Cade Kuehl’s continued fastball excellence earned him an all-star nod at the U20 Canadian Fastpitch Championships, which wrapped up this weekend in Carp, Ont.
The catcher from Shawville was playing for Team Quebec, as he has since 2023. He is coming off the heels of a successful summer in 2025 as he helped Team Quebec win silver at the Canada Games and a bronze medal at the U20 national championship. Kuehl also helped Team Canada to a bronze medal at the U18 Pan American Championships in Argentina in his first taste of international competition.
This year, as has been the case for the past few seasons, he was joined on the Team Quebec side by Campbell’s Bay native Hunter Beauregard, also Kuehl’s best friend and training partner.
Kuehl said he spent much of the winter training in the batting cage, and has been playing a lot of ball this summer as well with various teams.
The Quebec team went into the eight-team tournament with high expectations, having won bronze at last year’s nationals.
Their result in the round-robin was three wins and four losses, pitting them against the Plattsville Lightning in the knockout round.
After a back-and-forth game, Quebec pitcher Mark Tomatuk hit a home run to put his team in front for good. Kuehl said it was a thrilling win to put them through to the next knockout round.
“That was good. Coming in they were one of the favourites, if not the favourite,” he said.
Later on Saturday, Quebec had one final chance to qualify for the placement round: a matchup with the St. George Aces from Ontario. Unfortunately the Quebec side did not emerge victorious, narrowly losing the game by a score of 7-6.
The host West Carleton Electric ended up winning the gold, while the St. George Aces took second. Third place was snapped up by the Brookfield Elks of Truro, Nova Scotia, with Team Quebec settling for fourth place.
While the end result wasn’t what Team Quebec wanted, Kuehl ended up being one of thirteen players named to the tournament all-star team. Kuehl managed 10 hits throughout the tournament, with one home run, five RBIs and seven runs scored, earning him the nod at the catcher position.
His teammate Beauregard managed 11 hits, one home run, 4 RBIs and six runs scored.
Kuehl credits his success to a lot of advice from his mentors, especially when it comes to staying focused in the batter’s box. He said instead of getting frustrated with an at-bat, he’ll look at the Easton symbol on his bat to ground himself in the moment and distract himself from any frustration.
“One of the things I’ve been working on is not striking out. When you put the ball in play, usually good things happen,” he said of the benefit of this technique.
This year was Beauregard’s last year of eligibility for the U20 squad. Kuehl said he’s happy to have shared the field with his best friend but regrets that their playing career together for Team Quebec has come to an end.
“I’m so grateful that he was there every step of the way, and I think he still will be. I think he loves the sport too much to let it go.”
In the fall, Kuehl will continue his foray into international softball competition. He has been recruited to play for the Birkdale Falcons of Birkdale, New Zealand, where he will compete in that country’s top-level fastpitch championship.
