Kids and baseball: two things that go together like French fries and ketchup.
Those two things came together for another year as the Yk Fastball League and Yk Minor Fastball once again co-hosted Family Day at the Ballpark at Tommy Forrest Ball Park on June 21. This year was the fourth edition of the event and thankfully, the rain held off although it didn't look too promising shortly before game time.
Garrett Hinchey, president of the Yk Fastball League, said he was a bit worried as the 6 p.m. start time approached.
“It was raining at 5 p.m. but thankfully, the skies cleared and we were able to get down to it and have a great night,” he said.
The evening is primarily for the minor ball players to come out and enjoy an evening of fun, which included a parade of the players, hot dogs and a running of the bases once the game was complete.
“We want to give the minor ball players a chance to see what the sport is all about at the upper level,” said Hinchey. “We want to inspire them and hope that they continue playing softball but we also wanted to have the community come out and join us as well. This is a community event.”
The duties were split between both organizations with the minor ball folks looking after the food and sponsorship for the event while the fastball league took care of the players and the umpires for the game.
As with all exhibition games, it started out light-hearted and fun but business picked up down the stretch and it turned into a genuine nail-biter, said Hinchey.
“My team got up 5-0 in the first inning but the other guys started on a big comeback,” he said.
In the end, a suicide squeeze was what scored the winning run from third base and it ended up 9-8 for the team captained by Devin Case.
“It reminded me of an all-star game where it's goofy and fun at the start but if it gets close near the end, you start talking strategy,” said Hinchey. “That's when everyone starts thinking about winning it and it was good to have an exciting finish for everyone.”
Eighteen of the league's players were in on the action and they were divided up as evenly as possible to ensure both teams had the right amount of pitching and hitting.
“We put out the call for players and Devin was the one who made the teams up,” said Hinchey. “We wanted to have good representation in terms of pitching but we also have a lot of players who coach in minor ball so we wanted the kids to see their coaches batting and pitching as often as possible.”
As much as the game was the highlight, the real excitement for the youth was the candy player. Batters from both teams were picked at random when they came to the plate and if they managed to reach base safely, every kid in attendance got candy of some sort.
“The kids love that part of it,” said Hinchey. “It puts more pressure on the batter because they know if they fail, the kids don't get candy.”
Apart from the fun, there was also a nice moment as the fastball league honoured the late Carl Bulger, who played in the league for several years before he passed away earlier this year. Hinchey and Steve Thomas, the league's vice-president, presented Gail Bulger, Carl's widow, and his children, Lonan and Regan, with a framed replica jersey from his time with the Carl's/Nexum Red Sox, a former team in the league.
Hinchey said it was as fitting a tribute as there could have been.
“Carl was a huge part of the softball community in town,” he said. “He was a player and a sponsor for so many years and it was a chance for us to honour him and his family.”
Hinchey also said the league's seven teams will all wear patches on their arms this season with Bulger's initials with the hope that there will be something more permanent done for him in the near future.