Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

And then there were 20!



Hello Again fastpitch fans.



It's the final week of high school fastpitch softball in the state of Wisconsin (at least that sponsored by the WIAA). There are 20 teams headed for Goodman Diamond in Madison on Thursday through Saturday.



Here are a few things that fans from schools that have never played at Goodman Diamond should be aware of. If you are connected in any way with one of those schools be sure to read this Bulletin closely and pass along the information to other fans from your community that are planning on driving to Madison.



The South Beltline is full of construction so you'll get held up there for sure if you use that route. Coming in from the East is no problem on the Beltline if you get off at Park Street and head for University Avenue. Take University Avenue until you get just north of Camp Randall Stadium and then take University Drive. Stay on that until you get to the exit for University Hospital and go north (right). Goodman Diamond is north of the hospital and directly north of the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. But, if you drive there you'll have a lot of trouble trying to find parking as Lot 60 will not be open for you. Good luck on Thursday and Friday's morning and afternoon sessions if you drive there.



Read the announcement from the WIAA right below this paragraph for an alternative method of getting there easily and heed my advice - take the shuttle!



Please be aware that there will be extremely limited parking for spectators on Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8 for the State Softball Tournament at Goodman Diamond on the University of Wisconsin campus. Patrons are directed to park at the Alliant Energy Center, Beltline Hwy. Parking will cost $4.75 but patrons will be allowed re-entry. A free shuttle will be provided from the Alliant Parking Lot. Patrons should plan to be on the shuttle at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the game they wish to see. Shuttles will run from 7:45 am to 10:30 pm. Please see the attached map for detailed directions. Fans buses may park in Lot 132 on University Bay Drive all three days. Parking will be available on Saturday, June 9. No shuttles will run that day.



Here is another thing you need to be aware of. The crowds outgrew Goodman Diamond in the second year they held the tournament there. There is not enough seating at Goodman Diamond to handle all the people who want to get there and watch all the games, the people who want to get there early to get a good seat because their team plays the second game of a session or for the people who would really like to hang around and watch the game after their team s games. You are not apt to get into the stadium soon after the first game of a session begins and especially on Friday when the D-2, D-3 and D-4 schools play. Those three classes really draw huge crowds on Friday and Saturday so be aware of the fact that you might not get in very soon and the ushers will be yelling at you and herding you out of the stadium right after your team s game is over. If you are wearing clothing that identifies you with one of the teams that just played – you ll get herded out pretty quickly. Ticket lines will be long and there are only two or three windows at the ticket booth there outside the Stadium. There is no seating in the outfield at Goodman Diamond and seating right behind home plate is almost non-existent (there are two rows of bleachers directly behind home plate that probably hold fewer than 50 people. Most of the seating is off to the right and left of the backstop and extends to where the infield dirt meets the outfield grass. Pictures are another issue. Teams get whisked out of the dugout and off the field pretty quickly when a game is over so you won t get post-game picture chances on the field after games. I also think the WIAA has a new policy of some kind on picture taking. I ll check into that on Monday and include that (if there is an issue) in the next Fastpitch Bulletin.



I was in Kimberly on Friday night and met some new people who read the website all the time. It was great to see many longtime friends and to meet some new ones as well. Brian and I enjoyed the fastpitch although the first two games were blowouts. It was fun to watch those Worth balls leave the field and float on down the Fox River. I saw my longtime friend Larry Flannery of Antigo there and also ran into Charlie Smith of El Paso, Texas. Charlie is an ISC Executive Committee member (Treasurer) and was in Kimberly enjoying the weekend. Ed Kirner, another longtime fastpitch friend and former ISC President and now At Large Commissioner was also on hand and it was great to see him. There were some other ISC personnel on hand as well.



I enjoyed talking with the people who are on the committee to stage the Women's Professional Fastpitch League Playoffs in August. I have a press release posted on the Women s Fastpitch page of my website at http://www.fastpitchchronicle.com/women.htm so you can read that and get up to speed on that. It would be best and easiest to purchase your tickets in advance rather than have to stand in line to get them once you get to Sunset Park in Kimberly.



I tentatively plan on having a vendor booth set up at the playoffs there. I imagine I ll have some great deals on EZ Sliders sliding pads, X-Celerator speed developers, some Andersen Gloves, Akadema gloves and perhaps some Schutt equipment to boot. Of course, I ll be there for great conversation as well. I really enjoy getting to meet and chat with folks that I send bulletins out to, folks who click in on the website etc. and chat with them face to face.



Our South Central All District team selection meeting was yesterday and it was again tough to choose which players get selected. This is one thing I learned after the first year I was a conference rep on the all district selection committee. Reps need to get out and watch lots of games when their own teams are not playing. If those conference reps who sit on the selection committees don t do that, they don t have the skills to select players like they do when they watch teams that play in all four divisions. That s where the Poynette Jamboree really comes in handy for many of us. There are teams in that event from all four divisions of play and many of them play up and down. There are great players in all divisions of play. Players have proven that they can play at the highest level of collegiate play even when they attend the smallest of schools. Like I have typed many times – the biggest difference between Division 1 and Division 4, year in year out is not the pitching. The biggest differences occurs from the number six batters through the number nine batters and in the field where the smaller schools simply don t have the number of athletes to choose from to play positions. D-4 schools and have great players on them and they are as good as the best D-1 players when matched against them. Selection committee members must get out and see all levels of play in order to distinguish between those lower numbered all district selections. Being a part of All District selections is a position I take very seriously and I try valiantly to leave my biases outside the door when I enter, I keep an open mind and listen carefully and in our district I really do trust the thoughts, feelings and player assessments of my fellow selection committee members. I enjoy working with Tammy Rademacher of Waunakee. She is a great organizer and has things ready for us when we get there. We ve cut our times down from what at one time were three hour meetings or more to about two hours. She also works hard for the WFSCA all star games. We had a great chat after the meeting where she told me that she just spent nine hours scanning the pictures for the program for the all star series. Nine Hours just scanning pictures. She also has to type all the copy for the player information, organize the entire booklet.



The WFSCA officers really do work tirelessly to improve the game and the product that we put on the field. People get frustrated from time to time but everyone needs to keep an open mind and realize that things aren t always going to go the way we d like them to go. It s a process that everyone must be involved in though, if we are going to keep bringing more and more attention to the game.



The NCAA College World Series telecasts have really increased the interest in fastpitch softball. We, as high school coaches need to jump on that interest and improve our product here. We need to urge our kids to play in the summer and I believe we need to urge them to play together more than ever. Summer and fall leagues can be great team building opportunities. Of course there is an important place for travel teams as well.



The summer page on my website is about ready to be introduced to the general public. When it gets announced be sure to click on that link and take a look. There will be announcements, tournament directories, tournament schedules and results and much more.



Also, we ll be introducing a few new looks and options on the website.



Have a great day! I ll see many of you on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Keep it Rising!

Bob