{"id":16771,"date":"2012-06-25T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=16771"},"modified":"2012-06-25T17:41:34","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T00:41:34","slug":"california-as-win-3rd-consecutive-california-classic-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=16771","title":{"rendered":"California A’s Win 3rd Consecutive California Classic Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>[POWAY, CA] – The California A’s won their third consecutive California Classic Title in as many years, dominating the competition with a 7-0 win over the Cal State Builders in their semi-final and a 9-0 win over the Tow Pros in the championship game Sunday, following a perfect 3-0 record on Saturday. The powerful A’s offense was on full display over the weekend, matched by the stifling pitching of ace Sean Whitten who picked up both wins on Sunday.<\/p>\n

In the semi-final, the A’s loaded the bases in the first three innings against a weary Kevin Kammueller, who had to pitch all five of his team’s games, putting the game away with a 5 run third.<\/p>\n

Kammueler battled through a tough semi-final win over a strong Portland Brewer squad in a morning quarterfinal, and managed to pitch out of two bases loaded jams in the first two innings against the A’s, surrendering only one run in each, but the couldn’t stem the tide in the third as the A’s broke the game open and coasted to a five inning run rule win. Kammueller carried the load for the weekend due to the absence of young left Canadian Brady Woods, who was unable to make the trip to San Diego.<\/p>\n

The Tow Pros team from San Diego\/Mexico was the Cinderella team of the tournament, knocking off the world’s # 10 ranked team, the Silverhawks, preventing an anticipted matchup between the # 7 ranked A’s and the Silverhawks.<\/p>\n

The Tow Pros got strong relief from their ace Panfilo Valdez in the early morning quarterfinal, preserving a 2-1 win over Tony Mancha and a solid Las Cruces New Mexico squad, followed by a 3-1 upset win over the ISC # 10 ranked Spokane WA Silverhawks in their semi-final. The Tow Pros scored 3 runs early, and hung on to win, stranding the tying runs on base in the seventh inning. Rob Schweyer started and pitched well, as did Nick Underhill in relief, but the ‘Hawks couldn’t muster much offense against the hard down ball of Panfilo Valdez. <\/p>\n

The Tow Pros suffered a similar fate as the Builders though in the finale against the A’s. After logging a good number of innings to get to the championship game, Panfilo Valdez did not start, with Gabriel Marquez getting the nod. The A’s got to him early, scoring four in the first and four more in the second, against Marquez and reliever Luis Flores, to put the game out of reach. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sportsplex Poway, near San Diego, CA, host to the 2012 California Classic<\/figcaption><\/figure>The A’s offense appeared to be in mid-season form, from top to bottom. British Columbians Kevin Schellenberg and Calem Gardner provided the spark at the top of the order, while Matt Palazzo, Derek Mayson, Nate Devine and Darren Box powered the heart of the order. Opposing pitchers found no respite at the bottom of the order, as Blake Miller, Bob Rostenhausler, Chase Turner, Kevin Castillo and Marcus Tan added fuel to the offensive fire of the A’s. The A’s lineup boasts National team talent at every position, anchored by one of the world’s best pitchers in Sean Whitten. <\/p>\n

The closest to trouble that Whitten got on Sunday was the first inning of the championship game when Cesar Rodriguez and Martin Beltran opened the game with singles. Whitten seemed to thrive on the challenge, turning up the dial to bear down to get out of the inning. The Tow Pros notched another hit in the second, which only seemed to elevate Whitten’s game, when he struck out the side with a noticeable uptick in the velocity of his pitches and focus. The Tow Pros had only one other base runner on the day, a fourth inning walk. <\/p>\n

The toughest games for the A’s were on Sunday, against former teammate Travis Price and his Portland Brewers team, a 4-1 win, and a 5-1 win over Las Cruces New Mexico, and their ace Tony Mancha, and young reliever Lumar Goss, who was on loan from the local Palm Springs Express team.<\/p>\n

The tournament saw the return of two elite players who have been away from the game for the last year or two, Nate Devine and Nick Underhill.<\/p>\n

Nate Devine, a member of the 2009 Team USA squad has joined the A’s this year, who along with another key addition, current Team USA member Matt Pallazzo helps to fill the void left by departed Hall-of-Famer-to-be Todd Budke. <\/p>\n

Nick Underhill, one of the hardest throwers in the game has joined the Silverhawks squad, giving them another top flite arm to go with fellow Canadian, Rob Schweyer. <\/p>\n

The two berths to the ISC World Tournament in Midland Michigan were awarded to the California A’s and the Spokane WA Silverhawks. (Runner-up Tow Pros were unable to accept the second berth)
\nSCORES<\/strong><\/p>\n

POOL PLAY <\/strong><\/p>\n

8 am<\/p>\n

California A’s -9
\nRocky Mountain -1 <\/p>\n

WP-Derek Mayson
\nLP-Dave Betts<\/p>\n

Silverhawks -7
\nMacabbi-0<\/p>\n

WP-Nick Underhill
\nLP-Jason Gluckman<\/p>\n

Portland -1
\nLas Cruces -4 <\/p>\n

WP-Tony Mancha
\nLP-Travis Price<\/p>\n

10:00 games<\/p>\n

California A’s -4
\nLas Cruces -1 <\/p>\n

WP-Sean Whitten (5) in relief of Mayson
\nLP-Lumar Goss (5) in relief on Mancha<\/p>\n

Cal State Builders -7
\nTow Pros -3 <\/p>\n

WP-Kevin Kammueler
\nLP-n\/a<\/p>\n

12:00 noon <\/p>\n

Portland -4
\nRocky Mountain -3 <\/p>\n

WP-Farion
\nLP-Betts<\/p>\n

Cal State Builders -3
\nMaccabi -2 <\/p>\n

WP-Kammueler
\nLP-Jason Iuli<\/p>\n

Silverhawks -8
\nTow Pros -1 <\/p>\n

WP-Rob Schweyer
\nLP-Panfilo Valdez<\/p>\n

2:00 <\/p>\n

California A’s -5
\nPortland -1 <\/p>\n

WP-Whitten
\nLP-Price<\/p>\n

Silverhawks -4
\nCal State Builders -3 <\/p>\n

WP-Rob Schweyer in relief of Underhill
\nLP-Kammueler<\/p>\n

Tows Pros 4
\nMaccabi USA 2
\nWP-Gabriel Marquez
\nLP-Weiler, relievers (inning) (4) Rupp* (5) and Iuli (6)<\/p>\n

*This marked the first time Ron Rupp pitched in nearly two years, following car accident in August 2010. Fred Hanker’s YouTube video of Ronnie here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

SINGLE ELIMINATION ROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n6:00 Saturday<\/p>\n

Portland -7
\nMaccabi-0<\/p>\n

Tow Pros-13
\nRocky Mountain -0
\n
\n 8:00am Sunday
\n<\/strong>
\nCal State Builders -11
\nPortland -5 <\/p>\n

WP-Kammueler
\nLP-Farion<\/p>\n

Tow Pros -2
\nLas Cruces -1 <\/p>\n

WP-Valdez
\nLP-Mancha<\/p>\n

10:00. Semi Finals<\/strong><\/p>\n

California A’s -8
\nCal State Builders-0<\/p>\n

WP-Whitten
\nLP-Kammueler<\/p>\n

Silverhawks -1
\nTow Pros -3 <\/p>\n

WP-Valdez
\nLP-Schweyer<\/p>\n

Championship<\/strong><\/p>\n

California A’s -9
\nTow Pros-0<\/p>\n

WP-Whitten
\nLP-Marquez<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[POWAY, CA] – The California A’s won their third consecutive California Classic Title in as many years, dominating the competition with a 7-0 win over the Cal State Builders in their semi-final and a 9-0 win over the Tow Pros in the championship game Sunday, following a perfect 3-0 record on Saturday. The powerful A’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,10,23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-isc","9":"category-tournaments","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16771"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16834,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16771\/revisions\/16834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}