The Daily Courier  

July 10, 2003

PRESCOTT, AZ – One swift, brutal act of Mother Nature and a favorable vote to earn a bid were the lone elements required to return the ASA National 50-Over men’s fast-pitch softball tournament to Prescott.

A violent southern hurricane ripped through Cullman, Ala., host of the tourney in 2002, last summer, leaving the town’s fields in tatters and the event completely cancelled.

“Teams that went down there stayed five days and didn’t pitch a ball,” said veteran local softball guru A.C. Williams.

This Friday through Sunday, Ken Lindley Field, Roughrider Park and Pioneer Park will be the sites for ASA’s premier national event after it took a brief one-year hiatus from Prescott.

A majority of 50 national ASA conference commissioners representing each of the 50 states voted at the end of last year to bring the tournament back here, selecting it over six other American cities. Killeen, Texas, will be the host in 2004.

The tourney will feature 23 teams from the Midwest to California’s Bay Area, and include men’s fast-pitch stars of the 1970s and 1980s. Williams said some players have competed in eight to 15 national tournaments over the last 20 years.

“They’ve been around the horn,” he said. “They know what it’s all about.”

The defending tournament champion Texas Stars (Houston), and a Tulsa, Okla., Grey Sox team comprised of some of the California Painters - runner-up in 2000 and 2001 - highlight the field. Everett, Wash., and the Southern California Masters from Lancaster, Calif., could be others to watch.

Conspicuously missing will be the Minneapolis Metros, title winners in the 2000 tournament.

Some of the Metros best players have mixed in with the Wisconsin teams - which include Green Bay, Oregon, Wis., and Reedsburg, a suburb of Madison, Wis.

The Painters, a tournament favorite from Stockton, Calif., recently combined their efforts with the Tulsa Grey Sox after one of the Painters’ star pitchers died of a heart attack three months ago. In his place, pitcher Cary Weiler looks to lead the club into action this weekend.

Also on the Grey Sox’s roster is longtime hurler Dennis Stillwell, who has pitched in many Prescott tournaments through the years. Another recognizable name on the Grey Sox is Paul Rubin, a reporter for The New Times in Phoenix who played for the national tournament runner-up from San Diego in 2001.

The Texas Stars, who won the ‘01 tournament, draw players from Texas, Florida, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia and New Mexico. They again figure to make plenty of noise.

Organized in 1996, the Stars have finished among the nation’s top five in both Masters Divisions - 40-45 and 50-plus.

Four Arizona teams have entered, among them being the Prescott Old Timers - a sixth-place finisher in 2001 - the Tempe Surveyors, Tucson Old Stars, and Tucson Krugerrands.

Rocky Annecchini will manage the Prescott entry, and the team will count on pitchers Howard Sommer and Steve Hardesty to return them to prominence.

The Old Timers, who go by “Townsend Construction” in city league play, won the four-team mini-tournament in Prescott last weekend. The team is made up of local businessmen who have played fast-pitch in Prescott for decades.

In 2001, the Old Timers went 2-2 at the national tournament, but aren’t expected to fare as well this time around. The Surveyors feature all of the top Maricopa County players who have played for years, but they, too, are expected to struggle without a local league from which to compete.

Tucson, on the other hand, has kept up with the national competition. The Old Stars are the No. 1 Arizona team in the tournament, and are expected to win some games.

“Tucson has more fast-pitch teams per capita of any town in the United States,” said Williams, adding that there are 20 to 30 squads located in the Old Pueblo.

Two of men’s fast-pitch’s finest pitchers, the Stars’ Sam Banegas and one-time Minneapolis standout Bob Moore, are scheduled to appear as well.

The tournament’s opening games, of which there are eight, are slated for 6 p.m. Friday at Ken Lindley Field (two), Roughrider Park (two), and Pioneer Park (four, on a pair of fields). There will be a contest played every two hours on Saturday, with some 46 games being played in all.

The tournament draw takes place Friday morning, with the schedule being drawn up at that time.

The tournament championship showdown will be at Ken Lindley Field Sunday at 4 p.m.