The first annual Chuntezni’ai Baseball Tournament was held this weekend (Sept. 7-8) at the newly refurbished Nazko baseball diamond.
Six teams from across the Cariboo- Chilcotin took part in the two-day event, with the first-place prize going to The Ringers from Quesnel.
Heather Laurent, who helped rally the community to fix the overgrown baseball field, was delighted with the turnout.
“It was our main goal to get people playing baseball again and utilizing the ball field,” she says. “And it was great just having people from all over come to the community and feel like they’re welcome here.”
“I was nervous, but it went very smoothly,” she adds. “We didn’t have any negative feedback, there was no fighting between the teams and the community of Nazko welcomed everyone with open hearts and welcoming arms.”
Laurent and a small group of volunteers had to put in a significant amount of work to get the playing field ready in time.
Local mining company CanLava put down lava rock to make base paths last Wednesday (Sept. 4), but it was taking quite a while to settle.
“Literally, the night before, we were still packing it in,” says Laurent. “And the morning of, we were there at 6 a.m. repacking and making sure everything was set up.”
By all accounts, it was worth it.
“As the players were coming in, they were like, ‘Wow, this looks fantastic,”’ says Laurent. “It really made me feel like we were doing a great job.”
In addition to getting the field ready, the organizers hacked out some nearby fields, so visitors would have somewhere to camp. They also provided firewood as a gesture of goodwill.
Saturday’s games started at 8 a.m. and continued until 7 p.m. That night, a local dance was held to celebrate the opening day.
On Sunday, the playoffs took place from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
First place went to the Mike Williams-captained team The Ringers. The runner-up was Elery Guichon’s Swinging Singles from Williams Lake and Anaham; and third place went to Lindy Alec and her team, Ball Teasers from Alkali Lake and Stoney Creek.
Due to the success of this year’s event, a couple of follow-up tournaments are already being planned for 2020.
A tournament in honour of Albert Mackenzie will be held on the weekend of Aug. 7-9, 2020, and the second annual Chuntezni’ai Baseball Tournament is scheduled for Sept. 4-7, 2020.
READ MORE: Nazko woman looks to revamp community baseball field
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