Players from Chilliwack to Boston Bar gathered in Hope last weekend for the 24th annual Peters Family Memorial two-pitch tournament. It is a way of honouring deceased members of the extended family, said Monica Florence, who organized the event with the help of her sister, Rhonda Bobb.
The ten teams started playing on Friday evening at the Sixth Avenue ballparks and action wrapped up on Sunday afternoon. West winds caused some challenges for hitters and fielders on Saturday afternoon, especially at diamond #2. A fly ball to right field would drop like it hit a wall — and a hit to centre or left field would sometimes veer wildly to the left. The same winds gave big hitters a boost at diamond #1, helping them one-bounce the fence or get right over it.
Near mid-afternoon on Saturday, there was a home-run derby at diamond #1 — a first-time event for this tournament, said Florence. “Cody Pete-Jones, who is from Chawathil but plays for the Punishers, won with four out five over the fence,” said Florence. “He was tied with Jeremy Hudson of the Crushers. They then went to the next round of sudden death, with only one pitch each. Cody got his next one over and Jeremy didn’t. There were 18 participants with a winner-take-all. It was a $10 entry, so Cody won $180.
“There were 14 women as well and they hit from second base,” added Florence. “Annabelle Williams from the Chilliwack Punishers won, getting two over the fence. She won $140.”
All teams were guaranteed three games and thanks to sponsorship of the trophies, most of the entry fees went to payouts for the top teams, said Florence.
“FYD, from mostly Seabird and Agassiz, came first. They didn’t even have one loss; they won all five games,” she added. “The Punishers were mostly from Chilliwack but had a few players from Hope and Boston Bar.
“They had to play a lot of games on Sunday, coming through the back door, so they were pretty tired in the final game and finished second.
“They had played in the semis against the Punishers and beat them, so the Punishers came third.
“We had two consolation games and the Chilliwack Odd Balls won one and the Herd O’ Bears from Chawathil won the other one.”
