Charitable slo-pitch tournament hits homerun with food donations

The bats were alive and well at the North Street ballpark this weekend as more than 100 players on 11 area teams came together on the diamond for a friendly slo-pitch charity tournament.

Organized by Chris Girardi, regional director of National Slo-Pitch Athletics (NSA) for northern Ontario, the tournament required players to donate nonperishable food items in order to compete.

“With everything that’s gone on in our world over the last three years, everyone’s in perilous times,” he says. “It’s difficult to live today. There are so many people going to the food banks because they just can’t afford the rising costs of groceries and gas and whatnot.”

Born and raised in the Sault, Girardi has fond memories of beginning his slo-pitch career as a 7-year-old in a church league with the Anglican Diocese.

He fell in love with the game and worked his way up to the men’s leagues before devoting much of his time to the NSA.

After separating from his wife in 2017, Girardi lived at St. Vincent Place and benefitted from the men's transitional residence for nearly three months while he worked to get back on his feet.

By having that lived experience, the slo-pitch enthusiast says he witnessed how significant those food donations are to the locals who depend on them.

“The fact they’ve pulled together as a community means so much – that’s more important than anything,” he says. “To see there’s still love for other people is amazing.”

“Every team had a bag overflowing with canned items," he adds. "We literally filled a half-ton pickup truck.”

Now living in Sudbury and working as a truck operator, the father of four says he’d like to see upgrades made to Strathclair Park and hopes to eventually host a major softball event in the Sault on a provincial or national level.

The charitable tournament wrapped up Sunday afternoon with the ‘Cardinals’ claiming a tight 13-11 championship win over ‘Skoden.’

All food donations will go to Save Our Young Adults and Algoma Harvest.