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Last Updated: September 1, 2011
2011 SCHEDULE
Coldwater- Early Bird (5/14)
Petoskey- Marquardt Inv. (7/2)
NAFA AA-Major (8/20)
2009 HIGHLIGHTS
2009 SPONSORS
The Lightning would like to thank the following sponsors:
HUSH
General Contracting
FAST PITCH LINKS
LIGHTNING GOLF OUTING
Premier Pest Services
Miller College
Roma's Corner Cafe
MC Sports
Mel's All Sport
Larry's Floor Covering
Marshall Disposal Service
Keene's Discount Outlet
Play Care Learning Center
Short Stop Barber Shop
Commercial Sports Bar
Coldwater Recreation Bowling
Skip & Kim Shook
Barbara & Smokey Parker
September 1, 2011
2011 Season Wrap-up
The Lightning have completed another successful season of men's fastpitch. This was the 8th consecutive year that the Lightning have won the Coldwater League. The Lightning also won the Marquardt Memorial Tournament in Petoskey for the 3rd year in a row and had hopes of winning the Coldwater Early Bird Tournament for the 4th consecutive year after jumping out to a 2-0 start but the rest of the tournament was cancelled due to rain. We also finished 2nd at the NAFA AA Major World Series in Rockford, IL for the second time in the last 3 years.
The Lightning will be back in 2012 to compete in the Coldwater League as well as several tournaments. We will also be running our March Madness fundraiser again next spring. Thanks again to Beron's Tree Service of Marshall and Hush Construction for helping us out this year.
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September 1, 2011
Lightning Finish 2nd at NAFA AA Major World Series
The Lightning had a great run at the NAFA AA Major World Series in Rockford, IL despite missing several key members of the team. The Lightning won their first game against the Cal-State Builders from Washington 3-1, lost the second game to the Italian Athletic Club Cardinals from California 4-2, then beat the Cal-State Builders again 4-2, beat the Kegel Black Knights of North Dakota 2-0, beat New Image from Wisconsin 1-0 in 8 innings and lost to the Italian Athletic Club again in the finals 2-0 in 9 innings. This is the second time in the last 3 years that the Lightning have finished runner-up in the NAFA AA Major World Series.
Several players made the NAFA All-World team including Brian Skirka, Brandon Elser, Bill Kunkel and Sean Kelly. Sean Kelly was also named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament. See the NAFA link below for more information.
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July 7, 2011
Lightning Win Marquardt Memorial for 3rd Straight Year
The Lightning went 5-0 in Petoskey last weekend. With wins against Tiffany's Food & Spirits (1-0), R/T Boring Drillers (7-0), Up-to-Date Painting (11-1) and the Thunder (7-6) the Lightning finished in 1st place after the round robin portion of the tournament. The Lightning then knocked off the Thunder again in the final, 4-3.
Brian Skirka was named the Top Outfielder for the tournament as he was 5/13 for a .357 average. Sean Kelly was named the Top Pitcher for the tournament with a 4-0 record allowing 4 runs, 12 hits, and striking out 35. Other top hitters for the Lightning were Trevor Kelly (7/14, 3 HR, 5 RBI), Rich Brown (4/13, 3HR), and Bill Kunkel (5/13, HR). Bill Kunkel hit what proved to be the game winning 2-Run HR in 6th inning of the championship game.
See the MASA District 21 website for the full results from the weekend.
The Lightning would like to thank Beron's Tree Service for sponsoring the team this weekend in Petoskey. Beron's also did a great job of removing the tree from Adam Saylor's house after the Memorial weekend storms (see pic below).
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June 16, 2011
Coldwater League
The Lightning are currently at the top of the standings in the Coldwater League. Check out the Coldwater Softball Assoication website at www.coldwaterfp.com
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May 19, 2011
2011 Coldwater Early Bird
The Lightning went 2-0 in their first tournament of the year. On Friday night, the Lightning beat R/T Boring 2-0 and followed that up with a 7-2 win over the Westerville Capitals on Saturday. The single elimination playoff was rained out and may be made up later this summer.
August 24, 2010
2010 ISC World Tournament in Midland, MI
The Lightning finished the tournament with a 4-4 record. The four victories were against the Shakespeare Falcons (4-3), Quyon Flyers (5-1), Cobourg Force (3-0) and Bakersfield Silverhawks (3-1). The four losses (3 of them coming by just 1 run) were against the Kitchener Rivershark Twins (4-0), Ingersoll Crush (4-3), Pete's Blues (2-1) and Wellington Sox (1-0). It's a bit of a disappointing end to a very successful season. Full results from the tournament can be found on the ISC website. Trevor Kelly led the team in hitting for the tournament with .400 average (8/20). Sean Kelly went 3-3 on the mound with a 1.44 ERA. This will be the final tournament for the Lightning team this season.
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August 9, 2010
Lightning Finish 4th at ASA Major
The Lightning had a great weekend at the ASA Major National Championship in South Bend, IN. The opening game was a 7-0 victory over the Anderson Lawmen of Anderson, IN followed by a 2-1 victory over the ISC #13 ranked Minnesota Angels. The Lightning then faced the defending ISC Champion Kitchener Rivershark Twins and dropped a 9-0 decision. Kitchener went on to win the tournament with an 11-2 victory over the Broken Bow Travelers. The next game for the Lightning was a 2-0 victory over the ISC #6 ranked Midland Explorers. The Lightning finally scratched out 2 runs in the top of the ninth inning off of All-American pitcher Frank Cox to earn the victory. The following game also lasted nine innings as the Lightning were eliminated from the tournament in a rematch with the Minnesota Angels by a score of 1-0. The Angels pitcher, Mitch Hardy, did not allow a hit in the game.
This was the best finish for the Lightning in three appearances at the ASA Major Tournament and a great step up after winning the Class A National Championship in 2009. The Lightning finished ahead of several teams that have much bigger budgets and bring in players from all over the world. Adam Saylor was named 2nd Team All-American as an outfielder (5 for 15, .333 avg)and Sean Kelly was named 1st Team All-American after pitching all 5 games for the Lightning (3-2 record, 35 2/3 IP, 2.16 ERA, 41K).
Front Row (L to R): Ryan Saylor, Bill Kunkel, Josh Marten, Chad Knox, Steve Myers. Back Row: Adam Saylor, Doug Gillis, Trevor Kelly, Sean Kelly, Steve Saylor, Matt Shook, Chris Rivard.
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September 8, 2009
Lightning Win "ASA" Class A National Championship
Front (L to R): Trevor Kelly, Ryan Saylor, Chad Knox, Chris Rivard, Steve Myers
Back (L to R): Bill Kunkel, Brian Skirka, Adam Saylor, Steve Saylor, Sean Kelly, Matt Shook, Josh Marten, Jeff Lovell
The Lightning defeated the host team, Decatur Pride, 3-2 in the opening game of the tournament in front of a nice crowd. The Lightning then picked up a 2-0 victory over KC Lee's Sports and defeated New Image 2-0 in the winner's bracket final on Saturday. New Image made it back to the championship on Sunday and the game was scoreless heading into the 7th inning thanks to an unbelievable leaping catch by Brian Skirka over the center field fence to bring back a homerun ball (picture below). The 7th inning was delayed due to lightning for about an hour until the rain came and made the fields unplayable. The Lightning were
declared National Champions based on their unbeaten record and previous victory over New Image.
This championship caps off a very successful year for the Lightning. All-American award winners for the Lightning were Matt Shook (catcher), Adam Saylor (outfield), Chad Knox (second base) and Sean Kelly (pitcher). Sean Kelly was also named the Most Valuable Player.
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SEE THE NEW MICHIGAN FASTPITCH WEB SITE
(click on the logo below)
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2009 PICTURES
Team photo from Rice Lake, WI
Front (L to R): Tyler Kelly, Sean Kelly, BJ Gulick, Chad Knox, Bill Kunkel
Back (L to R): Brian Skirka, Adam Saylor, Ryan Saylor, Kevin Knox, (Missing: Pedro)
Pictures from Petoskey, MI (2009):
Images from Argentina games courtesy of William Curtindale:
