Bryan Abrey’s annual summer commute across North America as an elite fastpitch player has produced his biggest haul yet.
The 30-year-old from Richmond not only helped the New York Gremlins win their first-ever International Softball Congress (ISC) World Championship in Kitchener, ON two weeks ago, he was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Abrey batted .500 (7-for-14) as New York rolled to six consecutive victories, including an 8-1 romp of rival Circle Tap Dukes from Wisconsin in the championship game. His second inning solo home run opened the scoring. He also finished the tournament with four runs and three RBI. Additional hardware included being named to the First Team All-World All-Star Team as an outfielder.
“Fastpitch is a funny game. Sometimes the ball looks like a pea pod at the plate and other times it’s as big as a beach ball,” said Abrey. “I just happened to being seeing it really well.”
A fixture with Canada’s national men’s team, Abrey has been playing several years for the Gremlins, usually making his way back east eight or nine times each season for tournaments. Every other year there are national team commitments as well including last summer when he helped Canada win bronze at the Worlds in Whitehorse.
He books Fridays off during the the summer with his job at Seaspan Ferries and is usually back at work for his Monday afternoon shift.
The Gremlins don’t mess around when it comes to the top level of men’s fastpitch.
Their roster is loaded with international talent with seven players from New Zealand, Argentina or Australia. They are provided room and board while the club covers Abrey’s travel costs.
They headed to Kitchener as three-time American Softball Association (ASA) national champions and were at least five runs better than all of their opponents. The breakthrough win comes after losing an 11-inning heartbreaker to Three Nations’ Hill United Chiefs in the 2013 final and placing third the past two years.
Abrey had little time to enjoy the big win. He is now in Nova Scotia for the Canadian Senior Men’s Championships as a member of the Sasktchewan champion Saskatoon Angels.
Participation in nationals is part of the criteria selection for next summer’s Canadian team headed to the 16th Men’s Softball World Championships in the Czech Republic. There is no B.C. team in Nova Scotia.
“I’m still enjoying the game and getting to see parts of the world I normally wouldn’t be going to,” added Abrey, who came through Richmond Boys Fastpitch under longtime coach Marshall Shields.
