It’s a return to the top for the Diggers as they outlasted the competition to claim the 2024 Bowen Island Fastpitch League crown.
The team has become synonymous with success on Bowen, as this title adds to a remarkable run which has seen the Diggers win six of the past nine championships. This includes three finals in a row - defeating the Firemen in 2022, losing the rematch in 2023, and this year casting aside that loss by holding off a pesky Shakers team for an 11-7 victory in the final game.
The Diggers got the tournament rolling with the opening Friday night game, meeting a Twins squad who despite being at the bottom of the standings pushed the game to its limit. It took the Diggers to the very end to grab the win, putting them in the win column early before the big weekend party kicked off.
There was only one game in store for the Diggers on Saturday, a late afternoon tilt against the Brewers. Having the whole day to rest paid off as the Diggers made it two wins out of two to clinch their spot in the semifinals. With both teams safely advanced, the Diggers and Firemen Sunday morning match lacked some of its usual gravity, but allowed the teams to get more of their depth players on the field in advance of bigger games that afternoon. The Firemen ended up taking the game by a slight margin.
As things worked out, the teams finished #2 and #3 in the Group Stage to set up another showdown in the 2nd semifinal a few games later. This time when it really mattered the Diggers came out on top to set up a final against the Shakers, who had upset the Cruisers in the other semifinal. The Diggers flew out to a fast start to open up an 11-2 lead and, while the Shakers made things interesting with an explosive inning to cut things to 11-7, there were no more runs after that as the veteran side calmed the game down to lock up their title push.
We asked Diggers Catcher Tom Woodward a few questions about the weekend, and his team’s continued presence on the trophy nameplate over the past nine seasons.
Q: What makes this team so good year after year?
A: We just have an unbelievable mix of guys that absolutely love playing together. I think every player on our team has an important role to play in our success and embraces that role to the fullest. We always emphasize defensive play, and smart ball when it comes to the tournament. One or two run innings are never going to kill you come tourney time, but when the big innings happen and the crowd starts going crazy, the momentum can really swing a game in one team's favour, so limiting those big innings with smart, defensive baseball is always key… it doesn’t hurt having a few guys that are capable of hitting a ball over my parent’s house on the roster as well!
Q: How did you feel playing in the opening game of the tourney on Friday night, and how encouraging was it to already have a win under your belt going into Saturday?
A: We were nervous! But felt like we were ready. A lot of our guys are getting older, and we’ve talked about how we may not have many more kicks at the can to win a championship with this group. We knew that we needed to start well and get confidence early. The Twins are always a tough team to beat in the tournament, so getting a win against them really set us on the right path for the rest of the weekend.
Q: Was it difficult staying focused with only one late game on Saturday? Or was it nice to have a break.
A: Truthfully, it was nice to have a break, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the tournament a bit. Often, we can get tunnel focused about the games, and we forget all of the wonderful things that come with that weekend and the community of the league. But it would have been a MUCH different story had we lost that game on Friday. Then we would have been left with way too much time to sit around and think about how badly we needed to win that second game, which would have probably created a lot of anxiety!
Q: Tell me a little about what you saw from your pitching staff?
A: Adam (Woodward) and Dan (Guillon) have been dominant pitchers in this league for a long, long time. Not only are they both great individually, but the two of them seem to work especially well as a tandem. Their synergy is off the charts, and you always know you’re going to get strong pitching when either one of them is on the mound. It really gives us an inherent edge in every game we play. Erik Miller is new to our team this year and frankly, we probably underestimated what his ceiling as a pitcher can be. He really opened our eyes on Sunday morning, and I am looking very forward to watching him develop on the mound.
Q: Which individual performances on the team stood out to you?
A: Well, what can you say about Dan Cowper’s performance on the weekend? He was incredible. I have played with Dan for a long time, and he seems to truly love every aspect of the game. He is constantly working at perfecting the craft of hitting and I think he saw the fruits of his labour this weekend. The play of Eric Ander and Paul Whitecotton stand out to me as well. They perfectly epitomize Digger ball. Hard working and committed to the little things. The timely hits that they gave us made the difference this weekend and they were such a blast to watch. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Aaron Johnstone. He has been one of if not the best players in this league for 18 seasons now! He doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon does he?
Q: The Diggers finished 4th overall this year, did the team see themselves as underdogs or did you expect to be back in the final.
A: I think when you’ve had the type of success that we’ve had in recent history, you can never call yourself an underdog in this league, and we knew we had a group of guys that were capable of winning it all if we played our best. But having said that, it feels like the competition, the talent, and the parity in this league is better than I have ever seen it. You could have made a legitimate case for every team to be a championship threat, and our place in the standings kind of reflected that level of parity.
Q: The cliche sports question but I have to ask - How did it feel to win the championship and return to being title holders?
A: Honestly, it felt incredible. They always say, the best championship is the next one, but I think this is one we are really going to relish and enjoy. Like I said earlier, we are aware that we’re all getting a little longer in the tooth, and there may not be many further opportunities to try to win with this really great group of people, so to get the reward like that after such a competitive weekend is a pretty great feeling. Especially with the group that we have.
Q: What are your takeaways from Tournament Weekend?
A: It’s just always such an incredible weekend on Bowen, and a weekend that I personally look forward to every single year. The way the community embraces the league, and this weekend speaks volumes about what a special place Bowen Island is. Sometimes it’s almost indescribable to explain how special this league is to someone who doesn’t understand. The Shakers hosted a solid beer garden this year and that helped a lot for bringing everyone together for a good time. When you look around at all the athletes on every team, and the amount of younger guys coming in, it’s pretty plain to see that the future of the league is in good hands. Of course, my brother Adam as the league president has done a great job of honouring the rich history of this league while embracing the next generation, and I am just so excited to see where this league goes in the future. Hopefully, we can be writing about a 2025 Diggers Championship season as well!
Diggers Championship Roster: Michael Dawson, Ross McCorquodale, Eric Ander, Dave Hillborn, Erik Miller, Paul Whitecotton, Aaron Johnstone, Adam Woodward, Josh Stobbe, Tom Woodward, Shawn Ohler, Dan Cowper, Matt Douma, Marlon Strang, Dan Guillon
Fastpitch League Leaders - Batting
Batting Average: 1) Mike Vertlieb .676 / 2) Johnny Franklin .612 / 3) Robbie Watson .568 / 4) Grady Huskisson .558 / 5) Joe Lalonde .550 / 6) Sam Morris .545 / 7) Dave Hillborn .542 / 8) Jack DeSante .536 / 9) Adam Franklin .534 / 10) James Strang .509
Home Runs: 1) Johnny Franklin 14 / 2) Robbie Watson 7 / 3) Doug Durrant 6 / 4) Ewan McEachern 6 / 5) Jack DeSante 5
Runs Batted In (RBI): 1) Johnny Franklin 38 / 2) Robbie Watson 26 / 3) Adam Franklin 25 / 4) Dan Cowper 25 / 5) Dan Guillon 24
Stolen Bases: 1) Riley Culver 16 / 2) Keelan Hondro 11 / 3) Rory Behm 8
Fastpitch League Leaders - Pitching
Wins: 1) Johnny Franklin 7 / 2) Doug Durrant 7 / 3) Jamie Weismiller 6 / 4) Adam Woodward 6
Strikeouts: 1) Doug Durrant 44 / 2) Adam Woodward 41 / 3) Johnny Franklin 40 / 4) Dan Guillon 39 / 5) Jamie Weismiller 28
Innings Pitched: 1) Dan Guillon 69 / 2) Doug Durrant 58 / 3) Johnny Franklin 54
