Boyd Dahlman drilled a home run that helped the Farm Tavern defeat Broken Bow, Neb. Qualigraph, 5-4, in the quarterfinals of the 1996 ISC World Tournament and is greeted by his teammates as he crosses home plate. Photo By BOB OTTO
KIMBERLY, WISC. – The big question at the 1996 ISC World Tournament: Would this be the year that Rod Peterson and his Farm Tavern ball club of Madison would finally win a world championship?
But it was not to be as the Farm finished fourth (5-2) after starting the tournament with four consecutive wins to reach the semifinals where the Tampa Bay Smokers led by the pitching of Todd Martin pulled out a 2-1 win to send the Farm into the losers’ bracket.
After defeating the Midland, Mich. Explorers, 2-1, the Farm was eliminated by Wisconsin rival, Green Bay All-Car, 5-1.
The Farm had several fine performances. Brian Martie was named a First-Team All-World infielder for his .348 batting average (8 for 23), four runs and two RBIs. In 2013, Martie from Bloomington, Ill. was inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame.
Brian Martie scores a run during the 5-4 victory over Broken Bow, Neb. Qualigraph. Photo By BOB OTTO
The pitching staff of Paul Algar and Jody Hennigar – also Hall of Fame inductees – performed well.
Algar finished with a 2-0 record in 9 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, no earned runs, while striking out 23 and finishing with 0.00 ERA.
But Hennigar (2-2) was the real workhorse, logging 34 2/3 innings, giving up 26 hits, nine earned runs, five walks, with 38 strikeouts and and a 1.82 ERA.
Gary Swan was also selected a Second-Team All-World performer with a .313 average (5 of 16), two runs, and two RBI’s.
Peterson was disappointed he couldn’t bring home a championship to Wisconsin’s faithful fastpitch fans, but the following year he finally reached the pinnacle in men’s fastpitch by winning the ISC World Tournament in Victoria, BC, Canada. Then after finishing runner-up in 1998 to the Smokers in Kimberly, Peterson won his second championship in 1999 at Sioux City, Iowa.
Rod Peterson was honored for his outstanding contribution to the ISC and men’s faspitch. Peterson entered the sport in 1966 as a player, but soon took to managing and sponsoring his own team before retiring after the 2008 season. Photo By BOB OTTO
Peterson was inducted into ISC Hall of Fame in 1994. He led the Farm Tavern to ISC World Tournament titles in 1997, 1999 and 2007, before retiring from the sport after the 2008 season.
But what a legacy Peterson and the Farm left in the annals of ISC World Tournament history: From 1996 to 2008, The Farm finished among the top four finishers in the World Tournament 12 of 13 times.