Archive for January, 2006

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Maddy’s Photos from the 2006 AAU are Up !

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006


Maddy’s Photo Galleries for the 2006 AAU International Tournament in Orlando, Florida are up! 160+, to go with the 300+ online from 2004 and 2005. She’s suffering from carpal tunnel on that shutter finger 😉 If you want to drop Maddy a line, her email is maddy (at) fastpitchwest.com. Some of her best work, I think.

Click here to view them.

Some quick links for your convenience:

2006 AAU Most Valuable Player, Frank DeGroat, Jr. (accepting award from tournament director, Alex Linares) and in action.

2006 AAU Most Valuable Pitcher, Travis Price (accepting award from assistant tourney director, Robert Gray) and in action.

Pete Turner, Manager for 2006 AAU Champs, Team USA, accepting championship trophy from assistant tourney director Robert Gray.

Team Pics for 2006 Champions, Team USA and Consolation Champions, Burke Explosion with runner-ups, Jamaica.

2006 AAU Runner-ups, Team Minnesota

2006 AAU Third Place teams, Hallman Twins, ON Canada, and Heflin, NY

The famed “Los Patos”, fastball’s travelling fans.

So Cal’s Sonny Perkins, member of champions, Team USA, pitching
and hitting.

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Sneak Preview

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

Psssssssssst. Hey, you ! Yeah you. Want a sneak preview of the AAU photos? Fastpitchwest has not announced that the galleries are officially open, but I found the link for Galleries 1-4 which are uploading as we speak. Just don’t tell Flanagan I told you.

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AAU Announces Details for 2007 Tournament

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

(click photo to enlarge)

AAU Announces Details for 2007 AAU International Men’s Fastball Tournament


Click here to download PDF flyer for 2007 AAU International Men’s Fastpitch Tournament (Requires Adobe Reader to download and open)


Editor’s notes: You have to hand it to the AAU — the final out of the 2006 AAU International Tournament was just a couple of days ago, and already they have a flyer out for the 2007 tournament — in English and Spanish, no less. Click the link above for full color PDF flyer (requires Adobe Reader). For those of you that don’t have Adobe Reader, the short version is:

Date: January 18-21, 2007
Entry fee: $500
Entry deadline: November 15, 2006
Number of teams anticipated: 28

Want Some Feedback on the tournament? Ask any of the 28 teams that attended this year’s event ! Don’t wait as this tournament fills up fast! Click here for the AAU’s Recap of the 2006 Tournament.

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Team Minnesota Finishes Second at 2006 AAU

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006


(click logo for AAU website)
Thanks to Brett Bresnahan of Team Minnesota for this report:

Team Minnesota finished second this past weekend at the AAU International Tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Team Minnesota lost 3-2 to Team USA in the Championship Game. A brief summary of the games is as follows.

(more…)

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Midland Explorers, MI Announce 2006 Roster

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

From Al’s Fastball:

2006 Midland Explorers roster

The following will be the roster for the 2006 Midland Explorers.

Doug Gillis – Novi, MI – P
Grant Patterson – Toronto, ON – P
Mike Crawford – Bracebridge, ON – P
Craig Crawford – Kitchener, ON – C
Steve Roberts – Reese, MI – C
Sean Zaborowski – Ann Arbor, MI – C/INF/OF
Steve Horning – Canton, MI – INF
Eddy Ketelhut – Belleville, MI – INF
Todd Moore – Clio, MI – INF
Kyle Beane – Auburn, MI – INF
Dave Frick – Ann Arbor, MI – OF
Jeff Servinski – Midland, MI – OF
Rino Dambrosio – Toronto, ON – OF
Reid Benson – St. Joseph, MI – OF

Clint Beane – Auburn, MI – Manager
Del Benson – Munger, MI – Coach
Lee Isenhart – Midland, MI – President

Click link above for rest of story, including their schedule for 2006.

Editor’s notes: Click here to read separate story about Midland’s signing of Rino Dambrosio, former member of the Kitchener Hallman Twins. The Twins were unable to re-sign Dambrosio due to their PRAWN count, (new rule limiting number of All World players on any one team).

The Midland Explorers are a perennial top 10 team in the ISC, finishing 10th in the final 2005 rankings released prior to the 2005 ISC World Tournament. That honor placed them in one of two “super pools” where they played other Top 10 teams, finishing a disappointing 1-3. They qualified for championship round by virtue of their Top 10 ranking, but suffered a first round loss in the playoffs for an uncharacteristic early exit from the tournament. (They won their pool in the 2004 tournament, finishing 8th among 40 teams) Midland is looking to rebound in 2006 and appears to be headed in the right direction to do so. Kyle Beane is among the game’s best players, and provides all star caliber talent in the middle of the order. Gillis, Patterson and Crawford give the Explorers a trio of strong arms to compliment the Michigan offense.

Posted in ISC, Teams | No Comments »

Day One Results of Commonwealth Championships

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

From Al’s Fastball:
Day One Results of Commonwealth Men’s Fastpitch

Australia went down to Tanifa Samoa 5-2 in their opening game at the Commonwealth Men’s Softball Championship being played at Altona, Melbourne, Australia

Click link above for the rest of the story.

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Black Sox make winning start to Commonwealth Championship

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

From Al’s Fastball:
Black Sox make winning start to Commonwealth Championship

The power hitting from the New Zealand Community Trust Black Sox has proved to be much for South Africa to handle tonight in the opening game of the Commonwealth Championship in Melbourne, Australia.

With a 7-0 score line in their favour the NZCT Black Sox have run out convincing winners while also sending out a message to the other two sides in the competition Australia and Samoa. The NZCT Black Sox wrapped up the game in just five innings with the mercy rule invoked as the Kiwi side held a seven run advantage.

Click link above to read the entire story.

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So Cal Bombers Ink Chad Ghostkeeper for 2006 Season

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

From Al’s Fastball: So Cal Bombers Add Ghostkeeper Southern California Bombers out of Calimesa, CA have acquired the services of Chad Ghostkeeper for the 2006 season. The Bombers welcome Chad to the Bombers fastball team. Chad hails from Prince George, British Columbia.

Editor’s note: Chad Ghostkeeper was the leading hitter at the Senior Canadians in 2005, hitting .517 in the tournament (15 for 29). Cap tip to Blair Setford for the link.

Posted in Players, So Cal | No Comments »

Travis Price, Frank DeGroat Jr. Pick Up MVP’s for Team USA at AAU

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

From the USA Softball website and Brian McCall:

Team USA Stats

Team USA Photo Gallery

Team USA Box Scores and Play-by-Play
Roster for Team USA, 2006 AAU International Tournament Champions

USA Softball wins 2006 AAU International Men’s Fastpitch Tourney

Orlando, Fla.—The USA Softball Men’s National Team completed a stellar week by capturing the 2006 AAU Men’s International Fast Pitch Tournament with a 3-2 win over Team Minnesota in the finals. Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, U.S. centerfielder Adam LaLonde (Kentwood, Mich.) delivered a single through the left side to score Blake Miller (Albany, Ga.) for the winning run.

Team Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead when shortstop Greg Cascaes singled, advanced to second on an error and scored on a double by designated hitter Scott Deutch.

Shutout through three innings, Landy Rodriguez (West Haverstraw, NY) tied the game with a lead-off home run in the bottom of the fourth, his fifth home run of the tournament.

The U.S. took the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Ben Fjelland (Slater, Iowa), who entered the game for the injured Rey Garcia (North Andover, Mass.), led off with a double to center field, advanced to third on a single by Miller and scored on a throwing error.

Down to their last six outs and trailing by one run, Team Minnesota came up with a run in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game 2-2. Cascaes led off with a double to left field, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Elsworth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Deutch.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Miller walked and was sacrificed over to second by Chris Miljavac (St. Joseph, Mo.) to bring up LaLonde. With the winning run standing at second base, LaLonde came up with a hard single that ricocheted off the glove of the shortstop to allow Miller to score the winning run.

Travis Price (Santa Ana, Calif.), who was named as the Tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher, got the complete game win after allowing only one earned on seven hits. Catcher Frank DeGroat, Jr., (Ringwood, NJ) was named as the Tournament MVP after compiling a .412 batting average that included three home runs and a team leading eight RBI.

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Team USA Claims 2006 AAU Crown

Sunday, January 22nd, 2006


(click logo for AAU website)
The 2006 AAU Men’s International Fastpitch Tournament ended today with Team USA taking a 3-2 win over Team Minnesota in the championship game. Adam LaLonde hit the game winning single in the bottom of the 7th inning.

Earlier, Team USA defeated Hallman Twins of Kitchener, Ontario, 4-1 and Team Minnesota took a 6-4 win over Heflin Builders of Stillwater, NY to set up the championship game.

Team USA took both individual honors when Travis Price was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Pitcher and Frank DeGroat took the Most Valuable Player honors. Price was the winning pitcher in the championship game, going the distance while DeGroat hit .467 for the tournament and caught every Team USA game.

The tournament was played in outstanding weather conditions all four days. Today’s temperature is in the low 80’s under sunny skies.

The AAU thanked all 28 teams and their fans for supporting this 7th annual tournament and welcomed everyone back in 2007.

Game Summaries for Sunday

Team Minnesota 6
Heflin Builders 4
WP Muizelaar & Twordik
LP Vasquez, Ezekeil (5) & Gasaway

Team USA 4
Hallman Twins 1
WP – Luster, White (7) & DeGroat
LP – Koert, T. Martin (5) & Shewfelt

Team Minnesota – 2
Team USA – 3
WP – Price & DeGroat
Muizelaar, LP Lang (5) & Twordik

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