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KIMBERLY- He was last year’s most valuable player in the International Softball Congress World Softball Tournament in Victoria, British Columbia. In 1991 in Sioux City Iowa, he was the MVP,
too.
But Saturday just wasn’t Tim Wahl’s day. The catcher for The Farm suffered a sever pull to his left hamstring during the third inning of The Farm’s win over the Decatur
Pride.
"I’ve got a severely pulled hamstring as far as I can tell," Wahl said after the game. "I stretched out to make a play at first and something just snapped. I can’t go anymore today. I can’t put any pressure on
it.
"Obviously, the loss of Wahl, The Farm’s No.1 catcher who also plays first base, was significant as the Madison team prepared to face the Tampa Bay, Fla., Smokers after emerging out of the losers’ bracket. Wahl, though, refused to make a big deal out of his
absence.
"We’ll be all right," Wahl said. "We’ve go plenty of good ballplayers…It’s sad, but there’s no time to be feeling selfish about it because this is a team game. When someone goes down, its’ up to somebody else to pick it up. I’ll just do my part and pull for the other
guys.
"Becker’s prizes: Marty Becker walked off the field at Sunset Park on Saturday with two trophies, but they weren’t exactly the hardware he was hoping to leave
with.
Becker, the center fielder for 51 Classics of Portage, was thrilled to win ISC World Tournament’s top hitter award and be named to the tourney’s first team, but he was hoping for
more.
"I was very surprised," said Becker, who hit .545 (six-for-11) through Portage’s four games. "But I’d trade both of these in a second to be out here
playing.
"The La Crosse native spent the last few years as a reserve for All-Car of Green Bay. However, when All-Car folded in February, Becker latched onto the 51 Classics.
Twice is nice: Todd Martin of Tampa Bay loves pitching off the mound at Sunset Park.
"I think they should hold the tournament here every time," Martin joked after winning his second career ISC tournament Most Outstanding Pitcher award. His first award came in Kimberly in 1996.
"I was really shocked to win it this time," Martin said after the big innings, but the guys won this for me. They pulled my butt out of the fire again today."
Pool party: The 48-team double-elimination format for the World Tourney is nearing its end.
The ISC voted on a new format of 40 teams with eight pools of five for the 2001 tournament. The format could be used sooner if host cities are interested in conducting tournaments in the new format.
The top two teams from each pool would advance to a 16-team single-elimination tournament to decide the title.
The format still equals 95 games. It also guarantees each team four games and could result in a television deal for the title game.
"That’s been attractive for us for a long time," ISC Executive Director Milt Stark said of TV possibilities. :"You have to have that (one-game final) in order for somebody to
televise.
"Making it big: The Frakenmuth, Mich., team won the ISC 19-and-under youth fast-pitch softball tournament Saturday at Sunset.
Frankenmuth became the first American-based team to win the tournament after defeating Wroxeter, Ontario, three games to one.
Libby Poellet of Frankenmuth was the first female to participate in the tourney. Stark had Poellet autograph a softball to be placed in the hall of fame.
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