{"id":3438,"date":"2009-07-15T10:24:52","date_gmt":"2009-07-15T17:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=3438"},"modified":"2009-07-17T11:59:58","modified_gmt":"2009-07-17T18:59:58","slug":"isf-team-profile-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=3438","title":{"rendered":"ISF Team Preview – USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n(click logo to visit the official ISF XII World Championships website)<\/em><\/p>\n

The following is the second in a series of team previews for the 2009 ISF World Championships that begins later this week. The USA squad opens the tournament Friday night, July 17 against the reigning world champions, the New Zealand Black Sox. <\/p>\n

From the USA Softball website:<\/strong>
\n<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Although the USA Softball Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s National Fast Pitch Team is one of the most decorated in the world, it has been 21 years since the Americans stood atop the World Championship podium. Team USA aims to change that July 17-27 when they compete at the 2009 International Softball Federation Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s World Softball Championship in Saskatoon, Canada.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a good mix of guys that will make us competitive with the best teams in the world,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d coach Pete Turner (Stockton, Calif.) said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have some great hitters but if our bats are struggling, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not game over for us. We have a strong pitching staff that I think can carry us through.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The squad will be led by pitchers Terry Luster (Bunceton, Mo.), Travis Price (Corona, Calif.) and Paul Koert (Brooklin, Ontario). Also competing are Frank DeGroat Jr. (Ringwood, N.J); Chris Delarwelle (Forestville, Wis.); Nate Devine (Sonora, Calif.); Don Garvey (Appleton, Wis.); Paul Koert (Brooklin, Ontario); Adam LaLonde (Ashland, Ky.); Kyle Magnusson (Minot, N.D.); Tyron McKinney (Asland, Ohio); Blake Miller (Kingsville, Texas); Daryn Miller (Creve Coeur, Ill.); Matt Palazzo (Des Moines, Iowa); Stephen Pinocchio (Jamestown, Calif.); Landy Rodriguez (West Haverstraw, N.Y.); Marcus Tan (Union City, Calif.) and Chase Turner (Stockton, Calif.).<\/p>\n

The 17 men are part of a program that has won five gold medals (1966, 1968, 1976, 1980 and 1988), one silver (1972) and three bronze (1984, 1992 and 2000). In 2004, the last time the World Championships were contested, Team USA finished a disappointing fourth.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not winning a medal was a little shocking to us to be quite honest,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Turner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were cruising through the pool play but when we got to the playoffs, I think we kind of got ahead of ourselves and lost control of the situation. Before we knew it, we were out of contention and asking what just happened. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think any of us want to feel that way again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Team USA starts the 2009 World Championships by going against the one of the best teams, five-time World Champion New Zealand, which has won the last three World titles (1996, 2000 and 2004), when pool play kicks off July 17. Also competing in Saskatoon are 2004 World silver medalists Canada and bronze medalists Australia, although the United States will not face those teams in pool play.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is going to be a lot of competition in Saskatoon. There are a lot of countries with a lot of talent,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Turner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But what happened in 2004 doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t determine what is going to happen here in 2009 so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a clean slate for everyone. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to go out there and play our hardest every day like we would have if we were the defending World Champions.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The other pool play matches for Team USA are with Denmark on July 18; Japan on July 19; Philippines on July 20; Botswana on July 21; Great Britain on July 22; and Mexico on July 23. The World playoffs are July 24-25 with the medal rounds on July 26. Following the bronze medal game at noon, two teams will play for the 2009 International Softball Federation World Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Softball Championship title at 3 p.m. in the Bob Van Impe Stadium.<\/p>\n

As a tune-up for the 2009 World Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Championship, the men competed in four exhibition games in Salem, Va., going undefeated against the Virginians (Salem, Va.) and Keatings (Pa.) Fitness Center.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am happy with the results. The guys played real well (against the Virginians and Keatins) so it was a great tune-up for the World Championships,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Turner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am happy with the way that they were hitting the ball out there. And our pitching staff did exactly what we wanted, putting up zeros on the board. I really think this is one of the strongest men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teams that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had in a while.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The team will hold exhibitions July 15-16 against the Philippines, Saskatoon Diamondbacks and Bruno Merchants in Saskatoon. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These games are just tune-ups to get everyone playing together as a team, to get everyone understanding their roles and responsibilities before we get into Worlds,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Turner said.<\/p>\n

For more information about Worlds, visit:
\n www.2009worldsmensfastpitch.com.<\/p>\n

2009 Men’s Fast Pitch National Team Schedule<\/strong>
\nWorld Men’s Fast Pitch Championships<\/p>\n

July 15
\nPhilippines (Ex.)
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 15
\nSaskatoon Diamondbacks (Ex.)
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 16
\nBruno Merchants (Ex.)
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 17 – OPENING NIGHT<\/strong>
\nNew Zealand
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 18
\nDenmark
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 19
\nJapan
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 20
\nPhilippines
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 21
\nBotswana
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 22
\nGreat Britain
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 23
\nMexico
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

July 24-27
\nPending (Playoffs)
\nSaskatoon, Canada<\/p>\n

USA ROSTER<\/strong>
\nClick here for individual player profiles.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Adam LaLonde
\nBlake Miller
\nChase Turner
\nChris DeLarwelle
\nDaryn Miller
\nDon Garvey
\nFrank DeGroat, Jr.
\nKyle Magnusson
\nLandy Rodriguez
\nMarcus Tan
\nMatt Palazzo
\nNate Devine
\nPaul Koert
\nStephen Pinocchio
\nTerry Luster
\nTravis Price
\nTyron McKinney
\nHead Coach Peter Turner
\nAsst Coach Thad Brown
\nAsst. Coach Avon Meacham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(click logo to visit the official ISF XII World Championships website) The following is the second in a series of team previews for the 2009 ISF World Championships that begins later this week. The USA squad opens the tournament Friday night, July 17 against the reigning world champions, the New Zealand Black Sox. From the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,17,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438"}],"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=3438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}