August 3-6
South Bend, IN
The Circle Tap Fastpitch TEAM claimed their 1st ASA National Championship
over the weekend. I have waited a long time to write those words as we
were runner-up in 2003 and 3rd place in 2004. The entire team was elated
giving each other pats on the back but seeing our sponsor, Darren
Derricks, re-peating the words "National Champions" and "it's all worth it
now" is what makes us most proud. We wanted to win one for him and we
finally got it. What makes it even more special as we did it with the
team we do battle with each week. We didn't pick up one player that
hadn't played with us and we even did it without Don Garvey and Mike
Roberts.
We had a couple all-American's and a most Valuable pitcher and MVP but all
of them said we won all these awards as a TEAM and we did. Each person on
this squad contributed which makes it even more special. It wasn't one
guy tossing no-hitters or one guy hitting bombs, it was each guy getting a
key hit or making a big defensive play or making a great pitch that made
it happen. With the 6-1 tournament mark we are now 27-18 overall.
Game1
6PM Thursday Play-In game
Circle Tap 3 Thomson Area Merchants(Thomson, IL) 1
CT 3 6 0
TM 1 5 0
CT struck first in the bottom of the 1st as Jess Ellestad led off with a
base hit, stole 2nd and scored on a Chris Delarwelle base hit, Todd
Malnory picked up a base hit, followed by a walk to Tom Crouch to load the
bases. kevin Reichardt drew a bases loaded walk for a 2-0 lead. CT would
leave the bases full as young Czech pitcher Jonas Mach struck out the next
two. The Tappers would make it at 3-0 lead in the 5th as Reichardt
tripled and scored on a Darren Derricks RBI base hit. Thomson would make
it a 3-1 game in the 6th on an RBI single by Mike House.
WP:Collin McKenzie 5H 15K 1BB
LP:Jonas Mach 6H 12K 4BB
Game 2
9AM Sunday
Circle Tap 8 Patsy's(New York, NY) 3
CT 8 6 2
PF 3 8 2
CT grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st on a Chris Delarwelle home
run. In the bottom half Patsy's came right back as ex-CT player Chris
Miljavac doubled and would later score on a passed ball, Louie Joglar hit
a home run for Patsy's to make it 2-1. The scored remained that way until
CT erupted for a 6-spot in the 3rd. Jeff Wartman walked and with one out
Jess Ellestad singled followed by a Kyle Magnusson base hit and took an
extra base on outfield error driving in a couple. Delarwelle walked, Matt
Bramwell struck out but reached as the ball got by the catcher, Todd
Malnory picked up a base hit and Tom Crouch doubled in a couple more to
make it a 7-2 game. Patsy's added a run in the 5th as Miljavac reached on
a two base error and scored on an another ex-CT player Adam LaLonde's base
hit. CT added a run in the bottom of the 6th to seal it.
WP:Matt Bramwell 8H 7K 4BB
LP:Adam Folkard with relief from Muizelaar(3)
Game 3
3PM Friday Winner's Bracket Quarter-Final
Circle Tap 3 MVD Sports(Ashland, OH) 1
MS 1 4 0
CT 3 5 0
The Tapper's grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 2nd as Kevin Reichardt picked up a
one out base hit, followed by a Tom Crouch base hit and a Darren Derricks
2 RBI base hit. CT made it a 3-0 game in the 4th as Reichardt walked and
would score on a Crouch base hit. MVD would score in the 7th on a double
by Tommy Botkins.
WP:Collin McKenzie 4H 12K 2BB
LP:Tom Berube
Game 4
11AM Saturday Winner's bracket semi-Final
Circle Tap 4 Farm Tavern(Madison, WI) 3
FT 3 8 1
CT 4 9 1
This was a see-saw back and forth game which I'm sure was a great game to
watch but nearly gave me a heart attack. The Farm broke a scoreless tie
in the 3rd as BJ Boom picked up a two out hit and scored on a Boyd Dallman
triple. CT came back and tied it 1-1 in the bottom half as Jess Ellestad
singled and moved to 2nd on an error and scored on a Kyle Magnusson base
hit. Farm came right back in the top of the 4th as Derrick Zechman
doubled and scored on a Stan Grebeck base hit up the middle after walkin
the 8 hitter Rod Rainey to get to him. Kevin Reichardt hit a solo home
run in the bottom half to again tie it at 2. It would remain a 2-2 game
until the top of the 6th when Todd Twachman picked up a two out base hit
and scored on a Rod Rainey double. The Tapper's came back again but this
time not just to tie. Matt Bramwell led off the bottom of the 6th with a
base hit, Reichardt drew a one out walk, Jeff Wartman would hit an RBI
double and Darren Derricks would pick up an RBI single for a 4-3 lead. BJ
Boom led off the 7th for The Farm with a walk and with one out a fly ball
to left was mishandled leaving runners on 1st and 2nd. Starting pitcher
Dean Holoien stepped to the plate in obvious pain as he was pulled in the
first due to a groin injury he hit a ball to short and an easy double play
was turned as he couldn't run.
WP:Matt Bramwell 3K 3BB
LP:Korrey Garreau(1) in relief of Holoien
Game 5
Saturday 5PM Winner's Bracket Final
Circle Tap 7 Heflin Gremlins(Balston Lake, NY) 5
CT 7 13 2
HG 5 6 0
Circle Tap would get 4 hits in the opening inning but would only score one
on a home run by Kyle Magnusson. Some base running miscues cost us a
couple runs. Heflin took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 1st as Blake
Miller scored on a passed ball and Frank Perez had an RBI single. CT made
it a 2-2 game in the 3rd as Matt Bramwell knocked in Kyle Magnusson.
Heflin came back in the bottom half on a solo shot by Blake Miller to make
it 3-2. CT would even it at 3 in the 5th on a solo shot by Chris
Delarwelle but again Heflin came back in the bottom half with a solo shot
from Frank Perez. Heflin would extend the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of
the 6th on a solo shot by Mike Gasaway. Jess Ellestad drew a walk to
start the top of the 7th followed by Magnusson being hit by a pitch, Chris
Delarwelle drew a walk and then Matt Bramwell delivered a grand slam to
dead center for a
7-5 advantage. Heflin went down 1-2-3 to end the game.
WP:Collin McKenzie 6H 8K 3BB
LP:Brian Urquardt 13H 6K
Game 6
10AM Sunday Championship game 1
Circle Tap 3 Florida Fastpitch(Jacksonville, FL) 15 5innings
CT 3 7 2
FF 15 16 0
This one was ugly. Florida hit rockets all over the field including 4
home runs. Chris Delarwelle hit a two run shot for CT.
WP:Sebastain Gervasutti
LP:Matt Bramwell with relief from Chris Delarwelle(3)
Game 7
Noon Sunday "If" Game
Circle Tap 4 Florida Fastpitch 1
CT 4 6 0
FF 1 9 0
It took about a mili-second for us to forget about the 1st game.
Seriously, I've never seen anything like it. The prior game had gotten
out of hand and when it ended that was it and we huddled up with smiles on
our faces and said now we go to work, it had been like the 1st game never
happend. CT would grab a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st as Jess Ellestad
walked and would later score on a Todd Malnory base hit. Florida would
even it in the bottom of the 2nd on a solo blast by Mike Brown. CT
grabbed a 2-1 advantage as Matt Bramwell led off with a double and scored
on a Tom Crouch base hit. It remained a 2-1 game until the 6th when
Bramwell singled was sacrificed to 2nd and then Kevin Reichardt launched a
two run shot for a 4-1 lead. Winning pitcher Collin McKenzie pitched out
of jams stranding 10 Florida runners getting great defensive plays and key
stike outs when he needed them against a very good offensive team made up
of players from a few major teams on the ISC circuit.
WP:Collin McKenzie 9H 10K 2BB
LP:Sebastian Gervasutti 6H 8K 3BB
Circle Tap will next see action in the ISC World Tournament in Kitchener,
ON on Saturday at 11AM vs Houston, TX.
ASA Wrap
I want to thank coach Denny Bruckert who came along as a Tapper again and
manage us to a Championship. It was great to see him in a CT uniform
again. This was his 6th ASA Title but I think this one meant a lot to
him.
Thanks Denny!!
Also, I wanted to say that the tournament was run very professionally. I
know the ASA has turned off a lot of teams by over-doing some things but a
lot of that seems to have gone by the wayside. I do want to comment on
what a great job the umpiring crew did the whole weekend.
Zakk
CT Fastpitch
2006 National Champions
ct16@greenbaynet.com
