By Adam Bouton

With two healthy pitchers, manager Gregg Sauve's Midland Explorers feel good about their chances in the ISC World Tournament that kicks off this weekend in Midland.

"I think we are feeling pretty good about ourselves right now," Sauve said. "Everyone is healthy. I think we are heading in the right direction at the right time."

The 47-team tournament kicks off Friday night at Emerson Park, and the heart of the tournament begins Saturday with games throughout the day. Opening ceremonies are at 6 p.m. Sunday, and games continue through the championship game on Saturday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. at Currie Stadium. Some games will be played at Red Coats Softball Complex.

The Explorers, one of the two host teams along with the Motor City Shamrocks, open play just after the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. Sunday with a game against the winner of Sweaburg Crush and New York Bombers.

Sauve said that pitchers Don Scott and Grant Patterson are finally at full strength. Scott has had a back injury throughout the season and Patterson had a shoulder injury when the workload became too much.

"Both Grant and Donnie are healthy," Sauve said. "They are both 100 percent and ready to go. Last weekend, we were in Erie (Pa.) and we kind of took it easy on them. A lot of teams go through that. You hope that they peak at the right time. Both pitchers are ready to go. This is what you play all year for."

Scott has had a history of pitching well in the ISC World Tournament. Last year, when the tournament was in Quad Cities, Iowa, he was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the tournament as his team, the Ontario Jarvis Travelers, won the ISC championship.

Sauve said that the Explorers have confidence not only in Scott, but also in Patterson for the tournament run.

"We know that we can compete with the best," Sauve said. "We feel good about that. We know that everyone is healthy. The guys have a lot of confidence in (Patterson) as well as Scott. They've both been there and done that. They've carried teams."

While pitching is important for a deep run in the tournament, defense and offense are equally important pieces for a team looking to win a title. The Explorers' offense has provided pop throughout the season.

"It's been pretty consistent through our lineup this season," Sauve said. "When you go into one of these tournaments, you need four or five guys to get hot. We need the Steve Hornings and Adam Lalondes, we need those guys to get on base. Then the guys like Dale Levy and Dan Loney can drive them in. Then we have other guys in our lineup like Eddy Ketelhut, Shea Bryant, Kyle Beane and Rowan Lam to drive them in.

"It's all about the timely hits. We have to get some of our speed on base. To compete and be at the end of the tournament, we need four or five guys to get hot."

The Explorers' roster includes two Midland players, Catlin Porter and Dustin Collamer; a former Midlander in Bryant, who now lives in Haslett; and two Auburn players, Beane and Jon Gwizdala.

The Explorers are looking to redeem themselves from the last time the ISC Tournament was held in Midland in 2010, when they finished 2-2.

"That's some added fuel to the fire," Sauve said. "We were disappointed. We didn't have a good showing in 2010. It's more incentive to move on and be here in the final weekend."

And as one of the host teams, the Explorers hope to make a deep run.

"Everyone is excited to be the host team," Sauve said. "There's a large field here. There's going to be an awful lot of good teams at the end of the tournament. We are hoping that we can make Midland proud as the Explorers."

Teams that lose their first two games in the ISC World Tournament will drop to the ISC II bracket. In addition, the ISC Legends 50-and-over Championship and the ISC Under-21 Men's Championship both run from Aug. 16-18 at Emerson Park and Red Coats Softball Complex.