Stouffville's Skelton gets chance to help keep Canadian men's softball streak alive

Andy Skelton is one happy ball player these days.

And with good reason.

With Team Canada announcing the 15-player roster it will put on the ball diamond for the men’s softball competition at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, the Stouffville resident made the cut, along with Stouffville native and left-handed hurler Paul Koert.

For Skelton, who will serve as a pitcher and designated hitter, being named to the team that will compete for gold at the Games to be held at the President’s Choice Ajax Ballpark in neighbouring Ajax is quite an honour.

In fact, he said, it ranks right at the top.

“Although this is not my first time with the national team, every opportunity to wear Canada across your chest has a special place at the top of my fastball career,” he said.

It also represents the first time Skelton will have an opportunity to play for Canada close to his Stouffville residence.

Skelton said he was informed of the good news by head coach John Stuart a few days prior to Thursday’s official announcement.

While there was a pool of 20 players to choose from in selecting the final squad, Skelton was fairly confident his name would be called.

However, he knew the Team Canada coaching staff had some tough calls to make to pare the roster.

“There is always a little bit of doubt, as there are 20 great softball players on the 20-man roster and I don’t envy the coaching staff’s position for a second making the roster cuts to get to 15 for the Pan Am Games,” he said. “I would like to say I was 99 per cent confident.

“But it all depends on the type of team that the coaching staff wants to put on the field and luckily, I’m a part of that team and extremely excited to be there.”

As for how Team Canada will fare, Skelton feels Canada has something to prove, as it has faced some formidable competition over the last few years from other countries in the Pan Am zone such as Argentina, Venezuela and the United States.

Playing in front of the home crowd though, he feels, could provide an intangible factor in helping keep Canada’s streak of men's softball gold at the Pan Am Games alive.

Canada has won gold every time men's softball has been included in the Pan Am Games.

“I think Canada has something to prove not only to the softball world, but to ourselves, which will make us dangerous and definitely the favourite to win,” he said.