By Larry Moko
The Bishop Reding Royals girls' slo-pitch team drove the St. Mary Crusaders 'bat'ty.
During their Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference final Thursday, a home plate umpire delayed the game for 10 minutes in the second inning while examining Reding's bats.
The St. Mary catcher brought it to the ump's attention that the aluminum sluggers being carried to the batter's box might not all be legal.
It was ultimately determined that the Royals equipment met regulations, however, and Reding went on to a 13-0 six-inning victory.
Both teams advance to the 16-team OFSAA Festival June 9-10 in Windsor.
"I've never seen that before," St. Mary pitcher Jade McNicol said of the holdup in the rain.
There are bats specifically for slo-pitch and others for fastball. Bats for slo-pitch are required to have certain Softball Canada/Slo-pitch Ontario labels on them.
"It makes quite a big difference," McNicol said.
Said Crusaders coach Charley Giudice: "You can swing the (fast-pitch) bat faster. The faster the swing the deeper the hit."
The plate umpire also compared Reding's bats with those used by St. Mary.
"Credit to our backcatcher for noticing," Giudice added.
"Eventually, the umpire decided there were enough bats with the correct logos. One or two bats might have been taken out of their bag. I don't know."
The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Athletic Association champions couldn't get their bats going. The Crusaders managed only a pair of singles -- by McNicol and Olivia Hirlehey -- against two Royal pitchers.
"Their shorstop was unbelievable and we kept hitting it to her," the veteran Crusaders coach said with a laugh.
"It's the first time we've actually had a bad loss," McNicol said. "We've been pretty solid all season."
Both teams entered the game unbeaten in league play. And last season, Reding won a bronze medal when the OFSAA tournament was held in Hamilton.
The Crusaders have captured two consecutive league titles and eight of the last nine.
In the recent GHAC semifinal playoffs, Reding ousted Georgetown and St. Mary topped the St. Francis Xavier Knights, 14-3.
In St. Mary's victory, McNicol pitched throughout and banged out a home run, as well.
"That was a tough team, too," Giudice said. "It was close for a long time but we had a couple of big innings and blew it open."
Giudice was part of the committee that officially launched slo-pitched as an OFSAA recognized sport last year.
"It's such a great game," he said. "You can play it your whole life.
"I'm very happy that even within the city now they are starting some youth slo-pitch. Until very recently, it's just been high school for the first level of slo-pitch."
Giudice points out that slo-pitch is very different game than fastball.
"A pitcher kind of takes over in fast-pitch. There's a lot less involvement with the other players. There's more defence in slo-pitch and more hitting. It opens up the game to more players."