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ORIGINAL STORY By Steve Rice, Stratford Beacon Herald with photos
Don Scott planned to retire from playing in Canadian championships this year.
But when the tournament is 10 minutes from your house it's hard to say no.
"When they announced it was in Stratford, I said, 'there's no way I can pass that up,'" Scott said Tuesday as his Scarborough Force got set to open the championships against Shakespeare Falcons at the Packham Road ball diamonds. "A lot of people that follow me a bit want to come and watch, so ....
"It's great, actually, because I'm 10 minutes from my home. There's no flights, no travel."
Scott, 39, said he would have passed on the Canadians because they come only a week after the ISC world championships and to recuperate and play at the top level becomes "harder and harder."
"I was thinking with all the travel, plus I've got two young kids who are into more sports ... it takes a bit more out of us to get the time off."
His employer, Boshart Electric in New Hamburg, has been "excellent" about allowing him time off while he pitches in the summer.
After seven or eight years pitching in Kitchener and one year each in Jarvis and Midland, Scott joined the Scarborough team when they asked.
"I wasn't happy where I was last year or the year before, they approached me about playing and they're a good young team so I took the opportunity," said Scott, who says it's more difficult finding teams to play on after he became a PRAWN (Player Rep All-World Name) by being named the most outstanding pitcher in leading Jarvis to the ISC world title in 2011. Teams are allowed only one PRAWN pitcher.
"The elite teams always have their one PRAWN, so when I became a PRAWN it became an issue for me to stay with the top teams. Luckily enough Scarborough didn't have one so I took the opportunity to go there and it's worked out good.
"Basically we've tried to put a team together to come here and defeat the defending champs, Newfoundland."
Newfoundland 3Cheers Pub blanked the Force 3-0 in the final game on Tuesday's schedule. Scott allowed one earned run over four innings, walked none and struck out four.
Newfoundland scored two runs off Andy Skelton, like Scott a member of Canada's national team, in the seventh inning.
National team pitcher Sean Whitten tossed a three-hitter with no walks and eight strikeouts for the win.
Scott didn't pitch in the Force's 8-1 win over the host Falcons and says he might see only limited action in the early part of the tournament since he tore a calf muscle at the ISC's. But as the end of the week and the playoffs approach he'll be less cautious because "it's the last tournament of the year so you go out and you've got the winter to heal."
As he nears 40, Scott says his pitching has changed slightly.
"I'd like to think I got a little smarter," he said. "Instead of trying to throw it by everybody, you work the corners a little more and work your pitch counts differently.
"Just use your head more than your arm."
Errors and mental mistakes were costly to the Falcons in their five-inning loss to the Force.
Skelton allowed just three hits and struck out seven Falcons.
Nick Laurette took the loss, giving up eight hits and three walks in two and two-thirds innings. Fred Follings was great in relief, allowing no hits and one walk while striking out three.
"Four unearned, so it's a 4-1 game going into the sixth against one of the teams that's probably going to be in the finals, so that's not bad," said Follings. "If we get our defence together we've got a much better chance, obviously.
"We're good enough to be here so we're going to try to win the games we can, go out there with the guys we've got and do it."
Former Stratford Cullitons' defenceman Reid Yantzi singled home Kyle Harloff, who had also singled, with the Falcons' only run in the fifth inning.
The Falcons' Sam Forbes, 60, is just back from winning a gold medal with the Canada Classics at the World Masters Games in Italy. He hit .706 in the tournament for players 45 and over.
steve.rice@sunmedia.ca
