The Fastpitch Chronicle

Hello Again Fastpitch World

Organizational plans for the 16th Annual Capitol Area Fall Fastpitch League have gotten underway. Last night the first message was sent out to team leaders from the past few years of action. Now, A couple of other “big time” fastpitch enthusiasts will be trying to expand the fall league into other areas by urging people interested in improving their games by using 12-14 additional games in the fall to their fastpitch experience. Combining players from other communities can create those opportunities and keep the cost of such experience to a minimum. The league fee for a full season with – let’s say – 10 players on a team costs each player just $2.50 per game. That’s right each game costs a team just $25. We use just one umpire to hold costs down. We don’t keep track of wins and losses or standings yet the league can be very competitive. Many fall league teams over the years have been put together using players from several commnities/schools.

We’ve played a week in Platteville the past couple of years but  Platteville is the only southwestern part of the state to participate. The closest other team to that area has been Barneveld. We’ like to branch out and get more southwestern area fastpitch playing females more games. The players do not have to be high school aged girls. Many teams use seventh and eighth graders to fill out there teams. Many of those youngsters have proven their mettle when “thrown to the wolves.” Many of them have gone on to great high school careers. The only difference between an excellent freshman play and an excellent 8th grade player is her grade. The fall league opens up tremendous opportunities for those younger players and allows them to be seen by their high school coaches in games against 18 year old players.

We will be contacting high school coaches to proceed with our team recruiting process but just as importantly we need to be able to communicate with parents of interested players. High School coaches can’t coach or be involved in their team’s fastpitch activiities once the first day of school has taken place. If you know of any contacts in communities where there are avid fastpitch players please contact myself or Ally Steinke in Orfordville. We will help them out. We will also offer league spots to travel teams that are forming this time of the year.

The schedule has a calendar glitch in it this year as Labor Day is not until September  6th. A six week season offering up to 12 games would not start until September 13 and would follow on September 20, September 27, October 4, October 11 and October 18. A week scheduled for October 25th could produce some pretty chilly weather (but one never knows).

For more information or to enter a team into the fall league just contact Bob at faspich1@aol.com