How To Tie A Fly

Eagles Help SOL Fly Through Carpenter Cup Opening

PHILADELPHIA–With all of the year round club softball being played, it can get difficult at times to distinguish one marathon, five-games-in-a-day tournament from another.

One tournament that stands alone is the Carpenter Cup , sponsored and ran by the Philadelphia Phillies , with the opening days held in FDR Park and the final at Ashburn Park. 

Since its inception in 2005, the purpose of the Carpenter Cup has been to give the best high school players in the tri-state area the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of college scouts. The hope is that this tournament, like the baseball Carpenter Cup Classic , will be a catalyst for many players to receive scholarships or admission to some of the country's finest universities.

The inaugural tournament, played in June of 2005, was won by Delaware South (Gold) claiming the first title. Since then South has recorded its second title, as well as two championships, beating the Lehigh Valley squad, slated to play Tuesday morning, and Jersey Shore, who won two games on Monday.

Upper Dublin head softball coach Heather Boyer has been there since the start of it all, and she looks forward each year to spending her first week of summer break coaching the all-stars of the Suburban One League ’s American and Continental conferences.

"I have been here since the inaugural year," said Boyer. "It is fun every year to get to work with kids that all love the game and see how they all come together. They work all season, and then they come to a venue like this and go 'Wow, I’ve spent all year trying to beat them and not like them, and they are really kind of cool.'"

In the opening game of the tournament, Boyer and her squad got down early, but battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.

After fighting off two scoring chances by the Olympic/Colonial Conference all-stars, Norristown Area High School ’s Steph DiNolfi was on third with the winning run as Central Bucks East’s Allie Chase stepped into the box. On a 1-2 pitch, Chase lofted a ball deep to left, scoring DiNolfi and claiming SOL A&C’s first victory of the day.

"This year's group has some major skills," said Boyer. "I am excited about what we can do here. Getting that first win is always huge. You want to stay on the winner bracket side as long as you can here."

"I was very proud of the how they kept their composure today," added Boyer. "To get down in the first 2-0 on a questionable call, and not let it get to them, was really something. They just started picking away, and we got it done in the 10 .

How To Tie A Salmon Fly | The Cottage Chronicles

When I was a wee laddie of about 12 years of age, a fellow married my Mother’s cousin….That fellow was a fisherman and he changed my life for the better. His name was Fred Ladd, an American from New Jersey, although originally from Maine.

Fred loved to fish, particularly salmon fish, among other things, and he and his wife, Mom’s cousin, Mary, made the journey to Nova Scotia each summer to spend some time salmon fishing. As a young fella who grew up with a fishing rod in my hand, he was heaven sent. He always arrived with some new fishing gear for my Dad and I. A new fly rod, the latest thing from Kmart in the States, or a new Air Cell fly line. Much of what he brought to fish with himself he left behind for me. That included many fly rods, but also a 6 horsepower Johnson outboard, an aluminum boat, and later, even a camp on a salmon river. Yes, he was good to me.

Fred and my Dad became close friends, like brothers really. Fred was an only child himself, and my Dad had lost his only brother years ago at a young age. The two of them were tight, but I managed to squeeze in, because I was a keener when it came to fishing, and Fred and Dad both realized that early on.

Fred took me under his wing, showed me how to cast a fly rod, tie on a fly, how to drift a dry fly over the pool and what to do when a salmon rose to take a swipe at my fly. He taught me the fundamentals of fly fishing, boating and all things outdoors. I looked forward to his trips to Nova Scotia each summer for many years.

July mornings would see the two of us up at 5:30 and getting into the aluminum boat for the run across the lake to our salmon pool. Dad used to say that Fred and I were the noisiest two fellows he ever met, always asking how many times we could manage to bang the screen door at 5:30 in the morning.

I can still smell the smoke from Fred’s unfiltered Camel cigarettes in the cool morning air when I make that run across the lake myself. The exhaust from the 2 cycle outboard motor, the Camels, Off fly repellant and the surrounding mixed wilderness of spruce and hardwood mingled with the early morning vapors that shrouded the lake as the sun rose above the trees, chasing away the fog. We got lost a few mornings, but not too many, usually the mornings when he let me drive the boat. He would always ask if I had my compass.