Historic Au Sable Forks Tournament Reaches 60th Anniversary
Plenty of Fastpitch History in Au Sable Forks, NY
The Au Sable Forks tournament started in 1963 with the PAFB team taking the first of their 5 titles, all of them in the 60's and early 70's They could draw on a large roster of high quality players, many of whom played reguarly in the Eastern Seaboard Leagues. The first runner up was the Hotel Deliri from Plattsburgh who had Rick Messier pitching for them. Messier was always a bridesmaid and never the bride. The first tournaments were 32 team single elimination events with the championship games ending usually late on Sunday night.
In the late 70's we switched the format to a 12 team invitiational double elimination event. The games still went in late Sunday but the
quality of play improved. The tournament flourished as many really good teams came to Au Sable Forks to compete for the ONeill Cup and the prize purse of $1500 which in Canadian funds was substantial.
Plattsburgh Air Force Base and Razzano's Trucking from Gloversville have won the tournament 5 times. Cardinal Pats, South Trenton Pub and Heflin's Gremlins 4 times. Pickeys and Charlies Tavern from Massena, Johnston Counts and the Williamsburg Pioneers along with Mike Cutro's CPI were 3 time winners. Donnaconna Blue Sox and Mechanicville Merchants are 2 time winners. If you win it 3 times, you take the
trophy home and keep it. Razzano's holds the dubious honor of coming in 2nd 7 times. Larry Razzano, after being unable to field a team
came to me and I put together a young team built around my son Andrew Bombard who was fresh from college and just learning to pitch. In
their first tournament they beat I4C 2-1 in extra innings. They were the team in ill fitting t shirts that Al Doran wrote about. They are
now known as the AuSable Brewers.
Fast Pitch is pitching and the following names should be familiar to all fast pitch players on the east coast. The most valuable pitcher
award began in 1971 and Ray Hurley won it then and again in 1981 at the age of 51 when he lead the Fern Lake Pollywogs, a team from West Chester County to the finals where they ran into a buzzsaw in Chris Briese and the Cardinal Pat team. Ted Hoey from Cardinal, Dixie,
Morrell and Hydeman from Johnston, Mike Branchaud of King and his Court fame, Chris Wilson from South Trenton are multiple time winners and Greg Garrity has won the award 4 times.
On the most valuable player side, Bill Gilmore from Massena and Ed Pendt from the Mechanicville Merchantshave won twice. Yvon Goneya from the Hotel Benny, along with Dennis Williams from South Trenton are 3 time winners and Mickey Fauville from South Trenton a two time winner. Andrew Kirkpatrick, @thebigcheese23 has a MVP and a MV Pitcher to his resume.
The list of players who have graced our tournament is long and hallowed. Two of the best team players to ever play in AuSable were
Yvon Gonyeau and Mr. Ed St. Louis, the gentleman first baseman from the Cardinal Pats. no one ever beat him back to their position after
an inning change.
We have a saying in AuSable "that it never rains in Happy Valley", coined by Paul Gonyeau who after taking a nap on an adjacent field
and waking up in a rain storm to find his shoelaces tied to the chain link fence, created the slogan known near and far.
Scott Bombard
A reminder that the 60th Annual Au Sable Forks FastPitch Classic is set for July 8-10, 2022.
This is an ISC Qualifier event. Teams will play at the Billy Mitchell Memorial Field.
Three games guaranteed. Entry fee is $350.
Contact Adam Coolidge for more info.
