Glenn Ormsby has played in a lot of high-stakes fastball games and Friday's opener in the Postkin-Ghostkeeper Memorial tournament wasn't one of them.
Not compared to the times he's been called into service to play for International Softball Congress national championships.
Ormsby was rounded up to play third base for BX Express, a team with a common theme. None of them have played much fastball the past few years.
That didn't seem to bother Ormsby. With the ruthless efficiency of a hired gun, he delivered three of his teams runs in a 4-1 victory over the Superior Fencing Reds at Spruce City Stadium.
After Brian Bailey's one-out triple in the first tinning, Ormsby got his bat on a Norm French pitch and laced out a single to open the scoring, then had plenty of time to round the bases for home when Eddie Dent followed up with a triple of his own.
In the third inning, Bailey welcomed Reds reliever Kyle Garnot into the game with a double, bringing Ormsby back to the plate. Garnot made the mistake of putting the ball into the middle of Ormby's wheelhouse and parked over the fence for a two-run shot.
"You play once a year, you get lucky once in a while," said Ormsby, who hit 3-for-3.
"It's good to get out with the boys again. We all haven't played done much together in the last few years and it feels good to win. I didn't know what to expect, I easily could have gone 0-for-3. Everybody started hitting the ball right from the beginning and it was awesome."
Ormsby, a 43-year-old Kelowna native who has lived in Prince George since September 2006, last played in the senior men's Canadian championship in 2010. He was part of the Prince George Black Bears team that hosted the national tournament in 2006 and lost the championship game 4-3 that year to St. Thomas, Ont. -- one of the all-time classic games played at Spruce City Stadium.
The Reds had a chance to win it with the bases loaded in the sixth inning with the time limit rule in effect. Garrett Murphy came in to pitch the inning and gave up back-to-back singles to Garnot and Norm Linton, whose hit scored Garnot from third. Darren McKay walked and Cody Umperville had an infield hit, which brought French to the plate. With a 2-2 count, French chased a high pitch and got nothing but air to end the game.
"I had a chance to win the game and he gave me an inside pitch and I couldn't catch up to it," said French. "We got off to a cold start but that's the way things go in ball. Maybe next time we'll be a little better. They have a good team and they should be playing in the [Prince George Major Men's Fastball] league. They should be out here. The more teams the better."
Jeff Hill, who hasn't played since 2008, gave up only a handful of scattered hits in five innings and had four strikeouts
"It was really hard," said the 46-year-old Hill. "It was hard to get into a rhythm and I struggled to find the strike zone the first couple innings. We were able to hit the ball where we wanted to hit it and I think we surprised ourselves. I know everyone's got it in 'em but it's easier to say that than it is to go out there and do it sometimes."
The win advanced the Express to a 12:30 p.m. game today against the winner of today's 8 a.m. game between Randy's A's and Nadleh. The winner moves on the A-final tonight at 8. Custom Edge Sports took on the Under-19 Team B.C. in the late game Friday, which came right after Spanks's A's of Invermere defeated the Vanderhoof Angels 7-1. The winner of the Custom Edge Sports-U-19 game plays Spank's A's today at 2 p.m. for the right to play in the A-final.
The championship game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
