The Tavistock Merchants have been awarded the 2024 U23 Ontario Provincial Elimination tournament June 28-30.
The decision was announced by the Ontario Amateur Softball Association (OASA). The organization’s president, Mike Mulvey, said any interested centre can put its name in and an OASA committee makes a final decision. He added Tavistock was a great choice.
“It’s been a while since Tavistock has hosted one of our tournaments. It’s great ball country on this side of the province and Tavi is a perfect spot,” he said.
Mulvey explained several factors went into the decision.
“Being the defending champion helped along with good facilities. We try to spread it around the province, but most of the 23 teams are in the west and there were no other applicants from this side of the province.”
Last year’s tournament was held in Grafton, near Coburg.
The Tavistock Merchants are the tournament’s defending champs and coach Kevin Zehr said he’s looking forward to playing in front of a hometown crowd.
“Being able to defend our 2023 provincial title at home in front of family and friends should be a huge character builder. In 2022 when we won Canadians in Carp, we were the underdog. In 2023, we won provincials on the road in Grafton and also learned the pressures of defending a national championship as we successfully repeated in Saskatoon.”
The team has already qualified for the nationals which are being held in Kitchener from July 30 to Aug. 4.
“I believe hosting the provincial elimination tournament will help the team become comfortable in front of the large local crowds. Sometimes when you are playing in front of family and friends you grip the bat a little tighter and you’re not as relaxed on the diamond, so I think this will be a great learning experience for the boys. I am looking forward to a great weekend from the competition across Ontario,” he added.
Hickson and New Hamburg could send junior teams to the tournament, which will only add to the local excitement.
No tournament of this size can run successfully without help from the community, particularly since the Merchants themselves are participating. Zehr said they are looking for help.
“As the host we are not looking at the tournament as a fundraiser for ourselves, we just want to have our expenses covered. If we were able to get enough volunteers to show a profit for the team, that would be fantastic, but realistically if other organizations wanted to get on board with the gate, diamond maintenance, food, or refreshment tent, it could become a fundraiser for them as well.”
Some of the top, young ball players anywhere will be competing for the title on the field, but Mulvey explained young players in attendance will have an opportunity to learn from some of the best.
“You will probably see the best U23 softball players in the country. Many of them have played on national teams and have won multiple national championships with their home teams as well. Off the diamond, I would strongly recommend young players have a chat with some of the players to ask them how they do this and how they do that. That’s how these young kids learn.”
He added most athletes are more than happy to help young players improve their games.
Many small communities have long histories of success in fastball but not many have contributed more to national teams per capita than Tavistock, something Mulvey said is unique.
“I think it’s the hometown atmosphere and the players want to stay home to play, and it grows teams together as opposed to going to bigger centres. They stick together and become gelled as a team. They become a total team as opposed to just a group of athletes.”
He added fans will also notice the level of comradery between teams.
“After the games are over, you’ll see players from both teams talking to each other. That’s just the way the game is. It's competitive but friendly.”
If you would like to be a sponsor, a volunteer, or be on the organizing committee message [email protected] or [email protected].
Lee Griffi is Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with the Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette. The Local Journalism Initiative is a federally-funded program.
