Cape Breton girls’ team set to host fast pitch softball nationals in Sydney Mines

For the teenaged girls on the Cape Breton Rebels fast pitch softball team, the moment they have been waiting for all summer is nearly here.

"When we first found out that we were hosting, all of us were too excited to even sleep,” said team member Summer Pentecost.

The Rebels will host the 2023 Canadian Little League girls fast pitch championship at the Nicole Meaney Memorial Ballpark in Sydney Mines, next week.

It will be the first time the event has come to Atlantic Canada.

"The boys have a lot,” Pentecost said. “The girls don't have much. We're one of the only girls' softball teams around here, so for us to get to do something - not even just a little tournament, but the nationals, like that's something huge."

Sydney Mines has a history of strong support for national events, so it's expected the bleachers at the ballpark will be pretty full – though the best seat in the house might belong to the Rebels’ catcher, Vanessa Gerrow.

"I just can't wait to play,” Gerrow said. "I'm excited because we're going to get to see teams from away. We get to host it, so we're going to be busy."

John McCarthy was asked to coach the team this past winter. Ever since the snow melted, he has put his charges through three-to-four hour long practices, three days a week.

"This is once-in-a-lifetime for a lot of these kids,” McCarthy said. "Once I got out to the first practice and saw how eager these kids were, I was all in - and these kids have gotten nothing but better since."

The team is made up of girls from different Cape Breton communities who might otherwise be opponents, but they have come together quickly in pursuit of the common goal.

"We're counting down the days now,” Pentecost said. "We're basically here every day together, so we're pretty close. It's really fun just getting to meet new people, and now we're like family together."

The Canadian championship is set to run from July 25-27. The winning team will earn a spot in the Little League World Series in Delaware in August.