Fifteen teams would contest three divisional championships last weekend at the Lorne Brady Sports Complex in Garson as the Sudbury Fastpitch Classic Tournament welcomed a host of local entries as well as squads from North Bay, Shawanaga, Parry Island, Sucker Creek and Sagamok.

While there hasn't been a consistent youth fastball feeder system in Sudbury for quite some time, the fact that out-of-towners who grew up on the game make their way north has injected some fastball excitement on a local level.

Spending her youth in the Stratford / Kitchener / Waterloo region, pitcher Brittany Shannon struck out 14 batters to lead Super Super Stacked past the Shawanaga Thundercats in the women's final.

"I grew up playing fastball," said Shannon. "When I moved up here, we created a team. It was initially me and Max - the catcher - and then we kept pulling people in, year by year."

"Somebody would know somebody else and we would teach them and have fun with it. Everyone keeps improving. It just takes patience."

Now 30 years of age, Cody McDermott boasts a fastball background from the Maritimes - New Brunswick, in particular - where his uncle was a name in the diamond circles, teaching the young lad how to pitch.

Three years ago, McDermott moved to Sudbury with his girlfriend and while it might not be the fastball of his late teens, the hurler who guided the Sudbury Crushers to a 9-6 win over Sagamok was still thrilled to find any version of the game being played in these parts.

"I just like the competitiveness of it," said McDermott. "It's a lot faster paced game than slo-pitch. Everybody is in the game, everybody is talking."

Much like the women's game, Sudbury and area fastball teams have little choice but to convert athletes to their sport. In fact, where there was at least a three-team girls youth division that was played in this event, there is no place for a 13 year-old budding male fastball star to ply his trade in the nickel city.

"There's some young guys, some young guys that we have brought in from slo-pitch," said McDermott, who could have added baseball as another source of talent. "They're learning the ropes. It's a different game."

One that is built, generally speaking, far more on pitching than the more offensively-geared slo-pitch option.

"I volunteered next summer to teach kids how to pitch," said McDermott, who tends to lean on a drop and a curve. "For me, the curne is natural. But we throw from 44 feet, a lot closer than baseball. You have to make a decision quick."

"When I come out of my shoot, I would say that I am probably at 38 feet (from home plate)."

As for the final, McDermott and his teammates were thankful that this was another in a series of highly competitive games, adding to the entertainment value for the crowd on hand.

"They (Sagamok) have a very good team, a deep lineup of hitters, with good pitching and good defense," noted McDermott. "But all of our young guys showed up today; everybody showed up."

"It was a good, collaborative effort."