Fastball still thriving among First Nations

The Native Canadian Fastball Championships were hosted by George Gordon First Nation on August 2-4 in  Regina. This tournament is difficult to win because the most elite Indigenous teams are assembled from coast to coast all vying for bragging rights to be the top Indigenous fastball team in the country. Several players past, present and future, put their best effort forward to support a tournament that attracts some of the greatest players to play the game like Joey Basaraba who has fourteen championships under his belt as a player, Darren Zach (BigZ) one of the greatest all time and Randy Potskin who is a player/manager with Prince George River Kings to name a few.

In the Men’s Masters division Team BigMan (Man.) played Ryan Baptiste and the Snappers (Sask.) with Saskatoon’s Trevor Ethier and Team Bigman taking down the Masters Championship. The U23 Division had three-time winning pitcher Derian Bellegarde and The REZ being the only Saskatchewan team to win a championship. Congratulations to The Rez on your huge accomplishment. In the Senior Women’s Division the British Columbia Braves hacked their way to a championship. In the Master women division Manitoba WJays were the champions. Congratulations to all the teams for competing with such passion and commitment, despite the scorching temperatures and long nights.

The Oshweken Redmen from Southern Ontario lost an early game and had to fight their way back up from the loser’s bracket but eventually made it to the final vs the Potskin family and the Prince George River Kings. The Redmen were well rounded with a confident shortstop making clutch plays at the most difficult times along with Ace pitcher Caleb Keeshig closing the door down the stretch which got them to the finals. Another notable game was Team Bigman vs Oshweken Redmen with the Redmen winning 3-2. According to Mel Parenteau of Prince Albert, “if BigMan did not commit some critical mistakes in the field the outcome could have been different on account of how well pitcher Dustin Keshane pitched in the game matching Caleb Keeshig pitch for pitch.”  I also thought team Bigman was going to win the game because they seemed unstoppable.

Competition was fierce in every division with games that kept you on the edge of your seat with lead changes happening every inning. A game that caught the crowds’ eye was powerhouse Layne’s Stars (who had NHL player Brady Keeper on their roster) vs Piapot NorthStars. It was a heated affair with emotions running high at times, which led to a bench brawl. After the melee, the underdog Piapot NorthStars led by pitcher Francis Bird defeated Layne’s Stars  6-5.

Going back to the final game it was Steven McNaughton Jr and Prince George River Kings Vs Oshweken Redmen. It was a coastal battle in Saskatchewan’s capital city! McNaughton stole the show with 20 strikeouts. As a result, Randy Potskin won his twelfth Canadian Native fastball championship! But says he has his eyes set on breaking Basaraba’s 14-championship record.

McNaughton earned the most-valuable player in the Senior Men’s Division.

For him, it’s been a long road to becoming a champion. It’s his fifth time at the Canadians playing for teams like the Westbank Cardinals, the Ontario Smoke, Prince George and Cross Lake.

“It feels awesome to win,” he said after the final game that ended at 2:30 a.m. “It still has not fully sunk in yet. Definitely a difficult tournament to win. My catcher Cole Laviolette called a great game helping me strikeout twenty in the final.”

Congratulations to Prince George River Kings because they can now  say they are the best Canadian Native Fastball players in the country.

As with any big event there were some criticisms, which the hosts worked to address.

“(There were) a few problems with the draw early on, other than that it was smooth sailing with everyone chipping in,” said Jason Morris organizer and GGFN councilor.

He said it would have been great if all the ball fields could have been all together, but they did what they could with the facilities available.

It was a great tournament and Regina got to witness really great ball.

Every year the Canadians are special because there is a sense of belonging among the teams. We all go for the same reason – to support the athletes. It was an honor to be a part of it as a player, manager, spectator and now promoting the game I love through the media.