THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140207
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMI FRANKENBERRY, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
THEY BEGAN arriving nearly an hour before game time. The middle school teacher and the high school coach arrived first, and warmed up together. A little later, the painter showed up. Then the lumber company supervisor and the mechanical engineer.
They came to play fast-pitch softball at Wellons Park, a well-kept field tucked quietly between the Human Resource building and a cemetery. Tonight it's the Horsemen taking on Winning Edge and G.P. Gwaltney against Coastal Lumber Co.
These are the only teams in the 18 and over (mostly over) Suffolk Men's Fast-Pitch Softball League, one of the area's few such leagues. But these men would probably come out every Monday and Wednesday night if there were two teams, or one. For several hours a week they can go to the ballfield and get away from work, ``hang out with the guys,'' and relive some of their boyish dreams.
``Ninety percent of us grew up playing baseball in Little League and high school or college,'' said Don Oliver, a painter who plays for G.P. Gwaltney. ``I guess you're trying to hold on to something you did when you were young.''
``This is an outlet for us and gives us something to do besides work,'' said Earl Jones, a teacher at Lakeland High School and leftfielder for Winning Edge. ``Out here we can let our frustrations and energy loose.''
Added Bill Tester, who coaches Winning Edge and has been involved in softball for 31 years: ``It allows me a chance to get out of gardening and yard work. I can put that stuff off until the weekend if I come out here.''
Most of the men said the sport's close relation to baseball makes it appealing.
``There weren't any adult baseball leagues when I got out of school,'' said the Horsemen's Rob Robertson, who coaches football and baseball at Lakeland High and has been playing fast-pitch for 28 years. ``This is the next closest thing.''
Rusty Rose, who plays for G.P. Gwaltney, agreed.
``After playing baseball for a long time you had to do something,'' said Rose, a supervisor at a lumber company. ``I guess we have to keep competing.''
Players say competing in fast-pitch softball isn't easy.
``This is a tough sport,'' Robertson said. ``You have to want to work hard, especially to be a pitcher. It takes time to get to the point where you're good.''
Said G.P. Gwaltney pitcher Ronnie Powell: ``It requires a good overall athlete.''
Suffolk's fast-pitch players have proven that they're good athletes.
Each summer, after the league's season has ended, several players from the four teams form a team to play in tournaments outside Suffolk. Last year the Suffolk contingent placed fourth in the Fast-Pitch World Series in Salem, Va.
``We held our own against teams from everywhere,'' said Powell, who has played for 22 years and was named an All-World pitcher during last year's World Series. ``That gives you a sense of this league's competition and is an indication of the level of talent here.''
Playing fast-pitch is different from slow-pitch, insisted the players, adding that most of them wouldn't play the slower version.
``This doesn't compare to slow-pitch,'' Rose said. ``Just about anybody can walk up there and hit a slow pitch. Not many can come out here and hit these fast pitches.''
``Here it's all about the batter versus the pitcher and I live for that,'' Powell said. ``It would take a major transformation for me to want to play slow-pitch.''
Tonight's games give spectators an indication of everything the players talked about before the game - low scoring, competitive and serious. The Horsemen defeated Winning Edge, 2-1, with a run in their last at-bat. A few wild pitches led to the game-winning run. In the second game, G.P. Gwaltney needed 16 innings to knock off Coastal Lumber Co., 1-0. Powell won the pitcher's duel he said he loved.
After the final out, close to midnight, the men finally go home. They know in the morning they'll have to head back to the lumber company, to the plant or back to teaching summer school. But they also know that in a few days, they can go back to Wellons Park. And they can ``hang out with the guys,'' get away from work and, most importantly, turn back the clock. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MICHAEL KESTNER
Rob Robertson pitches for the Horsemen.
Ray Smith, second baseman for the Horsemen, nabs the ball in time to
force out Winning Edge player Joe Volpe.
by CNB