The familiar sounds of fastpitch in Yellowknife were on full display last weekend at Tommy Forrest Ball Park.
If you were there and saw any of the action, you may have noticed something different: the bats.
Yes, they were wooden bats as the Yk Fastball League got its 2018 season with the Wood Bat Tournament, which wrapped up on June 10. Just three squads took to the field and they were a mish-mash of the league's players drafted into impromptu teams.
In the end, Vette's Guzzlers defeated Ruck Fugs in the final.
Ryan Sheppard served as the coach, if you will, of Vette's Guzzlers, and said even after a long off-season, everyone looked like they were in decent shape.
“The rust was there but the guys didn't look too bad,” he said. “We had some guys come out of retirement and they looked good. The pitchers weren't throwing at 100 per cent and that's just so they can get their arms loose and ready. We just sent out some feelers to see who wanted to take some swings before the season began and get some warm-up.”
The draft happened two nights before the tournament began at the Monkey Tree Pub. Each of the captains took turns drawing playing cards to determine the draft order and see who would pick who.
“It was a decent show,” said Sheppard. “We've had past years where guys showed up in suits for the draft but it was more laid back this year.”
The ball used for the games was a Hot Dot, which is the official ball used for slopitch but fastpitch balls don't carry well when being hit off of wood bats, said Sheppard.
“We wanted to have some bombs hit out,” he said. “Hot Dots fly a lot better.”
Fastpitch softball hasn't used wooden bats for a long time, even though they aren't illegal to use. Aluminum bats took before making way for composite bats, which are now the weapon of choice for batters in softball.
If you've never hit a softball with a wooden bat, you can tell the difference right away, said Sheppard.
“The difference between composite and wood is insane,” he said. “You feel the impact more with a wood bat and you have to give it some extra power. Composite bats nowadays, you just have to touch the ball and it's going.”
There's also the issue of broken bats, which happened a couple of times over the weekend, he added.
“A couple of guys got jammed on the hands and got sawed off,” he said. “Nothing like a clean snap of a baseball bat.”
The next tournament is this weekend as the Cold Cash Orioles Invitational gets going. It actually started last night with the first game between the Slades Expos and Matonabee Petroleum Trappers at Tommy Forrest.