June2014

Argentina Rolls Over Kitchener Fastball League Opponents

June 27, 2014

Kitchener, ON

The Argentina Men’s National Team rolled over their latest opponents in a double header sweep last evening in Kitchener. The Argentines easily handled the 2013 KFL champion Diamond Jaxx by a score of 7-1 then hammered the KFL All-Stars 9-0 in the nightcap of the twin bill played at Budd Park, Kitchener. The sweep extends the Argentina squads record to 13 wins - 1 loss - 2 ties on their current southern Ontario tour.

Game one saw starter Maximilliano Montero and reliever Pablo Migliavacca easily handle the Diamond Jaxx offense while Kitchener starter Kevin Buckley was roughed up early. Argentina’s Sisko Sabate homered in the first inning and Manuel Godoy also homered for Argentina.

In the second game Migliavacca started on the mound for Argentina and earned the win. He was relieved by Sisko Sabate in the 4th with a sizeable lead. Mel Ross took the loss for the All-Stars. Argentina used the long ball in this game to account for 6 of their runs, with Manuel Godoy, Fransisko Lombardo and Joaquin Alegre all going deep for the double blue.

Argentina will have a much tougher assignment this weekend when they participate in the North American Fastball Challenge in Jarvis,Ontario. The lineup there will include the top four ranked ISC teams. The Argentines will open the tournament Friday night when they take on Kitchener Hallman Twins at 7:00 p.m. Their tour will conclude on Monday when they travel to Alvinston for a doubleheader matchup before flying home on July 1.

Larry Lynch

Tour Coordinator

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Argentina roars through fastball heartland

ORIGINAL STORY  by Christine Rivet

KITCHENER — Team Argentina came to Canada to witness a variety of fastball pitching – and that's exactly what the visitors got.

Fireballers, junkballers, good, bad and any combination thereof.

Southern Ontario, the game's heartland, has it all.

"We've had the chance to see different pitching every night," said Argentina utility player Francisco Sabate, whose squad has embarked on a barnstorming tour of mostly rural Ontario in preparation for international tournament play next year.

The Argentines already made stops in places like Shakespeare, Innerkip and Springfield, Ont., on this tour.

Thursday night, it was Kitchener's turn. The visitors blanked the hometown Diamond Jaxx 7-0 and met the Kitchener Fastball League all-stars in the night cap at Budd Park.

Sabate demonstrated some pitching wizardry himself, throwing two innings of one-hit relief for starter Maximiliano Montero against the Jaxx.

From the plate, Sabate provided all the offence his club required, with a solo homer in the first and a two-run single in two plate appearances.

"Fastpitch is not a big sport in Argentina but there is a high level of competition. Still, we get tired of playing against each other all the time," said Sabate.

In Argentina, fastpitch defers to more popular sports like soccer, basketball, even rugby and field hockey.

Most of the senior national fastpitch team members come from Parana, a river-port city about 400-kilometres north-west of Buenos Aires.

Fastpitch arrived in Parana some 60 years ago with a group of Mormon missionaries.

"We still get some weird looks from people back home when we say we play fastpitch."

Sabate, 31, a machine operator at a plastic bag factory back home, got his start in the game as a youngster traipsing across the diamonds with his dad, Eduardo, Team Argentina's current manager.

The Argentines are considered an emerging power with an abundance of pitching in a sport recently dominated by New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Through its first 15 games in Ontario, Team Argentina has lost only once.

The Argentines are also prepping for the Pan American men's fastpitch championship next year on home soil and for the 2015 International Softball Federation's senior men's championship in Saskatoon.

Fourteen of the team's players will remain in North America and play for various club teams at the International Softball Congress world tournament, which comes to Kitchener on Aug. 8-16.

Sabate will play for a squad from Midland, Mich., at the tournament headquartered at Kitchener's Peter Hallman Ball Yard.

The Jaxx, too, are headed for the ISC worlds as a co-host team.

"In exhibition games like these, we get to see some of the world's top pitchers," said catcher Matt Gregory who recorded the Jaxx's lone hit, a single, on Thursday. "That's important so there are no surprises when we get to the ISCs."

Next stop for Argentina is the 2014 North American Fastball Challenge in Jarvis, Ont., this weekend.

 

crivet@therecord.com

Twitter: @RivetRecord

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   News Story from Argentina in PDF

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