The 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge Mens FP tournament commenced this evening under sunny skies and warm temperatures at South Memorial Park in Vancouver. The results from tonight's opening games were as follows:
Vancouver Grey Sox 4 - Great Britain National Team 2
WP - Nick Underhill 5IP, 1R, 0BB, 9K, 4H with relief from Derek Mayson 1IP, 1R, 1BB, 2K, 3H
LP - James Darby 5IP, 4R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K, 2H
Pat Mackintosh homered for the Grey Sox who capitalized on 3 Great Britain errors to score their runs. Kevin Stockford homered for Great Britain who led 1-0 early in the contest, and had loaded the bases in the final inning with 2 out, before Grey Sox pitcher Derek Mayson recorded a strikeout to end the contest.
Vancouver South Hill Giants 5 - Denmark National Team 2
WP - Craig Pidcock 5IP, 1R, 0BB, 6K, 3H with relief from Collin MacKenzie 2IP,1R,1BB,2K,3H
LP - Kim Hansen 5IP, 3R, 3BB, 7K, 1H with relief from Thomas Bonde 2IP, 2R, 2BB, 2K, 3H
Giants DP Frank DeGroat broke open a 1-1 game with a 6th inning bases loaded triple to pace the Vancouver side to victory.
One of the largest opening night crowds in the history of the event turned out for what has the makings of a good weekend of Mens FP softball. The large turnout of fans was most encouraging considering the playoffs also commenced this evening for the week long Canada Cup International Womens Softball Tournament being held in South Surrey, BC and the BC Lions kicked off their 2009 CFL football season this evening with a home game vs. Hamilton.
Saturday's pool play games are as follows:
8:00 am - Japan vs. Sooke
9:45 am - Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Vernon
10:00 am - Great Britain vs Kamloops (Diamond 2)
11:30 am - Japan vs Denmark
11:45 am - Sooke vs Vancouver South Hill (Diamond 2)
1:15 pm - Great Britian vs. Vernon
3:30 pm - Japan vs. Vancouver South Hill
3:30 pm - Kamloops vs. Vernon (Diamond 2)
5:15 pm - Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Kamloops
5:15 pm - Sooke vs. Denmark
Playoffs commence Saturday evening at 7:00 pm with the final game of the day slated for a 9:00 pm start.
Playoff games will continue on Sunday commencing at 8:00 am with the Championship Final game scheduled for 4:00 pm.
The weather forecast remains positive for Saturday with sunny skies and highs of 23 c (which is approx. 75 F) and thus bodes well for the teams and the many fastpitch enthusiasts.
Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox
The 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge commenced day two of action under a bright sunny sky with very warm temperatures, and continued large crowds. Today's results as of 3:15 pm PDT are as follows:
Japan 10 - Sooke Junior A's 0
WP - Kengo Terui 3IP,3K, 0H with relief from Kunihiko Iida 1IP,1K,1H
LP - Scott Lieph 4IP,10R,4BB,3K,9H
Japan showed their speed and power early in this one to cruise to a victory over the young junior side.
Vernon, BC DC Arrows 6 - Vancouver Grey Sox 3
WP -Travis Kunz 4IP,3R,3H,2BB,4K with relief from Rob Johnson 3IP,0R,0H,0BB,4K
LP - Travis Price 1.2IP,6R,3H,4BB with relief from Nick Underhill 4.1IP,0R,0H,0BB,7K
Rene Blanleil delivered a three run homerun to provide the Vernon squad with the margin of victory.
Great Britain 5 - Kamloops 2
WP - Rich Haldane with relief from Tony Kelly (5)
LP - Scott Austin
Japan 8 - Denmark 1
WP - Tatsuya Hamaguche with relief from Hirokazu Murakama (4)
LP - Thomas Bonde with relief from Japer Parduro (5)
Vancouver South Hill 4 - Sooke 0
WP - Collin MacKenzie
LP - Ben Oates
Great Britain 5 - Vernon 0
WP -Mark Elson
LP - Rob Johnson with relief from Andre Blanleil
Standings after 8 games
RED POOL
Great Britain 2-1
Vernon 1-1
Vancouver Grey Sox 1-1
Kamloops 0-1
BLUE POOL
Japan 2 - 0
Vancouver South Hill 2 - 0
Denmark 0 - 2
Sooke 0 - 2
Games still to be played today:
3:30 pm - Japan vs. Vancouver South Hill
3:30 pm - Kamloops vs. Vernon (Diamond 2)
5:15 pm - Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Kamloops
5:15 pm - Sooke vs. Denmark
The single life playoffs commence Saturday evening at 7:00 pm Red 3 vs. Blue 4 with the final game of the day slated for a 9:00 pm start featuring Blue 3 vs.. Red 4.
Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox
www.vancouvergreysox.com
Vancouver, BC
Up to date information as of 10:30 am PDT regarding the 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge is enclosed.
Games played Saturday July 11th in the afternoon and evening:
Japan 4 - Vancouver South Hill 0
Kamloops 4 - Vernon 2
Vancouver Grey Sox 8 - Kamloops 2
Denmark 7 - Sooke 2
Standings at the conclusion of the round robin
RED POOL
(1) Vancouver Grey Sox 2-1
(2) Great Britain 2-1
(3) Kamloops 1-2
(4) Vernon 1-2
BLUE POOL
(1) Japan 3 - 0
(2) Vancouver South Hill 2 - 1
(3) Denmark 1- 2
(4) Sooke 0 - 3
Playoff Round
Game played Saturday evening
Kamloops 1 - Sooke 0 - in 11 innings - great ball game to finish the day. *Scheduled game between Denmark and Vernon moved to Sunday am due to Vancouver Parks Board restrictions on use of the facility after 11:00 pm PDT.
Sunday July 11th
Games played at 8:00 am PDT
Vernon 8 - Denmark 4
Great Britain 5 Kamloops 0
In progress
Vernon vs. South Hill Giants winner advances vs Vancouver Grey Sox at 2:00 pm PDT
Noon PDT
Great Britain vs. Japan winner advances to Championship Final at 4:00 pm PDT
Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox
www.vancouvergreysox.com
