For Immediate Release from the Taylor Farms Lumberkings team:

The California LumberKings and Taylor Farms will be merging for the 2008 season. The California LumberKings and A-1/Taylor Farms just completed a successful 2007 season in which they finished 2nd and 3rd respectfully at the 2007 ISC II ToC.

We will be now called the Taylor Farms LumberKings. We will once again be competing at the ISCII level for the 2008 season. With the player situation and financial situation, it was in the best interest of both teams combine, so we could continue playing at the ISC-ISCII level.

We will release our schedule once it has been finalized. We are currently working on our roster and as we sign players, we will release those player’s names.

We would like to wish the players that competed with our respective teams in the 2007 the best of luck in the future.

Editor’s notes: This one is sure to get the attention of many fastball fans, especially those that followed the remarkable runs that both the Lumberkings and A-1/Taylor Farms had at this year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions in Kitchener, culminating in a semi-final game that pitted the two teams against each other for a spot in the finals. That one proved to be one of the most exciting games of the tournament, won by the Lumberkings, 5-4 in extra innings, with a game-ending double play after A-1/Taylor Farms loaded the bases.

There had been rumors circulating recently that some variation of these clubs might move up to the ISC division, but with this announcement, that apparently will not be the case. Like many fastpitch fans, I suppose I always view mergers with mixed feelings….on one hand, it’s great to see a new powerhouse emerge, but on the other, it means fewer teams in existence for the game. The Lumberkings and A-1/Taylor were both talent laden clubs, and they can’t keep all of them in one house, so look for other clubs to get better, or maybe better still, perhaps we’ll see a new team surface after the merger. Little doubt that other teams will be reading the Lumberkings roster announcements with great interest.

It will be interesting to see the roster for the new club when it’s released. Two of the players on the 2007 A-1/Taylor Farms team played for the Lumberkings at the 2006 ISC II T of C (catcher Jeff Twist and centerfielder Shawn Mandolesi), so these two clubs are no strangers to each other.

At the 2007 Tournament of Champions, the Lumberkings had a three man pitching staff, with Darren Strange, Mike Egerdeen and pick-up Ed Gaspar, while A-1 Taylor Farms had Dave Drotzmann, John Bishop and Matt Barnes. Drotzmann earned all-world honors for his efforts, which included a no-hitter in his first game of the tournament.

The merger should make the 2008 Lumberkings among the top ranked teams in the ISC II division, along with, of course, the champion TNT Pennsylvania club, and Niagara Snappers, who took TNT to extra innings in their 2007 T of C semi-final game. TNT made no secret of the fact that the 2007 ISC II T of C may have been their swan song, while one suspects that the Niagara Snappers, who carried the mantle – and bullseye — of the # 1 ranking all year, and got tantalizingly close to the title, will return.

Here is a look at the (pre-merger) rosters for the Lumberkings and A-1 Taylor Farms the clubs, those submitted for the 2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions:

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