It’s a grey Thursday at Shawville’s Elwood Dale field as the Quyon Flyers take the field for their weekly men’s league game. It’s the first inning, and Hunter Beauregard steps up to the plate, just like he always does.
He struts into the batter’s box, drawing a small cross into the dirt with his bat, a routine he does to honour his late father. He sees the ball leave the pitcher’s hand, waits for it to cross centre plate, and – whack! – unloads a single to left field. Jogging into first base, he looks to the dugout, where his teammate Cade Kuehl is the first on his feet to cheer him on.
In August, these two Pontiac lads – who also happen to be best friends – will take their connection to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where they will put their softball skills to the test representing Quebec at the Canada Games.
Brothers in ball
Kuehl, a catcher from Shawville, and Beauregard, a third-baseman from Campbell’s Bay, didn’t grow up together, but you wouldn’t guess it by the way they act.
“We’re brothers,” summed up Kuehl during an interview before their Flyers game.
The pair shared the diamond for the first time together as preteens in Shawville’s fast-pitch league, both impressive young prospects testing their stuff against the older guys. Since then, they’ve practically been pinned at the hip.
“We’ve always pushed each other [ . . . ] we share the same hobbies, we’re both super into sports, we like going to the gym,” Kuehl said.
But they’re far from carbon copies. Kuehl is the more outgoing of the two. He’s loud and unafraid to talk to anyone. That personality comes with a few quirks, including a laundry list of pre-game rituals and superstitions.
One time during a winning streak, he let his uniform go unwashed for nine straight games, storing the ripe-smelling result in the hotel closet between games so his bunkmates didn’t catch a whiff.
“I had to drive in the car with him,” said Beauregard, shaking his head. “It wasn’t good.”
Beauregard, in his first year studying history at the University of Ottawa, is more introverted. Not always the first to strike up conversation, he’s more likely to be at home with his nose buried in a YouTube video.
“Sometimes I’ll walk into his room and he’ll be watching a video about World War II,” said Kuehl, who has been Beauregard’s roommate for a year.
But at the end of the day both guys share a common goal that binds them at the hip: a burning desire to be great.
“Drive [ . . . ] when everybody else is sitting at home, Cade’s out hitting off the tee,” Hunter says about which single word he would use to describe his pal.
Softball runs deep
Beauregard’s journey with softball started early. “Ball’s been in my family for as long as I can remember,” he said, recalling memories of watching his dad’s games, crane-necked on the dugout bench.
“He was like my hero. I always wanted to be on the diamond with him,” he said of father Maurice Beauregard, who served a brief term as the mayor of Campbell’s Bay. Three years ago, Mo, as he was known, passed away from cancer at the young age of 43.
This was a blow to young Hunter, who saw his dad as his first softball role model. But mom Kelly says that ball kept him going.
“He’s gone through stuff that most people don’t go through until they’re well into adulthood, and he just has that focus that was really what got him through,” she said.
Now, when Beauregard traces his trademark cross over the plate, he does it while wearing the number 27 on his back. Mo’s birthday was Feb. 27.
“I like to think that he’s always with me when I’m playing,” said Beauregard.
Kuehl’s journey with the game started a bit later in life (he was a hockey player) but he took to the new sport right away.
Beauregard said the first time he saw Kuehl play, he was blown away by his pure talent and athleticism.
“He was a lot better than I was and I was pretty raw and he kind of had it figured out,” he said.
Though the pair grew up in different towns, they they became fast friends through ball. They made Team Quebec for three straight summers, logged countless hours in the batting cage, and got each other out of bed when training was the last thing on their minds. Last year, they won gold together at the Canadian championships.
“We can thank softball for the reason that we got so close,” said Kuehl.
As their careers blossomed, so did their bond. Nine-hour round trip journeys to and from practices in central Quebec proved ample opportunity to acquaint themselves. They talked about everything from family, to handling failure, to the crappy French warm-up music their teammates were playing.
“We’ve talked about a lot of things. I don’t think there’s anything we haven’t talked about,” Beauregard said of the drives, laughing.
As of last year, the pair are also roommates. “We know the ins and outs of each other’s lives, what we had for breakfast,” laughed Kuehl.
Of course, that friendship starts and ends on the ballfield. Each one credits the other with being his biggest supporter on the field and in the duguout.
“Having him by my side the whole time has been crucial [ . . . ] if I’m sitting there with my head in the dirt, Cade’s always the first one to come pat me on the back and say, ‘Let’s go!’,” said Beauregard.
Pontiac roots
On the dusty ballfields of the Pontiac, there’s no glamour, no scouts in the crowd. You had to want it more than the other guy.
Both guys say they hold this grit as part of their identity, and that it has enabled them to get to where they are today.
But they say that hard work wouldn’t have meant anything if it weren’t for the takes-a-village mentality so common in the Pontiac, where grizzled teammates often become unofficial mentors.
Both athletes attribute their development in part to the guidance of Matt Greer, a Shawville native who once made Canada’s 40-man national softball roster and who is a fixture in the local softball community.
They say Greer has become a mentor, as unorthodox as his methods may sometimes be. Kuehl said Greer, at one time his teacher at Pontiac High School, once plopped a tome into his hands in the hallway between classes with a title something like, “How to step up your mental game.”
Kuehl, who now takes special interest in that niche, took the book in stride, soaking up the tips and tricks inside, including how to block out distractions. Now, he counts his mental fortitude as among his best assets on the field.
“He’s obviously been through it all, and he’s done so much in the game. It’s just the text he’ll send whenever he sees that something’s off,” Kuehl said of Greer’s impact.
Both players have strong support networks at home. For Kuehl, it’s his sister, mom, and dad Allen, who Kuehl said has been a fixture in his softball life ever since he can remember.
“There hasn’t been a day that’s passed for five or six years that we haven’t talked about ball [ . . . ] I could probably count on one hand the amount of ball games that he’s missed over the years. It’s just so important having him in my corner.”
For Beauregard, the support comes from his mom, who he says is there for the highs, but perhaps most importantly the lows.
“The amount of driving, the amount of time and effort that she’s put in, I don’t think I could thank her enough,” he said.
“She’s always there to listen.”
While for these two young men, the brightest opportunities for the future may not include a life in the Pontiac, they said the place and its people are still an important part of their story.
“You look around and everybody’s working really hard in the Pontiac,” said Kuehl, who said it inspired him to do the same.
Both guys took some time this spring to instill that work ethic in the next generation of Pontiac ballers, hosting a clinic in the Pontiac High gym.
“We got noticed now, but what I want to do is be able to have the spotlight put on the younger kids and tell people, ‘Hey, we do exist here,” said Beauregard.
Kuehl added onto that point, saying that they would like to be the same kind of mentor that Greer and others have been for them.
“There has been people that have helped us throughout our journey [ . . . ] and without us helping other people that are younger, they might not have the same opportunities,” he said.
The Games
Both guys have been training hard in preparation for the games, travelling as far as Quebec City to practice with the team.
For them, the anticipation of the moment is palpable.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I feel pretty grateful that out of every kid my age in the Pontiac that I’m the one that’s going to be able to have this experience,” Beauregard said.
The pair said they are looking forward to hitting the field with their teammates, a scrappy bunch of players who Kuehl said make up a team to be reckoned with.
“We’re scrappy. We’ll beat you whichever way you’d like. We can small-ball it, we can bunt, play really good defence or we can hit the ball over the fence,” he said.
The pair won’t be going to Newfoundland without a small contingent of Pontiac fans in tow.
Kuehl’s dad is making the trip, though his sister, who has mobility issues and can’t make the voyage, will be cheering from home.
“But when you see his love and passion for the game, it’s easily worth it,” said Kuehl’s dad.
Beauregard’s mom Kelly, as well as his younger brother and sister, will be there as well.
“We’re just so proud of him, and we know that he’s carved his own path based on the effort that he’s put into it, and we’re just [going to be] cheering loud and proud,” she said.
She said while Hunter’s hard work and dedication is clear for all to see when he steps into the batter’s box, there is a side to him that many people don’t see.
“What people take for granted is that on the field, the dads are there, and he doesn’t have that [ . . . ] so I try to be there for double duty.”
For Beauregard there will be one face that won’t be there in the flesh. But he said his dad will be with him, at least on the back of his jersey, and in his thoughts every time he steps up to the plate.
“I would have liked to imagine that if he was still here, [he would be proud],” he said.
Matt Greer will be rooting for the boys at home, and is pumped to see their hard work pay off as they rep the Pontiac on the biggest national stage. Once a young ball player with his own aspirations, he said he and other softball vets felt a need to help the teens on their journeys, just like his mentors once did for him.
“We feel as though we need to now be the guys who step up and try to help grow the game and support the kids who are trying to take this thing to the next level.”
Still here for now
Back on the diamond in Shawville, Hunter and Cade share a high-five after a game-winning home run. With the end of the season approaching and an uncertain future lying ahead, it’s unclear how many more of these moments they will have.
Both young men are in university, each with his own path ahead. Kuehl is entering his first year of sports management at the University of Ottawa and is eyeing a career in sports. Hunter’s journey looks slightly different as he follows his desire to become a teacher.
Their softball futures aren’t guaranteed, either. Kuehl attended tryouts for Canada’s U18 team, but will surely face some stiff competition throughout the selection process. Beauregard was too old to attend the tryouts, but was also too young for the next age group, U23. He hopes to try again in a future year.
“It’s every young softball player’s goal growing up in Canada to be able to wear the red and black, and I hope at some point in the future I can be given the opportunity,” he said.
The future may be uncertain, but they are going to ride this softball thing as far as it will take them. They’re leaving for the national softball championship in Saskatchewan next week, then later in the month will embark on the biggest softball moment of their lives at the Canada Games.
But right now the pair are right here, playing on the Shawville field where they honed their games and became best friends.
The game ends. Beauregard carries a case of Bud Light to the dugout. Kuehl tosses the ball around with his Flyers teammates.
A young Shawville t-ball player sits next to his mom, watching the older guys go to war. He’s preparing for the biggest moment of his own young career next Monday, his youth league finals between Quyon and Shawville.
“I can hit the ball into the grass!” he bragged.
Will he be up next?
