A baserunner from the Federal Way Knights slides under the tag of the catcher from Synergy, of Auburn, during the championship game of the 2015 12U Inaugural Winter Indoor Fastpitch Tournament at the Northwest Sports Hub in Centralia on Monday afternoon.
A baserunner from the Federal Way Knights is called out after being tagged by the catcher from Synergy, of Auburn, during the championship game of the 2015 12U Inaugural Winter Indoor Fastpitch Tournament at the Northwest Sports Hub in Centralia on Monday afternoon.
Players from the Federal Way Knights 12U fastpitch team leave the Northwest Sports Hub after their game on Monday afternoon in Centralia.
Elite Diamonds, a 12U fastpitch team from the Woodinville area, warm up as another game is played at the Northwest Sports Hub in Centralia in January 2015. The cities of Centralia and Chehalis have approved an interlocal agreement to create a sports commission that would market and promote local sporting events.
Teams preparing for the next game warm up behind the left-field fence as a runner is thrown out at second base during the championship game of the 2015 12U Inaugural Winter Indoor Fastpitch Tournament at the Northwest Sports Hub in Centralia on Monday afternoon.
The catcher from the 12U Syngery team, of Auburn, tosses the ball back to the pitcher during the championship game of the 2015 12U Inaugural Winter Indoor Fastpitch Tournament at the Northwest Sports Hub in Centralia on Monday afternoon.
Several people spent years dreaming of Centralia as a go-to place for sports tournaments, and a few months after the Northwest Sports Hub opened, their wishes are beginning to come true.
The central part of the Northwest Sports Hub, a 76,500-square-foot building configurable for just about every major sport, hosted the first-ever United States Specialty Sports Association indoor girls’ fastpitch tournament in Washington state Saturday through Monday. The event drew 14 teams and hundreds of players and their families to Centralia to enjoy a sport that is normally played outdoors.
“It’s a perfect fit,” tournament director and USSSA Fastpitch State Director Billy Knoppi said. “This is the first time we’ve done an indoor tournament, and it’s great. You don’t have to worry about field conditions or the weather delaying you. You just get out and play.”
Teams converged on Centralia from up and down the Interstate 5 corridor for the tournament, with 12U and 14U squads from as far as Federal Way and Renton. Each team was guaranteed four games, with each matchup an hour in length to keep the tournament moving.
The game looked and flowed much like it does on a grass field — except at the Northwest Sports Hub, carpeting forms the playing surface and netting keeps spectators and equipment protected from live batted balls.
“Usually you have a 200-foot center field and about 165 feet down the lines, but we had to pull it in a little bit,” Knoppi explained. “It really hasn’t been that noticeable. Everyone’s told me that the carpet has a FieldTurf like feel, a bit more natural to it.”
Although the upper floor of the complex isn’t yet complete, families and fans of each squad could still watch from a bird’s-eye view from temporary bleachers or standing against a railing. The change in perspective, Knoppi said, is a welcome one from the usual sitting or standing eye-level along the field.
“It makes a big difference,” Knoppi said.
Knoppi and Sports Hub league director Jake Overbay are working together to form a league for local fastpitch players who want to utilize the facility also. A tournament scheduled for March will bring teams from even further than this weekend’s, with interest coming from such towns as Forks, Bellingham and beyond.
“There are very few places that can host indoor tournaments like this,” Knoppi said. “I think it’s going to get big.”
Jenni Bodnar, director of the Northwest Sports Hub, said working with people like Knoppi has served to benefit both the USSSA and the facility. More games mean more visibility for the complex as a versatile venue for sports with such a large following as softball.
But it’s more than just the facility itself that benefits, Bodnar explained, with money being spent in the Centralia community.
“It’ll bring even larger groups and teams to the area who will be here for a weekend,” Bodnar said. “They’re staying in our local hotels, they’re dining and shopping here. Now that the families have been here and seen the facility, they see the potential.”
Knoppi agreed.
“There are a lot of people who won’t have trouble driving the hour or two here to Centralia,” Knoppi said.
For those who can’t make the trip, however, there’s still a way to watch what’s going on free of charge. Over the weekend, Knoppi set up two iPhones with streaming software to show a bird’s eye and home plate view of the game on their website, www.usssalive.com/wa.
Bodnar and Knoppi both called the tournament a success, and with the first one now in the books, they’re looking to the future as more teams descend on the Sports Hub and the Hub City itself.
“We love the partnership we have with the USSSA,” Bodnar said. “We’re excited to see what’s to come.”
