[SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA - 6/6/04] - Team Rainey is headed to the ISC World Tournament in Fargo, North Dakota, August 13-21, 2004 after steamrolling opponents in its three single elimination games Sunday at Santa Fe Springs and claiming the 2004 California Area ISC title.

Yesterday, the same two teams met up in the "battle of the unbeatens", playing for the #1 seed and a first round bye in today's elimination round.   The Leafs came from behind to win that one 4-3 on a two out, two run flair single to centerfield by Troy Parker.  For box score from this game, click here. For play-by-play game log click here.

Championship Game

Leaf First Inning: Back to Back Homers for Parker and Perkins, Leafs up 2-0

On Sunday, it was the left handed hitting Parker putting his team on top in the first inning, with a solo home run to straight away center off Travis Price.   One pitch later, it was Sonny Perkins driving the ball over the right --centerfield fence, putting Leafs up 2-0.   But except for one meaningless run in the 4th when the game was out of reach, that was all the Leafs would get off eventual winning pitcher Travis Price.

Rainey Second, One run on RBI single by Chris Wright, 2-1 Leafs

Trailing 2-0 in the second, Team Rainey trimmed the lead to 2-1, when Paul Reyes doubled to right with one out, and came home to score on a hard bouncer up the middle by Chris Wright.

Six Run Fourth by Team Rainey Puts the Game Away; Two run single by Devine breaks the game open, 7-2 Rainey

In the top of the 4th inning, Rod Rainey got things going with a flair single to right field, just beyond the reach of Leafs first baseman Sean Barker, and kicked to the right, allowing Rainey to round first and slide into second safely.  With one out, Paul Reyes reached safely on a infield nubber that he beat out, sending Rainey over to third with the tying run. Chris Wright hit a line drive into left field, driving in his second run of the day, tying the game, and sending runners to second and third.  When Jason Porto entered the game as a pinch-hitter, Barker seemed to want no part of him, walking him to load the bases.  A couple of pitches later, Rainey took the lead, 3-2, on a wild pitch that sent Paul Reyes scampering home. 

Nate Devine got the key hit of the game a couple of pitches later, when he stroked a hard single through the left side of the infield, scoring Wright and Porto, and giving Team Rainey a 5-2 lead, and one they would not relinguish.  Team Rainey tacked on two more runs in the inning, as Jesse Duncan hit a double to right, which fell just beneath the glove of oncoming Albert Garcia, bringing home Devine with run number six.  The next hitter, Mike Butler hit a scorching line drive to center which skipped past Mike Quinn and went to the fence, bringing home Duncan, with Butler cruising into third with a triple.

RBI single by Jeff Twist cuts lead to 7-3, Rainey

The Leafs scored one more run in the bottom of the fourth when Darryl Goree doubled to center, then scored on a single to right by Leaf's catcher, Jeff Twist.

Five More Runs for Rainey in the Fifth to Seal this one, 12-3.

As they did in the fourth, Team Rainey batted around in the fifth, scoring five more to run the lead to 12-3.    Spud Barker got the first batter of the inning on an easy grounder, then a infield pop up for the second out, yielding only a walk to Paul Reyes.  But Team Rainey pounded out four consecutive hits, a double to center by Ralph Salcido, another RBI single by Nate Devine, his third RBI of the game, a long double to left by catcher Tony Acedo and (another) single to right by Jesse Duncan.  Mike Butler walked, but Rod Rainey followed that with an RBI single, as the ninth hitter of the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, after yielding a leadoff double to the Leaf's Albert Garcia, Travis Price bore down and struck out the side, his 5th, 6th and 7th strikeouts of the game, and the win.

The tournament title is Team Rainey's third tournament win of the young season, taking home the first place hardware in Norwalk with a championship game win over the So Cal Bombers, and the California International Classic last weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) in Fresno, with a pair of wins over Portland DeMarini, currently ranked #13 in the world.

Team Rainey Headed to 2004 ISC World Tournament, the "Granddaddy of them All"

With the win, Team Rainey clinched a berth to the ISC World Tournament to be held in Fargo-Moorehead, North Dakota, August 13-21, 2004.   It will be the second trip to the World Tournament for Team Rainey, who performed very well last year in its first ever World Tournament.  Team Rainey went 3-1 in pool play last year, which normally would have put them into the "Sweet Sixteen" elimination bracket.  Among their three wins was a victory over # 6 ranked Owen Sound of Canada, which many observers called the biggest upset of the tournament.  However, due to a tie within their pool, a first-ever playoff was held, and Team Rainey was eliminated, finishing with a 3-2 record. 

This year, Team Rainey added several key players, including pitcher Tony Peeples and power-hitting Jason Porto, both from last year's NAFA "AAA" World Champions, Team Lyons.  This writer likened these acquisitions to the signing of Kevin Brown and Alex Rodriguez by the Yankees.  The rich got richer. 

The squad arranged a very ambitious schedule for the 2004 season, including Red Rock Utah last month, the Decatur Shootout in Ilinois in mid June, the Rose Cup in Portland, Oregon  in late June, the Boys of Summer Tournament in Denmark Wisconsin in early July and the Bob Walsh Memorial later in that month in Allentown Pennsylvania, leading into the ISC World Tournament.  During those tournaments, Team Rainey will face many of the top ranked teams in the world, and will be looking to improve on their own #17 pre-season ranking. 

The Leafs finished an outstanding weekend with a 4-1 record, led by pitcher/designated hitter Sonny Perkins, who hit four home runs on the weekend, and notched three of his teams four wins.  Leafs' third baseman Troy Parker had a pair of home runs, both against Team Rainey, and drove in a handful of runs to help in the cause.

Captain Dan's and the So Cal Bombers finished third, each notching a Sunday morning win before being eliminated.

Captain Dan's rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win an exciting 6-5 tie breaker in 8 innings, the winning run scoring on a sacrifice fly by Chris Minogue, as Rich Woods battled for the win.  Captain Dan's other pitcher, Dave Meltz, on loan from the "C" Alliance's Santana Concrete pitched well in his two games, losing two tough one run ball games, 4-3 to the So Cal Bombers and 2-1 to the Leafs. 

Meanwhile, the So Cal Bombers eliminated the upstart Edge team, 6-2 behind the pitching of Panfilo Valdez and a home run by Damian Guerrero.  The Edge carried the banner for the So Cal ASA "C" Alliance very well, finishing the weekend 2-2 against higher classification teams, which earned them the # 3 seed overall, including a 7-6 extra inning win over Mexicali with Randy Clay picking up the win.

SATURDAY'S ROUND ROBIN PORTION OF TOURNAMENT

[SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA - 6/5/04] - The schedule said "Sun Devils", but the uniforms said "Leafs".  Whatever you call these guys, they came to play Saturday at the ISC State Tournament.   The team is a merger of sorts, of Sun Devil players and a trio of aces from the Blackhawks, Sonny Perkins and the Barker Boys, headed up by solid hitting Troy Parker.  On Saturday, it was Perkins and Parker who played key roles in their team's perfect 3-0 day, which included wins over two of Southern California's best, the Bombers and Team Rainey.

The Sun Devils/Leafs opened their day inauspiciously with a narrow 3-2 win over Clyde Bennett's 50 and over team from Santa Barbara.  Santa Barbara ace Hank Scheid turned in a solid performance to keep things close. 

In their second game, the Leafs were locked in a pitcher's duel, with their own Sonny Perkins on the mound, while Darren Strang, fresh off a plane from Vancouver Canada, battled for the Bombers.  Perkins took matters into his own hands, by hitting a 2 run home run to give the Leafs the lead.   Panfilo Valdez came on in relief of Strang, as Perkins continued to hang donuts on the scoreboard.  Just for good measure, Perkins doubled home two more runs for the final 4-0 margin of victory.

The Leaf's final game of the day was against Team Rainey, regarded by many as the best team in Southern California.   Spud Barker took the mound for the Leafs, while Tony Peeples had the ball for Team Rainey.  Rainey got on the board first in the bottom of the second, on a lead-off double to deep right center, scoring on a double to right by Ralph Salcido.  The Leafs tied the score in the top of the third when Chad Landers led off with a walk, was sacrificed to second, and scored in a double to the left field corner by Troy Parker.  

Rainey reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the 3rd, scoring twice for a 3-1 margin.  Mike Butler reached on an infield error by Barker, was sacrificed over by Rod Rainey, and came home on a double to right center by Chris Hunt.  Hunt then score when Porto smashed his second double of the game to down the left field line.

Mike Quinn trimmed the margin in the top of the 4th with a solo home run to straight away center for the Leafs.  An infield error opened the door for the Leafs, while a double to right center by Chad Landers set the stage for their comeback, putting runners at second and third with two out.  Troy Parker came through again, with a flair single that fell into no man's land in shallow center field, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score.  Parker was headed for second when centerfielder Jason Porto made like a shortstop and ran him down for the final out of the inning, but the Leafs had taken the lead for good.   Peeples gave way to Price, while Sonny Perkins came on for Barker, and both pitched impressively in shutting down the opposition the rest of the way.

In other games, the Edge, the current ASA "C" Alliance league leader showed they could "play up", going 2-1 on the day for the third best record over all, including one of the most exciting games of the day, a 7-6, 9 inning win over the always tough Mexicali team.  The Edge didn't get into the tournament until Wednesday, and added several Raymar players and Black Sox ace Randy Clay.  It was Clay on the mound for the entire 9 innings, picking up the win.  Keith Barker, who has played upper level fastpitch for the Doughboys and the Long Beach Painters was the key, singling home the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, then scoring the game winner for the Edge.

On the day, only the Leafs, Rainey and the Edge finished with winning records, though many were one run affairs, as the scoreboard shows.

All seven teams will return to play Sunday, in a single elimination bracket, with the winner earning a berth to the granddaddy of them all, the ISC World Tournament, to be held this year in the Fargo-Moorehead of North Dakota.

Clyde Bennett
mailto:clydebennett13@yahoo.com
6600 Stagecoach Rd.
Santa Barbara, CA. 93105
Phone:  805-964-2114


From:  Gordon Wise - - - ISC Information Officer
mailto:sgwise@woh.rr.com
http://www.iscfastpitch.com