From the Midland Daily News
By John Kennett jkennett (at) mdn.net
While many fastpitch softball pitchers lose velocity when they get into their 40s, Doug Gillis is actually picking up steam.
At 45 and after 30 years of pitching competitively, the right-hander shows no signs of slowing down. And he wants to keep playing as long as he can.
After playing last season with Dolan & Murphy (Aurora, Ill.), Gillis, a Saginaw native, has joined Mickey’s Sleds of Midland, and he’ll lead them into next month’s ISC World Tournament in Midland.
“I want to stay with a local team so I don’t have to travel so much,” said Gillis. “Over the years, I’ve seen pitchers like Owen Walford and (ISC Hall of Famer) Darren Zack substantially lose velocity toward the end of their careers, but my velocity has actually increased this year, which is abnormal.”
Gillis’s teammates with Mickey’s are thrilled to have the six-time USA National Team member on board.
“He is the heart and soul of our team,” said Mickey’s catcher Neil Faccio. “He brings a lot of experience and has a big set of shoulders to carry us. In tournaments, he shuts (the opponents) down.”
Mickey’s manager Trey Lee agrees.
“We are not where we are without him,” said Lee. “We’ve played three tournaments — Boulevard Lounge, Port Huron and Frankenmuth — and we’ve made it to Sunday at all three, we just haven’t made it to a final. But without Doug, we’re not there.”
Mickey’s, ISC World Tournament
Having pitched for two national championship teams and two runner-up teams, Gillis’s playing days took him to New Zealand and the Dominican Republic. That experience will be beneficial to a Mickey’s team that is entering its first ISC World Tournament Aug. 13-21.
“It’s the first time they’ve been in something like this,” said Gillis. “My job is to pitch good enough to keep them in games. I think we can be competitive against any team we play. However, realistically we’ll struggle if we run into one of the top six or seven teams. Our goal is to finish in the upper tier (top 24 teams) of the tournament.”
Gillis likes what he sees from his teammates as they prepare for the ISC World Tournament, which Mickey’s is co-hosting with the Midland Explorers.
“We’ve got a lot of talented, athletic players on this team,” he said. “Faccio has done an outstanding job of catching me. (But) it will still take a few years (for us) to see the quality of pitching that we’ll see in the ISC. We haven’t seen enough good pitching this year to get enough at-bats to get used to it.”
The 6-foot, 3-inch Gillis is excited about the ISC coming to Midland.
“It’s long overdue,” he said. “Midland has held every softball tournament known to man, except this one. Kyle Beane and Dave Lach have done a tremendous job in making it happen. I hope that we get the crowd turnout like there used to be.”
Gillis still fondly remembers his previous stint in Midland playing for the Explorers from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
“We had a great time,” said Gillis. “In 1998, 1999 and 2000, we took fourth, fifth and sixth in the ISC Tournament. And in 1998 and 1999, we took second both years in the ASA Major (Nationals), when no one thought we were a top-five team. Everyone worked well together.”
In his 30 years of pitching, Gillis has experienced every national and world tournament, and believes the ISC is the best.
“ISC is the most entertaining of all the national and world competitions, because all the good players are here,”
said Gillis. “I just hope it goes over so well, so they can hold it again (in Midland).”
Gillis, who was on the gold medalist 2002 USA Pan American team, likes the new ideas implemented by the host committee for the upcoming ISC and hopes that they will help spark a sport that has declined in popularity over the years.
One of those ideas is a softball clinic featuring Gillis and six-time U.S. National Team coach Mike Candrea, who has won eight NCAA titles at the University of Arizona and led the 2004 U.S. Olympic softball team to the gold medal in Athens.
“The clinic is going to expose more people to men’s fastpitch softball and softball in general,” said Gillis.
World softball travels
With stops in Orlando, Decatur (Ill.), Bloomington (Ill.), Seattle, and Ashland (Ohio), Gillis has many fond memories of travels, but pitching for the USA National Team, along with a trip to the Dominican Republic, hold a dear place in his heart.
“That was enjoyable, pitching for the USA team in 2002 and 2003,” he said. “At that point, I was pitching as well as I could.”
Pitching before 6,000 fans while winning the Dominican Republic national championship in 1995, continues to be a vivid memory for Gillis, who has taught pitching in five countries.
“There were very few stands and almost everyone was standing,” he said. “A lot of the fans were inside the fence standing along the leftfield and rightfield foul lines. It was amazing to see them that close to the field.”
Health issues
Gillis almost had to give up softball in 2006 when he suffered a stroke.
“The last four years have been erratic since the stroke,” he said. “I’m back pretty close to normal now. I still struggle with my concentration as far as softball goes. The doctors say that it takes from 3-5 years for the brain to heal.”
Since the stroke, Gillis’s pitching has not been up to the level that he would expect, which led him to contemplate hanging up his spikes.
“If I’d had another year (this year) like the last two years, this probably would have been my last year,” he said. “But, I got my groove back this year and it’s been my best year since 2004.”
That groove has allowed Gillis to pitch more games this year.
“It used to be I would have a hard time pitching three games a weekend, (but) now I’m able to pitch three games,” he said.
A steady regime of exercise and pitching have helped him regain his velocity in the circle.
“I’ve been biking 30 miles a day,” Gillis said as he talked on his cellphone while riding his bike. “I’ve been pitching more in games than I have in the past and I work out more than almost all of the fastball pitchers.”
Gillis hopes that he still can go strong until 50, which would be unusual for a pitcher of his caliber.
“Historically, pitchers are pretty good until they reach 48, but I’ve never seen a good pitcher who was 49,” he said.
Gillis owns the Doug Gillis Softball Academy in Wixom, which he started in 1985 as he began giving clinics throughout the state of Michigan. The academy has grown to 13 locations in five states.