ISC Championship Game Video
8/21:
Pending on-site tech issues, the ISC will be webcasting the Championship game. You can view it by cutting and pasting the address below in your internet explorer browser address window.
http://cc.desktoplive.com/asx/iscvideo.asx
(Please do not click on the link, or you will get an error message.)
Viewers will require a 200k or better Internet connection, Windows 2000 or better and Windows Media Player 9 in order to view.
The first ever California Cup Tournament was played this past weekend. After months of banter in the Fastpitchwest Forum, the teams finally took to the fields to compete. When it was all said and done, Fred Hanker’s Black Sox were crowned as the 2004 Cal Cup champs and will get to hold onto “the Cup” until 2005.
For those of you who have not followed the Forum discussion about the California Cup, it is an all comers tournament for ASA “C” level teams for teams from anywhere in the State of California, designed to crown a “California Cup Champion”, which takes home a perennial trophy for the year (a la Stanley Cup), passing it on to the next year’s champion, after engraving the name of the prior year’s winner. The idea for the California Cup did not surface this year until almost Memorial Day, and while not all of the teams in California were able to make it this year, we were pleased to have all three regions of California represented at the tournament, and hope to have even more include “the Cup” in their plans next season.
For the first year, the tournament was hosted by Eddie “Dude” Ybarra and the City of Fresno Parks and Recreation Department, which provided the facilities, balls, umpires, scorekeepers, trophies, logo, T-shirts, and full time grounds crew all for a remarkable $150 entry fee.
Job well done, Dude.
The concept is to “take the show on the road”, moving the tournament locale each year, to give each region an opportunity to host (and to be fair about the travel required for each region). The hope is to expose the fastpitch teams of the State to new places to play, give them the opportunity to play against opponents that they might not otherwise get a chance to face, and finally, to spur interest in the game of men’s fastpitch across the Golden State.
With host Fresno in Central California, the Cup will be in either Northern or Southern California. Cities or teams interested in hosting the tournament or people wishing to lend a hand to the organizing committed are invited to send an email to calcup@fastpitchwest.com
We also invited teams and players (both those who played this year and those who did not) to send comments on things you liked about this year’s eveng, or suggestions on how to improve the tournament in the future. The tournament committee will revisit such topics as the tournament format, roster eligibility and the like, in an effort to be responsive to the wishes of the teams that compete for The Cup.
For 2004, those in attendance will probably remember the remarkable 8-game performance of The Tribe’s pitcher Mark Manuelito whose teammates said they would “ride him ’til he dropped” (he didn’t), and the three wild games played between the Black Sox and the Tribe to decide things. While the Sox escaped with the rubber game, and the Cup, the Tribe impressed everyone with their “never-out-of-it offense” and refusal to surrender to fatigue or the heat. In the last couple games against the Tribe, Sox centerfielder Steve Tollington was dubbed “The Fugitive”, because of the number of times that he hand his hands in the air to signal “ground rule double”. For all of the teams, it seemed like an “Earl Weaver” weekend, as home run ball reigned. Cal Cup MVP Gerald Pyle hit three, each one seemingly further than the last, and eliciting plenty of eye-popping reactions ’round the field. Even the slo-pitch fences behind the championship fences weren’t safe from his and a few others. Jerome Arteberry of the Native American team hit a couple of key homers to swing the momentum in two of their games, turning 5 run deficits into 11-10 wins. Valley Lyons , the pre-tournament pick by many and still regarded as one of the best teams in the state, carried the banner, along with the Shockers for the home-town Fresno fans, finishing in a tie for third, losing only to the Sox and Tribe in hard fought games.
A personal thank you goes out to all of the teams that did make it to Fresno, to take a chance on a first year tournament, including the Knights, Gaines Liquor, The Tribe, Raymar, Energy Link, the Amigos, Valley Lyons, the Black Sox, the Native Americans, the Shockers and KHT Pumpers. Win, lose or draw, you were there to compete. We hope to see all of you and many more at next year’s Cup, wherever that may be.
The 14th annual Best of the West Tournament is in the books now, with Team Rainey coming out on top for the third consecutive year. Chris Wright earned MVP honors with an 8-hit, 5 RBI Sunday, while Tony Peeples garnered Most Valuable Pitcher honors, on the strength of his 9 inning championship game win over Casa Trejo.
Casa Trejo’s Mark Bennett had a fine tournament as well, pitching 28 innings, going 3-1 with a no decision. Mark gave up only 3 earned runs in the entire tournament, and walked two, both in the final game. He gave way in the 8th inning of the title game, a bit weary for all the innings pitched.
The new facility at Winchester, CA (near Hemet) was a last minute replacement for the Soboba Sports complex, and got good reviews from those in attendance. (especially the concession manned by Ralph Trejo, Jr. whose culinary skills were on display) Kudos to David Blackburn for pulling this one off, under difficult circumstances, and spending a few hundred extra dollars for “field preps” to make sure the fields were in top shape for each game. The only criticism I heard was the long fences which stole a home run or three. (Didn’t prevent Ralph Salcido from going yard, or Keith Barker from reaching the centerfield fence on a fly, no easy feat). And that is easily remedied by portable fencing. The facility is new, but has modern clean restrooms and three good diamonds, making it tournament friendly. Once the trees around the park mature a bit, there will be shade as well. For this one, it was “umbrella city”.
One final note, was that we ran into an old friend we hadn’t seen in a while, Bob Otto. Bobby, as most of you know is a guest writer and photographer for Fastpitchwest, after giving up his duties as the official photographer for the ISC. (Maddy’s idol, as she often says.) Bob was kind enough to share some of his handiwork with us, which we have posted at the Best of the West pages. (click the title of this story, then the menu buttons at left) The photo collages he did for this one are some of my favorites.
Well, OK, I guess it was more than just one old friend that I ran into at Winchester…..it was good to run into an old Vista Bomber teammate of mine, Russ Snow, who is still winging it, in this tournament for the Edge. Russ spends most of his time on the other side of “the pond”, in England, where he and his family reside. He is still involved with fastpitch in Europe, and makes a few trips a year stateside, finding time to pitch in the Best of the West and the 45+ Nationals. Russ has played for the Vista Bombers, Long Beach Painters, Larry Miller Toyota and most recently, the California Painter team with another former Vista pitcher, Cary Weiler.
Next year will be the 15th Annual Best of the West.
Portland De Marini Rose Cup Tournament Brings out the Best Teams West of the Rockies
When you talk about the best fastpitch teams and tournaments west of the Rockies, all eyes turn North by Northwest. The Pacific Northwest, that is, and in recent years, to the Portland DeMarini Rose Cup tournament. The 2004 Rose year’s tournament was held on June 26-27, 2004, under picture perfect Portland sunny summer skies, hosting fourteen teams, including three of the top 10 teams in the world (Broken Bow Spirit, Victoria BC and Vancouver BC) and two more in the top 20 (Team Rainey, and Portland’s own DeMarini Merchant team.) Broken Bow NY, the defending ISC World Champions came away the winner, adding another tournament title to the one they won last month at Red Rock in St. George Utah. (As covered in the July 2004 issue of Softball Magazine)
In fastpitch’s earlier heyday, the Rose Cup tournament was a fixture, but had gone by the boards, like so many others. But thanks to energetic organization by Tom Ree and his staff of volunteers and support of the City of Portland Parks and Recreation Department and local community, the tournament was revived starting in 2001 and has quickly become a team and fan favorite. The tournament is designated as an official “Rose Festival†event, part of the month-long festivities of all kinds going on in Portland. Teams are housed in local hotels in the Jantzen Beach area, at the north end of Portland, just a stones throw from the Columbia River that separates Portland Oregon from Vancouver Washington. Local restaurant and tournament sponsor Damon’s joined in the fun by hosting a player buffet on Friday and Saturday night, as they did last year. The “Rotunda†as some player call it serves as a gathering place throughout the day, for teams to unwind after a game, or share stories while they wait for their next.
But above all, it is top flite men’s fastpitch played in a top notch facility, Delta Park that is the biggest draw for these highly competitive teams, who now earmark the last weekend in June for Rose Cup a “can’t miss†event. The games are played at Delta Park, a five diamond complex set up “wagon-wheel†style, with a large rotunda shaped concession building complete with air conditioning, restaurant style seating, TV’s, plenty of food and of course, everyone’s’ favorite beverage. The “Rotunda†as some of the players call it, serves as a gathering place where teams unwind after a game or get ready for the next, while chatting it up with teams from other cities and states. For the second year in a row, the #1 ranked team and defending ISC World champions made the trek to the Portland Rose Cup.
While the majority of the top ranked men’s fastpitch teams in the world hail from east of the Rockies, there is a solid, and growing group playing fastpitch in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, and meet up in the Rose Cup tournament. Victoria Travellers Inn and the Vancouver Grey Sox, both of British Columbia are familiar rivals, as are the Rose Cup host team, the Portland DeMarini Merchants. Last year’s NAFA AA champions have reformed as Morgan Transfer of Olympia WA and give the Norwest region four nationally ranked open level teams. All four compete in the “Norwest League†generally recognized as the strongest men’s league out west. British Columbia also has two other upper level teams in Linus Software Stealers of Richmond and Meraloma of Vancouver. Add to that Bodle Chiropractic of Washington and CR/Adidas of Portland Oregon, and you have 8 of the best men’s fastpitch teams all within driving distance of each other, and a great nucleus for the field of teams in the Rose Cup tournament, and good drawing power to teams outside the region, like those in California, Utah and New York that made the trip in 2004. For the first time this year, selected games (six in all) were broadcast live on the internet to a worldwide listening audience, by Jim Flanagan of Fastpitchwest.com.
The Tournament
The Broken Bow Spirit of Amsterdam NY captured the 2004 Portland DeMarini Rose Cup championship with a 6-0 win in the title game over Team Rainey of Whittier, California on July 27, 2004 at Delta Park in Portland Oregon. It marked the second time in two years that the defending ISC World Champions had won the Rose Cup title (St. Joe’s Frontier Casino Players doing it last year). Broken Bow finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record, scoring 35 runs, while surrendering only 4.
8-0 win over Vancouver Grey Sox BC
3-1 win over Morgan Transfer WA
4-1 win over Team Rainey CA
8-0 win over Morgan Transfer WA (quarterfinal)
12-2 win over Portland DeMarini OR (semi-final)
6-0 win over Team Rainey CA (championship)
Frank Cox was the winning pitcher in the championship game as the Spirit finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record. Broken Bow started the day as one of two #1 pool play seeds, earning a first round bye, defeated Morgan Transfer of Olympia WA 8-0 in the quarterfinals, followed by a 13-2 mercy rule win over host Portland DeMarini in the semis, to put them into the championship game.
For Team Rainey, it was the second year in a row that they reached the championship game, and the second year that they found themselves facing the defending ISC World Champions and #1 team in the world in the finals. (Last year, it was St. Joe’s Frontier Casino Players) Team Rainey reached the finals this year with a 2-0 win over the Fullerton Leafs in a 9am opening round game, behind the pitching of Tony Peeples, followed by a quarterfinal win over #6 ranked Victoria Travellers Inn, 10-2, with Travis Price picking up the win. Rainey brought out the big bats in that one, as Chris Wright, Nate Devine and Mike Butler all homered, Butler hitting two, his second and third home runs on the tournament. Tony Peeples struck out 11 in the semis against Castlewood, as Rainey defeated the Utah team and advanced to the final. Peeples was named to the All Tournament team with a 0.70 ERA in 20 innings pitched, striking out a Gagnesque 37 batters while walking two. Rainey teammates Mike Butler and Jason Porto earned All Tourney honors as well. Porto had 9 hits, hit .476, while driving in 5 with a homer and two doubles, while Mike Butler turned heads with his three home run performance, two of them coming in their upset win over Victoria that catapulted them into the semifinals. Rainey’s victory over #6 ranked Victoria was one of two upsets on the day, with another California team, the River City Rockers providing the other, with a 7-6 win over #10 ranked Vancouver Grey Sox. Vancouver’s last inning rally of double, double, homer came up just short, resulting in an early exit for the top two Canadian teams.
Ryan Wolfe of the Broken Bow Spirit was named the Most Valuable Player of the Rose Cup tournament, creating havoc from the leadoff spot all weekend long, and playing some great defense in centerfield. Wolfe led all hitters in the tournament with 10 hits, posting a batting average of .476, scored 7 runs and stole 4 bases. In the championship game, Wolfe had 2 hits, stole 2 bases, scored two runs, and ran through the portable fencing to take a home run away from Rainey’s Nate Devine.
Broken Bow’s Gerald Muizelaar was the Most Valuable pitcher, picking up two wins Sunday to go with two he had on Saturday. Broken Bow teammates Darren Box and Jody Eidt joined Wolfe and Muizelaar on the All Tourney Squad. Box hit .353 with 6 hits and 6 RBI, while Eidt hit .368 with 7 hits, 4 RBI and 6 runs scored.
Host Portland DeMarini and Castlewood Utah tied for third, reaching the final four. Hometown favorite Rob Gehrke went deep twice in the tournament, earning All Tourney honors along with teammate Larry Ybarra. Castlewood pitcher Steve Black and Chris Hathaway were also named to the All Tourney team. Host Portland DeMarini had struggled earlier in the season appeared to be regaining its 2003 form which saw them in the “Sweet Sixteen†of the ISC World Tournament. For Castlewood Utah, which plays at the “ISC-II†(intermediate) level, it was the second major tournament of 2004 where they finished in the Final Four, very impressive when considering the field of teams they were competing against.
DeMarini Classic
In addition to the 14 Rose Cup teams, there were also 8 intermediate level teams in town, playing in the “DeMarini†Classic, also at Delta Park. The Boise Clippers from Idaho topped JRW & Associates of Yakima WA, 7-4 to win the DeMarini title. Boise pitcher John Clark was 6-0, earning MVPitcher honors, while teammate Mike Lehman, Boise’s first baseman was named the tournament’s MVP.
Two That Had the Fans Talking
Two pitchers at this year’s Rose Cup tournament had the fans talking. The first was Collin McKenzie, the hard throwing right-hander for Victoria Travellers Inn. Collin has already notched a NAFA AAA World Series title, while pitching for Fineline Painting. But at this year’s Rose Cup, he did something else remarkable, throwing not one but two perfect games, striking out 26 batters along the way.
Another pitcher who turned heads was Robin Freels, who threw for Paole’s, a local Portland team which competed in the DeMarini (intermediate level) tournament. Robin’s appearance in the tournament was noteworthy, because she was the only female player in the otherwise all male tournament. (Shades of Anika Sorenstam) Like Anika, Robin silenced the critics, performing admirably in the tournament, pitching from men’s regulation distance of 46’ instead of the 43 feet that she pitches for at college back east. While a few didn’t seem to like the idea (the one that struck out, perhaps), she was generally well received by other players in the tournament. At the end of the day, she answered the “can she compete†question with a resounding “yesâ€, and that is all anyone can ask.
Judging from the comments heard ‘round the fields over the weekend, the Portland Demarini Rose Cup tournament is alive and well, and players and fans alike will be making plans to be in Portland for the 2005 edition of the Rose Cup Tournament..
Quick bit of trivia — What is the longest running men’s fastpitch tournament in Southern California? Answer: “Best of the West”, now in its 14th year. The tournament was started in 1991, by longtime fastpitch sponsor, Allan Ruegsegger, then of the Long Beach Painters. The first tournament was held at Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach, former home of the famed Long Beach Nitehawks. Peter Meredith and his Larry Miller Toyota team came down from Salt Lake City that first year, to take on the host Painters and other teams, including the editor’s team, the Vista Bombers. It was called the “Best of the West” Shootout that first year (still have the T-shirt from that one). In recent years, through ups and downs, and several different locations, the tournament has survived, mostly through the efforts of one man, David Blackburn, ISC Streaming Audio maven and fastpitch pitcher. This year David faced a special challenge, when he lost the Soboba Sports Complex to a wedding at the last minute and had to scramble to find a replacement. Thankfully, David succeeded, releasing the following announcement the other day:
“Much thanks to Sam Goepp of the Valley Wide Recreation & Parks District for coming through with the facility at Winchester Park Softball Complex, at the very last minute†stated Tournament Director Dave Blackburn. “Without Sam’s cooperation and understanding, the Tournament was temporarily in jeopardy, when we lost access top the Soboba Sports Complex on Saturday July 31, due to a private wedding. I am happy to be holding the 14th Best of The West Tournament at this excellent new 3 field complex at Winchester Parkâ€.
Team Rainey will be attempting a “three-peat” in this year’s event, having won the tournament in 2002 and 2003.
For more information on this year’s Best of the West, click here.
We hear that the field of teams for the 2004 Portland DeMarini Rose Cup tournament is set at 14 teams, including three of the top 10 ranked teams in the world (#1 Broken Bow, #6 Victoria and #10 Vancouver Grey Sox), and five of the top 20 (add #13 Portland DeMarini and #17 Team Rainey). The tournament, set for June 26-27, 2004 is headed up by Portland DeMarini’s Tom Ree, one of the most gracious hosts in all of fastpitch. In addition to the beautiful setting at the Owens Softball Complex, players and fans will find plenty to do in “the Rose City”.
The Rose Cup tournament has become one of the premier events on the west coast and will play host this year to the following teams:
1. Portland Demarini
2. Larry Miller Hogs
3. Castlewood
4. Team Rainey
5. Broken Bow
6. Linus Software Stealers
7. Vancouver Grey Sox
8. Leafs
9. Victoria Travelers Inn
10. Olympia Merchants
11. Meralomas
12. CR Adidas
13. River City Rockers
14. Bodle Chiropractic
British Columbia always seems to have some of the finest fastpitch teams around, including two world class teams, Victoria Traveler’s Inn and the Vancouver Grey Sox. Another team to watch is the Linus Software Stealers, who have Dan Valachy and Darren Strang on their pitching staff.
The Rose Cup tournament will once again have the # 1 ranked team in the world, with Broken Bow Spirit of Amsterdam, NY confirmed. Last year, it was #1 ranked St. Joe’s Frontier Casino Players, winning the tournament, over runnerup Team Rainey. Rainey’s Travis Price was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, quite a feat considering that pitchers like Michael White, Doug Middleton, Colin McKenzie and Nick Underhill were also there.
For the second year, Fastpitchwest will serve as the official website for the tournament and will be providing reports and updates throughout the tournament, as well as broadcasting a half dozen or so selected games. Check the website for Rose Cup for the schedule of games and broadcast schedule which is due out soon.
(Editor’s Note: We are pleased to announce that this feature story selected for publication in the July 2004 issue of Softball Magazine)
[St. George, Utah]- After listening to people rave about the Red Rock tournament for the last couple years, Maddy and I decided to visit and get a first hand look. It was our second trip this year to a “Ken Hackmeister” production, the first being in January to the AAU International in Orlando. Most readers know Ken as the Executive Director of the ISC. The hallmarks of events in which Ken is involved are great organization and good communication with everyone involved. For this one, Ken collaborated with Josh Olmstead of the City of St. George and longtime umpire Roy Stout.
We came away very impressed, with the town of St. George, the beautiful Canyons Complex, and the tournament. This is one of those places that you really have to see to appreciate. Photos give you an idea as to what it looks like, but can’t capture the size and majesty of the place. When you walk in to the complex, your first impression is of the vast expanse of Red rocks towering over the complex, a breathtaking backdrop to some of the best fields in the country.
We arrived on Friday afternoon, and got the cook’s tour from Josh Olmstead, who manages the complex for the City of St. George. He grew up in Utah, playing fastpitch himself starting at age 11, and his pride and care for the facility is apparent everywhere you look, and in the way he talks about it. The complex consists of 7 diamonds, with five in the main complex, circled around a pueblo-style building in the middle that fits the motif of the surrounding area. The outfield grass on every field is perfectly manicured and cropped so close (“5/8ths of an inch”, Josh says) it could pass for a golf green. The sprinkler system seems to know when the final outs are recorded, as they come on as the teams are leaving the fields, as the ground crews roll out to start their work, a ritual repeated after each game.
The chain link fencing is dark green, contrasting with the smooth red brick dust infields, complete with warning tracks that run down each foul line with professional style “fair poles”. One imagines that it could have come off the drawing board at HOK Sport Architects, the company that designed some of today’s “retro” looking ballparks around the country. Electronic scoreboards on every field, with operators that keep not only the score and outs, but also balls and strikes. (gratefully appreciated by our broadcast team)
As we drove the mile or so back to the hotel Friday, looking up at the Red Rocks above, I couldn’t help wonder why a national or world tournament has not yet been hosted here. I had driven through St. George many times enroute to ski trips further north in Utah, but hadn’t really seen the town. I heard more than one player talk about how friendly and polite the folks there were (something we sometimes don’t see as often as we like living in a sprawling metropolis like L.A.). And easy to get to, just a couple hours drive north of Las Vegas, which is a cheap flight from most anywhere, with the small Nevada gambling town of Mesquite halfway in between. National orgs, are you listening?
Mike Ryan (catcher, Edge Fastpitch) joined Maddy and I for the weekend, sitting in as co-broadcaster on the “Fastpitchwest Radio” crew for the half dozen games broadcast live on the internet. We spent most of the weekend, sitting on a porch like roof above the fields, with a bird’s eye view of as many as three fields at a time. Best seat in the house. Technical difficulties aside, we heard from a number of you that tuned in for the broadcasts, which made it a worthwhile endeavor. Credit Mike for a big contribution to the effort.
Looking back at our pre-tourney “Predict the Elite Eight”, polls, voters accurately picked five teams, but got a few surprises. Voters correctly picked Pueblo from Pool A, Portland De Marini from Pool B, both Houston H.I.S. Construction and Team Rainey from Pool C, and Broken Bow Spirit from Pool D. Broken Bow and Portland tied for the most votes with 125 each, both going 3-0 on Saturday. Voters overlooked three teams though, Captain Dan’s of So Cal, the Hilo Athletics of Hawaii, and Castlewood Utah.
Captain Dan’s flew in under the radar, not appearing in the ISC pre-season rankings, and far down the ISC II list. But the team is known for its intestinal fortitude, and plays other top So Cal teams like Rainey, the Bombers and Mexicali straight up in the local A/B league. The Dan lost only to eventual winner BBS and runner-up Pueblo, and gave BBS their best game on Sunday, taking them the full 7 innings (compared to mercy rule wins in the semis and finals), behind the gutsy pitching of Rich Woods. I suspect Chad Hardesty will long remember the mammoth home run hit on Sunday against Broken Bow, the longest home run that I saw on the weekend, hitting the slo-pitch fence behind the regulation fencing.
I’m guessing that voters didn’t know that Hilo had pitchers Robbie O’Brien and Colin McKenzie, making them a formidable one-two punch, and carrying them into the championship bracket. A parting gift from the islands to Fastpitchwest from James Hirayama and the Hilo A’s was a classy touch.
Castlewood, Utah has to be pleased with their weekend, knocking off two very good So Cal teams, the Yucaipa Bombers and Team Rainey. Both were close battles that Castlewood found a way to win. The Castlewood-Yucaipa game Saturday might have been the most exciting of the tournment, with Raymundo Parra hitting a 2 run homer to tie the game for the Bombers in the 7th inning, only to have Castlewood win in extra innings, while Castlewood’s Sunday morning elimination game against Team Rainey was a see-saw affair won by the home state team, 4-3.
No one was surprised to see Broken Bow Spirit of New York, the defending ISC World Champions and #1 team in the 2004 ISC Preseason polls as the eventual tournament champion. Their performance in the tournament, and especially in the championship round fell somewhere between dominant and scary. 8-1, 12-2 and 15-1 were their Sunday scores. As Dennis Frye of Des Moines Iowa wrote in “with the showing Broken Bow displayed on the diamond, the best team in New York does not play at Yankee Stadium !! ” I couldn’t have said it any better than that. Pitcher Frank Cox and first baseman Mike Taylor were deserving MVP winners for Broken Bow. Cox won all three of his games and Taylor was 8 for 10 on Sunday with a triple, two home runs, and a bucket full of RBI’s.
Two home-state Utah teams made it to the championship game of the consolation bracket, for bragging rights for the city of Salt Lake, with Larry Miller coming out on top of Page Brake in this one. These team have two of the longest running programs in the west, fielding teams for the past couple decades.
Keeping with the “first cabin” approach of the Red Rock tournament, the winning teams and individual award winners received plaques with beautiful polished native rock mounted on a hardwood base. Very attractive and heavy. Josh Olmstead jokingly told me that they chip the rock for the trophies from the Red Rocks overlooking the fields. The champions, runners up and all tournament team members also received embroidered polo shirts. If that was not enough, the champions, Broken Bow Spirit will also receive championship rings to top things off.
Weather? Oh, how about high 80’s-low 90’s in May?
While there might be reason to rest on their laurels, the folks in St. George will not. They are already working on improvements to the concession/press box facility to make the place more modern, and user friendly than it is now. Just one more reason to make your plans to watch the sun set in Red Rock in 2005.
RR Postscript: stay tuned for Maddy’s photos from the tournament, due to go up as soon as we can make room for them. A few photos? Oh, you might say that. And a funny tan line inside her elbows from holding the camera to her eye all weekend Of course I am biased, but from what I saw last night, these photos might be her best work yet.
I had the opportunity to get a first hand look at the Central Cal ASA league this past weekend, and was very impressed with level of play and the teams that I saw. I was a “guest” pitcher for the Tom Biko’s KHT Pumpers team at the league’s second weekend, in Tulare, California. While I regularly pitch in the So Cal ASA Alliance (which has plenty of tough competition of its own), this was my first look in some time at the teams “up north”. My thanks to Tom Biko and the rest of the KHT Pumpers for having me up.
The games were played at a first rate facility, Prosperity Park, in Tulare, California, which is about 3 hours north of Los Angeles. The park boast four fields, complete with covered dugouts, and fenced in bullpens (to protect the fans from pitchers like me) Throw in commercial quality concession stand, and you’ve got a great place to watch or play ball. Being able to listen to the Dodger-Giants game on the drive up was a nice bonus. (Especially with my Dodgers sweeping the weekend). You lose Vinny about half-way there, but just about the same place you can get Jon Miller and the Giants broadcast. Actually, my three hour drive paled by comparison to others I spoke with, some driving 5 hours from Vegas to play, while a couple players drove 12 hours from Oregon!
Ran into a few familiar faces while in Tulare, including Lou Enriquez and Mike “Spanky” Thomas. Lou and Spanky now run the So Cal league, but compete in the Central Cal league for the Fresno River Rats. If you’re wondering how the Central and So Cal leagues match-up, Lou and Spanky are probably the best qualified to weigh in on that subject. Saw two of California’s best players, Todd Budke and Jason Porto, who were on loan from their respective clubs, the Farm and Team Rainey, respectively. Also ran into a former teammate from 2 decades ago, Simon Brewer, now pitching for the Silverhawks, whose roster includes players formerly on the Bucks. Simon was the guy that made me feel at home as a pick up player for the 1984 Lowder Electric team that finished 2nd in the ASA “A” Nationals that year in Fargo, ND. Good to see him still pitching and enjoying the game. One of the nicest people I’ve run across in fastpitch.
Because I participate in the So Cal league, we obviously have more coverage of the games “down south”. For those of you not familiar with the Central Cal league, I highly recommended Iren Hodge’s well known website “the Hodgie.com” which provides great coverage for the league, including detailed statistics.
There you can read about some of the top players in the league, including last year’s MVP, Scott Thompson of the Valley Lyons team. In the first weekend of the season in March, Scott picked up where he left off last year, notching an unbelievable batting average of .900. Fred Kroneberger of the Pumpers wasn’t far behind, hitting .800. Paul Macias of Valley Lyons and Eddie Martinez of the Silverhawks had 11 hit weekends. And lest you think that it’s just a hitter’s league, Randy Lowry notched a first weekend ERA of 0.00, while Tom Biko of the Pumpers was a microscopic 0.53, with 19 strikeouts.
This year, with Team Lyons and the Bucks no longer fielding teams, the Central league does not have an “A/B” league. The end result is a lot of players filtering into the ranks of the “C” teams. Anyone that views the Central Cal league (or the So Cal Alliance) as a typical “C” league is in for a rude awakening. A look at the rosters for both reveal plenty of players with B, A and ISC experience. It makes for some great competition and exciting games, whether you are a player or a fan.
The Central Cal league’s website says it best, inviting any team — from anywhere – to come and compete. They even offer your money back to any team that can go 5-0 on a weekend, with the following proviso: “If you don’t bring your “A” game, or “Major” for that matter, to this league, you might as well not come at all! Contrary to public belief, we have some pretty good ball teams, at all levels, in California! These teams have consistently proven that they are for real. If you don’t believe it, just try us out. If you want to be a pretender, then stay away, and keep telling yourself you are good. Until you play the best, how will you know for sure?” We’ve invited their players to tell us who they think are the toughest hitters and best pitchers in their league at the Fastpitchwest Forum. All of this was reason enough to be “Pumped up in Tulare”. The Central Cal ASA league will return to league play again May 15-16, 2004 in Fresno, CA at a brand new facility, which will also host an ASA Qualifier over Memorial Weekend.