Slo-pitch tournament underway

The second-annual Kingsley Downs/Gus Lindberg Memorial Slo-pitch Tournament kicked off last night in Devlin with the Clippers topping Variety Zone 16-15 in the opening game.
Action continues today through Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Devlin ball park, with two games slated for Friday starting at 6 p.m.
Play resumes Saturday at 7 a.m., with the ‘A’ final slated for Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Ron Kellar, president of the Devlin slo-pitch association, noted Fubar dropped out of the tournament early yesterday morning, putting a bit of a wrench into the schedule.
“It [may] force us to try to play a double-header Wednesday, but it would’ve been better if they had told me Friday so I could’ve got another team in,” Kellar said.
“It [the tournament] used to be really competitive, and you’d have guys arguing, but now it’s more laid back,” he added. “The ‘BS’ is flowing still, but it’s just in good fun now.
“It’s definitely a beer league,” he laughed.
The 11-team field includes all eight squads from the host Devlin slo-pitch league, along with two Fort Frances-based teams and one comprised entirely of members of the Downs family.
Village People are the defending champs.
The annual tournament has been ongoing in Downs’ name since 2003 after the longtime umpire was killed in a car accident following a tournament.
Lindberg’s name was added to its title last summer in honour of the former umpire who passed away suddenly in November, 2006.