It'll be men against boys some nights this season at Spruce City Stadium.
The Prince George midget Timberwolves are now part of the Spruce City Men's Fastball Association (SCMFA), which gives the team of 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds a place to play. The Timberwolves are the traveling team of the Spruce City Minor Boys Softball Association and with no other midget teams in close proximity, the club jumped at the chance to play in the adult league.
"The Spruce City minor boys have an all-star team and I think a lot of it is just to keep them playing ball because if they keep playing with just two teams in their own (house) league, eventually they're all going to quit, so we let them come and play in our league," said SCMFA executive member Chad Ghostkeeper.
"Right now, especially in our league, there are a lot of older guys in their 30s, so we have to get these younger guys to keep the game going."
The five-team league also includes the defending champs, Custom Edge Sports, Superior Fencing Reds (last year's playoff finalists), Falcon Contracting juniors and the Binche Steelers.
Whenever the juniors and midgets are matched up against one of the adult teams, that team will lend its pitcher and catcher to the juniors/midget team, while the younger pitcher and catcher will swap teams and play for the adult team.
"Until they get used to the pace of the game we'll do that: you want to keep it safe, you don't want these kids to get hurt," said Ghostkeeper. "We'll see how it works out."
Custom Edge will be on the lookout for some pitching help with the ace, hard-hitting slugger Adam Donnelly, awaiting surgery and likely out for the season. Custom Edge will have a couple holes to fill on the pitching rubber with Brendon Creyke on the move to Vancouver to pursue a career as an on-ice hockey official.
Kyle Garnot, Norm Linton and former Vanderhoof Angel Kalen Bird head the returning cast of pitchers for the Reds, while Ghostkeeper and Chris French will pitch for Falcon Contracting.
SCMFA games at Spruce City Stadium will be played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights starting at 7 p.m.
Some of the midget- and junior-aged players will join Superior Fencing as the traveling team from Prince George at out-of-town tournaments. The Reds will be busy this year with nine tournaments on their schedule. That starts next weekend at a 12-team event in Burns Lake, followed by trips to Westbank, Canim Lake, Fort St. James and Vanderfoof.
The only local fastball tournament this year is the all-native tournament on the Canada Day long weekend (July 3-6), featuring 12 men's teams, eight junior men's teams and four women's teams. The NB Petro Hawks of Regina, who won the Canadian all-native championship last year, are coming back to try to defend their title at the Prince George tournament. Also making a repeat appearance are the Westbank Cardinals, the 2013 Canada Day tournament champs and last year's finalists.
"There's a team coming from Canoe Lake, Sask., and they're known for their fastball and they'll be something to watch," said tournament organizer Sheldon Bjorklund, the Superior Fencing manager.
Two Spruce City teams - Superior Fencing (also known as Big Guy Lake) and Custom Edge Sports - will join the Hawks, Cardinals, Canoe Lake, Takla Lake, Lake Babine First Nation (Burns Lake), Stoney Creek Stampeders (Vanderhoof), Canim Lake/Shuswap, Moricetown (Alta.), Driftpile (Alta.), Bridge Brewers (Ashcroft, Spence's Bridge, Lilloet) in the all-native tournament.
The Brewers won the Kamloops all-native tournament two weeks ago. Bjorklund is working on getting commitments from teams in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to fill out the men's lineup.
For the women's tournament, Bjorklund has commitments from the Canim Lake Windwalkers, LNG Dreams of Kamloops and the Bridge Brewers and is looking for a fourth team willing to make the trip to Prince George.
The junior men's division will include the Big Guy Lake junior Reds, Burns Lake, Goodfish Lake (Alta.), and Gift Lake (Alta.). Bjorklund expects Moricetown and Fort St. James will also send junior men's teams.
The Falcon Contacting junior roster includes Ghostkeeper and Randy Potskin, who both played for Randy's A's of Invermere last year. Creyke and Evan Potskin of Prince George helped the A's to a ninth-place finish at the 64-team International Softball Congress world championship in Waterloo, Ont.
