2013 - NDASA

Bismarck-Mandan to
Host Nationals
Page 2
2013 State Tournament
Highlights
Pages 5, 6, 12, 13
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IATION | Fall 2013
Volume 31, Number 2 | NORTH DAKOTA STATE AMATEUR SOFTBALL ASSOC
Heartland Investors wins Class B National
A team sponsored by Heartland
Investors of Bismarck won the National Class B slow pitch champoinship the weekend of August 17 and
18 following up on their triumph
of last season when they won the
Northern National Class C title and
competed for the National crown in
Oklahoma City. The team has the
same sponsor and many of the same
players who won last year’s Class
C title. The following is a game by
game detail provided by player/
manager Scott Brahos of Mandan.
Game 1 – Heartland over All
Above Landscaping (NJ) 25 to 21.
Heartland came out swinging
in the top of first scoring 8 runs
which proved to be the difference
as each team was putting up runs
each inning throughout the game.
Brad Jaeger was 4 for 4, Jason Salz,
Blaine Horsager, Scott Brahos, and
Brandon Wilkens were all 3 for 4
in the game. However, Joe Cornell
came in with a big night going 3 for
4 with 3 HR’s.
Game 2 – Heartland over Elite
Sports (IA) 20 to 5.
Heartland played a very solid
game scoring right away and never
letting Elite Sports build any momentum. Heartland’s big 4th inning
and scoring 9 runs proved to be
enough by ending the game via the
15-run rule. Scott Huffman came in
the 4th inning to hit a pinch hit HR
to end the game. Joe Cornell, Tyler
Merkel, Dana Roller and Chris Dahl
all went 3 for 3 in the game as well.
Game 3 – Heartland over Tryon
Kneeling (left to right): Chris Dahl, Jason Salz, Scott Brahos, Blaine Horsager, Dana Roller, Brad Jaeger, Shane Piatz. Standing (left to
right): Gene Grainer, Ryan Johnson, Brandon Wilkens, Joe Cornell, Scott Huffman, Mike Feldman, Tyler Merkel. Not pictured: Tyler Liffrig
Gym (SD) 25 to 15.
Again, we got off to another good
start putting up runs in every inning
including a big 6th inning where
Mike Feldman hit a game ending
walk-off HR to beat Tryon by the
10 run rule. He was 4 for 5 in the
game. Jason Salz was 5 for 5, Joe
Cornell was 4 for 4, Scott Huffman
was 3 for 4, and Shane Piatz was 3
for 4 with a big HR in the 6th. As
a side note, Shane’s HR in the 6th
was his first HR of the year.
Game 4 – Heartland over Advanced Sportwear/Longhorns (MN)
19 to 7.
Having a 12 run 3rd inning
helped Heartland get past Advance
Sportswear and advanced to the
undefeated game Saturday night
against Precision. Brad Jaeger was
3 for 3 with 2 HR’s in the game.
Mike Feldman, Blain Horsager,
Scott Brahos were also all 3 for 3
in the game.
Game 5 – Heartland over Precision (IL) 22 to 18 (Undefeated
game Saturday night)
Staying with the consistent
theme of the weekend, Heartland
jumped out in front with an 11 run
first inning. Jason Salz had a big
game going 4 for 5, along with that;
Brandon Wilkens, Shane Piatz and
Scott Brahos all went 3 for 4 in the
game. Ryan Johnson’s big HR in
the bottom of the 6th inning helped
Heartland hang onto the lead and
advanced them to the Championship game Sunday.
Game 6 – Precision over Heartland 29 to 22 (First Championship
Game)
Precision battled back through
GAME
continued on page 9
WEST FARGO IMPACT TEAM:Back row: Tim Rheault, Steph Dullum, Jess Larson, Megan Nelson,
Katie Gilbertson, Bri Flynn, Lexi Lennon, Sydney Greenlund, Hannah Reimer, Terry Greenlund. Front
Row: Tylynn McKeever, Brook Rheault, Ashley Sather, Jordyn Johnson and Brooke Breckheimer.
West Fargo Impact Claims Wisconsin Team Wins
3rd In Northern National
14U National in Bismarck
18 and Under Girls Place in Class B Tourney
The West Fargo Impact team
entered the Northern National
tournament in Rochester, Minnesota with high expectations after
finishing another stellar season in
North Dakota play. The Impact won
six games before being eliminating
with their second loss in the double
elimination event. Twenty one
teams from the Northern Region
including teams from North and
South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois were entered in the
tournament which ran from August
1 through August 4.
The Impact opened with a 6 to
1 win over Team Chaos from Minnesota and followed that with an
11 to 6 win over the Patriots from
IMPACT continued on page 11
North Dakota State Champs Claim 4th
A team from Stevens Point,
Wisconsin went undefeated to win
the Northern National 14 and under
tournament hosted by Bismarck
from August 1 through 4. North
Dakota champions the Bismarck
Sparks played their way to a fourth
place finish in the twenty team field.
Plover 14’s won the title with
four easy victories and a one run
squeaker in the final game. After
playing two games in pool play,
14U continued on page 11
2–
Softball News Fall 2013
President’s Report
As we close out another softball
season, I would like to thank all
the people who make our program
a success. We are very fortunate
to have so many people willing to
serve in such important roles as
league reps, tournament coordinators, state and local board members,
umpires, maintenance people and
the endless volunteer’s in many
different capacities. Many thanks
to the Cities and Park & Recreation
Departments who are our partners
in providing a quality softball experience for all. Thanks to each of
you for all your time and commitment to this great game of softball
in North Dakota.
I would also like to thank the
sponsors who make it possible for
people to play the game of softball
in North Dakota. Please patronize
these great friends of softball whenever possible.
A very special thank you to Gary
& Connie Tharaldson for sponsoring the trophies and banners for 29
adult and 8 JO State Tournaments,
as well as the 14U-B GFP ASA National Tournament in North Dakota
in 2013. As you all may know by
the numbers in these events, this is a
significant donation to the NDASA
program. The Tharaldson donation
allows us to keep our entry fees at
an affordable level and maximize
team participation. We extend our
sincere appreciation to Gary &
Connie for their continued commitment to softball in North Dakota.
Be sure to thank them when you
have a chance.
2013 was another very successful
softball season in North Dakota that
culminated with 505 adult teams
participating in 29 state tournaments, and 50 JO teams participating in 8 state tournaments. Thanks
to all the teams, players and sponsors for such a great turn out for the
state tournaments and congratulations to all the champions of 2013.
One team certainly stood out in
2013, and my sincere congratulations to the players and sponsor of
Mandan Heartland Investors for
fantastic softball season. Heartland
Investors not only won the MSP
Div I State Tournament, but they
went on to win the ASA MSP Class
B National Championship. It was
just one year ago that this same
team won the ASA Northern C
National Championship and went
on to participate in the ASA Championship Series in Oklahoma City.
Congratulations gentleman, we are
so proud of you.
I would also like to thank Tim
Kuntz, Naomi Erdahl and all their
volunteers for running a fantastic
ASA 14U GFP National Championship in Bismarck this past season.
Bismarck has a long history of successful events and they certainly did
another terrific job with this National Championship and provided the
players, fans and sponsors with an
experience to remember. Bismarck
will get another shot at it in 2014
as they will host the ASA 16U-B
GFP Northern Championship. We
will be busy with ASA Championships in 2014 as Dave Frueh and
his staff will be hosting the ASA
E/Rec Northern Championship in
Mandan. Dave is experienced in
running ASA Championships and
will do a terrific job with this event
as well. We expect North Dakota
and the Northern Region teams to
come out in big numbers for these
two 2014 ASA National Championships. I would like to send out
a special thanks to Lori Yantzer
of the Bismarck/Mandan CVB for
their continued support in bringing these ASA Championships to
North Dakota. I for one know that
these events would not be in North
Dakota were it not for the financial
support of Lori and the Bismarck/
From Behind the Catcher
Here we are deep into September
and I am still wondering where the
Summer went. This is the wrap up
edition of Softball News for 2013
and should have all the information regarding state and national
tournaments.
We had some pretty successful
teams in National Tournaments
again starting with the Heartland
Investors team from Bismarck/
Mandan which won the ASA Class
B National tournament after winning the Northern National Class
C tournament last year. This is
basically the same team with a
few additions and subtractions.
Because they won the Class B title,
they will be bumped up to Class A
next year and they have their eye
on winning that prize too. Game by
game summary of their run to the
title can be found on page l of this
issue. Congratulations to them and
their sponsor.
––––––
In addition to the Heartland Investors men’s team, the West Fargo
Impact girl’s 18 and Under Class B
team took home a third place trophy
in the Northern National tournament held in Rochester, Minnesota
this season.
West Fargo has been the most
successful girl’s fast pitch team
in the state for a number of years.
They won every championship in
high school competition before
it became a sanctioned sport and
continue that run of titles in the
high school events after they were
sanctioned and have also run off a
number of championships in ASA
summer fast pitch action.
Bismarck and Mandan
will Host Nationals
2014 Events Include Junior Fast Pitch
and Recreational Slow Pitch
Twin towns of Bismarck and
Mandan will both host National
ASA softball tournaments in
2014 with the Junior Olympic
Northern National event for
girls 16 and under Class B fast
pitch coming to Bismarck and
the Men’s E-Rec slow pitch
heading for Mandan. Both these
national events were awarded
during the ASA National Council meeting in Dallas, Texas
held in November, 2012.
Bismarck will follow it’s
successful performance in hosting the Girl’s 14 and under
Class B fast pitch tournament
in 2013 by landing the Girl’s
16 and under Class B fast pitch
event next season. The tournament is scheduled to run from
July 31 through August 3, 2014.
Bismarck Parks and Recreation
will be seeking to earn another
Award of Excellence from the
national ASA to continue it’s
string of eleven national tourna-
ments hosted by the Capital city
which have all earned the award
from the national ASA office.
Mandan Parks and Recreation
will also want to continue it’s
tradition of hosting successful
ASA nationals when it brings the
Men’s E-Rec slow pitch national
to town from August 28 through
September l of 2014. Mandan
has already hosted nationals in
Men’s 35 and Over and Men’s
40 and Over tournaments, both
of which also earned Awards of
Excellence from ASA.
The Men’s E-Rec will be a
Northern National tournament
and can draw teams from the
thirteen states in the Northern
Region. The E-Rec tournament
has proven to be popular with
slow pitch teams which primarily play recreational softball but
now have the opportunity to
compete in a national competition.
Mandan CVB. Thanks again Lori,
we do appreciate it.
In early November I will be
traveling to Oklahoma City for the
annual ASA National Council meeting. We will be discussing many issues regarding rules and legislation
for all aspects of the game as ASA
is the National Governing Body
of Softball in the United States. A
delegation from Fargo will also be
traveling to Oklahoma City to bid
on adult ASA National Championships.
I would also like to thank our
friends in the ASA National Office
for all their assistance throughout
this past season. ASA is fortunate
to have a staff of very dedicated
individuals who do a tremendous
amount of work for softball. Thank
you very much, each and every one
of you. I would also like to extend
my best wishes to Craig Cress
who was recently named the next
Executive Director of ASA upon
the retirement of Ron Radigonda.
I am confident that Craig will do
a great job and we will be there to
support him wherever and whenever we can.
Lastly, I would like to personally thank retiring ASA Executive
Director Ron Radigonda for his
Bismarck Sparks 14 and Under
fast pitch team won fourth place in
the Class B 14 and Under Northern National held in Bismarck.
Despite the fact that the program
is relatively new, the Sparks found
that they could compete with teams
from well established programs
from Minnesota and Wisconsin.
They managed to play into the final
day of the tournament which kept
much of the home crowd around for
the championship day.
As an old fast pitch umpire, I am
very happy to see the sport revived
in the state and off to a fast start
with almost 2,000 players in ASA
softball around the state.
out in an era of excellent pitchers
and was also a gentleman on and
off the field. His obituary will be
found elsewhere in this issue and
will detail some of the highlights
of his Hall of Fame career.
––––––
Before I end this I should mention that both Bismarck and Mandan will host ASA Northern National tournaments next season.
Bismarck will host another Girl’s
fast pitch event when the 16 and
Under Class B girls come to town
and Mandan will be the home of
the Men’s E-Rec Northern National
tournament. Both cities will be attempting to keep a string of awards
from the National ASA office as
Bismarck will try for it’s 12th
award of excellence and Mandan
Jack Jones, co-director of the
McQuade Charity Tournament has
received word that the Wounded
Warrior softball team will play in
the 2014 McQuade event. The team
is made up of veterans who have
combat wounds and should be a
terrific draw for fans of softball and
for those who want to support our
wounded troops. More information
will be available in the Spring issue
of Softball News.
––––––
North Dakota softball lost a
couple of Hall of Fame members
since the last issue of this paper
both of whom were extremely
good at what they did both on the
softball field and off. Luther Heaton of Minot passed away July 24
while staying with his daughter and
family in Grand Forks. Luther was
a long time softball and baseball
umpire and was one of my deputies
when I was state umpire in chief.
One of the best fast pitch umpires
in the state, he worked a number of
state and regional tournaments and
mentored many of the umpires who
still work fast pitch softball. He was
a good friend and a dependable
umpire. I always felt comfortable
going on the field with him since
he was a big man with an imposing presence. Despite that, Luther
was one of the mildest of men who
rarely had to raise his voice. I will
miss him even though we didn’t get
together often.
Also passing was one of the best
fast pitch hurlers who ever played
in North Dakota, Darwin Gorder
whose 25 year career was spent in
the Fargo Leagues. He was a stand-
Dick Gulmon
over 30 years of dedicated service
to ASA. Ron has spent a lifetime
around the game of softball and has
been the ASA Executive Director
since 1998. Thanks for a great job
Ron and we wish you the best in
your retirement.
Have a safe and warm holiday
season with family and friends and
I look forward to seeing you all
around the diamond next year.
Sincerely,
Dick Gulmon
President/NDASA
––––––
I should also mention that the
brother of Mary Wadnizak passed
away also this summer. While he
was not involved in softball, his
sisters Mary and Bonnie were both
Hall of Fame members and Mary
served for many years as ASA
Women’s state commissioner. Our
thoughts go out to Mary and any
other surviving family.
Walt Stack
––––––
for it’s third. These awards are
made by the ASA national office
based on tournament evaluations
done by the tournament umpire in
chief, the ASA representative and
paperwork sent to the ASA national
office.
I hope that each of you has a
wonderful off season and we’ll
look forward to seeing you around
the diamonds next year. I’m hoping
to umpire again after working 38
games this season.
a
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Call for listing of our
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Linda Huelsman,
Manager
Softball News Fall 2013 – 3
Ump Chat
I know I need to be brief when
I write my column, but there is
always so much going on. I appreciate you reading on! Sorry Walt
for being so lengthy! It is hard to
believe the 2013 softball season is
over. One week left here of coed
and men’s Fall league here in Bismarck and then we can close the
chapter on this season. Where does
the time fly? We have to utilize the
small window of opportunity to
play softball in ND and it seemed as
though for the most part, everyone
enjoyed the season and we made it
through without any major issues.
We recently finished hosting
another successful national softball tournament in North Dakota.
Bismarck hosted the Girl’s 14U
B Northern National Fastpitch
Tournament. It was the first girl’s
national fastpitch tournament ever
held in North Dakota. I believe
there was a men’s national here in
the 1980’s, so it has been a long
time since North Dakota hosted a
national fastpitch tournament. The
good news is that Bismarck will
host another girl’s fastpitch national
next year when the 16U B tournament will be here.
I felt Bismarck did a tremendous
job taking care of all the arrangements to make sure the umpires
had anything and everything they
needed. The Bismarck Umpires
Association and the Bismarck Parks
and Recreation Department takes
great pride in going the extra mile
to make sure umpires are taken
care of properly and we made sure
that happened. Tim Kilber, Larry
Erickson, and Bobby Erickson were
also very instrumental in helping
out in various aspects during the
tournament—thanks guys! James
Villareal from Waxahachie, TX
made his first trip to ND to serve
as the ASA Representative and his
knowledge and experience was a
valuable asset in helping make the
tournament run smoothly.
One another note, I (and a lot
of other ND softball officials) was
very disappointed by the lack of
support from North Dakota teams in
the 14U Fastpitch Tournament! Too
much emphasis is put on winning
in girl’s fastpitch rather than appreciating the opportunity to play in
a national tournament. We should
have had close to 20 North Dakota teams and instead we only had
four! It was a shame that cities and
coaches around the state were more
concerned about winning than affording the girl’s an opportunity of
a lifetime. There are not many opportunities for kids (or even adults)
to compete at the national level and
when they squander an opportunity
when the tournament is right in
their own back yard, it makes you
wonder what people are thinking.
I think the fastpitch group needs
to take a lesson from the slowpitch
teams in North Dakota who do an
excellent job of supporting national
tournaments held in our great state.
So, the fastpitch group has a chance
to redeem themselves this coming
summer when Bismarck hosts the
16U B Girl’s Northern National!!
Mandan will also be a host to a
Northern National Tournament in
2014 when they host to the Men’s
E/Rec National Tournament. This
tournament is designed to attract
Rec teams from all recreational
divisions. It is a great opportunity
for all Rec 1 through Rec 4 teams
to play in a national tournament and
if I understand right, playing in this
tournament won’t jeopardize your
team classification—of course unless you do well in the tournament.
So, let’s have another great showing of ND teams and help support
Mandan in their efforts to host this
national tournament! Dave Frueh,
Tournament Manager, and his crew
from Mandan Parks and Recreation
and all of the other volunteers will
make this tournament a memorable
one for all who enter!
We received several positive
comments on the quality of umpiring at the national tournament in
Bismarck and it is a compliment of
everyone’s umpiring abilities and
the great job the umpires did. The
umpires should all be proud of the
efforts they put forth on the field!
Elsewhere in this issue we have a
list of all the North Dakota umpires
who were chosen to work national
tournaments this summer. If you
see them congratulate them on their
accomplishment of being selected
to umpire a national tournament. It
takes a lot of hard work and dedication to the game to be selected to
umpire a national tournament! We
sent ND umpires to several different national tournaments around the
country and I believe ND umpires
worked the championship game in
EVERY national tournaments we
had umpires at except one! Great
job ND umpires!!
Our state tournaments are finished and everything seemed to go
very well. I base my assumption
that things went well on the number
of calls I get from around the state
when we have our state tournaments going on. Once again, the
calls were virtually non-existent.
I have a great crew of Deputy
Umpires in Chief around the state
that do an excellent job of handling
situations that arise during tournaments, not to mention the great
job they do handling situations
throughout the season. I would like
to personally extend my thanks and
gratitude to the great job my DUIC’s do—thanks to Tom Harty—
Jamestown, Rock Healey—Grand
Forks, Al Ziemann—Bismarck,
Mike Lein—Fargo, Elliott Gerhardt—Bismarck/Dickinson, Naomi Erdahl—Western ND Fastpitch,
Randy Olson—West Fargo, Mike
Nider—Bismarck, Tom Lawson—
Minot, and Lyle Rader—Eastern
ND Fastpitch .
On a personal note, Tom Harty,
a long, long, long, time DUIC from
Jamestown has announced his
retirement. Tom has done an excellent job for many years as a DUIC
and he will be greatly missed! Tom
has one of the best working knowledge of the game and rules and was
always a great contact when we
needed some sort of clarification.
Tom will be greatly missed, but
I know how to get ahold of him
and I know I can count on him if
needed in the future. Tom is one
of only four North Dakota umpires
that have achieved Elite slowpitch
umpire status—the highest recognition of umpire accomplishments in
ASA! Most importantly, Tom has
become a great friend over the years
and you cannot put a price tag on
friendship! Thanks Tom for all the
great years of service!! We cannot
express the amount of appreciation
necessary for all of your hard work
and dedication to ND softball. It
must be the year for retirements as
our long time Commissioner Jim
Hanley is also retiring. I have had a
great working relationship with Jim
over the years and we will definitely
miss his knowledge and expertise.
Jim will remain involved at the
national level as he was granted
Commissioner Emeritus status and
will remain a voting member of the
national ASA council.
I truly believe that the success
of our umpiring program is based
upon the people I have assisting
me—so thank you everyone!! As
a local university advertises about
their students who volunteer in the
community, they say—“It’s not
about me.” While people compliment me on our umpiring program,
I truly believe that—without the assistance of my DUIC’s throughout
the state our program would not
enjoy the success it has!
Unfortunately, due to some
health related issues with my wife, I
will not I will be attending the ASA
Council Meeting in Oklahoma City
in November. I will miss seeing
a lot of old friends, but I need to
address my attention to this issue.
A Fargo delegation will be in Oklahoma City bidding with the hopes
of landing a slowpitch national
tournament for 2015, and while I
was hoping to assist them in trying
to secure a tournament, I know the
group that will be there will do a
great job!
I wanted to include an update on
the Sam McQuade Sr. Budweiser
Charity Softball Tournament. Once
again I would like to extend a great
big THANK YOU to all of the
teams and umpires that participated
in the tournament and all the fans
who came out to watch. After all
the expenses were paid, I am happy
to announce that we had a record
setting year and in September we
distributed over $86,000 to local
charities and organizations—a new
record! I wish each and every one
of you could have the opportunity
to attend the banquet where we
hand out the money and hear all of
the heartwarming stories about just
how much the charities and organizations appreciate the funds they
receive. If you ever want to attend,
please let me know and I will make
sure that happens!
The winning teams are now
posted on the McQuade website.
Be sure and check out all the winners at www.mcquades.com Once
again, thank you players, umpires,
and fans for making this tournament
the most successful one we’ve held!
Watch for the registration form for
the 2013 tournament that will be
available shortly after the first of
February on the McQuade website.
Tournament dates for 2014 are June
27, 28, & 29. Let’s make this the
biggest one ever! Remember—enter early! Be sure and be one of the
record setting teams that participate
in this year’s tournament and don’t
be one of the many teams that didn’t
make it into this year’s tournament.
We hope to see you there!
The Slowpitch Task Force Committee met recently in Valley City
to address several softball related
issues. I was fortunate to have been
invited to the meeting and it is very
reassuring to know that slowpitch
softball in North Dakota is well
represented by a lot of caring individuals who have a great knowledge
of the game and who are looking
out for the best interest of softball
in North Dakota. Jack Jones heads
this committee and if you ever have
any concerns about softball related
issues, don’t hesitate to contact him.
North Dakota will be hosting
a national umpire school for the
first time since 2005. The national
umpire school will be held in West
Fargo May 2, 3, 4, 2014. PLEASE
make sure you mark these dates on
your calendar and plan on attending
this national school. It is one of the
best learning opportunities you will
ever get as an umpire. Not only will
it help you do a better job in local
league games and tournaments,
it will also prepare you for state
tournaments and national tournaments. It is not often that we get
an opportunity to hold a national
umpire school in ND, so don’t let
this opportunity pass you by! In
order to work a national tournament
in 2014 or beyond, you will need to
attend this national umpire school.
More information to follow!! Mark
your calendar now!!!
Another great season of softball
in North Dakota is behind us.
Thanks to all of the players and umpires who make this game so great.
I certainly appreciate all of the
emails, phone calls, and questions
I receive from players, managers,
and umpires throughout the year on
rule interpretations or concerns you
might have. I also get asked several
questions at many of the tournaments that I attend throughout the
summer. I think it is great that we
can discuss plays and situations so
that umpires and players can come
to better understand the rules of the
game. Dialog is great and please
always remember that I am willing
and able to assist in any manner
that I can!
As we end another season, I
would ask leagues, players, and
umpires around the state to assist
us in recruiting more umpires. I
challenge you to do whatever you
can to recruit just one new umpire
for next season in your area of
the state. We are losing umpires
across the country at an alarming
rate and North Dakota is no different. By recruiting just one new
umpire, you would be doing your
part to make sure the great game
of softball continues well into the
future with a sufficient number of
umpires. Maybe that umpire is you!
One night a week can make a huge
difference to any league across the
state! Players and umpires—if you
know of someone you think might
make a good umpire, encourage
them to try it. All it takes is a little
persuasion from an umpire or a
player and someone just might give
Mike Wolf
umpiring a try—you’ll never know
unless you ask!
I encourage you to continue to
contact me at any time with any
questions or concerns you may
have. For me, the softball season
never really ends so don’t hesitate to
drop me an email at wolfden8993@
yahoo.com or give me a call on my
cell at 701-400-2100 with any questions or concerns you may have. I
am available to help you in any way
I can. Have a great off season. I
look forward to seeing many of you
again at a rules clinic next spring or
on the diamonds next summer or
even somewhere along the line this
winter! Remember—Isn’t it great
that in all North Dakota leagues and
tournaments we PLAY ASA and
UMPIRE ASA!!!
Commissioner’s Column
NDASA had a very successful
year. This is certainly attributed to
all those who participated. I personally thank all of you playing ASA/
NDASA softball this past year.
Our state tournaments plus one
national tournament, GFP in Bismarck, culminated our year. With
this year now passed it is never too
early to start planning for 2014. The
next season registrations begin in
early 2014.
For those adults MSP individuals wishing to challenge your
individual classifications, you may
begin the process in January 2014.
This can be done on-line by going
to the NDASA website (ndasa.
com).
ASA will hold its national conference in November. Many new
items (code and playing rules)
will be discussed. Changes will
be made. At the winter meeting in
Jamestown the changes adopted
will be presented. Any changes that
you would like can be discussed
and voted on at the time.
I have appreciated the many
years I have been involved in ASA/
Jim Hanley
NDASA softball (41 years). Thank
you for your cooperation. I will
be officially retired on January 1,
2104. I will continue to be involved
in any position that the new commissioner wishes.
Support your new commissioners and staff. As I depart from an
active role, I know NDASA will
continue to serve you. It will continue to be run by excellent officers
and staff.
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4–
Softball News Fall 2013
Junior Olympic Notes ASA/USA Softball announces Craig
By Brian Neuhardt, JO Commissioner
Our girls fastpitch season saw a
lot of major success in growth in
numbers, quality of play, attendance
at tournaments, quality coaching
and top notch umpiring.
I want to wish Bill Butterfield
and his family the Best of Luck
in the future. Bill has resigned as
the JO commissioner to do more
rodeo’s with his son. I will replace
Bill and look forward to continue
working with the JO program.
I want to recap a very successful
state tournament held in Bismarck
on July 6th and 7th. We had a record
37 teams that participated in 10U,
12U, 14U, 16U and 18U divisions.
It was great to see some new teams
from Lisbon, Mandan, Minot, and
Grafton participate in this year’s
tournament.
West Fargo Impact (Pat Johnson
coached both teams) won both the
18U and 16U divisions. Bismarck
won the 10U and 14U divisions,
with Grand Forks winning the 12U
division. The 10U, 12U, and 14U
championship games were decided
in the second championship game
(or IF game). There was plenty of
drama and 1 run games that decided
the tournament champions. I have
to mention that the Dickinson Diamonds had 4 teams place second in
10U, 12U, 14U, and 18u levels. So
congratulations to all those teams
that placed in the state tournament.
Next year, we are looking forward
to having the state tournament in
Grand Forks, for the first time ever.
Bismarck hosted the 14U B
Northern National tournament from
July 31 to August 3rd. We had a
total of 20 teams that included
teams from Minnesota, Illinois,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas,
North Dakota and South Dakota.
Tim Kuntz and Naomi Erdahl, from
Bismarck Parks & Rec. Dept. were
the tournament managers. The tournament committee spent a number
of hours in planning for events
that went with hosting this type of
tournament. There are a number of
moving parts to this tournament and
I want to send out a BIG Thank-you
to all who were able to make it happen. Special thanks again to Tim
Kuntz and Naomi Erdahl for taking on the challenge of putting on
a very successful tournament. The
weather was perfect, and everyone
is still talking about the opening
ceremonies that were held on the
steps of the state capitol grounds.
The Wisconsin Plover
14’s(Plover is a town) won the
tournament with a 7 – 0 record.
They defeated Pride of the Midwest
(Brookfield , Wis.), in the championship game. The Michigan Heat
finished 3rd. We are really proud
of the Bismarck Sparks , coached
by Joel Barta, who went 4 - 2 in
the tournament and placed 4th.
The tournament provided a number
of thrilling extra inning games (if
you coach get familiar with the tie
breaker rules) along with number
of drama filled Home Runs. Lyle
Rader, was umpire in chief and his
group of umpires did a fantastic
job. We hope to have that group
ready to ump again at next year’s
tournament. I could not believe the
size and how nice the individual
awards were that go to the top 3
finishers. ASA does a nice job on
those individual awards. Minot,
Grand Forks, and Dickinson also
had teams that participated in the
tournament.
I have seen a number of parents
who are willing to sacrifice just
about anything to see their kids play
sports. At the National tournament,
we had a mother drive up from
Plover Wisconsin for the opening
ceremonies and Thursday’s games.
After the games on Thursday, that
Mom and another mother drove
back to Plover for her sister’s wedding. So after the grand march, they
drove back to Bismarck and arrived
in Bismarck at 8:00 a.m. to watch
her daughter play in the undefeated
and championship game. Then after
the championship game they drive
back to Plover. It is a 12 hour trip
from Plover, WS to Bismarck ND.
She spent 48 hours in a car traveling
back and forth. That is the over the
top award.
We also need to recognize that
West Fargo Impact placed 3rd in
the 18U B Northern National held
in Rochester, MN. Impact finished
with a record of 4 -2 and was
coached by Terry Greenlund. At
the same time the West Fargo 16U
team, played in the 16U A Northern
National and finished with a record
of 4 – 4. Again, great job by those
girls, coaches, parents, and sponsors for supporting those programs.
Looking ahead to next year,
Bismarck will be hosting the 16B
Northern National tournament.
Everyone needs to play and attend
these National tournaments. If you
don’t , these girls are missing out on
a great experience and it gives them
an edge of confidence. I encourage
everyone to attend these national
tournaments.
Several ND umpire’s selected
to work national tournaments
There are over 33,000 umpires across the United States, but only
a fraction of those umpires get selected to umpire an ASA national
tournament. Umpires work hard throughout each season and their
careers to perfect their skills with the hope of being selected to umpire
in an ASA national tournament. This season, several North Dakota
umpires either umpired in ASA national tournaments or served in an
administrative capacity. Hopefully, I didn’t overlook anyone! My
apologies if I did! CONGRATULATIONS to the following individuals who were selected to umpire or serve in an administrative capacity
at a national tournament:
Naomi Erdahl—Bismarck—USA Girls 18 Gold—Oklahoma City, OK
Craig Hahn—Grand Forks—Girl’s 16U & 18U Fastpitch—Rochester, MN
Donald Doyle—Grand Forks—Girl’s 16U & 18U Fastpitch—Rochester, MN
Elliott Gerhardt—Bismarck—Girl’s 16U A Fastpitch—Roseville, CA
Chris Coleman—Fargo—Men’s C—Liberty, MO
Tom Hamkens—Bismarck—Women’s D—Watertown, SD
Jason Hassebrock—Bismarck—Women’s D—Watertown, SD
Terry O’Clair—Bismarck—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Barry Adair—Bismarck—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Tom Lawson—Donnybrook —Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Shane “Red” Nordick—Grand Forks—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Chad Mears—West Fargo—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Lyle Rader—Wahpeton— Umpire-In-Chief—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Walt Stack—Bismarck— Assistant UIC—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck, ND
Michael Wolf—Bismarck—Umpire Coordinator—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck
Naomi Erdahl—Bismarck—Asst. Tourn. Director—Girl’s 14U—Bismarck
Michael Wolf—Bismarck—Umpire-In-Chief— Women’s D—Watertown, SD
Cress as next Executive Director
OKLAHOMA CITY --- The
Amateur Softball Association
(ASA) and USA Softball Board
of Directors announced today the
selection of Craig Cress (Edmond,
Okla.) as the next Executive Director for the National Governing
Body (NGB) of Softball in the
United States. Cress, who currently
serves as the association’s Director
of Membership Services since May
2002, will begin duties as Executive Director effective November
15, 2013 at the ASA/USA Annual
Council Meeting in Oklahoma City.
“I am very humbled, honored
and excited for this tremendous
opportunity,” said Cress. “ASA/
USA Softball has a storied history
and there are many individuals
who helped build and maintain
this outstanding association. It
has definitely been my privilege
to have served ASA/USA Softball
for over 35 years in many different
roles and I look forward to being
part of the future by serving as its
next Executive Director. I appreciate the support and confidence of
the ASA Board of Directors, the
Membership and the National Office Staff - we will need everyone
as we create the next chapter of this
historic organization!”
Cress has been involved with
the ASA for over 35 years serving
in several roles as a player, umpire,
district Commissioner, UmpireIn-Chief, league administrator, as
a council member, and National
Office staff member. A native of
Terre Haute, Ind., Cress started his
involvement with ASA Softball
as a player and spent many years
behind the plate umpiring at all
levels including National Championships and International Softball
Federation Women’s and Men’s
Fast Pitch World Championships.
He served on the ASA National
Umpire Staff for four years and in
2005, he was nationally honored for
his years of expertise as an umpire
by being inducted into the National
Softball Hall of Fame in the umpire
category.
“ASA is honored and proud
to name one of its own as the
next Executive Director of ASA/
USA Softball,” said current ASA/
USA Softball President ET Colvin
(Mississippi ASA Commissioner).
“Craig has come from the local
ranks as a district commissioner,
local umpire-in-chief to one of
the best umpires in the nation. He
came to the ASA National Office
as Director of Membership services
and has led that department and
the ASA umpire program. He has
the experience and knowledge at
all levels to be a very successful
Executive Director. Over the past
few years Craig has been involved
in the grass root programs of all
76 local associations and worked
closely with all of ASA’s local
Commissioners. He will provide
the leadership and guidance that
will continue to move ASA forward
and keep us as the leader in the
sport of softball.”
In the interim, Cress will continue his duties as Director of
Membership Services and will
work alongside current Executive
Director Ron Radigonda who announced his retirement in December of 2012 after 14 years leading
the organization.
“Craig will bring a wealth of
knowledge and softball expertise
to his new role in ASA,” said Radigonda. “He has progressed through
various levels and roles within
our association and has excelled
in all of his endeavors. He has
gained valuable experience in his
most recent role as our Director of
Membership Services and has had
direct contact with our 76 local as-
sociations for the past decade. He is
well versed in all aspects of softball
and our association and will provide
outstanding leadership to ASA for
many years to come.”
Prior to his work in Oklahoma
City as Director of Membership
Services, Cress served as the Executive Director of the Wabash
Valley Family Sports Center in
Terre Haute, Ind. and supervised
over 20 employees who provided
services to over 2,000 members and
volunteers. He conducted several
fundraising events annually that
generated revenue and exposure to
the Sports Center in Indiana.
In May of 2002, Cress began
his tenure with the ASA National
Office in OKC overseeing the
Membership Services department
who supply services and benefits
to all members of ASA. In addition, the Membership Services staff
oversees the ASA Hall of Fame
four-field complex that hosts over
30 events annually including the
NCAA Women’s College World
Series and the World Cup of Softball. He coordinates and leads the
ASA Equipment Testing and Certification Committee who regulate
equipment for the game of softball.
Cress works closely with staff
in budget preparation and operation
for the association and has been an
integral aspect of ASA’s success
over the past decade.
Cress and Karrie, his wife of 28
years, currently reside in Edmond,
Okla. and have two sons, Rich and
RJ, who also reside in Oklahoma.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the
United States and a member of the
United States Olympic Committee.
The ASA has become one of the
nation’s largest sports organizations
and now sanctions competition in
every state through a network of
76 local associations. The ASA has
grown from a few hundred teams
in the early days to over 210,000
teams today, representing a membership of more than three million.
For more information on the ASA,
visit http://www.asasoftball.com/
http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the
ASA that links the USA Men’s,
Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior
Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible
for training, equipping and promoting these five National Teams
to compete in international and
domestic competitions. The USA
Softball Women’s National Team is
one of the only two women’s sports
involved in the Olympic movement
to capture three consecutive gold
medals at the Olympic Games
since 1996. The U.S. women have
also won nine World Championship titles including the last seven
consecutive as well as claimed
six World Cup of Softball titles.
For more information about USA
Softball, please visit http://www.
usasoftball.com/ http://www.usasoftball.com/.
ASA Heads home for 82nd
Annual Council Meeting
The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America will
converge in Oklahoma City, its
National Headquarters, on November 9-16 when it hosts its
82nd Annual Council Meeting at
the Renaissance Hotel. During the
week long event, administrators,
players and tournament hosts from
around the country participate in a
series of meetings to evaluate the
needs of the association along with
proposed rule and code changes for
all divisions of ASA softball. In
addition to the business side of the
organization, the ASA also presents
several awards during the Annual
Council Meetings, including the
James I. Moyer Sports Complex
of the Year Award, the Bright
Light Award presented by ASA and
Musco Lighting, Years of Service
and the James Farrell Certificates
and Awards of Excellence for excellence in conducting ASA National
Championships.
The ASA National Council is
comprised of about 300 voting
members from all aspects of the
sport. The National Council, which
consists of ASA Commissioners
or Commissioner Emeritus, Executive Director Emeritus, Council Member Emeritus, Regional
Player Representatives, At-Large
Player Representatives, Regional
Junior Olympic Commissioners,
Regional Umpire-In-Chiefs, Allied
Members, Elite Athlete Reps, and
Past Presidents, are charged with
making decisions on legislative
changes, rule changes and is solely
responsible for awarding National
Championships to host cities across
the country.
On Sunday, November 10 the
33rd Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Banquet will be
held in the Grand Ballroom. Members of the 2013 ASA Hall of Fame
class include: Margie Wright (Clovis, Calif), Randy Melvin (Dowagiac, Mich.) Laura Berg (Santa Fe
Springs, Calif.), Lisa Fernandez
(Long Beach, Calif.) and Shirley
Simmons Snell (Shreveport, La.).
In addition to honoring the Class
of 2013, the Hall of Fame Class of
2014 will be announced.
More than 80 exhibitors from
throughout the United States are
expected to attend the annual ASA
Trade Show, which will be held
Wednesday evening. The show will
feature exhibits from cities bidding
on the ASA National Championships, equipment manufacturers,
softball suppliers and the ASA
National Office staff with more than
1,000 council members, association delegates and visitors passing
through.
The Wilson Sporting Goods
To u r n a m e n t Aw a r d s L u n cheon will be held on Wednesday while the 5th annual “Fun
Walk”, organized by Joey Rich,
will be on Thursday morning.
For further information on the
2013 ASA Annual Council Meeting, please visit ASASoftball.
com. Photos and live updates from
OKC will be posted on the ASA
and USA Softball Facebook and
Twitter pages.
Softball News Fall 2013 – 5
The Last Call
Luther Freeman Heaton
Luther Freeman Heaton 82, Minot, North Dakota Softball Hall of
Fame umpire and award winning
youth director at the Minot Air
Force Base died on Wednesday,
July 24 in a Grand Forks hospital.
Luther was born on August 3,
1930 in Crossville, Alabama and
was reared and educated in Crossville where he graduated from high
school in 1948. He played professional baseball for one season prior
to enrolling in Newberry College in
South Carolina. Following his education, he was employed at a textile
mill and played amateur basketball.
Luther married Ruth Saylors on
June 2, 1950 in Trion, Georgia.
He enlisted in the United State Air
Force on February 11, 1952 and was
stationed at various air force bases
including Greenland, Georgia, Tennessee, Germany, Vietnam, Minot
and Japan. He spent five years at
Minot Air Force Base from 1967 to
1972 and returned to Minot in 1976
where he retired after 26 years of
service on February 28, 1978.
Following his military service,
Luther continued his education
at Minot State University and
received his bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration in 1982.
Following his graduation, he was
employed at the Minot Air Force
Base athletics intramural director
for two years before becoming the
manager of the Minot Air Base
youth center from 1983 to 1993.
Luther umpired softball for forty
years beginning while in the service
and continuing after his retirement.
He umpired in 25 state tournaments
WOMEN’S
SLOW PITCH
Class D
for men’s fast pitch softball and
also worked 18 men’s slow pitch
state tournaments. He also worked
both fast pitch and slow pitch state
tournaments in women’s softball.
He also worked regional tournaments in both fast pitch and slow
pitch and umpire three men’s fast
pitch national tournament and two
women’s national tournaments as
well as serving as Assistant Umpire
in Chief for six national events.
One of his notable achievements
as an umpire was the mentoring of
dozens of umpires, many of whom
are still actively umpiring today all
over the country. He also served as
a state Deputy Umpire in Chief for
Minot and the northwest area of
North Dakota for many years.
His family includes his daughter
Lisa (Paul) Kocsis of Grand Forks
and two grandchildren, Jessica and
Michael Kocsis. Luther’s wife
Ruth died on September 23, 2007.
Darwin Gorder dies in Fargo.
Darwin “Dar” Gorder 73 of
Fargo passed away at Sandford
Health in Fargo on August 28,
2013. He was born in Fargo on
February 22, 1940, graduated from
Oak Grove Lutheran High School
in 1957 and earned a Bachelor of
Arts degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota in
1961. He earned a Master degree
in history from North Dakota State
University in 1963 and returned
to Oak Grove as a Social Studies,
Psychology and Physical Education
instructor. He also served as a coach
in football, basketball, wrestling
and tract. His 1969 boy’s basketball
team went undefeated and won the
state Class B title.
Throughout his years at Oak
Grove, Darwin eagerly accepted
new assignments ranging from
driver’s education to interim president, from principal to athletic director, from dean of student affairs
to vice president of development.
He remained active in district,
regional and state athletic events
throughout his career. When not
coaching, his winters were spent as
a basketball referee and summers
found him on the softball diamond
competing as one of the top fast
pitch hurlers in the state. In his 26
2013 State Tournament highlights
Driftwood Lounge of Wahpeton
topped a ten team field to win the
state title in Class D Women’s slow
pitch August 3 and 4 in Devils
Lake.
Driftwood opened with a bye
before topping Town Hall of West
Fargo in a ten run win 12 to 2. They
registered another ten run victory
with and 11 to 1 win over Simplot
Growers/All Pets of Grand Forks.
In their third game of the tournament, they destroyed Kupper Chevrolet of Bismarck 23 to 2 to reach
the final game. In the title game,
they bested Eides/Ground Round
of Grand Forks 17 to 12 to claim
the state tournament title.
Runner-up Eides/Ground Round
of Grand Forks opened their tournament run by losing to the Town Hall
of West Fargo 7 to 4 which dropped
them into the loser’s bracket and
forced them to play five games to
reach the title game only to lose to
Driftwood Lounge.
Following their first round lose,
Eides/Ground Round beat Sperle
Masonry/Chubbs of West Fargo 10
to 0 and then they hung a decisive
defeat on Ottertail/Creative Impressions of Devils Lake 34 to 2. In their
next game, they hung a ten run defeat on Simplot Growers/All Pets of
Grand Forks 13 to 3 before getting
even with Town Hall of West Fargo
who beat them in the first game of
the day. The score of this one was
26 to 13 in favor of the Grand Forks
team. To reach the final, they beat
Kupper Chevrolet of Bismarck 23
to 10 before losing the final game
to Driftwood.
Kupper Chevrolet claimed third
place and Town Hall was fourth.
Rec I
year career he amassed a record
of 545 wins with 198 losses while
batting at a .285 clip with plenty of
long ball ability. He spent his entire
career with the Hektner Insurance
team competing at the highest
level of fast pitch softball. He led
his team in 18 state tournament,
winning five state titles and finishing in second place three times.
He also pitched in nine regional
tournaments competing against the
best teams in the Dakotas and Minnesota. He is remembered as having an outstanding drop ball and a
fierce competitor while remaining a
gentleman off the diamond. He was
elected to the North Dakota Amateur Softball Hall of Fame in 1986.
Saunders Chiropractic/All American team from Minot won the
Women’s Slow Pitch Rec I state
title in Valley City the weekend
of August 3 and 4 topping a field
of thirteen despite a loss which
made two championship games
necessary.
Saunder’s opened their quest
for the title with a close win over
KB’z Bar of Bismarck 6 to 4. Their
second game was a bit easier as they
posted a ten run win over Overhead
Door of Minot 10 to 0. In their next
contest, Saunder’s beat Pete’s of
West Fargo 8 to 5 before losing their
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only game of the day 6 to 4 to IDK
of Jamestown.
Saunder’s came back with a win
over Capri Bar of Minot to get
another shot at IDK . In the first
championship game, Saunder’s
prevailed 17 to 6 to force an “if”
game which they captured in a close
contest 10 to 8 to grab the state title.
IDK of Jamestown had a good
tournament winning four games before losing the championship game
and the “if” game to Saunder’s.
They began their day with a victory
over Advanced Truss Fabricators of
Bismarck 10 to 6 and then shut out
Paradiso of Minot 7 to 0. In their
third game they won a dandy and
a rarity in slow pitch softball as
they won 2 to 1 over Capri Bar of
Minot. In the unbeaten game, IDK
won over Saunder’s Chiropractic/
All American of Minot but fell to
that same club in two championship
games 17 to 6 and 10 to 8.
Capri Bar of Minot won third
place and Pete’s of West Fargo
was fourth.
Roughrider Division was won by
Minot Paradiso.
Rec II
Pace Painting of Grand Forks
won six straight games in winning
the Women’s slow pitch Rec. II
title over a field of 24 teams in
Jamestown the weekend of August
10 and 11.
Pace opened their tournament
run with a 21 to 12 victory over CJ
Rigging of Bismarck. The followed
up with a 20 to 8 win over Mayport
Insurance/Top Hat before being
tested severely in an 8 to 7 triumph
over the Red Birds of Devils Lake.
Lidgerwood was their next victim
going down 7 to 2 and Dakota Frontier of Bismarck was also beaten
twice by the crew from Pace.
Dakota Frontier Co-op of Bismarck was the runner-up, winning
four games before losing the title
to Pace Painting. Dakota Frontier
opened with a win over Grotberg
Electric of Valley City 8 to 5 and
then defeated Highway Express/
Subway of Beulah. Dakota Frontier
then clobbered Advanced Mechanical of Bismarck 14 to 1 before
meeting and beating Nite Owl of
Beulah to advance to the title game
which they lost to Pace Painting.
Third place was won by Nite Owl
of Beulah with an 8 to 2 triumph
over Lidgerwood.
Consolation winner was Broken
Oar Bar of Bismarck and the consolation runner-up was McLean/
McHenry Mutual Insurance.
Hooter’s/NW Mutual/Smartt of
West Fargo won the Roughrider
Division
Rec III East
The Hatton Sunflowers claimed
the Women’s Slow Pitch Rec III
state title winning five straight
games to best a field of 42 teams
the weekend of August 10 and 11
in West Fargo.
Hatton began with a shutout win
over FUI/Angry Beaver 10 to 0
before crushing Empire Liquors of
Fargo 21 to 6. In their third game,
they did not get the offensive punch
they had against Empire but played
good defense to win 6 to 2 over Jerome Wholesale/Ray’s Printing of
Devils Lake. The Sunflowers found
their bats again in their next game
pounding out a 16 to 7 victory over
Drake UCB which put them into
the title game. In the championship
game, they best the Mayville Vets
10 to 4 to take home the winner’s
trophy.
Runner-up Mayville Vets were
also unbeaten going into the final
game having defeated Nogo’s in
their opener 7 to 5; the Harvey Old
Pros and the Cooperstown Merchants 7 to 3. In their fourth game
of the event, they bested the Silver
Dollar Bar to reach the champion-
ship where they dropped a 10 to 4
decision to the Hatton Sunflowers.
West Fargo Silver Dollar claimed
third place with a 10 to 0 shutout
over the Fargo Silver Dollar/Sexy
Pigs.
Grand Forks Strictly Used/Kelly’s Bar won 18 to 14 over the
Carrington Merchants to grab the
Consolation title.
Roughrider Division winner
was Devil’s Lake Proz and the
Tumbleweed Division was won by
Jamestown Stokkelands/Shady’s.
Rec III West
Dickinson Kohler Communications won the Women’s Slow Pitch
Rec III West championship over an
eight team field in Dickinson the
weekend of August 10 and 11.
Kohler had to survive a lose in
the first championship game but
came back to win in the “if” game
to take home the trophy. Kohler
opened with a huge win over Alibi’s
Lounge/Elite Hair of Beulah 28 to
2 then had to scramble to squeeze
out a 5 to 4 victory over Nabor’s
Drilling of Williston. Their next
win was easier as they claimed a 9
to 1 win over Lonesome Dove of
Mandan which put Kohler into the
unbeaten game which they lost to
Jimmy’s Pizza/Long Shots of Beulah 6 to 1. In the “if” game, Kohler
prevailed in a nail biter 11 to 10 to
win the championship.
Runner up Jimmy’s Pizza/Long
Shots of Beulah beat Elbow Room/
CVB of Bismarck 12 to 3 but
lost their second game 7 to 4 at
the hands of Lonesome Dove of
Mandan. Jimmy’s then marched
through four straight games to
get into the finals. They defeated
the 4Mile Bar of Williston 9 to 1;
Nabor’s Drilling also of Williston;
Lonesome Dove of Mandan 9 to 6
and the beat Kohler Communications 6 to 1 to force the “if” game
which was won by Kohler.
Mandan Lonesome Dove claimed
third place
Masters Division I
Moritz Sport and Marine of Bismarck won the Women’s Masters
Division I crown in a four team
round robin tournament held July
27 and 28 in Bismarck. They earned
the title by winning all of their three
games.
Moritz defeated Arnie’s of Bismarck 23 to 2, IDK of Jamestown
20 to 9 and Capital City Construction of Bismarck 19 to 1.
Runner-up IDK of Jamestown lost
to Capital City Construction 14 to
10 and lost to Moritz 20 to 9 before salvaging a win over Arnie’s
10 to 5.
Arnie’s; Capital City Construction
and IDK had identical records in
pool play with IDK claiming second place on the basis of Pool Play
Tiebreakers.
Masters Division II
Lithia Ford of Grand Forks won
the Women’s Masters Division II
the weekend of July 27 and 28 in
Bismarck. Only five teams answered the call for this Division so
a round robin schedule was utilized
to determine the winners.
Lithia Ford won all four games
to claim the title beginning with a
win over O’Brien’s Tavern in Bismarck 15 to 6 then defeated Walker
Chiropractic in their second round
game. Rudy’s Old Pro of Oakes fell
to Lithia in their third game 14 to
10 and the Mercer County Misfits
were shut out 10 to 0 in round four.
Rudy’s Old Pro won second place
winning three games and losing
only to Lithia. Rudy’s first game
was a victory over Mercer County
HIGHLIGHTS
continued on page 6
6–
Softball News Fall 2013
2013 State Tournament highlights
Misfits 16 to 7 and they then beat
Walker Chiropractic 18 to 7 before
losing to eventual champion Lithia
Ford 14 to 10. In the final round,
Rudy’s beat O’Briens in a ten run
win 13 to 3.
Masters Division III
Tom’s Electric of Jamestown
swept through five games unbeaten
to win the Women’s Master’s
Division III title the weekend of
July 27 and 28 in Bismarck. Eight
teams were slated into the Division
and several games were closely
contested.
Tom’s won their first game beating the East River Gals from Washburn in a close game 3 to 1 then
busted out in Game 2 with the ten
run victory over USB of Drake 14
to 4. Games 3 and 4 on their title
run were both close and well played
defensive battle with Tom’s winning over TNA of Dickinson 5 to 1
and Harvey Old Pros 3 to 1. In the
final game for the championship,
Tom’s prevailed over the East River
Gals again, this time by 11 to 6.
The East River Gals who are
always competitive in the Master’s
Division were named runners-up
losing only to Tom’s Electric in
their first game and in the final. In
between, East River beat Dickinson
TNA 9 to 3 and shut out UCB of
Drake 17 to 0. They also defeated
Hopfauf Construction of Bismarck
11 to 1.
MEN’S
SLOW PITCH
Rec I
Getting a jump start with a first
round bye, Michelob Golden Light
of West Fargo went undefeated to
capture the Championship of the
Men’s Rec I Division in the state
tournament held in Fargo the weekend of August 10 and 11. 31 teams
from around the state were slotted
into this competitive event.
Michelob won their closest game in
the second round of the day with a 6
to 5 victory over MDI of Wahpeton.
From there on, the Michelob bats
did most of the damage as the team
won over the Jamestown KC’s 19 to
3; IDK Bar and Grill of Jamestown
16 to 5; and two wins over Kupper
Chevrolet/Lang’s Lawn Service/
Kramer Agency of Bismarck 15 to
14 and 15 to 8.
Runner up Kupper strung together
four wins before losing to eventual champion Michelob. Kupper
opened with a 20 to 7 win over
Liberty Lanes of Grand Forks then
beat Proz/Klemetsrud of Devils
Lake in a ten run win 14 to 4 before
beating Mulligan’s/K and A Oil/
Jed/JLG of Williston in another ten
run game 15 to 5. Their fourth win
was a victory over Capri Bar/MJGA
of Minot 14 to 11. In the unbeaten
game, Kupper lost to Michelob by
a single run 15 to 14. In the loser’s
bracket, Kupper beat IDK Bar and
Grill of Jamestown 11 to 4 to gain
another shot at Michelob but they
here defeated again by the West
Fargo bunch 15 to 8.
Jamestown IDK Soldiers won third
place over the Jamestown KC’s.
Rec. II East
Forty two teams gathered in
Wahpeton to contest the Men’s Rec
II state championship the weekend
of August 17 and 18. A local team,
Driftwood Lounge came out on top
after two days of competition.
Driftwood Lounge had to win six
games in the two day event to take
home the championship hardware.
They opened their quest with a win
over Sports City of West Fargo then
won a close defensive struggle 9
to 8 over Gentskow of Dickey/
LaMoure. Their next opponent
didn’t give them near that kind of a
game as Forman lost 26 to 5 to the
Driftwood gang.
Another close game followed as
Driftwood edged another Wahpeton
team the Sportsman’s Lounge 10 to
9 before defeating the Jamestown
Vets. In the final game, Driftwood
beat Fargo Valley Imports/Valley
Recon 9 to 8 to claim the title.
Valley Imports/Valley Recon of
Fargo took runner-up honors starting with a win over RM Stoudt/
Shadow Cats of Jamestown 12 to
9. They then enjoyed a bye in the
second round before beating Waind
Chiro and Acupuncture 17 to 5. FM
Mortgage of West Fargo was their
next victim losing 12 to 1. Next up
was North Country Marketing of
Fargo and they went down 14 to 9.
In the final game, Driftwood edged
the Fargo team to win the trophy.
Jamestown Vets won third place
with a 19 to 9 win over Fargo North
Country Marketing.
Consolation championship went to
West Fargo Urgent Medical which
won 10 to 7 over Fargo Edward
Jones.
Roughrider Division winner was
Rutland with an 18 to 9 victory over
Razor’s Edge of Devils Lake.
Tumbleweed Division was won by
Wahpeton Caterpillar 21 to 11 over
West Fargo Sports City
Rec II West
Krahler’s of Fessenden won
five games without a loss to claim
the Rec II West title over 28 other
teams August 17 and 18 in Dickinson. Krahler’s had their bats going
throughout the tournament as they
posted double diget scores in all but
the final game. They opened with a
convincing 15 to 3 win over Dakota
E-Cycle/Kays/Jochim Therapeutic
of Mandan and followed that win
with a close triumph over Gline
Electric of Dickinson 14 to 13. In
their third game of the tournament
Krahler’s defeated Dakota Community Bank/Northern Improvement
of Bismarck 14 to 6 followed by a
victory over Active Life Chiropratic
of Bismarck 17 to 11. In the championship game, Krahler’s prevailed
7 to 3 over Player’s Sports Bar and
Grill of Dickinson.
Dickinson Sports Bar and Grill
claimed runner-up honors beginning with an opening round win
over O’Briens/Coors Light of
Bismarck 18 to 15. In their second
game, they best Kelly’s Chiropractic of Minot in a ten run contest 17
to 7 before they met and beat Lee’s
Bar of Rugby 12 to l in another ten
run victory. In the final, they lost
to Krahler’s 7 to 3.
Third place went to Lee’s Bar of
Rugby over Active Life Chiropractic of Bismarck 23 to 16.
Consolation winner was Mandan Dakota E-Cycle/Kays/Jochim
Therepeutic over Inge’s Pub of
Bismarck 14 to 10.
Roughrider Division winner was
Cased Hole Solutions of Williston 9
to 8 over RV Rentals/NDCom/Dak.
Mini Storage of Bismarck.
Tumbleweek Division went to
Skeel’s Electric of Bismarck 26 to
16 over Bismarck Trailer Center.
Rec. III East
A team from Devils Lake, Proz/
DLYA won the men’s Rec III state
championship over a field of 56
teams the weekend of August 10
and 11 in Grand Forks. Proz/DYLA
went unbeaten in six games to claim
the crown and they did it without
scoring in double figures in four of
their wins.
Proz/DYLA opened with an 8 to
1 win over Northside Soldiers #2
of Fargo and then edged Qand Z
Plumbing and Heating/Speedway
of Grand Forks by the score of 9
to 8. A ten run victory over the
Rutland Buzzards 11 to 1 gave them
win number three. Their next game
was a 21 to 6 win over Construction
Engineers of Grand Forks and in
the semi-final game, the boys from
Devils Lake beat Farmers Union/
Citizen State Bank of Grafton 7 to
4 to gain the championship game.
That final game proved to be a nail
biter as Proz/DYLA prevailed 9 to
8 over Sun Pros of Grand Forks.
Runner-up Sun Pros of Grand
Forks won their way into the
championship game with five wins
before losing the final. In their
opening game, Sun Pros beat ICS
of Fargo 7 to 2 and then defeated
EGF American Legion 6 to 1. In
their third game, they beat a team
from Devils Lake, Thirsty’s 10 to 6.
Game number four brought another
win this time over Absaraka 17 to
10 before meeting and beating BDubs of Fargo in the semi-finals.
They lost the final game in a tight
contest 9 to 8 to claim runner-up
honors.
Third place was won by B-Dubs
of Fargo 16 to 12 over Farmers
Union/Citizens State Bank of
Grafton.
Consolation winner was Wild
Hog/CI Sport of Grand Forks over
Money Farm of Fargo 11 to 7.
Pioneer Division winner was Argusville over Sports City of Fargo
16 to 2.
Roughrider Division was won
by Caterpillar of Wahpeton over
Nuseed/Apple Mindak of Wahpeton 15 to 4.
weekend of August 17 and 18.
JRS won their first game of the tournament over Country Financial of
Fargo 14 to 7 and then won a tight
game 8 to 6 over Work Zone #3 of
Fargo. Gundy’s of Jamestown fell
in the next game and Work Zone of
West Fargo also was beaten by JRS.
Gundy’s lost 11 to 1 and Work Zone
15 to 9. In a semi-final game, JRS
beat H and S Painting of Fargo 8
to 6 to reach the final game where
they met and beat Munich 5 to 2 to
claim the championship.
Runner-up Munich waltzed through
the first five games of the event before losing the final to JRS. Munich
beat a West Fargo team, Twin City
Garage, 20 to 2 in their first game
and then beat DM River Rats 12
to 2. Munich then beat Mexican
Village/State Bank of Fargo 19 to 9
and O’Leary’s of West Fargo 16 to
6. In their semi-final game, Munich
shut out the Cabinet Makers of West
Fargo 11 to 0 to gain the championship game where they lost of JRS
Bar of Grafton 5 to 2.
Third place went to H and S Painting of Fargo over Cabinet Makers
of West Fargo.
Consolation title was won by Carlson Farms/Dickey LaMoure over
the Minto Men 5 to 2.
Rec. III West
A team from Williston, Found it
Now, is the 2013 champion of the
Rec IV West division of NDASA.
They claimed the title over 30
teams in a state tournament held
in Minot the weekend of August
17 and 18.
Five victories without a loss was
the formula to win this tournament
and the Williston team, Found if
Now did just that. They won their
first game of the tournament over
Reeza’s Pitch of Bismarck 18 to 3
and came right back with a shutout
win over Hometown Tavern/Strikes
Enemy of Minot 13 to 0. Game
number three was another victory,
this time over Cenex of Rugby 12 to
2 and in game number four Williston beat the Ice Box 14 to 5 to win
their way into the championship
game where they bested Kvamme
Feed Yard/Ziegler Oil 8 to 4.
Runner-up Kvamme beat Souris
Valley Lodge 14 to 4 in their first
game and the Aftershock from
Williston 9 to 2 in their next game.
They then beat Logo Magic of
Dickinson to get into the final game
where they were beaten by Found
it Now 8 to 4.
Ice Box won third place over
Logo Magic of Dickinson and the
Consolation title was grabbed by
AC Delco of Minot over ProFloor/
Pita Pit of Bismarck.
The Tumbleweed Division was
won by NOV Wilson/Wyoming
Casing of Dickinson 8 to 0 over
Magic Tricks/Nite Owl of Beulah.
Roughrider Division was claimed
by Rolette Bar over AJ and H Masonry/TL Main Street Market in a
10 to 0 shutout.
Bismarck hosted the largest of the
NDASA state tournaments when 82
teams showed up to contest the
Rec III West title the weekend of
August 10 and 11. A team from
Gackle, Dani’s Place/Third Base
bar, claimed the title by winning
five straight games without a loss.
Gackle began their march to the
championship with a 7 to 4 win over
Anderson’s Cabinets and followed
that up with a win over N.D. Phenom by a score of 11 to 5. Western
Steel fell to Gackle in game number
three by the ten run rule 12 to 2 and
Nola’s also lost 18 to 2 to the crew
from Gackle. The win over Nola’s
put them into the semi-final game
against Boyko/Mandan/Center
Machine which was won by Gackle
9 to 4 in a well played contest. In
the Championship game, Gackle
prevailed in a close game 11 to 9
over Solid Dakota of Bismarck.
Runner-up Solid Dakota of Bismarck had a solid tournament
winning five games and scoring
in double figures in each of them.
Their first game was an 18 to 1
romp over Big Sky Buffalo and
they backed that up with a ten run
victory over Railway Credit 16 to
6. Wings and Rings was their next
opponent and Solid Dakota won another ten run game 12 to 2. Game
number four of the tournament was
another win for Solid Dakota over
Lucky Strikes/MJGA 13 to 3 and
in a semi final game, Solid Dakota
beat Burgess Detailing 12 to 6 to
reach the championship where they
were beaten by Gackle.
Third place was won by Boyko/
Center Machine 15 to 4 over Burgess Detailing.
Consolation winner was the
Rugby Eagles 13 to 11 over Dakota
Community Bank of Mandan.
Roughrider Division as won by
Anderson Custom Cabinets 15 to 4
over Dickinson Basin Hydro.
Pioneer Division winner was
the Amvets over Rudy’s Old Pro
20 to 16.
Tumbleweed Division title was
claimed by Paragon Products of
Bismarck over Bismarck Sidelines
9 to 8.
Cactus Division won by Rugrats
of Bismarck over Hometown Moving 13 to 12.
Rec. IV, East
It took six victories in six games to
do it but JRS Bar of Grafton did just
that to win the state title in Men’s
Rec. IV. Sixty eight teams entered
the tournament held in Fargo the
Rec. IV, West
Division I
Mandan Heartland Investors won
four straight games to best an eight
team field and claim the trophy
in the Men’s Slow Pitch Division
I tournament held in Fargo the
weekend of August 3 and 4. The
tournament win qualified the team
for the national Class B tournament
to be held in Minneapolis which
they also won.
Heartland opened with a ten run
victory over Paramount Builders/
Dakota Gaming/Bud Light 11 to 1.
Another ten run win followed over
Budweiser/NoDak Mutual/Stadium
of Bismarck 13 to 3. Their third
win was an 18 to 9 win over Pita Pit/
Heart River/Bud Light/Zach Shack
of Bismarck and their fourth win
of the event was a 17 to 3 victory
over Budweiser//NoDak Mutual/
Stadium of Bismarck.
Budweiser/NoDak Mutual/Stadium was runner up losing twice
to Heartland.
They posted wins over Gustafson of
Minot 14 to 9; RMI/Northern Seed/
Budweiser of Grand Forks 11 to
10; Hooter’s of Fargo and Pita Pit/
Heart River/Bud Light/Zach Shack
of Bismarck while they dropped
two games to Heartland 13 to 3
and 17 to 3.
Pita Pit/Heart River/Bud Light/
Zach Shack was the third place
team while Hooter’s of Fargo place
fourth.
Division II
Coup Counters of Bismarck won
the championship of the Men’s
Slow Pitch Division II over a 12
team field in a tournament held in
Fargo, August 3 and 4. The team
won five games to claim the title.
They won their first game of the
tournament beating Men’s Hair
House of Bismarck 15 to 10. Their
second game was a victory over
the Valley City Merchants 12 to 7
and their third win was a 20 to 12
thumping of Great Plains Tech/Zander Body Shop of Mandan. In game
four, they prevailed 16 to 11 over
Hooter’s/Miller Lite of Bismarck
to send them to the loser’s bracket.
Hooter’s/Miller Lite of Bismarck
was the runner-up starting with a
first game win over Titan Machinery of Minot 27 to 12. They beat
another Minot team in their next
game winning over the Homesteader’s 13 to 3. Hooter’s continued
their winning ways with a win over
Fastenal of Fargo 19 to 17 in a free
scoring affair before beating Titan
Machinery of Minot again 16 to 6.
In the final, Coup Counters of Bismarck won 14 to 4 over Hooter’s to
win the title and the trophy.
Titan Machinery was in third place
and Mandan Great Plains Tech was
fourth.
Division III
Fourteen teams were slotting into
Division III in the Men’s slow
pitch tournament held in Fargo the
weekend of August 3 and 4. A Bismarck team sponsored by Bistro/
RF Jewelry/Northwest Contracting
won the title winning five games
while losing one.
The winners began their title search
with a win over Grand Forks Rumor’s Hashers 5 to 3 and then beat
Dakota Pharmacy of Bismarck by
a score of 14 to 8. In their next
game, Bistro won over Buffalo
Wild Wings/RMS/Marco of Grand
Forks then beat the Box of Fargo in
a close contest 6 to 4. Bistro lost
the unbeaten game to The Box/
Diamond Dawgs of Fargo 10 to
7 then came back in the “if” game
against the Dawgs winning 13 to 3
for the Division crown.
Runner-up the Box/Diamond Dawgs of Fargo began their tournament
with a win over Berry Acres of Minot 11 to 2. They then lost to eventual champion Bistro 6 to 4 and had
to battle back in the loser’s bracket.
The Box beat American Casing/
Car Tunz/J.Dubs of Williston 10
to 2 then won over The Lodge/Red
Door Homes/Miller Insulation 15
to 10 before winning again over
American Casing of Williston 9 to
6 and also beat Bistro in the first
championship game 10 to 7 before
dropping the ‘if” game 13 to3.
American Casing of Williston was
third and Grand Forks Rumors
ended in fourth place.
Masters 35, Div. I
The Men’s Masters 35 Division
One was won by Roughrider Resources of Bismarck in an eight
team tournament the weekend of
July 27 and 28 in Bismarck. They
were pushed to the limit and forced
HIGHLIGHTS
continued on page 12
2013STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Softball News Fall 2013 – 7
Men’s Masters 50, Wood Bat State Champions, Mandan Mariner Construction: Front row, left to right: Randy Pegors, Bob Humann, Randy Anderson, Brian
Olsen, Kevin Kramer, John (Rat) Finck, Bernard Weigel. Back row, left to right: Steve
Smith, Claude Wagner, Alvin Weigel, Roger Weigel, Jim Doll, Ed Stroh, Tony Stroh.
Men’s Masters 50 State Champions, Mandan Dust-Tex: Front row, left to right:
Dave Reis, Russ Nelson, Wayne Becker, Norlyn Schmidt, Bumper Baumgartner,
Steve Harrington, Randy Becker. Back Row, left to right: Kelly Krahler, Nike Nider,
Don Magstadt, Ron Geffre, Jim Becker, Dean Geschellchen, Tim Houser, Kelly
Krahler.
Men’s Masters 40, Division I State Champions, Bismarck Staduim/Budweiser/
Broken Oar: Front row, left to right: Jon Gums, Tim Michelsen, Jeff Deler, Stacey
Keller, Gordy Smith, Tom Schmit, Dale Back. Back row, left to right: Kyle Christensen, Ty Shope, Jim Bryant, Tim Burkhard, Mark Bohrer, Tad Fink, Dana Ereth.
Not pictured: Dennis Bense, Billy Schmidt, Jason Salz.
Men’s Masters 40, Division II State Champions, Jamestown Tom’s Electric:
Front row, left to right: Mike Johnson, Tom Johnson, Steve Dale, Marchel Krieger,
Paul Monson, Greg Nordstorm. Back row, left to right: Mitch Ostley, Greg Lunzman,
Ryan Carlson, Eric Hewitt, Duane Sauvageau.
Men’s Masters 35, Division I State Champions, Bismarck Roughrider Resources: Front row, left to right: Shane Piatz, Dale Back, Stacy Keller, Scott Brahos, Dustin
Bratlien, Jason Salz. Back row, left to right: Mitch Neumiller, Scott Sheldon, Brad
Hank, Josh Schaner, Jon Gums, Kyle Christensen. Not pictured: Darren Johnson.
Men’s Masters 35, Division II State Champions, Bismarck RV Rentals/Dakota
Mini-Storage: Front row, left to right: Mike Walker, Chad Stewart, Jason Seidel,
Gregg Klein, Chris Milner, Travis Tibor, Nash Droll. Back row, left to right: Steven
Gierke, Wayde Schulz, Brock Schatz, Shane Dettmann, Shannon Julson.
Contact Information
Men’s Masters 35, Division III State Champions, Center Merchants: Front row,
left to right: Wayne Haag, Jonathan Urbach, Chad Olson, John Haag, Mike Carlson,
Cody Berger, Michael Larson, Ray Hall.
NDASA State Office
Telephone: (701) 952-4448
FAX: (701) 952-4488
Email: [email protected]
Website: [email protected]
2013STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
8–
Softball News Fall 2013
Men’s Slow Pitch, Division I State Champions, Mandan Heartland Investors:
Front row, left to right: Dana Roller, Shane Piatz, Blaine Horsager, Jason Salz, Scott
Brahos. Back row, left to right: Eugene Grainer, Ryan Johnson, Michael Feldman,
Tyler Liffrig, Brandon Wilkens, Joe Cornell, Scott Huffman, Tyler Merkel, Brad Jaeger.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Division II State Champions, Bismarck Coup Counters: Front
row, left to right: Josh Mruby, Andrew Seeberg, Silas Standing Elk, Sam Ingemanson, Jon Mausauer, Josh Standing Elk. Back row, left to right: Mike Ingemanson,
Casey Gray, Brandon Piatz, Tim Lang, Sid Carry Mocassin, Tyson Maxon, Ryan
Malon, Rudy Rivera, Jr.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Division III State Champions, Bismarck Bistro: Front row, left
to right: Matt Hay, Mike Hausauer, Gerard Schmidt, Shawn Maxon, Billy Schmidt,
John Mindt III. Back row, left to right: Mack Keller, Scott McDonald, Scott Yantzer,
Travis Kudrna, Doug Schmidt, Larry White, Parker Fischer, Chirs Ulrich.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec I State Champions, West Fargo Michelob Golden Draft
Light: Front row, left to right: Larry Selberg, Willie Brown III, Cameron Nietzel, Dennis Britton, Jeremy Guest, Jim Richels, Chris Larson. Back row, left to right: Emma
Holsen, Paul Hoefer, Casey Sannes, Derek Blackburn, Brain Stark, Drew Russ,
Blaine Johnson. Not pictured: Casey Sargent, Don Setter, Jr., Justin Blackburn.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec II-East State Champions, Wahpeton Driftwood Lounge:
Front row, left to right: Camden Kretchman, David Thompson, Stephen Breuer, Troy
Wittenburg, Sawyer Mohs, Mike Miranowski, Jason Hejtmanek. Back row, left to
right: Curt Kretchman, Alex Beach, Jason Sirek, Arlyn Johnson, Ross Wilson, Dale
Formaneck, Tim Mohs.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec II-West State Champions, Fessenden Kahler’s: Front
row, left to right: Ty Bruner, Kelby Houchin, Koby Houchin, Riley Hovland. Back row,
left to right: Trenton Bruner, Kelly Krahler, Caleb Rogelstad, Jeffery Johnson, Curt
Krahler, Travis Bruner.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec III-East State Champions, Devils Lake Proz: Front row,
left to right: Al Goeser, Adam Wirth, Mark Woodrow, Brian Goeger, Josh Bukowski,
Riley Beck, Robbie Woodrow. Back row, left to right: Richie Olson, Scott Anderson,
Alex Anderson, Thomas Vestero, Mitch Wirth.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec III-West State Champions, Gackle Third Base Bar/Dani’s
Place: Front row, left to right: Andrew Bartholomaus, Mike Zenker. Back row, left
to right: Alex Knudson, Garret Frey, Jeff Lautt, Chris Zenker, Josh Gackle, Travis
Triepke, Derek Hust, Tyler Jonas.
2013STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Softball News Fall 2013 – 9
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec IV-East State Champions, Grafton J R’s Bar: Front row,
left to right: Curtis Rose, Zach Suda, Kerry DeMars, Guy Demers, Wade Presteng,
Logan Thompson, Kody Stark, Mark Burns. Back row, left to right: Cory Burns, Tanner Carpenter, Chris Olson, Billie Peterson, Ryan Dusek, Austin Campbell, Todd
Presteng, Chris Mattson, Jeff McKay.
Women’s Slow Pitch Masters, Division I State Champions, Bismarck Moritz
Sport & Marine: Front row, left to right: Therese Schmidt, Myste Hutton, Cassie
Smith, Amber Rohrich, Julie Yantzer, LaShae Michels. Back row, left to right: Thai
Haggin, Lynn Geary, Kristin Glass, Jill Schedel, D.J. Saragosa.
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec IV-West State Champions, Williston Found It Now:
Front row, left to right: Matt Birch, Tim Eskelson, Dave Huck, Jonathan Hippe, Tylas Huck. Back row, left to right: Tyler Stoseth, Josh Rustad, Clint Strietzel, Chad
Larson, Bob Turcotte.
Women’s Slow Pitch Masters, Division II State Champions, Grand Forks Lithia
Ford: Front row, left to right: Twyla Tunseth, Melissa Grafenaver (kneeling), Mary
Moser, Jessica Johnson, Carrie Olivier, Jill Adams, Kristi Hovland, Mel Hanson
(kneeling). Back row, left to right: Heidi Corzine, Jenny Karas, Brandi Offerdahl,
Sheri Raftevold, Karen Arvin, Nancy Breakey.
Women’s Slow Pitch Master, Div. III, State Champions, Jamestown Tom’s
Electric: Front row, left to right: Rachel Krieger, Teresa Speidel, Patti Rondestvedt,
Candace Scott. Back row, left to right: Chris Cebula, Beth Lautt, Chasity Meidinger,
Joy Shahin, Trudy Dallman, Emmy Hoffmann, Sue Partridge, Stephanie Petersen,
Lisa Longtin, Stephani Partridge.
Women’s Slow Pitch, Class D State Champions, Wahpeton Driftwood: Front
row, left to right: Tracee Meyer, Lindsay Gaustad, Stacey Agar, Bret Mayer, Amber
Perdue, Katrina Reinke. Back row, left to right: Becky Lejer, Tara Meyer, Kelsey
Proell, Brittany Marohl, Therese Schmidt, Brehyn Marohl.
Women’s Slow Pitch, Rec I State Champions, Minot Saunders/All American:
Front row, left to right: Mary Brown, Ashley Ackerman, Bridget Mclntyre, Kayla
Lambrecht, Enn Loucks. Back row, left to right: Alicia Gressnor, Barb Nesheim, Jill
DeVries, Ann Nesheim, Michelle Hemstad, Jen Leddron. Not pictured: John Leddon.
Women’s Slow Pitch, Rec II-East State Champions, Grand Forks Pace Painting:
Team members: Jessica Helland, Sarah Shoup, Samantha Lee, Jordan Rudnik,
Dennae Swenson, Laura Barclay, Denise Martin, Brittany Norman, Rhonda Olson,
Terra Wockenfuss, Lisa Contreras.
2013STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
10 –
Softball News Fall 2013
Women’s Slow Pitch, Rec III-East State Champions, Hatton Sun Flowers: Front
row, left to right: Kayla Smith, Jessica Ostile, Mindy Carpenter, Katie Ellingson, Anne
Pladson. Back row, left to right: Coach Jay Ostlie, Mindi Mehus, Sandy Headland,
Kim Ostile, Stephanie Iverson, McKenzie Bye, Kelsey Pladsen. Not pictured: Eryan
Hoefs, Stephanie Lillemoen, Amanda Amb.
Coed Slow Pitch, Division I State Champions, Fargo Brady’s Service: Front
row, left to right: Cole Horsager, Sharon Horsager, Austin Horsager, Ryan Sunram.
Back row, left to right: Chris Dahl, Ross Olson, Jen Sunram, Stacie Olsen, Brittany
Olson, Angie Young
Coed Slow Pitch, Division III State Champions, Arthur R & R Hunter Insurance: Front row, left to right: Rebecca Breen, Sam Lako, Shalyn Van Den Einde,
Libby Augedahl, Beth Bush, Amber Eller. Back row, left to right: Eric Rensvold, Nate
Bush, Konner Kyllo, Luke Bush, Dustin Moen, Jake Lako.
Women’s Slow Pitch, Rec III-West State Champions, Dickinson Kohler Communications: Front row, left to right: Tylene Walters, Erika Honeyman, Alesha
Shepard, Kristy Johnson, Becky Hoff. Back row, left to right: Alexis Stiefel, Joy
Schoch, Britney Miller, Deb Barros, LeeAnn Karsky, Lauren Asheim, Sarah Gelsinger, Angie Shilman.
Coed Slow Pitch, Division II State Champions, Valley City Captain’s Pub: Front
row, left to right: Cynthia Klabo, Krista Sorensen, Jill Heck, Nikka Swenson. Back
row, left to right: Danny Swenson, Sammy Logan, Chad Lueck, Matt Klabo, Jason
Beilke, Jordyn Heck, Leonard Kjelland. Not pictured: Hayley Bevan.
Coed Slow Pitch, Division IV State Champions, Wyndmere The Well: Front
row, left to right: Nichole Benedict, Jay Dickey, Paige Skillings, Jenny Anderson,
Chuck Stahl. Back row, left to right: Haley Oster, Tammy Ciesynski, Alex Beach,
Nick Zalewski, Dustin Benedict.
Game
continued from page 1
the loser bracket to get back into
the championship game against us
and it was a back and forth game
that Precision came out on top.
We put together back to back big
innings in the 3rd (scoring 7 runs)
and 4th (scoring 9 runs,) however
it was not enough to overcome
the hot-hitting Precision team. Joe
Cornell and Brad Jaeger were 4
for 5, Brandon Wilkens was 4 for
4 and Scott Brahos was 3 for 3 in
the game
Game 7 – Heartland over Precision 23 to 2 (Second Championship Game)
Not taking the loss too hard,
Heartland was able to get right
back on track scoring 14 runs in the
first inning. Also, this was the first
time Heartland decided to make a
pitching change. Brandon Wilkens
took over the pitching duties and
did an excellent job considering
it was his first game pitching on
the weekend. The big first inning
proved to be too big of a gap for
Precision as their bats went cold
and it ended up being a one-sided
game. It was over in the 4th as
Heartland won by the 15 run rule.
Joe Cornell and Brad Jaeger were
both 4 for 4 in the game. Scott Huffman and Brandon Wilkens were
both 3 for 4 and Ryan Johnson was
2 for 3, hitting 2 HR’s.
Individual Awards: MVP of the
tournament – Joe Cornell
1st Team All American: Brad
Jaeger, Mike Feldman, Blaine Horsager, Jason Salz, & Joe Cornell.
2nd Team All American: Shane
Piatz and Tyler Merkel
Winning the ASA Class B National was a great achievement for
this team and for North Dakota
softball. A lot of hard work, time
and dedication went into this year
and all the guys made sacrifices to
make this team reach its potential
at the tight time. Having the success of last year and winning the
Northern C National in Rapid
City, SD and getting a chance to
complete in Oklahoma City, OK
for the overall C Champion was a
great experience. But we knew going into the next year that we were
going to be competing at the B level
and the challenges that would bring.
We all staying together and looking
forward at playing the A National
next year in Oklahoma City.
Softball News Fall 2013 – 11
2013 NDASA Women’s Slow
Pitch teams to be moved up
Class D to Class C
Wahpeton Driftwood
Grand Forks Eides/Ground Round
Rec 1 to Class D
Minot Saunders/All American
Jamestown IDK
Rec 2 to Rec 1
(Rec 2 had only 1 division this year)
Grand Forks Pace Painting
Bismarck Dakota Frontier Coop
Beulah Nite Owl Bar
Rec 3 East to Rec 2
Hatton Sunflowers
Mayville Vets
West Fargo Silver Dollar
Grand Forks Strictly Used/Kelly’s Bar
Rec 3 West to Rec 2
Dickinson Kohler Communications
Beulah Jimmy’s Pizza/Long Shots
Looking for current addresses
Action from the 14 and under Northern National girl’s fast pitch tournament in Bismarck August
3 and 4.
The NDASA office in Jamestown has been looking for the following
Hall of Fame members whose mail has been returned to our office.
If anyone reading this notice knows of the current address of any of
these individuals please let me know. Email address is stackwalt@
midco.net or you can call me at 701-223-9748 or my mailing address
is 105 Country Club Drive in Bismarck, 58501.
Arlen E. Evenson Hall of Fame member since 1978
Lary Zeadow Hall of Fame member since 1983
Dwight Leier Hall of Fame member since 1993
Jack A. Arends Hall of Fame member since 1993
George Cederstrom Hall of Fame member since 2002
Carolyn Wilberts Hall of Fame member since 2004
Thanks for any help
Plover’s 14 of Stevens Point, Wisconsin won the 14 and under Girl’s Northern National fast
pitch tournament held in Bismarck the weekend of August 3 and 4.
Stop in at the Cenex C-store
in Wilton and check out the
new items in our deli!
Photo by Tom Stromme/Tribune
We have daily lunch
specials, one of
which is the new
“Smoked Beef
Brisket Sandwich.”
Jaime Barta of the Bismarck Sparks pitches during a game
earlier in the tournament at the ASA Northern Territory
14U B NaƟonal Championship.
We also have f’real
shakes, smoothies and
frozen cappucinos!
Farmers Union Oil Co.
Wilton • 734-6312
12 –
Softball News Fall 2013
2013 State Tournament Results
Women’s Slow Pitch,
Class D
Champion: Wahpeton The
Driftwood; Runnerup: Grand
Forks Eides/Ground Round; Third:
Bismarck Kupper; Fourth: West
Fargo Town Hall
Women’s Slow Pitch,
Rec I
Champion: Minot Saunders/
All American; Runnerup: Jamestown IDK; Third: Minot Capri
Bar; Fourth: West Fargo Pete’s;
Roughrider: Minot Paradiso
Women’s Slow Pitch,
Rec II
Champion: Grand Forks Pace
Painting; Runnerup: Bismarck
Dakota Frontier Coop; Third:
Beulah Nite Owl Bar; Fourth:
Lidgerwood; Consolation Champion: Bismarck Broken Oar Bar;
Consolation Runnerup: McLean/
McHenry Mutual Insurance;
Roughrider: West Fargo Hooters/
NW Mutual/Smartt
Women’s Slow Pitch,
Rec III-East
Champion: Hatton Sunflowers;
Runnerup: Mayville Vets; Third:
West Fargo Silver Dollar; Fourth:
Fargo Silver Dollar/Sexy Pigs;
Consolation Champion: Grand
Forks Strictly Used/Kelly’s Bar;
Consolation Runnerup: Carrington Merchants; Roughrider:
Devils Lake Proz; Tumbleweed:
Jamestown Stokkeland’s/Shady’s
Women’s Slow Pitch,
Rec III West
Champion: Dickinson Kohler
Communications; Runnerup:
Beulah Jimmy’s Pizza/Long Shots;
Third: Mandan Lonesome Dove;
Women’s Slow Pitch
Master, Div. I
Champion: Bismarck Moritz Sport & Marine; Runnerup:
Jamestown IDK
Women’s Slow Pitch
Masterrs, Div. II
Champion: Grand Forks Lithia
Ford; Runnerup: Oakes Rudy’s
Women’s Slow Pitch
Masters, Div. III
Champion: Jamestown Tom’s
Electric; Runnerup: Washburn
East River Gals
Men’s Slow Pitch, Rec I
Champion: West Fargo Michelob Golden Draft: Light; Runnerup: Bismarck Kupper Chevrolet;
Third: Jamestown IDK Soliders;
Fourth: Jamestown Knights of
Columbus
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Rec II-East
Champion: Wahpeton Driftwood Lounge; Runnerup: Fargo
Valley Imports; Third: Jamestown
Vets; Fourth: Fargo North County;
Consolation Champion: West
Fargo Urgent Medical; Consolation Runnerup: Fargo Edwards
Jones; Roughrider: Rutland Buzzards; Tumbleweed: Wahpeton
Caterpillar
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Rec II-West
Champion: Fessenden
Krahler’s; Runnerup: Dickinson
Players Sports Bar & Grill; Third:
Rugby Lee’s Bar; Fourth: Bismarck Active Life Chiropractic;
Consolation Champion: Mandan
Dakota E-Cycle/Kays Jochim
Therapeutic; Consolation Runnerup: Bismarck Inge’s Pub;
Roughrider: Williston Cased Hole
Solutions; Tumbleweed: Bismarck
Skeel’s Electric
Men’s Slow Pitch
Rec III-East
Champion: Devils Lake Proz;
Runnerup: Grand Forks Sunpros;
Third: Fargo B-Dubs; Fourth:
Grafton Farmers Union/Citizens
State Bank; Consolation Champion: Grand Forks Wild Hog; Consolation Runnerup:Fargo Money
Farm; Roughrider: Wahpeton
Caterpillar; Pioneer: Argusville
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Rec III-West
Champion: Gackle Third Base
Bar/Dani’s Place; Runnerup: Bismarck Solid Dakota; Third: Mandan Boyko, Inc./Center Machine;
Fourth: Minot Burgess Detailing;
Consolation Champion: Rugby
Eagles; Consolation Runnerup:
Mandan Dakota Community Bank
& Trust; Roughrider: Mandan Anderson Custom Cabinets; Pioneer:
Bismarck Amvets; Tumbleweed:
Bismarck Paragon Products; Cactus: Bismarck Rugrat
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Rec IV-East
Champion: Grafton J R’s Bar;
Runnerup: Munich; Third: Fargo
H & S Painting; Fourth: West
Fargo Cabinet Markers; Consolation Champion: Oakes Carlson
Farms; Consolation Runnerup:
Minto Men; Roughrider: West
Fargo BCM Construction; Pioneer:
West Fargo Silver Dollar Bar;
Tumbleweed: Hunter; Cactus:
Fargo McNeilus Steel
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Rec IV-West
Champion: Williston Found It
Now; Runnerup: Butte Kvamme
Feed Yard/Ziegler Oil; Third:
Minot Ice Box; Fourth: Dickinson
Logo Magic; Consolation Champion: Minot AC Delco; Consolation Runnerup: Bismarck Pro
Floor/Pita Pit; Roughrider: Rolette
Bar; Tumbleweed: Dickinson
NOV Wilson/Wyoming Casing
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Division I
Champion: Mandan Heartland;
Runnerup: Bismarck Budweiser;
Third: Bismarck Pita Pit; Fourth:
Fargo Hooters
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Division II
Champion: Bismarck Coup
Counters; Runnerup: Bismarck
Hooters/Miller Lite; Third: Minot
Titan Machinery; Fourth: Mandan
Great Plain’s Tech
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Division III
Champion: Bismarck Bistro;
Runnerup: Fargo The Box/Diamond Dawgs; Third: Williston
American Casing; Fourth: Grand
Forks Rumors
Men’s Slow Pitch
Masters 35, Div. I
Champion: Bismarck Roughrider Resources; Runnerup: Bismarck The Lodge/Budweiser;
Third: Fargo Hooters; Fourth:
Fargo Burnn Boiler
Men’s Slow Pitch
Masters 35, Div. II
Champion: Bismarck RV Rentals/Dakota Mini-Storage; Runnerup: Bismarck Carpet World;
Third: Jamestown Tom’s Electric; Fourth: Minot Stereoshop/
Thompson-Larson
Men’s Slow Pitch
Masters 35, Div. III
Champion: Center Merchants;
Runnerup: Bismarck Mike’s Electric; Third: Minot Harley’s Place;
Fourth: Jamestown IDK
Men’s Masters 40, Div. I
Champion: Bismarck Stadium/
Budweiser/Broken Oar; Runnerup: Bismarck Oswald’s; Third:
Mandan Dust-Tex
Men’s Masters 40, Div. II
Champion: Jamestown Tom’s
Electric; Runnerup: Mandan Shirt
Shack; Third: Bismarck Moose
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Masters 50
Champion: Mandan DustTex; Runnerup: Fargo Business;
Third: Fargo PCI;
Men’s Slow Pitch,
Masters 50 Wood Bat
Champion: Mandan Mariner
Construction; Runnerup: Mandan
Dust-Tex FOG; Third: Fargo Walton Chiropractic; Fourth: Mandan
Capital Construction; Consolation
Champion: Mandan Maring &
Williams; Consolation Runnerup:
Mandan Farmers Insurance
Coed Slow Pitch Div l
Champion: Fargo Brady’s Service; Runnerup: Kensal Vining
Oil; Third: Grand Forks The Ho
Sports Bar
Coed Slow Pitch Div. II
Champion: Valley City Captain’s Pub; Runnerup: Grand
Forks Kelly’s Bar; Third: West
Fargo Zim’s/MVM; Consolation
Champion: Minot Capri Bar;
Conso. Runnerup: Grand Forks
Mac’s Sandbaggers; Roughrider:
Grand Forks Kustom Kollision/
Erickson Embroidery
Coed Slow Pitch Div. III
solation Champion: Grand Forks
Muddy Rivers; Consolation Runnerup: Grand Forks Tubs of Fun;
Roughrider: Grand Forks Hugo’s
Wine & Spirits
Junior Olympic Girls
Slow Pitch, 12 & Under
Champion: Arthur R & R
Hunter Insurance; Runnerup:
Grand Forks JUC Redskins; Third:
Wahpeton State Farm; Fourth:
West Fargo Crary Bearcats; Consolation Champion: Valley City
Boomers Corner Keg; Consolation Runnerup: Fargo Mikkelsen;
Roughrider: Grand Forks Kelly’s
Bar/Hugo’s
Champion: Langdon; Runnerup: Medina;
Coed Slow Pitch Div. IV
Junior Olympic Girls
Slow Pitch, 18 & Under
Junior Olympic Girls
Slow Pitch, 14 & Under
Champion: Medina; Runnerup: Hankinson; Third: Wahpeton; Fourth: Horace; Consolation
Champion: Beulah; Consolation
Runnerup: Lidgerwood
Champion: Wyndmere The
Well; Runnerup: Grafton 12th
Street Bowl/Budlight; Third:
Dazey Punky’s Bar/Nubar/Kunze
Construction; Fourth: Grand Forks
Hankey Law/TJ’s Sports Bar; Con-
Champion:Hankinson Zukies;
Runnerup: Medina; Third: Crosby
Master’s 35, Div. III
the championship game to Tom’s
Electric 14 to 3.
Highlights
continued from page 6
to win an “if” game before they
claimed the trophy.
Roughrider opened with an easy
victory over the Grand Forks Merchants 20 to 5 before scoring a ten
run win over the Lodge/Budweiser
of Bismarck 16 to 6. The third
triumph was an 18 to 6 win over
Hooter’s of Fargo but in their next
game, the Lodge/Budweiser dealt
them their first loss of the tournament to avenge an earlier defeat.
The Lodge/Budweiser prevailed
in this game 23 to 14. Roughrider
Resources bounced back to win the
“if” game and take home the title.
The Lodge/Budweiser won their
first game over ETI then dropped
into the loser’s bracket when they
lost to Roughrider Resources 16
to 6. They fought their way back
by being the Homesteaderz 17 to
5; Burnn Boiler of Fargo 13 to 5
and Fargo Hooters 16 to 5. In the
first championship game, they beat
Roughrider Resources23 to 14 but
were beaten in the “if” game by
Roughrider 17 to 7.
Hooter’s of Fargo won third place
and Burnn Boiler, also of Fargo,
claimed fourth place.
Master’s 35, Div. II
Another “if” game was necessary before a champion could
be crowned in the Master’s 35
Division Two of men’s slow pitch
during an eight team tournament
held in Bismarck July 27 and 28.
Bismarck RV Rental/Dakota Mini
Storage was the eventual champion
over Carpet World of Bismarck.
RV Rental/Dakota Mini Storage
won four games before they lost in
the unbeaten game by Carpet World
. RV Rental began their day with
a close 16 to 14 win over Bootleggerz and then they beat Premium
Assault 8 to 4.
Shirt Shack was beaten by 10 runs
in the third game 12 to 2 and then
RV Rental beat Carpet World 14
to 10. Carpet World came back
through the loser’s bracket to beat
RV/Rental /Dakota Mini Storage
and force a second championship
game which was won by RV Rental/
Dakota Mini Storage to claim the
Division Two title.
Carpet World of Bismarck won
runner-up honors with wins over
the Stereo Shop 19 to 16; Tom’s
Electric of Jamestown 7 to 3 and
Charvat Construction 10 to 9 before
losing to RV Rental/Dakota Mini
Storage 14 to 10. After another
victory over Tom’s Electric in a
tight 7 to 6 ball game,they suffered
their second defeat at the hands of
RVRental/Dakota Mini Storage
10 to 5.
Jamestown Tom’s Electric won
third place and Minot Stereo Shop/
Thompson-Larson was fourth.
The Center Merchants won five
straight games to capture the Master’s 35 Division Three title in
men’s slow pitch state tournament
action the weekend of July 27 and
28 in Bismarck.
Center won their first game over
Nola’s 17 to 8 before beating Knife
River by a score of 8 to 3. Center
then won over Mike’s Electric of
Bismarck 14 to 9 and over Harley’s Place of Minot 12 to 9 before
meeting Mike’s Electric again in
the championship game which was
won by Center by a score of 14 to 9.
Runner-up Mike’s Electric of
Bismarck won their first two games
before losing to Center. They beat
Holligan’s 17 to 12 in their opener
and Enderlin 26 to 22 in their second game. After losing to Center,
they bounced back to beat Enderlin
again 15 to 10 and IDK of Jamestown 18 to 4. In their semi-final
game, they beat Harley’s Place of
Minot to earn another shot at the
Center Merchants but lost 14 to 9.
Harley’s Place of Minot was
the third place winner and IDK of
Jamestown claimed fourth.
Master’s 40, Div. I
Mandan hosted five teams vying for
the championship in Men’s Master’s 40 Division One the weekend
of July 20 and 21. Bismarck Stadium/Budweiser/Broken Oar went
unbeaten in four games to win the
Division outright.
Stadium beat Miller Lite in their
opening game 26 to 11 and kept
their bats hot the rest of the tournament beating Oswald Brothers 19 to
9, Dust-Tex 19 to 8 and Bootlegerz
24 to 4.
Oswald Brothers was the runner
up winning over Bootlegerz 14 to
7; Miller Lite 13 to 7; and Dust Tex
23 to 17 while losing to Stadium/
Budweiser/Broken Oar 19 to 9.
Dust-Tex claimed third place.
Master’s 40, Div. II
Tom’s Electric of Jamestown took
advantage of an opening game bye
to win three more games and claim
the championship in a six team field
entered in the Master’s 40, Division
2 state tournament held in Mandan,
July 20 and 21.
Tom’s Electric won a one run game
over Elliott Farms 14 to 13 in their
first game following the bye and
then won another one run game 10
to 9 over Moose/Capital RV. In
their last game of the tournament,
they beat the Shirt Shack 14 to 3 to
claim Division 2 honors.
Runner-up Mandan Shirt Shack
also drew a bye to open their run
to the final game before beating
Mooreton 24 to 9; Marv’s Bar 15
to 6; Elliott Farms 13 to 4; and
the Moose 10 to 3 before losing
Old Pro 50
Dust-Tex FOG won a couple of
games in Pool Play by identical 4
to 3 scores then went on to score
three more wins in bracket play to
win the Master’s 50 Division of the
NDASA the weekend of July 27
and 28 in Fargo.
Dust-Tex beat Fargo Busch Light
and the Jacklitsch Agency by identical 4 to 3 scores then pounder
Mooreton 18 to 2 in bracket play.
They also beat another team sponsored by Dust-Tex 50 by a 14 to
4 margin. They finished off the
tournament with a 14 to 3 licking
of Liberty Business of Fargo to win
yet another 50 plus title.
Liberty Business of Fargo claimed
second place in the ten team event
beating Mooreton 10 to 5; Jacklitsch Agency 16 to 9; and PCI 17
to 16. They lost to both Dust-Tex
teams, Dust-Tex 50 by a score of
17 to 7 and Dust-Tex FOG 14 to 3.
PCI won third over Dust-Tex 50 by
a score of 17 to 13.
WOOD BAT 50
Eight teams met in Mandan the
weekend of August 3 and 4 to
decide the championship of the
Master’s 50 Wood Bat tournament.
The title was won by Mariner Construction of Mandan with Dust-Tex
FOG coming in second.
Mariner started with a convincing
19 to 7 win over Kelly Inn and
then squeezed out a 10 to 9 victory
over an always tough Dust-Tex 50
team 10 to 9 before cruising to an
easy 23 to 3 win over Capital City
Contruction and then they pitched
a shut out in the final game 10 to
0 over the other Dust-Tex team,
Dust-Tex FOG.
Runner-up Dust-Tex FOG opened
their play with a bye, then beat
Magi-Touch 10 to 7 and Walton
Chiropractic 13 to 0 in an easy shut
out before losing the final game to
Mariner’s also by shut out 10 to 0.
Third place was won by Fargo
Walton Chiropractic 14 to 4 over
Capital City Construction.
Consolation champion was Maring and Williams Law Office of
Mandan and Farmers Union Insurance of Mandan was consolation
runner-up.
COED
SLOW PITCH
DIV. I
A scant field of three teams were
classified into Division One of
the state Co-Ed slow pitch state
tournament held in Grand Forks
HIGHLIGHTS
continued on page 13
Softball News Fall 2013 – 13
Highlights
continued from page 12
the weekend of September 7 and 8.
Brady’s Service of Fargo was
declared the champion of this
Division despite losing it’s first
game of the event to the Ho Sports
Bar of Grand Forks in a 17 to 15
game. Brady’s bounced back from
that loss to defeat Ho Sports 11 to
9 and also beat Kensal Vining Oil
twice 9 to 5 and 16 to 15 to claim
the winner’s trophy.
Kensal Vining Oil was named
runner-up after beating Ho Sports
Bar of Grand Forks in their opening game 14 to 13 before losing
two games to the eventual champs,
Brady’s Service 9 to 1 and 16 to 15.
The Ho Sports Bar claimed third
spot.
Div. II
The Captain’s Pub of Valley City
won the 12 team Division Two of
the state Co-Ed slow pitch tournament held in Grand Forks the
weekend of September 7 and 8.
The Valley City outfit won three
straight games to claim the title
beating Mac’s Sand Baggers of
Grand Forks in their opener 16
to 7; Kustom Kollision/Erickson
Embroidery of Grand Forks 8 to
6 and Kelly’s Bar, also of Grand
Forks, 14 to 11.
Runner-up Kelly’s Bar began the
day with a convincing 18 to 7 victory over Capri Bar of Minot and
followed up with a 15 to 9 triumph
over Zims/MVM of West Fargo
before bowing to the eventual
champs from Valley City 14 to 11.
Third place was won by Zims/
MVM of West Fargo. Consolation champion was Minot Capri
Bar over Mac’s Sand Baggers of
Grand Forks while the Roughrider
Division was claimed by Kustom
Kollision/Erickson Embroidery of
Grand Forks.
DIV. III
R and R Hunter Insurance of
Arthur won Division Three of the
state Co-ed slow pitch tournament
held in Grand Forks the weekend
of September 7 and 8. Division
Three drew the most teams in the
tournament as 20 teams were classified into this Division.
R and R Hunter went unbeaten in
four games to win the Division
title. They opened with a close win
over Minnkota Windows 9 to 7 and
followed that up with a rousing 26
to 13 victory over Applebees/Traut
Wells/Ottertail.
Their next win was a 12 to 5 defeat
of State Farm of Wahpeton and in
their last game of the event they
won a one run victory over JUC
Redskins of Grand Forks 9 to 8.
JUC Redskins of Grand Forks
finished as Division runner-up
losing only to R and R Hunter of
Arthur in the championship game
9 to 8. The Redskins opened their
run at the title with an 11 to 5 win
over Boomer’s Corner Keg of
Valley City and then beat Kelly’s
Bar/Hugo’s of Grand Forks 5 to
1 before winning over the Crary
Bearcats of West Fargo 13 to 11.
Wahpeton State Farm won third
place 13 to 10 over Crary Bearcats
of West Fargo while Boomer’s
Corner Keg of Valley City was the
consolation champ winning 14 to
3 over Fargo Mikklesen.
The Roughrider division was
claimed by Kelly’s Bar/Hugos of
Grand Forks.
of Dazey. In the final, they beat
the team from Grafton sponsored
by the 12th Street Bowl/Bud Light
12 to 8 to win the trophy for Division Four.
Runner-Up 12th Street Bowl/
Bud Light of Grafton claimed two
victories before losing the final to
Wyndmere. They beat Muddy Rivers 23 to 15 and then won a one run
squeaker 4 to 3 over Hankey Law/
TJ’s Sports Bar of Grand Forks.
The Grafton team lost the final to
Wyndmere 12 to 8.
Punky’s Bar/Nubar/Kunze Construction of Dazey won third place
8 to 7 over Hankey Law/TJ’s Sports
Bar of Grand Forks.
Consolation winner was Muddy
Rivers of Grand Forks over Tubs of
Fun/Strictly Used of Grand Forks
15 to 4.
Roughrider Division winner was
Hugo’s Wine and Spirits of Grand
Forks.
JUNIOR OLYMPIC
SLOW PITCH
12 & Under Girls
A disappointing turnout of only two
teams showed up for the state tournament in the 12 and under division
of the Junior Olympic Girl’s slow
pitch tournament in Jamestown on
July 20. Despite the small showing, both teams wanted to play so
a double-header was arranged and
the team from Langdon won both
games over Medina 8 to 5 and10 to
4. No trophy was awarded.
14 & Under Girls
Medina girls Junior Olympic team
of 14 year olds won the state
tournament in their age group
over a field of 8 teams July 21 at
Jamestown.
Medina won all three of their
tournament games to take home
the winner’s trophy. They opened
with a tight game against a good
Lidgerwood team and won 7 to
6. Their second game was against
Wahpeton and Medina prevailed 13
to 5. In their final game, they beat
Hankinson 17 to 5 for the crown.
Hankinson won their opener 12 to
9 over Beulah and then beat Horace
in a defensive struggle 7 to 6 before
losing the final to Medina 17 to 5.
Wahpeton grabbed third place beating Horace 11 to 7 while Beulah
crushed Lidgerwood 17 to 3 to
claim the Consolation title.
18 & Under Girls
The Hankinson Zukies won the
18 and Under Girl’s JO slow pitch
state tournament in a small field of
teams July 7 at Jamestown. Only
three teams qualified for the state
tournament.
Hankinson opened the event with
a 34 to 0 whitewashing of Crosby
then lost the next game to Medina 5
to 3. They came back with victories
over Crosby again and then beat
Medina 19 to 5 and beat them again
in the final game 13 to 3.
Runner-up Medina opened with a
5 to 3 win over eventual champion
Hankinson and then beat Crosby
twice 25 to 0 and 14 to 2 before losing their final game to Hankinson
19 to 5. Hankinson was declared
the tournament titlist by virtue of
Pool Play Tiebreakers.
DIV. IV
JUNIOR OLYMPIC
FAST PITCH
A team from Wyndmere sponsored
by The Well won the eight team
Division Four of the state Co-Ed
slow pitch tournament in Grand
Forks the weekend of September
7 and 8. Their first game tested
them severely as they eked out
a 16 to 15 victory over Tubs of
Fun from Grand Forks. In their
second game, they pitched a shutout winning 5 to 0 over Punky’s
Bar/Nubar/Kunze Construction
Six teams registered to vie for
the ten and under division title in
Girl’s fast pitch softball at the state
tournament held in Bismarck the
weekend of July 13 and 14 with the
team from Bismarck claiming the
championship by virtue of an undefeated charge through the bracket.
Bismarck opened their run at
the title with two strong offensive
games, beating Mandan MS Chiefs
10 & UNDER GIRLS
23 to 6 and Grand Forks 28 to 3.
They then met a strong Dickinson
team and beat them twice including
a close 11 to 9 game in the championship final.
Dickinson won their first game
with a strong effort against Jamestown 23 to 3 before losing their
next game to eventual champion
Bismarck. Dickinson came back in
the loser’s bracket winning over the
team from Grand Forks to win their
way back into the championship
game where they lost a defensive
game to Bismarck 11 to 9.
Following Bismarck and Dickinson in the final tournament standing
was the team from Grand Forks. A
total of 36 teams entered the state
tournament which was a double
elimination event with a third
game guarantee. North Dakota in
only third season of ASA play has
registered close to one thousand fast
pitch players with Bismarck listing
220 and Dickinson 208.
12 & UNDER GIRLS
The 12 and Under Girl’s team
from Grand Forks captured the
Division championship over a ten
team field the weekend of July 13
and 14 in Bismarck. They had to
play an “if” game after suffering
their first tourney defeat in the
first championship game against
Dickinson.
Grand Forks won their first game
10 to 1 over the Mandan MS Chiefs
and then beat the Valley City Hurricanes 16 to 5 and Bismarck 9 to 1.
Their last victory in the bracket was
over Dickinson 9 to 0 but the Dickinson crew came back through the
loser’s bracket beating Casselton to
gain another shot at Grand Forks in
the final. Grand Forks was beaten
by the plucky team from Dickinson
9 to 7 to force an “if “ game which
was won by Grand Forks in a 13 to
7 championship game.
Dickinson won their first game
in the Division stomping the Valley
City Stars 30 to 0 before beating
West Fargo 13 to 3 before losing to
Grand Forks in a 9 to 0 game. In
the loser’s bracket, Dickinson won
over Casselton 14 to 4 and then beat
Grand Forks in the first championship game 9 to 7 forcing an “if”
game which Dickinson lost 13 to 7.
The order of finish showed
Grand Forks as the champion,
Dickinson as the runner-up team
and Casselton in third place.
14 & Under Girls
The 14 and Under Bismarck
Sparks won the 14 year old Division of the girl’s fast pitch division
tournament played in Bismarck the
weekend of July 13 and 14, It was
the second state title claimed by a
local team with the 10 year olds
also winning.
The Sparks won their first three
games with victories over West
Fargo 12 to 2; Dickinson 3 to 2;
and Grand Forks 10 to 3 before
dropping a 7 to 3 decision to the
Dickinson Diamonds in the first
championship game. In the “if”
game, the Sparks won 7 to 6 in an
eight inning contest to claim the
state title in the 14 year old division.
The always competitive Dickinson Diamonds won their opening
game before dropping a 3 to 2 game
to the Bismarck Sparks which put
them into the loser’s bracket. They
then beat Minot Ryan 11 to 1; West
Fargo 12 to 2; Grand Forks 8 to 3;
and the Bismarck Sparks in the first
championship game forcing an “if”
game which was won by the Sparks
in eight innings.
Final team placement was Bismarck Sparks as the champion;
Dickinson Diamonds as runner-up
and the Grand Forks Express in
third place.
Eagles 9 to 1; Bismarck 11 to 4
and Grand Forks in a shutout 6 to 0
before losing the final to the West
Fargo Impact.
The order of finish was West
Fargo Impact as champion; Bishop Ryan as Runner Up; and Grand
Forks claiming third.
18 & Under Girls
The West Fargo Impact continued their dominance of girl’s fast
pitch softball by sweeping to victory in a six team field of 18 and
under girl’s division of the state
tournament held in Bismarck the
weekend of July 13 and 14.
The Impact shut out Valley City
13 to 0 in their first game and then
beat Dickinson twice to win the
championship. The scores were
7 top 4 and 4 to 3.
Dickinson won over the North
Dakota Thunder 9 to 1 in their first
game, then lost to West Fargo 7 to
4. In the loser’s bracket, they beat
Valley City 8 to 2 to get back into
the championship bracket where
they lost again to the West Fargo
team 4 to 3.
The order of finish was West Fargo
Impact as champions; Dickinson
was Runner Up and Valley City
third.
16 & Under Girls
As expected, the West Fargo
Impact claimed the championship
in the 16 and under division of the
state tournament held in Bismarck
the weekend of July 13 and 14
over a field of six teams including
a very strong Bishop Ryan team
from Minot.
The Impact shut out Bismarck
8 to 0 in their first game and beat
Grand Forks 11 to 3 before meeting
Bishop Ryan and winning 4 to 0.
The anticipated meeting between
West Fargo and Bishop Ryan never
materialized due to an upset pulled
by Grand Forks over Ryan in their
second game. Ryan came back
in the loser’s bracket but the final
game was anti-climatic.
Ryan won their first game over
Grafton 9 to 1 before losing to
Grand Forks 6 to 3. In the loser’s
bracket, they won over the Fargo
Dave Frueh of the Mandan
Parks and Recreation Department will be the tournament director for the Men’s
Northern National E-Rec
tournament to be held in
Mandan in 2014.
14 –
Softball News Fall 2013
Men’s Slowpitch move up
Class B to Class A
Mandan Heartland Investors
Rec 1 to Class D
West Fargo Michelob Golden
Draft Light
Bismarck Kupper Chevrolet
Jamestown IDK Soldiers
Rec 2 to Rec 1
Wahpeton Driftwood Lounge
Fargo Valley Imports
Jamestown Vets
West Fargo Urgent Medical
Fessenden Krahlers
Dickinson Player’s Sports Bar
and Grill
Rugby Lee’s Bar
Jamestown IDK Bar and Grill
Williston Mulligan’s/K and A Oil/JE
Dun/JLG
Fargo Crown Royal
Rec 3 East to Rec 2
Devils Lake Proz
Grand Forks Sunpros
Fargo B-Dubs
Grafton Farmers Union/Citizens
State Bank
Grand Forks Wild Hog
Fargo Money Farm
Gackle Third Base Bar/Dani’s
Place
Bismarck Solid Dakota
Mandan Boyko,Inc/Center
Machine
Minot Burgess Detailing
Rugby Eagles
Mandan Dakota Community
Bank & Trust
Mandan Anderson Custom
Cabinets
Bismarck Amvets
Wahpeton 3TF/FCCU/DHP
MinDak
West Fargo FM Mortgage
West Fargo Sports City
Rutland Buzzards
Williston Cased Hole Solutions
Rec 3 West to Rec 2
Grafton JR’s Bar
Munich
Fargo H and S Painting
West Fargo Cabinet Makers
Oakes Carlson Farms
Minto Men
West Fargo BCM Construction
Williston Found It Now
Butte Kvamme Feed Yard/
Ziegler Oil
Minot Ice Bar
Teams await their turn to be introduced at the opening ceremony for the girl’s 14 and under Northern
National tournament in Bismarck August 3 and 4.
North Dakota
2013 STATE CHAMPIONS
DIV. I .................................. Mandan Heartland Investors
DIV. II ................................. Bismarck Coup Counters
DIV. III ................................ Bismarck Bistro
MSP - Rec I ....................... West Fargo Michelob Golden Draft Light
MSP Rec II-East ................ Wahpeton Driftwood Lounge
MSP - Rec II-West ............ Fessenden Krahler’s
MSP - Rec III-East ............ Devils Lake Proz
MSP - Rec III–West ........... Gackle Third Base Bar/Dani’s Place
MSP - Rec IV-East............. Grafton JR’s Bar
MSP - Rec IV-West ............ Williston Found It Now
Masters 35 Div. I ............... Bismarck Roughrider Resources
Masters 35, Div. II ............. Bismarck RV Rentals/Dakota Mini-Storage
Masters 35 Div. III ............. Center Merchants
Masters 40 Div. I ............... Bismarck Stadium/Budweiser/Broken Oar
Masters 40 Div. II ............... Jamestown Tom’s Electric
Masters 50 ......................... Mandan Dust-Tex
Masters 50 Wood Bat ....... Mandan Mariner Construction
WSP - D ............................ Wahpeton The Driftwood
WSP - Rec I ....................... Minot Saunders/All American
WSP - Rec II ...................... Grand Forks Pace Painting
WSP - Rec IlI-East............. Hatton Sunflowers
WSP - Rec IIl-West ........... Dickinson Kohler Communications
WSP Masters - Div. I ......... Bismarck Moritz Sports & Marine
WSP Masters - Div. II ........ Grand Forks Lithia Ford
WSP Masters - Div. III ...... Jamestown Tom’s Electric
Coed SP Div. I .................. Fargo Brady’s Service
Coed SP Div. II ................. Valley City Captain’s Pub
Coed SP Div. III ................ Arthur R & R Hunter Insurance
Coed SP Div. IV ................. Wyndmere The Well
Junior Olympic
Girls 18 & Under SP ......... Hankinson Zukies
Girls 14 & Under SP ......... Medina
Girls 12 & Under SP ......... Landgon
Girls 18 & Under FP .......... West Fargo Impact
Girls 16 & Under FP .......... West Fargo Impact
Girls 14 & Under FP .......... Bismarck Sparks
Girls 12 & Under FP .......... Grand Forks Express
Girls 10 & Under FP .......... Bismarck Sparks
Impact
continued from page 1
Illinois. They then claimed another
win over the Minnesota Chaos 8
to 5 and victory over the Monroe,
Wisconsin Lightning in a tight ball
game 4 to 3. They took their initial
loss in their next game against a
powerful team from Minnesota Bo
Diddley’s. The score was 8 to 1.
West Fargo bounced back from
that loss with wins over the Venom
from South Dakota in a 3 to 1 contest and another 3 to 1 victory over
the Renegades from Wisconsin. In
their final game of the tournament
the Impact was beaten again by
the Minnesota Bo Diddley’s in a
ten run contest 13 to 3. The Impact
finished the event in third place in
the regional event.
Pitcher Hannah Reimer won four
games and took the loss in both
games against Bo Diddley’s while
pitcher Brook Rheault won one
game as did Jess Larson.
West Fargo hitters were led by
Sydney Greenlund with a batting
average of .536 followed by Brooke
Breckheimer hitting at .522. Ty
McKeever finished the tournament
with a .480 average while Brook
Rheault hit .414.
Tournament officials set out team and individual trophies at the girl’s 14 and under Northern National
tournament in Bismarck.
14U
continued from page 1
the Wisconsin team scored wins
over Pride of Illinois 11 to 3; the
Smash from South Dakota 15 to 0;
Bismarck Sparks 11 to 0; another
team named Pride from Wisconsin
9 to 2 and the championship over
the same Pride team from Wisconsin 5 to 4 in their only close game
of the tourney.
North Dakota champion Sparks
from Bismarck opened their bracket
play with a shutout win 3 to 0 over
Princeton, Illinois and the won a
close game over the Point from
Wisconsin 7 to 6 with a rally in the
last two innings after trailing 7 to
1 in the fifth inning.
The Sparks then ran into the
eventual champions, the Plovers
from Stevens Point, Wisconsin 11
to 0. Bismarck bounced back from
that defeat to win over White Bear
Lake of Minnesota 6 to 5 before
losing to the Mid-Michigan Heat 12
to 5 in an elimination game.
This was the eleventh national
tournament hosted by Bismarck
and the first Junior Olympic event.
Twenty teams entered from Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota,
Illinois, Michigan and Kansas. Four
North Dakota teams participated
including Grand Forks, Dickinson
and Minot as well as Bismarck.
Bismarck is also scheduled to
host another Junior Olympic tournament next year when the 16 and
Under Girl’s Fast pitch tournament
will be held in the Capital city.
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2013STATE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Softball News Fall 2013 – 15
Junior Olympic Girls Slow Pitch, 18 & Under State Champions, Hankinson
Zukies: Front row, left to right: Sheela Pankow, Bailey German, Lacey Dickerman,
Kennedy Falk, Alissa Meede. Back row, left to right: Coach DeeAnn Bilben, Alexis
Pankow, Hannah Gaukler, Kelsey Gaukler, Jenny Reimann, Amber Bilben, Brenna
Stren, Betsy Asp, Allison Hermes, Coach Jaime Krump.
Junior Olympic Girls Slow Pitch, 14 & Under, State Champions, Medina: Front
row, left to right: Bailey Heflin, Lindsay Hoffmann, Coach Noelle Moser, Kalie Gudmestad, Dani Eissinger, Janaya Huff, Laurin Moser, Amber Buskness, Miriah Wick,
Halle Uehran, Megan Moser. Back row, left to right: Coach Steve Wick, McKenzie
Heflin, Coach Rory Hoffmann.
Junior Olympic Girls Fast Pitch, 10 & Under, State Champions, Bismarck
Sparks: Kneeling, right to left: Coach Troy Nelson, Delani Clarke, Mia Hinsz, Brooklyn Morris, Ashlee Potter, Kelsey Mischel, and Coach Lisa Wingeter. Standing, left
to right: Jocelyn Julson, Hannah Tollefson, Megan Klein, Arianna Berryhill, Grace
Meschke, Lexi Duchscherer and Coach Darin Meschke.
Junior Olympic Girls Slow Pitch, 12 & Under State Champions, Langdon:
Front row, left to right: Elise Ramberg, Jess Gellner, Abby Romfo, Carrissa Tetrault,
McKenna Belle. Back row, left to right: Emma Field, Savannah Ullyott, Emily Messner, Jessica Hoffarth, Sadie Fetsch, Rylan Rueger, Greta Haslekas, Kylee Moline,
Brooke Bakke. Coaches: Darren Gellner, Trevor Romfo, David Haslekaas.
Tharaldson Ethanol, the nation’s seventh-largest
ethanol plant, provides an important boost for the
North Dakota economy by turning locally grown
corn into renewable fuel. Roughly 85 percent of the
corn used at TE to make ethanol comes from within
a 50-mile radius of our Casselton plant, providing
North Dakota growers with a highly competitive
market for selling their corn.
Tharaldson Ethanol is a proud supporter of
North Dakota softball
Fueling freedom right here in North Dakota
Tharaldson Ethanol
3549 153rd Ave SE • Casselton, ND 58012
(701) 347-4000
16 –
Softball News Fall 2013
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