Little rest for Fehrman after Pan Am gold

July 27, 2015

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ORIGINAL STORY by Darryl Smart

Little rest for Fehrman after Pan Am gold

Norfolk News

Last Wednesday, Ian Fehrman was finally able to sit down, relax and collect himself from probably the craziest few weeks of his fastball career.

“Today is the first day it’s actually got a chance to sink in,” Team Canada’s shortstop said of their Pan Am Games gold medal win. “I had to run around a bit after the Pan Ams, I had to get back to work as well. But when I finally got to sit down, it all kind of sunk in.”

It’s been a whirlwind to say the least for the Townsend resident.

A few weeks removed from helping Canada win gold at the International Softball Federation World Championships in Saskatoon, the team continued to roll in Ajax, going undefeated at the Pan Am Games to capture gold.

“It’s pretty crazy when you sit down and think about it,” Fehrman said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment to win both golds in only a few weeks span like that.

“Coming into the summer, you had that picture in your head,’ he said. “The fact it’s a reality and how it came down is incredible.”

And to do it in Saskatoon and Ajax made it even more special.

“It was unbelievable,” Fehrman said. “Family and friends have always wanted to come and watch me play for Team Canada, but a lot of them had never had the chance before because we’ve never played so close to home. The best part about all of this is being sharing it with family.”

And when Oh Canada began to play with the gold medals around his neck, that’s exactly what he was thinking about.

“Seeing my family up there was really special,” Fehrman said. “My parents have always been there and my wife and kids were there. You couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

That includes a near-perfect run to double gold.

“Me and a couple of guys talked about it earlier this year. On paper we have the best team here,” Fehrman said. “All we really needed to do was have it all come together. And that’s exactly what happened. Everything just came together. We had timely hitting, amazing pitching, and great defence. The only loss we’ve had during this run was to New Zealand in pool play (at the ISF Worlds). It really is an incredible run, considering they have owned it for the last few years.”

And even a 5-0 deficit in the ISF Worlds gold medal game didn’t stop them. If anything, it was a turning point for their fate at the PanAm Games.

“You could just feel the comeback,” Fehrman said of the ISF gold medal game. “Once we came back, there was that feeling that we would just keep rolling. And when we got to Toronto we kept it going. There were some tense moments. But we were also riding a pretty huge high, and everyone’s confidence was to a point that it carried us to that next level.”

And now that Fehrman has two more gold medals to proudly display at home, his summer of ball isn’t over. The focus now shifts to the Kitchener Hallman Twins.

With work commitments not allow him to play this past weekend at the American Softball Association championships in Erie,  PA., Fehrman and the Twins are gearing up for the International Softball Congress World Championships in South Bend, IN, August 8 to 15.

“We should be in the thick of things,” Fehrman said. “We’re ranked second and have a lot of the same guys we did last year when we lost in the final.”

 

dsmart@norfolknews.ca