Boo! Ball-o-ween Softball Tournament to be played in Taylor

TAYLOR, B.C. — Ghouls and goblins – or just local slo-pitch players – are ready to throw the first pitch on an inaugural season-ending tournament.

The Ball-o-ween Softball Tournament will take over the Taylor softball diamonds this weekend. Organizer of the tournament, Michelle McCoy told Energeticcity.ca she’s been in the planning stages for two months.

An active player in Fort St. John’s Mixed Slo-Pitch League, McCoy said she initially wanted the tournament to take place in early October.

She took up the game following a stint as a scorekeeper, taking her first swings at-bat in the league this past season.

“My husband has been playing for the past seven [or] eight years,” said McCoy. “I ended up hanging around. I could not play due to injury but then I was tired of not being able to play.

“We had our Fort St. John [slo-pitch league] banquet [in early October] so I wasn’t able to [hold the tournament earlier]. I have just been crossing my fingers, hoping that the weather is somewhat nice to us.”

The weather forecast for the weekend is expected to reach highs of 7 C on Saturday and just 5 C on Sunday, with rain – or a chance of possible flurries.

McCoy said 11 of the top squads from the area – including Chetwynd, Dawson Creek and Fort St. John – will be braving the potentially frigid temperatures.

“I actually didn’t even think we were going to get that many because it is going to be kind of cold,” said McCoy.

There will be two divisions of co-ed teams, with each squad playing the others twice in a unique double round-robin format.

Following the group stage, it will switch to an elimination round, where each team must lose twice before exiting the tournament.

Games will follow standard Slo-Pitch National (SPN) rules, including seven-inning games and 10 fielding positions. McCoy says she capped rosters at 15 players.

Keeping up with the Halloween theme, teams are encouraged to dress up in costumes – with McCoy’s team, known as the Trash Bandits, donning animal-themed onesies, with another player playing the part of a hunter.

“One of the guys is actually going to be a trapper trying to trap all of us,” said McCoy. “With costumes, people can dress it up to the point they are warm enough.”

Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place in each division, as well as the top three positions for team costumes.

The Ball-o-ween Softball Tournament will take place on October 18th and 19th at the Taylor baseball diamonds starting at 8 a.m. 

Registration to participate, which was a $500 fee per team, is closed.