ISC World Tournament Moline

[Westwind]

Big men's fastpitch tournament coming to my area. Really looking forward to seeing a couple games.

The bad news for me is that I am getting on a plane for a conference early Sunday morning and the one team I really wanted to see was the New York Gremlins with the hope of seeing Bill Hillhouse pitch. They play their first game Sunday afternoon. Wife and two DD's as well as all of our softball buds are going. What a bummer!

Good luck to the Gremlins and if you are from the QC area get out there and check it out!

 

[ms244]

Thanks for the heads-up! That is in my back yard and would love to see some games.

 

[nanotech14]

Make sure you watch Hill United Chiefs, Adam Folkard pitches for them. Gremlins have several really good pitchers, they won in Erie, Pa.last weekend, beating Pennslyvania power. Go watch and you won't be disappointed.

 

[Westwind]

GAME ON!

Headed out to Green Valley as a volunteer, (kinda, it benefits dd's team), looking forward to seeing a few games too.

 

[ms244]

My DD and I will be out tomorrow to watch some games. Should be a good time. Looking to see Bill Hillhouse play.

 

[Westwind]

Gremlins vs. Hill United tonight. Should be good game.

 

[ms244]

I made it to watch a couple of games yesterday afternoon. The game between the Hallman Twins and the Pennsylvania Power at noon was a great game. Started off with some excitement (argument between players/coaches/umpires) and ended up with a great last inning. The Twins were down 5-2 in the last inning only to watch Power's Juan Potolicchio give up a 3 run blast to tie the game. The bottom of the 7th inning saw a walk-off home run on the very first pitch! Power then faced the NY Gremlins but we only stayed for the first inning because we had other commitments that we had to keep.

Some observations of the games that I saw. I watched some games in the under 21, Legends and World divisions. All of them were impressive! The pitching speeds alone was the greatest thrill. Juan Potolicchio was unbelievable. I actually was bummed not to see Bill Hillhouse pitch as I was looking forward to watching him. He didn't start the game that we watched. The catchers were unbelievable. There is NO way I would sit back there and catch any pitch from these guys. Another spectator that I talked to said that one pitcher for the Hill United Chiefs was clocked at 85 mph. Not sure if that is legit.

The funniest part of the trip was what my 14 yo DD said. While watching Potolicchio warm up before his game she said "There is like 6 things he is doing illegal!" You can tell she is my DD..... I had to explain to her that mens ISC pitching rules were different than ASA. She actually started naming all 6 things before I stopped her.

For me, it was a great time to get to see fastpitch softball and spend some quality time with my DD. She got a lot of looks from the spectators and players because she was one of the few girls in attendance.

 

[nanotech14]

This is why we as fans of fastpitch softball, need to support the men's side of the game. We need to get involved and help the men get their leagues, local and national, back to what it use to be.

 

[Westwind]

Saw Folkard pitch Friday night, he was really impressive. Low 80's is what i was hearing. NASTY riseball. Leaps out of the circle. It's damned impressive! One of the guys on his team, Hill United, hit one into the trees. (MS, it was past the big tan shed from Milt Hand Field.) It was a shot.

Kirkpatrick pitched most of the innings I saw for the Gremlins who lost 1-0 in extra innings in the championship game. It was tough, Gremlins had some chances but no luck. Bill didn't pitch as far as I know. We visited with him briefly, he is quite congenial! DD wanted a ball signed from Bill and Folkard and both were very gracious.

The men's game is interesting. It is very international, there were Canadians, Aussies and New Zealanders everywhere. They have played fastpitch since they were kids I'm told. It seemed like everybody knew everybody and the seats behind the plate were occupied early and they were not coming open like at girls tournaments when the teams changed. The men really seem to throw a lot of rise and drops and seem to bend those two pitches in or out as needed. They vary speed constantly, it was very noticable. The rise balls are really something to see, even the over 50's, (Legends Division). The mens game seems to be a pitchers game while i would say girls tb in our area is a hitters game. The mens game was enjoyable to watch.

My only dig is that the games were really long, only 7 innings, but good gosh it was like watching baseball. Ain't nobody got time for that!

 

[Lozza]

The men's game is interesting. It is very international, there were Canadians, Aussies and New Zealanders everywhere. They have played fastpitch since they were kids I'm told

That's because those three teams, between themselves,have dominated for a long time. America is up there, but not for a while.

And yes, they play sine they we kids.

We have the open men's tournament in Perth next year, can't wait to see these guys pitch, ie seen it before and it's awesome!