For Chase Porter and Mike Hoon of Midland, the International Softball Congress World Tournament has been truly just that -- international.
When the Lanceros De Vargas fastpitch team from Venezuela had delays with two players entering the U.S., Porter and Hoon were extended an invitation to play for the South American team.
"Unfortunately, they had some guys late getting here," said Hoon, who played baseball at Meridian High. "I happened to be in the right spot at the right time. Having been a part of Midland softball for so many years, people knew who I was and they asked if I was interested in playing and I decided to take a shot at it."
Hoon has not regretted joining the team.
"It's been awesome," he said. "These guys are all great. I'm actually glad I made the decision to participate."
Porter agreed.
"This is a lot of fun," said Porter, a former Berryhill player and Midland High graduate. "They're fun to get along with."
The Lanceros defeated the Quad City Sox 8-1 and defeated the Harriston (Ont.) Wellington Sox 5-4 on Wednesday in the ISC II bracket, advancing to play the St. Thomas (Ont.) Evergreen Storm today at 9 a.m. at Emerson 3.
If the Lanceros win three games in a row today, culminating in the 4 p.m. championship game, they will win the ISC II bracket.
Porter has been playing rightfield and Hoon has been playing designated hitter for the Lanceros.
Communication has been a bit of a challenge.
"In the dugouts, I'm normally a chatty guy. But, I don't really know what to say because they don't understand it anyway," laughed Hoon, who is an engineer at Hemlock Semiconductor.
Porter also isn't fluent in Spanish, but he's learning.
"We're teaching each other some," said Porter. "A couple of the guys speak a little English and I speak a little Spanish. They're teaching me some. They taught me that 'vamos' is 'go.'"
The ISC may not be the only opportunity that Hoon and Porter, who both play for Carey Allstate in the Midland men's league, have to play for the Venezuelans.
"I'll keep playing as long as they want me," said Porter. "They actually asked us to go down to Orlando for an international tournament with them and we're thinking about it."
But first, it's back to Lake Superior State University for Porter, who is majoring in business management.
"I'm going to do a lot of softball training up there, like pitching and hitting," said Porter. "I hope to work out with the girls' softball team."
Both players followed in family footsteps to the softball diamond.
"I grew up here down at the ballpark," said Hoon, who graduated from Meridian in 1983. "My dad played softball for years. So, it was the natural transition from baseball, coming out of high school to the next activity. Men's softball was where I got started and fastpitch is what I've been playing."
Porter is following his older brother Catlin, who has been a member of the Midland Explorers for the last two years.
"Catlin got me into it and got me going," said Chase Porter. "I had a lot of great guys help me with it, like Mike Hoon and (Explorers' manager) Gregg Sauve."
