User talk:Seventwo

Havoc Slopitch

The Havoc Slo-pitch team was created in 2006 by Dave Eckis and John Johnson. It is a collaboration of some of the top slo-pitch players in the South Okanagan.

How it all began

It was a cool, spring day in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada and the year was 2006. After the Greyhound Maddogs disbanded in 2004, John Johnson had taken a year off from Men's slo-pitch, but he had the urge to return, and return in a big way. John had matured as a player and was ready to take the next step, the step toward organizing and coaching a compilation of elite athletes. He first consulted his good friend and faithful catcher, Dave Eckis about the possibilities of putting this all together. Dave was skeptical at first, knowing that putting all these elite ball players on one diamond at the same time could be extremely volatile. But the look in John's eyes and the tone of John's voice was too much for Dave to deny and the team was born.

The next two months were brutal for John and Dave. After going through hours of game film, countless interviews, a rigorous scouting regiment and tiring physical testing, John and Dave had compiled and list of team members for the inaugural squad. There were a lot of tears on the day the final list was posted. Some tears of joy and some tears of sorrow as many players, who were thought to have impressive careers ahead of them, were left off the roster. There was no doubt this was special group of slo-pitch players.

The Original roster included such veterans as Terry Gillard and Rob Verrier and defensive stallwort Sean Trudeau. When Dave took a step back and looked at the team he and John had put together, with so much raw talent and unrefined chemistry, there was only one possible name for this team, "HAVOC".

Rookie Season (2006)

As expected, Havoc endured some growing pains that first year, finishing with a 14-6 record, good enough for 4th place in the Penticton Men's Slo-pitch League. But that 14-6 record was finished off with a tidy little 6 game winning streak to close out the year. The Havoc was coming on, and coming on strong.

As playoffs hit, the Havoc came out hard, knocking off the the 5th place TDA, a team that had disposed of the Havoc handily in the regular season. They then clashed with league winners, Sierra Sportswear, defeating them in what was the biggest victory of young Havoc's career. It was on to face the mighty Quest, winners of the playoffs, 8 straight years. The Havoc didn't quite have enough to hang with the mighty Quest and was soundly defeated. They went to the losers' bracket but their spirits were damaged and they fell victim to Sierra on this occasion. All in all, the Havoc finished 3rd in the playoffs, a respectable feat for sure. But there were big changes ahead....

Preparing for the Second Season

As the snow melted and the temperature began to rise in the spring of '07, a renewed sense of optimism had come over the Havoc as team organizers, Dave and John, began to assess this year group. A long winter of recruiting and contract talks had left the Havoc with a strong core of players for the upcoming year. It was a youth movement with the addition of Ryan McCready, Jeff Anderson, Matty "The Poster Child" Poster, Chad Bozak, Ian MacMillan, Aaron Bacon, and Graham Lyle all under the age of 25. Throw in veterans, Johnson, Verrier, Gillard, Eckis and Trudeau and there was some obvious optimism surrounding this special group.

Early Setbacks

The 2007 team got off to a slow start, posting a 6-5 record at the midway point of the season. The usually steady defense that Havoc prides itself on what shaky at best and the offense was in desperate need of a clutch hit at the right time. There were rumours of a shake up in the lineup but Coach Johnson stuck with the group he had, trusting his offseason work would pay off.