Almost exactly one month ago, some of the greatest names in Capreol fastball history celebrated the sport at the Caruso Club, the legacy of the (Capreol) Mazzucas and various incarnations of the team honoured as the very first Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame inductees into the newly-created “Norm Mayer Dynasty” category.

Far be it from me to deter their summer longings for the athletic endeavour that reached its zenith, on a local level, in and around that 1950’s – 1960’s era when the Railway Town lads were collecting provincial banners like it’s nobody’s business.

The Northern Ontario Fastball Championship – the “Sham-Rick Shootout”, as it’s been dubbed – is hardly a new entry on the regional sport calendar, set to monopolize the diamonds of the Rick MacDonald Sports Complex in Azilda from July 21st to the 23rd.

This summer, however, offers a few very interesting twists, beyond simply the fact that the event is feeling far more in line with the handful of pre-pandemic showdowns that preceded the forced activity break that nobody wanted.

For starters, the Relics of Sudbury will be in attendance.

The local team that first emerged some thirty years ago and has now morphed in a Legends Division entry (50+) and competes across North America will join in the fun with the Men’s Open bracket.

This might not be particularly newsworthy if not for the fact that while the team is quasi-based out of northern Ontario, regulars on the roster will fly in from the east coast and Alberta and various parts of southwestern Ontario for tournament play.

“Some of the guys who are on the team have never been to Sudbury,” acknowledged Ward Gosse, still an impressive hurler and 2019 inductee into the Sport Newfoundland Hall of Fame.

“Given that we don’t know how many years we will have left, we thought it would be pretty cool to at least play a tournament in Sudbury.”

The fastball world is nothing if not an ultra-social setting.

Some 13 years ago or so, Gosse was the hired gun on the mound for a team based out of Parry Island, just across the water from the town of Parry Sound. There, his team would capture the ISC (International Softball Congress) 2 crown – with a little help from some northern neighbours.

“Chad St Cyr was on the team, Joel Belanger was on the team; we formed a bond there and the next thing I know, Sudbury was putting together a team and Ike (team manager Ike MacDonald) reached out,” said Gosse.

With the Shootout less than a week away, the man who earned his chops in fastball growing up in Bay Roberts (NFLD) and was every bit as proficient at the plate as he was with the ball in his hand some 45 feet from home plate is not losing any sleep over his team’s ability to keep games close with opposition that might be half their age.

“I can tell you that our legends team, even a bit short-staffed, can compete with a lot of senior teams still,” said Gosse. “The guys really keep themselves in shape. They like to play hard on the field, compete hard – and after the games are over, we like to sit back and make fun of one another.”

As the Relics ready themselves for an appearance at the ISC playdowns in Denmark (Wisconsin) next month, Gosse shared a message for all those who would have liked to celebrate the Mazzucas recent induction with the Capreol gents.

“I wanted to promote the tournament (Sham-Rick Shootout), make sure that people knew that some good fastball was going to be in the community of Azilda – and that at 40 or 45 or older, you can still play this game.”

The men will be joined again this year by a six team women’s division, with the four local teams competing in the Sudbury Ladies Fastpitch league joined by entries from both Muskoka and North Bay. A graduate of Sudbury Girls Softball, Amy Cardinal was one of a solid core of young women eager to make the jump once play resumed in the adult league in 2022.

“A lot of the younger girls who had moved up from bantam weren’t really sure what to expect,” acknowledged Cardinal, serving as the tournament coordinator for the ladies side of the draw next weekend. “Some of us had spared a little, but to be full time on these teams is really nice.”

“Everyone is very accepting; it’s a really good community.”

As for the level of fast pitch, there is a progression that is notable, albeit not one that is likely to scare away the more youthful newcomers. “We have a nice balance of competitiveness and just wanting to go out and have fun on the field in our league,” said Cardinal.

“The level of pitching was higher than bantam. The ball moves a little bit more. It rises, it drops, so that’s a little bit different – but I think the fielding and stuff is pretty similar.”

With the women’s fast pitch crew re-introduced last summer, the time was ripe for the feeder system to get back up and running. Long-time local umpire and friend of fastball Chris Pakkala had drawn my attention to the fact that a three team girls league now convenes each and every Wednesday at Downe Playground, the same site where girls softball had existed for years.

“They thought they might only get two teams, but this is their first year back and they’ve got three,” said Pakkala, who also noted that the Rick MacDonald Men’s Fastball League is now up to six teams, up a couple of entries from the quartet that have waged battle for much of the past decade or more.

All of which gives those who love and support fastball all the more reason to celebrate.

With a little help from fastball stats guy Eric Legendre, we bring you the current RMFL standings, as of July 12th: