Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” brought to you by your local Auto Logic, the Logical Choice.
Sunday afternoon I sat under a gazebo at Croft Athletic Field in Meaford, perfectly situated behind home plate, for the final day of the Tom Simms Memorial Fastball Tournament.
The Tom Simms Tournament with an exceptional history behind it, had a very vibrant final day this year with the Wiarton Nationals pulling away late on the Tara Mariners for a 6-1 win in the Championship Final.
Andy Jackson of the Nationals was named as the tournament MVP, and I easily recalled my early days in Owen Sound and the old Canada Day Weekend fastball tournament when Jackson and the Kramer Contracting Bantams had an epic extra inning game against the Sport Stop….if I remember correctly the game went more than 20 innings……that was 30 years ago in 1986.
The point being that while there are ebbs and flows in the sport, fastball and tournament weekends remain as compelling as ever.
All of which rolls nicely into this coming weekend.
Thirty years after Andy Jackson was a Bantam, a new crop of Bantam players come to Duncan McLellan Park in Owen Sound for the O.A.S.A tournament.
The top teams after Saturday and Sunday will also return to Owen Sound August 10th-14th for the Softball Canada Bantam Championship Tournament.
Truly, fastball lives in Owen Sound, Grey and Bruce
I’m Fred Wallace