Softball thriving in Ottawa's west end as Carp hosts U20 Fast Pitch National Championship

The old song "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" might as well be written about the village of Carp.

The small community in Ottawa's west end is alive with the sounds of bats cracking and mitts popping, as it hosts the U20 Men's Canadian Fast Pitch Championship.

The six-day tournament taking place at the Carp Fairgrounds sees the best young fast pitch softball teams from across the country competing to be crowned national champions.

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"There's six provinces represented. We've got Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario has got four teams here, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland," said Adam Brown, a committee member with the tournament and head coach of the host team West Carleton Electric.

With just two ball diamonds located at the fairgrounds, one may be surprised to learn that softball has a special place in the village of Carp.

"It started so, so many years ago," says Jayne Coady, a volunteer with the tournament.

"It goes back into the 30s, 40s and 50s, and it has just kept coming through. And we feed that, we foster it. We want to foster it because softball is just the best thing going."

"There's a lot of history with fast pitch softball in the village of Carp," adds Brown. "There's been men's teams and kids teams across the years."

Carp resident Gerry Morris says he has been playing or watching softball for the better part of 70 years, and plans to spend as much time as he can over this coming week in his lawn chair at the diamond.

"We've always had a team here, and if we didn't have enough players and we went to Kinburn or one of the other villages around," Morris tells CTV News.

"I never thought it would happen," he says of a major tournament in his favourite sport coming to Carp. "No, but they have great facilities here now."

The week-long event is attracting fans from across eastern Ontario, like Mark Blanchard who travelled from Brockville.

"This is the best chance to come see some good ball in the area," he says.

"It is a small town sport, and hopefully this game brings people out and brings some awareness of where things are going."

The rural community is expecting a big boost in tourism this week with hundreds of players, families and fans travelling to the area.

Already popular local businesses like the Carp Creamery say they are preparing for long lines.

"I think we will be busy," says Deklan McCormick, manager at the Creamery.

"We had a tournament here a few months ago and we got definitely some extra business from that."

"It's always great to see Carp blossom and really thrive."

"You've already seen the impact in Carp," notes area councilor Clarke Kelly.

"You've seen the extra cars here, a full parking lot here at the arena, and crowds at the local businesses."

The tournament runs daily until Sunday when the national championship games takes place.

There is the opportunity to cheer on the host team West Carleton Electric Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights with games at 8:15 p.m. each day.

Organizers say proceeds from the tournament will go back into local softball programs and improvements to fields and infrastructure.