Fastball has returned to the Alberni Valley.
Port Alberni played host to a men's fastball tournament last weekend, with teams from all over British Columbia taking the field at Recreation Park to battle it out for the top prize. The team JB won the event on Sunday, July 28, with the Big Guy Lake Reds of Prince George coming in second.
Luis Colombo of JB was named the top pitcher, while Pablo of the Big Guy Lake Reds was named the tournament MVP. Both of them received commemorative paddles carved by artist Chuck Doiron.
The tournament was hosted by the Parksville Red Sox, a fastball team that plays out of the Nanaimo Men's Fastball League.
Gord Alberg of the Red Sox says it's the first time in "well over" 20 years that the team has played in Port Alberni. Although the team is based in Parksville, they are made up of players from all over the mid-Island — including Port Alberni. One of these Port Alberni players, Thomas Dick, had the idea of bringing a tournament to the Alberni Valley.
"We used to bring our team over from Parksville back when there was a league here," said Alberg. "We had a lot of great memories from those days. This was a good opportunity for us to bring men's fastball back to Port Alberni."
Finding eight teams to compete in the tournament wasn't too hard, although most of them came from the Lower Mainland. Some travelled from as far away as Lillooet and Chase. The winning team, JB, is based out of Agoura Hills, California in the United States.
"Our club does a lot of travelling up to the Interior. This was their way of paying us back," Alberg said with a laugh.
The hometown support for the tournament was even better than Alberg had expected, with spectators packing the stands at Rec Park Stadium all weekend.
"The fans have been amazing," he said. "We had big turnouts all weekend. We're definitely planning to bring it back next year."
