Richmond Hill Men’s Fastball League
September 23, 2009
Richmond Hill, ON
Sept 22nd marked the final night of play for the Richmond Hill Men’s Fastball League for the 2009 season. The BlackSox were crowned as the repeat champions against the Indians in a hard fought bestof 3 series full of class and character.
To get to the final evening of play the Black Sox met team Big Red in the semi finals where they managed to set precedence with an excellent start and a 4-2 win. Pitching for the Sox was Tracey Woolridge.
In the second game of the series Black Sox had conflicting schedules with the Mississauga Fastball league and unfortunately were left with no alternative but to forfeit. In the final game of the series the score was 2-1 in favour of the Black Sox. Again a pitcher’s duel but in the end a strong Sox team prevailed.
In the final series vs. the Indians the Black Sox witnessed some very impressive pitching from both Rick Knight, throwing a 3 hitter for the Indians, while on the Sox side Woolridge throwing a 2 hitter, 17 K game. In dramatic fashion the game was ultimately decided by a bottom of the 7th2 out home run by Sox 1st baseman Darren Long to gain the 1-0 winover the Indians and the lead in the series.
In the second and ultimately final game, Sox got off to a rocky start giving up an unearned run early and the lead to the Indians on a miscommunicated play. Brian Davis throwing for the Indians was solidearly in the game and had given cause for concern to the Sox. However the pitching excellence continued as Woolridge held the Sox in tight until the 5th inning at which point it was Woolridge himself that began a 7 run inning offensively with a solid hit. Continuing on in dominate fashion the Sox ultimately broke out and decisively took the final game by a margin of 10-1 to maintain their status as champions of the Richmond Hill Men’s Fastball league. It should be noted that to win in Fastball you need to have pitching, pitching and more pitching. From my perspective Tracey Woolridge offered this throughout the entire season, deservedly earning the title of team MVP for theSox. Thanks Newf for often wearing your heart on your sleeve and pushing the rest of us many a time to compete night in and night out, especially with the schedule and time constraints you were under all season.
The Black Sox roster consisted of Tracey Woolridge-Pitcher, Al Leighton-Catcher, Darren Long-1st Base, Grant Mackenzie-2ndbase, Graham-Short Stop, Rick John-3rd Base, Bobby Bhasin (TeamRep)-Left Field, Ryan Walsh-Outfielder, Matt Carson-Center Field, DaveMcCartie-Right Field, and Billy McAndrews-DH.
Special mention goes to 2nd year player Bertrum Blackbird for the Indians and also Sean Fitgerald of the Indians, both of whom had exceptional defensive plays throughout their playoff runs. To Rick Knight the consummate seasoned Richmond Hill veteran pitcher who may have fell short of the goal of putting a championship notch in his belt but nonetheless played with intensity and the will and spirit of a lion. Finally to Mike Hutchinson who caught all year for the Indians and served as their team rep. Without guys like this to volunteer their time the dream of playing fastball for the younger generation does not remain constant.
My hats off to you gentleman and a big thank you for making this old guy a happy camper….Grinning ear to ear this morning. Thanks to Ken Harrington the league president and to the other teams reps for volunteering their time and effort to run this league exceptionally well and to offer competitive fastball time and time again.
Sincerely,
Darren Long
As an addendum to the report on the Richmond Hill Men's Fastball League I wanted to let everyone know that this league is based out of Richmond Hill Ontario and carries with it a fine tradition of competitive fastball as far back as the 1972 World Champion Dynes Fastball club.
In its various configurations the RHMFL has withstood the test of time and reached its current configuration under the convenorship of Ken Harrington, a long time Richmond Hill native and competitive world class fastball player.
The league runs each and every year from May to September and features anywhere from 4-8 teams, dependent on number. It is a draft format, although exceptions have been made, and games are played generally on Tuesday's and Thursday's with a mid season tournament.
Home parks include the large diamond complex know as the "Richmond Green" as well as the more well known "Town Park", a park that has been in play since the late 60's early 70's.
This year the Black Sox won in the final despite a super showing by the second place Indians, both teams of which are named by their respective team reps.
Players in this league like many leagues travel from near and far and over the years have included some of the most recognized players in the game.
For more information about the league feel free to email me.
dvlong@sympatico.ca
Sincerely,
Darren Long
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
