GRAND TRACADIE, P.E.I. - After the Island Sharks third place finish at its last tournament, Tracy Redmond sees the future for the women’s slo-pitch softball team.
And it involves first-place trophies.
“I definitely don’t see why that shouldn’t be on our radar, right? We were happy because we saw we were pretty even. There were no blowout games. We were happy with the way we played,” Redmond said during a recent practice in Grand Tracadie.
Third may not seem all that great a finish at the recent East Coast Softball Classic in Halifax, N.S., but consider the Sharks went 0-3 in the round robin portion, then ramped it up in the playoffs beating Recoil 16-14 before losing 10-7 to Fusion, the eventual champ, in the semifinal game.
For Redmond, a former Canada Games, provincial and national fastpitch player, the fire the Sharks show and feed off coaxed her in. It’s a chance to feel that heat again, she said.
“I did this because this is competitive. I spent a long time not playing competitive ball, but you still have that drive,” said Redmond, who lives in Johnstons River, adding players on the other teams, particularly in Nova Scotia, take slo-pitch seriously. “They’ve got eye black on, everything you need.”
So who are these Island Sharks?
Well, it’s a collection of current and former fastpitch and orthodox women’s softball players looking to amp up what slo-pitch softball is. It’s a provincial team, under the wing of Softball P.E.I., with aims of shining at the Slo-Pitch National Maritime championships Sept. 7-9 in Halifax.
From there, the Sharks will be seeded for the slo-pitch nationals for next year. And if all goes well, spots at the world tournaments in 2019 in Hamilton, Ont., and Las Vegas, Nev.
Ambitious upstarts these Sharks, you say? Well, the squad reflects their coach John Younker.
Younker sees slo-pitch (a sport often labelled and in some cases maybe reasonably so as beer leagues) in a different light.
“There’s another level of ball that’s not on the Island that these guys can play. They take this serious. In Nova Scotia slo-pitch is a big driving force. It’s a huge sport over there. Playing in tournaments is a different kettle of fish,” said Younker. “Women’s ball on the the Island stops at 23 (years old). It goes from under-eight all the way up, but then there’s no leagues, they’re done. Playing co-ed (softball) against guys can be a disadvantage. This is a nice option to put them in something different.”
That eye-view drew players to the Sharks such as like Redmond, long-time fastpitch standout Kate Domarchuk and 2013 Canada Games members Heather Drake, who helped Recoil win the D Division at the National Slo-Pitch Athletics Enterprise of Canada (NSA) Canadian World Series. Drake’s also the executive director of Softball P.E.I.
Younker and his wife Sammy, who handles the team’s finances, are avid softballers, getting in as many games in as many variations of the sport as possible over the week.
Sammy, for example, laces up the cleats in four leagues, five to seven games per week. Add tournaments and the grass at their Stratford house gets the cold shoulder.
“We just love the game. When we’re not at home, we’re at the ball field,” Sammy said.
For Sammy, success like Drake’s (she was approached by Recoil and other teams after the East Coast tourney) is what the Sharks are focusing on as much as playing the game.
“It provides an opportunity to be seen. Players are not really showcased on the Island because this is not the place to be showcased. They’re (teams and and scouts) are not going to come here. You’ve got to go to them to be seen. That’s what we’re trying to do… take this slo-pitch seriously,” she said.
The Sharks draw from a four-team league playing Fridays out of Spring lane Diamond in Charlottetown. The squad will host an eight-team tournament Sept. 1 at Ecole Francois-Buote with four squads coming from off-Island, including Recoil.
Sammy expects a good showing at the event as the squad improves. After all, in the team’s second tourney in Halifax members of other teams were already complimenting the Sharks on improvement from the team’s first event earlier in the season.
“I believe we can be at the top. In our second tournament, (the other teams) knew us where a little more worried. They thought we’d been together for years and years,” Sammy said. “We’re going to be one of the top teams once we get used to playing together. They give it their all out there.”
Dave Rupert is the team’s other coach.
Contact the Sharks at [email protected] or [email protected].
