{"id":2414,"date":"2008-03-28T13:14:35","date_gmt":"2008-03-28T21:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2414"},"modified":"2008-03-28T13:16:24","modified_gmt":"2008-03-28T21:16:24","slug":"orillias-world-series-of-fastball-cancelled-for-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=2414","title":{"rendered":"Orillia’s World Series of Fastball Cancelled for 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

From \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Orillia’s World Series of Fastball Cancelled for 2008
\n<\/strong>
\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n

ORILLIA, ON, (March 27, 2008) – The ideal for Orillia tocreate an annual men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastball tournament was hatched on awarm July evening in 1997, when the Decatur Pride and the Owen Sound Tiremencompeted in an exhibition double-header as they traveled to the annual PerthShootout. A committee of local fastball enthusiasts was formed and aftermany meetings as well as the assistance of the Perth Shootout Chairman, Mr.Neil Fennell the inaugural \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Casino Rama World Series of Fastball\u00e2\u20ac\u009dwas played on the 2nd weekend of June in 1998.<\/p>\n

From the very beginning the committee members, fastballenthusiasts and some players could tell that the Orillia tournament had thepotential to be an important annual event. An annual Friday eveningtradition was started accidentally in the very first year of thetournament. As Tampa Bay Smoker teammates Darren Zack and Todd Martintraveled into Orillia with different teams and put on an extra inning 1-0pitching demonstration. From that accidental start, the World Series hasalways had a Friday night feature game to kick the tournament off in style.<\/p>\n


\nFor the first four years of the World Series of Fastballs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122operation, the tournament was always operated on the 2nd weekend in June. As well, during those four years the tournament was building a reputation ofannually hosting the very best teams in major men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastballand for being one of the toughest open men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tournaments to win. Each of those first four years more and more major teams added Orillia as anannual stop on their schedules.<\/p>\n

At the end of the 2001 fastball season, the PerthShootout announced that they would cease operation of their annualtournament. The Perth Shootout had operated on the third weekend in Julysince its inception in 1990 and they were the blueprint for all the otherannual major fastball tournaments. With the ending of the Perth Shootout,the Orillia World Series of Fastball moved their date to the third weekend inJuly to keep that Ontario tradition alive. For the past six years theWorld Series of Fastball has kept that tradition alive and operated on thethird weekend in July.
\nFastball fans from Orillia have been blessed over thepast 10 summers as we have had the opportunity to watch the best players in thegame today. Names such as Darren Zack, Peter Meredith, Tim Wahl, ColinAbbott, Frank Cox, Jarred Martin, Thomas Makea, Sean O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Brien and many,many more have all visited Orillia and competed at the World Series ofFastball.
\nThat being said, they say that all good things must come to an end andunfortunately we must announce the end of an Orilliatradition. For the past ten years, the City of Orillia has hosted thebest men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastball players in the world as they competed at the annualWorld Series of Fastball. Unfortunately, there was a conflict on the 2008 fastball tournament schedule with both the World Series of Fastball and theWalsh tournament in Allentown, PA, scheduled for the same weekend.<\/p>\n

The World Series of Fastball organizers have always prided themselveson operating a top level, professionally run tournament with the best teams inthe world. The World Series of Fastball has always been about teamstraveling to Orillia for extremely tough competition with no easygames anywhere in the schedule. With a number of the major teams decidingto forgo Orillia this year, the committee came to the decision that to be fairto the remaining teams that still had Orillia on their schedule, the only thingto do would be to cancel the 2008 World Series of Fastball. By cancelingat this time, those teams can still make other plans for that weekend.<\/p>\n

With the cancellation of the annual World Series of Fastball, aseventeen year tradition in Ontario will come to an end. For the past seventeen years, on the third weekend in July, the province of Ontariohas played host to the top men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastball teams. The first elevenyears at the annual Perth Shootout and for the past six years in Orillia at theWorld Series of Fastball.<\/p>\n

During the ten years that the tournament operated, we have had only oneumpire-in-chief that looked after our \u00e2\u20ac\u0153blue crew\u00e2\u20ac\u009d each and everyyear. Bruce Beirman accepted that job in year one and has been thereevery year since. As much as we have always operated the tournament withthe top teams in the world, Bruce has always assembled the best \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bluecrew\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of any of the major tournaments. Heartfelt thanks must go outto Bruce for all of his hard work and dedication over the years.<\/p>\n

The World Series of Fastball organizing committee will meet in the nextfew weeks to determine the long-term future of the annual tournament. Additional information will be sent out in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Paul Barnetson
\nMarketing Coordinator
\nCity ofOrillia, Parks and Recreation Department
\n(705)325-2050
\nFax(705) 329-2176
\npbarnetson@city.orillia.on.ca
\nwww.city.orillia.on.ca\/tournaments<\/p>\n

WORLD SERIES OF FASTBALL
\nCHAMPIONS & MVP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/p>\n

1998 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: HefflinGremlins \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ballston Lake, New York
\n1998 TOURNAMENT MVP: DarrenZack \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Hefflin Gremlins<\/p>\n

1999 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: TheFarm Tavern \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Madison, Wisconsin
\n1999 TOURNAMENT MVP: Frank Cox \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Owen Sound Selects<\/p>\n

2000 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: NOWINNER DECLARED \u00e2\u20ac\u201c tournament rained out
\n2000 TOURNAMENT MVP:<\/p>\n

2001 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: Decatur Pride \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Decatur, Illinois
\n2001 TOURNAMENT MVP: ShawnRychcik \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Decatur Pride<\/p>\n

2002 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: BrokenBow Travelers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Broken Bow, Nebraska
\n2002 TOURNAMENT MVP: KarlGollan \u00e2\u20ac\u201c CountyClassics<\/p>\n

2003 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: CountyMaterials\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Marathon, Wisconsin
\n2003 TOURNAMENT MVP: DeanHololein \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Farm Tavern<\/p>\n

2004 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: CountyMaterials\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Marathon, Wisconsin
\n2004 TOURNAMENT MVP: PatShannon \u00e2\u20ac\u201c CountyMaterials<\/p>\n

2005 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: TheFarm Tavern \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Madison, Wisconsin
\n2005 TOURNAMENT MVP: ColinAbbott \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Farm Tavern<\/p>\n

2006 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: CountyMaterials\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Marathon, Wisconsin
\n2006 TOURNAMENT MVP: NathanNukunuku \u00e2\u20ac\u201c CountyMaterials<\/p>\n

2007 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: QuakerRiverSharks \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Orillia, Ontario
\n2007 TOURNAMENT MVP: BlairEzekial \u00e2\u20ac\u201c QuakerRiver Sharks\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Orillia’s World Series of Fastball Cancelled for 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ORILLIA, ON, (March 27, 2008) – The ideal for Orillia tocreate an annual men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastball tournament was hatched on awarm July evening in 1997, when the Decatur Pride and the Owen Sound Tiremencompeted in an exhibition double-header as they traveled to the annual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}