july2007

Fast pitch softball tournament in Hampton this weekend

July 5, 2007

Hampton, VA

Fast pitch softball returns to Hampton Roads this weekend as the Virginia Classic tournament will take place starting Saturday at 9:30 am at Francis Asbury Elementary School in Hampton.  Four teams will play a round-robin schedule on Saturday and the standings after those games will determine championship bracket scheduling on Sunday.

        The host team is the Peninsula Merchants (10-5) who open the event taking on Suffolk-based GP Gwaltney at 9:30 a.m.  Following that will be PA Power and Sketchers from Baltimore at 11:15.

        World class pitcher Bill Hillhouse will throw for the host Merchants this weekend.  This marks his first pitching appearance in Hampton as he threw for the Merchants in their last Mid Atlantic Fastpitch Travel League weekend going 2-2 with a save striking out 52 in 29 innings.  He has pitched at the highest levels of men’s fast pitch softball since 1990 including stints on the national teams of the USA and Great Britain.  Hillhouse has pitched or coached on six of the world's seven continents.

        PA Power has loads of national tournament experience as they won the 2005 Amateur Softball Association Class C Nationals and followed that with the 2006 National Softball Association National Championship.  The Merchants have faced PA Power earlier this year in the Mid-Atlantic Fastpitch Travel League tournament and lost 7-1.  Sketchers is a combination of two teams from Baltimore that will bring strong pitching to the tournament.

        For more information on the tournament, please contact Media Director Jim Heath at 757-846-5369.

Virginia Classic
Francis Asbury Elementary
Hampton, Va.
Saturday’s Schedule

9:30 am: Game 1 - Peninsula Merchants vs. GP Gwaltney
11:15 am: Game 2 - Pa. Power vs. Sketchers
1:30 pm: Game 3 - GP Gwaltney vs. Sketchers
5:30 pm: Game 4 - GP Gwaltney vs. Pa. Power
7:15 pm: Game 5 - Peninsula Merchants vs. Pa. Power 
9:00 pm: Game 6 - Peninsula Merchants vs. Sketchers
Teams seeded at conclusion of round robin
Sunday’s games
9:30 am: Game 7 - #4-seed vs #3-seed (loser eliminated)
11:15 am: Game 8 - Game 7 winner vs. # 2-seed
1:00 pm:  Game 9 - Game 8 winner vs. #1-seed  (championship

Craig Smith
craigsmith50@msn.com

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