Mission(s) Accomplished at the 2004 ISC II
Tournament of Champions
When the third edition of the ISC II
Tournament of Champions was being planned for Fargo, ND, the goal was
to make the tournament better in every way possible. “We wanted to
raise the bar,” says ISC II Vice President Bob McGowan. “This is the
top post-season event in the world for teams at this level and the
tournament organization, the caliber of play and the support system
should all reflect that.”
Mission accomplished in that respect as
the ISC II Tournament of Champions, played at the four-diamond
Anderson Sports Complex, was witness to several dozen great ball games
between 35 teams representing 19 states and provinces from across the
United States and Canada.
Not only was the tournament extremely well
run from a technical standpoint – out of 93 games scheduled, only two
started late and even then, game controllers had things back on
schedule by the next round of games – but for the first time, ISC II
games were broadcast over the internet.
“One of the mandates that I brought to the
ISC when I came aboard as ISC II Commissioner in the fall of 2003 was
to get our games on the air,” says Blair Setford, ISC II Commissioner
and one of the lead broadcasters for the tournament.
“We had the 2003 championship game on the
air, but it was put together at the last minute and we had to scramble
to get announcers,” he says, adding that he wanted a crew this year
with time to prepare so they would know the teams and players.
Fastpitchwest.com editor Jim Flanagan was
approached in February about producing the broadcasts and joining as
the lead play-by-play commentator.
“Blair set an ambitious schedule for us of
18 games over six days, but we put together a great team of on-air
people and received great support from the entire group of ISC II game
controllers and personnel,” says Flanagan.
With Flanagan and Setford taking turns on
play-by-play, they were joined in the broadcast booth for colour
commentary by the likes of ISC II Game Controller Joe Todd, of
Ingersoll, Ontario, Minnesota Fastpitch website editor Brett Bresnahan
and Brian Hazelton, a member of the Reasnor, IA RPM’s
team who did double duty playing on the field and working on air.
A total of nine round robin games were
streamed over the internet through sportsjuice.com, featuring 15
different teams. With another nine playoffs games added in, 22 teams
were covered at least once during a broadcast.
While actual numbers aren’t available for
release, Flanagan notes that the audience more than doubled over the
course of the tournament, culminating in the championship game on
Friday afternoon from the drop-dead gorgeous Jack Williams Stadium in
downtown Fargo.
The broadcast program for ISC II walks in
the successful footsteps of the one initiated four years ago for the
ISC World Tournament and follows a similar format.
Players were brought in for post-game
interviews while others stopped by to chat or offer their insight
during the course of games, providing their views on the tournament,
their team and the opposition.
“Our fans back home really enjoyed hearing
the games on the internet,” says Denny Warrick of the Reasnor, IA
RPM’s team, which finished 22nd at 2-3.
Setford adds that more than one of the
bars that sponsor teams were hooking laptop computers into their sound
systems so fans could listen to the games.
“That’s exactly the kind of thing we were
hoping to accomplish,” he says. “Bringing the ISC II games to the
people that couldn’t make the tournament and providing exposure for
the teams and players that they don’t normally get.”
The tournament format saw 35 teams
separated into seven pools of five. Each team played four round robin
games with the top three teams in each division and three wildcards
making the single-elimination playoff round.
The fifth game of the tournament saw the
first upset as top seed Kemptville, ON Thunder was knocked off by
Fargo, ND Chub’s Pub Wizards 5-4 in what was the first game broadcast
from the tournament.
The Wizards would go on to finish 4-0 in
their division joining other pool winners Tavistock, ON Merchants,
Gladstone, MB Whips, Orr Park, OH Knights, defending champion
Harriston, ON Mercury’s, Lloydminster, AB Dodgers and Shedden, ON
Mission with a first-round bye. Kemptville also received a bye on the
basis of being the highest-placing 2nd seed from amongst
all the pools based on their plus/minus.
Hermann, MO Black Gold set the tone in the
playoff round for the wildcard teams, knocking off last year’s
fourth-place finisher Marquette, MI Marquette Fence 1-0. Pitcher Eric
Steinbeck tossed a brilliant two-hitter, striking out 16 for the
winners. Black Gold would go on to give Harriston a scare before
dropping a close 2-1 decision in the second round.
Norwich, ON Razorbacks found their stride
after going 1-3 in the round robin, knocking off Denmark, WI Circle
Tap Lumberjacks and Orr Park Knights before running into the Gladstone
buzz saw in the quarter finals. Despite their rocky start, Norwich
finished sixth.
The last wildcard entry was Yakima, WA JRW
Associates, who survived one of the wilder games of the tournament,
upsetting Sioux Falls, SD Sox 2-1 in nine innings despite being
victimized for 20 strikeouts by Sox ace Shane Bouman. JRW didn’t
record a hit until the 6th when leadoff batter Don Cawthron
homered to tie the game. Steve Drissel then drove in James Munson with
the winning run in the top of the 9th and pitcher Dave
Drotzman was able to keep the Sox off the board in the bottom of the
inning. JRW were eliminated by Gladstone in their second round game,
but manager Jim Williamson says the team is already looking forward to
qualifying for 2005 in Chippewa Falls.
Defending champion Harriston Mercury’s
came into the tournament ranked fifth and were on a mission to prove
that their win in 2003 in Appleton,
WI was no fluke. Harriston steamrolled the
oppostion in the round robin, outscoring teams 28-4, including a
memorable 4-3 7th-inning comeback win over The Bar of
Appleton, WI.
With the victory over Black Gold,
Harriston met Lloydminster Dodgers in a quarter-final match-up of
undefeated teams. While they were little-known coming into the 2004
Tournament of Champions, Lloydminster left a big impression on
everyone, cruising through their pool play giving up only six runs in
four games. The Alberta team were tied with Harriston through five
innings but an RBI double by Curtis Martin gave the Mercury’s a
one-run cushion which Shaun Winship was able to protect, saving the
game for starter Scott Smith.
That set up a semi-final rematch between
Harriston and The Bar of Appleton as the Wisconsin team rode the
pitching duo of Blair Ezekiel, of St. John’s, NL and Gerard Long of
New Zealand to playoff wins over Dawson, MN Cerro Gordo, Kemptville
and St. Paul, MN ABS Villard to
reach the final four.
Playing at Jack Williams Stadium, an
American Legion field converted for softball use as the main park for
the ISC World Tournament, Harriston scored three in the third inning
off four hits and an error while the Bar scored one in the fourth on a
walk, sac bunt and a rare two-base tag-up on a fly ball to the fence.
Smith and Winship would combine on a no-hitter for the win.
On the other side of the bracket,
Tavistock Merchants and Gladstone Whips were mowing down opponents in
a relentless march to the final four. Ranked second in ISC II play
entering the tournament, Tavistock edged Wilkes Barre, PA Keating’s
Fitness Center 2-1 before knocking off Chub’s Pub 5-2 in their
quarter-final game.
Tavistock was riding the pitching trio of
Fred Follings, Steve Cook and Rob Oliver to great success while being
led at the plate by 3B Jamie Rader, who hit .583 in the round robin,
and lead-off hitter Dean Kaufman, who had announced his retirement
before the tournament and was looking to go out on top.
Gladstone Whips were the pick of many
observers to win the tournament after dominating their division and
outscoring their opponents in their first two playoff games 11-2.
With pitchers Peter Reimer, John
Desaulniers and Kevin Plett along with top hitters like Dean McBride
and Rodney Speck, the Whips seemed poised to take the ISC II
Tournament of Champions title north to Manitoba.
Reimer gave the Whips a 1-0 lead in the
top of the 6th inning with a lead-off home run off
Follings, but Tavistock countered with a Dave Kollman single scoring
pinch runner Terry Gerber in the home half of the inning. In the
Tavistock half of the seventh, Mark McKay led off with a single and
advanced to second on an error to the right fielder. Gladstone elected
to try for the double play on a ground ball hit by Ross Herold, but
the throw to first was errant and McKay sent Tavistock off to the
finals with a chance to keep Kaufman’s hopes for a Hollywood ending
alive.
Alas for Kaufman and Tavistock, it wasn’t
to be.
In an uncharacteristically sloppy game for
both teams, Harriston would score at least one run in every inning,
topping Tavistock 7-4 in a title tilt between two teams from the
powerful South Perth league in southwestern Ontario.
In a gutsy call by coach Rick Fisk,
Harriston elected to give the ball to 20-year-old rookie Joe German
while Tavistock countered with Rob Oliver.
“We were just looking to see who was the
freshest and maybe show them somebody they haven’t seen,” said
Harriston catcher Geoff Gunson. “I think we were more nervous this
year than last year. We weren’t expected to win last year and this
year I think we were a little uptight.”
Both teams took turns scoring unearned
runs through three innings. Harriston pitcher Nick Goetz relieved
German with two outs in the third and shut down the Merchants’ bats
for the rest of the game. Steve Cook took the loss in relief while
Follings pitched the last two innings.
Harriston left fielder Trevor Seip homered
in the sixth inning to give the Mercury’s some extra insurance and,
for good measure, made the game-winning catch with a stellar diving
effort in the bottom of the seventh.
I was just hoping I could get to it,” said
a still-winded Seip in a post-game interview. “There’s always that one
guy that makes a game-saving catch or gets a game-winning hit or comes
in to pitch in relief and it’s just a real team effort all the way
around,” he said, setting the tone for his teammates.
Added tournament MVP Jeremy Creeden: “We
don’t have one star, we have 15 stars.”
Harriston ace Scott Smith, named the top
pitcher at the ISC II Tournament of Champions for the second year in a
row, was sanguine about not getting the ball in the final. “We brought
four pitchers down for this tournament and we made a decision to go
with a fresh arm,” he said after the game. “It takes a team effort to
win down here and that’s what we have with different guys contributing
every game.”
Smith said winning this year was different
than last year, but still very satisfying. “It’s nice to know that
last year wasn’t a fluke, although we didn’t think it was, it’s nice
to be able to prove that it wasn’t.”
For the Harriston Mercury’s, it was
definitely mission accomplished.
