Softball event has international appeal

July 15, 2013

 

ORIGINAL STORY  by Jude Wilbers, Fox 11 Sports  

  With some great video interviews!

 

Thanks to Dean Kane

DENMARK - For over 40 years the "boys of summer" fast pitch softball tournament in Denmark has been attracting some of the top men's fast pitch softball talent in the country. This year’s twelve team field featured eleven teams based around the United States and another from Canada. Their rosters though have a decidedly international flavor. Many teams recruit players from overseas to play on their teams.
Colin Shawn, from the Saskatoon Diamondbacks, said their team is a little different.

"We're an all-Canadian team, a bunch of local boys,” Shawn said. “We've got one import from British Columbia, but we're all a local league team from back home."

He added, "We're a low budget team but we'll see if we can give the big boys a run for their money."

While the team from Saskatoon features all players from Canada. Their opponents from New York are more like the standard these days. They feature players from across the globe.

The New York Gremlins Manager Denny Bruckert explained, "we're really pretty much an international team,” adding, "We all know each other and it's just kind of a recruitment situation

The Gremlins, the world's top ranked team, feature players from five different countries. Andrew Kirkpatrick, one of the New York pitchers, is from New Zealand, and he said it’s a win-win situation for the international players.
"It's unreal. We couldn't ask for anything more. We get out of winter back home which is a good thing and then we get to come here and play against some of the best ballplayers in the country and the world actually so it's only a good thing for us, Kirkpatrick said."

The Saskatoon Diamondbacks may be a throwback, with their team playing in a local league backs in Canada, but they aren’t necessarily a Cinderella in these types of events.

"Last year we finished second, the year before we won it, and we're back in the finals so we're going to see what we can do," Colin said.
In the end, the New York Gremlins took the title with a 19-0 romp over Saskatoon in the finals. The tournament win qualifies them for the 2014 world championships