earned the win, striking out 9.
Team
Minnesota 10 Oklahoma Fastpitch 2
Kammueller
and Twordik
HR-Roman Foore (1)
Team
Minnesota scattered 11 hits in their final pool play game.
Lucas Goring was 1-4 with 2 RBI, Gregg Cascaes 2-3, Scott
Deutsch 2-4 with 2 RBI, Roman Foore 1-3 with a Home Run,
Charlie Rambo 2-4 with RBI. Kevin Kammueller earned the
win as he struck out 10.
Team
Minnesota finished 3-0 in pool play and earned the number
three seed in bracket play.
Bracket
Play
Team Minnesota 9 Radio 560 (Mexico)
Lang,
Kammueller and Twordik
HR-L. Goring (1), Ellsworth (3), Foore (2)
Lucas
Goring, Jeff Ellsworth and Roman Foore each hit home runs
in the victory. Rick Lang earned the win, striking out
seven. Kevin Kammueller pitched one inning of relief,
striking out three.
Team
Minnesota 12 FedLock (Washington, DC) 2, 5 innings
Muizelaar
and Twordik
HR-Ellsworth (4), Foore (3), Rambo (1)
Jeff
Ellsworth two-run homer in the first inning set the pace
in this quarterfinal game. Roman Foore hit a towering
three-run homer in the third inning. Jeff Ellsworth
finished 2-3 with 4 RBI. Gerald Muizelaar posted another
win, recording 6 strikeouts.
Semi-Final:
Team Minnesota 6 Heflin Builders (NY) 4
Muizelaar and Twordik
HR-L. Goring (2), Wandler (1)
Lucas
Goring led off the TM half of the first with home run. Two
batters later, Jeff Ellsworth tripled then scored on a
wild pitch. Heflin took the lead back in the top of the
second. The game was brought back to even when Lucas
Goring singled to score Jason Wandler. The back-and-forth
battle continued as Heflin posted a run in the top of the
third. Jeff Ellsworth led of the TM third with a walk.
Then with two outs, Jason Wandler’s home run put TM up to
stay. An insurance run was added the next inning when
Charlie Rambo led off with a triple, then scored on Lucas
Goring’s fielder’s choice. Gerald Muizelaar earned his
third win on the weekend as he struck out 8.
Minnesota’s
only loss came in the Championship Game, described above.
Four of the
games were broadcast live on the internet, on
www.ballparkradio.com,
including the semi-final between the Hallman Twins and
Team USA, and the championship game. Archived copies of
the broadcasts can still be heard by logging into
Ballparkradio.com
Tournament
photographer Maddy Flanagan was once again on hand, taking
hundreds of action photographs which may be viewed at her
husband’s website, Fastpitchwest,
www.fastpitchwest.com,
as well as the AAU’s own website,
www.aausports.org
Plans are
already being made for the Eighth Annual AAU International
Men’s Fastball Tournament, January 2007. Interested
teams can obtain more information at
www.aausports.org
