Volume 32, Number 2 | NORTH DAKOTA STATE AMATEUR …€¦ · the ASA/USA Softball Council meeting...

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PAIDPermit No. 44Garrison, ND

Volume 32, Number 2 | NORTH DAKOTA STATE AMATEUR SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION | FALL 2016

Comments from the Director of Umpires:As we come down the stretch with only a few National Championships

left we will now turn our attention to the 2017 Softball Season. With the ASA/USA Softball Council meeting right around the corner we will soon be making the changes required to be USA Softball. This starts a new chapter in ASA history in doing business with a new name. We will always be The Amateur Softball Association, just doing business as USA Softball. With the new name change come several questions, a new Logo, new umpire uniforms, leisure wear, change in regions, and the Code and Procedural Manual changes this requires. Over the next couple of months we will address these items one or two at a time. In doing so we hope it will better help you understand all the changes happening in this great organization and our game of Softball.

Regions:Starting in 2017 we will go from 15 regions to 10 regions. This year

at the ASA/USA Softball Council meeting each new region will vote on their new leadership team that will help lead that region going forward. What does this mean to the umpire program? It means we will go from 15 Regional Umpires-in-Chief to 10 with each region appointing a new Regional Umpire-in-Chief. This means we could have 10 new Regional Umpires-in-Chief or a few new ones but for sure we will lose a few current Regional Umpires-in-Chief. I would like to thank those who are retiring, Dave Epperson from Region 12 and Bill Silves from Region 15 along with anyone who does not get reappointed for their service to their previous region and their service on the National Umpire Staff . I am sure those that are not reappointed will stay involved in our great program.

For those who are appointed to the new positions, I am sure they will reach out to all Umpires-in-Chief in their new region and work together to make the USA Softball kick-off a smooth transition. Once these ap-pointments are complete we, as a National Umpire Staff , will also begin the work of making USA Softball an even better company than ASA/USA Softball already is.

New Umpire Uniforms:With the changes to USA Softball comes a new umpire uniform. Let’s

talk about what we know. The new umpire uniform will not be required for another 2-3 years. The properties Committee is working hard to fi nal-ize what the new uniform will look like. From what I have seen I think you will be as excited as I am with the new umpire shirts once the fi nal design and colors are complete. The new hats, shirts, jackets and ball bags will all carry the new logo, USA Softball, on them. We all know all ASA uniform items will no longer be available after January 2017; they will have been sold out, donated or scrapped. Once we have fi nalized the new shirt designs and colors we will let all of our umpires know. The pants will remain the same. The caps will have a new manufacturer, Richardson Cap. It will have the new USA Softball logo on the cap like we have today.

ASA changes name and logo in 2017

Biennial Umpire ClinicThe time is here for the Biennial

UIC Clinic. The Clinic Committee consisting of Chairman Jim Craig, along with Malcolm Boyles, Chris Drumm, Richard Crocker, Jim Ballengee and Steve Nelson have come up with an exciting agenda. The dates are Thursday, Feb. 2-5th, with the 5th being a travel day. The clinic starts Thrus. evening around 5 p.m. and ends Sat. night after our awards banquet. The sessions will be preparing your umpires for success... the entire process, Game Management, Obstruction and Interference... Teaching to Understand, Blueprint for the fu-ture Recruiting and training Youth Umpires, The State of Umpiring in our game, and Philosophies and Clarifi cations of USA Softball mechanics. The groups presenting these subjects promise that they will be well worth attending. Again this year we will have lots of new and exciting faces as the presenters

and it is assured each subject will get its point across.

Also this year we will have a session on the importance of train-ing your umpires. This year we will have the leaders of three Softball Codes to discuss why it is important to train your umpires. We will have NCAA, Donna Vavrinec, NFHS Sandy Searcy and USA Softball Kevin Ryan. Each will bring a dif-ferent perspective on why training your umpires is extremely impor-tant. It proves to be an exciting session for all those who attend.

Registration will be online this year and the target date for starting reg. is Sept. 15th. We will keep you posted when the online process is available for your registration. Bot-tom line it proves to be an exciting time to learn, to participate, award those who have earned recognition and have some fun renewing old acquaintances. Get your rooms now as they will not last long.

2016 - 2017 IMPORTANT DATESNovember 12 through November 17: ASA National Council Meeting Shreveport, La:January 13 and 14: Winter Meeting NDASA Advisory Board : Gladstone InnJanuary 14: Winter Meeting NDASA: Gladstone InnJanuary 14: Hall of Fame Selection Committee meeting: Gladstone InnFebruary 2 through 5: Bi-Annual UIC Clinic, Oklahoma CityApril 22: Spring Meeting of NDASA: Gladstone InnApril 22: Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony: Gladstone Inn.

+This will be the 60th anniversary of the Hall of Fame, oldest in nation

The Men’s Masters 35 is a Na-tional Tournament and open to teams which qualify by age and players classifi cation. This year, the tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Mississippi but due to a lack of interested team, offi cials from the National Offi ce and the Chairman of the tourna-ment selection committee asked the Mandan delegation if they would consider holding the tournament despite the fact that cities bidding on National tournaments normally have two years to prepare. In this case, Assistant State Commissioner Jack Jones and Dave Frueh from the Mandan Parks and Recreation agreed to host this important tour-nament. The tournament was set up with two divisions, one recreational and one competitive. Sixteen teams played in the Recreational Division and four played in the Competitive Division.

The four teams competing in the Competitive Division were Heart-land Investors of Mandan; The Box from Fargo; American Casing/Titan Resources of Williston and Bro-ken Oar/Coors Light/Roughrider Resources of Mandan. These four teams played two games of pool play to determine the seeding for the bracket event. Heartland Inves-tors won both of their pool games beating The Box of Fargo 15 to and American Casing/Titan Resources of Williston 25 to l.

Heartland Investors continued their torrid play in the bracket play portion of the tournament shut-ting out Broken Oar/Coors Light/Roughrider Resources 15 to 0 be-fore besting The Box of Fargo 16 to 4 and then won the championship with a 27 to 14 win over The Box which had come back through the loser’s bracket.

The victory added a National Tournament Trophy to the awards won by Heartland Investors includ-ing a decisive performance in the McQuade Class C Division earlier this season. In that tournament, Heartland put up 45 runs in a rout of 3XGear/The Box/The Ballyard of Fargo in the fi nal game. Heartland fi nished the McQuade Tournament with 180 runs in six games to claim their fi rst McQuade title since 2012.

Men’s Masters 35 National Tournament20 Teams enter in two divisions

Recreational Division Sixteen Teams, Double EliminationA hometown team from Center

captured the National title in the Recreational Division of the Men’s Masters 35 tournament held in Mandan the weekend of August 26 to 28. Winning four straight games and heading into the Cham-pionship game unbeaten. Center Merchants started their quest for the title with a win over Wolding Trucking/Thompson/Larson 13 to 7 and followed up with a close win over Bower’s Excavating of Mandan 10 to 8. In their next game, Center scored a convincing victory over Pizza Ranch/Central Power/Edeneezers of Minot 15 to 9. In their fourth game, they met another unbeaten team, Mann Energy of Bismarck with the Center team winning in a 17 to 4 rout. That

sent Mann to the loser’s bracket and advanced Center to the Champion-ship game.

Mann Energy proved they be-longed in the tournament with fi rst round victories over Valley City Handy Hardware 10 to 5; Ransom County Buzzards 17 to 8 and a tight contest with Kelly’s Chiropractic of Minotin a one run game 14 to 13 before losing the unbeaten game to Center 17 to 4. Mann Energy came back through the loser’s bracket with a win over Kelly’s Chiroprac-tic of Minot 10 to 3 to earn another shot at unbeaten Center. In the fi rst championship game, Mann earned a tough 13 to 10 win over Center to force an “if necessary” game which was won by Center with a dramatic walk-off homerun by Adam Klind-worth to win 10 to 9 and claim the tournament title and trophy.

Heartland Investors of Mandan.

Center Merchants

2 – Softball News Fall 2016

J.O. Fastpitch Update

Brian Neuhardt

President’s Report

Jack Lukes

Walt Stack

Some Thoughts By WaltI am at a loss as to what I should

now call my column. For all the years I have written one I always had the title “From Behind the Catcher”. That really doesn’t apply any more and hasn’t for the past couple seasons. I never intended to retire as an active umpire but a couple of health related incidents pushed me into it. First a bad hip kept me on the sidelines in 2015 and this Spring I had an episode with a stomach virus and ulcers just as the season started. I would prefer to keep umpiring but I think I’d better quit while I’m still vertical. Anyway I hope to continue on the Hall of Fame Selection committee and as the editor of this paper.

Hardly seems possible that Fall is already here and another softball season has come and gone. You’ll fi nd the usual stories and photos of the various state champs in men’s, women’s and co-ed slow pitch. NDASA continues to spon-sor a number of state tournaments and participation remains healthy.

With the start of the 2017 season, ASA will be re-branding itself as USA Softball. It will still be the governing body of softball in the country and will continue its many national tournament events and the best umpire training program. The people who will experience the biggest change are the umpires since the re-branding will involve new umpire uniforms, logos, lei-sure wear and caps. These items are in the design phase right now and won’t be available until 2017 but umpires who are currently um-piring ASA softball can continue wearing the ASA brand for a year or two. Elsewhere in this issue, Director of Umpires Keven Ryan explains these changes. There will also be a re-alignment of Regions. Currently, ASA has fi fteen regions covering the entire country. When the re-branding takes place there will be only ten regions remaining. The Northern Region which cur-rently consists of North and South Dakota and Minnesota will add the

state of Wisconsin as a new member of the Northern Region.

We will be hearing more about this re-branding as we get closer to January lst, 2017.

I had the great pleasure and hon-or to attend the Dedication of the Fargo/Moorhead area Hall of Fame in August. The local shrine is the brainchild of Sharon Morgan who conceived the idea fi ve years ago and has worked tirelessly to bring the idea to reality. She appointed a committee of eight people, four from fast pitch and four from slow pitch, she designed and distributed application blanks, arranged to have a kiosk built to display photos and memorabilia from Fargo/Moor-head softball over the years. She even managed to have hot dogs and soft drinks available that day. Elsewhere in this issue is a story by Jeff Kolpack of the Fargo Forum regarding this new Hall of Fame.

Mandan will host the E/Rec Northern National tournament in 2017. This tournament was

awarded during the 2015 National Council meeting. Mandan has hosted this tournament before and drew the largest fi eld of teams in the country. We hope they can repeat that feat. Mandan will also bid for the 2017 Masters 35 National which they also hosted this season at the request of the ASA home offi ce.

Fargo will also send a delegation to the National Council meeting to bid on a men’s slow pitch tourna-ment.

In closing, while I was in Fargo at their new softball complex for the local Hall of Fame dedication, the annual Can-Am softball tour-nament was going one. This pits Canadian teams against teams from the Fargo area and this has been going on for 37 years. Everyone involved seemed to be having a great time despite the cold, windy overcast weather. Hope to see you around the diamonds. Have a great Fall and Winter and look forward to next softball season.

Wow, I was about to lead off this article with “where did the Summer go”, but my wife informed me that I should not do that. She knew what I was going to write before I even started. We have been together too long, but I still love her. It was an-other busy Summer with renewal of many friendships and development of new ones. Oh what a great sport we have with many great people across the State.

All of our State tournaments have been completed. The winners are the following:-In Class C the winner was 3XGear/The Box/The Ballyard out of Fargo. The Class D champion was Tainted Industries/ Hometown Mudslingers/Bruno’s from Bismarck. The winners of Rec 1 was Taco Johns from Minot. The Rec 2 East champs was John Deere/Bridge City Dentist from Valley City. The Rec 2 West win-ners was Green Light Systems from Mandan. The Rec 3 West champs was R & D Lawn & Landscaping

from Mandan. The Rec 3 East win-ner was Smith Motors/Miller Lite out of Wahpeton. The Rec 4 East winner was Ruby Tuesday/Shotgun Sally’s from Fargo. The Rec 4 West winner was Sportsman’s Bar from New Town.

In the Master’s Division in the 50 Wood Bat the Div. 1 champs was Dust-Tex from Mandan. The Div. 2 winner was Mandan Bistro/Capital City Restaurant Supply. The 50 Metal Bat winner was Dust-Tex from Mandan. The

40 Div. 1 winner was Roughrider Resources from Mandan. The 40 Div. 2 winner was Bowers Excavat-ing from Mandan. The 35 Div. 1 winner was Roughrider Resources from Mandan. The 35 Div. 2 win-ner was Wolding Trucking from Minot. And the Div. 3 champs was May-Port Insurance from Mayville.

In the Coed State tourna-ment the Div. 1 winner was Grind Athletic/Heart River Storage from Mandan. The Div. 2 winner was

Kevin’s Service and Repair from Watford City. The Div. 3 winner was M & J Saloon from West Fargo. The Div. 4 winner was Kelly’s Gang from Grand Forks.Congrats to all the champions.

We had several teams partici-pate in National tournaments this year. We had one in the C National at Oklahoma City. 2 in the D North-ern in Welsh, MN. We had 7 teams take part in the E/Rec Northern in Sioux Falls, SD. And fi nally we had 20 teams take part in the 35 Masters in Mandan.

We had our end of Summer Masters Committee meeting in Fargo on Sept 17th. And we will be having our men’s task force meeting in Valley City on Oct 22nd.

The move-ups for 2017 are listed in another part of this paper. Please look at this list and let me know if you have any questions. Just a reminder that we take 10% of each State tournament up one class for the coming year. We also move

up any ND teams that fi nish in the top 10% of a National tournament. Also we started taking up the top winners of the McQuade this year. The criteria for the McQuade is 32 teams move up 1, 48 teams move up 2 teams, and 64 teams and above move up the top 3 teams. These move-ups from McQuade will be able to play their Class for the remainder of the year but will have to move up the following year. For the teams that challenged up a class-remember if you win 2 games or more (not including forfeits) you will stay that class next year.

Our tournament series had another successful year. The results should be found in another part of the paper. If you have a team that likes to play weekend tournaments I would recommend you look into the series.

Have a great Fall and Winter and we will see you in the Spring.

Again another busy softball sea-son has passed us by.

This year we had over 1,700 girls registered in the state. Led by Bis-marck, Dickinson, and Minot with over 350 kids registered from those communities. I need to thank the leaders of those organizations, Billy Schmidt (Bismarck), Scott Lafond (Dickinson) and Thor Nelson (Mi-not) for leading those organizations and recruiting girls and their parents to fastpitch softball. I also, need to mention the addition of a group from Moorhead, MN headed up by Vance Christianson, for registering their leagues with about 130 girls to NDASA.

There were 64 teams that com-peted in the state tournament that was held in Grand Forks. That was a new record for the JO program. We had 9 diff erent Champions in 2 divi-sions. We had a new champion in

the 18U A division in the ND Elite. The Fargo based team ND Elite unseated long time state champions the Fargo United, coached by Pat Johnson. In fact, West Fargo had won every 18u state tournament until this year. In the A division, 16 U was won by the Grand Forks Express, 14 U won by Grand Forks Express, 14 U won by the Bismarck Sparks, 12U won by the Dickinson Diamonds, and the 10U won by the Bismarck Sparks team.

In the B division, the 18u and 14 U was won by the Hillsboro Cass Valley north teams. The 12u B was won by the Dickinson 11’s, and the 10 U B champion was Bis-marck 9’s.

Charlie Makovsky and Terry Bohan were the co-tournament directors. Play was suspended Friday night due to rain and wet fi elds. I want to congratulate all

those teams that had to come back to fi nish their games on Saturday at 8:00 AM. Saturday the tournament offi cials, including myself, were watching a huge weather system roll across the state toward Grand Forks. Fortunately for everyone, the rain stayed away and Sunday was a fabulous day.

There was a record 125 games played over the 3 days. I want to personally thank all of the umpires, and Pat Healy (UIC) for organizing the 25 umpires who worked that weekend.

Pat Johnson, Coach of West Far-go High School, had a double knee replacement at the end of August. I understand, he is doing fi ne, and expects to be coaching Hockey, in November and softball next spring.

There are some new fi elds either being built or refurbished. In Minot, the main fi eld is going to be redone

with fi eld turf. They were trying for next spring, but as of today, the project is still under review. In Bis-marck, the Bismarck Public School system is building 2 new fi elds at their Legacy Complex. Those will be completed next summer (2017) with play starting in the spring of 2018. All 3 schools in Bismarck will be playing home games at those fi elds.

Again I would advise any young players to take advantage of col-lege clinics. This is a great way to learn from athletes and pass on the knowledge onto are young ND athletes. Next Spring I again will let you know how many ND athletes are on college rosters in North Dakota.

See you next Spring

Softball News Fall 2016 – 3

Softball NewsOffi cial Publication of the North Dakota

Amateur Softball AssociationEditor—Walt Stack

Advertising Director—Softball NewsBox 309, Garrison, ND 58540

Subscription and similar material should be addressed to Softball News, Box 309, Garrison, N.D. 58540.

Advertising rates upon request.For advertising rates, write: BHG, Inc., P.O. Box 309,

Garrison, ND 58540 or telephone (701) 463-2201.

Dick Gulmon

Commissioner’s Column

Ump Chat

Mike WolfUmpire in Chief

Ump Chatcontinued on page 14

Women’s Softball Commissioner

Amy Anderson

WoW! What a softball season it has been! First, I am very honored to have been chosen to be your next women’s softball commissioner and with this position, my one and only goal is to make women’s soft-ball in the state of ND be the best that it can be.

BUT, I need your help. I am NOT the decision-maker, YOU are. I think it’s important for ev-eryone to understand how changes are made for women’s softball. It starts with a meeting of the task force, comprised of a variety of people dedicated to women’s soft-ball. We will sit down every fall to discuss possible changes that will make women’s softball better. These ideas will be brought up to the executive council at the Janu-ary meeting and voted on by them. Then changes are announced and

discussed at the Spring meeting in Jamestown.

The spring meeting is where your league representative’s season of-fi cially begins. Last year’s spring softball meeting had a record num-ber of league reps attend -- which was AWESOME! It is very impor-tant (and basically mandatory) that every league representative is in attendance at the Spring meeting in Jamestown. At this meeting, we discuss rule changes and important deadlines. A league rep must know and understand how teams are clas-sifi ed, how a roster needs to be fi lled out (especially with dual-rostered players), and needs to know all of the important deadlines. BUT, the most important thing a league rep needs to do is communicate the above information to their teams.

Communication is so important.

I am going to do my best to use social media to our advantage. Don’t be surprised if I email you to vote on something, ask for your input or maybe just a friendly “hi” to introduce myself to you.

And PLEASE feel free to take full advantage of my email ad-dress to let me know what YOU think--good or bad, I can take it. Let me know your ideas on how we can make women’s softball better. If you have any criticisms, complaints, or a problem, please let me know -- BUT you also need to be prepared to have suggestions or a solution to solve the problem. I will listen to ALL ideas and take those ideas to the necessary com-mittees, we will vote on them, and changes can then be made. I am in this for the good of women’s soft-ball in the state of North Dakota.

You can reach me at [email protected].

I hope over the next few years, I have a chance to meet each and every one of you -- the wonderful women softball players of the great state of North Dakota.

Amy AndersonND WSP Asst. Commissioner

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 coordina-tors, state and local board members, umpires, maintenance people and the endless volunteer’s in many diff erent capacities. A thank you also goes out to our partners in the Parks & Recreation departments throughout the state who run pro-grams, and provide facilities for our leagues and tournaments. I also would 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 special thank you goes out to RC Courtright. RC’s appointment to Director of Operations came as a result of the unexpected death of Scott Schafer and the retirement

Shirley Schafer. Both dedicated many years of service to NDASA. RC stepped into the role of Director of Operations for the State and did a terrifi c job. RC experienced many fi rsts throughout the year and some very busy times. All I can say is his work has been exceptional and he has provide the program with many effi ciencies along the way to improve what we do on a daily bases. RC also manages our web site which I believe is one of the top web sites in ASA/USA Softball.

We also extend a very special thank you to Gary & Connie Thar-aldson and Tharaldson Companies for sponsoring trophies and cham-pionship banners for 19 adult and 6 JO State Tournaments as well as the ASA/USA Master’s Championship held in Mandan this past summer. As we all know by the number of events, Gary & Connie’s Tharald-son’s donation is a signifi cant con-tribution to the NDASA program. The Tharaldson donation allows us

to keep our entry fees at an aff ord-able level and maximize team par-ticipation. We extend our sincere appreciation to Gary and Connie. Please be sure to thank them when you have the opportunity.

2016 was another very successful softball season in North Dakota that culminated with 617 adult teams participating in State Champion-ships and 64 in JO State Champion-ships, both an increase over 2015 numbers which is great. We also had a successful year with the MSP Tournament Series with increase in participation numbers. A thank you goes out to Series Coordinator John Dehaan, and the Series Com-mittee for their good work on this program. It is growing and hope more invitational tournaments will take advantage in 2016.

Congratulations to Jack Jones and the Mandan association and volunteers for hosting a well-run and successful ASA/USA Masters 35 National Championship. This

particular National had not taken place the last couple of years and with Jack’s leadership and support from North Dakota Master’s teams, it was a huge success. Thanks Jack and your many volunteers and Umpires for their hard work and support for the Championship.

This past year the ASA/USA Board of Directors approved a resolution to re-brand ASA/USA Softball to USA Softball. ASA has been the National Governing Body of softball in the United States for many years and it is appropriate for us to be branded USA Softball in 2017. Also very exciting that USA Softball will be a part of the Olym-pics once again in 2020 in Japan. We will be working on the change for our program as we will become USA Softball of North Dakota.

The MSP and WSP Task Force will be meeting this fall to discuss

Commissioner’s Columncontinued on page 14

The softball season just seem to fl y by way too fast each summer. For having such a small window of opportunity to play softball in ND we sure do get a lot accomplished and we always seem to make the most of the time we have to enjoy softball.

We recently fi nished hosting a successful national softball tourna-ment in North Dakota this summer. Mandan was host to the Men’s 35 & Over National Tournament. This was the fi rst time this tournament has been held since the last time it was held in Mandan about four years ago. As usual, North Dakota teams a great job in helping support Mandan in their eff orts to host this national tournament! Between the competitive and recreational divi-sions, 20 teams participated in the tournament. Jack Jones, Tourna-ment Manager, and his tournament committee along with the Mandan Men’s Softball Association did a great job to help make this tourna-ment a memorable one for all who played and umpired in it! Steve

Shortland, coach of the Team USA, served as the ASA Representative and did a great job in helping make the tournament run smoothly, while I was honored to serve as the Um-pire-in-Chief and Tim Watts from Lincoln, NE did a great job as the Assistant UIC. Hats off to Elliott Gerhardt, Larry Erickson, and Tim Kilber who served as the umpire coordinators and did an excellent job taking care of all the umpires!

We received several positive comments on the quality of umpir-ing at the national tournament in MAndan and it is a compliment of everyone’s umpiring abilities and the great job the umpires did. We had a mix of umpires from all over the country and the umpires should all be proud of the eff orts they put forth on the fi eld! This was a very important tournament for the umpires as it was a “Qualify-ing” tournament in their journey to become ASA Elite umpires which is the highest recognition an umpire can receive from ASA. We also had several North Dakota umpires

who worked national tournaments around the country this summer. We also had North Dakota umpires who were selected to work cham-pionship games at their respective tournaments. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to the game to be selected to umpire a national tournament! Great job ND um-pires!!

Our state tournaments are fi n-ished and everything seemed to go very well. 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 men-tion 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 each and every year—thanks to Marchel Krieger—Jamestown, Rock Healey—Grand Forks, Al Ziemann—Bismarck, Chris Coleman—Fargo, Elliott Gerhardt—Bismarck/Dickinson, Randy Olson—West Fargo, Mike Nider—Bismarck, Koby Pennick—

Fargo, Tom Lawson—Minot, and Lyle Rader—ND Fastpitch . I truly believe that the success of our umpiring program is based upon the people I have assisting me—so thank you everyone!! Without the assistance of my DUIC’s through-out the state our umpire program would not enjoy the success it has!

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. We had the most successful weekend in the his-tory of the tournament and we were excited to distribute over $105,000 to local charities and organizations. I wish each and every one of you could have the opportunity to at-tend the banquet where we hand out the money and hear all of the heartwarming stories about just


The 85th Annual meeting of the ASA, national governing body of softball in the United States and USA softball has been scheduled for November 12 through 17 at the Hilton Shreveport Downtown in Shreveport, La.

The ASA council is comprised of about 300 voting members from all aspects of the sport. The National Council which consists of ASA Commissioners or Commission-ers Emeritus. Executive Direc-tor Emeritus, Council Members

ASA National Council Meeting will be held in Shreveport, LA.

Emeritus, Regional Player Repre-sentative, At Large Player Repre-sentatives, J.O. Commissioners, Regional UIC’s Allied Members, Elite Athletic Representatives and past Presidents are responsible for making decisions on legislative changes, rule changes and solely responsible for awarding National Championships to host cities across the country.

The 2017 National Council will meet in Greensboro, North Carolina in November, 2017. NDASA Executive Committee

Dick GulmonCommissioner883 Chautauqua BlvdValley City, ND [email protected](H) 701-845-4332(W) 701-845-2712(C) 701-490-0078FAX 701-845-0781

Jack LukesPresident & MSP Commissioner614 Rose StreetLisbon, ND 58054(H/FAX) 701-683-4466(W) 701-241-8758(C) [email protected]

Jack JonesAsst. State Commissioner3804 Saratoga AveBismarck, ND 585041222 SW 4th Ave (Oct-Apr)Cape Coral, Fl. 33991(C) [email protected]

Scott CollinsAt-LargePO Box 684Minot, ND 58702(H) [email protected]

Greg KaedingSecretary/Treasurer2813-10th Street N.Fargo, ND 58102(H) 701-280-2200(C) [email protected]

Scott BrahosVice President805 Diane’s CourtMandan, N.D. 58554(C) 701-425-9444(W) 701-221-1006(H) [email protected]

Amy AndersonWSP Comm. At-Large1226 4th Ave EWest Fargo, ND 58078(C) [email protected]

Sue LachenmeierAt-Large950 Summit BlvdBismarck, ND 58504(H) 701-222-3627(C) [email protected]

Wayne Beyer 2018At-Large304 South 5th StreetWahpeton, ND 58075(H) 701-642-3082(W) 701-642-2811(C) [email protected]

Mike WolfAt-Large1926 Billings DriveBismarck, ND 58504(C) 701-400-2100(H) [email protected]

Mike PetersonAt-Large4133 Arthur Dr.Fargo, ND 58104(C) [email protected]

Chris HuttonAt-Large9549 Demers AveGrand Forks, ND [email protected]

RC CourtrightEx-Offi cio Dir of OpsJamestown, ND [email protected]

2017 National Umpire SchoolsThe 2017 National Umpire School Committee, consisting of Chairman Jim Craig, along with Chris Drumm, Greg Pohl, Jimmy Derrick, Kayleen Dunson, Dave Chandler and Jim Sanderson, has been working tirelessly to put together a new and revised

umpire school for all of our umpires. We believe they have come up with an agenda that fi ts the bill as new, exciting and full of knowledge. We will introduce the new school at fi ve locations in 2017. The schools for 2017 are:

Dec. 9-11, 2016 Dallas, TX Region 5 Steve McCown [email protected]. 20-22, 2017 Lexington, SC Region 3 Tommy Borucki [email protected]. 10-12, 2017 Roseville, CA Region 10 Chuck Brabec [email protected]. 24-26, 2017 Benton, AR Region 4 Mike Adams [email protected]. 31-Apr. 2, 2017 Derry, NH Region 1 Will Martin [email protected]

Hall dream comes trueBy Jeff Kolpack

FARGO – It was fi ve years ago when Sharon Morgan fi rst started to search for a location to put a Fargo-Moorhead Softball Hall of Fame display. At the least, she was looking for a decent place just to hang pictures and plaques.

Then came the news that the city of Fargo approved the building of a mega-softball complex north of town just off of Interstate 29, a $12.1-million project that opened for business this year. So Morgan drove to the Fargo Park District offi ce and knocked on the door of executive director Roger Gress.

His response: “I knew you were coming,” Morgan said. “I knew you would be here.”

Morgan’s dream came true on Saturday, August 20th when the Fargo-Moorhead area Hall of Fame was christened at the new complex. Six will be inducted in the fi rst class: Duane “Ace” Johnson, Pat Johnson, Keith Rosenkranz, Randy

Dream of a local softball Hall of Fame comes to fruition for Fargo woman.Stevens, the 1992 Tharaldson Enterprise national champion-ship co-ed team and sponsor D-S Beverages.

T h e e n t i r e Hall of Fame display was built through donations or in-kind gifts, starting with the building itself thanks to Mike Bullinger at West-ern Products.

“It’s gorgeous,” Morgan said. “Mike feels like I do, it’s good to give back. Without him, it’s not quite the dream come true for me. I

believe in it. It’s good for our area.”It’s a far cry from the beginning

stages of the product, when Morgan got a quote of $14,000 to build the display. She went home and told her husband, Maury, “Am I out of my mind? How am I going to raise $14,000? I couldn’t get any-body in Fargo for years to give me space, but when the new diamonds came up, the Park Board said here you go.”

Morgan started playing the game in 1960, so she’s a virtual local softball encyclopedia by herself. The Hall of Fame, she said, will probably be her last softball project of signifi cance.

It was worth the hassle, she said.I’m not looking for ‘this,’” she

said, patting her back. “I can retire a very happy lady from softball, but I’ll stick around. I want to make sure it’s stable, make sure they keep it going. I know there are a lot of people out there that deserve to be in this Hall of Fame.”

Delegations from both Fargo and Mandan will attend the National Council meeting in Shreveport, La. In November to submit bids to host Northern National Tournaments in 2018. Fargo will submit bids for both the Men’s Class D and the Men’s E/Rec tournaments hoping to land either one of those popular tournaments. Fargo has already proven that it can be a tournament

Fargo and Mandan to bid on 2018 Nationals

hot spot by hosting 76 teams to their initial National event in 2015. The 76 team fi eld of Class D players was the most popular of all men’s slow pitch tournaments to date.

Mandan will bid again for the Men’s Masters 35, a tournament which they just fi nished hosting this season at the request of the National ASA offi ce.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church or a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindall

Words to live byAttitude

Mandan has been awarded the E/Rec men’s Northern National tour-nament for 2017. The award was made during the National Council meeting last November. Cities are given two years to prepare for these National events. The E/Rec men’s

Mandan Awarded E/Rec Tourney For 2017tournament has proven popular among Recreational teams around the country. Each of the four re-gions hosts an E/Rec regional.

Mandan hosted this same tourna-ment in 2014 and drew 63 teams to the tournament. It turned out to be

the biggest tournament sponsored by the ASA in 2014

In addition to the E/Rec tourna-ment Mandan has hosted the 2009 Men’s Masters 40 tournament, the Men’sMasters 35 in 2012 and again in 2016.

Left to Right: Cheryl Jones, Jack Jones, Dave Frueh, and Lori Yantzer


Region 11 Umpire-in-ChiefSteve Riswold4901 S Baha Ave #3Sioux Falls, SD 57106(H) 605-362-1681(C) [email protected]

State Umpire-in-ChiefMichael W. Wolf1926 Billings DriveBismarck, ND 58504-7253(H) 701-222-0478(C) [email protected]

Pat Rock Healy3900 Fairview DriveGrand Forks, ND 58201(H) [email protected]@gfschools.org

Koby Pennick1306 9th Street No.Fargo, ND [email protected]

Chris Coleman112 2nd Street W. Apt. 4Hillsboro, ND [email protected]

Naomi Erdahl (Fastpitch)1311 Portland Dr.Bismarck, ND 58504(H) [email protected]

Lyle Rader619 5th Street NorthWahpeton, ND 58075(H) 701-642-3466(C) [email protected]

Terry O’Clair1720 Hamburg DriveBismarck, ND 58504(H) 701-258-1574(C) [email protected]

Michael Nider824 Lohstreter RoadMandan, ND 58554(H) [email protected]

Tom Lawson311 Wright StreetDoonybrook, ND 58734(Minot) 58554

Marchel Krieger905 18th St. SEJamestown, ND 58401(H) 701-252-2669(C) [email protected]

Al Ziemann1008 27th Street NWMandan, ND 58554(H) [email protected]

Randy Olson1307 4th Avenue EWest Fargo, ND 58078(H) 701-282-0766(C) [email protected]

Elliott Gerhardt2216 E Capitol AvenueBismarck, ND 58501(H) 701-223-7977(C) [email protected]

Deputy Umpires-in-Chief

Questions regarding rules should be referred to the Deputy Umpire in Chief from your area of the state. If necessary, he or she may refer your in-

quiry to the state Umpire in Chief or the Northern Region Umpire in Chief.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Am-ateur Softball Association (ASA) of America/USA Softball, the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the U.S., announced today their organizational rename and rebrand to USA Softball and new logo, which will be eff ective January 1, 2017. As the sport of softball continually evolves, fo-cusing on the USA Softball brand better refl ects the legacy that ASA/USA Softball has established over its 80 years as the leader in the sport of softball.

“This is an exciting time for ASA/USA Softball as the rebrand to USA Softball reflects our vi-sion for the growth of the sport,” said ASA/USA Softball President Warren Jones. “For over 80 years, ASA/USA Softball has been the driving force behind the sport of softball, and this new logo truly embodies that character and legacy. I encourage all of our members to embrace the change of rebranding our organization to USA Softball that the ASA/USA Softball Board of Directors approved during its September, 2015 Board Meeting. As the National Governing Body of Softball, USA Softball will continue to serve as the leader in the sport of softball while helping foster the passion and love for the game to all.”

When ASA/USA Softball en-tered the softball picture in 1933, the sport was in a state of confusion with no unifi ed set of playing rules

ASA/USA Softball announces organization rename and rebrand to USA Softball and unveils new logo

and no NGB to provide guidance and stability. ASA/USA Softball changed all that by adopting soft-ball’s first universally accepted rules of play and by organizing con-sistent and fair competition across the nation. Since its founding, ASA/USA Softball serves the softball community as the leader in certifi ed equipment standards, coaching education and umpiring while providing the best-of-the best in softball at all levels. Whether as a coach, athlete, umpire, administra-tor or fan, ASA/USA Softball provides the most exciting, level and competitive fields of play.

ASA/USA Softball has left an everlasting imprint on the sport, athletes and offi cials, creating many historic “fi rsts” for the game, in-cluding the fi rst set of unifi ed rules, the fi rst standardized uniforms for offi cials, a Hall of Fame to honor those individuals who have left an impact upon our sport and fi elding the first U.S. Olympic Softball team in 1996. From this beginning, ASA/USA Softball has become one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations. In its long history,

ASA/USA Softball has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 160,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.2 million. That legacy will continue to live on through the USA

Softball brand, pro-viding a clear- e r identity of what USA Softball stands for, represents and embodies.

“The evolution of our brand to USA Softball showcases our or-ganization to its fullest potential,” said ASA/USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress. “Rebranding shows our members, teams, um-pires, players and fans that we are

continually evolving and furthering the softball community while con-necting and unifying them under the USA Softball brand. I’m excited for our fans, members and adminis-trators to connect and identify with

our new look and the USA Softball brand.”

In addition to re-b r a n d i n g , A S A /USA Softbal l has also unveiled a new redesigned logo, ap-proved by the ASA/USA Softball Board of Directors at its April 2016 board meeting, which will replace the ASA/USA Softball split logo throughout the transition to USA Softball. The redesign

contains several key ele-ments of previous ASA/USA

Softball logos, while clearly identifying the USA Softball brand as the organization evolves to-wards the future. The home plate shape embodies the sport, while bold, block USA Softball lettering symbolizes USA Softball’s author-ity as the NGB. Along with the redesigned prominent features of the logo, the stars and stripes pay homage to the U.S. fl ag and classic American iconography, connecting fans and members with the USA Softball brand. Several subtleties also lie within the new logo, as the three red stripes reference 1933, the year ASA/USA Softball was found-

ed, and the stars represent the four territories of ASA/USA Softball. For more information on ASA/USA Softball, please visit www.A S A U S A S o f t b a l l . c o m . U S A Softball Rebrand Key Points

A b o u t A S A / U S A S o f t b a l l Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Govern-ing Body of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports or-ganizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.2 million. ASA/USA Softball is responsible for train-ing, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic move-ment to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Champion-ship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com/.

Action from JO Girl’s Fast Pitch Tournament


Ceremonial fi rst pitch - Shirley fl anked (left to right) by Scott’s sons Matt, Shaun, and Riley. Scott’s daughter, Jade, is catching.

Once his youngest child was old enough, Scott Schafer endeavored to see Jade play alongside her brothers (Matt, Shaun, & Riley) on the same coed softball team. In 2015, he fi nally got to witness that happen. Just a few months later, Scott passed away unexpectedly at the age of 55. His loss left a huge void in the hearts of family and friends as well as in softball throughout the state. As a part of the healing process, many of those af-fected came together in Jamestown for the 1st Annual Scott Schafer Memorial Coed Softball Tournament last August.

Scott was born into softball - the son of two future North Dakota Soft-ball Hall of Famers (Duane & Shirley). As his playing days came to an end, he followed his parents’ lead and became more involved with NDASA, particularly the Junior Olympics Slow Pitch program. He would eventually play a larger role over time by helping Shirley run the association’s State Of-fi ce. His infl uence in the sport of soft-ball (as well as hockey) could be felt across North Dakota, but nowhere as much as in his hometown of James-

Schafer Remembered With Coed Softball Tournament

Schafer family - FRONT (L-R): mother Shirley Schafer, sister Jill Schafer Weigel, brother-in-law Laurie Weigel; BACK (L-R): son Matt Schafer, daughter-in-law Chastity Schafer, daughter Jade Schafer, son Riley Schafer, son Shaun Schafer

Sleeve logo - simple the logo that Scott’s kids’ team wears with his initials & uniform num-ber on it.

town. With that in mind, Tournament Director Gary Schmidt spearheaded an eff ort to honor Scott in a most ap-propriate way - a coed tournament in his name that his children could play in together.

Coed tournaments outside of the eastern border of the state are fairly rare, so there was some concern ini-tially. However, once word began to spread via social media, it was once again reinforced just how much this man meant to a wealth of people. What was intended to be an 8-team event grew into a 12-team tournament and, according to Schmidt, ‘5 more teams expressed interest but couldn’t get enough players’. With a design provided by Orriginals (a local busi-ness with close ties to Scott), Matt’s wife, Chastity, organized shirt sales and reported almost four dozen had been pre-sold days before the tourna-ment. Dozens more would be sold at the diamonds.

Storm clouds threatened overnight prior the games but it was blue skies and white clouds that greeted those who gathered at the complex that weekend. The Schafer children and

Schafer kids with banner - (L-R): Matt (w/wife Chastity), Jade, Shaun, Riley

their teammates would take the fi eld with a sleeve logo - Scott’s initials and his uniform number (6) inside a soft-ball - honoring the man who helped make this team and this family what they are today. As if they needed any more inspiration, their grandmother emerged from the dugout prior to their fi rst game to throw out the ceremonial fi rst pitch.

Hours later, a special day turned into a storybook ending as The Buff /Helena fi nished unbeaten, culminat-ing in a 9-5 championship game vic-tory that would deliver the very fi rst Scott Schafer Memorial Tournament championship trophy into the hands of Scott’s own children. Six games and eight hours after her fi rst pitch, Shirley would remark, ‘I don’t remember how long it has been since I spent this much time at the softball fi elds.’

The tournament proved to be a microcosm of everything that makes softball great - family, friends, fun - and hopefully built a foundation for an event even more people will have the opportunity to enjoy in the years to come.

Women’s Fast Pitch Softball added to 2020 Olympics in TokyoBeijing Olympics. The IOC also approved karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfi ng as new sports as part of its IOC Session in advance of the Rio Olympics.

The decision marks a shift for the Olympics, with skateboarding and sport climbing expecting their venues to be used by the public be-tween competitions. Surfi ng would include a festival with music around its competition.

“We have a real vision around what these new sports will add to the mix for Tokyo 2020, and it’s a vision that isn’t just limited to these fi ve sports but what we want the Olympic program to do, what we want sports to be in the future of the Olympic Games,” said Kit Mc-Connell, the IOC’s sports director. “In many ways, the sports that have come in signal a vision for how we want to present sport and how we

want to use sport to engage at future Olympic Games.”

Amid that, concerns remained about stainability of the sports and whether the best players - particu-larly in baseball - would be avail-able to compete in the Games.

The decision comes as a first under Agenda 2020, a set of recom-mendations meant to make bidding for and hosting the Games more aff ordable and sustainable. It allows host cities to propose new sports for their Olympics, meaning the inclu-sion of the fi ve sports is not binding for future Games.

The decision will add 18 events and 474 athletes across the five sports. All but baseball and softball will have equal numbers of men and women. Those sports will have the same number of teams but fewer female athletes as softball teams have 15 players and baseball teams

have 24.IOC members raised concerns

about being able to get the best baseball players because the Games - which run from July 24 to Aug. 9 - would interrupt the Major League Baseball season.

MLB owners and the players as-sociation would need to cut games from their 162-game schedule to accommodate players competing in the Olympics.

In a statement, MLB Commis-sioner Rob Manfred praised the decision.

“Baseball and softball are global sports that belong in the Olympics,” he said. “We are greatful to the IOC Executive Board, the Tokyo 2020 Organization Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confed-eration for their collective eff orts, which will allow fans throughout the world to again enjoy baseball

and softball on the Olympic stage.”The IOC has focused on events

meant to draw younger viewers, adding BMX riding in Bejing. It has seen snowboarding become one of its most popular winter sports since adding that in 1998.

“We want to take sport to the youth,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “With the many options that young people have, we cannot expect any more that they will come automatically to us. We have to go to them.”

The addition of the sports won’t necessarily apply to future Olym-pics, meaning sports could be a one-off event of sorts if the city chosen for the 2024 Olympics does not select them.

The IOC will choose between Los Angeles, Paris, Budapest, and Rome in September 2017.

Editor’s Note: After an absence of eight years, Women’s Fast Pitch softball will return to the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan. Baseball will also return to the Olympic stage at that time. The following story is from USA Today sports and explains the conditions under which these two sports will return.

By: Rachel AxonUSA Today Sports

Rio de Janeiro The Internation-al Olympic Committee approved five more sports for the Tokyo Games in 2020, bringing back some sports and adding new ones to ap-peal to a younger audience.

Baseball and softball, which are considered one sport, make their re-turn for the fi rst time since the 2008


Five teams contended for the title in Division 3 of the Women’s Masters state tournament in Bismarck the weekend of July 23 and 24. Rudy’s was the unbeaten winner of the Division win-ning four times without tast-ing defeat. They opened with a decisive 15 to 5 win over Tom’s Electric and beat

Women’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsWomen’s Masters-Division 3

Silver Dollar in their second game. In game three, they had a harder time of it but prevailed 11 to 7 before beating KC Ladies 11 to 2 for the Championship of the Division.

Tom’s Electric finished second losing two games while winning two. They were named runner-up based

on head to head scores. They lost their fi rst game to Rudy’s 15 to 5, then rallied to beat Lithia Ford 19 to 2 before losing their second game to KC Ladies 9 to 3 . In their fourth game of the tourna-ment, they outlasted Silver Dollar 11 to 6.

Front Row: Robin Paul, Heather Williams, Susie Warcken, Karey Hagel. Back Row: Dawn Sukut, Jacey Friedt, Monica Hansen, Becky Saad, Angie Bollinger, Dana Thorpe, Nicole Cline, Charissa Stadlman

Five teams were seeded into Division 2 of the Wom-en’s Masters state tourna-ment held in Bismarck the weekend of July 23 and 24. All games were held at the Kelley Softball Complex in south Bismarck.

Revi ta l ized Pain t ing /O’Brians of Bismarck emerged as the champion of the Division winning three games in Pool Play while dropping one contest. They


beat Helifino’s 9 to 1 in their fi rst game and Allied Agronomy in game two 5 to 1 before beating TNA 11 to 7 in game three. They lost game four 15 to 14 to Kelly’s Chiro/Bootleggers of Minot but were declared the winners of the Division based on comparative scores against common opponents.

Kelly’s also won three games against one loss, los-ing to Allied Agronomy in

their fi rst game 7 to 5, TNA was their fi rst victim losing 5 to 4 before they also won over Helifi no’s 12 to 4.

Allied Agronomy also won three games against one loss but fi nished in third place. They beat Kelly’s, Helifi no’s and TNA while losing to Revitalized Painting.

Helifi no lost three games and won one while TNA lost all four games.

Front Row: Billie Jacobs-Meyers, Amber Backen, Buffy Kraft, Anika Schaff, Emily Knoll. Back Row: Joel Walby (Coach), Kolena Horner, Annie Carlson, Kim Luptak, Stephanie Webb, Amanda Melby, Karene Hall, Cody Remboldt. Not Pictured: Amanda Carlson.

Five teams were seed-ed into Division One of the Men’s Masters 35 state tournament held in Man-dan July 30 and 31. Man-dan Roughrider Resources emerged as the state cham-

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Masters 35-Division One

pion winning four games without a loss. Roughrider opened with a 23 to 4 spank-ing of Fargo Sperle and fol-lowed with another decisive win 21 to 15 over The Box from Fargo. Their next game

was another big win, 27 to 4 over Oswalds of Bismarck and then they defeated The Box again for the title 14 to 12.

Division 1 Mandan Roughrider Resources/Coors Light/Broken Oar (L-R) Front row to back: Jason Salz, Scott Brahos, Jon Gums, Josh Schaner, Dustin Bratlein Mitch Neu-miller, Shane Piatz, Stacy Keller, Shawn Sperle, Brad Hawk, Brad Jaeger, Adam Nystrom

May-Por t Insurance claimed the Championship of Division 3 of the Men’s Masters 35 state tournament in Mandan the weekend of July 30 and 31. Seventeen teams were seeded into Di-vision 3.

May-Port began play by swamping the Offi ce Bar of

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Masters 35-Division 3

Jamestown 39 to 5 before they beat Gentzkow Truck-ing of Lamoure 17 to 8. Mandan Shirt Shack dropped a ten run game to May-Port in their third game 16 to 6 before May-Port edged the Seven Seas team from Mandan 6 to 4 to remain unbeaten. In the fi rst cham-

pionship game, Seven Seas came back from the loser’s bracket to hand May-Port their fi rst loss 12 to 10 which forced a second champion-ship game which was won by May-Port 25 to 1.

Rudy’s of Oakes claimed third place and Mandan Shirt Shack was fourth.

Division 3 (L-R, F-B): May-Port Insurance- Chad Slyter, Scott Olson, Al Hoyt Jay O’Connor, Brian Halvorson, Chad Satrom, Jay Ostlie Scott Judisch, Nick Erickson, Eric Kuudsvig, Brian Aune, Tony Richards, Rollin Grefsrud

Eighteen teams assembled in Mandan the weekend of July 30 and 31 to contest the Men’s Masters 35, Division Two championship. Wold-ing Trucking of Minot won the event winning fi ve times and only suff ering one loss. They opened the tournament with a huge win over Lucky’s of Bismarck 23 to 6 and then

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Masters 35 – Division Two

defeated Burnn Boiler of Fargo 11 to 7. They remained unbeaten through the next game, beating Bower’s Ex-cavating 10 to 3. In their next game, they won over Fargo Miller Lite 19 to 14 send-ing the Fargo team into the loser’s bracket from which they fought their way back into contention and won the

next game against Wolding to force an “if game” which was won by Wolding Truck-ing 20 to 9.

Fargo Miller Lite was the runner-up and another Fargo team, Burnn Boiler ended in third place with Mandan Bower’s Excavating was fourth.

Division 2 (L-R, F-B): Minot Wolding Trucking- Brent Nelson, John Leddon Sr Melichi Four Bear, Bart Bohrer, Mark Anderson, Dion Miller, Tyler Harris, John Leddon, Jr., Adam Forthun, Isaac Larson, Darrick Ystaas

Front Row: Dalee Wilkinson, Brehyn Marohl, Mel Hanson, Trina Reinke, Brittany Marohl, Kari Tuton. Back Row: Anita Heier, Jill DeVries, Jill Schedel, Jesse White, Tracy Marback, Smallz

Women’s Masters-Division 1Women’s Slow Pitch State Tournament Results


Four teams were entered in Division 4 of the Women’s Masters tournament held in Bismarck the weekend of July 23 and 24. All games were played at the Kelley Softball Complex in south Bismarck.

Missouri River Resources and Valley Plains Equipment


both won two games and lost one but Missouri River Resources was declared the winner of the Division by virtue of the score in head to head competition.

Missouri River began the day by beating Valley Plains Equipment 11 to 5 but then lost to East River Gals 10 to

3. In their fi nal game, Mis-souri River beat Bill Barth Ford 33 to 20 in a wild game.

Valley Plains claimed the runner-up spot after losing its opener to Missouri River 11 to 5 then won over Bill Barth Ford 17 to 8 and also beat the East River Gals 12 to 11.

Front Row: Amber Sandness, Carey Rader, Kim Ternes, Meranda Sanderson, Darci Ell-wein. Back Row: Kristi Vetter, Rachel Suda, Paige Lenertz, Stephanie Revle, Dawn Schatz, Sarah Krikorian, Angie Schwartz, Stacey Thomas

Men’s State R1 Champions: Minot Taco Pizza on Tap- Front row L to R: Caleb Rogelstad, Ben Thom, Tyson Schatz, Matt Mueller, Cole Krueger Back row L to R: Ben Rogelstad, Matt Burckhard, Bryan Krahler, Jordan Martinson, Broch McCashland, Steve Petrouskis

A Fargo team sponsored by Rhomus Guys/Precision Plumbing learned the hard way what happens when you lose your fi rst game in a double elimination softball tournament. They ended up playing eight games in the two day event only to lose the fi nal. The 32 team tour-nament was played in Minot the weekend of August 13 and 14 and was won by Taco Johns of Minot which went undefeated to win the championship.

Taco Johns won five games to reach the final where they beat Rhomus Guys/Precision Plumbing to

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsRec. One

claim the title. Taco John’s beat the Mantador Merchants 5 to 3 in their fi rst game and MTW Towing of Fargo in game 2 by a score of 13 to 3. In game three, they bested GH Farms of Mandan 17 to 5 then edged Ackermen’s Survey of Minot 7 to 6 before winning 12 to 7 over Fleck and Sons Concrete/Prairie Supply of Bismarck which put them into the title game where they beat Rhomus Guys/Precision Plumbing.

Rhomus lost their opener to GH Farms of Mandan 10 to 4 to fall into the loser’s bracket where they won seven games to make it into

the championship game. They beat Rossco’s/BWW of Minot 20 to 10; Weigel Funeral Home of Mandan 18 to 10; Straightline Di-rections/Linton Insurance 9 to 4; KC Esto Designs of Jamestwon 23 to 12; Acker-men’s Survey of Minot 13 to 9; DMVW/GMR Transpor-tation of Fargo 17 to 7 and Fleck and Sons Concrete/Prairie Supply of Bismarck 19 to 18 before fi nally suf-fering their second loss of the tournament to Taco Johns in the fi nal game. Fleck and Sons was third and DMVW was fourth.

The state tournament for Women’s Class D was held in Wahpeton the weekend of July 30 and 31 and the state title was won by a local team, Driftwood Lounge. Despite a limited field of only ten teams, Driftwood had to play six games over the two day tournament before they were handed the championship trophy.

Driftwood won it’s open-ing two games, 11 to 6 over All Pets/BWW/Simplot

State Tournament Results Women’s Slow PitchWomen’s Class D

Growers and 15 to 8 over M and M Drywall/Chubs/Sperle of West Fargo. Drift-wood ran into a problem in their next game, losing to Pete’s/M and J/Dan’s Ser-vice/Body Works of West Fargo 9 to 6. That dropped them into the losers bracket where they began their come-back with a victory over M and M Drywall/Chubs/Sperle’s of West Fargo 19 to 4. That win earned them another shot at Pete’s/M

and J/Dan’s Service/Body Works of West Fargo where the Wahpeton team prevailed by one run 7 to 6 to force and “if necessary game” where they won the title handily by a score of 9 to 1.

Pete’s/M and J/Dan’s Ser-vice/Body Works of West Fargo was the runner up and M and M Drywall of West Fargo was the third place team.

In the front row are Bitz Marohl, Brehyn Marohl, Kaylee Smith, Sherri Dryburgh, Trina Reinke and Tracee Meyer. In the back row are Annie Carlson, Lindsay Smith, Kysa Platt, Tracy Marback and Lexi Zieske.

Only seven teams an-swered the call for the state tournament held this year in Bismarck along with the Men’s Class D the weekend of August 7 and 8. The state title was earned by a Fargo team sponsored by 3XGear, the Box and the Ballyard.

The Fargoans began their title quest with a victory over another Fargo team, Men’s

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Class C

Hair House/Monsta Athlet-ics. No score was avail-able. In their second game, they bested a Bismarck team sponsored by Dvorak Mo-tors/Bud Light/Los Charros and again, no score was available.

In the third game, 3XGear/The Box and the Ballyard beat another Fargo entry, Sickies Garage #1 by a score

of 20 to 5. In the champi-onship game, 3XGear, etc beat the Corral Bar/Grind Athletics/Bud Light/HRS of Bismarck 15 to 5 to fi nish unbeaten and claim the state crown.

Corral Bar/Grind Athlet-ics/Bud Light/HRS was run-ner-up while Sickies Garage won third place over RMI/Budweiser of Grand Forks.

Front Row: Kelly Wrangham, Scott Peterson, Cole Horsager, Austin Horsager, Christo-pher Munsch, Victor Sokolofsky, Mike Bormann. Back Row: Chris Torkildson, Brandon Dilbeck, Justin Hanson, Jody Schommer, Jeremy Smith, Matt Watson.

The Men’s Class D state tournament was held in con-junction with the Men’s Class C tournament in Bis-marck the weekend of Au-gust 7 and 8. Thirty two teams were entered which was won by a local team, Tainted Industries/Home-town Mudslingers/Bruno’s

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Class D

Pizza.The Bismarck team began

with a forfeit win over Fes-senden and then won four games in a row without a defeat to win the Class title. No scores or team names are available with the exception of the names of the teams fi nishing second, third and

fourth. First Place: Tainted Indus-

tries, Hometown Mudsling-ers, Bruno’s Pizza

Second: Sickies Garage, Bismarck

Third: Mulligan’s, Wil-liston

Fourth: Action Sports, Bruno’s Pizza , Bismarck.

Front Row: Stephen Guy, Lucas Krueger, Thomas Wolf. Middle Row: Jason Alexander, Rich Bjerklie, Darran Olson, Chris Jordan, Shawn Maxon, Josh Wegner. Back Row: Cass Lawrence, Travis Collins, Craig Kilber, Jesse Schuchard, Stan Schauer.


Bismarck hosted a huge Men’s Rec 3 State tourna-ment the weekend of August 13 and 14 when 76 teams showed up to compete for the state crown in the Rec 3, West Division.

Tournament was won by R and O Lawn and Land Scaping out of Mandan as they went undefeated in six ball games without suff er-ing a loss. They began their march to the title with a 17 to 4 rout of Basin Electric of Bismarck and then won two more games against Western Steel and Plumbing and JDubs/Bud Light/After

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Rec 3- WestParty of Williston. Scores of these two games were not available. In their fourth game, then won handily over Mycogen Seed/Mike Appert of Mandan 18 to 6 then continued to pile up runs as they defeated Minot Central Power/Ebeneezers in a 15 to 9 game before ousting the Mandan Eagles/Average Guys/net of Mandan in the championship game 15 to 5.

Mandan Eagles/Average Guys/net were the tourna-ment runners-up with Minot Central Power/Ebeneezers claiming third place and Liberty Tax/MDU Resources

of Mandan won fourth place.Consolation winners were

Bismarck Rubicon/Mortgage Advisors which prevailed over Blast Pro Contracting of Bismarck 19 to 9.

Roughrider Division was won by Elbow Room/Coors Light/Titan of Bismarck. Pi-oneer Division honors went to Vance Vetter Homes also of Bismarck. Tumbleweed Division winner was KC Sidewinders of Jamestown and the Cactus Division winner was Basin Electric of Bismarck.

The Men’s Rec 2 East state tournament was held August 6 and 7 in Fargo with 40 teams participating. The tourney was won by a Valley City team which was sponsored by John Deere/Bridge City Dentist. The eventual champs opened with a ten run win over Pub West/Tharaldson’s Ethanol of West Fargo 11 to 1 then strung together four more wins to reach the fi nal. They

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Rec 2 East

defeated Five Hole Construc-tion’ Sheile Ent. Of West Fargo 23 to 5; Culinex of Fargo 14 to 0 Lisbon Lasers 7 to 6 and Wahpeton Drift-wood Lounge 15 to 11. In the championship game, the Valley City team managed to win a tight contest by one run, defeating Logie’s Farms/Thirsty’s of Devils Lake for the state title.

Logie’s Farms/Thirsty’s of Devils Lake fi nished in

second place after winning four games to reach the fi -nal. The consolation bracket was won by Regulators/Barrel of Fun of Fargo and consolation runner-up was the Grand Forks Merchants. Roughrider Division was claimed by Bauer Built of West Fargo and Agroline of Wimbledon won the Tumble-weed Division.

Front Row: Brian Klevgaard, Clay Broadwell, Josh Lagein, Bill Kingsolver, Branden Kaste, Beau Brunevold, Ken Schildheisz. Back Row: Dan Ross, Zach Rischmiller, Ryan Jacobson, Thomas McGee, Rudy Ask, Joey Bata, Jameson Benson, Justin Brolzler.

Mandan Green Light Sys-tems won the Men’s Rec 2 West title in a 21 team tournament held in Mandan the weekend of August 6 and 7. Green Light beat the Bismarck Rugrats in their fi rst game in a 14 to 0 shutout before winning over Lucky

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Rec 2 West

Strike/FUI of Minot 8 to 1. In the fi nal game of the day, Green Light won a squeaker 13 to 12 over Warning Track Power of Bismarck to claim the tournament crown.

Eng Lending/Ladbury of Dickinson finished third while Consolation honors

went to Beulah Roughrid-er Crossfit. Consolation runner-up was Lee’s Bar of Rugby.

Roughrider Division was won by Bismarck Scherr Exteriors 16 to 9 over Dakota Mini Storage.

Kneeling: Tocker Pudwill, Stacy Fischer, Shelby Pudwill. Standing: Tim Green, Marcus Thune, Jamie Schultz, Jared Thune, Dillon Thiem, Mike Knodel, Troy Kautzman, Ryan Okerson, Tim Morris.

A Wahpeton team spon-sored by Smith Motors and Miller Lite captured the state championship in the Men’s Rec 3 tournament held in Fargo the weekend of Au-gust 13 and 14. Fifty nine teams were entered in one of the biggest state tourna-ment events sponsored by the North Dakota Amateur Softball Association.

Smith Motors/Miller Lite sailed through six games without a loss and were never seriously threatened. In their fi rst game of the tourney, the posted a ten run victory over Vanover Schedule Custom Homes of Fargo before hand-ing LARCS of Wahpeton

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Rec 3, East

a 13 to 7 defeat. In game three, Deek’s Pizza/TC’s Custom Painting of Grand Forks came within three runs before losing 16 to 13. Another ten run victory fol-lowed with a 16 to 6 win over Leeds Softball/the Glass Shop of Devils Lake. In the semi-fi nal game, the Wahpe-ton bunch handed Gentzkow Trucking of LaMoure an 18 to 1 thrashing to reach the fi nal game where they easily handled Chub’s Pub #2 of Fargo 15 to 7 to take home the trophy. Runner-up Chub’s won fi ve games in a row before succumbing to the Smith Motors/Miller Lite team in the champion-

ship game. Flying Pigs/Knoll Truck-

ing/My Place of West Fargo claimed third place over Gentzkow Trucking of LaMoure. Consolation winner was Speedway/Busch Pounders of Grand Forks and Consolation Runner-up was Silver Dollar/Fargo Cab of West Fargo.

Tumbleweed Division was won by Proz of Devils Lake, the Roughrider Division was won by Wilsons of Cando, the Pioneer Division was won by Gwinner and the Cactus Division as taken by Lakeman of West Fargo.

Front Row: Wayne Gripenfrog, Kameron McNary, Tyler Gripenfrog, Craig Reinke, Park-er Sierk, Ryan Steffens, Henry Petermann, Tim Breuer. Back Row: Jack Christensen, Ryan Breuer, Jacob Perez, Andy Ziegelman, Jason Sirek, Todd Klosterman, Dennis Meyer.

Men’s Rec 4- East

Front Row: Brad Livingood, Isaak Nepstad, Patrick Piekarski, Brett Livingood. Back Row: Bryce Fiebiger, Nate Winge, Ryan Smith, Mitch Piekarski, TJ Hopking, Aaron Pallen.

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament Results

Sixty four teams gathered in Grand Forks the weekend of August 20 and 21 to con-test the championship of the Men’s Rec. 4 East division. When the dust cleared, a Fargo team sponsored by Ruby Tuesdays/Shotgun Sal-lys claimed the title, winning six games over the two day tournament without a loss. Ruby Tuesday began with a 6 to 3 win over Lisbon Subway 6 to 3 then subdued General Equipment of West Fargo 9 to 1. Ruby Tuesday then ran

up their best off ensive eff ort of the tournament beating Wyndmere 18 to 5. Their bats quieted down for the next game as they won 4 to 1 over Town and Country, then won another 4 to 1 game over Service Masters to reach the fi nal game where they edged All Terrain 9 to 8 to win the championship.

Runner-up All Terrain/Out Front Power of Fargo was the runner up while Service Mas-ters was third and Minnkota Ag Products of Wahpeton

claimed fourth place.Consolation winner was

Woody’s of Grand Forks which beat Frank’s Lounge of Fargo and WCCO Belting of Wahpeton. The scores were 7 to 0 over Franks and 12 to 11 over WCCO

Tumbleweed Division champ was Dirty Rotten Scoundrels of Fargo while Mid Dakota Wheel Align-ment of Fargo won the RoughRider Division.


A team jointly sponsored by Tronson Grain and Brekke Aviation of Devils Lake won the Women’s Rec 3 state title the weekend of August 13 and 14 in Grand Forks. They went through the tournament unbeaten winning fi ve games in the two day event.

Devils Lake won their opening game 12 to 11 over Bulldog Tap of Fargo and

Women’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsWomen’s Rec. 3 - East

then won over Grafton Bud Light 12 to 4. They man-aged a one-run victory over Carrington Triple Play 6 to 5 before beating Lithia Ford of Grand Forks 8 to 4 to gain the championship game where they defeated Broken Drum/Budweiser of Grand Forks 12 to 10 .

Silver Dollar/Sexy Pigs of Fargo fi nished in third place

followed by Lithia Ford of Grand Forks. The Consola-tion title went to Douglas Petersen Farms/Johnny’s Lounge of Grand Forks and the consolation runner-up was Fordville.

Roughrider Division win-ner was Proz Lakeside of Devils Lake and the Tumble-weed crown went to Lidg-erwood.

Front Row: Jacky Boyeff, Morgan Fee, Beth Beck, Amanda Klemetsrud, Allison Yoder, Sara Laite. Back Row: Cindy Brown, Rich Sager, Tammy Meyer, Jessica Rohr, Leanne Tronson, Tammy Riggin.

A Mandan team sponsored by Lonesome Dove survived the two day thirty eight team Women’s Rec 3 West state tournament, winning five games without a loss to claim the Championship at the Kelley Softball Complex in Bismarck the weekend of August 13 and 14.

Lonesome Dove beat Fessendan Co-op in their

Women’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsWomen’s Rec. 3 – West

fi rst game 14 to 8 and then defeated Mertz Sheyenne Valley 9 to 5. In their next game the Mandan team beat Salter Farms of Bismarck 12 to 9 before winning their fourth game over Capital Trophy of Bismarck 5 to 3. In the Championship game, Lonesome Dove prevailed over Rudy’s Sheyenne Val-ley 13 to 5.

Wi s h e k B i g S c r e e n claimed third place and Capi-tal Trophy of Bismarck was fourth. The Consolation winner was the Anamoose Merchants with a 20 to 5 win over Cloverdale of Bismarck.

Roughrider Division win-ner was Katie Kulzer Photo and the Tumbleweed Divi-sion was claimed by Fessen-den Co-op .

Front Row: Kristi Schoellkopf, Nora Allan, Cassandra O’Shea, Laurie Schwartz, Kaycee Schwind, Diana Reese, Sheryl Massey. Back Row: Lois (Toots) Kihne, Dani Schwartz, Sarah Weninger, Cara Schwind, Kelly Benzinger, Ashley Mormann.

Twenty three teams gath-ered in West Fargo the week-end of August 13 and 14 to decide the state champion-ship of the Rec One division of women’s slow pitch soft-ball. The two day event was won by Stadium Sports Bar of Bismarck who prevailed in fi ve games for the title.

Stadium opened with a ten run victory over Fusion Au-tomation of Grand Forks in a 12 to 2 game. They powered their way to a decisive 18 to 4 win over Boomer’s Dirty Bird Guns of Jamestown in game number two.

In their third game of the tourney, Stadium won a tight contest with Hero’s and Leg-ends from Grand Trail 10 to

8. In their semi-fi nal game,they won a low scoring game 6 to 4 over Bar 9/Knicker-bocker/Fort Aber saloon of West Fargo. That put them into the championship game where they faced the Vets from Grand Trail which they won 8 to 2 to grab the state tourney title.

Runner-up Vets from Grand Trail beat Capital City Construction of Bismarck 13 to 2 before winning a defen-sive struggle against Abso-lute Insurance/Work Zone/Coldwell of West Fargo 6 to 4. Game number three waseven closer as they defeated J and M Excavation of Bis-marck by one run in a 9 to 8 game. Their semi-fi nal game

against Walzak Building and Remodeling of Bismarck which they won 12 to 4 to reach the title game which they dropped to Stadium Sports Bar.

Third place was claimed by Bar 9/Knickerbocker of West Fargo over Walzak Building and Remodeling of Bismarck. Consolation title went to Moose Lodge of Bismarck and runner-up for Consolation was Prairie View also of Bismarck. The Flickertail Division was won by Blarney Stone/Taco Del Mar of Bismarck and the Tumbleweed title went to the Dirty Turfettes of West Fargo.

Front Row, Left to Right: Missy Miller and Alexis Klein Back Row, Left to Right: Sara Gerv-ing, Karene Hall, Cori Link, Stacy Neumiller, Dani Clarke, Leah Keller, Kayla Morman, Janelle Hartford, Kaitlynne Haag and Darby Krivoruchka

State Tournament Results Women’s Slow PitchWomen’s Rec One

Front Row: Melichi Four Bear, Dannon Drosdal, Cliff Tollefson, Zach Zaun, Orv Drosdal, C.J. Whitman. Back Row: Ronald Rabbithead, Hunter LeFromboise, Jaren Enockson, Drew Drosdal, Cash Pourier.

Men’s Rec 4- WestMen’s Slow Pitch State Tournament Results

Dickinson hosted twenty eight teams for the Men’s Rec 4 West tournament held the weekend of August 20 and 21. The tournament was won by the Sportsman Bar in Newtown which won fi ve games in the two day event without a loss.

Sportsman won their fi rst game of the tournament beat-ing Precision Underground of Bismarck 12 to 0 before claiming another shutout

win over another Bismarck team 11 to 0 over Custom Stripes. Sportsman then beat Spiffy Biffs , also of Bismarck 20 to 8 and the Big Dog Saloon of Minot 14 to 3. In the Championship contest Sportsman Bar of Newtown beat Sportsmen’s Loft/Minot Automotive 16 to 7 to claim the winner’s trophy.

Third place was earned by Big Sky Well Service/Liquid Assets of Dickinson

over the Big Dog Saloon of Minot which ended in fourth place. Consolation winner of Precision Underground of Bismarck over Little Cae-sar’s/Rusty’s/Direct Ag of Mandan.

Roughrider Divis ion champion was B and K Elec-tric/Logo Magic/RLK Ent/of Dickinson and the Corral Bar of Bismarck was the winner of the Tumbleweed Division.

Women’s Rec 2

Front Row: Kelsey Holien, Janelle Carrol. Middle Row: Lindsey Young, Kelsey Carri-ere, Rachel Knepper, Catherine Dorsher, Lillie Loken, Brandie Davis. Back Row: Megan Shaul, Sheri Brecke, Aerika Skalicky, Kelly Brey (coach), Helen Oberg (coach), Cath-erine, Whetzel.

Women’s Slow Pitch State Tournament Results

Hugo’s Wine and Spirits/ Papa Murphys of Grand Forks ran away with the state title in Women’s Slow Pitch, Rec 2 in a 28 team tourna-ment held in Jamestown the weekend of July 30-31. Hugo’s won fi ve gameswithout a defeat to claim the crown. They began their run to the title with an 8 to 3 win over Northwest Contracting/Ressler Siding of Bismarck

and then stomped the Silver Dollar/MFI of West Fargo 16 to 2. In their third game, they won over a stubborn Goldade Landscaping team from Mandan 9 to 6 before beating Thirty’s Redbird of Devils Lake 7 to 5. In the championship game, they put away Absolute Insurance/Work Zone/Coldwell of West Fargo 13 to 7.

Thirsty’s Redbirds claimed

third place and Mulligan’s/J.E. Dunn of Will iston was fourth. Consolation champion was Fargo Ness Floor Covering/Carousel over Northwest Contracting/Ressler Siding of Bismarck.

The Roughrider Division was won by Ottertail/Cre-ative Impressions of Devils Lake and the Tumbleweed Division champ was Grafton Extra End.


A Mandan team sponsored by Grind Athletic and Heart River Storage won Division One of the state Co-Ed slow pitch tournament held at the Anderson Softball Complex in Fargo the weekend of September 10 and 11. The event was set up with pool

Co-Ed State Tournament Results Division Oneplay on Saturday and a single elimination on Sunday.

Grind Athletic/Heart River Storage was the only team to go unbeaten in pool play winning four games without a loss. They defeated Tundra of East Grand Forks in their fi rst game 14 to 13 then beat

the Bombers of Fargo 20 to2 and South Gate of Grand Forks 16 to 14. On Sunday, Grind beat Corral Bar/Ulti-mate Exteriors of Bismarck 17 to 4 to fi nish unbeaten and claim the Division One Title.

Ten teams competed for the title in Division Two of the state Co-Ed Slow Pitch tournament in Fargo at the Anderson Softball Complex the weekend of September 10 and 11. Only Kevin’s Service and Repair of Wat-ford City went unbeaten with four wins in pool play and two more wins in the

Co-Ed State Tournament Results Division Twosingle elimination tourna-ment which followed.

Kevin’s Serv ice be-gan the tournament with a win over NCS of West Fargo 13 to 6 and followed that with a win over JUC/Macmemamy’Redskins of Grand Forks 12 to 6. They beat IDK Bar and Grill of Kensal in a 9 to 6 game and

edged Kelly’s Bar/Hugo’s of Grand Forks 11 to 10.

In the single elimination portion of the tournament, Kevin’s slipped past Cap-tain’s Pub of Oakes 17 t 16 then defeated Rumors Mash-ers of Grand Forks 16 to 9 to claim the Division Two Title.

M and J Saloon of West Fargo won the Division Three title eleven other teams in the state Co-Ed Tourna-ment played the weekend of September 10 and 11 at the Anderson Softball Complex in Fargo. The tournament was a single elimination even and the team from West Fargo won four games to win

Co-Ed State Tournament Results Division Threethe event.

M and J opened with a 20 to 12 victory over Country Financial of Casselton and followed with a ten run win over Mikkelson Insurance of Fargo 21 to 11. In the semi-final game M and J beat a team from Jamestown sponsored by Fred’s Den/Trant Wells/Applebees 20 to

18 and in the championship game M and J won over Diaz Softball of Minot 15 to 2.

Applebees won third place beating Fred’s Den of Jamestown 14 to 5 and the Roughrider bracket was won by Mikkelson Insurance of Fargo 12 to 6.

A Grand Forks team, Kelly’s Gang captured the Division Four title of the state Co-Ed Tournament held the weekend of September 10 and 11 at the Anderson Softball Complex in Fargo. Kelly’s went unbeaten in the two day, fi fteen team event.

Kelly’s opened with a 12

Co-Ed State Tournament Results Division Fourto 6 win over Service Master of Valley City and won their second game 7 to 5 over Retrax/Neighbors/Tavern United of Grand Forks . That pitted them against Schafer’s of Jamestown and Kelly won its third game 9 to 3 over the Jamestown team. In the Division fi nal Kelly’s beat

the Nubar of Valley City to win the title. No score was available.

Schafer’s of Jamestown played The Well from Breck-enridge, Minnesota for third place but no score was available..In the Roughrider bracket, Retrax of Grand Forks was the winner.

Front L to R - Hannah Pesek, Kacee White, Maya Chuppe, Emily Nelson, Amber Boese Back L to R - Rio Permenter, Shelby Malmanger, Lexi Olek, Sydney Shiek, Allie Doll, Kendra Spindler, Karissa Bohn Coaches - Steve Chuppe, Troy Nelson, Phil Shiek, Heath Olek

Girls Fast Pitch State Tournament Results18 and Under - A Division

Front row: Tayah Beck, Ali Hutter, Kael Matthys, Coach Tim Spurgeon, Janessa Mat-thys & Karlee Johnson Back row: Shana Tronson, Katlyn Buethner, Laura Spurgeon, Zada Boeddeker Grefsrud, Hannah Buzick, Raeann Murray, & Kendra Karl Not pic-tured: Cory Erickson, Coach (was coaching our 14U at the time of the photo), Ashley Trudel (played on Saturday but unable to attend on Sunday), other players on the team: Janessa Ackerman, Caitlyn Stuart, & Hannah Lundwall.

Girls Fast Pitch State Tournament Results18 and Under - B Division


Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s Masters 40 And Over – Division One

RoughRider Resources of Mandan won the 40 and Over Masters Division one tournament in Jamestown the weekend of August 20 and

21. The Roughriders beat theKensal Merchants in game one 25 to 12 then disposed of Minot Kruse 26 to 11 before beating Hazen Cenex twice

to claim the title in Division One. The scores were 16 to 12 and 18 to 12.

Front Row: Gordy Smith, Jimmy Bryant, Kyle Christensen, Jon Gums, Jason Salz. Back Row: Shawn Sperle, Brad Hawk, Stacy Keller, Tad Finck, Dana Ereth, Mitch Neumiller, Shane Piatz.

Another Mandan team, Bower’s Excavating cap-tured the title in Division Two of the Men’s 40 and over Masters tournament in Jamestown. Bower’s beat-

Men’s Masters 40 And Over – Division Twoing May-Port Insurance 12 to 7 in game one and then disposed of Bruno’s Pizza of Bismarck 12 to 4 before they beat Elliott Farms of Valley City twice to win the

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament Results

trophy. The scores were 14 to 5 and 12 to 11. Elliott Farms was runner-up and Mandan Seven Seas was the third place team.

Seven teams entered the 50 and over Wood Bat Mas-ters Division the weekend of July 23 at the Mandan Softball Complex. Two pools were established to determine the seeding for the single elimination portion of the even. Mandan Dust Tex

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s 50 Masters Wood Bat – Div. One

won both its pool play games beating Mariner’s of Mandan 11 to 2 and Rooters of Fargo 15 to 0.

Mcmennemy’s of Grand Forks won their two pool games also beating Ft. Rice Merchants 12 to 7 and Minot Kruse 21 to 4.

In the single elimination portion of the tournament, Dust Tex claimed the title by beating Bower’s Excavating 17 to 2; Rooter’s 10 to 0 and Mariners 12 to 3. Mariners was awarded second place.

Front Row: Bob Piatz. Todd Kuester. Todd Winkler. Dean Gesellchen. Gordy Smith. Nor-lyn Schmidt. Curt Krahler. Back Row: Tim Krahler. Kelly Krahler. Tim Michelsen. Terence Schmidt. Bumper Baumgartner. Jim Keller. Ron Geffre. Tim Burckhard. Wayne Becker. Mark Bohrer. Jim Becker. Jack Jones

Kneeling - Lance Larson. Bernie Becker. Standing - Jauron Fueller. Richard Long. Jer-ry Weigel. Jim Fitterer. Dewey Broschat. Dan Schmidt. Monte Stein. Lee Knutson. Mo Schmidt. Kel Fitterer. Mark Klein. Rocky Winkler. Dave Gaugler

Mandan Bistro/Capital City Restaurant Supply won both their pool games to earn the number one seed in the single elimination tourna-ment to follow. Bistro beat

Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament ResultsMen’s 50 Masters – Wood Bat – Div. 2

the Moose Club 14 to 2 and Sioux 16 to 4.

Pool B was won by Wal-ton Chiropractic of Fargo which won over Magi-Touch 12 to 8 and Farmers Insur-

ance 14 to 0.In the single elimination

event, Mandan Bistro beat Magi-Touch 13 to 1 and Walton Chiropractic 6 to 3 to claim the Division two title.

Front (L-R): Curt Krahler. Tim Michelsen. Todd Kuester. Todd Winkler. Dean Gesellchen. Wayne Becker. Norlyn Schmidt. Gordy Smith. Back (L-R): Kelly Krahler. Jim Becker. Bob Piatz. Jack Jones. Bumper Baumgartner. Terrence Schmidt. Tim Burckhard. Jim Keller. Mark Bohrer. Steve Harrington. Ron Geffre.

Masters 50Men’s Slow Pitch State Tournament Results

Hillsboro-Central Valley 14U (right to left) – Front row: Anna Spokely, Kaitlin Ensign, Noella Kritzberger and Karsyn Skager. Back row: Coach Cory Erickson, Molly Knutsvig, Morgan Chandler, Saige Forseth, Sydney Owens, MacKenzie Iverson, Katelyn Rude and Mattison Matthys.

14 and UnderGirl’s Fast pitch State Tournament Results


Move up to C -- Wahpeton Driftwood - D state

championsWest Fargo Pete’s / M&J / Dan’s

Service - D state runner-upMoritz - Bismarck (moved up at

classifi cation meeting)Move up to D --

Bismarck Stadium Sports Bar - Rec 1 state champions

Grand Traill Vets - Rec 1 State Runner-up

Minot Bases & Banks (moved up at classifi cation meeting)

Dickinson ENG Lending (moved up at classifi cation meeting)

Move up to Rec 1 -- Grand Forks Hugos Wine and

Spirits / Papa Murphys - Rec 2 state champions

West Fargo Absolute Insurance /

Women’s Slow Pitch teams which will need to move up next season

Work Zone / Coldwell - Rec 2 State Runner-up

Devils Lake Thirsty’s RedbirdsFargo - Ness Flooring

Move up to Rec 2 -- Devils Lake Tronson Grain /

Brekke Aviation - Rec 3 East state champions

Grand Forks Broken Drum - Rec 3 East Runner-up

Fargo Silver Dollar Sexy PigsMandan Lonesome Dove - Rec 3

West state championsSheyenne Valley Rudy’s - Rec 3

West Runner-upWishek BigscreenBismarck Capital TrophyJamestown KC Crushers (moved

up at classifi cation meeting)Sheyenne Valley Black Pelican

(moved up at classifi cation meeting)

2017 Biennial Umpire in Chief ClinicScheduled for Feb. 2nd through Feb. 5th in Oklahoma City

The time has come to start plan-ning on attending the 2017 Bien-nial UIC Clinic in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma February 2nd through the 5th, 2017. The 2017 Bien-nial UIC Clinic will be held at the same venue as 2015. The Sheraton Midwest City will be the host hotel withthe Midwest City Reed Center as the location for all our events. The Reed Center is attached to the Sheraton but within walking distance of several other hotels. We will start on Thursday the 2nd of February at 5:00 p.m. with a session for all Local Association Umpire-in-Chief. The balance of the agenda and the application for attendance will be sent out in future correspondence.

The Sheraton does not have enough rooms to hold all the at-tendees from the past so we have reached out to the other hotels in walking distance, across the park-ing lot, to have rooms available for ASA/USA Umpires. In some cases

Over Flow HotelHampton Inn Oklahoma

CityDouble $89.00 plus tax, Double

(2 per persons per room). $98.10 plus tax (with 4 persons). $93.60

King (2 person Max) plus tax - includes Breakfast.

January 11, 2017 - cutoff

Holiday Inn Express - MWC$109.00 plus tax

- includes Breakfast.January 2, 2017 - cutoff

Hawthorne Suites by Wyndham$89.00 plus tax

- includes Breakfast.January 15, 2017 - cutoff

La Quinta Inn & Suites Midwest City

$98.00 plus tax - includes Breakfast

January 2, 2017 - cutoff

the other hotels are a shorter walk to the meeting rooms the from the host hotel. Because we are using fi ve ho-tels we have decided to put out the pricing for the hotels so all of you can begin to make plans. Rooms and rates will be held for ASA/USA Softball for a certain period of time which is listed below. Once that time passes then the rates and the rooms will not be guaranteed. So look at your calendar and begin to make your plans now.

The topics and presenters are being reviewed and discussed right now. Once those are fi nalized they will be sent out. So make your plans now and pick your hotel. The hotels and prices are listed below:

Host HotelSheraton Midwest City

$81.00 plus taxJanuary 13, 2017 - cutoff

Men’s Teams which must move upFrom D to C

Tainted Industries/Hometown Mudslingers/Brunos- Bismarck

Sickie's Garage- BismarckMulligan's/JLG/JE Dunn/DSG/

WCCU/Sorenson- WillistonAction Motor Sports/Brunos

Pizza- BismarckFrom Rec 1 to D

Taco Johns - MinotRhombus Guys/Precision Plumb-

ing- FargoFleck & Sons Concrete/Prairie

Supply- BismarckDMVW/GMR Transportation-

FargoLegacy Fence/Berry Acres- Mi-

not (Challenged to D and went 3-2)From Rec 2 to Rec 1

John Deere/Bridge City Dentist- Valley City

Logie Farms/Thirsty's- Devils Lake

Edward Jones- FargoRegulators/Barrel of Fun- FargoGreen Light Systems- MandanWarning Track Power- BismarckEng Landing/Ladbury- Dick-

insonNorthern Energy Service- Wil-

liston- ( challenged to Rec 1 and went 2-2)

From Rec 3 to Rec 2R & D Lawn & Landscaping-

MandanMandan Eagles/Averageguys.

net- MandanCentral Power/ Ebeneezer's -

MinotLiberty Tax- MandanRubicon Mortgage Advisors-

BismarckBlast Pro Contracting- BismarckElbow Room/Coors Light/Titan-

BismarckVance Vetter Homes- BismarckSmith Motors/Miller Lite- Wah-

petonChub's Pub #2- Fargo

Flying Pigs/Knoll Trucking /My Place- West Fargo

Wilson's Body & Paint- CandoSpeedway Busch Pounders-

Grand Forks- (also from Mcquades)Gwinner GreenwavePub West/Tharaldson's Ethanol-

West Fargo (challenged to Rec 2 and went 2-2)

Bismarck Rub Rats- ( move up from McQuades )

Bismarck Schlotzsky's (move up from McQuades)

Williston- American Oil Tools (move up from McQuades)

Dickinson Spur Bar- (move up from McQuades)

From Rec 4 to Rec 3Sportsman's Bar- New TownSportsman's Loft/Minot Auto-

motive- MinotBig Sky Well Service/Liquid

Assets- DickinsonMattress Firm- Bismarck- (chal-

lenged to Rec 3 and went 2-1)New Vision Security- Mandan- (

challenged to Rec 3 and went 2-2)Ruby Tuesday/Shotgun Sally's

- FargoAll Terrain-Out Front Power-

FargoService master /Apple Electric-

Wahpeton- (also challenged to Rec 3 and went 2-1)

Minnkota Ag Products- Wah-peton

Woody's - Grand ForksWCCO Belting- WahpetonMid Dakota Wheel Alignment-

FargoVanover Schedule Custom

Homes- Fargo- (challenged to Rec 3 and went 2-2)

LARCS Construction/Breck Sports- Wahpeton (challenged to Rec 3 and went 2-2)

Minot AC Delco- ( McQuades move up)

Mandan Skeels- (McQuades move up)DRIVE ONE HOME!

Action during the Recreation Division play of the Men's Masters 35 National tournament in Mandan.


Commissioner’s Columncontinued from page 3

the 2016 season and make recom-mendations to the board which meets in January to approve chang-es for 2017. Scott Brahos Chair of the MSP Task Force and Amy An-derson Chair of the Women’s Task Force will lead the discussions.

In early November I will be trav-eling to Shreveport along with Jack Jones and RC Courtright for the ASA/USA National Council meet-ing. We will be discussing many issues regarding rule changes and legislation, as well as approving bids for National Championships. In North Dakota we will be bid-ding on the MSP Northern D and E/Rec to be held in Fargo in 2018, as well as the 35 Masters in 2018 for Mandan. Mandan will hold the MSP E/Rec Northern National Championship in 2017. Mandan has attracted the highest number of

teams in adult National Champion-ships in prior E/Rec Nationals.

Again, my sincere thanks to all the volunteers and umpires in our program for their work this past year. We have a great program with tremendous people working very hard to promote participation in the Adult and JO Softball program. Also, a thank you to our friends at the ASA/USA Softball National Offi ce. We are fortunate to have a staff of very dedicated individuals who to a tremendous amount of work for softball.

Have a safe a warm holiday sea-son with family and friends I look forward to seeing you all around the diamond next year.

Dick Gulmon NDASA State Commissioner

Ump Chatcontinued from page 3

how much the many charities and organizations appreciate the funds they receive. If you ever want to attend, please let me know and we will make sure that happens!

The winning teams and photos 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 a success! Watch for the registration form for the 2016 tournament that will be available shortly after the fi rst of February on the McQuade website. Tournament dates for 2017 are June 23, 24 & 25. It will be our 42nd Anniversary and you won’t want to miss it! Let’s make 2017 even bigger that this year! Remember—enter early! Be sure and be one of the record setting teams that participate in next year’s tournament and don’t be one of the many teams that didn’t make it into the tournament. GOOD NEWS—the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team and the All-Air Force Team will also be returning to the tournament next year so we are excited about that. We hope to see you there!

While another great season of softball in North Dakota is behind us, there were definitely some bumps and bruises along the way this year with the actions of players on the fi eld. It is something that needs to be addressed. 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 inter-pretations or concerns you might have. I also get asked several questions at many of the tourna-ments 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. Just know 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 dif-ferent. 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 suffi cient number of umpires. Maybe that umpire is you! One night a week can make a huge diff erence 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 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 [email protected] or give me a call on my cell at 701-400-2100 with any ques-tions 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!

ContactInformation

NDASA State Offi ceTelephone: (701) 952-4448

FAX: (701) 952-4488Email:

[email protected]:

[email protected]



Applications for the NDASA Hall of Fame must be submitted to the NDASA offi ce in Jamestown by December lst in order for the candidates to be considered for election and induction next Spring.The application form allows for dif-ferent categories including players, managers, umpires and sponsors. There are separate sections of the application form for each of these categories and administrators and

Hall of Fame Applications due by December 1st

other supporters of the game of softball may also be named.

The Hall of Fame selection com-mittee will meet during the Winter meeting of NDASA in Jamestown to consider applications now on fi le and any new candidates whose applications are complete and have been submitted on time.

All applications must be accom-panied by three bust size photos of the candidate along with a softball

biography and letters of recommen-dation from other players, including teammates or opponents, managers, league offi cials and umpires.

Applications may be obtained from the NDASA offi ce in James-town:

RC CourtrightNDASA P.O. Box 2155Jamestown, North Dakota 58402


Photo taken at 37th annual Can-Am slow pitch tournament in Fargo August 26-27. Any doubt about which side this guy played for?

Everyone had a great time and continued the tradition of a friendly competition between teams from Canada and the United States. The tournament was played at

the new Northside Softball Complex in Fargo in cool, windy conditions.


Editor’s Note: In preparing this issue of Softball News, I was struck with the quality of the leadership of this organization. I decided to do a series of stories on the people in leadership positions in NDASA. I chose our President who also serves as Men’s Slow Pitch Com-missioner and who has just fi nished his tenth year as Slow Pitch Guru. Jack Lukes has been a diff erence maker in this organization as a player, umpire and administrator.

He was named Slow Pitch Com-missioner in the Fall of 2005 and began his duties in 2006. He has done it all in slow pitch softball in North Dakota. He was an active player for over thirty year begin-ning in 1969. In 1973 he began his softball umpiring career and was also named Ransom County League Representative. As an umpire Jack worked in state tournaments for several years and also worked fi ve regional tournaments and four na-tional championship tournaments.

In addition to his playing career, umpiring and serving as a League Representative, Jack also serves on the Hall of Fame selection commit-tee and the Executive Committee of NDASA. He is credited with encouraging teams and individuals to play ASA softball for many years and was instrumental in developing

A Diff erence Maker

the four diamond softball complex at the Dead Colt Creek Recreation area south of Lisbon.

His duties as Men’s Slow Pitch state commissioner have now been added to his new job as President of the NDASA state organization. He heads the state classifi cation committee and conducts the clas-sifi cation meetings each summer.

Jack Lukes is truly a diff erence maker for NDASA softball. He embodies the old saying that if you need something done, give the task to someone who already is too busy and it will get done.

Jack Lukes

NORTH DAKOTA2016 STATE CHAMPIONSMen’s Slow PitchClass C .............................. Fargo 3x Gear/ The Box/ The BallyardClass D ............................. Bismarck - tainted Industries/ Hometown

Mudslingers/ Brunos PizzaRec I .................................. Fargo - Rhomus Guys/ Precision PlumbingRec II - East ..................... Valley City - John Deere/ Bridge City DentistRec II - West .................... Mandan - Green Light SystemsRec III - East .................... Wahpeton - Smith Motors/ Miller LiteRec III - West ................... Mandan - R and O Lawn & Land ScapingRec IV - East .................... Fargo - Ruby Tuesdays/ Shotgun SallysRec IV - West .................. Newtown - Sportsman BarMasters 35 Div I ............ Mandan - Roughrider ResourcesMasters 35 Div II ........... Minot - Wolding TruckingMasters 35 Div III .......... Mayville - May-Port Insurance50 Wood Bat Div I ........ Mandan - Dusttex50 Wood Bat Div II ....... Mandan - Bistro/ Capital City Restaurant SupplyMasters 40 Div I ............ Mandan - Roughrider ResourcesMasters 40 Div II ........... Mandan - Bowers ExcavatingMasters 50 Metal Bat .. Mandan - Dusttex

Master Men’s 35 National ChampionsCompetitive Div ........... Mandan Heartland InvestorRecreational Div ........... Center Merchants

Women’s Slow PitchClass D ............................. Wahpeton - Driftwood LoungeRec I .................................. Bismarck - Stadium Sports BarRec II ................................. Grand Forks - Hugo’s Wine & Spirts/ Papa MurphyRec III East ....................... Devils Lake - Transon Grain/ Brekke AviationRec III West ..................... Mandan - Lonesome DoveMasters Div I .................. Wahpeton - Driftwood LoungeMasters Div II ................. Bismarck - Revitalized Painting/ O’BriansMasters Div III ................ Rudy’sMasters Div IV ............... Bismarck - Missouri River Resources

Co-Ed Slow PitchDiv I ................................... Mandan - Grind Athletic/ Heart River StorageDiv II.................................. Watford City - Kevin’s Service & RepairDiv III ................................ West Fargo - M & J SaloonDiv IV ................................ Grand Forks - Kelly’s Gang


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Volume 32, Number 2 | NORTH DAKOTA STATE AMATEUR …€¦ · the ASA/USA Softball Council meeting...

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Transcript of Volume 32, Number 2 | NORTH DAKOTA STATE AMATEUR …€¦ · the ASA/USA Softball Council meeting...