Dennis Eckert grew up in Victoria where he excelled in Little League Baseball at Hampton Park. In his early twenties he switched to competitive Fastball and played in the Stuffy McGinnis League and later for the Victoria Budget and Royals teams. He also played in Alberta.
His career in Fastpitch spanned twenty years and he was known as one of the dominant hitters in the world. In 1983, Dennis was integral in helping the Victoria Budget Sr A team win a Gold medal at the BC Provincials and Canadian Championships. At the Canadian Championships, Dennis was the top batter with an .875 average - a record which still stands today. In 1986, Dennis played Sr B and won a North American Fastball Association Championship and dominated the Western Canadians winning Gold in 1992 and 1993.
Overall, Dennis played in six Senior A Canadian Championships, 11 Senior A Provincial Championships, one North American Fastball Association Championship, and two Masters Provincial and Western Canadian Championships. His personal accomplishments include Pacific Northwest 7 time All-Star, Senior A Canadian Championship All-Star and Top Batter, Senior A Canadian Championship MVP, International Softball Tournament All-Star, and North American Fastball Association World Tournament All-Star.
In 1999, Dennis was inducted into the Alberta Softball Sports Hall of Fame and in 2020, he was inducted to the BC Softball Sports Hall of Fame.
Rob Guenter |
Rob Guenter enjoyed a stellar fastball career and has the word "perfect" attached to his name more times than most. The Saskatchewan-born fastball pitcher recorded 23 perfect games between 1973 and 1990 and many no-hitters. These career marks earned him admission to halls of fame for Softball Canada, Saskatoon and Softball B.C. Rob honed his craft on the prairies and he joined the Saskatoon K&K Olson's, later the All-O-Matics, in 1973 and as an 18-year-old rookie threw three no-hitters in his first season. He faced the powerful Victoria Bates at the national championships in 1973 and 1976, when the defending champs needed a late rally to defeat the young ace in the final. He was one of the country's top pitchers with Saskatoon but enjoyed his greatest success with Victoria. After the Budgets won their fourth Canadian championship in 1978, they picked up Rob for the 1979 Pan-Am Games. There he threw a one-hitter and a perfect game before outduelling legendary Ty Stofflet of the USA for a 1 - 0, 14-inning, gold medal game victory. Rob moved to Victoria and led local teams to two more national crowns and Canada to a Pan-Am victory in 1983. Rob's stellar status was solidified in the 1983 Canadians, when he threw five games in 24 hours to carry Payless to another national title. He was named Victoria's male athlete of the year for 1982 and 1983.
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