HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-09-08, Page 14Page 12
Three full da
of baseball
BY JEFF SEDDON
Four dozen baseballs, 31 games, gallons
of beer, coffee and soft drinks, hundreds of
hotdogs and hamburgers, and a new g -and
champion team and the seventh annual
Labor Day weekend softball tournament is
history.
Three days of fastball from morning til
night. Incessant baseball chatter, the
constant thud of baseballs hittingbats and.
gloves and one team has emerged over 32
others as the best of the three days.
The annual Goderich tournament is
much more than just softball. Now the
largest tournament in Ontario it is a
combination of tun, competition and hard
work. All _ three.. portions of . the `three-day
event started off slow with the;fir ,pitch
Saturday morning and built slowly 'and
intensely until the last pitch Monday night.
As teams win their way through quarter
and semi finals rivalries build up to which
fans and players alike react. At the outset
of each new contest the fans pick their
team and back it with the same fervor they
would a home team. If the. club loses the
fans won't be fickle but they will pick up on
another team playing in the next game and
offer them the same support they did, the •
first team.
The players develop some of the same
competitive spirit as they begin each new
game. More than just the financial benefits
of winning games they sometimes build
rivalries between a team from a small
town playing one from a city. In some
cases the teams may be from neighboring
municipalities and bring an old grudge
from their own league play to the tour-
nament. Some of the teams remember the
game theyplayed against the same team
in last year's -tournament or they have
heard rumors that some club is powerful
and will be hard to get by to the finals.
Whatever the reason the players have for
winning a game, they all add up to the
same thing --= desire. Desire to win big in
this year's tourney and it is this desire the
fans pick up on and' react to to help the
three day contest to become a little more
successful.
Ths work involved in making the whole
thing a success is tremendous. Thetour-
nament executive begin early in the
summer mailing out invitations to teams.
Once they have • received the allotted
-number of replies they set up the schedule
and set the final gears in motion to kick off
the three-day event. .'
Beer and liquor must be bought; food hat
to be brought in for the players and their
families; the, diamonds raked, measured
and marked; players' lists verified and
checked at the outset of each game;
schedules to maintain; the bar and food
counter staffed throughout the three days;
ground rules explained; money collected
and counted; decisions faced by the hour;
and finally as the final game draws to a
close the most valuable player for the
tournament and the most sportsmanlike
player have to be chosen and awarded
their trophies. '
Throw a little socializing on top of that
list of jobs and you come up with a very
tiring weekend for the handful of hard
working executives that eachyear throw
their backs into the jobtotry to make this
year's weekend better than last.
The whole thing adds up to success, the
type of success that has carried the
Goderich Labor Day Weekend Fastbatl
tournament from a one day, six team
tournament to the biggest fastball tour,
nament in the province.
The seventh annual tournament is over.
The executive wrapped up the weekend in
the bar nursing a cold one and making
bleary-eyed plans for the eighth tourney,
the best one yet.
Ted Diltz team officials`
accept A division trophy
Ted Diltz of London win in 1975:
PRIZE MONEY
Total -;2095.00
"A" Division
1st Game victory -'25.00.
2nd Game victory -'40.00
3rd Game victory- 900.00
4th Game victory -'200.00
Sth Game Victory -'50.00 (Grand Championship)
"B" Division
1st Game victory ='20.00
2nd Game victory -'30.00
3rd Game victory - '70.00
4th Game victory -'100.00
Sth Game victory '175.00
6th Game victory -'50.00 (Grand Championshi"
"Slow -Pitch"
1st place flash 900.00
2nd place finish -'50.00
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SPORTS, NEWS - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Your local newspaper tells it best!-..:
SIIINAI-STAR -P.IIBIISfflN•8 ITB.
We wish to welcome the 9th. Annual _Fastball
Tournament Teams to Goderich
Sept. 2,3,4,5
Publishers of The Goderich Signal -Star
The Clinton News -Record
The Kincardine News
The' MitchellAdvocate
- The Lucknow Sentinel
The Huron Shopping News
The. Dollar Saver
Web Offset Printer of 19 ared weekly newspapers
Home of the Signal -Star Paper Leafs
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