Big Crowds on Hand Opening Night at Vancouver
The 8th Annual Vancouver Challenge Mens FP tournament commenced this evening under sunny skies and warm temperatures at South Memorial Park in Vancouver. The results from tonight’s opening games were as follows:
Vancouver Grey Sox 4 – Great Britain National Team 2
WP – Nick Underhill 5IP, 1R, 0BB, 9K, 4H with relief from Derek Mayson 1IP, 1R, 1BB, 2K, 3H
LP – James Darby 5IP, 4R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K, 2H
Pat Mackintosh homered for the Grey Sox who capitalized on 3 Great Britain errors to score their runs. Kevin Stockford homered for Great Britain who led 1-0 early in the contest, and had loaded the bases in the final inning with 2 out, before Grey Sox pitcher Derek Mayson recorded a strikeout to end the contest.
Vancouver South Hill Giants 5 – Denmark National Team 2
WP – Craig Pidcock 5IP, 1R, 0BB, 6K, 3H with relief from Collin MacKenzie 2IP,1R,1BB,2K,3H
LP – Kim Hansen 5IP, 3R, 3BB, 7K, 1H with relief from Thomas Bonde 2IP, 2R, 2BB, 2K, 3H
Giants DP Frank DeGroat broke open a 1-1 game with a 6th inning bases loaded triple to pace the Vancouver side to victory.
One of the largest opening night crowds in the history of the event turned out for what has the makings of a good weekend of Mens FP softball. The large turnout of fans was most encouraging considering the playoffs also commenced this evening for the week long Canada Cup International Womens Softball Tournament being held in South Surrey, BC and the BC Lions kicked off their 2009 CFL football season this evening with a home game vs. Hamilton.
Saturday’s pool play games are as follows:
8:00 am – Japan vs. Sooke
9:45 am – Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Vernon
10:00 am – Great Britain vs Kamloops (Diamond 2)
11:30 am – Japan vs Denmark
11:45 am – Sooke vs Vancouver South Hill (Diamond 2)
1:15 pm – Great Britian vs. Vernon
3:30 pm – Japan vs. Vancouver South Hill
3:30 pm – Kamloops vs. Vernon (Diamond 2)
5:15 pm – Vancouver Grey Sox vs. Kamloops
5:15 pm – Sooke vs. Denmark
Playoffs commence Saturday evening at 7:00 pm with the final game of the day slated for a 9:00 pm start.
Playoff games will continue on Sunday commencing at 8:00 am with the Championship Final game scheduled for 4:00 pm.
The weather forecast remains positive for Saturday with sunny skies and highs of 23 c (which is approx. 75 F) and thus bodes well for the teams and the many fastpitch enthusiasts.
Larry Kancs
President
Vancouver Grey Sox
(click logo to visit official Vancouver Grey Sox website)
Editor’s note: Click here for our earlier post on the Vancouver Challenge which includes complete schedule of games.