June 6, 2014

 

St. Catharines, ON

 

St. Catharines Lancaster Park has a long History of Fastball Success

 

 

The last time a major men’s fastball tournament was held in St.Catherines’ Lancaster Park, ISC Hall of Famer Shawn Rychcik patrolled the outfield for the Escro Indians; Dan Yantzi was on the mound for the tournament champion Waterloo Twins; and Edmonton Oilers/LA Kings tough guy Marty McSorely best know as “ Wayne Gretzky’s bodyguard ” had traded in his elbow pads and hockey skates for a pair of spikes and the sweater of his hometown Caledonia Maple Forest Farm intermediate team. There was also a Newson catching for St.Catherines albeit his name was Clive, the patriarch of a long line of family catchers who have worn the tools of ignorance for the local team. The scorekeeper for that event was Jim Bradley, a fastball aficionado who has served as the MPP for St.Catherines for 37 straight years and held nearly every parliamentary Ministers role during his tenure. He currently serves the Province of Ontario as Minister of the Environment.

 

Yes, St,Catherines has a long line of fastball tradition and the teams wearing their colours have been synonymous with success through the years. Fastball old timers will remember the great major men’s teams starting with the St. Catherines Mr. Jackets led by a hard throwing slingshot pitcher, Dick Balint. The Jackets toiled in the legendary Ontario Fastball League and the Big 4 League, which also included nearby Grimsby Peach Kings and the Hamilton Waxmen Scrappers, and featured pitching greats like Wally Dyck, Ed Unrau, Dennis Amell and many others. In later years the Jackets became the St.Catherines Niagara Motors and their lineup included battery mates Newson and Balint, hard hitting first baseman Greg Dick, Bob and Bill Christie, Barry Newhouse and long time coach Al Beckman. Perhaps the greatest 3^rdbaseman of his era, Brian Ostrosser came over to guard the hot corner in St.Catherines when the Peach Kings folded.

 

The grand old Lancaster Park has seen a lot of great teams and players walk through the dugouts, and the grandstand area could easily be ringed with the provincial and national championship pennants earned by her teams over the past 5 decades. Many great sponsors made the minor system strong and in particular the Cleland A’s were the benchmark for junior fastball success for many years.

 

While Lancaster Park has been out of big time fastball for a few years all of that changes when the HILL UNITED SNAPPER SHOOTOUT brings a world class fastball event back to St,Catherines JUNE 20-22, 2014. The Shoot Out will feature a truly international lineup which includes National Teams from Argentina and the ISF World Champion New Zealand Black Sox; the #1 ranked defending ISC and ASA champion Hill United Chiefs; the #2 ranked and 2013 ISC finalists the New York Gremlins; the “new” Toronto Gators, the first Canadian team to ever win an ISC championship; the re-tooled and hungry New York Swashbucklers and Great Lakes Mariners and of course the host team, the Niagara Snappers.

 

Action gets under way on Friday night June 20 with the hosts Niagara Snappers hooking up against the Toronto Gators at 6:45 pm followed by the clash of champions at 9:00 pm when the Hill United Chiefs tangle with the New Zealand Black Sox.

 

Follow Al’s Fastball  /  and on Twitter  for all the game scores and schedule updates.

 

 

Perry Bartley

Hill United Snapper Shootout

misterpaulo@hotmail.com