• Silver Runners-Up for 2007 Toledo Great Lakes ASA 18U A/Gold Invitational/NFCA Exposure of 44 teams!!  Great job!!
• And for the great job at Orland Park Sparks, placed 2nd in pool, record 4-2 against some tough teams!
• Congratulations on being accepted into the 2007 Boulder Independence Day Invitational!!
• Qualified for 2007 "A" Nationals at first qualifier attended!!!
• Further Congratulations -- after successful competitions playing at the Gold level for exposure tournaments, the team was officially declared ASA "GOLD" Summer 2006 onward!!

-- to HEATHER COLLISON, 2007, who signed with East Texas Baptist University
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Thank you to those who attended 2007 try-outs at St. Mary's College at Notre Dame, Indiana, and to those who attended 2006 try-outs Aug 26 & 27, 2006, at Notre Dame Ivy Field Softball Stadium.  We have had outstanding players trying out, and the coaches had great difficulty in choosing the members of our team.  Thank you for your interest in our team.
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We are always interested in learning of standout players who may want to try out for our team.  If interested, inquire by phone with Coach Gillis at 574-329-0308 to arrange private try-outs, and send your profiles and stats to our e-mail address. As to out of state players, you need not be from the Indiana/Michigan area as long as you are committed to traveling to the tournaments, and as long as we can verify you are practicing and conditioning regularly in your home town to our satisfaction and under the supervision of experienced coaches.


Players, many college coaches continue to respond that they will be at our tournaments and want your profile information. Please continue to e-mail us updates!!!! Please also keep the college coaches informed of your schedules for travel and school ball. Travel ball tournament game schedules are posted on this website as they become known.

General Overview

18-Under Elite Fastpitch Travel Team coached by Pete Gillis and Meagan RuthrauffJuly, 2006.  Pete Gillis, head manager/coach of the 2004 World Champs of the 14U Junior Softball Division, 2006 4th in World 16U Senior Division (of approximately 2500 teams), and former baseball player at Indiana University; along with nationally known Meagan Ruthrauff, the recent Notre Dame Softball Team Captain and exceptional Notre Dame Softball Player who just graduated, and 2 time 18U ASA Gold National Champion, will be coaching an elite 18U travel team starting fall of 2006.

The team composition will be completed with the tryouts to be held August 26 & 27 at Notre Dame Ivy Field. The team will travel primarily to ASA sanctioned tournaments, will be highly competitive, with no lower than an "A" classification, will likely declare "Gold" classification by summer of 2007, and will begin traveling to some exposure tournaments in the fall of 2006.

The team members will be expected to attend mandatory practices throughout the winter months on Sundays, condition on their own time according to a set schedule, and the team will attend some mandatory winter indoor tournaments. Upon passage of the IHSAA release date in June of 2007, the team will be attending approximately 3 tournaments per month through summer of 2007 season, primarily national qualifiers and exposure tournaments, with the goal of ending the 2007 season at the 2007 ASA Nationals. While some tournaments will be within driving distance in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Missouri, the team will also be attending exposure tournaments in 3 of these states, Michigan, Colorado, Florida, and California.

The team will consist only of highly motivated athletes who have a strong commitment to softball, who take their softball seriously, who have a love for the game, and who also want to continue their softball careers at the college level or beyond. The goal of the Michiana Cruisers will be to maximize the abilities of each player to their full potential, fine-tune the players' skills to the highest playing levels, compete at the top levels, and communicate with and expose each player to scouts from the colleges in which each player has an interest in furthering their education and playing softball.

There will be a fee for this travel team. There may also be some mandatory fundraisers to assist with some costs for the team members. For further information on coaches, see "Coaching Resumes" below. For try-out info and forms, please see link at left, or contact:

Coaching Resumes:

Manager Pete Gillis at 2002 World Series

Manager Pete Gillis

COACHING POSITIONS:
- Coached various levels of girls' softball for at least 10 years, including 16U and 18U
- Head Manager/Coach for 2004 WORLD CHAMPS 14U Junior Division (*only team from Indiana in Little League history for all divisions of both baseball and softball to win World Series)
- Coached various travel teams in 14U and 16U, with outstanding winning records, including receiving qualifications to various national tournaments 
- Head Manager/Coach for 2002 Little League Softball World Series 12U team to place 4th in World (with game coverage on ESPN) of approximately 10,000 parks in world
- Head Manager/Coach for 2006 Senior League Softball World Series 16U team to place 4th in the World, of approximately 2,500 teams in world at this level
- Managed teams for State Championships for 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004
- Managed teams for Regional Championships (14 States) 2002, 2004, 2006
- Managed teams for Regional Runners-up 2005
- Managed teams for State Runners-up 2001
- Managed teams for District and Sectional Championships 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and coached Sectional Runners-up 1999 
- Personal recognition by President Bush to his team in visit of September 2002 
- South Bend Tribune's "Newsmaker" Recognition for Coaching 2002 
- Current Softball Coach, and for several years, Major and Senior Softball East Side LL, with various championships 
- Current Softball Coach at Junior High School level, and for several years, consistently winning league and tournament championships
- Outstanding overall winning softball coaching record, approximately 400-30
POST COLLEGIATE ATHLETICS AND ADULT COACHING: 
- Michiana Amateur Baseball League Player and Coach - 18 years 
- City Softball League Player and Manager - 21 years through present 
- Also Coach/Player various Adult Volleyball and Basketball Leagues - 15 years
COLLEGIATE ATHLETICS:
- Indiana University Bloomington Baseball Team Player
HIGH SCHOOL AND PRIOR ATHLETICS: 
- Varsity Player, Adams High School Baseball Team 
- Played baseball since 6 years old, and continuously for 35 years 
- Varsity Player, Adams High School Football Team 
- 1975 All-Northern Indiana Conference 1st Team Football Player 
- 1975 Prep Honorable Mention All American Football

Coach Meagan Ruthrauff

Coach Meagan Ruthrauff

! Two-time ASA 18U Gold National Champion with Tyronne Davis's Gold Batbusters and Dale Moore's Panthers Gold Teams 
! In High School played for 18U gold Batbuster team 
! Team Captain for Notre Dame 2005-2006 Senior Year 
! Holds the Notre Dame record for most walks in a season, most homeruns and RBIs hit in a game 
! Second all time in most RBIs in a season 
! Third in all time Fielding % 
! Second all time in Homeruns in a single season and career 
! While playing for Notre Dame, All-State Team Senior Year 
! Won a CIF Division III championship her Junior Year 
! First team CIF Division III selection 
! Big East All-Conference Member 3 out of 4 years 
! Two of those years was First team 
! Made the All-Regional team 3 years 
! Played first and third at ND, has also played Shortstop on other teams 
! Played travel ball for 8 years (10-18 years old)
!2006 NFCA All-Mideast Region, First Team 
! 2006 Unanimously selected First Team All-Big East 
! Big East Tournament Champion 
! 2006 All Big East Academic Honoree 
! 2006 Big East Player of the Week, April 10 
! 2006 Deans List, Fall Semester, 3.80 
! 2006 Notre Dame Softball Team Captain 
! 2006 University of Notre Dame Softball Career Walk Leader 
! 2005 University of Notre Dame Student-Athlete Leadership Award
! 2005 Second Team All-Big East 
! 2005 Big East Player of the Week, May 9 
! 2005 All Big East Academic Honoree 
! 2004 NFCA All-Mideast Region, Second Team 
! 2004 First Team All-Big East 
! 2004 Big East Player of the Week, March 29 
! 2004 Big East Player of the Week, March 1 
! 2004 Florida State Invitational All-Tournament Team, 2004