By Mark Squibb/August 12, 2022
A trio from Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove who say there’s nothing better than playing a game of softball together have taken their love of the sport to the national stage time and time again, to the pride of the fishing village.
Mark Stack, Ryan Maher, and Jordan Hamilton, along with other members of the NL Physio and Co. softball team, returned home from the 2022 U23 Men’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championship in Carp, Ontario, earlier this week.
“It was an awesome experience,” said Stack, 22, who praised the Carp sport complex and the local grounds crew. “We just didn’t get the outcome that we wanted.”
Last year, a modified version of the annual tournament, called the Rawlings Grand Slam, was held in Saskatchewan. There, the boys from the rock went toe to toe against Owen Sound in the final.
“So, we were really confident coming into this tournament, and we wouldn’t be satisfied with anything but a gold medal,” said Stack. “But we ended up getting fifth out of seven teams, so a lot of us were disappointed.”
“We didn’t come out with what we wanted to come out with,” agreed Hamilton, 23. “We didn’t place too well. Last year we placed second, and going into this tournament we were hoping to get to the gold medal game, but things didn’t go our way. We didn’t perform the way we wanted. But when you go to these tournaments, you want to have fun, and our team is really close knit, we have a really tight team, we’re all really good friends, best friends, and cousins, a lot of us… Having a bit of fun is what it’s all about. You’d like to come away with a medal, but sometimes it doesn’t work out for you.”
The team has been competing nationally since 2015, when they attended their first national tournament in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 2015, and they’ve played every year together since (minus tournaments that were cancelled due to COVID.)
The guys have been playing ball together for even longer than that.
“We’ve been playing together for about 12 years now, each and everyone,” said Stack. “And I really would consider every single person on this team one of my best friends.”
That friendship and team camaraderie proves to be an important asset on the ball field.
“Who wants to go play a national tournament with people that you don’t care about?” said Hamilton “It goes a long way to have your best buddies on the diamond with you… I’m a very, very competitive person, and I’m very passionate about sports. I’ve played many different sports, but there’s something about softball when you get a group of friends like we have, who are super close, being able to go out on the diamond and win games and lose games as a team with your best friends, there’s no better feeling than being able to step out there with your good buddies.”
“It was myself on third, Ryan played second, and Jordan played first, and then I batted third, Ryan batted fourth, and Jordan batted fifth,” explained Stack. “So, it was pretty cool to have three of us Petty Harbour boys batting in the line up and playing on the field together … Having your best friends behind you, you’re confident and it makes you more comfortable.”
If there is a downside to cherishing your teammates, it’s having to say good-bye when they eventually age out of the league, as seven members of the team have done this year.
“This team, we’ve been playing together since probably 2015,” said Maher, 21. “So, after our last game, everyone was a bit emotional, I was a bit emotional, and I thought, ‘Why am I emotional? I’m not ageing out.’ But this is my family. I’m losing a bunch of my family.”
“You’ve been up and down with them through losses and wins,” said Hamilton, one of the seven players ageing out. “You’ve been working towards a goal with them since 2015, so it was definitely emotional. There were definitely some tears shed, that’s for sure.”
But, the guys still have plenty of ball in the coming months.
All three will represent Team NL (on different teams) at the Senior Men’s Nationals, which will be held in St. John’s later this August.
Maher will also be representing Team NL at the 2022 Canada Games next week.
Stack is a member of the 2022 U23 Team Canada and will be traveling to Argentina in October for the U23 World Fast Pitch Championships. He will also be playing with Kegal Knights in the ISC championships coming up next week.
Stack and Maher meanwhile were both named members of the 2022 U23 Allstar team for their performances at the U23 tournament. Maher had a batting average of .500 and Stack had an average of .477.
All three confess a love for the sport.
“I wouldn’t be able to say just one thing I love about it,” said Maher. “I’ve had a bat in my hand since I was three years old, so it’s all I’ve ever known. I don’t know what I would be doing if I wasn’t playing softball… Just come out and watch a game. You’ll get an itch for it.”
“There’s nothing I would rather do,” agreed Stack. “That’s as simple an answer as I can give. I just love hitting the ball. There’s no better feeling.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, encouraged players both novice and expert, to stick with it, through both the highs and the lows.
“Don’t ever quit,” he said. “There’s lots of ups and downs in sport. Sometimes you make teams, sometimes you don’t make teams. Sometimes you get cut, sometimes you’re the star player. You’re going to have a bad tournament, you’re going to have a bad game, but you’re going to have good days and good tournaments. But, at the end of the day, you have to just play. Get out there with your best buddies, have some fun with it, because as competitive as we all are, and we play at a high level, fun is really what it’s all about. So, as long as you’re having fun, the game will be good to you as you’re good to the game.”
