Hurricane Earl is affecting a lot of people’s plans for the Labour Day weekend, and the 2010 Canadian senior men’s fast pitch championship in Charlottetown is no exception.
Softball Canada officials decided Thursday to move up most of Saturday’s playoff schedule to today and cancelled any action at the Central Field complex. One game slated for today was added to Sunday’s schedule.
Instead of playing a marquee Friday night matchup, the host P.E.I. Gahan House Bud Light Fawcetts will start the playoffs at 1 p.m. today against Three Cheers Pub from Newfoundland and Labrador. A win and an Island team will finish in the medals for the first time in this event since its inception in 1965.
The changes will likely mean a hit at the gate and at the beer tent for the host committee, with some fans now having to come up with a quick excuse to skip out on their workday to watch the host squad play its biggest game of the tournament.
“It’s the same as any business. When you lose a day, you don’t get it back,” said host committee chairman Trent Birt. “We were doing quite well at the gate and quite well in our beverage tent, and now that Saturday revenue is not there.
“We’re hoping that some additional people will come out Friday and maybe spend the day here and maybe recoup a little bit that way. But at the end of the day, it’s late notice and people are still working. What we do have going for us is that the Fawcetts are playing well and have a huge chance of medalling here, so we’ll deal with the hand we have. Weather’s the one thing you just can’t control.”
Results earlier in the day rendered the Fawcetts’ round-robin finale against Three Cheers Pub Friday night meaningless, as both clubs had secured a top-four finish and a double life in the playoffs. Both sides used their benches liberally as the Newfoundlanders pounded out 11 hits in an 8-1 victory that lasted just five innings.
Three Cheers Pub struck for three runs in the first and three more in the second, and coasted to victory from there. Justin Gill led the way with a three-run homer and an RBI-single, Bryan Clarke added two singles and a pair of RBIs, Andrew Evans tripled and singled and Jamie Peddle chipped in with a pair of singles.
Winning pitcher Donnie King surrendered only a first-inning single to Chris Craig and a fourth-inning pinch-hit home run by Kelly Wenstrom. Mitch Hardy pitched the first inning for the Fawcetts and took the loss, Frank Cox came in for two innings and Mike Bishop mopped up.
“Neither team put any stock into today’s game at all,” said Wenstrom. “They played their guys that have put in a bunch of time to get here, and we played our guys that have put a lot of time and effort to get here and deserve chances to play. We didn’t get the pitching, but guys got some at-bats and played in front of a big hometown crowd.”
Wenstrom, who lives just outside Calgary, has come to nationals with the Fawcetts for a couple of years. The 48-year-old owns a pair of construction companies.
“It’s tough to play at this level at 28, and this is my 15th or 16th trip to nationals now,” said Wenstrom. “I still enjoy playing and I can still compete with the young kids. Being my own boss means no one can tell me when I can take holidays, so I still can take the time to play.”
