Gil Read Tournament update - now two spots left

Ten teams have committed to the Gil Read Memorial Tournament as of this week.

Kanata, ON Storm
Ottawa, ON Broker4Tickets
Fitzroy Harbour, ON West Carleton Electric
Ottawa Valley, ON A’s
Kingston,ON Axemen
Napanee, ON Junior Express
Quebec, QC Juniors
Elmira, ON Expos
Oswego, NY CPI
Oshawa, ON Rebels

There is room for two more teams - see below:

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The 8th Annual Gil Read Memorial Men’s Fastpitch tournament will be held once again at the Carp Fair Grounds in Carp, Ontario the weekend of July 17th, 18th and 19th, 2015.

The first 12 teams will be accepted with entry fee set at $450. This is an Open class tournament without restriction.

Based on 12 teams, prize money will be awarded as follows:

1st Place $1,800.00
2nd Place $700.00
3rd place tie - $250 each 

Last year’s winners were the Micksburg Twins (2014 summary here).

Fantastic beer garden with the best burgers around, and good crowds on hand, all in support of the Gil Read Memorial Foundation.

To register your team please contact:

Adam Brown
fastball{at}fitzroyharbour.com
613-623-8867 (home)
613-720-3575 (cell: text or call)

or

Cory Morrison
cmorrison{at}printersplus.net
613-614-7349 (cell: text or call)

Past champions of the Gil Read Memorial:

2014 Micksburg Twins
2013 Lake Simcoe Lightning
2012 Toronto Gators
2011 Quebec Seniors
2010 Quyon Flyers
2009 Ottawa Team Easton
2008 Ottawa Easton Thunder

Tier 2 rep girls fastpitch softball returns to Stittsville

from Debbie Craig

The Stittsville Minor Softball Association is pleased to announce the return of competitive girls fastpitch softball to Stittsville this year. Both the Bantam U16 and Midget U18 girls teams will be competing at the Tier 2 level in Ontario in 2015.

The Stittsville 56'ers name has been around for a very long time and has produced many great fastpitch players from the Stittsville area. In recent years the SMSA organization has supported 56'ers Select level teams at various age levels with tremendous success including Squirt Provincial Gold in 2013 and Mite Provincial Silver and Peewee Provincial Gold in 2014. This year is no different with 56'ers Select competitive teams at the U10,  U12 and U14 age groups.

However, the U16 and U18 teams are taking their talents on the road to travel and compete across Quebec and Ontario against some of the best fastpitch teams in the Province. From Montreal  to Niagara Falls and many stops in between, all of the athletes are very excited to make this jump and play their sport at its highest level.

The Bantam U16 Rep team is represented by - Lauren Daize, Haley Dunnigan, Ellyn Edwards, Alex Geoffrion, Mya Haddow, Mackenzie Leonard, Mikayla Major, Alana McPhail, Zoe Moore,  Haley Seguin, and Maiya Tisdall. Head coach – Kevin Daize – Assistant coaches – Phil Thompson, Craig Pavia, and Grace Lonergan.

The Midget U18 team is represented by Jenna Bjornson, Emily Craig, Jenny David, Alex Demers, Savannah Desrosier, Jesse Duckett, Sara Entwhistle, Erika Geoffrion, Shaylyn James, Kylie Phanenhour, Rachel Ross, Ryan Seiler and Katie Wolf. Head coach – Al Read – Assistant coaches – Peter Read, Dale Aiken, Haley Aiken, Nicole Dunlop and Duane Bromley.

Good luck ladies!

Something to look forward to

Wednesday May 20, at 6:30 pm, Fitzroy Harbour "B" diamond should be something to mark down in your calendar as a 'must see' softball event this spring.

Fitzroy Junior has recently registered to be a junior umpire for West Carleton minor softball - and his first assignment behind the plate is a Mites U10 game that night.

As luck would have it, the Caveman is the scheduled starter on the slab for Fitzroy Mites Team #1 that night.

I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out, both at the diamond and at home. I may have to video the proceedings.

North Leeds League expands to nine teams

from Terry McCann

North Leeds Men's Fastball will have 9 teams this year. There are two new teams: Lyn Midgets and the Athens Juniors will join returning teams: Athens, Lyn, two from Eastons Corners, Greenbush, Seeley's Bay and Newboro who will be moving to play out of Westport this year. Domville Juniors will not be returning to the league.

Play starts on Tues May 19^th with each team playing a 16 game schedule with 22 Tuesday games, 44 Thursday games and 6 Sunday games.

Micksburg minor ball receives grant

Congratulations to Micksburg Minor Softball on receiving a $15,000 grant from Hydro One for improvements to the lighting on the Micksburg ball diamond.

Blackburn Men's Fastball League player evaluations

BMFL player evaluations will be held on Sunday April 19th from 1-3pm at the Blackburn arena diamond. Any new players interested in joining the league are welcome to attend.

Info: Nick Bowman Nick_Bowman22@hotmail.com 

OASA announces Minor Committee for 2015

from the Ontario Amateur Softball Association

The 2015 season is fast approaching and the OASA Minor Committee has started to put the wheels in motion to make this another successful season for all of our minor teams.

Teams and hosts can contact their division convenors for any questions that they may have.
Mite U10 - Gilles Butcher - gbutcher@sympatico.ca
Squirt U12 - Gary Lockey - oldetymekettlekitchen@hotmail.com
Peewee U14 - Steven Davis - stevenpd@rogers.com
Bantam U16 - Randy Bridge - randy.bridge@gmail.com
Midget U18 - Dave Northern - dave.northern1@gmail.com
Select - Bob Kearse - rmskearsefamily@sympatico.ca

Karen Mills and Adam Brown are also members of the committee. If you have any suggestions or want to join the committee in any capacity we would welcome your input and contributions. Please contact: Dave Northern 905-420-0628 or Gilles Butcher 519-748-0295.

Kanata Storm hockey playoff pool fundraiser

The Kanata Storm men's fastball club is hosting a playoff hockey pool as a fundraiser.

$10 to enter, $500 in prize money. Deadline April 17 at 6 pm.

Enter online by creating an account: http://www.officepools.com/pool/invites/pick/HYA84Q2G 

For more info and to make payment arrangements, contact T-Mac at macton17@hotmail.com.

More to follow soon on the Kanata Storm roster and schedule for 2015.

Boys and Men's Softball Provincial hosts (updated)

Hosts have been determined for boys softball provincial championships at the "rep" and "select" levels across Ontario for 2015.

See below for locations and consult the Ontario Amateur Softball Association and Ontario Select Softball Tournament Association sites for more info.

OASA - Provincial Tournaments for "Rep":

Mite (U10): Ponsonby, August 15-16

Squirt (U12): Tavistock, August 8-9 (Qualifier: Kitchener-Waterloo, July 18-19)

Peewee (U14): Innerkip August 15-16

Bantam (U16): Grafton, August 1-2

Midget (U18): Cobourg, July 25-26

Junior A (U21): Owen Sound, July 3-5 (also the "Elimination" tournament)

Junior B/C (U21): Grafton, August 1-2
Intermediate B/C (Men's): Fenelon Falls, August 22-23
Masters (Men's 40+ and 50+): St. Clement's, July 17-19

OASA - Elimination Tournaments for "Rep" (to determine representatives at Eastern or Western Canadians, or Nationals, where applicable)

Peewee (U14): Napanee, June 26-28

Bantam (U16): Chepstow, July 3-5

Midget (U18): Tavistock, June 26-28

Junior (U21): Owen Sound, July 3-5
Great Lakes (Men's Intermediate & Senior): Tavistock, July 10-12 

Select Provincial Tournaments (teams formed from house league associations)

Mite (U10): Brantford, August 15

Squirt (U12): Bracebridge, August 22

Peewee (U14): Unionville, August 15 ** new

Bantam (U16): McNab, August 15

Midget (U18): Topham Park, August 22

2015 Junior Men's National Team Regional Identification Camps

from Softball Canada
Softball Canada is pleased to announce a series of Regional Identification Camps for the Junior Men's National Team program in preparation for the 2016 WBSC Junior Men’s World Softball Championship.

The purpose of the Regional Identification Camps is to identify athletes (athletes born in 1997-2000) who are interested in representing Canada as members of Softball Canada’s Junior Men’s National Team in 2016. All three camps will begin on Friday evening and conclude Sunday afternoon. The camps will be comprised of positional testing, small group training, intersquad and exhibition games.

Regional Camp Registration Fee: $75.00
Registration Deadline: May 22, 2015

The Ontario camp is June 12 - 14 in Stratford. Info here.

Kingston Axemen shootout has six teams

From Al's Fastball:

Kingston Axemen Shootout

Tournament plans are progressing nicely for the Axemen Shootout slated for June 6-7, 2015. We have six teams confirmed to this point with a goal of hosting an eight team tournament. Pleased to announce the CPI Classics, Napanee Jr Express, Grimsby Diamond Kings, North East Drillers, Quebec Jrs and the host Kingston Axemen will be competing at the Shootout.

We have received interest from other teams and working towards securing a couple more teams. The Axemen Shootout organizers are happy to have Brad Weese on board acting as our UIC. Brad has put together a great group of umpires for the event. The blue crew will be working 3,4 and 6 man crews. This is in preparation for some of the guys that will be attending Canadian Championship events and the ISF Worlds in Saskatoon.

We have rooms blocked for teams attending the tournament at two different hotels in Kingston. The Axemen wish all teams good luck this season and look forward to a great weekend of fastpitch!

Brad MacDonald
Kingston Axemen
Cell 613-583-2128
brad.macdonald99@yahoo.ca

Harbour Ball registration open

The Fitzroy Harbour Men's Fastball League (aka 'Harbour Ball') is a recreational men's fastball league in the rural west end of Ottawa.

The league plays on Wednesday nights, with the occasional Thursday, at the Fitzroy Harbour diamonds.

Last year the league had ten teams but likely will have eight this year. However, that's not because ball is dying, it's because ball is thriving. A new four team recreational league in Carp as well as a new local GOFL team has resulted in some players with other commitments (more to follow on the Carp league when I get some info).

To sign up, call or text Brendan Coker at 613-229-6838 or email cokerbren@gmail.com. Pitchers are especially welcome to join.

As you may have heard, it's fun league where interesting things sometimes happen: Like this, or this,  then this happened, and of course this, and who could forget this,  and this too. And don't forget the top notch officiating.

Shawville Men's Fastball League back for 2015

After a successful debut with three teams last season, the Shawville men's league is back for 2015 and looking to expand to four.

Games are the Shawville RA diamonds on Monday nights, once a week.

This league is recreational and open to all skill levels. If you are interested in participating, contact Joe McCleary via Facebook, by phone 613-294-7319 or email at shawvillefastpitch@gmail.com.