The Peace River Stampeders are in this year’s playoffs for the Wheatbelt Baseball League.
The Stamps finished 7-and-8 during the regular season, putting them in second place overall in the Eastern Division, behind the Manning Mets.
Player/Manager Curtis Fortin up to bat for the Peace River Stampeders during a game against Rycroft on May 25, 2017. (Photo/Peace River Record-Gazette)
On Monday, July 17, 2017, Game One against Fairview went really well for the team, as they would go on to crush the Outlaws 8-2, putting them ahead in the three-game series 1-nothing.
Looking back at the entire season, Stamps Player/Manager Curtis Fortin says they had quite a rivalry going on with Manning in the East.
“We had a pretty good battle with Manning for first place, but they ended up coming out on top,” Fortin told the YL Country Morning Show. “But fortunately for us, at this time of year, we could use the extra game, so we really weren’t looking forward to that bye.”
Fortin says it’s nice to be able to play those games against Fairview.
“Hopefully we can win tonight (at Cumming’s Lake at 7:15 PM),” he continued. “Then we can go out and play Manning for a five-game series in Round 2.”
Fortin says during most years, the Stamps use the regular season as a warm-up for the playoffs, in order to have their best game faces on for the playoffs.
“But for the last couple of years, it’s been a battle for us just to stay relevant in order to just get into a good position in the playoffs,” he continued. “It’s a little bit of a different tune for me, as I’ve seen teams where we just kind of coast through the regular season, and then really get going. But now, we’ve had to play really hard all season.”
He adds that they’ve lost a couple of key players over the past five or six years due to work and family commitments.
“It’s still a working man’s league,” Fortin said. “I work shift work, I have a family, like, it’s getting tougher and tougher for me to maintain my involvement.”
At age 38, Fortin says he’s one of the older players on the team.
“We do have a few players show up who are a little older than me,” he said. “And then, we also have players show up who are just 16 or 17 years old. In fact, some of are better talent have been the younger kids on our team.”
He also took the time to offer some praise for his East Division rivals.
“We had a couple of close fights with the Mets,” continued Fortin. “We had a game where we were up 8 to 2 against Manning, but we unfortunately let them get back into it, and they ended up winning it. But hats off to them, they’ve got a great team over there. They’ve got a bunch of younger kids with lots of poise. They’re all just jacked up to play every night they show up.”
The full interview by YL Country’s Kent Schumaker can be found below.
– Posted by BET
