Friday March 29th, 2024
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40th Annual PIF Classic tournament preview!

 
 

 

 

 

40th Annual PIF Invitational Tournament

 

Sherbrooke, Canada

 

Nationwide Conference USSSA!

 

July 2-5

 

Tournament Preview

 

 

 

 

 

The Nationwide Conference USSSA has added The 40th Annual PIF Classic to the 2015 schedule.  The tournament will take place July 3-6 and two all star teams made up of 2014 USSSA All Conference performers will play in the event.  The two teams "Blue" and "Red" were randomly selected by position out of 30 players.

40TH ANNUAL PIF INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
The prestigious 40th Annual Classique PIF Vacances Transat Holiday slowpitch softball tournament in Sherbrooke, Canada this year will have a new twist to it!  The tournament is now part of the Nationwide Conference USSSA series!  The PIF tournament directors and the USSSA reached an agreement to make the tournament part of the 2015 Conference schedule and it will feature two Conference All Star teams the Blue team and the Red team and will be played over its traditional June 29 to July 5th week.  The Conference all-star teams were drawn out of a hat at the USSSA Convention back in November and the teams are as follows:

USSSA Blue Team:
 Billy Messina
 Larry Quartuccio
 Luis Reyna
 BJ Fulk
 Greg Connell
 Mike Umschied
 Dennis Rulli
 Cory Large
 Brandon Dillon
 Brian Wegman
 Lee Payne
 Brad Reckart
 Jeff Flood
Injured or could not make it for Blue:
 Travis Clark
 Chente Granados
 Ryan Parfitt
 Scott Kirby

USSSA Red Team:
 John Rector
 Don Cooper
 Andy Purcell
 Don Dedonatis Jr.
 Brett Helmer
 Bubba Mack
 Jimmy Salas
 Kevin Kennington
 Ryan Harvey
 Nic Santana
 Neil Haglund
 Chris Greinert
 Chris Larsen
 Lee Powers
Injured or could not make it for Red:
 Bryson Baker
 Kyle Moyer
 Jeremy Yates

These two all-star teams will be joined in the tournament by 7 other top teams from Canada led by Pharmapar and 1 team from the USA (Checking/Smash It Sports/Globe Cleaners in a two "pool" flight tournament to be played out July 3rd and 4th with a single elimination 4 team tournament on Sunday July 5th.  There is also a men's local division and two women's divisions playing as well that weekend.  Winners get a paid berth to the USSSA Worlds in Kissimmee, Florida and all participants get an unpaid World berth as well.  Teams participate in the PIF by invitation only and the tournament is open to Men's and Women's competitive teams across Canada and the USA!

40th Annual PIF Schedule:
– Thursday, July 2nd – USSSA Blue All Stars vs USSSA Red All Stars Exhibition Game – 8 PM eastern time
– Friday, July 3rd   – The opening games of the men's invitational bracket Conference event followed by fireworks
– Saturday, July 4th – Continuation of the men's invitational bracket and the Home Run Derby
– Sunday, July 5th   – The final games and crowning of the champions of each division

For more than 40 years, during the first weeks of July, the Classique PIF Vacances Transat Holiday softball tournament has been presenting exciting games and lots of great activities in Sherbrooke, Canada. Once again this year, the biggest softball tournament in North America will offer a ton of special activities for the whole family and present 4 different divisions of slowpitch softball.  Many more family-orientated activities are also scheduled, including a family park of inflatable games, shows, fireworks, contests, feats of skill and much more!

The main field on the left called Quintal has 321-344-356-344-335 dimensions

Looks like good weather.  Bring a sweater.

40 Years of History at the PIF:
The year was 1976 when members of the Brasserie Le Dauphin Pub team decided to create a provincial Slow Pitch softball tournament to raise funds for their team. Fifty-four teams signed up to compete in the first tournament and they played day and night that year.  A few weeks prior to the initial tournament, Yvon Dépatie, a young, active Le Dauphin player, died in a work-related accident. At that moment, his teammates and family decided to honor the memory of the athlete by giving his name, Yvon Pif Dépatie, to the event. The volunteer organizers, faced with the still-fresh memories of their friend, pressed on, but not without difficulty, to make that first edition of the tournament a success.  40 years later times have changed but the softball is still the central focus of the weeklong event.  During the early years, about 30 people banded together to ensure the smooth operation of the tournament on a budget of $1,500. Today, the organizing committee requires more than 150 volunteers to fulfill the various tasks during the seven-day event and the operating budget of $175,000 is needed today to put on a tournament of this magnitude.

In 2001, the Yvon Pif Dépatie Tournament began an association with a new major partner, Vacances Transat, and the event was renamed Pif Vacances Transat Classic.  Many people remember that first edition of the Yvon Pif Dépatie tournament, as it held a lot of significance for the vast majority of those involved. A good number of people from that original group continue to be active on the organizing committee today! Year after year, it is with eagerness and conviction that these volunteers continue to make the Pif Vacances Transat Slow Pitch Classic one of the most prestigious in North America.

In 2014, the last year under the old rules, Pharmapar one of Canada's strongest teams defeated an American team Smash It Sports/RAC/Easton/Rizzos in the championship game on the strength of their MVP Claude Chiasson.  Pharmapar joins a long list of great PIF champions over the years including Long Haul Trucking, Beloli's, Riverside, Vernons, Ritchs, Stewarts, Superior, and Elite to name a few.  Andy Purcell won the PIF home run derby in 2014 and he joins a long list of Home Run champions like Franc Henry, Alex Lavarico, Doug Roberson, Wendell Rickard, Todd Joerling, Britt Hightower, Ricky Huggins, Kerry Everett, Jim Fuller, Rich Plante, Rick Scherr, Bill Gatti, and Andy Sanzaro who incidentally won it 3 years in a row!

Livestreaming on USSSALive.com is still in question as our hotspots to get fast internet connection do not work in Canada I am told.  They do have park wifi they said I could try but they said it is very weak.  đź™‚

The PIF will also be televised on TVE Sports in Canada on tape delay the week after the event.

The Chat Room will also be up on SoftballCenter.com

www.classiquepif.com for event information!

Park Address:
1671, chemin Duplessis
Sherbrooke (Qc), Canada
J1H 0C2

Team Blue
Billy Messina
Larry Quartuccio
Travis Clark
Luis Reyna
BJ Fulk
Scott Kirby
Greg Connell
Mike Umschied
Dennis Rulli
Cory Large
Ryan Parfitt
Brandon Dillon
Brian Wegman
Lee Payne
Brad Reckart
Chente Granados
Jeff Flood

Team Red
John Rector
Don Cooper
Andy Purcell
Don Dedonatis Jr.
Brett Helmer
Bubba Mack
Bryson Baker
Jimmy Salas
Kevin Kennington
Ryan Harvey
Jeremy Yates
Nic Santana
Neil Haglund
Chris Greinert
Kyle Moyer
Chris Larsen
Lee Powers

Past winners of the PIF!

2014 1st Place – Pharmapar

Smash It Sports finished 2nd in 2014

Rochester Athletic from New York won the PIF in 2011!

 

 

 

One response to “40th Annual PIF Classic tournament preview!”

  1. Don Ellinghausen says:

    The greatest softball tournament in the world. Riverside Paving won the tournament in 1994 and my son Brian “Bauser” Ellinghausen was their pitcher. Ray DeMarini interviewed him on ESPN.

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