By Anthony Dransfeld
Co-ed softball (slopitch) is certainly alive and well here in Jaffray and Wardner with eight teams (100 players) in action this summer. No need to be fancy, they call it ‘The League.’ The Teams are The Little Wolfpack, Shake and Bake, A Mixed Bag, The Jaffray Pub, Wardner Wildcats, Dirty 30s, B.A. Black top, and K.F. The Slopitch format is six guys and four girls, and the games are played at Tie Lake ball field, Wardner, and the Jaffray school field. Shake and Bake are a family team started by sisters Donna, Pennee and Brenda. Their mom Bonnie Kari taught the girls to play ball when Bonnie was a slingshot pitcher on various R.C.A.F. fastball teams wherever her husband Ken was stationed during his career in the R.C.A.F. (by the way, military fastball is excellent ball.)
These days Donna plays on Shake and Bake with her son, Brandon. Penneee plays with her daughter, Bailee, while Brenda is out on the field with her two boys Travis and Justin. Altogether seven players on Shake and Bake are family. Their team plays in a lot of tournaments during the summer. Next weekend they are in Wardner for their annual tourney, which draws in 10 teams from Fernie, Bull River, Wasa, Cranbrook and Kimberley. I checked out the Thursday night game on July 26,between Shake and Bake and "A Mixed Bag." It was entertaining, tied up at the top of the seventh inning before Shake and Bake blew it wide open with 10 runs. They were led by Keaton who pulverized three home runs, one of which actually hit off the school building in the air, way out in left field, a blow worthy of Babe Ruth. Actually all of Keaton’s home runs were big bombs. Donna the playing coach of Shake and Bake raked a base clearing double over third base for good measure. Shake and Bake are now 12-3 for the season in Jaffray.
Both teams displayed good sportmanship.