To All Managers:
SCIFL will be hosting the Cecilio E Smalling Memorial Tournament on April 28 – 29, 2018 at Little Lake Park, Santa Fe Springs, CA. This tournament will have a round robin format on Saturday followed by a single elimination on Sunday.
Teams interested in participating in the event will need to contact the tournament director, Jesse Ortiz, at scifastpitch@gmail.com by Sunday, April 15, 2018 so the fields can be paid on Monday, April 16, 2018, per the City of Santa Fe Springs. Once the field rentals have been paid we will not be able to make any adjustments so please make sure you notify Jesse in a timely manner; sorry for the delayed invitation.
We will continue to use the bat tester and provide tamper proof decal stickers at this event. Each bat will need to be tested prior to use. Bats that do not have a tamper proof decal sticker will not be allowed in the game. Players should not try to take the tamper proof decal sticker off because any bat with a sticker that looks like it’s been tampered with will not be allowed in play.
In order to start the games on time please arrive at least 45 minutes prior to game time so we can test your bat and provide passing bats with a tamper proof decal sticker for umpires to check on the field.
SCIFL is a non-profit organization that only receives funds from the entry fee teams pay to cover the expenses of running a tournament. Once a team commits to the tournament the expenses are calculated and the field rentals are paid in advance. If a team has committed and then decides to drop out of the tournament, for any reason, they will be subject to the entry fee to cover expenses. The fees will need to be paid prior to any future SCIFL and NAFA tournaments to avoid the team’s roster (players) from suspension. SCIFL will take the team’s roster from the last tournament the team played and will place it on a suspension list if the cancellation fee is not paid. This means players from that team will not be able to play in any SCIFL and NAFA tournaments until the cancellation fee is paid, so please make sure when you commit you are committed to playing in the tournament.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Jesse Ortiz
SCIFL President / Commissioner
661-510-8928
Editor’s note: This one near and dear to my heart, a tournament that I heartily recommend. Cecilio Smalling was one of the finest men in fastpitch that I had the privilege to know. Played against him. Played for him. He was the same man in both instances. When he passed away in 2015, I shared my thoughts about him:
“Cecilo was a good and decent man, one of those people that seemed to have a great personal connection with so many people in the game. He found a place for me on the roster in the Whittier league a few years back when I wanted to pitch again, and then on the Balboa squad, winding up at the NAFA World Series in Topeka. I read a comment someone else made on Facebook that registered with me — that he was the same person win or lose. It’s not that he didn’t’ want to win, just that his relationship with his sons and players on the team seemed to matter much more. Whether you pitched a shutout or gave up a game winning hit, he was still there to greet you as you headed off the field. That will be my lasting memory of him…..Rest in Peace, my friend, you taught us a great deal, not only about the game but about how to treat people”