Richardson Pioneer becomes Title Sponsor for the Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League

Richardson Pioneer, a division of Richardson International Limited, Canada’s largest agribusiness is proud to partner as the Title Sponsor for the formerly titled Milligan Creek Men’s Fastball League.
In its inaugural season, the Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League features six teams in East Central Saskatchewan. The league not only offers an opportunity for area men to play, it gives high school kids a chance to play with a lack of minor softball leagues in the area. The Wadena Wildcats and Fishing Lake Mariners are completely made up of 19 and under boys, in addition to some younger players on Wynyard and Foam Lake. The only other option for those boys is to play against Bantam and Midget aged teams with the closest being PA, Saskatoon and Regina.
“We are pleased to support this league and help give high school students and adults the opportunity to play fastball in their community,” says Carter Kolybaba, Director of Operations for Richardson Pioneer Wadena. “It’s having activities like this that make our communities thrive.”
The Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League consists of the Foam Lake Merchants, Fishing Lake Mariners, Fishing Lake Cubs, Wadena Wildcats, Rosebud Royals (Wadena), and Wynyard Blues. League President James Holowaty said “This partnership with Richardson Pioneer will allow the league to offer an opportunity to play in an organized league for years to come.”

Richardson International is proud to be truly invested in Canadian agriculture. Recognized as a global leader in agriculture and food processing, Richardson is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds and a vertically-integrated processor and manufacturer of oats and canola-based products. One of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, Richardson is headquartered in Winnipeg and has over 2,500 employees across Canada and the U.S.

The Richardson Pioneer Men’s Fastball League kicked off on Sunday May 8th in Wynyard. A good crowd braved the wind to watch the Wynyard Blues take on the Foam Lake Merchants at the Sports Grounds in Wynyard. The Blues Won 10-6 in 7-inning match. Mike Jordan got the win as he pitched all 7 innings for the Blues while James Anderson pitched for the Merchants. Tayler Jordan hit a Homerun and Josh Jordan fell a home run short of hitting for the cycle. Brennan Hack of the Merchants collected 3 hits and scored 2 runs. This week Wadena Wildcats face the Rosebud Royals on Tuesday and the Fishing Lake Mariners visit the Wadena Wildcats on Thursday. Both games are in Wadena.

Blues 10 – Merchants 6
Winning Pitcher: Mike Jordan (Pictured)
Home Runs: Tayler Jordan

Rules were decided at a meeting on April 25th, 2016 at the Wadena High School.

Rules and Guidelines:
1. 2016 league decided not to include fees.
2. Each team is responsible for arranging and paying umps and game balls for their home games.
3. Game times will either start at 6:30 or 7. (Unless agreed upon by both teams)
4. There will be a 7 run mercy rule per inning for all regular season games. Playoff tournament will not impose this rule but will follow softball Sask guidelines. (Mercy in effect 15 up after 3 and 7 up after 5)
5. Players will need to play a minimum of 2 games in order to be eligible for end of season tournament.
6. Everyone is aloud and is encouraged to bat during regular season play. Tournament will be 9 batters with the option of using a dp and flex player(s).
7. Tie breaking procedure for final standings will be the following
➢ 1. Winning percentage
➢ 2. Wins
➢ 3. A) head to head results. (runs for and against) if 2 teams
B) Runs for against with all other teams involved
➢ 4. Runs for and against for all games played
➢ 5. Pick out of a hat or flip a coin

The League Schedule has been uploaded into the league website. Some of these may be subject to change due to availability of Umpires. The best way to keep informed is to sign up to your “Team” as a player, fan, parent, or coach. You can opt into text message notifications, emails, or push notifications to your phone through the Team Pages app.

As of May 2nd, ONLY May’s games have been updated to allow teams to confirm Umpires for the June games.