South Cariboo fastball enthusiasts are looking to drum up interest in the game this summer ahead of the third annual Steven Daniels Jr. Memorial Fastball Tournament.
Every Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the last several weeks two teams of men have been playing against one another at the ball diamonds near the South Cariboo Rec Centre. According to organizer Shawn Archie, they began playing fastball games in the field in order to drum up interest in the sport.
"We talked to Chad Patterson, and he got a team together, and we got a team together," Archie explained.
Chad Patterson, who has a wealth of fastball experience, states that he has fond memories of the sport in the 100 Mile House area.
"It was huge. When we were kids here, there used to be 20 or 30 teams, so it was absolutely huge, just watching and getting involved in it," Patterson said.
In recent years, however, an organized fastball league has largely fallen by the wayside outside of occasional summer tournaments. Patterson said he and the other players would love to see a fastball league return to 100 Mile House.
"There are lots of guys that want to get out and play, lots of people that have moved into town, that we don't even know about, that want to be playing ball," stated Patterson.
Jerome "Stompy Boys" Boyce, who usually plays multiple positions, and has had invitations to fastball tournaments as far away as New Zealand, states that there are health benefits to playing fastball.
"It's good for the mind. Just keeps you active and makes you more alert."
Boyce said there are many reasons why fastball has had a decline in interest in the 100 Mile House area.
"Just that people start to grow old and people move away because of other work, especially our jobs and it's just little stuff like that," Boyce remarked.
According to Archie, last week was their best run where his team had 18 players, while the other had 14 players. Archie, who has been participating in the games for the last couple of weeks, stated that it would be nice to see fastball back in the town.
"Lot of us guys here, most of us don't play slow-pitch. We'd much rather play fastball," Archie remarked.
In addition to trying to get fastball started in 100 Mile House again, Archie is involved in organizing the third annual Steven Daniels Jr. Memorial Fastball Tournament, which is set to be held between August 16 and 17 in 100 Mile House. In previous years the tournament was held at Eliza Archie Memorial School's baseball diamond in the Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation and attracted teams from across B.C.
Daniels was a councillor for the Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation and an avid fastball player who passed away in 2021 from cancer at the age of 42. The tournament has since been organized by his friends and family.
"We call him the Wall, nothing could go by him. He was heavy into sports all his life," Archie said about Daniels.
This year in addition to moving the tournament to the Lumberman's Park and Robinson Park by the South Cariboo Rec Centre, Archie said they have 10 teams scheduled to come and play. This year they'll be competing for cash prizes with the first-place team receiving $1,800 in cash, second place receiving $1,000 in prize and third place receiving $800.
Archie encourages anyone with an interest in fastball to come watch the tournament later this month.
"Baseball's a fun sport - usually, the games get tighter and tighter as the tournament goes on," Archie remarked. "It'll be a lot of fun to watch."
