Junior men's team seeks national title

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With five national championship appearances in five years, and in the midst of a still-mounting winning streak, the numbers appear in favour of the Scarborough Wolverines for Softball Canada's Junior Men's Fastball Championship next month.

With just four returning players this season, the season was supposed to be a re-building one for Richard Venne and his 8-2 junior Wolverines team.

Venne said he and his charges have done their due diligence in preparing and are fired up for the nine-game round-robin series, hosted by the Owen Sound Fastpitch Association. The 10-team Canadian championship event, which sees the Wolverines as the No. 1 seed, runs Aug. 3 to 10.

"At the beginning of the season everyone said we didn't stand a chance, and we managed to beat everyone hand over fist," said the team's coach. "I feel like it's anyone's battle, we have as good a chance as the next team."

The Ontario Amateur Softball Association-affiliated Wolverines toil in the Oshawa City and District fastball loop.

Venne, a popular promoter of the game in Canada and a founding member of the Scarborough-based team, isn't taking the competition in Owen Sound lightly.

Quebec, he said, is very strong "and Elmira hits the ball like there's no tomorrow... you got to answer them back like the way they come at you."

The Wolverines will open their campaign against Elmira.

The coach added a couple of players to the roster in Andy Buckley and Blake Underwood, something he expects will shore up the team's already-impressive offence. Buckley is a left-handed pitcher and Blake is a powerful hitter.

The team plays locally out of L'Amoureaux Park.

"If you feel good about what you've done and about what you're doing then the rest is execution, and if we execute like we have been doing then we have something," said Venne.

British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland will all be represented at the nationals.

The team, which encompasses a number of players currently living in the Scarborough community, includes: Robert Bennett, Greg Dalgarno, Matt Leahy, Andrew Putnam, Blake Orr, Andy Skelton, Craig Buttar, Nick Dambrosio, Ryan Freedman, Cam Hauck, Brandon Horn, Mark Lewis, Anthony Palmieri, Tyler Robinson, Ryan Sharpe, Jamie Baker, Ben Wideman.

For more info about the tournament, visit owensoundfastpitch.com