Abbott, Souliers entering Softball Canada Hall of Fame
Newfoundlanders will be among four inductees when national association meets here this fall
Portugal Cove’s Colin Abbott, considered one of fastpitch softball’s greatest hitters ever, will be entered into Softball Canada’s Hall of Fame when the national organization holds its annual meeting in St. John’s in early November.
Also being inducted is longtime umpire Randy Souliers of St. John’s, former Softball Nova Scotia president Dave Houghton and Canada’s 1992 men’s world championship team.
In a playing career stretching over nearly three decades, Abbott appeared in 17 Canadian championships for Newfoundland and Labrador, racking up 11 medals, including six gold, two silver and three bronze. Individual honours earned by Abbott at those events include two MVPS (1988, 1990), two top batter awards (1995, 1997) and one award as top player of the championship round (1988).
He was also a six-time all-star (1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2001) at national championships.
He spent 15 years as part of the athlete pool for the national senior men’s team and competed in seven major international events — the 1989 WBSC junior men’s world
championship (bronze), two Pan American Games (gold in 1995 and 1999) and four WBSC world men’s championship (silver in 1996 and 2004; bronze in 2009 and a fourth-place finish in 2000).
Souliers’ umpiring career spanned 23 years and saw him work at seven national championships, including two junior men’s (1989 and 1992) and five men’s (1990, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2003).
After obtaining his WBSC Certification in 1998. he umpired at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg and the 2004 WBSC world men’s championship in New Zealand. He served as Softball Newfoundland & Labrador’s Umpire-inchief from 1997 to 2000 before becoming a Softball Canada instructor/evaluator, supervising many provincial and national championships, including the 2001 Canada Games.
Souliers and Abbott are both members of Softball Newfoundland and Labrador’s Hall of Fame. Abbott was inducted into the International Softball Congress’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
Les Howey, now a resident of Conception Bay Central, was a member of the Canada’s 1992 championship-winning team, which became the men’s entry from this country to go undefeated en route to winning a world gold medal.