Casey Grundy like to tell people that her last name is really 鈥渁t the bat,鈥� but it 鈥榮 actually Grundy.

Grundy plays on the Ballers slow-pitch team from Bowen Island, which was making its first appearance at the provincial championships in Langley on Saturday (Sept. 14) in the first day of a .

For Grundy, who used to play in the Langley mixed slow-pitch league before she moved to Bowen, it was familiar territory.

Asked about the appeal of the sport, her reply was straight to the point.

鈥淛ust the love of ball,鈥� Grundy told the Langley Advance Times, as teammate Randi Topp nodded agreement.

鈥淎ny ball tournament is a good tournament,鈥� Topp observed.

Around 600 players on 58 teams from across B.C. came to Langley to take part in the provincials.

Team names ranged from the whimsical to traditional, with names like 鈥淚鈥檇 Hit That,鈥� 鈥淲eekend Alibi,鈥� and 鈥淐razy Train鈥� contrasting with more conventional monikers like the Expos, Grizzlies and Titans.

Kris Chicorli from Cloverdale, a member of the 鈥淗alf-Fast鈥� team, has been playing for 25 years.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just fun,鈥� Chicorli said.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e around friends, because you know everyone in this league.鈥�

, regional director with Slo-Pitch National, the governing body of the sport in Canada, said the slo-pitch is popular because it is open and inexpensive.

鈥淲e appeal to almost everybody because everybody can play and financially, it鈥檚 affordable.,鈥� Tourangeau said.

He said teams came from as far away as Taylor B.c. and Vancouver Island to play in the Langley championship.

Thanks to a break in the otherwise damp, wet weather on the weekend, the tournament was able to proceed at multiple locations in Langley, including the fields at McLeod Athletic Park, home to host , a registered non-profile society that is Canada鈥檚 largest coed league.

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Slow-pitch, according to the online Encyclopaedia Britannica, is a popular variation of softball with men and women playing together, and a requirement that a pitched ball 鈥渕ust be delivered at moderate speed with an arc of at least three feet in its flight toward the batter. 鈥�

Base stealing is not allowed and umpires have the power to eject a piotcher or 鈥渞epeatedly throwing the ball too fast. 鈥�

More photos of the event can be viewed .

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Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com

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