The Bowen Island Fastpitch League is a quarter of the way through season 27 and the changing of the guard that began last season with the Digger's historic triumph continues. There are also young players coming into the league and league president Glen McGregor says that "in a lot of cases the youngsters are teaching the old boys a thing or two about the game."
The Diggers are on top with a 4-1 record, tied with the Shakers, a team that finished 7-13 last year and in 2009 went 0-23. To further show the league is flip-flopping, the Twins, who under that name, the Young Guns or Steamers, have won as many or more championships as the rest of the league combined, are in sixth and last place at 1-4.
There have been, though, many close games and the season is shaping up to be a competitive one. "It's looking to be a sharp season, a great season. There's lots of hitting and exciting games," Celtic utility player Mike Lightbody said. "But we need more fans in the stands."
Leading the league in batting is Dan Moats of the Twins, and while Moats hitting well is not a surprise - he hit .514 in the 2008 campaign the .778 clip he's hitting at is unexpected, though at press time had but 13 plate appearances.
Overall, as Lightbody suggests, the pitchers are losing the battle with hitters. Thus far, ERA's are up and so are batting averages. Illustrating that is the fact that there are 16 batters hitting .500 or more. When it comes to power, Digger Aaron Johnstone and Shaker Mike Vertlieb lead with five home runs while Toby Puga has already amassed 13 RBI.
There are exceptions to high ERA's. Phil 'Philbert' Wood, a cagey, aging veteran who can work the plate like a big guy at the dinner table, is firing on all cylinders again this year, his ERA a sparkling 1.91; in 11 innings Philbert has yet to walk a batter.
Meanwhile, Eddie Weismiller of the Cruisers, who retired again this season, is back throwing well and sits third overall with a 3.94 ERA. His son Jamie, however, has an ERA that reads like the Richter read-out from a major earthquake, though Jamie has managed a win for the 2-3 Cruisers.
Mike 'the Cannon' Carachelo, an unrestricted free agent in the off-season who signed with the lowly Celtics in an effort to turn that team around, has not been able to find his grove. Carachelo is 0-2 and has given up 10 home runs. The Celtics are a respectable 2-3 as Brian Thompson and Sean Delaney are throwing well. Look for Carachelo to turn things around before mid-season.
There have been additions to the league's numerous family combos. Jake Carachelo has joined his pa Mike on the Celtics, a team that also includes Scott Miller and son Jackson and the two Roocroft lads, Ben and Dustin. Justin Wood has joined his pa Phil on the Fireman, a team that now also boasts Ewan and Malcolm McEachern.
The Milsted cousins, Jesse and Julian continue on the Shakers and brother duo Adam and Tom Woodward are on the Diggers, as are Morgan and Michael Dawson and Dan and Matt Cowper. Eric Hunter-James plays on the Fireman while his big bruising brother, Clayton signed with the Cruisers for the season. Besides the Weismillers, the Cruisers also have Greg 'Sticks' Bosworth and son Ben.
Most games are played on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and start at 6:30 p.m. (Bowen time).
The regular season runs through to August 2 and the year-end tournament, featuring food and a beer garden and fans in the hundreds, is slated for the weekend of August 10.
The schedule is up on the league website at bowenbaseball.com.
