Olympic Softball Remains Don Porter's Quest!

The rain drizzled and the air chilled on that dreary night of Aug. 21, 2008, in Beijing.

It was the end of something that had had such a nice beginning. It was a night when sadness was understandable, even while a group of Japanese women deliriously celebrated what they had just achieved.

Through the mist and gloom, Don Porter saw the glass half full, as usual.

In sports significance and popularity, what happened on this Olympian night didn't even make the scale of 1 to 10. This wasn't about a dream team, just a dream. This didn't have them buzzing at the water cooler back home — unless home was in Japan. Nobody was measuring network TV ratings or scrambling to get one of the stars on the "Today" show.

It was women's softball, the Olympic gold-medal game, the U.S. juggernaut versus Japan. It was played at Fengtai, a half-hour taxi ride from the heart of Beijing. The stadium seated 10,000 and it was filled. Bobby Valentine was there. So were more than the usual handful of International Olympic Committee officials. Some were there to support the show, others just to be the show.

In his office under the stands, Porter scurried and worried. It was a grand moment, the fourth gold-medal game over which he had presided as president of the International Softball Federation.

It was also his darkest time, because the fourth would be the last. At least for the foreseeable future.

Starting in 1996 in Atlanta, the Olympics had given Porter's sport a nice blip for two weeks, once every four years. They had created stars, who had created interest and role models for little girls. They had validated the hundreds of meetings and thousands of hours Porter had spent shaking hands, writing letters, doing interviews and hoping for exactly what had eventually happened.

On the field were the stars, watching in shocked disbelief as the Japanese and their pitching hero, Yukiko Ueno, celebrated. The runners-up were the women who had defined the game for the world while Team USA was going 32-5 in Olympic softball and winning the first three gold medals offered — in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. Their names were Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Natasha Watley, Stacey Nuveman, Jessica Mendoza and Crystl Bustos, among others. Watching, undoubtedly, was UCLA's own Lisa Fernandez, who had retired from the gold-medal pursuit after leading her team to three of them. After Athens, the greatest female softball player ever got married and had a baby.

This group had won 22 Olympic games in a row until Ueno beat it that night, 3-1. She had pitched through the losers' bracket and a semifinal before beating the unbeatable. Her workload totaled 28 innings over two days, and nobody was yanking her out because of a pitch count.

Who needs testosterone? This was really true grit.

The drizzle and the mist hung overhead as Porter hovered nearby. IOC officials were presenting medals. Anita DeFrantz of Los Angeles was there. So was Dick Pound of Canada. Both were friends of softball. Also on hand was Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC and not so much a friend. His appearance at softball that night was either ceremonial necessity or chutzpah.

As far back as 2003, Rogge had led a movement to rid the Olympics of baseball and softball. Speculation as to his reasons included that these sports were all too much American and all too little European. Other kinder theories were that he and his backers were simply looking for more variety.

In one of the endless meetings and conclaves that the IOC has, the idea of dropping baseball and softball came to a vote and Rogge was defeated. The sports were retained, at least through Beijing. Rogge then broadened the concept by announcing that all Olympic sports would be reviewed. One can only imagine the fear and anxiety piercing the gymnastics federation.

Through it all, Porter lobbied, shook hands and worked the room at every IOC gathering. He is more politically savvy than confrontational. He disdains rants for logic.

In 2005 in Singapore, the IOC voted again. This time, softball lost, 52-52. Beijing would be its last hurrah. One more vote and Fernandez might be answering to "Coach" now and Bustos would be dreaming about how to crank one of her tape-measure homers off Ueno in London. Instead, as Finch called it the night of the final, softball took "a knife to the heart."

Porter says he never has learned who voted how. The IOC made the vote secret.

"The IOC was 112 members then," he says, "but some left the meeting early, some abstained and some recused themselves."

Softball tried again in Turin, Italy, in 2006 and lost, 47-43. Its next chance is in 2013 at meetings in Buenos Aires, for a return to eligibility in 2020. Porter says he will be there, fighting the good fight.

He is 81, born and raised in the Valley and a product of San Fernando and Canoga Park high schools. He played football for an undefeated team at East Los Angeles College that lost a spot in the Junior Rose Bowl when promoters opted for a Compton College team starring some guy named Hugh McElhenny. Porter went into the service, played military baseball in Korea, and was in a game against a group of traveling major leaguers that included Joe DiMaggio.

While he was starting a career in softball administration that has spanned nearly 50 years, Porter worked as an official for Big Eight Conference football and, for four years, the NFL.

"I remember working in one Rams game," he says, "and I got blindsided along the sidelines. I was out and when I came to, there was George Allen, telling me to get up, that they had a drive going."

The silver lining Porter saw that night in Beijing was that, if nothing else, the Japanese victory proved that Olympic softball was not merely a U.S. sport.

Mike Candrea, Team USA's coach, saw the same thing that night. More than an hour after perhaps his biggest professional disappointment, he stood in a dark, wet parking lot, surrounded by reporters, and keynoted the hope that might come from his despair.

"If this is what it takes to bring it back," he says, "then so be it."

These days, when Porter isn't traveling, he sits in his office at softball federation headquarters in Plant City, Fla., and occasionally glances at a box he keeps nearby. In it are printouts of more than 500 emails he has received since softball was cut from the Olympics. Most of them, he says, are from young girls who say their dream was taken away. Many ask him to keep fighting.

"We will," Porter says.

Article by Bill Dwyre - Los Angeles Times 2012

Does Softball's Olympic Return Hinge on MLB?

Jennie Finch is a wife, a mother of two and a successful businesswoman. Since retiring from softball she's run the New York City marathon, written a book and launched an online store.
In other words, she's busy. But until her voice no longer resonates on the international stage, she will always make time to campaign to get softball reinstated onto the Olympic program.
Which is why she didn't just accept an award at the recent IOC World Conference on Women and Sport in Los Angeles, she used the opportunity to deliver an impassioned, emotional speech to some of the same IOC members who had voted her sport out of the Olympics in 2005.
"Honestly, I wish there was more I could do," Finch said after delivering the rousing speech. "I didn't really know if this was the right place to do this, but I figured I might not have a better opportunity to be in front of all these IOC members so it was now or never."

Finch's conclusion was a logical one. Softball was dropped from the Olympic program when it failed to garner a majority of the 105 votes cast. The final vote: 52-52 with one abstention was heartbreakingly close. One vote cost softball its spot on the Olympic program. And when you hear many of those IOC members mistakenly thought of softball as women's baseball, it's even sadder.
"A lot of the IOC members, for whatever reasons, kept seeing us as women's baseball," said Don Porter, the head of the International Softball Federation. "We tried to do everything we could to dispel that. Our sport is similar to baseball in a lot of ways, but it's also very different. To people that are not real familiar with it, sometimes they don't see that difference."
Baseball's problems were plentiful: performance-enhancing drug use, the refusal of Major League Baseball owners to allow their players to compete and even the length of the games.
OK, so education has to be the answer, right?
Explain the differences between softball and baseball to the IOC, show them how much passion there is for the sport, use celebrities such as Finch or ESPN commentator Jessica Mendoza to raise the visibility of the cause. That would be the play, right?

Not necessarily. Not at all, actually.
No, the IOC members Finch so eloquently and passionately pleaded with a few weeks ago in Los Angeles are not the people who need convincing.
The only group with enough clout to get softball back on the Olympic program? The 30 owners of major league baseball franchises and baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
Neither softball nor baseball is getting back onto the Olympic program until major league baseball decides it's willing to create a 10-day break in its schedule to allow its players to compete in the Olympics -- as the NHL does with hockey and the NBA and WNBA with basketball.
Softball's fate is tied to baseball, so the two sports need to present a united front in their effort to re-enter the Olympic program.
"The feeling is that it might be good to combine if it's going to be advantageous to both of us," Porter said. "The problem is, if major league baseball doesn't participate, then that's not going to be advantageous."
Why is it so important for major league baseball to allow its players to participate?

We like to think of the Olympics as the last bastion of amateur sports. But that hasn't been true for decades. The leaders of the Olympic movement care about the same things major league baseball owners do: profits, popularity, corporate sponsorships and television rights fees and ratings.
Just look at the two sports that were added to the program for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro: golf and rugby. In other words, two sports that boast some of the most popular professional athletes on the planet. And those athletes will not only compete but walk in the Opening Ceremonies, boost television ratings and draw in new corporate sponsors.
"I think the IOC was also working towards looking at something different in the program," Porter said, diplomatically. "Different types of sports. Sports that they think would be more popular, for television, more sponsor interest."
Finch and Mendoza are probably the only softball players with any kind of Q-rating, and they have both retired from the national team. So talk of softball "going it alone" is somewhat naive in a world where the IOC has clearly put an emphasis on adding sports that would bring the world's most popular, marketable athletes to the Olympics.

It also doesn't fit with the IOC's guidelines, which recommend that each sport have a male and female competition -- a key reason women's boxing was added to the 2012 games.
"Unless they develop men's softball, they'll have to combine with baseball," said Ching-Kuo Wu, an IOC member from Taiwan who said he voted to retain softball in 2005.
"But baseball doesn't have women's baseball and softball doesn't have men's softball. So that's why the IOC recommended they go together in the first place. Support each other so they can become one sport. But it's not easy when you have two organizations."
No, the only way for softball to get back on the program is to partner with baseball and for the best baseball players in the world -- major league baseball players -- to participate in the summer games.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon.
"We remain committed to working alongside the International Baseball Federation to get baseball back into the Olympics as it should be," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney wrote in an e-mail.

"While the timing of the MLB schedule and the Summer Olympic program schedule has not been conducive to MLB players participating, MLB organizations have been very cooperative with non-major league roster players (vast pool of minor league and even 40-man players from each of the 30 Clubs) and will make every effort to cooperate in all ways feasible moving forward.
Riccardo Schiroli, a spokesman for the IBAF, also points out that many future major leaguers have competed in the Olympics.
"Team USA won their gold medal with Ben Sheets throwing a complete game in the championship game against Cuba. Team USA had Doug Mientkiewicz at first and at the time of the Games he had already played over 100 games in the big leagues," Schiroli said. "In those games Dave Nilsson was on Australia's roster and Sydney featured a few players who made it to the Majors in a matter of months: Daisuke Matsuzaka played for Japan, [Jose] Contreras was the ace on Cuba pitching staff and Jason Simontacchi represented Italy.
"Also, consider that professional players are not only the ones under contract with MLB organizations. NPB in Japan and KBO in South Korea provide pretty good competition. I would say that the fact these two teams competed for the trophy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic final is something we cannot forget."
All of these are good points. And all of them are especially valid considering the fact that soccer, by far the world's most popular sport, does not have its best players in the Olympics either. The men's Olympic soccer tournament is mostly an under-23 affair, with just three "over-age" players allowed on each roster.
The problem? It's a lot harder to get invited back onto the Olympic program than to stay there once you're in. It takes a simple majority to stay but two-thirds to get back in.

"There's this whole mechanism that you have to follow, but it's not impossible," said Nicole Hoevertsz, an IOC member from Aruba. "But I think we have to fight and continue making the efforts to fight and get softball back on the program."
There are a lot of people willing to take up that fight. Finch is ready and willing. So is Mendoza. Porter has been at it for seven years already. Softball-friendly IOC delegates like Wu and Hoevertsz will continue their support.
But it's time to consider whether the fight is being waged on the wrong battlefield. Or rather, on the wrong ball field.
Softball may have been dropped from the Olympic program because it was unfairly associated with baseball and its problems. But it might not be able to get back in without them.

By Ramona Shelbourne - ESPN March 14 2012

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Aussie Pride finish in 4th place after heart breaking extra innings loss in semi finals of World Championships!

Australia's U19 Women's team have gone down in a nail biting extra innings semi final at the World Championships in Cape Town, Sth Africa!
After defeating New Zealand in the morning, the Pride had to back up again later the same day to play Chinese Taipei for the right to contend for a medal.
The Aussie Pride ultimately lost to Chinese Taipei in a marathon 9 innings game 3-2.  The Aussie Pride never gave up and should be proud of their efforts.  Special efforts by all players, particularly Lana Tye who pitched 15 innings in total for the Pride today, including the 9 innings in the last game.
This meant the Aussie Pride finish 4th at the ISF IX Junior World Championships.

The entire Australian softball community is proud of the achievements of the Aussie Pride.
Here's how it all unfolded.

OK guys, here we go!! Aussie Pride v Chinese Taipei, past results mean nothing, its time to do our job. Lana Tye is back on the mound. GO PRIDE!!!

Chinese Taipei score in the 1st innings. 1-0 Chinese Taipei. Come on Pride.

Side away, Chinese Taipei score in the top of the 1t, plenty of game to be played Pride. Let's go. Now its our turn. Softball fans are you awake?? its really early in the morning in Australia, but let's get up and support the Pride

No score for the Aussie Pride in the bottom of the first. Here we go fans, let's get these Aussie Pride girls going

Top 2 Lana Tye strikeouts out two hitters, K2 count now at 4 in 2 innings. Casey, Meyer and Bahn up to bat. Go PRIDE!!

Good chance here Pride, two runners on, 2 out Walker up to bat.

‎2 strikeouts and a great catch by Jess Bahn retire the Chinese Taipei team in the top of the 3rd. Come on Pride, get those bats working!!

Base hit to Tsitsikronis to left field, bottom 3. one out. go Pride

Top 4, two out, two runners on for Chinese Taipei

Close call at first, Casey not happy. 1 out for Aussie Pride in the bottom of the 4th

Two runners on, 2 outs. COME ON PRIDE..... great chance here with Walker up to bat.

Great effort out there in left field by Taylah Tsitsikronis, plenty of hustle and never say die. Good job Taylah!

Runners on 1 and 2, ball takes a bad hop into Casey. Time has been called while the coaches make sure she is OK.

Walker to SS and Freegard in at 2nd base while Casey gets some attention from our sensational physio

Great defense Aussie Pride to get out of the innings. Bottom 5, let's score some runs Aussie Pride. Casey is still in the line up hitting, McGovern has utilised the DP/OPO rule. Freegard is up, then it is back to the top of the order. GO PRIDE!!

Here we GO!!! lead off single to Freegard. Great job. Come on Pride!

Sacrifice fly by Webber, 1-1 GREAT JOB PRIDE!!!

Casey being a true captain, after being hit in the face, she is back out there in the box trying to give the Pride the lead

STRIKE OUT TYE. Shuts the Chinese Taipei down. Bottom 6, 5 hits a piece. Jess Meyer up to bat. GO PRIDE

Aussie Pride is retired, hit to left field, McGovern sends Sechi home, great play by Chinese Taipei to get her out at the plate.

Bottom of the 7th. 1-1. Up for the Aussies Marina Walker, Jemma Freegard and Taylah Tsitsikronis. COME ON PRIDE!!!!!! let's go!

Bottom 7 - Ella Ross pinch hot for Pride - F8. Freegard FF6. Tsitsikronis K2. Heading into the tie breaker. GO PRIDE!! You can do this. Good defense!

Chinese Taipei score their tie breaker runner on a error. 1 out, double by the number 3 hitter for Chinese Taipei. Runner on 2.

Bottom of the 8th. 2-1 Chinese Taipei. Tsitsikronis the runner on 2nd. ONE PITCH AT A TIME AUSSIE PRIDE. You can do it!

Horne sacrifice to advance the runner to 3. Webber up, dropped a foul fly ball, come on Webber make them pay

WEBBER RBI!!!! second for the game 2-2 Aussie Pride!!

Top 9 2-2. Lana Tye has been courageous for the Aussie Pride. This will b her 15th innings of work today. GO LANA! GO PRIDE!!

Squeeze play - Controversy on the play, McGovern out discussing with the umpires. Umpires in conference.Run scored for Chinese Taipei. 3-2. McGovern is now appealing to ISF. McGovern returns to dugout run counts
Side away Chinese Taipei leads 3-2

Side away. Come on! Meyer, Bahn and Sechi. Casey is our runner

Great job Meyer, runners on the corners. 0 out. NEVER GIVE UP PRIDE!!!!

Hold your heads up high PRIDE. 4th place. Softball Australia and all the softball fans in Australia are proud of you. You have all done your country proud. To all the staff and officials it has been a long road and your dedication to this team has been outstanding. To the supporters in South Africa, thank you for being there for the girls.

Congratulations to all the players and staff for a mighty fine effort against the World's best! You can hold your heads high!!

Australia is Proud of you!!!!

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Aussie Pride start World Championship Campaign in Sth Africa!!

On the eve of their first game at the ISF IX Junior Women’s World Championships, the Aussie Pride team is ready to start their campaign to win the first gold medal for Australia. Their goal is to be playing on the last day of competition, needing to beat seven nations along the way to achieve this outcome.

Australia has medalled at two previous Junior Women’s World Championships: a bronze medal in 2007 (Netherlands) and 2003 (China). Australia first medalled in this competition in 1995 in Normal, Illinois. However, the Aussie Pride want to make their own history and with the character and determination within this team, Head Coach Paula McGovern believes this is possible.

Paula is excited about the challenge ahead and is full of confidence. “The key was the team believing that they are going to do well, have a lot of talent they just need to be in the right frame of mind”.

Aussie Pride has five players in the team who have international experience and McGovern believes this is critical to the team performing well on the international stage.  Captain, Georgia Casey (University of Oklahoma), Megan Horne (Florida International University), Ellen Roberts (University of Memphis), Stacey Webber (Tallahassee Community College) all play in the strong US college system and Lana Tye (BSC Legnano) has played in the tough Italian Softball League for the past two years.  McGovern will be looking to these players to lead the way for their teammates to control their emotions and play the game regardless of the situation.

The Pride arrived in Capetown after a travel time of over 20 hours from Australia. The team got straight into familiarising themselves with Capetown which will be their home for more than two weeks. Team officials believe it is as much about the cultural experience as it is about the softball by taking in the local attractions. However the Pride girls have never taken their attention off softball, training and playing with intensity. In the lead up to tonight’s match against Russia, the Pride girls have played three practice matches against USA (7-1 loss), South Africa (12-3 win) and Canada (2-1 win). All players have made good contributions in the practice matches, in particular Jessie Meyer, Georgia Casey and Aimee Palmer. Commenting on the match against South Africa, McGovern said “It was great to play the host nation. They challenged us early but we were pleased with how the Pride reacted, kept their heads and executed the plays we needed”. Aimee Palmer only made her debut for New South Wales at an Australian Championship in January 2011 and is now playing for the Aussie Pride after being added to the team in October. She is an example of what McGovern and her coaching staff are looking for in all 17 players during the tournament.

There are so many sacrifices that have been made by the staff and players to be ready for the first pitch tonight. Stories of success and strength have been present and have made this group a strong unit. McGovern is one person who has had to have the strength to get through challenges to take her position in the coach’s box tonight. She leads by example for her young Aussie players and shows them that no matter what is presented before them, you have to keep your head up and look forward. Six months ago she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and underwent surgery and a long rehabilitation process to ensure she was in full health to be able to prepare the team for the World Championships. There was never a moment that McGovern didn’t think that it would be possible to take her spot at the helm of the team, however she could not have done it without the support of the team management around her. Only a few hours away from the first pitch of their campaign, McGovern and the Aussie Pride team are focussed and ready to put aside the challenges of the past and play together as a team who pride themselves on teamwork, fun and passion.

The Turfhall Softball Stadium, in Belthorn Estate, Athlone, was originally planned as part of Cape Town’s 2004 Olympic bid programme. The 2400- seater stadium has contributed to the upliftment and benefit of the community at large. A part of the Table Mountain chain provides a backdrop to the stadium, housed within the Turfhall Sports Complex. The project was completed in 1999 and became the new home of the Western Province Softball Federation.

Sportz Of All Sortz.com wishes the Aussie Pride all the very best of luck in their quest to become World Champions!!!!!!

We are especially proud of Jess Bahn & Marina Walker from the Glen Eira Moorabbin Softball Association in Melbourne who we have a great connection with. Go Girls!!

See our previous article on Jess & Marina here

http://sportzofallsortz.blogspot.com/2011/06/congratulations-to-marina-jess-on-their.html

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Softball Keep Exploring Options For 2020 Olympics!

International softball leaders will continue to explore a possible joint bid with baseball to try and get both sports back into the Olympics in 2020.

Representatives from about 70 countries attended the International Softball Federation Congress in Oklahoma City this weekend and approved a resolution to move forward with talks with the International Baseball Federation.

“We’ve got a long ways to go yet,” ISF President Don E. Porter said Sunday. “I think it’s just right now it’s an expression of, ‘Yes, we want to explore the possibility to move ahead with it.’”

Porter said the group still doesn’t have clarity from the International Olympic Committee on the guidelines for submitting a combined bid between two similar sports that still have plenty of differences in their rules. He and ISF Secretary-General Low Beng Choo of Malaysia hope to meet with IOC officials in the next month or so to find out.

“It’s not a unanimous thing either way but we wanted to give everybody a chance to really air it out and see how people felt about it,” Porter said.

“Now, we’re going to push ahead and see if we think that’s going to work. The IOC’s still got to say you can do it or you can’t do it, or what you need to do.”

Porter has expressed concerns, shared by other softball leaders, that entering a bid as women’s baseball could jeopardize the sport’s identity.

In its last bid to get reinstated to the Olympics, softball focused its case on a lack of problems with steroids or doping, an ability to bring the sport’s top players from around the world and additional opportunities for women — all ways to distinguish itself from baseball.

Now, the two sports are considering working together because neither will be in the London Games next year or the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“We still need to have a lot of discussion and meeting because if you want to put up a proposal, you need to agree on certain things,” Low said.

It won’t be until 2013 — after the IOC decides whether to drop any sports that are contested in London — that softball and baseball make their case to get back in.

But the sports are already must consider what angles they’ll use to convince the IOC they are deserving of another chance.

The first step is hearing from softball federations around the world what tactic they believe is best.

“That was why it was important for us to give the members a chance to speak at the forum, so that at least we know and hear from them because every federation is different, every country is different, every level of development is different,” Low said.

The congress also awarded the 2014 women’s world championships to the Netherlands and the 2015 men’s world championships to Canada.

By Associated Press, Published: October 31, 2011

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T Ball to Softball World Champion to the AFL - Jason Tutt's Amazing Journey!!

JASON Tutt's journey to the AFL is as bizarre as any you could find.
The 20-year-old from Ainslie in the ACT wasn't playing in the under-18s three years ago when the likes of Nic Naitanui, Michael Hurley and Chris Yarran were jockeying for top 10 positions in the 2008 national draft.
In fact, he wasn't playing football at all, instead captaining Australia's team to victory in the under-19 World Softball Championships in Yukon, Canada.
Yes, softball, an event played at Olympic level by women and one never previously associated with producing a promising AFL player.
On debut for the Western Bulldogs against Port Adelaide last Sunday, the line-breaking Tutt picked up 26 possessions and kicked four goals, and then promptly signed with the club in a show of faith from both parties.
So how does a softball catcher and short-stop end up being drafted with pick No.31 in the 2009 draft?
"At school I pretty much copied whatever my older brother Ryan did, so when he started playing T-ball I followed," Tutt said.
"T-Ball led into Mod Ball which was followed by softball and baseball once I reached under-12 level. I was still playing Australian rules in the winter."
But so proficient was Tutt at softball that by 13 he was selected to play for the ACT team in the national under-16 titles. Two years later the ACT won the titles with Tutt named as the most valuable player.
After that his progression to the national team was fast-tracked and a trip to New Zealand was followed by the world titles.
"Where we were playing in Yukon is up near Alaska. The games drew big crowds, like 6000 for our final," he said.
"But once I had achieved the world title there isn't much after that in the world of softball. You can play in the US or Japan for six months of the year but the pay isn't great."
So Tutt had to make the call. When chosen for the 2008 under-19 softball team, part of the deal was he wouldn't play AFL in case of injury.
Once he returned, it was time to find out whether he could cut it in football.
He played 2009 with the NSW-ACT Rams, although at 177cm he needed something special given AFL recruiters prefer 183cm and above.
Tutt, an excellent kick, didn't believe he would get drafted and figured he always had softball, or baseball, to fall back on.
"But the Bulldogs gave me a chance and right now I'm very happy they did. I have a long way to go but my first game was a good start," he said. "My old softball mates were great, sending me messages to say how happy they were for me."

Congratulations Jason on a fantastic AFL debut!!!!

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The New Softball Season Is Nearly Upon Us!!!

It's nearly that time again!!!! Time to drag all last year's softball gear out of the closet and give it the once over! Some gear will just need a clean up and its as good as new. Other bits will need replacing cos you've grown out of it or its just worn out and will need replacing.
Here's some suggestions for new equipment for you to check out. You can click on the products and you'll head straight to our partners sites where you find a huge selection of quality softball equipment for all your softball needs.

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Softball Cleats

You'll have the choice of the finest, quality softball footwear!

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Sara Tucholsky - An Inspiring Softball Story!!!

The word "Sportsmanship" is often overused in today's society but the story of Sara Tucholsky, Mallory Holtman & Liz Wallace is one of the most inspiring stories of true sportsmanship ever!!!

Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky had never hit a home run in her career. Central Washington senior Mallory Holtman was already her school's career leader in them. But when a twist of fate and a torn knee ligament brought them face to face with each other and face to face with the end of their playing days, they combined on a home run trot that celebrated the collective human spirit far more than individual athletic achievement.
Both schools compete as Division II softball programs in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Neither has ever reached the NCAA tournament at the Division II level. But when they arrived for Saturday's conference doubleheader at Central Washington's 300-seat stadium in Ellensburg, a small town 100 miles and a mountain range removed from Seattle, the hosts resided one game behind the visitors at the top of the conference standings. As was the case at dozens of other diamonds across the map, two largely anonymous groups prepared to play the most meaningful games of their seasons.

It was a typical Saturday of softball in April, right down to a few overzealous fans heckling an easy target, the diminutive Tucholsky, when she came to the plate in the top of the second inning of the second game with two runners on base and the game still scoreless after Western Oregon's 8-1 win in the first game of the afternoon.
"I just remember trying to block them out," Tucholsky said of the hecklers. "The first pitch I took, it was a strike. And then I really don't remember where the home run pitch was at all; [I] just remember hitting it, and I knew it was out."
A part-time starter in the outfield throughout her four years, Tucholsky had been caught in a numbers game this season on a deep roster that entered the weekend hitting better than .280 and having won nine games in a row. Prior to the pitch she sent over the center-field fence, she had just three hits in 34 at-bats this season. And in that respect, her hitting heroics would have made for a pleasing, if familiar, story line on their own: an unsung player steps up in one of her final games and lifts her team's postseason chances.
But it was what happened after an overly excited Tucholsky missed first base on her home run trot and reversed direction to tag the bag that proved unforgettable.
"Sara is small -- she's like 5-2, really tiny," Western Oregon coach Pam Knox said. "So you would never think that she would hit a home run. The score was 0-0, and Sara hit a shot over center field. And I'm coaching third and I'm high-fiving the other two runners that came by -- then all of a sudden, I look up, and I'm like, 'Where's Sara?' And I look over, and she's in a heap beyond first base."
While she was doubling back to tag first base, Tucholsky's right knee gave out. The two runners who had been on base already had crossed home plate, leaving her the only offensive player on the field of play, even as she lay crumpled in the dirt a few feet from first base and a long way from home plate. First-base coach Shannon Prochaska -- Tucholsky's teammate for three seasons and the only voice she later remembered hearing in the ensuing conversation -- checked to see whether she could crawl back to the base under her own power.
As Knox explained, "It went through my mind, I thought, 'If I touch her, she's going to kill me.' It's her only home run in four years. I didn't want to take that from her, but at the same time, I was worried about her."
Umpires confirmed that the only option available under the rules was to replace Tucholsky at first base with a pinch runner and have the hit recorded as a two-run single instead of a three-run home run. Any assistance from coaches or trainers while she was an active runner would result in an out. So without any choice, Knox prepared to make the substitution, taking both the run and the memory from Tucholsky.
"And right then," Knox said, "I heard, 'Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?'"
The voice belonged to Holtman, a four-year starter who owns just about every major offensive record there is to claim in Central Washington's record book. She also is staring down a pair of knee surgeries as soon as the season ends. Her knees ache after every game, but having already used a redshirt season earlier in her career, and ready to move on to graduate school and coaching at Central, she put the operations on hold so as to avoid missing any of her final season. Now, with her own opportunity for a first postseason appearance very much hinging on the outcome of the game -- her final game at home -- she stepped up to help a player she knew only as an opponent for four years.

"Honestly, it's one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me," Holtman said. "She hit the ball over her fence. She's a senior; it's her last year. … I don't know, it's just one of those things I guess that maybe because compared to everyone on the field at the time, I had been playing longer and knew we could touch her, it was my idea first. But I think anyone who knew that we could touch her would have offered to do it, just because it's the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony."
Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Tucholsky off the ground and supported her weight between them as they began a slow trip around the bases, stopping at each one so Tucholsky's left foot could secure her passage onward. Even with Tucholsky feeling the pain of what trainers subsequently came to believe was a torn ACL (she was scheduled for tests to confirm the injury on Monday), the surreal quality of perhaps the longest and most crowded home run trot in the game's history hit all three players.
"We all started to laugh at one point, I think when we touched the first base," Holtman said. "I don't know what it looked like to observers, but it was kind of funny because Liz and I were carrying her on both sides and we'd get to a base and gently, barely tap her left foot, and we'd all of a sudden start to get the giggles a little bit."
Accompanied by a standing ovation from the fans, they finally reached home plate and passed the home run hitter into the arms of her own teammates. Then Holtman and Wallace returned to their positions and tried to win the game.
Hollywood would have a difficult time deciding how such a script should end, whether to leave Tucholsky's home run as the decisive blow or reward the selfless actions of her opponents. Reality has less room for such philosophical quandaries. Central Washington did rally for two runs in the bottom of the second -- runs that might have tied the game had Knox been forced to replace Tucholsky -- but Western Oregon held on for a 4-2 win.
But unlike a movie, the credits didn't roll after the final out, and the story that continues has little to do with those final scores.
"It kept everything in perspective and the fact that we're never bigger than the game," Knox said of the experience. "It was such a lesson that we learned -- that it's not all about winning. And we forget that, because as coaches, we're always trying to get to the top. We forget that. But I will never, ever forget this moment. It's changed me, and I'm sure it's changed my players."
For her part, Holtman seems not altogether sure what all the fuss is about. She seems to genuinely believe that any player in her position on any field on any day would have done the same thing. Which helps explains why it did happen on that day and on that field.
And she appreciates the knowledge that while the results of Saturday's game and her senior season soon will fade into the dust and depth of old media guides and Internet archives, the story of what happened in her final game at home will live on far longer.
"I think that happening on Senior Day, it showed the character of our team," Holtman said. "Because granted I thought of it, but everyone else would have done it. It's something people will talk about for Senior Day. They won't talk about who got hits and what happened and who won; they'll talk about that. And it's kind of a nice way to go out, because it shows what our program is about and the kind of people we have here."

We at Sportz Of All Sortz.com salute Sara, Mallory & Liz!!!!! The true meaning of sportsmanship!!!!

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Western Civil Boys come "So Close" at IYC!!

The Western Civil boys have returned from the International Youth Cup! The team has come back with a good result, again finishing 3rd!

The boys gave their all and came up 1 run short in a Tie Breaker in the 2nd vs 3rd Final against New Zealand in a classic game of softball!

The Western Civil lads beat both New Zealand teams, both New South teams and Aussie 17's and drew with Aussie Green earlier in the week to finish 2nd after the rounds.

The Boys also got to Experience the New Zealand Team doing "The Haka" at us before the final. If that wasnt spine tingling enough for the fans, Richard performed a traditional Maori response at the end of the game to the New Zealand boys, a gesture that was roundly appreciated by the spectators & players alike. Very Classy!

Some highlights of the week were:

Captain Sammy Trevethan hitting a Lead Off Homerun off Pitching Award winner Marshall Kronk, breaking his 0.00 ERA.

Adam Talarico hitting a clutch, late game triple, also off Kronk to fire up the boys.

Rob Scopaletti's long ranging catch in the outfield to save an Inninng and get out of trouble.

Aaron Nitschke & Cory Beswick combining in the 6th inninng for WC's run to get us into the Tie Breaker.

Jordan Chavasse and Cory Beswick's Bunt Defense Double Play.

Lachlan Hughes going 3 for 3 (1x 2B, 2x 1B) against Aussie 17's

Joel Goodall pitching all week

Scott Jansen putting everything on the field.

Overall, Richard Wickliffe said the week was pleasing and show's we're going in the right direction.

Great work by all the lads and you'll see us all at Friendships next year.

(Report taken from the Western Civil website)

http://www.westerncivil.com/

Sportz Of All Sortz.com is a great fan of Richard, Shane & the Western Civil team and we look forward to the next time the team plays. They play great, they play hard but fair, they play with respect!!!! They are a credit to Richard & Western Civil.

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Raelene has all bases covered!

BENDIGO-based softball mentor Raelene Jeffrey has all bases covered through her involvement in every facet of the sport, from coaching complete beginners and rising stars to playing at international level.
The part-time Weeroona College teacher was in Toowoomba a couple of months ago, guiding Victoria’s next generation of elite players in her position as head coach of the state’s secondary schoolgirls’ team.
Jeffrey was leading the squad at the School Sport Australia 17-and-under Championships.
She said the main competition would come come from the strong softball states of New South Wales and Queensland, as well as last year’s winner, South Australia.
“Realistically, we probably looked at finishing fourth or fifth, given some of the other states’ schoolgirls teams I have seen or done some homework on,” Jeffrey said.
“But if we can come together and bat some runs in and be aggressive, you never know.”
This is the second elite coaching leadership role Jeffrey has had in the space of a month.
During the first week of the April school holidays, she was an assistant for Softball Victoria’s under-17 representative side at the postponed national titles in Melbourne.
The team had originally travelled to Brisbane for the carnival in January when the capital was hit by the torrential downpour that caused near-record flooding.
“All the states were up there ready to play when the rain came down,” Jeffrey said.
“We had to get evacuated from the city and the tournament ended up getting cancelled before a single match was played.”
Organisers were eventually able to reschedule the event to avoid disappointing the teenagers chosen to take part, and the Vics ended up in fifth place.
There are no local girls in either state team, largely due to the fact there has been no regular softball competition in Bendigo for many years.
But that is something Jeffrey hopes may be addressed through a new national skills program to be launched in coming months that she has helped pilot as part of her second job, with Softball Australia.
(Article sourced from Bendigo Advertiser website, written by Raelee Tuckerman)
Since this article was published, Raelene has been elected as a director on the board of management for Softball Victoria. We wish her the best of luck with this new responsibility.

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