The # 1 ranked team in the ISC II division will be playing over the Memorial Day weekend, in the Metro tournament in Linden, New Jersey. Two other top 20 teams will also be in the field, # 6 NY Knights, and # 20 PA Power. Click here for more.
TNT hails from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and won last year’s ISC II Tournament of Champions in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, behind the pitching of Jeremy Tracy and the hitting of Jay Herr, who smashed the old tournament home run record, belting seven (7) round-trippers. (Herr’s home run swing is featured on the cover of this year’s ISC Media guide, courtesy of Maddy’s Photos)
Last year’s runner up in that T of C, the California Lumberkings will be in action next week, in the “Snapper Shootout”, in Niagara, Ontario, which boasts one of the strongest ISC II fields in the country. The Lumberkings are currently holding down the # 2 spot in the ISC II rankings, and are bolstered by the addition of the core of last year’s A-1 Taylor Farms team, which tied for third in the T of C themselves. Among the additions is pitcher Dave Drotzman, who earned All-World ISCII honors in last year’s tournament, tossing a no-hitter in his first game of the tournament.
The Lumberkings will play a charity benefit game on Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 7pm, against the host Niagara Snappers. The Snappers finished third in last year’s T of C, falling in extra innings in the semi-finals to the eventual champions, TNT. Plans are underway for an audio broadcast of the Lumberkings-Snappers game, with ISC II Commissioner Blair Setford behind the mike.
Speaking of Blair, he is celebrating his 40th birthday this weekend. We send our best wishes along to him. (Now come the phone calls from the 40-and-over clubs seeking a left-handed power hitter ! ) See the next post above for more.
Lots more info on the ISC II teams in our ISC II blog, “The Deuce”.