For the past couple of weeks baseball enthusiasts and casual observers, including this writer, tuned in to watch the World Baseball Classic, an international baseball tournament held every four years.

Proposed in 2005 by Major League Baseball and its players, the tournament was first held in 2006. 

The event features national teams and top professional players from the best leagues around the world, including MLB and the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization. Canada included, this year’s tournament featured 20 teams, divided into four pools of five clubs.

Canada played in a pool with Columbia, Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico. As one of the top two teams in the pool, Canada advanced to the quarterfinal.

Playing against the heavily-favoured American squad, Canada was eliminated after a 5-3 loss, ending Canada’s historic first-ever appearance in the tournament’s knockout stage.

In the final, underdog Venezuela upset Team USA 3-2 to capture their first WBC title.

The Dominican Republic, with Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on its roster, captured third place, defeating Italy.

While the WBC garnered much of the media attention in recent weeks, a local women’s fastball team is hosting a reunion in Peterborough on April 1. 

Seven members of 1970s fastball team, the Quaker Athletics, will visit the Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame. They will present a team photo and uniform to the Hall of Fame.

The Peterborough City Ladies Softball League has roots dating back to 1921.

The Women’s City Softball League was active in the 1940s, with documented championship play in 1948. Starting in 1946, the key venue for play was East City Bowl. The women’s games were competitive and highly entertaining, so much so, they often attracted larger crowds than men’s games. 

By the 1950s, the league for women was active and featured multiple teams from Peterborough, alongside teams from Lindsay, Belleville, and Cobourg.

From 1952 to 1968, the first girls division was initiated with the Peterborough Community Church Softball League. As young players became more proficient, this league became an important development league for the Peterborough City Ladies Softball League. 

Notable teams playing in the league in the 1970s included the Cold Springs Cats, Cobourg Angels, Lakefield, Westclox, several Peterborough Junior teams sponsored by local businesses such as Peterborough Heating, Martin Sunoco, Sinclair Mustangs, and of course, the Quaker Athletics.

As players became older, women wanted to continue to compete and stay active. This resulted in the formation of the Peterborough Friday Night Ladies Slo-Pitch League for women over the age of 30. 

For women aged 50 and over, the Peterborough Senior Ladies Slo-Pitch League continues to be a popular league. Games are played Wednesdays at the George “Red” Sullivan East City Bowl.

For players who continue to want to play fastball rather than slo-pitch, the Peterborough Thunder Women’s Fastball League is now holding registration for the 2026 house league, which is open until April 26. 

Members of the 1970s Quaker Athletics team have been planning a visit to the local Hall of Fame on April 1 of this year for some time.

Through the advances of technology, the accompanying photo was achieved using a program known as ChatGPT. 

The Quilt Arts Peterborough Ladies include Blythe Minty, Maureen McKeen, Elke Bade, Ingrid Cathcart, Mary Claire Nepotiuk, Sue Hubay, and Maureen O’Neil. The power of an IA program has magically transformed a quilting team into a 1970s ball team.

Happy April Fool’s Day.

© Peterborough Examiner