Slo-pitch is returning to the ball diamonds of Eckville this year.
The league will consist of eight local teams who will play on Tuesday nights either in a 6:30 p.m. or an 8 p.m. game.
“I played in a league years ago and there were so many local teams that were involved, it just doesn’t make sense to me that there isn’t the availability for those that don’t want to travel,” said Allen Hallgren, who put Eckville’s slo-pitch return into motion.
Currently, Hallgren is looking for people who want to be team representatives as well as for people who are just interested in playing.
Hallgren says being a team representative does not mean you have to have enough players of your own to form a team, so individuals can fill those roles if interested.
“The real critical thing at this stage is to get the reps in place and get a committee [then we will] have a meeting [to] see what kind of rules and how we want to structure things,” said Hallgren, adding he is still in need of team representatives.
The league will be capped at eight teams this year, but could possibly expand in the years to come.
“Who knows, maybe there might be room for a team out of Benalto or something like that [in the future], but just for this year I just want to keep it to Eckville just to kind of get it up and running,” said Hallgren.
The duration of this year’s season will be determined after team representatives are solidified and are able to meet.
“I don’t want to be the one that’s making all of the rules and just telling everybody what to do,” Hallgren said. “I want to get feedback from them on what they want.”
Hallgren says at one point in time the slo-pitch league in Eckville was really big, adding it was about getting out, socializing and having fun.
“I’m just one of the old guys that played back in the day and really enjoyed it and it makes me kind of sad there isn’t [one],” continued Hallgren, who says the league is also good for local businesses.
Hallgren says he played with a team in Bentley last year and the local pub would have specials to bring the ball players in.
“I would like to see as much activity in town as possible to be supporting these local businesses,” said Hallgren. “It would be great to see some more activity there for them.”
Eckville Minor Ball, who is working closely with Hallgren during the start up process, provided the Tuesday night time slot to the league.
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