Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with 2 time ISC World Champion with the Tampa Bay Smokers, 2 time Pan Am Games Gold Medalist with Team Canada, as well as, Softball Canada, Softball Nova Scotia and Sport Nova Scotia Hall of Famer, the one and only Todd King. 

The fact it took us this long to get Todd on the podcast is ridiculous considering he lives under an hour away from us, but that doesn’t matter now because we got him and its an awesome chat.

Kingo had such a fantastic career in the game. As I just mentioned a few of his accomplishments a couple seconds ago, we can add to the fact that he was the MVP and Top Hitter at the 94 Canadian Senior Men’s Nationals in Saskatoon, 3 time All Canadian and took home a National Title on home soil in St Croix with the Halifax Jaguars in 1998.

We’re gonna talk to Todd about getting his start right here in the East Hants Minor ball system, playing for the legendary Tommy Doucette in 1989 at the Canada Games, the start of the powerhouse Halifax Keith's, his time with the Tampa Bay Smokers and so much more.

This was such an awesome episode, from one of the best our province has ever produced for our great game, I know you’re all going to enjoy this one.

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Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with University of Memphis alum and 2020 Olympian with the Australian National Team, the one and only, Ellen Roberts.

Ell has had a fantastic career to date and is still going strong. During her time at the University of Memphis from 2011 to 2014, she set 25 school records, including most strikeouts and wins in school history.  After making her debut for the NSW Firestars in 2014, later that year Ellen also made her debut with the Aussie Spirit, at that year’s World Championship in the Netherlands where they captured a bronze medal.

She has since gone on to play professionally for the past 9 seasons in the US, Japan and New Zealand to name a few and had the privilege of being able to call herself an Olympian as she represented Australia at the 2020 games in Tokyo.

We’re gonna talk to Ell about getting her start in the game at a young age, how she ended up in Memphis, Tennessee, her time on the National Team, those 2020 Olympics and so much more.

Ell was an absolute pleasure to chat with.  I’m so excited to see what’s in store for her moving forward.  I have no doubt with her work ethic and upbeat personality its gonna be fantastic!

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Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with 2021 NFCA First Team All-American, 2023 WPF Rookie of the Year, University of Kentucky alum, and current member of the USSSA Pride, the one and only, Kayla Kowalik.

Kayla time at Kentucky was just extraordinary.  She is UK’s all-time hits leader with 348 and all-time leader in runs scored with 258. She led the nation in batting average in 2021 when she hit a school-record .495, had a school-record 26-game hitting streak and scored a school-record 79 runs. Legit, the number of records that she processes at UK is insane.  She is now a member of the USSSA Pride in the WPF where she capped off her first season there as Rookie of the Year and being named to the All-WPF Team.

We’re gonna talk to Kayla about getting her start in the game, growing up and playing with her twin sister Gabbie, the journey to UK, being named to Team USA, this past season with the Pride and so much more.

Kayla was an absolute pleasure to chat with.  I’m so excited to see what the future holds for her both in the game and off the field as well. I’m sure whatever it is, it will be great.

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Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with legendary coach, Terry Baytor.

Terry is in every Hall of Fame I’m pretty sure that he’s eligible for in the game.  This includes, the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, Softball Ontario, Softball Canada, the ISC and the WBSC ones.  That’s just absolutely incredible and his resume in the game is like a novel.  He is one of the most successful softball coaches in the world, providing leadership to teams competing in more than 2,100 games, and is the only field manager to win a Canadian, ISC, Pan Am Games and WBSC World Championship.

We’re gonna talk to Terry about getting introduced to softball in North York at the age of seven by his father, the influence hockey coaching legend, Roger Nielson had on him, those epic ISC runs with the Toronto Gators, of course, coaching the Canadian Men’s National Team for 18 years and much, much more.

Terry was such a pleasure to chat with.  What he has done in this game is absolutely incredible and Hopey and I were so happy he took the time to come on and share stories from his career with us.

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Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with University of Minnesota alum, member of the Smash It Sports Vipers of the WPF and current Assistant Coach at the University of North Florida, the one and only, Amber Fiser.

What a career Amber has had to date and she hopes to be still going strong here in 2024.  She was an All-American pitcher at Minnesota from 2017-21, where she  completed her career with a 1.70 ERA and a 98-35 record while striking out 953 batters over five seasons.

We’re gonna talk to Amber about getting her start in the game in her home state of Iowa, the journey to Minnesota, of course, that fantastic 2019 season, her time at Athlete’s Unlimited, her time with the Vipers and much, much more.

Amber was an absolute pleasure to chat with and I can’t wait to see how she and the Osprey’s do this season down in North Florida, as well as, whatever else Amber decides to bring to the table for the future, we’ll definitely be rooting her on from up here in Canada.

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Outside The Chute was so fortunate to sit down and chat with 4 time ISC World Champion, 1992 ISF Gold medalist, ISC and Softball Canada Hall of Famer, one of the greatest to ever play this game, the one and only, Darren Zack.

Z-Man’s accomplishments in the game are endless and I’d be here for an hour mentioning them.  This guy was a true pioneer of the game and did so with such a humble and gentle nature, that made him so  well-respected both as a teammate and opponent.

We’re gonna talk to Darren about getting his start in the game in Garden River, his journey to playing in Boston, the epic days with the Toronto Gators, especially that amazing 1995 run, his time on Team Canada and much, much more.

Darren taking the time to come on and chat with us is something I’ll forever be grateful for, as this guy is a true idol of mine, and I know he doesn’t do many interviews.

I’d like to thanks Brian Paton for getting this process going and of course, Darren’s wife Charlotte for setting all of this up.  It truly meant a lot to myself and Chris.

Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with Louisiana Tech alum and current member of both Canadian Women’s National Team for baseball and softball, the one and only, Zoe Hicks.

Zoe has burst onto our international scene here in Canada in the past year by being named to both the women’s baseball national squad, where she was named the teams Most Valuable Player, as well as the women’s softball team, where she played a big role in helping them win a bronze medal at the Pan Am Games last month in Chile.

Zoe also works in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization where she worked in their technology department before adding in more in-field duties this past season down in the Arizona Complex League.

We’re gonna talk to Zoe about getting her start in the game, her journey through college at Iowa State, Buffalo and Louisiana Tech, being named to the National Teams, of course, working with the Dodgers and much, much more.

Zo was an absolute pleasure to chat with.  I’m so excited to see what's in store for her moving forward, both on and off the field.  No doubt there are big things in store.

Outside The Chute had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with one of the great guys in our game, the New York Gremlins own, Vahram Mateosian.

I can’t even begin to say how much we laughed during this episode and even after this episode.  For those that don’t know, but I’ve mentioned it on here before that I don’t actually listen to any of our podcasts after we do them.  I make mental notes during the actual talk of when or if, something needs to be edited,I go to that spot and do it but this one here I listened to it all again and I think I laughed even more than when we were doing it. Its frigging hilarious.

If any of our listeners aren’t familiar with the men’s game, Vahram is a long time, player, assistant coach and sponsor with the ISC World Champion, New York Gremlins and he is one of the funniest and quick witted guys in our game, and you’ll definitely find that out in this chat.

We talk to Vahram about how he got his start in fastpitch, the growth of the Gremlins, his custom Men’s Suit business, Mr. Ned, which if you’re listening to us in the New York area, head on down to 137, 5TH Ave in NYC, if you’re looking for that right suit you’ve always wanted, we chat about winning those ISC Championships and we have a Player’s Association at the end of the show that is just epic.

We are so happy Vahram took time to come on with us and chat because this one here will go down as an all timer.

Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with 2 time PGF National Champion and Clemson University commit, the one and only, Addisyn Linton.

When you’re putting down a blueprint for a pitcher in our game, Addi definitely would be a mold you’d want to use.  Not only is she a hard throwing left hander, but her work ethic off the field is second to none.  This girl is just an absolute beast.

One thing I noticed when doing all my research on Addi for this episode is that the words Determination and Dedication kept on popping up when I looked at past articles or quotes from other people in the game on her.  Put that together with her immense talent, man, the Clemson Tigers and their fans are in for a treat come 2025 and beyond and I can’t wait to watch this ride.

In this episode we talk to Addi about getting her start in the game and how her and her Dad, who an absolute beauty by the way, would travel 5 hours to Colorado just so she could play, crazy stuff.  Also chat about capturing her two PGF National titles, of course the commitment to Clemson, which is a great story as well and much, much more.

Addi was such a treat to chat with, I have no doubt we’re going to be seeing her and the Tigers playing for a National Championship and making history in the near future.

Outside The Chute sat down and chatted with, 4-time Pan Am Games gold medalist, 3 time ISC World Champion, ISC Hall of Famer and recent inductee into the Softball Canada Hall of Fame, the one and only, Brian Paton.

What a career Brian has had.  I mean, the previously mentioned accomplishments are just a sample of what he was able to do over his storied career.  8 years as the captain of the Canadian National Team, 4 time ISC All World selection, MVP of the 1995 ISC’s, the list goes on and on.  Its ridiculous.

We’re gonna talk to Brian about getting his start in the game in Woodstock, how NHL Hall of Famer, George Armstrong was the one who told him to switch from being a catcher to an outfielder, his time with the Toronto Gators and Team Canada, and much, much more.

Such an amazing talk this was with one of our countries best to ever play the game.  Hopey and I are still talking about this one and we’re so happy Brian was able to take the time to come on and chat with us.