BNGSA Fusion Week #1 - Important!

What a beautiful weekend! Hopefully we will be able to duplicate this weather for our Doubleheaders on Wednesday and Thursday and then into the weekend. Since I am the tournament director for the Twin City Classic, please pray for no rain so my life will be easy and the girls get to play. Some things have transpired just today I need to share:

Mon (6/1) - Practice at BHS. 6:00 p.m. until dark. If the girls have finals and need to study, please consider that as a priority!
Wed (6/3) - We lost our opponent on Wednesday. I am trying to find a replacement. If we don't have a game, we will have practice at 6:00. If we play, please have the girls at Champion Fields no later than 5:10 for warm up.
Thurs (6/4) - I am worried about this DH as well since the Bengals have some girls up on NCHS varsity, including one of their pitchers. I have an e-mail into their coach confirming the DH. Thursday is also the deadline to make hotel reservations for the two Moline Tournaments.

Sat (6/6) and Sun (6/7) - No changes for Twin City Classic at Champion Fields. First game at 11:30. Please arrive at 10:00 a.m. sharp for warm up. Links to pool play schedule and single elimination brackets are on the right under the heading 2009 tournament schedule.

Also, parents will have to keep score, announce and work the gate. We do not have many slots to cover so I am just going to assign the slots and send out the list. If you need to switch, you will have to do that on your own.

Fri (6/12) - Sun (6/14) - Portage, IN tourney. I received the double elimination brackets tonight. They are also linked on the right. Remember we have a 12:30 p.m. game on Fri (6/12) and then play again at 8:30. We start double elimination play on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Pool play results do not impact bracket play. See schedule for more info. BTW: Portage is not in the Eastern Time zone.

Questions, let me know. PLEASE check the website daily. Make it a part of your routine if you already have not.

5/31 - Road to East Peoria Update

Williamsville (Erica Jordan) and Normal West (Christina Pagan & Cassie Saufley) completed their seasons on Saturday. Williamsville lost to 4-2 to Piasa (Southwestern) while Normal West dropped a 7-1 decision to Normal Community Media Story: Pantagraph Welcome to summer ball girls!

On the other hand Olympia (Melissa Goembel & Alison Novakow) and Bloomington (Julie Herek) are still alive in the 2A and 4A playoffs.

Olympia run ruled St. Joseph-Ogden 11-0 in the championship game of the PBL Class 2A Sectional Championship at Paxton on Saturday. Oly banged out 15 hits and stunned the St. Joe team. Olympia will face Teutopolis at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the Eastern Illinois University Super-Sectional at Charleston. Media Story: Pantagraph

Bloomington High School got revenge against Morton and won the Washington 3A Regional by a score of 3-1. Fusion Utility player Julie Herek started at SS once again for the Purple Raiders. Bloomington moves on to sectionals and faces Metamora on Wed. at 4:30 in Washington. Media Story: Pantagraph

Good luck girls!

5/29 - Normal West/NCHS Game Moved to ISU

The Normal West/NCHS game has been moved to ISU Field tomorrow at 10:00 am. $4.00 to get in. Will be well worth the admission.

Heartland Shootout/ASA State Hotel Reservations

Everyone was sent an e-mail with information to make hotel reservations for our two tournaments in Moline. There is a deadline of JUNE 4th to get these reservations made. If you have any questions, please let me know.

5/29 Practice at BHS

All looks good for practice on Friday with only a slight chance of Thunderstorms. Please be loose and ready to practice at 6:00 p.m. We will work hard until it gets dark. It is best if you park in the Bloomington Junior High lot at 901 N Colton Ave. (See map on schedule). Please do not park on the basketball courts.

5/29 - Road to East Peoria Update

Williamsville Bullets (2A) (Erica Jordan) Defeated Auburn Thursday (5/28) at UIC in Springfield. The Bullets play for the Sectional Championship Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in White Hall vs. Piasa Southwestern who defeated Edwardsville (Metro-East Lutheran) 4-1. Edwardsville SuperSectional Bracket

Normal West Wildcats (4A) (Christina Pagan & Cassie Saufley) Defeated the host team Minooka Thursday (5/28) 3-0. Normal West plays Saturday at 10:00 am in Minooka against Normal Community.

Good luck girls!

5/28 - Road To East Peoria Update

Olympia beat Monticello 11-0 in 6 innings. Oly advances to the Sectional Championship game vs. St. Joe - Ogden on Saturday at Noon in Paxton.

Bloomington beat University High School 8-0. U-High ends the season 10-15. Danielle, Chloe and Jane played a good game defensively and so did Julie for BHS. BHS just hit the ball hard. Danielle pitched in relief and gave up 3 earned runs in 3 innings. Chloe, Danielle, Jane and Mia all released to the Fusion for practice!

The sectional game between Auburn and Williamsville has been postponed until today, Thursday, May 28 at 4:30 p.m.

Normal West also plays Thursday at 4:30 in Minooka vs. the host Minooka H.S. The winner plays NCHS on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in Minooka.

The Pantagraph did a nice job of compiling everything.

BTW: The College Softball World Series starts today all live on ESPN. Four powerhouses playing in the evening session!
Game 1 at Noon - -Washington vs Georgia
Game 2 at 2 p.m. -- Missouri vs. Arizona St.
Game 3 at 6 p.m. -- Alabama vs. Michigan
Game 4 at 8 p.m. -- Arizona vs. Florida

5/27 - IHSA "Road to East Peoria" Update

The Fusion still has 9 girls playing in IHSA playoffs as of Tuesday May 26th!

Olympia Spartans (2A) (Alison Novakow (top) & Melissa Goembel (bottom)) Defeated Central Catholic (16-0) and El Paso-Gridley (7-2) to advance to sectional play. Oly faces Monticello Wed night at 6:30 in Paxton. The winner will most likely play St. Joe-Ogden in the sectional championship at Noon on Sat. Charleston SuperSectional Bracket


Williamsville Bullets (2A) (Erica Jordan) Defeated Riverton (10-0) and Petersburg-Porta (6-0) to advance to sectional play. The Bullets (how long before this name is changed) face Auburn Wed night in White Hall at 4:30. The winner plays Sat. at 11:00 a.m. in White Hall vs. the winner of the Piasa/Edwardsville Lutheran winner. Edwardsville SuperSectional Bracket

U-High Pioneers (3A) (Danielle Warner, Jane McCullough, Chloe Hundman) vs. Bloomington Purple Raiders (3A) (Julie Herek) All four girls will start this contest scheduled for a rumored 6:30 p.m. in Washington since the Morton/Washington game has to be played first. BHS swept U-High back in April (2-1) and (5-2). See why these pics come in handy?!? The winner plays Saturday at 11:00 a.m., most likely against Morton. If Morton did not have the BNGSA to rely upon to develop talent, they would not be very good.

Normal West Wildcats (4A) (Christina Pagan (left) & Cassie Saufley (right)) Start regional play THURS night in Minooka vs the host team. Game time 4:30 p.m. now since the NCHS/Bradley-Bourb game was rained out Tues night. Winners play Saturday at 10:00 am in Minooka. Could have Normal West vs. NCHS --Round #3 on Saturday!

Good luck girls!

Action! -- Review Fusion Roster

Please review the 2009 Fusion Roster and let me know of any issues by Noon Friday 5/29. II can catch up with better pictures later. I do need one of Alison (at one time I think I had it) and Melissa asap.

This document will be posted on the BNGSA website since we have been designated as one of the BNGSA 16U lead teams for 2009. The plan is to have our roster available for college coaches who visit the BNGSA website. Before we go to Indiana I will need to get this down to two pages. But we have to follow the BNGSA format if it is to be posted on the BNGSA site. This is something big off of my list!

5/26 - Practice Cancelled

As it turned out we might of been able to go but even Champion Fields was closed. Would not of been good mess up BHS field.

Rainout Communication Procedure

In the event we have to cancel practice or a game, I will always update this site as I am able to do it from my phone. I encourage you to sign up as a follower of the site so you can choose how you receive this information.

I have been messing around with Twitter. Follow me on Twitter and set yourself up to receive text messages or rss updates when I update this site. I can also update Twitter from my phone.

If we are scheduled to be at Champion Fields (practice, weekday DH, tournaments), you can call the Champion Fields hotline at 433-3434, Cat 4 for status. If Champion is closed, we cannot use the facility.

If all else fails, call me or text me! Technology is pretty cool.

Practice and Schedule Link

I have the complete schedule entered into a google calendar. This schedule includes everything I have scheduled so far, including practices. Check it out above! Click on the event link to see more infor like warmup arrival times and directions to fields.

Here is the practice deal. I have reserved BHS field on Tues 5/26, Fri 5/29 and Mon 6/1. For now plan on starting at 6:00 each of these nights as BHS might still need it after school for practice.

If you have not been released by your JV coach or you are still in the IHSA playoffs, you cannot come to practice. If you have finals next week I don't want you to come to practice on 5/26. I need those eligible at practice on 5/29 and 6/1. We have a lot to work on. Please respond in the comments to this post what practices you cannot attend or email me. I need to know so I can plan practice effectively.

Go Fusion! I am ready to watch us hit balls to the gaps and over the fence!

Diamonds of the North (Portage, IN) Pool Play

HEADS UP for the June 12-14 Diamonds of the North Tourney in Portage, IN. Our first game is at 12:30 PM on Friday June 12th vs. the Michigan Athletics. We play again at 8:00 p.m. vs. the Indy Elite. I will have the rest of the tourney info next week. The field is wonderful. Looks like many of the teams from the ASA/USA National we played in a cople of years ago. (i.e. our first opponent and Cincy Doom)

So, we will be leaving early in the morning on Friday June 12th. Please plan accordingly! Looks like we will have plenty of time to get checked into the hotel between games.

5/18 - U-High Drops Extra Innings Decision @ Prairie Central

I was not at the game but I guess U-High lost a tough one 6-5 to Prairie Central in Fairbury Monday night that was full of weird stuff. Danielle Warner took the loss as an unearned run was plated in the bottom of the 8th. This happened after a U-High run was taken off the board in the top of the inning due to a re-entry issue that the Prairie Central bench convinced the umpire was not reported a few innings prior. Chloe Hundman started for U-High and pitched 7 innings for the Pioneers.

BTW: The field umpire was the father of the Prairie Central pitcher. He even told the U-High bench who he was. That was pretty stupid.

Media Story: Pantagraph

Fusion Practices Scheduled

As the girls are released from their High School teams, please let me know. Lets give them Memorial Day weekend off to regenerate. Practices for NEXT week. Tuesday 5/26 (5:30 - 7:30), Friday 5/29 (5:30-8:30) and then Monday 6/1 (5:30 - 7:30) --- location TBA. I know things are going on but these practices are important as we get ready for our season.

Ridgeview Advances in 1A Regional

Fusion Freshman OF Brigette Tracy recorded two hits and drove in three to help her Ridgeview Mustangs softball team defeat Lexington 17-2 in Class 1A Regional action. Brigette received special mention in the box score on the IHSA website! Media Story: Pantagraph

Ridgeview plays Tri-Valley at 4:30 Tuesday night in LeRoy.

Other 1A scores - 5/18/2009 --- 1A Champaign Bracket

Kansas City Hotel Reservations - May 20th Deadline

The Hilton Garden in Overland Park sent me a note saying they had the following reservations for the Kansas City Tourney -- Goembel, Herek, Jordan, Petersen and Warner.

The deadline for the special rate is Wednesday May 20th. Use the special web page to make reservation or call hotel at 913-253-3211. Reference our Group: BNGSA Fusion

Sports Enhancement Tourney Times - 6/6 & 6/7

I have our game times for our first tourney at Champion Fields. It is a 16 team tourney and I am tourney directory. Pool play starts at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday 6/6 and then the single elimination tourney starts at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday 6/7. We will have volunteer responsibilities for gate/scorekeeping/announcing.

Saturday - 6/6 - Field #8
11:30 A.M. BNGSA Fusion vs. Hitting Center (Sherman, IL)
2:30 P.M. BNGSA Fusion vs. AXA Force
7:00 p.m. BNGSA Fusion vs. BNGSA Angels 14

Domain Name!

We now have a domain name. bngsafusion.org! This website is going to replace the league lineup site. We will transfer the schedule to google calendar. More info later!

5/14 - BHS drops 1-0 Game to Normal West

The BHS softball team dropped a tough 1-0 game to the Normal West Wildcats on a nice Thursday evening. Fusion Utility player Julie Herek had one of two BHS hits and executed a sac bunt for the Purple Raiders. Julie played SS for BHS.

Media Story: Pantagraph

5/19 - Area Softball Leaders

Through 5/12/2009

EARNED RUN AVERAGE(Maximum 2.50, minimum 25 innings) T. Hinthorne (Tri-Valley) 0.23, J.Murray (Normal West) 0.29........., C. Hundman (U High) 2.13, H. Webster (Tri-Point) 2.21, K. Riddell (U High) 2.26, E. Hoelscher (Eureka) 2.45.

STRIKEOUTS (Minimum 40) S. Hintz (LeRoy) 209, H. Webster (Tri-Point) 207, R. Romshek (GCMS) 188, L.Cumbess (Normal West) 180, .........K. Riddell (U High) 67, Dinardi (Pontiac) 60, C. Hundman (U High) 58, K. Krause (Tri-Point) 52, D. Warner (U High) 49, C. Eeten (Eureka) 47.

5/18 - U-High loses to Maroa in the 7th

The U-High softball team could not hang on to a two run lead in the top of the seventh to beat a good Maroa squad on Monday night at Fairview Park. Maroa (22-4) capitalized on four U-High errors and seven walks by Fusion pitchers Danielle Warner (5) and Chloe Hundman (2) to pull out a 7-6 win.

All pitchers in the game were having trouble in the circle as it has sunk to more than a couple of inches below the level of home plate. Time to stop playing at Fairview Park. Fusion utility player Jane McCullough scored a run, hit a single and drew two walks. Danielle had 2 hits including a 2B to RF and knocked in a run for the Pioneers. Chloe went 1-4.

Media Story: Pantagraph

5/13 - Corn Belt Conference Action

The big story in the Corn Belt last week was the Varsity and JV conference tournament held on Thursday 5/7 and Saturday 5/9 in Rantoul. The U-High Varsity squad earned 2nd place as they defeated Mahomet and Pontiac before losing to Olympia in the Championship Game.

The Olympia JV team earned 2nd place while U-High finished 3rd.

U-High Varsity Results
5/7 - U-High beat Mahomet 7-0. It rained most of the game. It was an ugly experience. Fusion girls 0-5 at the plate. Media Story: Pantagraph
5/9 - U-High beat Pontiac in the semifinal 1-0 behind a 3 hit gem from Fusion pitcher Danielle Warner. A couple of great defensive plays sealed the shutout for the Pioneers in support of Danielle who walked none and struck out six. Fusion utility player Jane McCullough scored the only run of the game as she went 2-2 at the plate with a walk. Danielle added a hit for the Pioneers. Chloe was part of a game ending double play after U-High 2B Bailey Bottorff snagged a line drive with a runner on 2B. Media Story: Pantagraph - Pontiac Daily Leader (This paper does a nice job!)
5/9 - U-High lost to Olympia 10-0 in the Championship game. Fusion pitcher Chloe Hundman gave up 4 runs but who doesn't against the hitting machine that Oly is. Keri Leach, one of the area's best players, hit a 3-2 outside drop ball over the left field fence for a homer of Hundman.

Varsity Season Stats: Hitting - Pitching

Junior Varsity Notes
Mia Hartung is batting .350 (14-40). Mia has scored 12 runs, knocked in 7 and has stolen 9 bases. She has a triple.

JV Season Stats: Hitting - Pitching

Olympia JV Notes
The Olympia JV dropped a tough championship game 3-1 to a really good Pontiac squad. Fusion players Alison Novakow and Melissa Goembel both had hits for the Spartans. Pontiac has beat Oly twice in tourney championship games. No shame in that. Pontiac has pitchers at JV who are better than those at Varsity.

5/13 - Williamsville Softball News

The Williamsville Varsity team is 21-1.

The JV has two losses, Erica pitched the Rochester game & Riverton games. The Rochester final was 21 - 0 and the Riverton game was over in 5 innings and the score was 3-2. The JV has only played 3 games since the U-High game.

FYI: Erica is working with the local softball program to teach a new generation of pitchers. She is having a good time. And she likes that they look up to her. She has also been asked to umpire during the summer. This is great! Always wonderful to give back!

5/13 - HOI Conference Softball Catchup

Catching up on softball results for Fusion girls playing High School softball in the HOI conference. Nothing like playing every night because of all the rainouts!

Brigette Tracy-Ridgeview
5/4 - lost to Gibson City 10-8 in 12 innings. We scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th to force extra innings. Brigette played right field. 1 for 4 at bat off of power pitcher Regan Romschek.
5/5- lost to Leroy 7-2. Brigette pitched entire game, gave up two walks. She had a sacrifice bunt, double and a pop-out to left field against Pantagraph strikeout leader Sarah Hintz.
5/6- lost to Flanagan 4-3. Tie game going into bottom of 7th. She popped out twice, successful bunt to get on base.
5/7 - BEAT HEYWORTH 4-0. Brigette pitched entire game, gave up two walks. S he had 2 singles at bat. (1st varsity pitching win!) Good defensive team game.
5/8 - Played Tri-Valley and got second. Brigette had a walk, ground out and pop-out in the varsity game, but struck out twice in the JV game. She pitched one inning of the JV, played 3 innings at 1B.
5/11/2009 - Ridgeview lost to Fisher 6-1 last night at Tri-Valley in HOIC tournament. Brigette a double to left field.

Brooke Petersen - Tri-Valley
4/23 TV JV wins against Monticello - Brooke was 2 for 4.
4/28 TV JV wins against Lexington 7-4 - Brooke Petersen gets win pitching. She was 1 for 2, with single and RBI.
5/5 TV JV loses to Illini Bluff - 3-1. Brooke was 2 for 3. Two singles.
5/6 TV JV wins against Tremont - TV wins 6-2. Brooke was 0 for 2 - 1K, 1 dribbler.
5/7 TV JV ahead 2-0 against Gibson City when game called at top of 4. Brooke had a single and RBI. Game called during her 2nd at bat (in the pouring rain).

Great job girls. We have all kinds of pitching now!

Fusion Sponsorships for 2009

Here is the final BNGSA Fusion Sponsorship Listing for 2009! Thank you for your support!

Home Run Level - $300
Country Financial Representative - Steve Petersen - Bloomington, IL Website
Landmark Dental Group - Normal , IL - Website

Triple Level - $200
Kaisner Homes - Bloomington, IL Website

Single Level - $100
Seven to Heaven Hairdressers - Springfield, IL
Sherman Chiropractic - Sherman, IL Website
Prairie State Bank and Trust - Bloomington, IL Website
Miller Janitor Supply - Normal, IL Website
JMB Datacomm - Bloomington, IL
Warner's Hummel & Lladro Restoration - Bloomington, IL Website
Jim Spachman State Farm Agency - Normal, IL Website
Double Trouble - Bloomington, IL

Other
John Albee ($50) - Bloomington, IL

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all Fusion Moms and Grandmothers! Not sure if we have any Great Granndmothers but if we do Happy Mother's Day to them twice!

More blog entries coming tonight!

5/6 - Tri-Valley JV beats Tremont

The Tri-Valley JV defeated Tremont 6-2 on Wednesday Night. Will post details later....

5/6 - Fusion Players in Area Leaders

PITCHING(Maximum 2.50; min. 25 innings)Player, school...IP...R...ER...ERAM. Nonnemacher (NCHS) 0.17; T. Hinthorne (Tri-Valley) 0.30; L. Cumbess (Normal West) 0.33; J. Murray (Normal West) 0.38; M. McCready (Tri-Valley) 0.56; L. Stotler (NCHS) 0.67S. Rentmeister (Clinton) 0.68; S. Hintz (LeRoy) 0.68; K. Leach (Olympia) 0.88; C. Kaminike (Woodland-F-C) 1.05; R. Romshek (GCMS) 1.12; J. Wheeler (Blue Ridge) 1.17; C. Hundman (U High) 1.32; D. Springer (Heyworth) 1.33; A. Riordan;(Streator) 1.53; M. Fairchild (EPG) 1.64; C. Hennigh (Fisher) 1.79; K. Riddell (U High) 1.89; M. Crawford (Blue Ridge) 1.96; K. Cummins (Mahomet-Seymour) 2.05; H. Webster (Tri-Point) 2.50.

STRIKEOUTS (Minimum 40)L. Cumbess (Normal West) 162; H. Webster (Tri-Point) 161; Sarah Hintz (LeRoy) 158; K. Leach (Olympia) 146; M. Nonnemacher (NCHS) 145; C. Kaminke (Woodland-F-C) 145; C. Hennigh (Fisher) 141; R. Romshek (GCMS) 138; T. Hinthorne (Tri-Valley) 136; J. Wheeler (Blue Ridge) 117; S. Rentmeister (Clinton) 112; M. McCready (Tri-Valley) 101; M. Fairchild (EPG) 95; E. Hoelscher (Eureka) 94; L. Stotler (NCHS) 80; D. Springer (Heyworth) 78; J. Murray (Normal West) 71; C. Hundman (U High) 56; A. Riordan (Streator) 54; K. Riddell (U High) 54; C. Eeten (Clinton) 43; K. Krause (Tri-Point) 43; C. Haines (Mahomet-Seymour) 42.

5/6 - Normal West JV Nips U-High 5-4

The Normal West Wildcat JV team registered a 5-4 comeback victory Wednesday night at Maxwell Park.

U-High was leading 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth behind Fusion Freshman pitcher Chloe Hundman when the Wildcats plated three runs to take the lead. After an infield single and a bloop hit to RF, Normal West had runners on 2B and 3B. On a grounder to 2B with the infield at medium depth, the fielder threw home with one out and a two run lead. The run scored leaving runners on 1st and 3rd. After the auto steal of 2nd base, a passed ball allowed the runner on 3B to score. The throw from the catcher to Chloe covering home ended up in the infield and the alert Wildcat baserunner scored the eventual winning run.

It is amazing how one fundamental miscue really cost U-High big time. An amazing turn of events. Can't give a good team any chances when they are trying to rally. Fusion Sophomore Mia Hartung had a couple of hits for U-High. Fusion teammates Christina Pagan and Cassie Saufley played good defensively at C and 1B respectively.

5/3 - U-High Beats Pontiac in Corn Belt Conference Tilt

The expected crowd for the U-High/Pontiac matchup was so huge the game for second place in the Corn Belt Conference was moved to Champion Fields. A crowd of 106 people watched the U-High Pioneers break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 7th to defeat the visiting Pontiac Indians 6-5.

U-High took an early lead but Pontiac chipped away and tied the game in the top of the 6th. U-High took the lead for good in the bottom of the 6th as an RBI ground out from Fusion Freshman Chloe Hundman found the right side with a runner on 3rd and less than two outs. A single by Danielle Warner to right on two strikes put runners at 1B and 2B. A U-High bunt moved runners to 2B and 3B. Then U-High's Kelsey Wilson added another insurance run with an RBI single. Danielle's courtesy runner was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

Danielle came on in relief in the 5th. She was credited with the win. A leadoff triple by Pontiac in the top of the 7th made things interesting after an RBI single put the tying run on 1B. But Danielle bear'ed down and struck out the Pontiac 3 and 4 hitters to end the game. The big story for Danielle was a bomb to the RF fence for a stand up triple after a U-High runner was called out for leaving early. Her first triple ever.

Fusion Sophomore Jane McCullough played a flawless 3B in the flex spot for the Pioneers. U-High should be the #2 seed for the Corn Belt conference tournament this weekend in Rantoul. Everyone will be playing for the right to play Olympia in the championship.

Media Story: Pantagraph - Pontiac News Leader

5/2 - BHS Wins Doubleheader

The BHS varsity softball team swept two conference games from Big 12 whipping post Danville on Saturday 10-0 and 2-0. Fusion Freshman Utility player Julie Herek had three hits and two RBI's in game one. Julie drove in one of the two runs in the nightcap. Good work Julie!

Media Story: Pantagraph

5/1 - U-High Bats are Silenced by Normal West

Normal West junior Lauren Cumbess was perfect on a nice Friday evening at Maxwell Park as the visting Pioneers were shut out 5-0. Fusion pitchers Chloe Hundman and Danielle Warner gave up 2 and 3 runs respectively but held their own against a good offensive team. The perfect game was crafted in 68 pitches! 10 of those pitches were in one AB to Chloe who battled until a called third strike on a screwball. It was impressive.

U-High plays Pontiac for a second seed in the Corn Belt tourney on Monday night at home.

Media Story: Pantagraph

Illegal Pitches

Even though anyone can read this, this is a good place to vent constructively. I need to get back into fastpitch umpiring again. There are only a handful of umpires who have the guts to call an illegal pitch. Mostly because they are afraid of a bad rating and the schools won't hire them again. Why a coach would rate an umpire bad for upholding the rules is unethical!

By not calling illegal pitches does not do a young lady any favors in their development. Most of all it is not fair to the pitchers who have worked to do it right. It will be called in college and maybe in an important game!

I have seen the pivot foot lose contact continously, pitch after pitch with the pitching rubber once the hands come together. (Three different pitchers) I have also seen a pitcher move her hands and glove to the side during windup and never bring her hand and glove together for one second in front of her body for an entire game. So call it!

4/30 - NCHS Shuts Out BHS

BHS dropped a 5-0 decision to NCHS on Thursday night. Fusion Utility player Julie Herek started at SS for the Purple Raiders. Had a tough night at the plate vs. the NCHS pitcher but made a couple of nice plays on a couple of sharp grounders, one was on a backhand.

One thing I want to mention: The score of the JV game was NCHS 26 and BHS 1. Now, what was to be gained by running up the score to that level?

On a positive note, it is a 2400 step round trip walk from the NCHS parking to their softball diamond. Good stuff!

Media Story - Pantagraph

4/29 - Brooke Leads Tri-Valley to JV Win....From the Circle

Fusion Sophomore C/IF Brooke Petersen led her Tri-Valley Vikings softball team to a 7-4 win over Lexington Wednesday night. Brooke pitched 3 innings, issued 4 walks, gave up 2 hits and hit a batter. Since Tri-Valley had 5 errors, it is unlikely many of the runs were earned. Brooke gave up 4 runs in first inning and then pitched two scoreless innings.

Awesome!

YouTube Video -- Is coming!