WC Electric takes Game One 7-1 over Carp

Game 1 of the GOFL semi-final series between WC Electric and I4C Victory got underway in Carp on Thursday night (August 30), with WC taking the 1-0 series lead by virtue of a 7-1 win.

Brad Porter had the win, throwing a complete 3 hitter with 15Ks, while Neil Cooke took the loss with relief from Paul Ceppi.

The teams, umpires and fans observed a pre-game moment of silence in honour of the late Gil Read. Carp Coach Shawn Williams gave a heartfelt speech, and Gil's nephew Al Read, told an anecdote of how Gil cut short his honeymoon 34 years ago this week to play in a playoff fastball game.

After this somber moment, it was game on, with Cooke getting the start for I4C Victory and Porter receiving the ball for WC Electric.

WC Electric scored first, going up 2-0 in the top of the second frame. With two out, Todd Clouthier reached on an error and moved to second when Jason Armstrong hit a single. Adam Brown hit a single to score Clouthier, and when the ball was bobbled by the outfielder, Armstrong took advantage and scored.

The Fitzroy team added to their lead by scoring another run in the third. Trevor Barton lead off with a single and stole second. Mike Cavanagh continued to swing a hot bat and drove Barton in with a single.

Porter pitched very well all game, including starting off with seven consecutive strike outs.
Carp scored their only run in the bottom of the third when Russ Mitchell took an 0-2 pitch deep for a solo shot. The next batter, Kyle Gourgon stroke a single immediately after, but Porter bared down and closed out the inning.

The Electric threatened in the fourth, leaving the bases loaded but did not generate a run. However Fitzroy Harbour went on to score in each of the 5th, 6th and 7th innings.

In the fifth, Cavanagh lead off with a single, moved to second on a Neil Murphy sacrifice bunt, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Clouthier single.

The run in the sixth came when Jon Daley reached base on a dropped strike, moved to second on a Barton sacrifice bunt, then scored when a Shawn Rebertz grounder was misplayed.

WC topped off their scoring in the 7th to put the game out of reach when Steve Johnson walked and Clouthier hit his first career GOFL home run to centre.

Game 2 between the two teams will be Tuesday September 4 at 8:30PM in Fitzroy Harbour.
Both teams will be travelling to Elkland, Pennsylvania for the Labour Day Tournament this weekend.

Pitchers:
Brad Porter - Win - 7IP, 1R, 1ER, 3H, 15K, 1BB

Neil Cooke - Loss - 5.2IP, 5R, 3ER, 10H, 7K, 1BB
Paul Ceppi - 1.1IP, 2R, 2ER, 2H, 4K, 2BB

Hitters:
WC:
Jon Daley - 3/5, R, 2B
Trevor Barton - 1/3, R, BB, Sac, Stolen base
Mike Cavanagh - 2/3, R, BB, RBI
Todd Clouthier - 3/4, 2R, 3RBI, HR
Jason Armstrong - 2/4, R
Adam Brown - 1/4, 2RBI

I4C:
Kyle Gourgon - 1/3, stolen base
Trevor Wood - 1/3
Russ Mitchell - 1/2, HR, RBI

Pontiac Equity Article

Check out the Pontiac Equity for an article about the Quyon - WC Electric series, as well as an action photo.

Stittsville / Easton series

Game 1 of the Stittsville / Team Easton series was postponed due to the weather on Wednesday night.

Looks like Game 1 will be played Wednesday September 5 at 8:30, while Game 2 will be on Thursday September 6 at 8:30. All games in this series are in Stittsville.

Fighting Newfs

According to Al's Fastball, there was a bench clearer in a game between two Newfoundland entries at the Senior Canadians in St. John's. Old time fastball!

North Leeds League Update

from the Brockville Record-News

Lyn is in control of fastball finals
NEWBORO -- Lyn is within one win of wrapping up the North Leeds Men's Fastball League playoff championship.

Lyn blanked Newboro 6-0 here on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five finals.
Jeff McNish scattered four hits in the pitching win.

Matt McNish, who pitched the win in the series opener, slugged a two-run home run in the victory.

Lyn reached the finals by eliminating Greenbush in an exciting five-game thriller while Newboro ousted Lansdowne in four games.

Game three is set for Lyn on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Blackburn League update

from Shannon Borho

BMFL Playoffs start on Thursday, Sept 6. First place is going down to the wire with 3 teams all tied for 1st with one game remaining each. The other playoff positions are finalized.

Tied for first are the Good Ol’ Boys (Gilles Roy, Andy Dunn, Johnny Tremblay, Steve Corry, Norm Gascon), the Knights (Cox brothers, Jamie Blakely, Gerry Sancartier, Brett Dugan) and the A’s (Will Lowe, Will Mood, Pedro Sanchez, Terry Jones, Denis McNicoll). The Knights and Good Ol’ Boys finish the regular season against one another Tuesday at 9pm which will decide first place. The league website is bmfl.ca for more information.

Elkland Labour Day Preliminary Round

First round schedule for the Elkland, PA tournament this weekend:

FRIDAY
7:00 PM ESA Belly's - Elkland, PA VS. Keeneyville Fastpitch - Keeneyville, PA
9:00 PM Elkland Fastpitch - Elkland, PA VS. Jersey Shore Merchants - Jersey Shore, PA

SATURDAY
10:00 AM Knoxville/Ontario - Knoxville, PA VS. Aqua Specialists - Harrisburg, PA
12:00 PM Greenbush Generals -Addison, Ont VS. Wyevale Tribe - Wyevale, Ont
12:00 PM West Carleton Electric - Fitzroy Harbour, Ont VS. Shedden Mission - Shedden, Ont
12:00 PM I4C Victory - Ottawa, Ont VS. Beverage Barn - Williamsport, PA
2:00 PM Shaggy Dog - Erie, PA VS. Yuengling - Pottsville, PA
2:00 PM Jersey Shore Generals - Jersey Shore, PA VS. Rise - Perkasie, PA

Article on Gil Read, from the Citizen

Canadian softball loses one of its best
Martin Cleary, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, August 29, 2007

When you open the garage door of the Read family home on Oriole Avenue in Kanata, you enter a special world that only a softball enthusiast could truly appreciate.

Unlike most garages, this space was a dedicated indoor batting cage at first, where national team players and local teams sought out softball hitting maestro Gil Read to improve their skills. Players would hit a ball off a tee, Read would videotape it and then the analysis began on the basement TV.

Converting his garage into a year-round classroom was a reflection of Read's absolute love of the sport as a successful coach for 25 years at the local, provincial, national and international levels.
In one of his finest moments, he paced the dugout as team leader for the Canadian women's softball team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Read, a student of the game who taught his players to expect the unexpected, died suddenly on Sunday from a stroke at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. He was 53.

While Read was driving his ATV up a steep slope seven weeks ago, it suddenly went straight up and landed on him. An experienced driver, Read was wearing a helmet, but the machine left him with head injuries. After five weeks in the hospital, he went home and appeared to be recovering well. But last week he became lightheaded and returned to the hospital.

"He was a tremendous friend and a tremendous person," said former national team player Randy Peck of Wakefield, who spent hundreds of hours refining his hitting with Read.

"He did more for ball in this area quietly than anyone realizes. He had tremendous ball knowledge, but was even a better person and friend."

Read, who co-owned the paralegal service Read Abstracts Ltd. with his brother, Robert, retired from coaching softball this year to spend more time with his wife, Georgia. But he did join his brother, Peter, on the Good Ol' Boys conventional softball team this summer. The team was scheduled to play in the Metro Old Timers Softball League final tonight.

Besides the Olympics, Read also was Softball Canada's team leader for the 2003 Olympic qualifier (gold) and the 2001 Pan American junior and senior women's championships (silvers).
As a coach, he started with T-ball in the early 1980s in Kanata and worked his way up to taking the Ontario men's under-18 team to the gold medal at the 1997, 2001 and 2005 Canada Summer Games. For two years, he coached the University of Ottawa women's fastball team, which won a provincial silver medal in 2005. He guided his various Kanata age group teams to five provincial class A titles and made three national championships.

A dedicated volunteer with Softball Canada, he served on its coaching committee from 1995-2002 as a coaching instructor and master course conductor. He also was involved with the coaching committee and the initiation program.

Read was president of the Ontario Amateur Softball Association in 2001 and 2002. He was a member of the Softball Ontario board of directors from 2002-04, and again in 2006. This year, he remained a director and sat on the OASA advisory council and its athlete/coach ad hoc committee.

As a teenager, Read was a minor football coach for the Rochester Lions. He later coached in the Kanata Minor Hockey Association and served as an archery instructor. In 2005, the Ottawa Sports Awards dinner honoured him with the Mark Lowry Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in sports administration and volunteerism.

Read is survived by his wife, Georgia, and sons Chris and Ron.

Visitation will be held at the Kelly Funeral Home on 580 Eagleson Road in Kanata on Sunday from 7-9 p.m., and on Monday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. The funeral will be held on Tuesday at the Glen Cairn United Church on 140 Abbeyhill Drive at 11 a.m.

GOFL Second Round Playoff Schedule

Stittsville 56ers - Ottawa Team Easton, Game 1 is schedule for tonight in Stittsville at 8:30PM, pending confirmation from the umpires.

Carp I4C Victory - West Carleton Electric schedule has been determined as follows:
Thursday Aug 30, 8:30PM - in Carp
Tuesday Sep 4, 8:30PM - in Fitzroy Harbour
Thursday Sep 6, 8:30PM - in Carp
Friday Sep 7, 8:30PM - in Fitzroy Harbour (if necessary)
Tuesday Sep 11, 8:30PM - in Carp (if necessary)

Note that Carp and WC Electric will be having a moment of silence before the Game 1 opener, in honour of the late Gil Read.

Stittsville 56ers defeat Orleans Gators to take series 2-0

with info from Sam Oliver and Jeff Langford

Stittsville defeated Orleans 11-3 in GOFL Playoff action last night in Orleans.

Orleans had a 3-2 lead heading into the 6th, then Stittsville sent 13 men to the plate and scored nine runs.

John Craig had a solo homerun for the 56ers.

Dan Bradley got the win in relief of Scott Herriot while Nick Bowman took the loss with Kurtis Summers pitching in relief.

This ends Orleans' inaugral season in the GOFL. The Gators started strong, but had problems winning after pitcher Chad Hargrove was out of commission.

Stittsville will play Easton in the second round of playoffs in a best-of-five, while WC Electric will face Carp I4C Victory.

ISC Changes for 2008

From Al's Fastball

Here are the significant 2008 changes approved by the ISC Board of Directors in Kitchener. These are in no particular order of importance.

Carrol Forbes Foundation Scholarships - Beginning immediately, high school seniors are eligible to win this $500 scholarship. Previously, applicants were required to have completed some college study. If a high school senior wins the scholarship, payment will be withheld until at least one semester of college is completed.
A 2nd annual scholarship has been approved so two $500 scholarships will be awarded each year. Details about the scholarship program are shown on the ISC web site.

Mexico and Caribbean Now Part of International Region - Effective with the 2008 season, all of Mexico and the Caribbean will be considered part of the International Region. Previously, Mexico was included in both US West and US Central regions and the Caribbean was part of US East region. This means any players living in Mexico or the Caribbean will be considered Out Of Region for US and Canadian based teams.

Mike Cutro New US East Regional Commissioner - Mike Cutro, sponsor and manager of the CPI team of Oswego, NY has been named a US East Regional Commissioner. Mike brings a passion and knowledge of the game including familiarity with the ISC II caliber teams in NY state and New England.

Team Entry Fees $350 for World Tournament and ISC II ToC - Beginning in 2008, all team entry fees are standardized at $350 for both World Tournament and ISC II teams.

2008 Hall of Fame Inductees - Hal Britton, Denny Bruckert, Doug Chase, Al Doran, Floyd "Blue" La Vergne and Gordon Wise will be inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in Kimberly, August 10, 2008.

Catcher Courtesy Runner Rule Eliminated - The prior rule allowing for a 2-out courtesy runner for the catcher, has been eliminated.

US West Region Changes - El Paso, Hudspeth, Culbertson, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties in west Texas are now part of US West region.

Dean Oscar Elected ISC President - Dean Oscar of Reedsburg, WI was elected ISC President replacing Dick Mason who chose to not run for re-election. Dick remains as an ISC Commissioner in the US West region. All other previous officers were re-elected.

New Statistics Category Added - A pitching category was added as an official ISC statistic. It is for pitchers with the longest consecutive win streak in ISC World Tournament competition. This will be added in the 2008 ISC Guide and placed on the ISC web site.

Kimberly Will Be A 7-day Tournament In 2008. ISC II 4-days - Due to requests from host cities, the 2008 ISC World Tournament will be a 7-day tournament, from Sunday thru Saturday. Likewise, the ISC II Tournament of Champions will be a 4-day tournament from Wednesday thru Saturday.

The first official function in Kimberly will be the Hall of Fame Induction Breakfast on Sunday morning, August 10, 2008 with tournament games beginning at 12 noon. Opening Ceremonies will be held Sunday evening. The team registration and manager meeting will be conducted Saturday evening or late afternoon.

Thanks from McNab Tournament organizers

From Harold MacMillan

The weekend went really well and we hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did hosting it.

Special thanks to the seven teams participating and their families for donations made at the gate on Saturday. The minor ball kids raised $718 which goes directly to the minor ball, kids fund. Some of this money was from the Molson prizes that were donated. The kids were very happy they raised this much money.

Minor ball kids who were in attendance could not believe the calibre of the ball as well as parents & grandparents. A few of the Peewee Select boys moving to bantam next year are ready to start practicing right now!!!

It was extremely appreciated that some of the players commented directly to the kids who looked after the diamonds on how good a job they were doing. The boys mentioned it was really cool.

If there any ISC events in the future we would be happy to host again. Great ball, great food, great time by all.

Thanks again,

Harold & Jo-Anne MacMillan
McNab/Braeside Minor Ball

Gil Read

Deepest condolences to the family of Gil Read.

As the OASA website reports, Gil died this past weekend.

When we hosted the OASA Provincials in Fitzroy Harbour in 2003, Gil was our OASA liaison person. He was a huge help both before and during the tournament.

I know that Gil made a significant contribution to the game in the area, across the province and country, and on the international stage, at all ages from T-ball to the top level of men's and women's fastball.

UPDATE: The wake for Gil will be on Sunday Sept 2nd from 7-9pm, Monday Sept 3 at 2-4pm and 7-9pm at Kelly's Funeral home in Kanata (the one near Bridlewood).

Tuesday Sept 4th at 11am is the Funeral. It will be held at the Church on Abbeyhill Drive in Kanata , close to AY Jackson High School .

OASA Provincials in Sharon

The OASA Men's B/C provincials will be played this upcoming weekend in Sharon and Queensville.



Eight teams are competing: Cobourg, Wellington, Toanche, Lake Simcoe (Sharon), Belmore, Colbourne, Enterprise, and Toronto.

McNab/Braeside tourney thoughts

Some thoughts and observations from the McNab tournament this past weekend.

- Good job by Harold MacMillan and his volunteers on running the tourney. Nice to have three lit diamonds in one spot, even though we only used two. $3 for a beer, $1 for a hotdog and $2 for a hamburger - pretty good deals. Most exciting to some on WC Electric was that cheese was considered a condiment for the burgers - no extra charge!

- It was a weird day on Saturday - humid, then rain, humid then rain, etc. but we managed to stay mostly on time.

- It was good to see lots of old former area ball players out to watch. Some included John Storie, Barry Storie, Duane "Woody" Cameron, Larry Lavallee, Paul Sauve, and Pat Ryan.

- There was some discussion about the possible revival of the Upper Ottawa Valley Fastball League for 2008. Possible entries included Shawville (Snappers team from the RA), a Micksburg entry, Fort Colounge (with a veteran lefty tapping his toe) and a team playing out of the McNab diamonds. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but it would be nice to have another league.

Senior Men's Canadians

The Senior Men's Canadians got underway in St John's, NL this weekend past.

Three teams from Ontario, three from Newfoundland, two from Saskatchewan and one each from PEI, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and BC.

The Jarvis Merchants are one of the Ontario teams. Check out their roster for an interesting addition, as a first baseman.

Eastern Ontario Challenge Cup Scores

Scores and pitchers from the Eastern Ontario Challenge Cup.

Friday August 24
7 pm Gm 2 Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric 5 Stittsville 56ers 4
WP: Jim Ryan
LP: Dan Bradley
Fitzroy scores 4 in the bottom of the seventh to win/

9 pm Gm 3 Ottawa Team Easton Thunder 8 Sydenham Amey's 1
WP: Dan Konkle with relief from Jeff Murphy
LP: Dale Dowdall

9 pm Gm 1 Donnacona Blue Sox 3 Quyon Combat Flyers 1
WP: Francis Leclair
LP: Matt Greer

Saturday August 25
8:30 am Gm 4 Stittsville 56ers 7 vs Quyon Combat Flyers 0 – Quyon eliminated
WP: Dan Bradley
LP: Len Burger with relief from Joran Graham

10:30 am Gm 5 Donnacona Blue Sox 2 Carp I4C Victory 1
WP: Francis Leclair
LP: Trevor Wood
According to Woody, Carp "stranded a small village" in this one.

10:30 am Gm 6 West Carleton Electric 6 Ottawa Team Easton 3
WP: Steve Cavanagh
LP: Jeff Murphy in relief of Dan Konkle, with relief from Konkle

12:30 pm Gm 7 Ottawa Team Easton 9 Stittsville 2 - Stittsville eliminated
WP: Jeff Murphy
LP: Rob Rattray with relief from John Craig

12:30 pm Gm 8 Carp 3 Sydenham 2 -Sydenham eliminated
WP: Paul Ceppi
LP: Scott Nichol relief Mike Halligan

2:30 pm Gm 9 Donnacona 5 West Carleton Electric 3 - 9 innings
WP: Francis Leclair
LP: Jim Ryan
Donnaconna scored 1 in the top of the seventh, WC Electric answered back with one. Donnaconna scored 2 in the top of the eighth, WC Electric answered back with two.
Donnaconna scored 2 in the top of the ninth, and WC had the bases loaded with two out, but didn't score.

2:30 pm Gm 10 Ottawa Team Easton 2 vs Carp 0 - Carp eliminated
WP: Dan Konkle
LP: Neil Cooke

4:30 pm Gm 11 Ottawa Team Easton 7 West Carleton Electric 0 - Fitzroy eliminated
WP: Jeff Murphy
LP: Steve Cavanagh with relief from Troy Wilson
Home runs by Todd Fraser and Randy Peck in the first inning set the tone as Easton won in five innings.

6:30 pm Gm 12 Ottawa Team Easton 4 Donnaconna 0
WP: Jeff Murphy
LP: Francis Leclair

8:30pm Gm 13 Ottawa Team Easton 8 Donnaconna 1
WP: Jeff Murphy
LP: Jasmin Marcotte

Team Easton gets a berth to next year's ToC in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Final Order of Finish:

1. Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder 6-1
2. Donnaconna, QC Blue Sox 3-2
3. Fitzroy Harbour, ON West Carleton Electric 2-2
4. Carp, ON I4C Victor 1-2
5. Stittsville, ON 56ers 1-2
T6. Quyon, QC Combat Flyers 0-2
T6. Sydenham, ON Amey's Drilling 0-2

Easton wins Eastern Ontario Challenge Cup

from Lukas Kamps

Easton won the tournament by defeating the Blue Sox 4-0 and 8-1 in a 5-inning mercy in the if game... finishing shortly after 11pm. Jeff Murphy pitched both games of the finals, and Randy Peck caught the entire day, expect for the first morning game. Chad Milne hit a 2-run bomb in one of the finals, and drove in two other runs with a bases-loaded single. Cory Morrison threw a runner out at home in the first inning of one of the games to snuff a Blue Sox inning.

WC Electric defeats Stittsville

First game at the McNab / Braeside tournament:

Fitzroy Harbour WC Electric 5
Stittsville 56ers 4

WP - Jim Ryan
LP - Dan Bradley
HR: Dan Preston, Dan Bradley (Stittsville)

WC Electric were down 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh and pulled out the win with a Trevor Barton hit driving in two.

Stittsville - Orleans game postponed

The Stittsville-Orleans game was postponed last night due to weather. They will try to play Tuesday August 28.

Stittsville vs. Orleans Game 2

Game 2 tonight was going to be played in Stittsville, as the lights are not working at the park in Orleans.

GOFL Playoffs

With Carp's win last night, that puts three teams in the second round: Carp (#1 seed), Fitzroy Harbour (#5) and Team Easton (#3).

Game 2 of the Stittsville (#2) - Orleans (#7) game will be played tonight, in Orleans, at 8:30PM. Stittsville leads the best of three series 1-0.

A Stittsville win would mean Round 2 would get started next week, with the series being Carp-Fitzroy and Easton-Stittsville.

An Orleans win would set up a game 3 in Stittsville on Tuesday night at 8:30PM.

Carp defeats Blitz in game 2

From the www.i4cvictory.com website

In a game that went into extra innings, the Carp scored two runs in the eighth inning to beat the Ottawa Blitz in the second game of their first round play off series. This game way played well by both teams. For the second time in two games, Peter Pettit was a force at the plate with two hits, the game winning RBIs.

Trevor Wood took the complete game win for Carp, while Jamie Blakely took the loss for the Blitz.

More to follow.

What a catch!

The I4C Victory website has some great pictures in the photo gallery from the 2007 Tournament of Champions. My favourites are these images of pickup WC Electric outfielder Jon "Jonny Vegas" Daley making a home run saving catch at the fence.

Click on this link, then tab forward using the arrows. Nice one, Vegas!

I'm not sure who the photographer was, but full credit to him/her for some great action shots.

Pictures from the Fitzroy Harbour Tournament

A few images from the Fitzroy Harbour Tournament, courtesy of Peter Dewolf from the West Carleton Review Weekender.

(This guy really has to work on his swing)

ISC II Results

Note the interesting comment thread on this entry.

For the full round up on what happened at the ISC II Tournament of Champions, visit the Deuce blog at www.fastpitchwest.com/thedeuce/.

Local teams, and their results. Only Team Easton made it to the playoff round. Click on the link for details:

Ottawa Team Easton Thunder (2-3)
Ashland Merchants 4 Easton 0
Easton 4 Hickson Reds 1
Easton 4 Port Elgin Blue Devils 2
Waterdown Hammer 4 Easton 3
Tavistock Merchants 3 Easton 2 (playoff round)

Blackburn Bombers (1-3)
Blackburn 1 Jarvis 0
Niagara Snappers 7 Blackburn 2
Wyevale Tribe 5 Blackburn 3
Harriston Mercury's 12 Blackburn 8

Carp I4C Victory (0-4)
Hamilton Hawks 5 Carp 3
Bridgeport Braves 4 Carp 3
PA Power 6 Carp 4
California Lumberkings 8 Carp 0

Quyon Flyers (0-4)
Keatings Fitness 11 Quyon 2
Shakespeare Falcons 3 Quyon 2
Alvinston Indians 7 Quyon 0
Oswego CPI 7 Quyon 0

Ottawa Valley Raiders (0-4)
South Lebanon TNT 14 Valley 0
Mitchell Mets 2 Valley 0
Palermo Athletics 9 Valley 0
Glencoe Astros 13 Valley 2

Stittsville takes game 1 over Orleans

from Sam Oliver

The Stittsville 56ers won decisively 9 - 2 over the Orleans Gators to take a 1 game lead in the best of three playoff series. Dan Bradley pitched the win for the 56ers allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits, walking two and striking out 18. Nick Bowman pitched the complete game loss for the Gators allowing 9 runs (8 earned) on 12 hits, allowing 3 walks with no strikeouts.

Stittsville took the lead in the bottom half of the first. Ryan Bond walked to lead the attack and scored on a Dan Jessiman triple. A Darren Featherstone sacrifice fly plated Jessiman and gave the 56ers a two run lead.

The bottom half of the 2nd saw Tim Power lead off with a double off the centerfield fence. A Scott Jessiman walk put runners on first and second with no one out. However, Bowman was able to get Darren Ladouceur to ground out to third for a tailor made double play. But with two out Rob Rattray stroked a clutch single to score Jessiman from second, increasing the lead to 3.
The 56ers would add another run in the bottom half of the third. John Craig started things with a sharply hit single to left field. He would score all the way from first on a Darren Featherstone double.

Orleans would get a run back in their half of the fourth. Jay Adams started the inning with a tomahawked triple into the right-centerfield gap. Matt Alkerton walked to put runners on the corners. A clutch single from Kurtis Summers scored Adams from third, putting two men on with no one out. However, Bradley was able to escape the jam by striking out the next three Orleans' batters.

Stittsville scored 4 in the bottom of the 5th to open up a 7 run lead. With one out, Dan Jessiman and Darren Featherstone both singled. Sam Oliver then swatted a home run over the right-centerfield fence to score three. Tim Power followed that with a single, advanced to second when Scott Jessiman walked, and scored on a double by Darren Ladoucuer.

The top half of the 6th saw Matt Alkerton hit a towering homerun to left field, but that would be all of the offense that Orleans could muster.

The 56ers capped the scoring at 9 - 2 in the bottom half of the 6th. Once again, John Craig singled to lead things off. Dan Jessiman hit a fly ball to left field that was misplayed allowing Craig to advance. He subsequently scored on a sacrifice fly from Oliver.

Game #2 of the series is scheduled for Thursday in Orleans.

Stittsville:
John Craig - 2 for 4, 2 x 1B, 2R
Dan Jessiman - 2 for 4, 3B, 1B, 2R, 1RBI
Darren Featherstone - 2 for 3, 2B, 1B, SF, R, 2RBI
Sam Oliver - 1 for 3, HR, SF, R, 4RBI
Tim Power - 2 for 4, 1B, 2B, R
Scott Jessiman - 1 for 1, 1B, 2BB, R
Darren Ladouceur - 1 for 3, 2B, RBI
Rob Rattray - 1 for 3, 1B, RBI

Dan Bradley - 7IP, 2R, 2ER, 4H, 2BB, 18K

Orleans:
Jay Adams - 1 for 3, 3B, R
Matt Alkerton - 1 for 2, HR, BB, R, RBI
Kurtis Summers - 1 for 3, 1B, RBI
Brien Friesen - 1 for 2, 1B, BB

Nick Bowman - 6IP, 9R, 8ER, 12H, 3BB, 0K

I4C Victory ToC report

Carp I4C Victory Gains Experience at ISC II Tournament of Champions
Team Goes 0-4 But Led in Three of Four Games.
from Shawn Williams

Despite a winless record at the 2007 International Softball Congress (ISC) II Tournament of Champions (ToC), the Carp I4C Victory Fastball Club gained invaluable experience and were able to observe what it takes to be at a tournament of this calibre.

Carp was leading in three of the four games it played in, including a lead going into the seventh inning. In another game, the team's pitching staff had given up one hit through four innings of play before eventually falling in that contest and in its third game of the tournament, the victory jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first but were unable to hold on.

In addition, the team was missing it's top three batters, leading the team in average as well as two pitchers and a second baseman. Despite those shortages and with the additional players, Carp was able to pick-up through tournament rules, the team that assembled in Kitchener/Cambridge put forward a great effort.

In the first game of the tournament, Carp faced off against the Hamilton Hawks. Down 2-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth, Carp fought back with a run of its own when centrefielder Mike Money reached on an error. He advanced to second when John Craig, a player added from the Stittsville 56ers, grounded out to third. With two out, Matt McNish hit a triple scoring Money and putting Carp on the board. In the bottom of the sixth, Carp added two more to take the lead. Trevor Wood drew a lead off walk and when Al Read grounded out to third, Wood advanced to second. With two out, Carp native, Jon Daley, a pick-up from the Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electrics hit a double driving in Wood to tie the score at two. Money reached on an error for the second time in the game moving Daley to third where he was driven in by Craig with his third hit of the day and Carp took a 3-2 lead into the seventh.

However, the team could not hold on and Hamilton tied it when Brian Costie singled and was replaced with pinch runner, Gary Stokes. Stokes was sacrificed to second and scored on a single by Rob O'Neill to tie things at three. In the top of the eigth with the International Tie Breaker in effect, Lance Winn started at second base for the Hawks. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and was then driven in on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Mike Maurice. However, the Hawks weren't finished as Ray Carr hit a solo home run to centrefield to make it 5-3 Hamilton. The Victory were not able to get anything going in its half of the 8th and for disagreeing with the base umpire on a checked swing call, Carp Head Coach and General Manager, Shawn Williams was ejected from the game by home plate umpire, Joel Balberman of Brantford. In an ironic twist to the ejection, Williams and Balberman had umpired several ISC Qualifier and provincial elimination tournaments in the past when Williams used to umpire at the ISC and Senior Men's level in Ontario.

In it's second game of the tournament, Carp faced the host Bridgeport PROForma Braves with former Waterloo Twins Senior Men's players and brothers, Jodie and Jay Schnarr. Brad Porter, added to the Carp roster from the Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electrics threw a masterful game and had given up only one hit over four innings while Carp took a 2-0 lead via a monster blast off the bat of McNish in the second and another RBI from the big right fielder when he grounded out to short allowing Daley to score from third in the bottom of the third. However in the fifth inning a controversial call at first allowed Jodie Schnarr to reach first safely. Base umpire, Roger Cheyne of Indiana ruled that Casey Poldervaart had pulled his foot off the bag at first when stretching to make the catch. That clearly was not the case and after conferring with plate umpire, Dave Norris of Westmeath, ON the call was upheld. After Schnarr stole second, Terry Eaton walked bringing the younger Schnarr to the plate where Jay made no doubt about it hitting a grand slam to straight away centrefield. It was an unfortunate turn of events for Porter who had thrown an excellent game for the Victory. Carp managed to get one back in the sixth when with one out, Read walked and advacned to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Eric Colvin. In the bottom of the seventh, Carp threatened again when Craig singled. Daley twice attempted to sacrifice Craig and when that did not work out he drove the ball right at former ISC II All-World second baseman, Mike Kelly who made the catch and doubled Craig off at first. Money kept things alive with a single and then McNish walked giving Carp another crack at tying the game or winning it in the bottom of the seventh. However, Sam Oliver of the Stittsville 56ers grounded into a fielder's choice with McNish out at second and the game was over.

In Carp's third game against Harrisburg, PA Power, the victory jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a controversial home run off the bat of Darren Featherstone in the bottom of the first. The Power players, with pitcher Kevin Brown of Kingston, a former member of the Stittsville 56ers Senior Men's team, vehemently arguing that the ball was foul. While the Power lost the arguement they took some energy from the situation and jumped on Carp starter, Neil Cooke for two runs in the top of the second. After two more hits and an error in the top of the third, Cooke gave way to Trevor Wood however, the Power kept coming and went on to score three in the top of the third to make it 5-3 for the U.S. squad and its Canadian pitcher. Carp got one back in the bottom of the sixth with McNish continuing to drive in runs. This time it was a single to score Craig from second and narrow the score to 5-4. It was McNish’s fourth RBI of the tournament and he finished with a .400 average. Harrisburg added one its half of the seventh and the final was 6-4.

In the final game of the round robin, Carp got off to a sluggish start against the second ranked California Lumberkings of Bakersfield, CA. Hits and errors contributed to Carp being down 4-0 after the first in a game that eventually ended after five innings via the run ahead rule of seven after five. Carp was down 6-0 when Canadian, Jon Nimmo, hit a monster two run blast about 325 feet over the left field fence to make the final score 8-0.

Carp will participate in the ISC II Home League Tournament in McNab/Braeside this weekend, August, 24th and 25th with the winer of the double elimination tournament getting an automatic berth in the 2008 ISC ToC in Appleton, WI. The team contiues its Greater Ottawa Fastball League (GOFL) playoff series against the Ottawa Blitz this week and will participate in the Elkland, PA Labour Day Tournament next weekend.

WC Electric eliminate Quyon with 10-6 win

WC Electric eliminated the Quyon Flyers from the GOFL playoffs with a 10-6 win in Quyon on Tuesday night.

Another nice sized crowd close to 100 gathered to watch Game 2 of the "Ferry Series", with folks from both sides of the river in attendance.

Jim Ryan had the win for WC with relief from Brad Porter, while Len Burger took the loss in relief of Joran Graham for the Flyers.

West Carleton scored in the top of the first when Trevor Barton singled, moved to third on a Troy Wilson single, then scored on a wild pitch.

The Electric also scored in the third when Jon Daley singled, stole second, and was brought in on a Michael Cavanagh RBI single.

Quyon tied the game at two in the bottom of the third when Luke Young reached on a walk and was brought in on a two-run home run by Joe McCleary.

Len Burger came in to relieve Quyon starter Joran Graham in the top of the fourth, and West Carleton Electric ended up batting nine men in the inning to go up 7-2. Neil Murphy led things off with a triple. After a ground out, Todd Clouthier walked, then stole second. Jon Daley hit a shallow flare to left that dropped in, scoring Murphy. Then next batter popped up, but then Troy Wilson came through with a clutch 2 RBI single. Michael Cavanagh then hit a single and stole second, putting runners at second and third. Shawn Rebertz then drove a ball to left, scoring two runs for the five run lead.

Jim Ryan pitched the fourth inning, then gave way to Brad Porter who struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth.

WC Eletric padded their lead to 10-2 in the top of the sixth. Jon Daley started the inning with a walk and was brought in on a Trevor Barton RBI triple. Barton scored when Troy Wilson grounded out. Mike Cavanagh then stroked a solo home run to dead centre for the 'Trics.

However, the always scarppy Flyers attemped to mount a comeback in the bottom of the sixth. Shawn Laframboise led things off with a solo home run. With one out, Nick Armitage hit a double, then Len Burger hit a single. A Jordan Kearns double scored two more to make the score 10-5.

After WC failed to score in the seventh, the season was on the line for the Flyers in the bottom of the seventh. Joe McCleary led off with a single. Then Shawn Laframboise came up with another key hit, this time a double to bring in Big Joe. However Porter settled in and got the final two outs on pop ups to end the Flyers' very successful first season in GOFL play.

WC Electric will await the results of the other first round series to determine their opponent in round 2.

Jim Ryan had the win - 4IP, 2R, 2ER, 4H, 3BB, 7K
Brad Porter in relief - 3IP, 4R, 4ER, 6H, 0BB, 6K

Joran Graham started - 3IP, 2R, 2ER, 5H, 1BB, 4K
Len Burger took the loss in relief - 4IP, 8R, 8ER, 8H, 2BB, 5K

WC hitters:

Jon Daley 2-4, 3 runs scored, 2 stolen bases, RBI, walk
Trevor Barton 2-4, 2 runs scored, triple, RBI
Troy Wilson 2-4, run scored, 3 RBI, stolen base
Mike Cavanagh 3-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, HR, stolen base
Shawn Rebertz 2-4, 2 RBI, double
Neil Murphy 1-4, run scored, triple

Quyon hitters:

Joe McCleary 2-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, HR
Shawn Laframboise 3-3, run scored, 2 RBI, HR, double
Nick Armitage 1-4, run scored, double
Len Burger 1-2, run scored
Jordan Kearns 2-3, 2 RBI, double

ToC Comments

I think TC's comments about the ToC are well worth reading.

Bombers at the ToC

from Shannon Borho, via the Blackburn Men's League message board

The Blackburn Bombers mostly comprised of players from the BMFL went 1-3 at the ISC II World Tournament of Champions hosted in Kitchener and Cambridge Aug 14-18. The team had low expectations heading into the weekend hoping to be competitive, see some good ball, gain some experience and have fun.

The tournament started off with a bang as the boys picked up an exciting 1-0 extra inning win in their first game versus Dave "Farmer" Martin and the Jarvis Rock. It looked like the Bombers were going to take an early lead when Joe Allan crushed a ball to right field but the fielder climbed the wall and took a run off the board. Tyler Cox then came up with the quote of the game... "Looks like we're in the big league's now fellas, let's show we belong!" Eastmain Quebec pickup Ray Shanoush pitched a gem outdueling Martin while pitching out of many jams. Shanoush had 16 strikeouts, while giving up 9 hits but seemed to crank it up a notch when the Rock had runners aboard, Jarvis stranded 13 runners. Tyler Cox played the hero driving in Jamie Blakely who was aboard via the international tie-breaker rule for the game's only run in the top of the 8th with two out. Game MVP Steve Walman and Eric "Pedro" Sanchez had the other Bomber hits. Visit http://www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/15.htm for the game boxscore and play-by-play.

The Bombers second game was versus the top ranked Niagara. The team looked to play spoiler against the mighty Snappers and hung in there until the 5th when Niagara finally got to starting pitcher Shannon Borho with four runs breaking open a 2-2 tie. Blakely pitched well in relief giving up just a single run in two innings of work. Former senior pitcher Byron Demoe threw for the Snappers giving up two runs and five hits. Game MVP Joe Allan was outstanding in centrefield for the Bombers going 2-3 with a homer, triple and both RBI's. He also stole a run making a sliding over-the-shoulder catch in left-centre field for the third out in the 2nd inning. http://www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/21.htm.

Just two hours later, the Bombers were back on the field to face the Wyevale Tribe, a squad who took the ISC Western Ontario Qualifier in Innerkip earlier in the season. Shanoush was back on the mound and got off to a rocky start giving up a walk followed by a 2-run shot to centrefield. The Bombers cut the lead to one in the third when consecutive singles by Allan, Terry Jones and Walman cashed in a run. After a tough 4th saw the Tribe jump to a 4-1 lead, again the Bombers fought back with two in the bottom half as Blakely reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored when Borho doubled. Tyler Cox came in to run for Borho and later scored on a ground out by Stefan Sklepowicz after a great play by the Wyevale 3B. After that though, the Bombers couldn't mount much offense against the Tribe reliever and the final score ended up 5-3.

This left the Bombers with a must-win versus the Harriston Mercurys in their final round-robin game Thursday morning. http://www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/29.htm .Ray Shanoush was back on the hill against a Mercury squad who was 1-1 coming into the game and faced off against 2004 ISC II all-tournament pitcher Scott Smith who earlier battled Niagara to a 2-1 extra-inning loss. In what was supposed to be a pitcher's duel was completely the opposite as both teams brought the big sticks. Both teams scored a run in the 1st as Walman scored Allen who singled and stole 2nd. In the 3rd, Harriston jumped to a 2-1 lead but the Bombers responded with a 3-spot jump up 4-2. Joel Langford and Allen singled and both scored on a Jones double. He went to 3rd on an error and scored on a Walman ground out. Harriston cut the lead to 4-3 in the 4th and then broke the game open with 7 in the 5th. Borho came on in relief but couldn't stop the bleeding as a couple of errors could have saved a few runs but the damage was done on just 4 hits. Knowing the 6-run mercy rule was going to end the game, the Bombers had to put a run on the board. Instead the team pushed across 3 as Langford tripled to start the inning, Allan then hit an infield single. Jones picked up his 3rd RBI of the morning with a single and Allan scored on a Walman sacrifice fly. With Jones on 3rd, Borho stroked a triple to the deep 275 ft. right field fence that enabled him to get to 3rd for a triple, but the team couldn't push him across. Ryan Cox then came for some relief work and had the Harriston batters baffled until a walk and an inside the park homerun in the 7th put the game out of reach. Steve Walman finished off the scoring in the bottom half with an exciting inside-the-park homerun of his own capping it off with a head-first slide into home to just beat the tag. That was it for the Bombers, finishing with a 12-8 loss and a 1-3 record, good for 4th in their division. http://www.iscfastpitch.com/uploads/File/2007%20ISC%20II%20Files/48.htm

Kudos to the team on a great week of ball. Every team member contributed in one way or another. Also thanks to all the fans/family members of the players who came out and cheered the Bombers on, we appreciated your support. For 3 of the 4 games, we had more fans present than our opponent when the other team only had to travel a short distance!!

Pitchers:
Ray Shanoush - Eastmain, QC
Shannon Borho - Blues
Jamie Blakely - Knights
Ryan Cox - Knights

Catchers:
Steve Walman - Blues
Stephane Vinette - Stan's Diner Draughts

Infielders:
Pedro Sanchez - A's
Joel Langford - Orleans Juniors
Terry Jones - A's
Tyler Cox - Knights
Stefan Sklepowicz - Knights

Outfielders:
Joe Allan - Guzzlers
Norm Manns - Blues
Kevin Shonfield - Guzzlers

OASA Peewee B Provincials

At the OASA Peewee B championship last weekend, Sydenham won the Gold, while Oshawa finished in second and Toledo finished in third.

Cornwall League finals

From the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

Fastball final has Cruising facing Chips; Best-of-five series starts tonight
Sports - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 @ 08:00

It's Yum Yum Chips versus Cornwall Cruising, for the title.

The two teams will meet in the best-of-five BMO Nesbitt Burns Cornwall and District Fastball League final, starting tonight.

Both teams won their best-of-five playoff semifinals in four games. Yum Yum Chips overcame a 6-1 deficit to beat Navy Club 10-9 in extra innings in Game 4, clinching the series.

Shawn McElhone banged home Scott Dumoulin for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

Dumoulin, who finished with three RBI, and McElhone each scored twice.

Pat Quinn led Yum Yum with three runs scored. Frank Sinfield, Frank Marceau and Pete Marion also scored.

Marion pitched the complete game for the victory.

Scott Rogers paced Navy's offence, scoring three runs. Shawn O'Neill scored twice.

Chuck Wert had two RBI and a run scored. Jeff Pichie, David Murphy and Steve McGillis each had a run scored and an RBI.

Cornwall Cruising dumped O'Neill Taping & Painting 9-6 to wrap up their series in four games.
Jim Martell paced Cruising with two RBI and two runs scored.

Jamie Jarvo and Thorin Gault each scored once and added two RBI. Tom Hutchingame banged home a pair of runs. Herb Seguin and Miles Amelotte each scored twice. Henry Looyen also scored.

Darren Stewart picked up the victory.

John Cameron, Brian O'Neill and John Abraham led O'Neill's offence, as they each scored once and added an RBI. Randy O'Neill, Bryan Lamarche and Rene Bourgeois counted for one run each.

Mike Abitong and Chris Poirier each had an RBI.

Abraham suffered the loss.

Cornwall Cruising will have home field advantage when the final begins tonight at King George Park.

Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday. All of the final games begin at 7 p.m.

Elkland Labour Day tournament

In speaking with Joe Cevette from Elkland, it looks like the PA Labour Day classic will have 16-18 teams, depending on final confirmations.

The draw should be released in about a week.

Greenbush Generals win Newboro Tournament

with info from Scott Rice

The tournament this past weekend in Newboro had beautiful weather for ball.

Greenbush won for the 3rd time in the last 4 years, defeating Newboro in the finals. Lyle Schell pitched a one-hitter for a 6 - 3 victory.

Sydenham won the consolation over Central Fairbank Lumberjacks.

Even with only 4 teams the tournament was a great success. All games were closely contested.

Eastern Ontario Challenge Cup in McNab - with further tweak to the schedule

The Eastern Ontario Challenge Cup will be either a 7 team event. The tourney will be held at McNab Centre Park Aug 24-25. Harold McMillan and his gang in McNab Minor Ball have been getting things ready to go at the complex which has 3 lit fields.

Donnaconna will represent their Quebec league, Sydenham will represent the Loughborough (Kingston) league, and the top four teams from the GOFL (Carp, Stittsville, Easton, Quyon) will play as well as WC Electric as the "host" team.

If you are not playing in the tournament, come out and watch the action. Directions from Ottawa: go west on 417 until it turns into 17. Keep on 17 past Arnprior. Turn left on the Calabogie Road about halfway between Arnprior and Renfrew. The ball diamond will be on your right a couple of km up the road.

The winner from the tournament will get a berth at the 2008 Tournament of Champions to be held in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Friday August 24
7 pm Gm 2 Stittsville vs Fitzroy Harbour Dia. 1
9 pm Gm 3 Team Easton vs Sydenham Dia. 1
9 pm Gm 1 Quyon vs Donnacona Dia. 2

Saturday August 25
8:30 am Gm 4 Loser Gm 1 vs Loser Gm 2 Dia. 1
10:30 am Gm 5 Carp vs Winner Gm 1 Dia. 1
10:30 am Gm 6 Winner Gm 2 vs Winner Gm 3 Dia. 2
12:30 pm Gm 7 Winner Gm 4 vs Loser Gm 6 Dia. 1
12:30 pm Gm 8 Loser Gm 3 vs Loser Gm 5 Dia. 2
2:30 pm Gm 9 Winner Gm 5 vs Winner Gm 6 Dia. 1
2:30 pm Gm 10 Winner Gm 7 vs Winner Gm 8 Dia. 2
4:30 pm Gm 11 Winner Gm 10 vs Loser Gm 9 Dia. 1
6:30 pm Gm 12 Winner Gm 9 vs Winner Gm 11 Dia. 1
8:30 pm Gm 13 Loser Gm 12 vs Winner Gm 12 Dia. 1 if necessary

GOFL Playoffs

With the ToC out of the way, GOFL playoffs will resume this week with the following games:

Tuesday August 21 8PM WC Electric at Quyon (Game 2)
Tuesday August 21 8:30PM Orleans at Stittsvile (Game 1)
Wednesday August 22 8:30PM Carp at Blitz in Manotick (Game 2)
Thursday August 23 8PM WC Electric at Quyon (Game 3 - if necessary)
Thursday August 23 8:30PM Stittsville at Orleans (Game 2)
Thursday August 23 8:30PM Blitz at Carp (Game 3 - if necessary)

Note: Team Easton has already advanced to second round.

Joe Allan named to all-tourney team

Congratulations to Joe Allan, named to the All-Tournament team (scroll to the bottom) at the ISC II event in Kitchener.

Joe, who plays for the Blackburn Bombers (and also Manotick of the GOFL) had impressive stats over the four games that he played. By my calculations:

6 for 13 (.462 Batting Average)
2 RBI
5 runs scored
1 triple
1 HR

Gone Fishin'

I'm gone fishing this weekend, leaving tomorrow morning, so you will be on your own to check out the scores and action at the Tournament of Champions and World Tournament at http://www.iscfastpitch.com/.

Good luck to all local teams!

More from the Midgets

Action continues at the Midget Nationals.

The host Saskatoon Aspen Selects have a perfect 6-0 record.

The top Ontario team is Napanee Express, which has a 4-1 record at the time of this post. Micksburg's Joran Graham plays on this team.

Ballpark radio has two GOFL teams on Thursday

Tune in to www.ballparkradio.com to listen to two local teams live on Thursday:

10:30 AM
Quyon, QC Flyers vs Oswego, NY Cutro Professional Inspections

12:30 PM
Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder vs Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils

ToC Results for local teams

Here is what I have been able to gather for results of local teams so far at the ToC:

Ottawa Team Easton Thunder (1-1):
Game 1 vs. Ashland, OH - Loss 4-0
- Jeff Murphy took the loss and had relief from Dan Konkle, as Jeff VanHooser shut out Easton.
Game 2 vs. Hickson, ON - Win 4-1
- Don't have further info on this one.
To play on Thursday, games vs. Port Elgin, ON and Waterdown, ON

Blackburn Bombers (1-2):
Game 1 vs. Jarvis, ON - Win 1-0 (8 innings)
- Ray Shanoush (16K) had the win over Dave "Farmer" Martin (13K). Blogger Tyler Cox drove in the winning run in the top of the eighth in what had been a scoreless game.
Game 2 vs. Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON - Loss 7-2
- Shannon Borho took the loss and had relief from Jamie Blakely. Cory Costello did not pitch for Niagara. Joe Allen had a homer and a triple for the Bombers.
Game 3 vs. Wyevale, ON - Loss 5-3
- Ray Shanoush took the loss in this one.
To play on Thursday, game vs. Harriston, ON

Ottawa Valley Raiders (0-2):
Game 1 vs. South Lebanon, PA - Loss 14-0
- Derick Bulley took the loss in this game.
Game 2 vs. Mitchell, ON - Loss 2-0
- Don't have info on this one.
To play on Thursday, games vs. Palermo, ON and Glencoe, ON

Quyon COMBAT Flyers (0-3):
Game 1 vs. Wilkes-Barre, PA - Loss 11-2
- Joe McCleary and Shawn Laframbroise had solo homers, but Quyon gave up 15 hits and 11 runs. Bud Hanlon, Lenny Burger and Gord Flannery all saw action in this one.
Game 2 vs. Shakespeare, ON - Loss 3-2
- Quyon loses a heart breaker as Shakespeare hits a walkoff two run homer to win the game in the bottom of the seventh with two out. Bud Hanlon took the loss, and Len Burger had the start.
Game 3 vs. Alvinston, ON - Loss 7-0
- Don't have any info on this one.
To play on Thursday, game vs. Oswego, NY (on www.ballparkradio.com at 10:30AM)

Carp I4C Victory (0-3):
Game 1 vs. Hamilton, ON - Loss 5-3 (8 innings)
- Hamilton scored two in the top of the eighth and Carp could not respond. Neil Cooke pitched a complete game and took the loss.
Game 2 vs. Bridgeport, ON - Loss 4-3
- Brad Porter had the start, and threw perfect into the fifth, but a Bridgeport grand slam was the difference.
Game 3 vs. Harriston, PA - Loss 6-4
- This game was on Internet radio. Darren Featherstone had a controversial three run homer in the first to put Carp up 3-0, but they couldn't hold the lead. Neil Cooke had the start and had relief from Trevor Wood.
To play on Thursday, game vs. Bakersfield, CA

Some ToC info

Some information from the Tournament of Champions:

Apparently Carp I4C Victory won the "Best Dressed" team prize for ISC II squads. Congrats guys!

Still with Carp, Shawn "Pugger" Williams was ejected from the Carp game versus Hamilton on Tuesday. I guess he showed his displeasure with an umpire's call by kicking dirt on home plate. Coincidentally, or not, Bobby Cox was ejected from a game Tuesday as well, setting a new MLB record for most ejections.

Some new ISC Commissioners named:
Executive Committee Chairman - Larry Fisher - Findlay, OH
President - Dean Oscar, Reedsburg, WI
Secretary - Robert Gray - Wetumpka, AL
Treasurer - Charlie Smith - El Paso, TX
VP - Canada West - Ferdi Nelissen - Portage la Prairie, MB
VP - Canada East - Blair Setford - Mississauga, ON
VP - US Central - Dave LeBlanc - Kimberly, WI
VP - US West - Chris Santos - Aurora, CO
VP - US East - Bill Howell - Waldorf, MD
VP - Developmental - Wayne Fisher - Iowa City, IA
VP - ISC II - Jim Williamson - Yakima, WA

Peewee B Boys Provincial Tournament

from Luke Healey

Toledo GIM Jets will be in Sydenham this weekend for the PEEWEE B Boys OASA Provincial Championship.

Their first game is against Elmira on Saturday morning. Other teams are Cobourg, Oshawa, Sydenham, Stone Mills.

This will complete our season, but will be holding tryouts in Mid September for next year. See post below for tryout information.

Toledo Jets Peewee Fastball Tryouts

Toledo GIM Jets PeeWee Boys Tryouts

The Toledo GIM Jets will be holding open tryouts for the 2008 PeeWee Boys Fastball Club.

Toledo is currently the only REP PEEWEE team participating in the OASA east of Kingston\Sydenham.

Tryouts are open to boys born in 1994. Tryouts will take place in Toledo in September 2007.

For further information please contact:

John Robertson @ 613-275-4191
john.robertson@ripnet.com

or

Luke Healey @ 613-275-2200
Luke_Healey@Mitel.COM

Tough start at the ToC for area teams

Local teams didn't fare so well at the opening day of the ToC. Only Blackburn pulled out a win in day 1.:

Ashland, OH 4 Team Easton 0
Hamilton, ON 5 Carp I4C 3
Wilkes-Barre, PA 11 Quyon Flyers 2
South Lebanon, PA 14 Valley Raiders 0
Blackburn 1 Jarvis, ON 0
Shakespeare, ON 3 Quyon 2

Cory Costello and the Niagara Snappers won their first game 2-1 in 8 innnings over Harriston Mercury's who had Scott Smith pitching. Chad Costello was catching for Cory - but not hitting in the game.

Games lined up for Wednesday. The Carp game will be broadcast over the Internet:

9:30AM Blackburn Bombers vs. Niagara Snappers
10:30AM Carp I4C Victory vs. Bridgeport Braves
1:30PM Blackburn Bombers vs. Wyevale Tribe
2:30PM Carp I4C Victory vs. PA Power LISTEN LIVE
3:30PM Valley Raiders vs. Mitchell Mets
4:30PM Team Easton vs. Hickson Reds
6:30PM Quyon Flyers vs. Alvinston Indians

GOFL on CTV

Watched the GOFL feature on CTV news last night with Terry Marcotte. I think it was a nice promo for the league and the sport in general. Some great footage of the game, and good interviews with Randy Peck and Dan Konkle. (Too bad there was no footage of Danny on the mini-bike later in the night.)

My favourite part - the "Slo-Mo" part where they showed Fraz in the catcher's gear and talked nostalgically about fastball.

Good stuff and thanks to Shawn "Pugger" Williams for getting it set up with CTV.

Watch the blog for a clip of the segment to be posted here if you missed it.

ISC II ToC just about ready to go

Be sure to follow the ISC Tournament of Champions action at this link. Games start on Tuesday. Note that the Easton game will be broadcast over the Internet.

11:30AM Carp I4C Victory vs. Hamilton Hawks
1:30PM Ottawa Team Easton Thunder vs. Ashland Merchants LISTEN LIVE HERE
1;30PM Keating's Fitness vs. Quyon Flyers
2:00PM Ottawa Valley Raiders vs. South Lebanon TNT
8:30PM Blackburn Bombers vs. Jarvis Rock
8:30PM Quyon Flyers vs. Shakespeare Falcons

ISC World Tournament

The ISC World Tournament continues. Some news that blog readers may find interesting:

Peterborough Murphy Windmillers upset Bloomington Stix by a score of 3-2 in 9 innings. Craig Buttar hit a walk off solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for Peterborough. Buttar will be playing with Ottawa Team Easton Thunder in the ISC II Tournament of Champions.

In another losers' bracket game, Elmira Cubs defeated Elkland Fastpitch 6-0. Dan Bradley had the win, scattering 7 hits for the complete game shutout. Bradley will also be playing with Easton at the ToC. Greg Garrity took the loss for Elkland.

Midget Nationals

Midget Nationals are underway in Saskatoon.

Joran Graham from the Quyon Flyers is participating with the Napanee Express.

Napanee is 2-0 to start the tournament.

In game 1, they beat Chepstow, ON 6-1. Joran played right field in this one.

In game 2, Napanee defeated Sooke, BC by a score of 7-2. Joran threw this one, a 5-hitter with one earned run. He also went 1-2 at the plate and had an RBI and scored a run.

Play continues at the Midget nationals until Sunday August 19.

Blackburn Tournament

Congrats to the Guzzlers that won the Blackburn tournament over the Orleans Midgets.

Sources tell me that one of the semi-final games got a little interesting....

OASA Squirt A Results

The Micksburg Squirt Twins participated in the Squirt A provincials this past weekend in Stouffville. The team finished with a respectable 2-2 record:

Elmira 5 Micksburg 4
Micksburg 12 Kingston 2
Micksburg 13 Napanee 6
Kitchener 9 Micksburg 1

OASA Junior B results

Smiths Falls Junior Redmen participated in the Junior B provincials this past weekend in Toanche. Unfortunately the Redmen went 0-2-BBQ, losing to eventual champions Ponsonby 10-0 and to Atwood 13-7.

Junior Nationals

Scarborough Wolverines are Canadian Junior Champions for 2007, defeating Newfoundland Kelly's Pub Canadians in the finals at the Nats in PEI by a score of 4-3.

Bud Hanlon to play for Quyon at ToC

With Matt Greer out for the season due to injury, Bud Hanlon of WC Electric wil be going to the Tournament of Champions with the Quyon COMBAT Flyers. The ISC approved the late roster addition on Sunday.

Good luck to Big Bud the Spud and Quyon at the ToC.

Fitzroy Harbour Tournament Final Day

Carp I4C Victory 3 West Carleton Electric 0

WP - Neil Cooke
LP - Brad Porter with relief from Jim Ryan
HR: Kyle Gourgon (Carp)

Neil Cooke throws a four hit shutout for the win.

Ottawa Team Easton Thunder 6 Carp I4C Victory 0

WP - Dan Konkle with relief from Jeff Murphy
LP - Mike Money
HR: Todd Fraser (2) Grand Slam and a 2 run shot.

Todd Fraser had all six RBIs for Team Easton. With no other pitchers available, Carp had to throw Mike Money in his first ever game, since Cooke was unable to pitch again.

Team Easton claims first prize and $900, while Carp earns the $325 second place. Thanks to the teams that participated, drank our beer, ate our hamburgers, as well as the loyal fans that came out to watch.

Heard at the Fitzroy Tournament....

- Umpire George Findley will be working the Senior Canadians in Newfoundland on Labour Day weekend.

- Sam Oliver from Stittsville 56ers will be joining Carp I4C Victory at the Tournament of Champions as Shawn Houle is unable to go.

- Probably the last Fitzroy Harbour tournament, at least in August. There was trouble getting teams to attend, and a couple of teams that did attend had player shortage issues. Thanks especially to Manotick, Carp and Quyon for getting things together despite player availability issues, and thanks to the Fitzroy Juniors for getting a sixth team together for the event.

Carp takes Game 1 - now with report

Carp I4C Victory Notches 7-3 Comeback Win in Game 1 of Greater Ottawa Fastball League Quarter Final Playoff Series Against the Ottawa Blitz
Kyle Gourgon Goes 4-4 with 2 RBIs and a Run Scored
from Shawn Williams

It was a great night for ball at the Carp Fairgrounds on Thursday night as the Carp I4C Victory began its first round playoff series against last year’s expansion league cousins, the Ottawa Blitz with a 7-3 come from behind win.

Carp jumped out early in this one when Shawn Houle hit a lead off single. That was followed by a single off the bat of Kyle Gourgon, his first of four on the night, moving Houle to third. Mike Money hitting out of the three spot for the first time in league play this year hit a fly ball to deep right field scoring Houle on the sacrifice fly and with the distance, it allowed, Gourgon to tag up and move to second on a heads up base running play.

Paul Ceppi, started in the circle for Carp and had three strikeouts and a walk through the first two innings but ran into a little bit of trouble in the third. After giving up a lead off single to Ron Hrycak, a couple of wild pitches had the speedy Blitz centerfielder on third. With Derick Bulley at the plate, Ceppi struck him out but the wild pitch went to the fence and while Bulley was safe at first, Hrycak held his spot at third. After another strikeout by Ceppi, Will Mood stepped to the plate and hit a single to left scoring Hrycak. Eric Colvin had the ball bobble on him and it allowed Bulley to score from first and Mood moved up to second, making it 2-1 Ottawa. After Duane Bromley popped out to third, Darron Barr hit a double to score Mood and make it 3-1 for the Blitz.

Carp would get one of those back in the bottom of the third when Houle reached on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on Gourgon’s second single of the night to make it 3-2 Ottawa after three. In the fourth inning with one out, Brooks Paziuk singled and was sacrificed to second by Colvin and then scored on a single from Designated Player, Pete Pettit and the score was tied at three.

In the bottom of the fifth, Houle reached on an error for the second time in the game. He moved to second on Gourgon’s third single of the night and the Victory had runner at first and second with nobody out. It looked like Jamie Blakely might get out of the jam when Money struck out and Al Read flew out to Hrycak in shallow centrefield but Trevor Wood who had earlier just missed launching a ball over the fence was not going to let the opportunity to cash in more runners pass him by. Wood responded with a hard hit double that scored Houle and Gourgon to make it 5-3 and then he traded places with Paziuk when the lanky first baseman hit a double of his own to score Wood and put Carp up by a score of 6-3.

Carp added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Pettit hit his second single of the night and was replaced at first by pinch runner and Player/Assistant Coach, Eric Rosenquist. Rosenquist stole second and with nobody out, Carp looked poised to have another big inning. However, Blakely was again able to get two strikeouts before Gourgon completed his 4-4 night and score Rosenquist to make the score 7-3 for the Victory. Despite a single in the top of the seventh by Hrycak, Ceppi closed things out with two strikeouts to get the complete game win.

Offensively for Carp, Gourgon had a stellar night going 4-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Paziuk was 2-3 with a single and a double, an RBI and a run scored while Houle was 1-2 and reached on an error twice while scoring three runs. Pete Pettit had a solid night at the plate going 2-3 with an RBI.

For the Blitz, Hrycak was 2-3 with a run scored while Mood went 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored and Barr was 1-3, a double, with an RBI.

Ceppi had the win (1-0 in the playoffs) throwing seven innings and giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits, he walked one and struck out 11. Carp made one error and the Blitz left five men on. Blakely took the loss (0-1 in the playoffs) giving up seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits, he gave up no walks and struck out eight. The Blitz made three errors and Carp left five on.

Carp’s next playoff game will be on Wednesday, August 22nd at 8:30PM in Manotick as the team is away next week in Kitchener at the ISC II Tournament of Champions (ToC). The team will participate in this weekend’s Fitzroy Harbour tournament as a tune-up for the ToC.

Junion Men's Final Day

In the final day at the Junior Men's Canadians in PEI, Newfoundland & Labrador is in the finals waiting for the winner of the Elmira - Scarborough semi-final.

Saturday at the Fitzroy Harbour Tournament

Team Easton 5 WC Electric 1
WP - Dan Konkle
LP - Brad Porter with relief from Bud Hanlon
HR: Kevin Chevrier (Easton), Steve Johnson (WC Electric)

Carp I4C Victory 8 Manotick 0
WP - Neil Cooke
LP - Trevor Lahey with relief from Tony Riches
HR: Mike Money, Trevor Wood, Sam Oliver (Carp)

Quyon Flyers 6 Fitzroy Juniors 1
WP - Earl Kearns with relief from Joran Graham
LP - Shawn Ryan with relief from Andrew Jahn
HR: Joe McCleary, Earl Kearns, Luke Young (Quyon)

WC Electric 4 Manotick 2
WP - Jim Ryan in relief of Bud Hanlon
LP - Trevor Lahey with relief from Tony Riches
HR: John Lindsey (Manotick), Jim Ryan (WC Electric)

Team Easton 6 Carp 1
WP - Jeff Murphy
LP - Paul Ceppi
HR: Lukas Kamps (Easton)

Fitzroy Juniors 9 Manotick 5 (beer tray consolation game)
WP - Shawn Ryan
LP - Don Cox with relief from Tony Riches
HR: Joe Simpson (Manotick)

WC Electric 2 Quyon 0
WP - Brad Porter
LP - Earl Kearns
HR: Jon Daley (WC Electric)

Sunday Schedule

11am Carp vs. WC Electric
1pm Winner 11am vs. Team Easton
3pm if necessary game

First round at the Worlds

The first round of games have been completed at the ISC World tournament in Kitchener. Keep up to date here.

GOFL on CTV-Ottawa News - Monday

Fastball fans, remember to tune in to CTV Ottawa six o'clock news on Monday August 13 to watch Terry Marcotte's report on the Greater Ottawa Fastball League. There should be interesting the footage of Terry playing in an actual game and interviewing some of the players involved in a match between Stittsville and Easton back in July.

Matt Greer out for the season

Word at the diamond yesterday in Fitzroy Harbour was that Matt Greer of the Quyon Flyers, playing for the Quebec entry at the Junior Nationals, was injured in a game on Thursday. "Cooney" took a line drive off the face and busted his orbital bone while throwing his first pitch of the game against Saskatoon.

Matt will be out for the season and unable to travel with Quyon to the Tournament of Champions in Kitchener this week.

Best of luck for a speedy recovery Matt.

Friday night at the Fitzroy Harbour tournament

West Carleton Electric 6 Fitzroy Badham Carpentry "Juniors" 0

Jon Daley had a home run for WC Electric and Jimmy Ryan had the complete game win over, throwing a two hitter.

Andrew Jahn took the loss for the Juniors, and Jim's son Shawn Ryan threw an inning in relief. Brendan Coker had a double for the Juniors.

Carp I4C Victory 4 Quyon COMBAT Flyers 0

Quyon had sharp new uniforms for this game, but fell to Carp in this one.

Trevor Wood had the win, working five innings, while Neil Cooke threw two innings in relief for the combined shutout. Al Read had a two run homer and Kyle Gourgon had two RBIs as well.

Joran Graham took the loss for Quyon.

Saturday Schedule:

9am D1 WC Electric vs. Team Easton
9am D2 Carp I4C vs. Manotick Lomor Printes
11am Quyon vs. Fitzroy Juniors
1pm Losers of 9am games
3pm Winners of 9am games
4pm D2 Beer Tray Consolation game
5pm Winners of 11am vs. Winners of 1pm

Sunday Schedule:

11am Winners of 5pm Sat vs. Losers of 3pm Sat
1pm Winners of 11am vs. Winners of 3pm Sat - FINAL
3pm IF necessary game

GOFL Home Run honour roll 2007

The 2007 GOFL home run honour roll, as per game reports. If I'm missing info, blame your captain for not reporting it (and/or let me know and I'll correct my info as best possible.)

Dan Jessiman - Stittsville - 6
Ryan Bond - Stittsville - 6
Randy Peck - Team Easton - 5
Mike Money - Carp - 4
Matt McNish - Carp - 4
Joe McCleary - Quyon - 4
Joran Graham - Quyon - 4
Darren Featherstone - Stittsville - 3
Trevor Lahey - Manotick - 3
Don Cox - Manotick - 3
Dave Tubman - Easton - 3
Chad Hargrove - Orleans - 3
Darren Ladouceur - Stittsville - 2
Gary Sanscariter - Blitz - 2
Matt Greer - Quyon - 2
Dan Konkle - Easton - 2
Brooks Paziuk - Carp - 2
Jon Daley - WC Electric - 2
Scott Herriott - Stittsville - 2
Paul Ceppi - Carp - 2
Al Read - Carp - 2
Mike Cavanagh - WC Electric - 2
Dan Bradley - Stittsville - 2
Kevin McGuire - Carp - 2
Troy Wilson - WC Electric - 2
Will Mood - WC Electric - 2
Joel Langford - Orleans - 2
Sam Oliver - Stittsville - 2
Kurtis Summers - Orleans - 2
Trevor Power - Manotick - 2
John Lindsey - Manotick - 2
Derick Bulley - Blitz - 2
Steve McCord - Quyon - 2
Matt Alkerton - Orleans - 1
Chad Milne - Easton - 1
Trevor Wood - Carp - 1
Shawn Houle - Carp - 1
Steve "Beef" Johnson - WC Electric - 1
Brendan Werthner - Orleans - 1
Max Serre - Orleans - 1
Scott Dumouchel - Blitz - 1
Kyle Gourgon - Carp - 1
Jordan Adams - Orleans - 1
Steve Walman - Manotick - 1
Cory Morrison - Easton - 1
Mike "Pudge" Branchaud - Manotick - 1
Matt Bowman - Orleans - 1
Scott Parsons - Stittsville - 1
Todd Fraser - Easton - 1
Trevor Barton - WC Electric - 1
Shawn Rebertz - WC Electric - 1

Junior B provincials this weekend

The OASA Junior B provincials are being held this weekend in Toanche.

Smiths Falls Juniors of the North Leeds League will be participating in the seven team tournament which starts tonight. Other participating teams are Ponsonby, Oshawa, Atwood, Mitchell, Toanche and Kitchener.

Good luck to the Redmen.

Micksburg Squirts at Provincial "A" tournament this weekened

Good luck to the Micksburg Squirt Twins, coached by Jerry McIntyre, at the Provincial A tournament in Stouffville this weekend.

The eight team tournament starts tomorrow, with Micksburg facing Elmira in their first game.

Other teams include Kingston, Kitchener, Napanee, Stouffville, Enterprise and Cobourg.

Good luck Twins!

Junior Men's Update

At the Junior Men's Canadians in PEI, the final standings are in.

1. Newfoundland (NL) 8-0
2. Ontario 1 (Scaborough) 6-2
3. Ontario 2 (Elmira) 5-3
4. Saskatchewan (Saskatoon) 5-3
5. Nova Scotia (East Hants) 4-4
6. Prince Edward Island (Summerside) 3-5
7. Ontario 3 (Simcoe) 3-5
8. Quebec (St-Leonard d'Aston) 2-6
9. New Brunswick (Mirimachi) 0-8

The top four teams get a double life in the playoff round while teams 5 through 8 get single lives. Playoff round starts tonight, with the finals on Sunday. Schedule is here.

Fitzroy Harbour tournament

Don't forget, the Fitzroy Harbour Tournament is this weekend Aug 10-12. As usual, lots of cold 50 (and other inferior beer) available, Fitzroy Beef Farmer Burgers, and our usual contingent of fans on hand to watch the action.

New for this year - Beer and Pepperette Special - $5.00.

If you're not playing, come on out and catch some games.

Here is the schedule:

1. Fri 7PM D1 West Carleton Electric vs. Fitzroy "Juniors" (local team)
2. Fri 9PM D1 Carp I4C Victory vs. Quyon Flyers
3. Sat 9AM D1 Ottawa Team Easton vs. Winner G1
4. Sat 9AM D2 Manotick Lomor Printers vs. Winner G2
5. Sat 11AM D1 Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 (loser to "beer tray game")
6. Sat 1PM D1 Loser G3 vs. Loser G4 (loser to "beer tray game")
7. Sat 3PM D1 Winner G3 vs. Winner G4
8. Sat 4PM D2 Loser G5 vs. Loser G6 ("beer tray game")
9. Sat 5PM D1 Winner G5 vs. Winner G6 (loser out)
10. Sun 11AM D1 Winner G9 vs. Loser G7 (loser out)
11. Sun 1PM D1 Winner G10 vs. Winner G7 - final
12. Sun 3PM D1 If Game

Easton wins Game 2 - with story

Report received that Easton won a squeaker last night in Manotick by a score of 1-0 to take the quaterfinal series 2 games to none.

Dan Konkle had the win for Easton while Jason Smith took the loss for Manotick.

Todd Fraser had the winning RBI.

Easton will now wait for the other three first round series to be completed. WC Electric leads Quyon 1-0, with the series to resume August 21 after the ToC. Carp and the Ottawa Blitz play game one tonight. And the Stittsville / Orleans series won't get started until after the ToC.

UPDATE - Story from Tony Riches

Easton closed out it`s first round series with a 1-0 victory in Manotick Wednesday night. As was the case the night before, Easton`s ability to come up with key 2-out hits and Manotick`s missed opportunties were the story as this series ended two games to none. Dan Konkle outduelled Jason Smith for the victory, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 15. Todd Fraser drove in Kevin Chevrier with a 2-out single in the third inning to account for the game`s only score. Manotick got runners to third base with no outs twice and one out once but were unable to push a run across as Konkle came up with key strikeouts and outfielder Lukas Kamps made an excellent diving catch of a Calvin Medynski line drive to end a threat.

For Easton;
Dave Tubman 2-3
Chevrier 1-3, R
Fraser 2-3, RBI

Konkle 7IP 2H 0R 1BB 15K

For Manotick;
Don Cox, Steve Edgerton, John Lindsey, 1-3

Smith 7IP 7H 1R 10K

GOFL Pitching Records for 2007

A run down of the all 32 pitchers appearing in the GOFL during the regular seasons:

Easton:
Dan Konkle 17 GP (9-4-2)
Kyle Olson 5 GP (1-2)
Jeff Murphy 2 GP (2-0)
Todd Fraser 1 GP (0-1)

Carp:
Neil Cooke 13 GP (6-1-2), 1 save
Trevor Wood 9 GP (3-2)
Paul Ceppi 8 GP (4-3)

Stittsville:
Dan Bradley 15 GP (9-4-2)
Darren Featherstone 10 GP (3-2-1)
Rob Rattray 1 GP, no decisions

Quyon:
Matt Greer 11 GP (6-3)
Joran Graham 11 GP (5-3-1) 1 Save
Len Burger 2 GP (1-0-1)
Jonathan Delisle 1 GP, no decisions

WC Electric:
Brad Porter 14 GP (4-2)
Bud Hanlon 11 GP (3-3-1)
Jim Ryan 11 GP (2-5)
Troy Wilson 1 GP, no decisions

Manotick:
Trevor Lahey 14 GP (5-5-2)
Shannon Borho 9 GP (3-2-2)
Jason Smith 1 GP (0-1)
Tony Riches 1 GP (0-1)

Orleans:
Chad Hargrove 14 GP (6-6-2)
Nick Bowman 8 GP (0-6)
Eric Lafleur 4 GP, no decisions
Cory Alkerton 3 GP (0-1)
Kurtis Summers 2 GP, no decisions


Blitz:
Derick Bulley 16 GP (2-8-1)
Jamie Blakely 13 GP (1-8)
Duane Bromley 2GP, no decisions
Ryan Cox 1 GP (0-1)
Will Mood 1 GP, no decisions

GOFL Playoff Schedule

GOFL teams, in cooperation with the hard-working GOFL umpire schedule George Findley, have come up with the schedule for the remaining first round playoff games, after the Tournament of Champions.

Series A: Carp vs. Blitz
Game 1 - Thursday August 9, 8:30 in Carp
Game 2 - Wednesday August 22, 8:30 in Manotick
Game 3 - Thursday August 23, 8:30 in Carp (if necessary)

Series B: Stittsville vs. Orleans
Game 1 - Tuesday August 21, 8:30 in Stittsville
Game 2 - Thursday August 23, 8:30 in Orleans
Game 3 - Tuesday August 28, 8:30 in Stittsville (if necessary)

Series C: Easton vs. Manotick (Easton wins 2-0)
Game 1 - Easton 5 Manotick 4
Game 2 - Easton 1 Manotick 0

Series D: Quyon vs. WC Electric (WC leads 1-0)
Game 1 - WC Electric 14 Quyon 7
Game 2 - Tuesday August 21, 8:00 in Quyon
Game 3 - Thursday August 23, 8:00 in Quyon (if necessary)

Prospect Fastball Tournament - Labour Day Weekend

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FORMAT: 10 TEAM, DOUBLE ELIMINATION
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FULL UNIFORMS ARE EXPECTED
EACH PLAYER ON A TEAM MUST WEAR MATCHING COLOR - HATS SHIRTS & PANTS

TEAMS INTERESTED CAN CONTACT
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1ST PRIZE- $1,000.00, PAYING OUT TOP 4 TEAMS

Junior Nationals update

The Junior Nationals in PEI are currently in rain delay.

The Quebec entrant St-Leonard is still struggling, with a 1-5 record and sit in 8th of 9 teams. (Top eight make the playoff round.)

The only win for the Express was thrown by Matt Greer of the Quyon Flyers. Story here.

Newfoundland & Labrador lead with a perfect 5-0 record, with Scarborough in second at 5-1.

GOFL Playoff games & Umpiring issues

There is a major problem getting officials for GOFL playoff games this week due to the Blackburn tournament, officials out of town for National events, deaths in the family, injuries, etc.

So we've had to postpone some games that would have been played this week.

This is what we have the rest of the week:

Series C Game 2: Weds August 8 Team Easton at Manotick 8:30PM
Series A Game 1: Thurs August 9 Blitz at Carp 8:30PM
Series D Game 2 in Quyon on Thursday is POSTPONED due to umpire shortages.
Series B (Stittsville / Orleans) will have to get started after the ToC. They wanted to play Weds/Thurs this week but no officials means no games.

GOFL playoffs will resume after the Tournament of Champions, the week of August 20.

Easton takes game 1 - Chevy gets the victory

from Tony Riches

Easton made the most of 7 hits and 3 Manotick errors and Kevin Chevrier scattered 11 hits in a 5-4 win in Stittsville last night.

Chevrier, making a surprise start, kept the Manotick batters off balance and used Easton`s solid defence in picking up the win. Trevor Lahey had a good outing, the victim of not only his defence but some timely hitting by the Easton squad, who made the most of their 7 hits.

Manotick opened the scoring in the second with Lahey and Joe Allan each driving in a run with singles, but Chevrier escaped further damage by leaving runners at second and third. Easton evened the score in the bottom of the third by taking advantage of a walk, a dropped third strike and subsequent throwing error that allowed the first run to score, and then a clutch 2-out RBI single by Randy Peck. Easton took the lead in the fourth when a leadoff walk eventually came around to score on a single by Lukas Kamps. They expanded their lead to 5-2 in the sixth on a couple of Manotick errors, including one by someone playing their last ever game in the outfield, and another 2-out RBI single by Dave Tubman.

The Printers made a last inning charge to push across 2 runs on an infield hit by Steve Edgerton and an RBI groundout by Trevor Power but Chevrier again closed the door with the tying run on base.

For Manotick;

Bickell 2-4 (both hits combined travelled less than 20 feet), R
Mike Branchaud 2-4
Allan 2-4, RBI, R

Lahey 6IP 7H 1ER 2BB 5K

For Easton;

Tubman 2-3, RBI, R
Kamps 1-3, RBI, R

Chevrier 7IP 11H 4ER 1BB 3K

Game 2 of the series will be played tonight in Manotick at 8:30PM.

WC Electric takes game one 14-7

It was a wild one last night in Fitzroy Harbour, as WC Electric won game one of the GOFL quarterfinal series by a score of 14-7 over the Quyon Flyers.

A crowd of about 100 with supporters from both sides of the river filled the bleachers to watch game one of the "Ferry Series".

Lenny Burger took the loss for the Flyers, while Brad Porter had the win in relief for WC Electric.

Quyon got off to an early start in the top of the first, scoring three runs off WC starter Bud Hanlon. Joran Graham hit a double to drive in Dennis McCleary who had singled, scoring the first run. Then Steve McCord launched homer to put the Flyers up 3-0.

Fitzroy responded with two runs in their half of the first. Burger had control problems as he walked four Electric batters, with two of them subsequently scoring on wild pitches.

After Hanlon retired the side in order in the top of the second, WC Electric took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second. Jason Armstrong reached base on a shallow pop up that fell in amongst four Quyon defenders. When Jon Daley reached base on a defensive miscue, Armstrong scored. After a Trevor Barton sac bunt to move Daley to second, Mike Cavanagh hit a long fly off the fence in centre right to drive in Daley and put the Electric up by one.

The scrappy Flyers battled back immediately in the top of the third. Luke Young started things off with a single, and advanced on a Dennis McCleary bunt single that just eluded a diving Shawn Rebertz coming in from third. After a pop up by Graham, Steve McCord then drove another ball out of the park for his third, fourth and fifth RBIs of the night. Porter then came on to pitch for WC Electric. Nick Armitage greeted Porter by hitting a single, then Len Burger walked. After a strikeout for the second out, Shawn Laframboise then drove one off Porter's glove to score Armitage and put the Flyers in what seemed to be a commanding 7-4 lead.

However WC Electric again came back to go up in the game, sending 12 men to the plate in the bottom of the third and going up 10-7. After a Rebertz double, a walk to Beef Johnson and a flare single for Todd Clouthier, the bases were loaded. Neil Murphy then delivered with a clutch bases clearing single and advanced to second on an error. Joran Graham then came in to pitch for Burger. After a Jason Armstrong sac bunt, Daley drove in Murphy with a single and then was brought in on an RBI triple by Trevor Barton. Mike Cavanagh then hit a sac fly to shallow left to score the speedy Barton. WC Electric continued the inning loading the bases with Troy Wilson reaching on an error, Rebertz hitting a single, and Steve Johnson walking, but Graham got out of the inning getting Clouthier to pop up.

The home team added four runs to their lead in the bottom of four. Murphy stroke a huge "no doubter" home run over the grey monster in right field to lead off the inning. Armstrong legged out an infield single, then scored on a Daley home run. Mike Cavanagh scored the fourth run when he hit a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Wilson ground out.

Porter continued to throw well, scattering hits. Quyon had chances in the fourth when Dennis McCleary hit a one-out triple and was stranded and again in the sixth, when Laframboise hit a double and tried to score on a Luke Young single, but was thrown out at the plate by centre fielder Daley.

"Big Joe" McCleary came in to pitch in the fifth for Quyon, making his GOFL debut despite an injured hand.

The game ended after 5 1/2 innings due to the mercy rule, and the fact that the game took so long that the Flyers were in danger of missing the last ferry at 11PM.

Quyon scored seven runs on 11 hits and made four errors. WC Electric scored 14 runs on 15 hits and played error free ball.

Game two is scheduled for Thursday night in Quyon at 8PM, but that could be subject to change as there have been troubles getting officials for GOFL playoffs to date. Watch the blog for details.

Pitching lines:
Bud Hanlon 2.1IP 6R 6ER 6H 0BB 5K
Brad Porter (win in relief) 3.1IP 1R 1ER 5H 1BB 8K

Len Burger (loss) 2.1IP 8R 6ER 4H 5BB 3K
Joran Graham 1.2IP 6R 6ER 9H 1BB 0K
Joe McCleary 1.0IP 0R 0ER 2H 0BB 0K

Hitters:
Quyon
Luke Young 2-4, R
Dennis McCleary 3-4, 2R, 3B
Joran Graham 1-3, R, RBI
Steve McCord 2-3, 2HR, 5RBI
Nick Armitage 1-3, R
Shawn Laframboise 2-3, 2B, RBI

WC Electric
Jon Daley 2-4, 4R, HR, 4RBI, BB
Trevor Barton 1-3, 2R, BB, 3B
Mike Cavanagh 2-3, 2RBI, 2 x 2B, R
Adam Brown 1-1
Troy Wilson 1-4, RBI, BB
Shawn Rebertz 3-3, 2B, R, BB
Steve Johnson 1-2, 2BB, R
Todd Clouther 1-4, R
Neil Murphy 2-4, 3RBI, HR, 2R
Jason Armstrong 1-4, 2R

more to follow

ISC World Tourney

The ISC World tourney gets going on Friday August 10th with 32 teams participating in Kitchener. The finals are on Saturday August 18th and the format is a bracket style with a three game guarantee.

Some notes of interest to local fans:

* The Elmira Cubs have moved up from the ISC II level to the World stage. Stittsville's Dan Bradley will be pitching for Elmira in the World Tourney, up until Team Easton's first game in the ISC II Tournament of Champions. The ISC has agreed for a few players to do this, and Dan is one of them. Good luck on the big stage Dan. First game for Elmira (unranked) is on Saturday against the Quad City Sox from Iowa (ranked 16). If they win that, they will likely face Patsy's of New York City, ranked #2 in the world.

* Elkland, Pennsylvania is participating in their first WT this year. They have a couple of players familiar to the area to pitch - Morrisburg's Jason Smith (an occasional member of Manotick in the GOFL) and Gregg Garrity of Kingston.

* Big Z, Darren Zack is back at the World Tourney again this season. He'll be throwing for an all-native team called the Horse Lake Thunder, from Alberta. The team features players from Alberta, BC and Ontario. It will be interesting to see how they fare.

* The Napanee Express are entered in the tournament, with players that were part of their midget & junior programs over the last few years. Andy Madden and Jordan MacDonald will throw for the Express.

* Orillia is one of the highly favoured teams at the tourney with a #3 ranking. Cornwall native Dan Loney patrols the outfield for the Riversharks.

* Peterborough has an entry in the World Tournament known as the Murphy Windmillers, led by Sylvia Ryan. Wayne Wells, a long time veteran of the fastball scene in central Ontario will pitch, along with Scott Evans. Craig Buttar will suit up for the team as well as playing for Team Easton in the ISC II tourney in a similar arrangement as Dan Bradley.

* Scarborough Royals, a junior team from the Toronto area will be in the tourney. Matt Bowman from the GOFL's Orleans Gators is on their roster for the event. Chad Hargrove was also going to play with the Royals but he is out for the season and now unable to play.

Midget Nationals

The Midget Nationals are starting up on August 13-19 in Saskatoon. They were in Prince Albert, Sask last year.

This year's tournament has twelve teams participating from six provinces:

Defending Champions – Saskatchewan Chiefs
Host - Saskatoon Aspen Selects
Saskatchewan – Saskatoon AA Selects
Alberta 1 – Leduc Landmark 747’s
Alberta 2 - Calgary Rockies
Ontario 1 - Napanee Express
Ontario2 – Linwood Midgets
Ontario 3 - Chepstow Colts
British Columbia 1 – Sooke Smoke
British Columbia 2 – Kitimat Rockies
Newfoundland – Newfoundland & Labrador Selects
Quebec - Quebec AA

Joran Graham who plays in the GOFL with the Quyon Flyers, will be participating for the Napanee Express who were Ontario Champs.

Junior nationals update

There are nine teams from Ontario (3), Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Saskatchewan and PEI (Host) participating in Summerside at the Men's Junior Nationals this week.

Quebec is represented by a team familiar to fastball fans eastern Ontario / west Quebec - l'Express de St-Leonard d'Aston. The Express are led by their pitcher Francis Lelcair. The Quebec team has also picked up Matt Greer of the Quyon Flyers. I listened in to a webcasted game for a bit this afternoon, and Cooney was playing third base for the Express and the commentators mentioned that he "looked like quite the athlete over on the hot corner." Good luck to Matt and the Express - they are going to need it as they are now 0-3.

Ontario is represented by three teams - Simcoe Wildcats, Elmira Millwrights and the Scarborough Wolverines. Scarborough is now 3-0, one of their wins a 2-1 pitchers' duel over St-Leonard. The Wolverines are essentially the same team that competed at the ISC II Qualifier in Kingston and played against WC Electric, Valley Raiders and Quyon (twice).

Webcast information available here.

OASA Elims

As per Al's Fastball, the OASA Intermediate Elims were won by the Alvinston Indians winning the final over the Port Elgin Blue Devils held in St. Thomas over the long weekend. Thirteen teams participated in the Intermediate Elims.

The Niagara Snappers, who had Cory Costello in their line-up, lost in the semi-finals to Port Elgin.

Kitchener Hallman Twins defeated the Jarvis Merchants in the Senior Elims. Only three teams competed in the Senior division - St. Thomas Evergreen Centennials was the third team.

RA League final standings

The final RA League standings:

Shawville Snappers 13-6-1
Ottawa Valley Raiders 12-8-0
Orleans Midget Rebels 11-9-0
Team Six 9-10-1
Ed Taylor Shamrocks 4-16-0

Visit TC's blog for more on the playoff matchups for the RA League. Interesting pitching matchup in the final Valley vs. Team Six game of the season - Jamie "Lumpy" Wilson vs. Terry Flannery.

Valley Raiders will be looking for their fifth consecutive RA League crown, while the Shawville Snappers were the McNab/Braeside Junior League champs in 2006.

Good luck to all RA teams in the playoffs.

Quyon - WC Electric and Easton - Manotick dates set

The dates are set for the Quyon / WC Electric playoff series.

Tuesday August 7 8:30PM - Quyon at Fitzroy Harbour
Thursday August 9 8:00PM - Fitzroy Harbour at Quyon
Tuesday August 21 8:00PM - Fitzroy Harbour at Quyon (if necessary)

And the following are the dates for the first two games of the Team Easton / Manotick series

Tuesday August 7 8:30PM - Manotick at Team Easton (in Stittsville)
Wednesday August 8 - Team Easton at Manotick
Game 3 TBD

As the other series dates are determined, I will post the information here.

GOFL First Round Playoff Preview

A quick preview on the four first round best-of-three series in the GOFL.

A: 1st Carp I4C Victory (13-6-2) vs. 8th Ottawa Blitz (3-17-1)
In just their second year in the GOFL, I4C Victory claimed first place in the Greater Ottawa Fastball League. While their "expansion cousins" the Ottawa Blitz finished last in the league, they did win their first three games of franchise history and were close in many other games. Carp won all three meetings this season between the two clubs.

Carp 11 Blitz 4 - June 2 - showcase in Quyon
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/06/carp-showcase-report.html

Carp 1 Blitz 0 - June 14 - in Carp
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/06/another-one-run-loss-for-blitz-i4c.html

Carp 9 Blitz 7 - July 18 - in Manotick
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/07/i4c-victory-defeats-ottawa-blitz-9-7.html

B: 2nd Stittsville 56ers (12-6-3) vs. 7th Orleans Gators (6-13-2)
Stittsville, playoff finalists in 2006, started a bit slow in the 2007 campaign, but finished strongly and ended up just one point out of first. Orleans, an expansion team in the GOFL this season had a very impressive start, but lost six in a row after losing their star pitcher Chad Hargrove for the season. The teams tied in their first match up, but Stittsville was a big winner on their subsequent two games.

Stittsville 0 Orleans 0 - May 17 - in Orleans
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/05/bradley-hargrove-duel-as-stittsville.html

Stittsville 13 Orleans 1 - June 14 - in Orleans
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/06/stittsville-mercies-orleans-13-1.html

Stittsville 8 Orleans 1 - July 11 - in Orleans
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/07/stittsville-8-orleans-1.html

C: 3rd Ottawa Team Easton (12-7-2) vs. 6th Manotick Lomor Printers (8-9-4)
Defending GOFL Playoff champions, Team Easton will face their nemesis in the Manotick team in the first round. Easton will be a threat again for a "five-peat" this season with their all-star laden squad, but Manotick has always seemed to play well against Danny K's team. Easton actually had a losing record against Manotick in 2007 as the Printers took 2 of 3 in the season series.

Easton 6 Manotick 1 - May 23 - in Manotick
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/05/team-easton-6-manotick-1.html

Manotick 3 Easton 2 - July 17 - in Stittsville
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/07/manotick-defeats-team-easton.html

Manotick 4 Easton 3 - July 25 - in Manotick
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/07/konkle-strikes-out-20-and-loses-to.html

D: 4th Quyon Flyers (12-7-2) vs. 5th Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric (9-10-2)
Most observers of the GOFL believe that Quyon has been the surprise of the 2007 campaign. With a very young squad new to the league, the GOFL's lone Quebec entrant tied defending champions Team Easton in the standings, settling for 4th due to the tie-breaker. WC Electric have had a season where they have blown a few games the should have won, leading to their first below .500 season since their initial year in the league in 2004. Some may call this the "Ferry Series" (NOT "Fairy Series") as the teams will be riding the boat across the Ottawa River to face one another. Quyon won the season series two games to one.

Quyon 4 WC Electric 0 - May 13 - in Quyon
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/05/quyon-defeats-wc-electric-4-0-in-gofl.html

Quyon 2 WC Electric 1 - June 1 - Showcase in Quyon
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/06/quyon-defeats-wc-electric-2-1-in.html

WC Electric 5 Quyon 4 - July 8 - in Fitzroy Harbour "Harbour Days"
http://fitzroyfastball.blogspot.com/2007/07/wc-electric-come-back-to-win-5-4-over.html

Pontiac Equity Article on Quyon Flyers

Wilbur McLean has another article in last week's edition of the Pontiac Equity. This will be available online until Wednesday:

http://www.theequity.ca/te_page08.htm

Young ball players putting Ottawa Valley on the map; Pirates and Twins head to Ontario championships

from the Pembroke Daily Observer
SEAN CHASE Sports - Saturday, August 04, 2007 @ 07:00

The Pembroke Pirates girls fastball team and the Micksburg Twins boys fastball team will soon be playing on a much bigger field. Both teams are heading to the provincial finals on the weekend of Aug. 14-15 after placing fourth in qualifying competition last month.

The Micksburg Twins squeaked into the finals when they beat Sydenham and Peterborough to clinch a spot in the Provincial Squirt 'A' Finals, which will be decided in Stouffeville near Toronto. The Twins, currently with the Upper Ottawa Valley Minor Softball League, will be facing seven other teams to determine who is the best in Ontario.

Meanwhile, the Pembroke Pirates have made a name for themselves competing province-wide. They are not part of a local ball association, however, they have a 29-13 record going into the Novice Tier Two Provincials in Cobourg. To prepare for their respective tournaments, the Pirates and the Twins played an exhibition game at the Stafford Park Thursday night.

Twins head coach Jerry McIntyre said it was be an excellent opportunity to conduct a batting clinic for his boys as they face what he called an outstanding Pirates bullpen. But he does have some sound advice for his team heading onto the provincial stage. "I'll tell them to take it all in, have some fun but stay focused," he said.

Kyle Sauriol, 11, the shortstop for the Twins, said he was confident his team will do well because it has a strong outfield and infield.

For the Pembroke Pirates, their goal was to play .500 baseball all season. Head coach Bob O'Connor said going to the finals was beyond his expectations. "They are a brand new team. Not an all-star player among them," he said. "To reach the finals is impressive."

Pirates pitcher and shortstop Jean Cardona, 14, said she's not concerned with the fatigue factor despite playing a 42-game schedule this season, mostly on the road. "We've had a lot of discipline, good defense and hitting," she said. "We love the game." Her friend Aisha O'Connor, 14, with whom she shares the pitching duties with, agrees. "We've played as a team," she added. "Most of us know each other so we've worked better together."

Orleans loses in finals of Midget B provincials

Looks like according to the report on Al's Fastball, the Orleans Rebels Midget team finished second at the eleven-team Midget B Provincials in Stratford, forcing the "if game" in the finals versus Owen Sound.

The Orleans Midgets play in the Ottawa RA League, and a couple of their players also suit up for the Orleans Gators of the Greater Ottawa Fastball League.

Ottawa Blitz tourney pictures and info

Check out TC's blog for some great pictures and information on the Blitz's tournament.

http://tylercox.blogspot.com/2007/07/more-photos-from-highly-successful.html
http://tylercox.blogspot.com/2007/07/ottawa-blitz-tournament-photos-finals.html
http://tylercox.blogspot.com/2007/07/ottawa-blitz-tournament-photos-semi_29.html
http://tylercox.blogspot.com/2007/07/ottawa-blitz-tournament-photos-semi.html

ISC ToC local team rosters

The rosters for the ToC teams have been announced. Follow the links below for the rosters for the teams from eastern Ontario / western Quebec that will be attending.

Blackburn Bombers

Carp I4C Victory

Ottawa Valley Raiders

Ottawa Team Easton

Quyon Flyers

GOFL Final Standings and Playoff Matchups

Greater Ottawa Fastball League final standings after the 21 game regular season. What a great regular season of very evenly matched teams and well played ball. Congrats to all teams on an excellent season and best of luck in the playoffs.

1. Carp 13 - 6 - 2 = 28
2. Stittsville 12 - 6 - 3 = 27
3. Easton 12 - 7 - 2 = 26 (awarded 3rd based on head to head vs. Quyon)
4. Quyon 12 - 7 - 2 = 26
5. Fitzroy 9 - 10 - 2 = 20 (awarded 5th based on head to head vs. Manotick)
6. Manotick 8 - 9 - 4 = 20
7. Orleans 6 - 13 - 2 = 14
8. Blitz 3 - 17 - 1 = 7

First round playoff matchups - schedule to be posted as soon as the dates are set. All series are best-of-three.

Carp I4C Victory vs. Ottawa Blitz
Stittsville 56ers vs. Orleans Gators
Ottawa Team Easton vs. Manotick Lomor Printers
Quyon Flyers vs. Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric

Scores in Final Week of GOFL play

Tuesday July 31:
Manotick 2 at Quyon 2

Wednesday August 1:
Quyon 4 at Blitz 3
Quyon 8 at Blitz 4
Carp 2 at Stittsville 3

Thursday August 2:
Manotick 10 at Orleans 2
Carp 6 at Team Easton 5

Carp clinches first in GOFL play

from Shawn Williams and the I4C website

It came down to the last inning of the last game with the last at bat to decide which team would finish first in 2007 in the Greater Ottawa Fastball League (GOFL).

Short several players and with pitcher Neil Cooke, with as many at bats this year as there are bottles in a six pack, delivering an RBI double in the fourth as well as scoring two runs, the Carp I4C Victory managed to defeat Dan Konkle and Ottawa Team Easton Thunder 6-5 on Thursday night at Alexander Grove Park in Stittsville.

Carp was missing several players on this night for a variety of reasons, while Easton furnished its regular league line-up including Dave Tubman, Kevin Chevrier, Cory Morrison, Randy and John Peck and of course, ace pitcher, Dan Konkle. But it was clear from the start that Carp really wanted to win this game. Carp third baseman and catcher Al Read particularly wanted to win this game having played the last couple of seasons with the Thunder primarily in a back-up role and moving over to Carp this season.

Carp opened the scoring in the top of the second when Player/Assistant Coach, Eric Rosenquist, hitting out of the five spot, reached on an error by first baseman, John Peck. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and after Russ Mitchell drew the first of eight walks issued by Konkle on the evening both runners moved up on another wild pitch. Rosenquist scored when Pete Pettit hit into a fielder's choice and the score was 1-0 for Carp.

The play of the night took place in the bottom of the second inning. Konkle led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by John Peck. Pat O'Connor hit a shallow fly ball to right field and Russ Mitchell turned to go and get it and made a spectacular over the shoulder catch as he was stretched out. It not only meant that Team Easton now had two out but Konkle was held at second before Cooke was able to get Lukas Kamps to strike out and prevent any damage from the lead off walk he had issued.

In the top of the third, Cooke led off with a walk and moved to third on a hard hit double down the left field line by Kyle Gourgon. Read reached on an infield single when after hitting the ball back to Konkle, he turned to hold Cooke at third and by the time he went to throw to first it was too late. And the bases were loaded. With Trevor Wood at the plate with two strikes he was called out looking but the ball bounced off of Randy Peck's shin guard and went to the fence allowing the quick thinking Cooke to race home for I4C's second run and a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third Scott Marion hit a lead off single for Easton and scored on a hit and run play with what appeared to be a lead off. However it went unchecked and Tubman ended up at third with a triple and an RBI. He scored on a Kevin Chevrier single and the game was tied at two.

Carp added to its lead in the top of the fourth. Tyler Nystedt walked and Cooke helped his own cause by belting a double to the fence in centrefield scoring Nystedt from first and allowing Carp to re-take the lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Carp went up by two when Read led off with a home run to left centrefield and while Konkle managed to strike out the side he also walked two more batters, both of whom were stranded. In the top of the sixth, with one out, Cooke drew his second walk of the game and Gourgon followed him with another walk. It brought Read to the plate for the second consecutive inning and the burly catcher hit a two RBI double to make it 6-2 for Carp.

While Konkle struggled with his control on this night, he was also striking out several batters and despite an error in the top of the seventh, he struck out the side leading to the dramatic finish in the bottom of the seventh.

It was clear that with a four run lead, Carp wasn't going to try anything cute. Cooke pitched to Tubman who has been one of the most dangerous hitters in the league since early June. Tubman responded by pounding the ball to the gap for a double. It might have gone for a triple on any other night but Tubman and his teammates weren't taking any chances. After Chevrier hit a single, to put runners on the corners, Morrison got his second hit of the night, a two RBI triple to make the score 6-4. With Randy Peck at the plate, the veteran hitter hit a shallow fly to right field and a hard charging Wood was able to make the catch as he dove forward. The diving catch allowed Morrison to tag up and score from third making it 6-5 for Carp with one out. After Konkle drew his third walk of the night from Cooke, Pat O'Connor came to the plate and worked his way from a two strike count to a walk. Along the way, Konkle took second on a passed ball. With the tying run at second and the winnig run at first, Cooke was able to get Kamps to pop out to Gourgon at short to preserve the lead and give Carp the victory and its first regular season division title in only its second year in the GOFL.

On the night for Carp, Cooke was doing it on offence and defence. At the plate he was 1-2 with a double, two walks an RBI and two runs scored.

Read had a stellar night at the plate going 3-4 and was just a triple short of the cycle with a single, double, home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Gourgon was 1-2 with a double a walk and a run scored.

For Ottawa, Tubman was 2-4 with a double and a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Morrison was 2-4 with a single and a triple, three RBIs and a run scored. Chevrier went 2-3 and reached on an error and scored a run. Dan Konkle was 1-1 with three walks and stranded at second on three occasions and was left on once at first.

In the circle, Cooke (6-1-2) had the win. He gave up five runs on nine hits, walked four and struck out eight. Carp made one error and Easton left nine runners on, five of them in scoring position. Konkle threw all seven for the Thunder and gave up six runs, five earned on five hits, he walked eight and struck out 14. Easton's defence made three errors and Carp also left nine runners on, seven of them in scoring position.

That concludes the regular season for Carp and the team finishes with a record of 13-6-2 good for 28 points and first place in the league. They will face the Ottawa Blitz in the quarter finals in a best of three series with dates and times still to be determined.

Carp I4C Victory Reaches Semi-Finals of 2nd Annual Ottawa Blitz Tournament

from Shawn Williams

The Carp I4C Victory were once again left at the church doors and didn’t quite make it to the altar. For the fourth time this season, the second year club made it to the semi-finals of a tournament. The team had previously reached the semis in the Kingston Cowboys tournament, the Jim Bradford Classic and Au Sable Forks Classic of Upstate New York. The same held true for Carp on the weekend of July 27-29.

The team started off with a 5-1 win on Friday night over the Markham Majors highlighted by a two run blast off the bat of Matt McNish that landed in the food and beverage tent in left centrefield.

On Saturday, under cloudy and wet conditions at the start of the day, the bats were just not quite going for Carp and they played to a 2-2 tie with the Central Bramalea Lumberjacks junior team a club that Carp faced twice in tournament play in 2006 in the Blitz Tournament and in the Newboro Tournament. Trevor Wood pitched a strong game for Carp giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits, walking none and striking out 10. Mike Money led the way for Carp at the plate going 2-4 with a single, a triple and an RBI while Eric Colvin was 1-3 with a run scored. Al Read contributed with an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. The Bramalea pitchers combined for a four hitter with Adam Smith getting the tie. The tandem gave up two earned runs, walked one, had one hit batter and struck out six. Carp left six runners on base including a runner at third in the bottom of the seventh.

Carp struggled at the plate in its next game against the Napanee Express Juniors and lost by the run ahead rule of six after five, losing 6-0. The Victory only managed four hits of off Napanee starter, Jordan McDonald while giving up eight to the Express including a two run home run off of the bat of Andrew Wemp. Andy Madden was 2-2 for Napnaee with two runs scored. Paul Ceppi took the loss for Carp with relief from Neil Cooke. The loss gave Carp a record of 1-1-1 and second place in its division and a spot in the playoffs on Sunday.

The first game of the day had Carp playing the Scarborough Royals Juniors, a team that Carp tournament player, Chad Hargrove played for at the Ontario Junior Men’s Eliminations.

Carp jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth on a one out single from Matt McNish. Then with two out, Trevor Wood walked and that was followed by a Kyle Gourgon double scoring McNish and Wood. Al Read followed with an RBI single to score Gourgon. Scarborough got one back in the bottom of the fourth but Carp added an insurance run in the sixth when McNish singled and advanced to second and was brought home on a Mike Branchaud RBI single making the final score 4-1 Carp.

McNish was 2-3 with two runs scored, while Gourgon was 1-3 with 2 RBIs. For the Royals, Smith was 2-4 with a single and a triple while Trude was 2-3 with a run scored.

Neil Cooke had the win for Carp. The red-headed right-hander gave up a single run on six hits, he walked three and struck out 12. Andy Skelton had the loss for Scarborough giving up four runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out four.

The win set up a re-match of the previous evening’s opponent, the Napanee Express. In this game, Express shortstop, Chris Lewis would get things going early. Leading off in the top of the first, Lewis bunted and reached second on what was scored as a single with an error to Carp pitcher Neil Cooke however, nobody was covering the bag at first on what would have been a perfect throw from the right hander. Unfortunately for Cooke with nobody at first, the ball rolled into foul territory allowing Lewis to move to second. After a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout of Ben Tee, one of three Cooke had on Tee on this day, Lewis was driven in with a single to make it 1-0 Napanee. In the bottom of the fifth, Madden led off with a single for Napanee and after Cooke got Andrew Wemp to pop out to catcher, Shawn Houle and then struck out Napanee catcher, Mack, Lewis was back to the plate. He hit a ball that was at the top of the zone out of the park and the score was now 3-0 for Napanee. In the bottom of the seventh, Carp tried to rally. Trevor Wood singled to lead things off and Kyle Gourgon’s speed caused the second baseman to hurry the throw to first and he threw it away putting runners at first and second with nobody out. With Al read a the plate, he hit a little flare to the second base area and a diving catch by Lewis that ended up in a cloud of dust had Read out and Wood caught in no man’s land and he was doubled off. But Carp did not give up. Pete Pettit was next up and he singled moving Gourgon to third. Carp, Head Coach and General Manager, Shawn Williams then had Russ Mitchell pinch run for Pettit and Mike Money stepped to the plate. With two strikes on Money, Williams made a decision that he would later regret sending Mitchell to second on a steal where he was thrown out and the Carp coach had run his team out of the game.

On the weekend, the Victory finished with a record of 2-2-1. The team continues to prepare for the ISC II Tournament of Champions being held August 14-18 in Kitchener and Cambridge , Ontario .

Stittsville defeats Carp 3-2 on Wednesday

from Shawn Williams/I4C website

There was a lot on the line at Wednesday's game in Stittsville at Alexander Grove Park between the Stittsville 56ers and Carp I4C Victory. Carp was tied with Ottawa Team Easton Thunder for first place in the Greater Ottawa Fastball League (GOFL) each with 26 points. Stittsville was sitting one point back of both of those clubs with 25 points. A win or a tie for Carp and they would be guaranteed no worse than second place and Stittsville would finish third. A win by Stittsville would put the 56ers in first and force Carp to beat the Thunder on Thursday in order to clinch first place in the league.

Both teams were short some of their regular players and had players playing out of their regular positions. Even then it was still an entertaining and competitive game with something on the line for both teams.

Trevor Wood took to the circle for Carp while the 56ers countered with Darren Featherstone, a member of Carp's tournament team. There was some great pitching and great defence by both teams in this one.

The 56ers scored first in this one. In the bottom of the second, Sam Oliver led off and hit a ball to shallow left field between short and third and tried to stretch it into a double. But great hustle and an excellent throw to second by shortstop, Pete Pettit, who normally plays second and a great tag by Tim Hodgins, who was added to the Carp line-up just minutes before the game, had Oliver out at second. That proved to be a big out and stop a potentially big inning early in the game as Featherstone followed with a one out single. A walk to Scott Jessiman put runners at first and second and after Tim Power struck out looking, an error to Pettit on a hard hit ball allowed Featherstone to score and make it 1-0 Stittsville.

In the bottom of the fourth, Sam Oliver added another hit and this time there was no doubt about it being a double despite the effort of the Carp defence to make a play at second for the second time in the game and try to get Oliver out for the second time stretching a single into a double. Oliver advanced to third on a fielder's choice. Pettit made two excellent 6-3 outs but Oliver was able to move up on the one. With two out and an 0-2 count to Power, the veteran hitter reached down and hit one off of his shoelaces that scored Oliver from third to make it 2-0 Stittsville. Carp had some chances early in the game and going into the top of the sixth the team had stranded four runners.

With one out in the top of the sixth, Wood reached on an error by second baseman, Scott Jessiman who normally plays first base. A walk to Brooks Paziuk was followed by a Casey Poldervaart RBI single scoring Wood and moving Paziuk to third. With Pete Pettit at the plate, he hit a ball to shortstop, Dan Jessiman who normally plays centre or right field. Jessiman couldn't make the throw allowing Paziuk to score and tie the game at 2-2.

But Jessiman would make up for the error. In the bottom of the sixth on a 1-1 count, Jessiman hit a change up that made its way over the fence in centre at the Grove and put Stittsville back in front, 3-2.

However, Carp was not about to quit. In the top of the seventh, number nine hitter, Russ Mitchell drew a walk. With Mike Money at the plate he hit a fly ball that was somehow mishandled by the right fielder allowing Mitchell to make it to third and Money was now at first. After Money stole second on his own, Carp had runners on second and third with nobody out. Al Read hot a hard shot to John Craig a third. Craig, who just this week agreed to join Carp for the ISC II Tournament of Champions, looked Mitchell back to third and then threw to first for the first out of the inning. It brought pitcher Trevor Wood to the plate and he hit a hard ball back towards the middle that somehow was barehanded by Featherstone who threw to first for the second out and Mitchell was still stuck at third. After Paziuk drew a walk to load the bases, Poldervaart who was 2-3 on the night came to the plate. Featherstone was able to strike him out and preserve the victory for Stittsville temporarily vaulting them into first place in the league standings.

Wood (3-2) pitched well for Carp in the loss, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits, he walked one and struck out six. Carp made one error and Stittsville left three men on. For the 56ers, Featherstone went the distance giving up two runs, one earned on four hits, he walked five and struck out nine. Stittsville made four errors and Carp left nine runners on base.

At the plate, Dan Jessiman was 1-3 with a home run, an RBI and a run scored. Oliver was 2-3 with a run scored, Featherstone was 1-3 with a run scored and Power was 1-2 with an RBI. For Carp, Poldervaart was 2-4 with an RBI, Eric Rosenquist was 1-2 with a walk and Brooks Paziuk was 0-2 with two walks and a run scored and Wood was 0-1 with a walk, reached on a fielder's choice, reached on an error and scored a run.

With the loss, Stittsville took over first place in the GOFL with 27 point and Carp and Ottawa Team Easton Thunder remained tied for second with 26 points each and an important match up on Thursday night in Stittsville.

Blitz tournament

Looks like Quyon lost to Napanee in the finals, as per Al's site