Williamsburg Wrap Up

from Eric Rosenquist

Local Heroes Kanata successfully defended their title and won the Williamsburg
"Casey At The Bat" Tournament, defeating Gregg Garrity and Ed Taylor's Team 1-0
in the final.

The last of the round-robin games were played on Sunday morning at 9AM. Carp I4C
Victory mercied Williamsburg 7-1 to go 3-0 and win their division. Trevor Wood
got the win for Carp, with Jason Smith taking the loss for Williamsburg and Jeff
Murphy seeing some action in relief of Smitty.

In the other round-robin game, Ed Taylor's Team defeated Manotick 6-0 to finish with a 2-1 record, good for 2nd place in their division behind 3-0 Local Heroes Kanata. Gregg Garrity got the win for Ed Taylor's Team with Trevor Lahey taking the loss for Manotick.

The first semi-final at 11:30 had 3-0 Local Heroes Kanata facing the hometown
2-1 Williamsburg Cigars. Billy Gerber went four strong innings and then turned
the ball over to Francis Leclair who preserved Local Heroes' lead the rest of
the way. The final score was 4-3 with Gerber getting the win and Jeff Murphy
taking the loss.

The second semi-final at 1:30 saw 3-0 Carp I4C Victory home to the 2-1 Ed
Taylor's Team. This game was scoreless until the later innings, with Carp
pitcher Neil Cooke and Ed Taylor's Gregg Garrity both throwing well and earning
several K's. Ed Taylor's team finally broke it open late in the game and scored
3 runs, then held on to preserve the 3-0 shutout. Neil Cooke took the loss for Carp
with Gregg Garrity getting the win for Ed Taylor's Team.

That set up a 4:00 final between Local Heroes Kanata and Ed Taylor's Team -
teams that needed 9 innings to determine a winner in their match on Saturday
morning. Billy Gerber got the ball for Local Heroes with Gregg Garrity once
again throwing for Ed Taylor's Team. This game could have been a repeat of the
Saturday morning game were it not for an odd play in the top of the 3rd inning.
With two out, CF Dan Loney came to the plate for Local Heroes. He hit a sharp
grounder that handcuffed the second basemen and was safe on the error. With the
play still "live", Garrity took the ball and walked to the back of the pitching
circle, thinking about the play and probably mad at himself for giving Loney a
pitch he could hit. The infielders and Garrity relaxed on the play as if time
had been called, and Loney casually walked toward second as if here were going
to talk to the umpire or smooth out the infield dirt. Once he was half-way
there, he took off and stole second, catching Ed Taylor's Team completely by
surprise. Time had not been called and the play was still live, so he was safe
at second with 2 out.

The next batter was catcher Julien Richard who had been hitting the ball well
all weekend. He too hit a sharp grounder, but he beat out the throw on a close
play at first, and when the first baseman juggled the ball a bit on the catch,
Dan Loney rounded 3rd and headed home. By the time the first baseman had control
of the ball it was too late and Loney was already crossing the plate. Garrity
then struck out the next Local Heroes batter to get out of the inning, but Local
Heroes had a 1-0 lead. Billy Gerber then shut down the Ed Taylor hitters in the
bottom of the third and turned the ball over to Francis Leclair in the 4th. Ed
Taylor's Team had their share of baserunners and even had the bases loaded at
one point, but timely strikeouts and some great defence helped them end several
threats and preserve the 1-0 win.

Local Heroes Kanata took home $1000 with runners-up Ed Taylor's Team getting
$700 in prize money.

Tournament awards went to:

Top pitcher: Gregg Garrity - Ed Taylor's Team
Top hitter: Ryan O'Neil catcher for Ed Taylor's Team
Tournament MVP: Dan Loney - Local Heroes Kanata
Fan Favourite: Francis Leclair - Local Heroes Kanata