Florida Fastpitch, Broken Bow, Quad City, Patsy’s, Stampede and Midland Winners on Opening Night
Click here for the updated bracket at Al’s Fastball
(Al’s Bracket is updated, ASA’s is not, yet)
Click here to view the ASA Bracket for the ASA Major Tournament in South Bend, IN, August 2-5, 2007. (PDF file, Adobe Reader required — since it’s on most computers, try double click and wait for it to load)
Opening night scores From 
The West Coast will be sending three teams to the ISC World Tournament this year, # 4 ranked So Cal Bombers, # 10 ranked Vancouver Grey Sox and the # 12 ranked Portland De Marini. Here is a look at their rosters for the tournament.
Casa Trejo So Cal Bombers
Palm Springs CA
1 Pinocchio, Steve 5 IF Merced, CA
2 Mendibles, Albert 6 IF Prescott Valley, AZ
3 Butler, Mike 7 IF Sonora, CA
4 Porto, Jason 8 OF Elk Grove, CA
5 Crawford, Greg 9 OF Calgary, AB
6 Ghostkeeper, Chad 10 C-OF Prince George, BC
7 Lalonde, Adam 11 OF Mt. Pleasant, MI
8 Potskin, Evan 15 OF Prince George, BC
9 Parra, Raymundo 16 UT Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
10 Evely, Geoff 20 IF St.John’s, Nfld
11 Devine, Nate 22 OF Merced, CA
12 Box, Darren 23 C-OF Edmonton, AB
13 Rodriguez, Landy 24 IF-C West Haverstraw, NY
14 Whitten, Sean 27 P Calgary, AB
15 Tilley, Darrell 34 P Edmonton, AB
16 Mata, Lucas 42 P Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
17 Santillano. Marc 45 INF Stockton, CA
18 Peeples, Tony 99 P San Miguel, CA
McGiffin, Kelly 21 Mgr
Shick, Rob 19 Coach
Chase, Doug 2 Coach
Vancouver Grey Sox
Vancouver BC
1 Trevor Johnstone 2 IF Vancouver, BC
2 Doug Cain 6 IF Victoria, BC
3 Scott Newitt 7 OF Delta, BC
4 Derek Mayson 9 IF-P North Vancouver, BC
5 Eric Reisinger 12 IF Chilliwack, BC
6 Calem Gardner 17 OF Squamish, BC
7 Rick Smith 21 P Duncan, BC
8 Nick Underhill 24 P Surrey, BC
9 Sean Cameron 27 OF North Vancouver, BC
10 Rob Geisbrecht 30 OF Landmark, MB
11 Craig Halliday 32 C Squamish, BC
12 Kevin Smillie 33 IF Squamish, BC
13 Bryan Abrey 34 OF Richmond, BC
14 Brian Banner 38 C Sooke, BC
15 Doug Allin 43 OF Summerland, BCJohn Stuart 11 Mgr
Todd Morrison 44 Coach
Doug Van Os 4 Coach
Portland OR
Portland DeMarini
Portland OR
1 Paul Reyes 2 IF Sacramento, CA
2 Bricklen Anderson 3 P Victoria, BC
3 Terry Traverso 4 IF Seattle, WA
4 Jeff Reich 6 OF Stockton, CA
5 Rod Rainey 9 IF Whittier, CA
6 Brian Ree 10 IF Portland, OR
7 Randy Potskin 11 IF Prince George, BC
8 Mike Piechnik 13 P Victoria, BC
9 Todd Garcia 18 C Stockton, CA
10 Jesse Duncan 20 OF Long Beach, CA
11 Rick Rosychuck 21 IF LacLaBiche, AB
12 Ryan Daly 24 UT Seattle, WA
13 Kris Waverick 25 OF North Delta BC
14 Dean Waltier 27 IF Seattle, WA
15 Michael White 30 P Eugene, OR
16 Kevin Rasmussen 35 UT Everett, WA
17 Rob Gehrke 42 UT Portland, OR
18 Craig Pidcock 51 P Surrey, BC
Terry M. Smith 44 Mgr
Len Potskin 77 Coach
Eddie Wilson 7 Coach
Thanks to Tom Ree for this report from Portland, OR
2007 Vancouver BC Challenge
Portland DeMarini finished 3rd at the 2007 Vancouver Challenge beating the host Grey Sox in a close game on Sunday before losing to eventual champs So Cal Bombers. Mike Piechnik picked up the win for Portland. Kris Waverick and Brian Ree homered for Portland. Portland finished with 3 wins at the tournament. Next came the So Cal Bombers. Those Bombers sure can hit. The Bombers also had an impressive win over NY Gremlins in the final.
Portland finished the season at 27-10 and will travel to Kitchner, Ontario for the ISC World Tournament next week.
The team really enjoyed the tournament as did the 11 fans I counted from Portland in the stands. Speaking of fans, there were several hundred each day at the games. The place was packed a few times.
The story of this event, however, is what a great job the hosts did. Starting with newspaper articles. There were several articles including some with photos of Mike Piechnik and Darren Zack who the tournament hosts had a special tribute to. I have never seen so much publicity in a large metro paper(s) for a fastpitch tournament before. IMPRESSIVE! I am told it took a lot of time and effort to get the papers interested in doing these articles.
John Stuart, coach of the Grey Sox, told me he estimated half of the crowd size was due to the newspaper articles. Regardless, the place was packed for a few of the games and good crowds at all games. It is such a bonus to see so many fans. The players, umpires, fans and tournament staff all enjoy the games so much more with a good crowd.
Jimmy Johnson and Craig Donaldson did a superb job of announcing the games and doing the stats. I am not just saying that because they recognized me… inside joke…
The food was excellent, good bbq, sandwiches, soft drinks and beer garden. The servers were all friendly and accomodating.
Justin Morneau’s dad was there selling 50/50 tickets all three days and raised about 5k for the big split on Sunday. His son is the reigning American League MVP. It was all volunteer work with Morneau’s great sense of humor a bonus.
Conrad Margolis, Jimmy Johnson, John Stuart, Craig Donaldson, Larry Kancs, George Morneau and countless other volunteers, thanks for making this such a special event. You undoubtedly raised the bar for Men’s Open Fastpitch tournments on the West Coast. Hope to see you again next year and thanks!
Regards,
Tom Ree
Portland DeMarini
ps We tip our hats to the Grey Sox Organization
From
(click link to visit official site)
The complete list of rosters for the 2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions is now available in the ISC II section of the ISC website at www.iscfastpitch.com.
To view the rosters, click here.
The 2007 ISC II ToC starts on Tuesday August 14 at 11:30 am with games at Budd Park in Kitchener and Riverside Park in Cambridge. The championship game is slated for 11 am on Saturday August 18 at Peter Hallman Ballyard.
For additional information, please contact:
Jim Williamson
ISC II VP
jrwilliamson(at)foodfacility.com
or
Blair Setford
ISC II Commissioner
blairjs(at)rogers.com
August 2-5, 2007 at South Bend, Indiana
Click here to view the Bracket for the ASA Major Tournament in South Bend, IN, August 2-5, 2007. (PDF file, Adobe Reader required — since it’s on most computers, try double click and wait for it to load)
Click here for the tournament website.
Editor’s notes: Speaking of tough draws (see note on Midland below), how about this one: ISC # 1 Broken Bow vs. ISC #6 The Farm in an opening round matchup? 4pm EST Wednesday. (All game times on bracket are EST, adjust your time zone accordingly)
Note that the championship game(s) are slated for Saturday night, August 4th, not the 5th. There will only be games on August 5 in the event of inclement weather.
With the ISC and NAFA going to a cork center ball for safety’s sake, the ASA Major will use the Kmaster poly core. In the past week, a pro baseball base coach and a 12 year old girl both died after being struck by a ball. Does it have to happen in fastpitch before they stop using the poly core rocket balls?
Oh, and then there is this inviting welcome from the ASA:
“Brackets shall be updated, as time permits, throughout the tournament. PLEASE – do not call the complex for game information as none shall be provided over the telephone!
From:
Saskatoon Needs One More Win for Masters Title
Written by Evan Wright – 600 Action News-Local First
The Saskatoon Allied Denture Clinic Masters await a winner in the final of the Western Canadian Master Men’s Fastpitch Championship from Portage la Prairie.
Saskatoon scored some redemption against the Kelowna Andre’s Masters in the 1-versus-2 page playoff with a 10-1 victory. Saskatoon’s lone round robin loss was to the same Andre’s Masters.
Now, Kelowna must play the host team from Portage, with the winner securing a date with Saskatoon in the final. According to tournament rules, the first team to qualify for the final (Saskatoon) needs to win once in the championship match. However, the second team to qualify (either Portage or Kelowna) must win twice.
From:
(click logo for original article)
Explorers net sweep
The Midland Explorers men’s fastpitch team swept a doubleheader from Tiffany’s of Frankenmuth Saturday night at Emerson Park, winning 9-1 and 8-0.
In the first game, Doug Sleep earned the win while Duke Vanderaark took the loss.
Kyle Beane, Eddy Ketelhut, Steve Roberts, and Todd Schultz each had two hits for Midland. Dave Lach hit a home run for Tiffany’s.
In the second game, Grant Patterson was the winning pitcher and Todd Szagesh the losing pitcher. Craig Crawford had a pair of two-run homers, and Beane, Schultz, and Steve Horning each hit a home run.
The Explorers open the 17-team ASA Major National Tournament in South Bend, Ind., on Thursday at 4 p.m. vs. Dolan & Murphy (Ill.). The tourney runs until Saturday.
©Midland Daily News 2007
Editor’s note: Took a peek at Midland’s draws for the ASA Major and the ISC World. If they manage to win their first game in either or both — they run into Orillia, which held the # 1 spot in the rankings most of the year. Tough road to hoe.
Thanks to Cesar Rodriguez, Bombers’ coach and webmaster for this report on the team’s weekend in Vancouver:
2007 VANCOUVER CHALLENGE – Comments:This past weekend certainly was a good tune up for the World Tournament and obviously we’re pleased with our performance in winning the event, especially in defeating some very good clubs including the #1 ranked Broken Bow Gremlins in the final. Our team hasn’t been together for three weeks and the weekend was important in terms of getting back to work and to the process of our season’s plan.
I thought all areas of the team were pretty strong given our layoff and we know that they will have to be in order to have similar success in a few weeks. Our pitching effort was good with all three pitchers showing some great signs of being ready for the challenge of the WT. Our hitting came along throughout the weekend and our at bats improved game after game. We played our usual aggressive style and took advantage of opportunities whenever they presented themselves.
Lucas Mata won the top pitcher award and Darren Box was MVP but any number of players could be pointed out for great performances not the least of which included Steve Pinocchio, Adam Lalonde, Jason Porto and Evan Potskin.
The other news of the weekend was that we made a major signing in adding Doug Chase to our coaching staff. With our third coach, Cesar Rodriguez unable to attend the WT, we felt we needed another set of eyes going into the World’s. If we’re going to do this job effectively, we want all the different areas covered.
Doug (former All-World catcher with Victoria and the Farm) will be with us through the WT and will focus on pitching and catching with an eye to scouting opposing hitters for us. His experience and insights will balance well with Coach Shick and myself. Doug has history with both of us, having played with Rob early in his softball career, and he and I coached together on the Canadian National team.
The Bombers would like to thank the Vancouver Grey Sox for their hospitality and for a very well run and enjoyable tournament. Now it’s a weekend off and then out to Kitchener to start the World Tournament. We have had some great success in our recent tournaments but as our own Lucas Mata says, “we have to take it slowlyâ€. At the World’s, all the teams will be better than they are right now, and the Bombers will not be taken lightly, so we have to be equally ready to stay focused on every pitch, every inning.
C-Rod – So Cal Bombers
Once again, So Cal Bomber pitcher Lucas Mata, formerly of the two-time ISC World Champion County Materials proved to be the difference maker for the Bombers, as they avenged an earlier defeat by Broken Bow, to beat them handily, 11-2 in the Vancouver Challenge championship game. The win at Vancouver marks the second time that Mata has pitched with the Bombers this year, and the second time he has pitched them to a tournament win against a top flite field of teams. The Bombers take a good bit of momentum into the tournament, as they battle towards their goal – an ISC World Title.
Broken Bow nabbed the # 1 spot in the final set of rankings leading into next month’s ISC World Tournament, after holding down the # 3 spot most of the year. The Bombers jumped from # 7 to # 4 on the strength of their win last month at Monkton Tournament, which boasted the strongest field of teams this side of the world tournament. The Bombers got to both pitchers equally, 7 against Andrew Kirkpatrick in 5 innings and 4 more against Jeremy Manley in one inning in the 6 inning-run-rule shortened game, while Mata held Broken Bow to just 2 runs on 4 hits. Evan Potskin (triple, homer, 2 runs and 4 RBI) led the way, with plenty of support from Steve Pinnochio (3 for 3 with a triple, two singles, 2 runs scored and an RBI), Adam LaLonde (3 runs). Jason Porto added a home run for the Bombers as well.
From
Complete Scoreboard at Al’s Fastball
Vancouver Challenge Semi Final and Final results
Semi Final
Portland DeMarini 4 R 2 H 4 E
SoCal Bombers 11R 9 H 2 EPortland
Pitching
Bricklen Anderson(L) 4 IP 8 R 5 ER 7 H 4 BB 3 K
Craig Pidcock .1 IP 3 R 3 ER 2 H 3 BB
2 KHitting
Brian Ree 1 for 2 RSoCal
Pitching
Darryl Tilley 2 IP 3 R 2 ER 0 H 3 BB 4
K
Sean Whitten(W) 2 IP 1 R 0 ER 3 H 2 BB 3 K
Lucas Mata 1 IP
3 KHitting
Adam Lalonde 1 for 2 (2B) 3 R
Chad Ghostkeeper 2 for 4 (1B,1B) RBI
Evan Potskin 1 for 3 (2B) R 2 RBI
Marc Santillano 2 for 2 (1B,1B) R, 3 RBICHAMPIONSHIP GAME
SoCal Bombers 11 R 9 H 2 E
Broken Bow 2 R 4 H 2 ESoCal
Pitching
Lucas Mata 6 IP 2 R 1 ER 4 H HR 2 BB 9 K’sHitting
Adam Lalonde 1 for 2(1B) 3 R
Steve Pinocchio 3 for 3(1B,1B,3B) 2R, RBI
Evan Potskin 2 for 4(3B,HR) 2 R, 4 RBI
Jason Porto 1 for 3(HR) R, RBIBroken Bow
Pitching
Andrew Kirkpatrick (L) 5 IP 7 R 5 ER 6 H 8 K
Jeremy Manley 1 IP 4 R 3 ER 3 H 1 KHitting
Jordan Taveras 1 for 2 (1B) R
Eduardo Leonardo 1 for 3 (HR) R RBICHAMPIONS – SoCal Bombers
RUNNER UP – Broken Bow Gremlins
3 RD PLACE – Portland DemariniISC Canada West Qualifier – Vancouver Grey Sox
TOURNAMENT TOP HITTER – Derek Mayson Vancouver Grey Sox
TOURNAMENT TOP PITCHER – Lucas Mata SoCal Bombers
TOURNAMENT MVP – Darren Box SoCal Bombers
From
[Middleton, Wisconsin] – The following are scores from today’s games at the NAFA Open World Series at the Bowling Green Sports Complex. We are still having connectivity issues as we attempted to post to the website (http://www.open.nafafastpitch.com) using a cell phone as a dial-up modem. We will try and post to the site tomorrow and at the least attempt to post to news services with scores.
Saturday Scores:
Bloomington Stix 2 Townline 0
Dolan & Murphy 3 Thomson Area Merchants 1
New Image 4 Midwest Stampede 2
Kegel Black Knights 9 Plangger’s Furniture 5
Thomson Area Merchants 2 Bloomington Stix 1, eliminated
Townline 6 Dolan & Murphy 0, eliminated
New Image 7 Plangger’s Furniture 1, eliminated
Midwest Stampede 9 Kegel Black Knights 0, 5 innings, eliminated
Circle Tap 2 MinnDak Millers 1, 8 innings
Albaugh, Inc. 7 The Farm Tavern 3
New Image 8 Thomson Area Merchants 7, 12 innings, eliminated
Townline 8 Midwest Stampede 0, 5 innings, eliminated
Circle Tap 5 Albaugh, Inc. 2
Sunday’s Games
8am
New Image vs MinnDak Millers
Townline vs The Farm Tavern
10am
8am game winners
Noon
Albaugh, Inc. vs 10am game winner
2pm, Championship Game
Circle Tap vs noon game winner
Once again, we will attempt to update the website if a strong enough internet connection can be acquired.
Brett Bresnahan
breshz(at)minnesotafastpitch.com
http://www.open.nafafastpitch.com
http://www.nafafastpitch.com