Jarvis, Ontario
Jarvis Merchants Fastball Challenge May 19-22
With the most of Ontario being pounded with rain for the last week, the
Merchants executive are happy to say that the final preparations around
the park were made under blue skies Wednesday night. The diamonds are
firm, the grass green and a local forecast calling for sunny skies and
temperatures hitting 17-18C has those involved looking forward to a
great long weekend of ball in the Jarvis area. Games are set to kick
off on Friday night at 7pm with the host Merchants taking on the
Ohsweeken Redmen. The Niagara Snapper and Oshawa BB Juniors will start
things on the second diamond at 7:30pm. The St Thomas Centennials,
Kitchener Twins and Midland Explorers will also be in action on Friday
night. Play continue Saturday morning at 10am and will continue through
to the first play-off games at 8pm Saturday night. Quarter-finals will
be played on Sunday starting at 10am with the Championship game
scheduled for 2pm.
In order to recognize the some of the history of fastball in the Jarvis
area, the teams have been split into two divisions and named after two
players who had spent time putting on dominating performances on the
Jarvis diamonds. The first division will be called the Edwards Division
in recognition of pitcher John Edwards who led Jarvis to a number of
Provincial titles in the 60's and 70's while going head to head with
some of the great legends like Pete Landers and Dick Hames. Edwards was
a smooth throwing sling-shot artist who seemed to be able to throw all
day long. The second division will be called the Ryder Division in
recognition of pitcher George Ryder. Ryder, who is the former coach of
the Merchants, was a dominating pitcher at the Annual Victoria Day
tournament from the mid-80's to early 90's while with the Waterford
Yin's fastball club.
The Edwards division consists of the Jarvis Merchants, St Thomas
Evergreen Centennials, Heflin Gremlins, and Ohsweeken Redmen. The Ryder
division consists of the Kitchener Hallman Twins, Midland Explorers,
Niagara Snappers, and Oshawa BB Juniors.
In addition to the senior tournament, the Merchants will also be running
an intermediate tournament over the same weekend that will conclude on
the Monday afternoon. Teams entered are the Cayuga Rebels, Caledonia
Sox, St Thomas Storm, Fisherville A's, Jarvis Rock, and the Motown
Muscle. The intermediate action kicks off with a pair of games at
6:00pm Saturday evening and continues on Sunday afternoon with the
finals scheduled for 3pm Monday.
With the return of fastball action to the park, the Jarvis Lions Club
will be preparing their traditional BBQ 1/2 Chicken dinner that was a
hit for both fans and players for a number of years. Cooking will be
started early Sunday morning with the first dinner being served at 1pm
Sunday afternoon.
Also on hand over the weekend will be Derek Pinkerton who will be
advertising and selling the first edition of the International
Superstars of Fastball Calendar. The calendar is designed to promote
the game of fastball with each month focusing on past and present
players from around the world. Cost of the calendars is $15.00 with
$5.00 from each calendar going back into the fastball community that the
calendars are sold in. In addition, with the purchase of each calendar,
you receive a free pass to the ISC travel league weekend on June 9-11
for games between the Orillia Riversharks, Innkerkip Eagles and Jarvis
Merchants and to the ISC League Tournament in July.
Entry to the tournament will be by donation only at the gate. Come on
out and catch some exciting fastball action on the Victoria Day weekend
in Jarvis. The Jarvis Lions park is located on the southeast corner of
the intersection of Highway #3 and #6 in downtown Jarvis.
Patrick Graham
pgraham@dapc.com
