Slo-pitch popularity on the rise
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Well we are hopefully back to having complete seasons in Tillsonburg Men’s and Ladies Slo-pitch this year after a weird couple of years.
Both executives would like to thank the Parks and Recreation staff for having the diamonds ready to go for opening nights on May 9 and 10 respectively.
The Ladies League will feature 10 teams with Collins Harbour Marina And Resort and SOS returning as regular season and playoff champs in A and B respectively.
The League should be very interesting as some teams have seen a turnover in players and there will be an influx of new participants.
The League will play a round robin for first part of season then split into two divisions for rest of season.
This year’s teams, in no particular order, are OutKasts, Sirens, Indi-Girls, Collins Harbour and Marina, SOS Trucking, Jays, Foldens Machine Works, Pitches Be Crazy, Norfolk Electric and Marc’s Perkettes.
There has been increased popularity in Men’s Slo-pitch as the loop will feature 26 teams this season.
President Chris Parker, our tireless worker, has diligently formed the teams into the appropriate four divisions.
The A loop will feature seven teams with returning playoff champs BackCountry 4X4 (formerly Foldens Machine Works) heading up the division, finalists Courtland Landscape and Grounds, and Ward’s Automotive, G.C. Lounsbury Dirty Mitts, Haines Roofing, Miller Remodeling Chaos, and a former squad, Hitmen (a combination of former Survivors and Sluggers players).
The B Division will consist of five teams – Hit N Run, Team Awesome , Smitty’s Electrical, last year’s C regular season champs Pelicans, and C Division’s playoff winners Flippin Mike’s (formerly Morrison Realty Expos).
There will also be a new C Division team champion crowned this year. It could be one of the more even divisions contested with six teams led by incumbents John Beere, Norfolk Electric, and Freeman Mechanical Jokers, as well as three teams graduated from the D group – Crusaders, Tillsonburg Fire and Safety and last year’s undefeated D champs Sandy Shore Brew Jays.
The D group will feature eight teams and a lot of new teams and players. Bad News Bears, J/E Bearing, The Misfits, RLP Melanie Luksys, The Eh Team, Designated Drinkers, Pre-Gamers and The Hitmen.
In closing I would like to pay respects to three former slo-pitch players we lost over the past season.
She could only be called the matriarch of Ladies Slo-pitch in its earliest years. We lost the coach and backbone of the Sockettes, Marion Partlo.
Two Men’s players that passed were Dan Freeman, who I remember most for playing with the Verhoeve and Cowboys teams back in my early days, and Tim Hayward, a teammate on my Orioles squad, Ward’s, Gino’s and other teams as well as being the owner of Tillsonburg’s Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet franchise.
My condolences to families and friends of those who lost their loved ones.
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