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But the one constant was they always had something to come back awayam«)meguysmmeiladl.'saxl U)e the unofficial motto of a bunch of local fastballâ€"playing buddies who have been together since they were teenagers But it couldn‘t last forever for these eternal boys of summer. Ever since they got together in the Kâ€"W Fastball league 25 years ago they‘ve seen players come and go. to â€" Rick Boyd, a member of the sunshine boys who have been taking the field lately with the Kâ€"W Pride senior men‘s that Martin shouldn‘t have made such an impact after a couple of up and down years emember those old Ra;lnusement park rides ith names like the Twister and the Screamer. The Waterloo Siskins Eric Martin sure does after riding the Listowel Cyclones for two goals in Sunday afternoon‘s 5â€"3 win. It was the Siskins second win over the Cyclones in less than 48 hours after a 7â€"4 win And while the carnival The Siskins Craig Lizun turns away a lastâ€"minute opportunity by Listowel in Sunday‘s 5â€"3 win © e Martin rides the Cyclones By Bos Veranac with the Siskins, the 18â€"yearâ€" _ field, he thought Chronicle Staff old left winger could argue that "I just want to get out there he‘s just learned the game. and do what I can," said Martin asem agee;® j ATiasS: RETSI "Over the years some guys went It got so bad at one point last year that he even played football for the WCI Vikings. Why ride the pines if he could get his aggression out on the He he works hard every night to provide a physical presence along with his lineâ€" mates the slugging Schultzs â€" brothers Derrick and Brock â€" good things will continue to happen. That includes a threeâ€" point night for the rugged forâ€" ward who is finally making his presence known after spendâ€" ing more time off the ice instead of on it. "The core of us have been playing together since we were 18," said Mike Waechter, said another member of this et@rnal optimist society. "We might have played for different teams but we all came back together and stayed with the Pride." But it wasn‘t just the Pride that kept them together over the years. It was the lifeâ€"long friendships. And while they promise to never lose those intangibles they had on the field, it‘s the off the field stuff that is becoming more important for the group with an average age of 44. So they decided to ride off into the sunset together in style by playing one last ball tournament together. But this isn‘t your ordinary ball tournament. In fact, they‘ve decided "It starts behind the bench," he said. "They‘re a lot easier to communicate with and that rubs off on the players." "I just want to get out there and do what I can," said Martin about the change in his hockey playing fortunes under the new David Officer regime. "I usually do the dirty work in the corners and get the puck to them. Tonight it was nice to put a couple in. _ The softâ€"spoken Martin said the biggest difference is communication. "It‘s nice to get on the score sheet other than the PMs SPORTS And as part of this celebration of the mature athletes. there will be more The tournament is basically Ausâ€" tralia‘s equivalent to the Otympics for Masters age athletes 35 years and H Not that the Knights are looking ahead, but it was the Vikings who knocked them out of CWOSSA contention last year on their way to a second OFSAA bronze medal er, who also plays club ball for the Kâ€"W Lightning. "We hope "Hopefully this will be a buildâ€" ing block, but the next tough team will be WCI I think this game will definitely get us pumped up for that." The Bluevale Knights cerâ€" tainly hope so after a big win over perennial favourites the Grand River Renegades last Thursday in a 49â€"40 homeâ€" court win. But point guard Kaitlin Hooper thinks the real test will come when they meet the WCI Vikings in the Battle of Waterâ€" loo game Oct. 16. "This was a big win for us today. I think we‘ve beaten Grand River only twice since I started playing in Grade 9," said Hooper, who had 18 points to lead the Knights. basketball league? Knights want a say in senior girls title fight "We might not need that ould we be witnessing a changing of the guard in the WCSSAA senior girls By Bos Vrranac Waterioo Chronicle "It came up five or six years ago over a couple of beers," said Boyd. "I said, ‘Wouldn‘t it be neat to go play ball in Australia as our swanâ€"song." "Then in the spring we heard about this tournament, put the word out, got a team together and away we And it‘s been quite a swanâ€"song for the players. They played inspired ball all season in the South Perth league So even though fall‘s officially here in Canada they couldn‘t resist chasing the spring sun one more time in Ausâ€" tralia before hanging up the cleats. The Knights‘ Shannon Theune, left, chases down a loose ball. to make it to at least CWOSSA _ also an allâ€"star soccer and basâ€" and think we can win WCSSAA _ ketball player when not pursuâ€" if we play well." ing her first love, hockey. And Hooper doesn‘t have to Although Dumas was hobâ€" do it alone with a team that _ bled with a sprained ankle boasts a good combination of _ against Grand River, she manâ€" height, defensive intensity and _ aged to pour in six points while Offering some of that scorâ€" ing punch is one of the area‘s best allâ€"around high school athletes Elaipe Dumas. The champion thrower is www.rwwaterloo.com we‘ve played our last game," said Boyd, an infielder on the team. "We ended up winning the whole thing a couple of weekends ago. There are 20 teams in the league and the Kâ€"W Pride beat them all for their last hurrah. "We told the league we play in that And it wasn‘t easy as they beat out twoâ€"time defending champions Sebringville, and heavilyâ€"favoured Bridgeport in the finals. That was a bonus to go out like "It all depends on how we play as a team," said Dumas about whether it was their turn to win. "If we play hard and hustle we can do it." CLICK HERE Yolkswagen New & Cortified Preâ€"owned Cars _ Volkswagen Waterloo «Continued on page 23