Four teams weathered the pouring rain on Saturday in order to wrap up the first season of Bowen Island’s co-ed softball league. In the final game, the last-place team heading into the tournament, The Cruisers, won over the Sluggers, who dominated the league throughout the season.
With urging from Michelle Mazzota, George Zawadzki and Casey Grundy sorted out how to make the league a reality. Open to players of all abilities, the league held a draw at the beginning of the season to make up fair, equally matched teams.
Jim Gibson, who coaches both the softball and fast-pitch Cruisers team, says the improvement in the level of play from the beginning to the end of the season was remarkable.
“There were a number of players who had never played baseball before and by the end of the season, they were doing really well,” says Gibson. “It would have been really challenging to pick a most-improved player. Everyone had a great attitude.”
The Cruisers played the wettest game of the tournament against the Jays at 2pm.
“I’ve never seen anyone play in so much rain,” says Gibson. “The ball would just hit a puddle, and stop.”
Following the final, all the teams congregated at Doc’s for a year-end party.
League organizer George Zawadzki says that the level of community support in the way of sponsorship was impressive given it was the league’s first season. He adds that there is already a growing list of players for next year and that hopefully, the 2017 season will start earlier.
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