Going from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon, the tournament featured nine mixed teams in a single division, competing in a round robin format. Each team played three seven-inning matchups with hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage.

To keep everyone’s thirsts quenched throughout the weekend, volunteers doled out ice cold beverages from the bar inside the R.A. hall, while Billy T’s food truck dished out fresh pies for the hungry attendees.

When it was all over, defending champs Willow Hollow Farm prevailed, winning a $500 cash prize and the right to engrave their name on the big trophy for the fourth consecutive year. The finalists, Do It for Darren, earned a $250 prize and like in previous years, both teams donated their earnings to the R.A, according to member Charlie Richardson.

Typically, the tournament features around a dozen teams divided in a fastball and a slow pitch division but with less teams registering than in previous years, Richardson limited the tournament to a single division.

“It’s a little lower than normal,” he said. “It’s just slow pitch.”

As a fundraiser for the general upkeep of the R.A. hall ahead of the winter, Richardson noted that the proceeds from this year’s tournament will go towards purchasing a new backstop for the ball diamond at Elwood Dale Park.

The tournament generally raises around $3,000 and $4,000 for the R.A., said Richardson.

Having been with the R.A. for a decade, Richardson was part of the committee that first organized the tournament five years ago. He explained that the main incentive behind putting it together was to enhance the ballpark at a time where fastball was steadily gaining more traction in the town.

“We wanted to improve the ball field,” he said. “It started to become more popular. Shawville is always a hockey town and we’re seeing ball starting to become more popular. There’s fastball here all the time now and kid’s ball and stuff like that.”

While the participation rate saw a slight downtick compared to previous years, Richardson was still thrilled with how the tournament played out.

“It’s still a great fundraiser,” he said. “Everyone is so good. Even the ones that win, every year they give us their winnings back. They’re all people that use the facility and they don’t care about making $20 each or whatever. They give it back.”

For Richardson, the best part about hosting the tournament every year is catching up with the familiar faces all while appreciating the constant improvement of the field over the last few years.

“I have three sons, so they’re going to have a really nice place to play,” he said. “It’s great.”

In total, the event raised around $5,000 from registration fees and sales from the bar, Richardson said.

Also on Friday evening the Quyon Flyers hit the diamond against the Stittsville 56ers as part of the Greater Ottawa Fastball League playoffs, where Quyon walked away with a 9-1 blowout win.

According to Flyers second baseman Matt Greer, the team’s next series will consist of a best of three semi-finals later this month.

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