SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — It’s a big weekend in the Summerside area for fastpitch softball fans.
The Summerside Showdown tournament, which will feature seven teams in a combined under-14/under-16 division and four under-12 squads, will take place from Friday through to Sunday afternoon at the Slemon Park diamonds.
The under-16 provincial team – P.E.I. Stars – will use the tournament to prepare for the Canadian championship in Calgary from Aug. 14 to 18.
“As the manager of our provincial team, I was struggling to find tournaments for the girls to attend in July,” said Dave Campbell. “In the past, we’ve gone to Montreal and we considered travelling to Maine, USA, to find some good competition. They are some high-quality tournaments and I believe we can offer the same here in Summerside.
“With Calgary being a costly trip (for nationals), we thought we could host a tournament to cut down our travel costs, potentially raise some funds and to showcase girls’ fastpitch here at home.”
Campbell noted organizers chose Slemon Park for its central location and added efforts are underway to drum up support for the addition of dugouts. He encourages anyone interested in assisting, or requiring more information on the dugout project, to contact him at [email protected].
Teams
Along with the Stars, two Island under-14 teams – P.E.I. Western Wildfire and P.E.I. East Ravens – will compete. Four off-Island teams, including the Sackville Surge Crush, Fredericton Twins, Stellarton Stingers and Moncton Rebels, round out the combined under-14/under-16 field.
The North Shore Riptide, Stratford Stealers, West Royalty Rockets and Summerside Heat comprise the under-12 field.
Campbell added the tournament hopes to add under-14 and under-19 divisions next year and increase the team total to 20.
Schedule
Summerside Showdown tournament schedule:
(All games at Slemon Park)
Friday
Under-16
2 p.m. – P.E.I. under-16 vs. Sackville (Field A); Stellarton vs. P.E.I. East (Field B).
4 p.m. – P.E.I. under-16 vs. P.E.I. East (Field A).
6 p.m. – Fredericton vs. P.E.I. West (Field A).
Saturday
8 a.m. – P.E.I. West vs. Sackville (Field A).
10 a.m. – P.E.I. under-16 vs. Stellarton (Field A).
Noon – P.E.I. West vs. Moncton (Field A).
2 p.m. – Sackville vs. Fredericton (Field A).
4 p.m. – P.E.I. under-16 vs. Moncton (Field A).
6 p.m. – P.E.I. East vs. Moncton (Field A); Stellarton vs. Fredericton (Field B).
Sunday
9 a.m. – Semifinal: Second-place team vs. third-place team (Field A).
11 a.m. – Semifinal: First-place team vs. fourth-place team (Field A).
1:30 p.m. – Championship game (Field A).
Under-12
Friday
4 p.m. – North Shore vs. Summerside (Field B).
6 p.m. – West Royalty vs. Stratford (Field B).
Saturday
10 a.m. – Summerside vs. Stratford (Field B).
Noon – West Royalty vs. North Shore (Field B).
2 p.m. – North Shore vs. Stratford (Field B).
4 p.m. – West Royalty vs. Summerside (Field B).
Sunday
9 a.m. – Semifinal: Second-place team vs. third-place team (Field B).
11 a.m. – Semifinal: First-place team vs. fourth-place team (Field B).
1:30 p.m. – Championship game (Field B).
