Melfort Athletics at the plate against the Prince Albert Pirates (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Back on the hill

Men’s fastpitch returns to Melfort

Jun 12, 2023 | 4:59 PM

For the first time since pre-pandemic times, men’s fastpitch is filling the Melfort ball diamonds.

The Athletics, which are part of a six-team Prince Albert league, haven’t played at home for a number of years, which was wearing thin on the club.

“It’s great to be back in Melfort, the driving was a killer,” explained co-coach and player, Todd Desaulniers. “We’d have to have some guys leave work early, and by the time we got home, it would be close to midnight, so that was just a little much. We thought that it would probably be easier to get guys to come out if we were playing here in town.”

“We had an issue with guys last year where the vast majority of the season we had a hard time even feeling the full nine, so we got some new guys this year and it’s exciting to see their enthusiasm,” he added.

Melfort will play a total of 10 games over the course of June, with the squad’s first set of games happening on May 31st, of which they won both.

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Melfort Athletics pitch against the Prince Albert Pirates (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

Each Wednesday following, they will suit up for a double-header at 7 and 8:30 p.m., as one of the five Prince Albert teams travels down to Spruce Haven Park.

“We have some new guys this year, and between that and playing here in Melfort as opposed to having a drive to PA is kind of nice. For an old guy like me, it’s given me a little bit of energy back, it was kind of a drain, so between their new energy and not having to travel, it’s made me enthusiastic about the game again,” Desaulniers said.

Not only is he hopeful that it’s made him enthusiastic again, but also the younger generation.

With 10 fastpitch games in town this year, Desaulniers wants to encourage those who come to watch to learn how to play.

“My generation and the generation before, it was a stronger game, like there were more teams and more people involved,” he said. “Trying to get the younger generation engaged in it is a little tougher, but we’ve got three or four new guys this year, so it’s good to see new players out and it would be nice to see more,” he mentioned.

“It’s just a matter of kind of word of mouth and reaching out to friends of friends kind of thing. It’s very exciting to be back in town playing here and hopefully, the word can get out and we can have some decent crowds on Wednesday nights.”

Once the regular season wraps up on June 28, playoffs will be set for July, which will happen in Prince Albert.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8