Players Sent Home For Homers In This League
Forget the home runs. The limit is none for men’s D teams which battle for Idaho Amateur Softball Association slowpitch titles this weekend.
The first homer is an out.
A second homer disqualifies the player for the remainder of the game.
“That’s the development of a ballplayer, when you can control your bats and get the base hit,” explained Quad Park co-owner Phil Waters of Post Falls.
“Even when you get up to the B level, they hold (the home run hitters) back until they get the bases loaded,” Waters added. “If you have a player who consistently jacks the home run, he doesn’t belong in D league.”
State tournaments will be played this weekend, including men’s B and C in Idaho Falls, and women’s C in Lewiston. The top eight teams advance to the Northwest regionals.
But the D division is the largest draw, and Idaho splits those men’s and women’s tournaments geographically. The top four teams from the north and south qualify for regionals.
Post Falls and Caldwell are the respective men’s D sites, with the women at Lewiston and Boise.
“It’s our most fun (tournament),” Waters said. “It tends to be a little more laid-back. Mom and the kids like to watch Dad play. It’s not the end-of-the-world-type thing where a player’s contract is not going to get renewed next year (based on performance).”
D league teams tend to be on a lower budget and stick to local competition. Rosters are apt to be family and friends.
The Bunch Bunch, which plays at Quad, is a good example.
Dale Bunch, 55, organized the men’s D team two years ago. The nucleus is Lakeland High graduates, including sons Brent and Brian. Wife Sandy makes lineup suggestions and keeps score. They get some sponsorship money from Bunch’s real estate office, but Bunch has also spent more than $500 on equipment and tournament entry fees.
“That (D) league is excellent,” Bunch said.
Fall leagues
Teams interested in playing fall softball should sign up now. The Coeur d’Alene Recreation Department has openings for 30 coed teams with an Aug. 18 entry deadline.
Men’s and coed slowpitch leagues, along with a girls’ fastpitch league, will be offered at Quad. Entries due by the end of August.
Tournaments
Icehouse of Post Falls put together a 5-0 record to win the men’s Masters (plus-35) invitational over the weekend at Ramsey Park in Coeur d’Alene. Most valuable players were John Klingaman of Icehouse and Dean Powell off runner-up Scarlet Fever of Boise.
The Right Style of Chewelah shut down Yoke’s Basic Team of Sandpoint 11-3 in the championship game of the Budweiser Autumn Classic coed tournament at Quad last Saturday. Bill Powell of Yoke’s and Diane Stanford of Right Style were MVPs.
Mountain biking
The Washington-Idaho-Montana Mountain Bike Series converges on Sandpoint this weekend.
The Pend Oreille Pounder Saturday and Sunday at Schweitzer Mountain Resort expects to draw more than 200 riders. The downhill is Saturday and the cross country is Sunday. Registration runs from 7:30-9 a.m. both days with racing starting at 10.
Info: (800) 831-8810.