It’s baseball season almost all year long for the Victoria Devils girls A fastball teams.

During the fastball season, the girls burn up the diamond and don’t bother to put down the bat and ball in the off-season –– the teams keep the fire burning 11 months of the year.

Without any games to play right now the Devils players practice up to four times a week, including a weekly cardio session with Ratcliff Peak Performance at Eagle Ridge arena.

The team workshops are taught by brothers Lewis and Cayle Ratcliff. Lewis plays on the Victoria Shamrocks lacrosse and Cayle has just finished his final year on the junior Shamrocks team.

With a knowledge of high-level sport, the Ratcliff brothers know what it takes to train these dedicated ball players.

“Because they are younger girls we don’t use weights, but work on their balance and ability,” Cayle said.

Using resistance from their own body weight through squats and lunges, Devils players are getting stronger. The players also participate in a series of running drills.

“We are teaching them to have explosive speed and power,” Cayle said.

“The cardio helps it so we don’t get exhausted on the field,” said Langford ballplayer Sonya Faganello, 11.

“The improvement in the girls is huge,” said assistant coach Darryl Pearson, from Langford. “By getting strength up in the muscle there are less injuries.”

Kaylyn Snow, 12, from Langford is a pitcher and has been for the past five years.

“(The cardio workshops were) hard at first, but now it’s easier,” Snow said. “The cardio helps me stay strong.”

By having stronger leg muscles, this young pitcher said she can throw harder and faster.

Devils catcher Mackenzie Preece, 12, from Colwood, said devoting her time to the team is worth it. “I really like the competition,” Preece said.

To ensure the teams’ high calibre performance, players are recruited throughout the southern Island from Victoria to Duncan.

“We’ve pulled them all together from all municipalities to try and build teams to compete nationally,” Pearson said.

With one A-level fastball association representing the entire southern Island, the Devils squads do a fair bit of travelling to step up to the plate against other A level teams. The Devils play against teams from Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Vancouver and Seattle.

The Devils association has one squirt, two peewee, one midget and two bantam teams.

When playing games in Victoria, Devils teams challenge themselves by playing older teams, such as a peewee team versus a midget team.

Many of the athletes also continue to challenge themselves and their schedules with other sports.

Preece is also on a house hockey league. Faganello and Lei Stevens, 12, both play on soccer teams.

“Because we play two sports coaches understand if we have to miss a practice for another sport,” Stevens said.

There are high hopes that these little Devils will grow into big players.

“Hopefully some day, they can get scholarships and play on university teams,” Pearson said.

With the sport removed from the roster of Olympic sporting events, Pearson hopes the game will be reinstated by the time these players reach an age to play in the international level of competition.

“There is 100 different gymnastics events, but no softball,” Pearson said.

The International Olympics Committee removed both baseball and softball from the games. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing was the last Olympics to host the sport.

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