You wouldn’t call him the glue that holds the team together. You might not say the team can’t do without him. Someone else could probably fill his shoes. But the players do respect him and his work.

“If we didn’t, we’d have a team meeting,” says Sean Livermore, president of the Jasper-Hinton Fastball League.

He’s joking about Ray Forget, captain of the Evil Dave’s Jets. “He works really hard and he enjoys being the manager, and that’s what you need,” Livermore says.

It’s Forget’s fourth year as team captain, a role he says isn’t easy. He hauls the team’s equipment, contacts players to remind or inform them of the schedule, sets out the line-ups, decides who will play where, and often deals with sponsors.

Forget, who works for Jasper Park Lodge by day, also lights a fire under his teammates from time to time.

“They need motivation, need to be pushed,” he says. “That’s what I’ll do.”

While he might pass the job on should the right candidate come along, that person would have to show some passion.

“It takes loyalty, dedication,” he says. But most of all, Forget says he enjoys the time spent just being around the guys.

And it’s not just the guys on his team. Players throughout the league share an amical bond.

“It’s a friendly sport,” Forget says. “If I were to see players from other teams on the street it would be, ‘Hi, how are you?’”

Livermore agrees.

“We’re all friends on and off the diamond,” he says. “It’s a team and we all sort of work together and help each other out and we know all the players on the other teams too.”

The Jets is a young team, as its players range in age from about 18 to 45. Though Forget says younger teammates generally adapt to the team quickly, players with age have an advantage too.

“Older players, all they do is talk about ball all winter,” Forget says. “A lot of fastball players play it only, and that’s what makes them good.”

This year the Jets have the close-knit team that will win them the championship, he says. Last season they came in second place to the Scorpions.

“We’re more well-rounded this year, more experienced,” he says. “We have the team to do it.”

Win or lose, the team usually heads over to the Jasper Brewing Company, a co-sponsor, for a pint following the game.

“The place will be packed with tourists, and there’ll be eight to 10 of us screaming at the top of our lungs,”  Forget says, laughing. “And the owners don’t seem to mind.”

The Jets lost their first match of the 12-game season to the Bongs, 13-9. They face the Salooners on June 2 and the Falcons June 5.