{"id":21257,"date":"2013-06-16T20:11:18","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T03:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=21257"},"modified":"2013-06-17T08:20:55","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T15:20:55","slug":"sooke-loggers-claim-nafa-open-holm-classic-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=21257","title":{"rendered":"Sooke Loggers claim NAFA Open-Holm Classic title (story by Bob Otto)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/a>
Click to continue reading story at OttoInFocus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>From OttoInFocus<\/em>
\nWritten by Bob Otto
\n(Story Reprinted with permission from Bob Otto)<\/p>\n

FARGO, ND \u2013 In fastpitch softball, ball players must have short memories. They must put bad outings and disappointing losses behind them.<\/p>\n

Sometimes easier said than done. The Sooke Loggers would know.<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s NAFA Open World Series championship, the Loggers suffered a gut wrenching, 9-8, loss to the Circle Tap Dukes. After leading by four runs in the seventh inning, the Loggers saw that hefty lead vanish as Circle Tap rallied for five runs to seize the title.<\/p>\n

But there would be no gut-wrenching loss this year. No going back to British Columbia, Canada disappointed. Loggers\u2019 pitcher Scott Lieph made sure of that.<\/p>\n

LIEPH TOUGH IN THE CIRCLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

He threw a masterpiece in the title game, giving up but one unearned run in the fifth, while striking out 12 in leading the Loggers to a tough 3-1 victory over the St. Paul, Minnesota Angels, Sunday at Fargo\u2019s Lindenwood Park.<\/p>\n

But just like last year, the seventh inning turned into a nail biter for Lieph and the Loggers.<\/p>\n

It started well enough with Lieph retiring Wayne Petrie on a strikeout. But then it got tense. Leadoff hitter Jacob Rooke promptly singled, giving the Angels hope. Now it was Josh Wagner\u2019s turn, but Lieph\u2019s rise ball got him to pop up to shortstop, Kris Walushka.<\/p>\n

TENSE TIME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now just one out away from nailing down the win, Lieph had to deal with Rick Saunders. The Angels\u2019 No. 3 hitter had already roughed up Lieph for two hits. And he did it again, with a double, sending Rooke racing to third.<\/p>\n

Nervous time? Definitely.<\/p>\n

For in the batter\u2019s box stood USA National Team player Roman Foore representing the winning run.<\/p>\n

But Lieph reached back and fired three consecutive pitches by Foore for the strikeout, ending the game, and touching off a wild celebration on the Loggers side. And shortly after during the NAFA awards presentation, Lieph was chosen as the NAFA Open Most Valuable Pitcher.<\/p>\n

SOOKE\u2019S AWARD WINNERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joining Lieph was Walushka, selected the Most Valuable Player, with outfielder Blake Hunter, designated hitter Dan Whiteford, and pitcher \/ hitter Rich Haldane selected to the All-World team.<\/p>\n

LOGGERS POTENT OFFENSE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sooke\u2019s powerful lineup swung hot bats throughout the tournament, outscoring its opposition 42-10. But the championship proved tougher as Angels\u2019 right-hander Justin Schofield held the Loggers to two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts.<\/p>\n

But Sooke got to Schofield with a single run in the second on Whiteford\u2019s double, scoring Hunter, who reached on an error. The Loggers added their final two runs in the third. Leadoff batter Kris Walushka belted a two-run homer with Ben Edgington aboard by way of a single. But that would be all the offense the Loggers would muster.<\/p>\n

The Angels scored their lone run in the fifth. But it was tainted. Leftfielder Jeff Mataczynski singled to start the inning, and eventually came around on a pair of errors.<\/p>\n

HIGH-SCORING LOGGERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Loggers swept through the tournament, 6-0, and marched through Pool B, by beating the Kegel Black Knights of Fargo, 4-3; the West Fargo Knights, 8-0, and Circle Tap, 10-0.<\/p>\n

And in getting some revenge for last year\u2019s loss, the Loggers crushed Circle Tap again in the first round of Sunday\u2019s playoffs, 9-2. That set up a game with fellow Canadians, Randy\u2019s A\u2019s, from British Columbia. The Loggers hammered four home runs to take a 7-4 win, setting up the title match with Angels.<\/p>\n

ANGELS GOOD ON SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The St. Paul ball club finished 2-1 in Pool A and was delegated the No. 3 seed. The Angels got hot on Sunday, knocking off a very good Diamondbacks (4-1) club from Saskatoon, 8-2. And then shook off the Winnipeg Bullets, 3-2, to reach the title game. Schofield spun a six hitter and allowed the two runs, to pick up the win.<\/p>\n

Sooke lineup:<\/strong> Kris Walushka, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, run, home run; Blake Hunter, 1-3, run; Dan Whiteford, 1-2, RBI, and Ben Edgington, 1-2, run.<\/p>\n

Angels lineup:<\/strong> Jacob Rooke, 1-for-4; Rick Saunders, 3-4; Jesse Delorit, 1-3, and Jeff Mataczynski, 1-3, run.<\/p>\n

2013 NAFA Open World Series All World Team<\/strong>
\nMost Valuable Pitcher, Scott Lieph, Sooke
\nMost Valuable Player, Kris Walushka, Sooke<\/p>\n

All World Team<\/strong>
\nBlake Hunter, Sooke
\nRich Haldane, Sooke, pitcher
\nDan Whiteford, Sooke
\nJesse Delorit, Angels
\nWayne Petrie, Angels
\nJustin Schofield, Angels, pitcher
\nRandy Potskin, Randy\u2019s A\u2019s
\nChad Ghostkeeper, Randy\u2019s A\u2019s
\nBrian Newton, Randy\u2019s A\u2019s, pitcher
\nBrady Woods, Winnipeg Bullets, pitcher
\nJay Dewis, Winnipeg Bullets
\nTravis De Jong, Kegel Black Knights
\nLewis Weldon, Circle Tap Dukes
\nTrevor Ethier, Diamondbacks, Saskatoon
\nBrennen Pokoyoway, Diamondbacks, Saskatoon
\nChad Starling, Diamondbacks, Saskatoon
\nMatt Thornton, Topeka Toros
\nJosh Pettett, Topeka Toros<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From OttoInFocus Written by Bob Otto (Story Reprinted with permission from Bob Otto) FARGO, ND \u2013 In fastpitch softball, ball players must have short memories. They must put bad outings and disappointing losses behind them. Sometimes easier said than done. The Sooke Loggers would know. In last year\u2019s NAFA Open World Series championship, the Loggers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nafa","8":"category-tournaments","9":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21257"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21260,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21257\/revisions\/21260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}