Monday Morning Blog for Weekend - June 13-14-15, 2008
June 16, 2008
We had the pleasure of returning to Midland Michigan this weekend to report on the annual Explorers Tournament, one of our all time favorite places to
visit and one of our favorite tournaments to "work at". For those not familiar with Midland's double jewel, Currie Stadium in beautiful Emerson Park, it has
to be the nicest complex in North America to watch fastball.
You can have some fun by looking for "currie stadium in midland michigan" on google. Often visited by the USA Olympic team, and most certainly the most often visited by fans who follow the men's game as well, good folks like the Beckers from Long Point, Marg from Acton, Tim from Meadville, PA and Gibby from St. Thomas, all hard core fans of the men's game who love to watch ball in this beautiful setting. We even had a special appearance from Spring from Toronto, he just can't stay away. Most of us have fond memories of this complex from the 1996 ISF's.
This year's tournament was no disappointment. The bit of a rain delay on Friday evening only made this garden paradise look that much greener on Saturday for my arrival. The ball was outstanding to watch, both ISC II and ISC divisions had something for everyone. This was my first time seeing some of the ISC II teams and they did impress. Check the Full Report for details. Congratulations to NY Knights who had a very impressive weekend and earned an ISC II berth to the ToC in August. Bill Hillhouse had an outstanding weekend with his new team.
It was hard to pick a team to cheer for in the ISC Division, a couple of the teams are in my ISC Travel League and of course the fan's favorite, and my host, the Midland Explorers are always popular. For the most part I managed to sit on my hands and remain impartial but there was no stopping watching some very enjoyable games. The late night game Saturday with Jarvis playing Thomson was a pleasure to watch, exciting from the first inning. Paul Koert started for Jarvis and it looked like game over when he gave up a 3-run home run in the first inning but he settled down and held them to those three runs for the rest of the game.
Jarvis got single runs in the 2nd and 3rd but it was not until the 6th did Jarvis turn the game around. Billy Simmons sparked the rally with a single and proceeded to steal every base until he was home. Pat Graham's triple drove in the go ahead run. Koert got the MV Pitcher award and his performance in this game went a long way towards earning that award.
The Sunday morning contest between Midland Explorers and Kitchener River Sharks was another nail biter. Grant Paterson gave up only one run and Midland earned the right to go to the championship game.
Game 36 playoff game between Jarvis and Scarborough was really an endurance test. Playing in the heat for what must have been the longest game of the weekend; Scarborough endured and earned the right to go into the championship game vs Midland.
Midland took advantage of the hour or so break to rest in the shade and then went up against Scarborough in the championship game. That game started an hour later than scheduled due to the length of the Jarvis vs Scarborough game. With no break at all, Scarborough walked over to the main diamond, where they had even less shade and went right to work. And to work they did taking a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Midland started working their way back sparked on a solo home run by Kyle Beane in B2 to make it 3-1. Todd Moore's triple scored three to put Midland in front. Scarborough never let up and everyone saw a well played championship game.
Midland's catcher, Craig Crawford was awarded the MVPlayer award and it was well deserved, he had an outstanding weekend at the plate and behind it.
Hopefully fans that could not make it to Midland enjoyed the reports we were able to post. Thanks in large measure to Paul Barnetson for that as he was not only the Tournament Director but jack of all trades and managed to bring me game summary sheets minutes after each game ended. Paul earned his reputation in Orillia as the Tournament Director of the World Series of Fastball and it’s a shame it’s not being held this year. But we are all glad that Paul and Kathy made it to Midland this weekend as they made sure everything ran smoothly and professionally.
I am getting an official list of the umpire crew to add to my report over the next day or so but I do not want to neglect them as not only did they do an outstanding job over the weekend, they all made sure I received a warm welcome when I arrived. It was nice to see so many ISC umpires that I know well and work so many of these annual top tier senior men's tournaments.
Special mention to the Blue Crew for working the Special Olympics game. This 3-inning game of SP mixed with the Explorers and some others was the highlight of the weekend. This was the high light of the weekend, watching the Special Olympic group play their hearts out and the players and umpires having the times of their lives. I took a few pictures which I hope to add to my site this week as time permits. This kind of event is what makes Midland Michigan and the Explorers organization so special. They did an outstanding job of running this special event. Congratulations to all concerned. I know the other teams will be lining up next year to volunteer some players to get into this big game.
I must thank Kyle Beane for inviting me back to Midland. Kyle works quietly behind the scenes to organize this annual tournament and everyone involved owes Kyle a big vote of thanks. As well, thanks to his dad, Clint Beane, ISC Commissioner Lee Isenhart, the announcers and score keepers and everyone else who went out of their way to make me welcome in Midland. This is indeed a special place.
RESULTS may be only partial results in a few cases but it’s nice to see so many tournament organizers sending in their results over the weekend. Keep it up!
Thanks to the many roving reporters who continue to promote our game, including: Todd McCabe who has found his true calling and almost single handed does all the reporting from the Prairies;
Tony Schaaf who did an outstanding job with the stats from Green Bay this weekend; Larry Kancs from Vancouver, always on the job; Steve Bedard doing double duty as a blue and a cub reporter from Grafton; and many more unsung heroes (mine) who keep the game going.
Al
2008 Season Plans for www.alsfastball.com
We plan to be in:
Kitchener May 30 – June 1 – Legends of Fastball
Niagara-on-the-Lake - June 6-8 - Snapper Shootout
Midland - June 13-15 - Explorer Tournament
Monkton – June 26-29 – World Fastball Invitational
Kimberly - August 10-16 – 2008 ISC World Tournament
Al's Fastball News
*Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com
fastball@pmihrm.com
NEWS-1: http://www.AlsFastball.com/
NEWS-2: http://fastpitchwest.com/alsfastball
