Big weekend in West Prince

Twenty-two teams in five divisions competing at annual showcase

O’Leary Recreation Department’s annual spring softball showcase has a new name and continues to grow.

Now known as the Spud Chuckers Gala, the third annual event takes place this weekend with 22 teams in five divisions. There were 18 teams last year.

There are four teams each in the under-12, -14 and -16 girls’ divisions and five teams each in the women’s and men’s open divisions.

Among the teams entered are Prince Edward Island’s and New Brunswick’s Canada Games women’s teams in the open division, the Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Canada Games men’s teams and the Summerside Chrysler Dodge Eagles, an all-star team made up of players from the O’Leary Eagles, Kensington Mariners and the Whiskey Pub Fawcetts, in the open division.

For the Eagles, it is one of the few tournaments they will play in together before travelling to Fargo, N.D., in August to compete in the North American Fastpitch Association (NAFA) World Series.

Five fields will be used Friday and Saturday – Ellis and Ellsworth fields in O’Leary, Hogan and Legion fields in Tignish and the Ellerslie field. Sunday’s crossover and championship games will be played at the two fields in O’Leary and in Ellerslie.

The tournament, which includes 49 games, gets underway at 6:30 p.m. Friday with games on all five diamonds.

The under-16 girls playoff games will be on the Ellerslie field on Sunday, concluding with the championship final at noon.

The under-12 and -14 girls finals will be played on the Ellis and Ellsworth fields, respectively, at 2 p.m. Sunday while the open divisions will be played at 6 p.m. with the women on Ellis Field and the men’s final on Ellsworth Field.