Click the camera to view. This is Tuesday’s gallery, albeit a little late going up. Watch tonight for Gallery 3.
Click here and tell me that is not a perfect Fernando Valenzuela impersonation, with eyes looking to the heavens. As most of you know, it’s actually Panfilo Valdez, pitching for Tijuana, Mexico. He pitched very well, helping his team win their pool. Many of the Tijuana players (including Panfilo) were former members of the Mexicali team, which finished 2nd in 2004 and third in 2005, losing out both years to Los Socios of Venezuela. They always seem to do well in Orlando.
Maddy seems to have a knack for getting some good pics of the kids out at the ballpark. This young fan seems to be enjoying herself, though I bet the smile is because she’s thinking “I’m going to Disneyworld!”.
Broken Bow’s beefed up roster at this year’s tournament included the like of California’s Todd Budke, as well as New Zealander, Rhys Casley. The duo hit 3-4 in the Broken Bow batting order, something sure to sell lots of aspirin to opposing pitchers in the run-up to the ISC World Tournament in Kimberly this year.
California’s Taylor Farm Lumberkings, a merger of two of the top four ISC II teams from last year, did not play in this year’s AAU, but their pitching staff of Dave Drotzman and Mike Egerdeen looked to be in mid-season form, pitching for the St. Thomas Virgin Island Ambassadors. Drotzman was named to the All-Tournament team at last year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions, opening the event with a no-hitter and leading A-1 Taylor Farms’ charge into the Final Four where they fell in an extra inning nail biter with the Lumberkings.
On Saturday night, Drotzman matched Florida Fastpitch’s Sean Whitten, inning for inning through regulation, in perhaps the best pitcher’s duel of the tournament despite being played in a steady rain. Despite the rain, a good crowd of AAU fans stuck it out to see Florida squeak past in extra innings, in a game that was all about fine pitching.
Also spotted in Gallery 2 was Texaco Pirates’ (Bahamas) skipper Haziel MacDonald, seen here smiling as he delivered his talent-laded lineup card to the umpires before an early round game. The Pirates boasted one of the deepest pitching staffs in the AAU tournament this year, with Rob Schweyer, Rob Scheller, Doug Sleep and Dewey Dyck, and added catcher Frank DeGroat (who’s been in two AAU finals), as well as highly regarded Steve Mullaley. The Pirates did win their pool in round robin play and got past a strong Venezuela team on Saturday night, but ran into the Team Minnesota buzzsaw Sunday morning.
