Kitchener (June 1, 2006) – For years in the beer gardens at tournaments and more recently on internet chat forums, the question always gets asked: Which league has the best players?

The first annual Ontario All-Star Challenge will help answer that question as the best of the local South Perth Men’s Fastball League will take on the Golden Horseshoe Fastball League (GHFL) in an all-star game this August.

The game, to be played at 9 pm on Thursday August 10 at Hallman Park, will be a prelude to the International Softball Congress (ISC) World Tournament which starts the following evening and the ISC II Tournament of Champions that kicks off that Sunday.

“We’ve been saying that we’ve got the best league in Ontario for a long time and now we’re going to put that to the test,” said South Perth league president George Nahrgang, whose 18-team league stretches from Harriston to Mitchell to Tavistock, and boasts the winners of the last three ISC II tournaments

“We’re really looking forward to the opportunity and I think we’re going to surprise some people,” countered Blair Setford, president of the 11-team GHFL, which includes teams in Mississauga, Hamilton-Waterdown and the Niagara region.

Setford approached Nahrgang with the idea for the game over the winter. “It’s something that all ball players talk about when they get together and, with the ISC Worlds in Kitchener the next two years, this is the perfect showcase for the All-Star Challenge.”

“This is a great opportunity for fastball fans to come out and get a taste of the action that they’re going to see during the third week of August,” said host committee chairman Tom Clancy.

Both leagues count several senior ball players on various team rosters, along with many more top-notch intermediate players, so the game will undoubtedly be hotly contested – particularly with the added incentive of a to-be-determined wager between the two leagues.

“I’m sure we’ll come up with something besides just bragging rights,” said Nahrgang. “This isn’t a grudge match yet, but it really does have the potential to develop into a good rivalry,” added Setford.

Some of the South Perth players expected to take part in the game include Don Scott and Dale Levy of the Kitchener Hallman Twins, the host team for the ISC World Tournament, along with Jim, Jodie & Jay Schnarr of the Bridgeport PROforma Braves, who are the host team for the ISC II Tournament of Champions – the intermediate division of the ISC.

Among those that may be representing the GHFL are Scott Wagar, who led his Jarvis team to 4^th at last year’s Canadian Senior Nationals, Byron Demoe, of the Niagara Snappers, who tied for 5^th at last year’s ISC II championship, and Jeff Wilson, who has won four junior national championships in a row and is graduating to senior ball this year.

Admission to the park will be free for the game, which will be preceded by a game at 7 pm featuring the Czech Republic National Team and the Danish club team that are competing in the ISC World Tournament. The game will also be broadcast over the internet on streaming audio through www.ballparkradio.com.

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