PBI REPEATS AS RICE LAKE INVITATIONAL CHAMPION 

After losing their opening round game 2-1 to The Bar of Appleton, Pate Bonding Industries strung together nine consecutive victories to claim the championship of the Silver Anniversary Rice Lake Invitational Men’s Fastpitch Tournament.  The West St. Paul based ball club, more commonly known as PBI, also won the local Invitational a year ago. 

Four time champion Wilber Lime of Galesville placed second in the meet, 2001 co-champion Evansville Bowl placed third, and first time entry Happy Hollow Fastpitch of Eau Claire finished fourth.

After their opening round loss to the Bar, PBI rolled to consecutive wins over Mancini’s of St. Paul 8-1, the Rice Lake Orangemen 10-0, Jeraldine’s of  St. Paul 5-3, The Bar 11-7, Willkomm Mobil of Kenosha 5-1, Happy Hollow 6-4, Evansville Bowl 2-1, and Wilber Lime twice, 4-3 and 9-6.  The winning pitcher in the championship game, Mike Newby,  was the losing pitcher in the first ever Rice Lake Invitational game played in 1979 as Newby and his Milltown, Wisconsin Mill Inn team fell to Lloyd Meinen and the Rice Lake Orangemen 8-0.

Wilber Lime won its first four games of the meet, 11-0 over Mancini’s, 4-1 over the The Bar, 3-0 over Willkomm Mobil, and 6-2 over Evansville Bowl before falling in both championship contests to PBI.

The only local team in the event, the Orangemen of Rice Lake, finished a disappointing 0-3 after finishing fourth a year ago.

Named to the 2003 All-Tournament team were pitchers Dan Ball of PBI, Steve Gothard of Wilber Lime, and Bryan Lathrop of Evansville Bowl; catchers Brad Shepherd of PBI and Gary Sartow of Happy Hollow; infielders Jerry Ball of PBI, Mike Armitage of Wilber Lime, Jeff Jahn of Evansville Bowl, Bob Loshek of Rep and Baja’s, and Mark Nelson of Willkomm Mobil; outfielders Dale Horton of Evansville Bowl, Jeff Schoeberl of Mancini’s, and Alan Stuhr and Rick Fredrickson, both of Wilber Lime.  Selected in a utility role was pitcher-infielder Jeff Killian of Happy Hollow while Roman Foore of PBI was named all-tournament designated hitter.

Shepherd, who hit an even .500 for the tourney, was named Most Valuable Player.

Standings:

1 PBI, West Saint Paul MN 9-1
2 Wilber Lime, Galesville WI 4-2
3 Evansville Bowl, Evansville WI 3-2
4 Happy Hollow Fastpitch, Eau Claire WI 4-2
5 Willkomm Mobil, Kenosha WI 2-2
5 Rep & Baja’s, Wausau WI 2-2
7 The Bar, Appleton WI 2-2
7 Mancini’s, St. Paul MN 2-3
9 Leinenkugel’s/ Bloomer Bowl, Bloomer WI 2-2
9 Villard-ABF, Villard MN 2-2
9 Jeraldine’s, St. Paul MN 1-2
9 Bud Light, Bloomer WI 1-2
13 Fisher Group, Mankato MN 1-2
13 Rice Lake Orangemen, Rice Lake WI 0-3
13 Line-X, West Salem, WI 0-3
13 Budweiser/Osceola Lanes, Osceola WI 0-3

Teams:

Rice Lake Orangemen Rice Lake, WI
Jeraldine's St. Paul, MN
Happy Hollow Fastpitch Eau Claire, WI
Villard-ABF Villard, MN
Leinenkugel's - Bloomer Bowl Bloomer, WI
Rep & Baja's Wausau, WI
Mancini's St. Paul, MN
Line-X West Salem, WI
Willkomm Mobil Kenosha, WI
Wilber Lime Galesville, WI
Kelley Chiropractic Bloomer, WI
Evansville Bowl Evansville, WI
Budweiser/Osceola Lanes Osceola, WI
The Bar Appleton, WI
PBI St. Paul, MN
Fisher Group Mankato, MN

GAME RESULTS

  1.  Bloomer Bud Light 15, Budweiser/Osceola Lanes 12
  2.  Rep and Baja’s 4, ABF-Villard 0
  3.  Evansville Bowl 3, Leinenkugel’s/Bloomer Bowl 0
  4.  Jeraldine’s 4, Line-X 2
  5.  Happy Hollow Fastpitch 3, Rice Lake Orangemen 0
  6.  Willkom Mobil 5, Fisher Group 1
  7.  The Bar 1, PBI 0
  8.  Wilber Lime 11, Mancini’s 0
  9.  ABF-Villard 7, Budweiser/Osceola Lanes 0
10.  Leinenkugel’s/Bloomer Bowl 6, Line-X 5
11.  Fisher Group 6, Rice Lake Orangemen 4
12.  PBI 8, Mancini’s 1
13.  Rep and Baja’s 4, Bloomer Bud Light 3
14.  Evansville Bowl 6, Jeraldine’s 2
15.  Willkomm Mobil 2, Happy Hollow Fastpitch 0
16.  Wilber Lime 4, The Bar 1
17.  ABF-Villard 7, Line-X 3         
18.  Leinenkugel’s/Bloomer Bowl 14, Budweiser/Osceola Lanes 7
19.  Mancini’s 9, Fisher Group 2
20.  PBI 10, Rice Lake Orangemen 0
21.  Happy Hollow Fastpitch 14, ABF-Villard 3
22.  The Bar 4, Leinenkugel’s/Bloomer Bowl 3
23.  Mancini’s 13, Bloomer Bud Light 0
24.  PBI 5, Jeraldine’s 3
25.  Evansville Bowl 2, Rep & Baja’s 0
26.  Wilber Lime 3, Willkomm Mobil 0
27.  Happy Hollow Fastpitch 5, Mancini’s 4
28.  PBI 11, The Bar 7
29.  Happy Hollow Fastpitch 4,  Rep and Baja’s 3
30.  PBI 5, Willkom Mobil 1
31.  PBI 6, Happy Hollow Fastpitch 4
32.  Wilber Lime 6, Evansville Bowl 2
33.  PBI 2, Evansville Bowl 1
34.  PBI 4, Wilber Lime 3
PBI 9, Wilber Lime 6