Napanee wins Midget Elims, Joran Graham is MVP
from the Kingston Whig Standard
Dynamic softball duo
Napanee, Kingston earn berths in national midget championship
Posted By DOUG GRAHAM WHIG-STANDARD SPORTS REPORTER
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1112810
CONSIDERING THE NAPANEE EXPRESS had just secured the Ontario midget fastball elimination crown with an unblemished 5-0 record, the victory celebration on the Richard Dickson Fairgrounds Field was rather low key.
Express pitcher Ian Wallwork, who won the Barry Ellerbeck Memorial award with a 3-0 record and no earned runs allowed in the tournament, said the players are focused on a bigger prize.
"We know what is ahead of us. We have a pretty big task. We've got to get ready for that," said Wallwork, referring to the Canadian midget championship in Brantford, Aug. 3-10.
"The bottom line is we have three guys who have been to the Canadians twice without [winning] a gold medal. They really want that gold," said Dave Kerr, the coach of the Express.
"We wish they would show a little more emotion. They take this stuff for granted and as coaches we know it is not that easy."
While the victory by the Express, who have now won two straight provincial eliminations and four in the last 13 years, was anticipated, there was definitely a surprise in the three-day, 19-team double-knockout championship.
It was supplied by the Kingston Kobras, who finished with a 6-2 mark and secured the second Ontario berth in the Canadian final. It's the first time a Kingston midget fastball team has advanced to the Canadian championship since the midget eliminations were first held in 1980.
Although coach Matt Allen's Kobras lost 7-2 to Napanee in yesterday championship game before approximately 500 fans at the Napanee Fairgrounds, the trip to the nationals had been secured earlier by an 8-3 Kingston win over the Paris Predators in the semifinal of the B-side competition.
"I'm very proud of the guys," Allen said. "We're definitely happy. [Qualifying for nationals] was our goal."
"After the Saturday morning loss it was a tough road back, but the boys did the job. It was perfect to see that out of them."
The Kobras, who lost 2-1 to the Frontenac Cyclones on Saturday morning to fall out of the unbeaten bracket, came back with wins over Kitchener Waterloo Twins and Cobourg later Saturday and then had to win out yesterday. Kingston defeated Chepstow 13-1, Paris 8-3 and Newmarket 11-2 in the span of five hours before taking on Napanee.
The Express countered a Kobras run in the first off of Joran Graham with four in the bottom half of the inning. Wallwork, Graham and Matt Henwick drove in three of the runs as the Express jumped on a sagging Kobras club.
"Kingston was a tired team," Kerr said. "They're a better club than what we saw. They didn't have much left in the tank.
"We didn't give them any opportunities after the one in the first. We came back with four and shut the door on them. It was important to us to kind of get them down and keep them down."
Left-handed hurler Cory Alkerton went the distance against Napanee in his second game of the day. He also drove in both Kingston runs, the last one with a triple to right-centre field.
Graham collected the most valuable player award for the championship game. Besides striking out 10 and tossing a four-hitter, he doubled and singled to drive in two runs. Four other Express players -Ryan Mills, Dave Pratt, Cal McGarvey and Matt Clement -had two-hit games.
The balanced hitting was typical for a Napanee club that outscored its opposition 31-3.
"It wasn't just one guy going with the bat," Kerr said. "At different times different guys were going, which is huge. You need all nine in the batting order going to win games. "I cant say enough of our two throwers. We're got more guys who can throw but we went with the two big guys for the weekend and they didn't disappoint at all.
Kerr was most impressed by Graham's 16-strikeout performance in a 6- 1 win over Chepstow on Saturday.
"That ranked up there with the Gregg Garritys, Blake Orrs and Jordan MacDonalds," Kerr said, referring to former Napanee pitching aces. "It was one of the best pitching performances I've ever seen."
Joining Napanee and Kingston as the third team to advance to the nationals was the Newmarket Stingers, who won three straight before losing 9-0 to Napanee and 11-2 to Kingston. Host Brantford will be Ontario's fourth entry.
The fifth-and sixth-place teams at the elimination tournament are eligible to go to the Eastern Canadian midget championships in New Brunswick next month. Paris, the fifth-place team, declined. The Frontenac Cyclones and Chepstow were next and both indicated they would go.
Dynamic softball duo
Napanee, Kingston earn berths in national midget championship
Posted By DOUG GRAHAM WHIG-STANDARD SPORTS REPORTER
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1112810
CONSIDERING THE NAPANEE EXPRESS had just secured the Ontario midget fastball elimination crown with an unblemished 5-0 record, the victory celebration on the Richard Dickson Fairgrounds Field was rather low key.
Express pitcher Ian Wallwork, who won the Barry Ellerbeck Memorial award with a 3-0 record and no earned runs allowed in the tournament, said the players are focused on a bigger prize.
"We know what is ahead of us. We have a pretty big task. We've got to get ready for that," said Wallwork, referring to the Canadian midget championship in Brantford, Aug. 3-10.
"The bottom line is we have three guys who have been to the Canadians twice without [winning] a gold medal. They really want that gold," said Dave Kerr, the coach of the Express.
"We wish they would show a little more emotion. They take this stuff for granted and as coaches we know it is not that easy."
While the victory by the Express, who have now won two straight provincial eliminations and four in the last 13 years, was anticipated, there was definitely a surprise in the three-day, 19-team double-knockout championship.
It was supplied by the Kingston Kobras, who finished with a 6-2 mark and secured the second Ontario berth in the Canadian final. It's the first time a Kingston midget fastball team has advanced to the Canadian championship since the midget eliminations were first held in 1980.
Although coach Matt Allen's Kobras lost 7-2 to Napanee in yesterday championship game before approximately 500 fans at the Napanee Fairgrounds, the trip to the nationals had been secured earlier by an 8-3 Kingston win over the Paris Predators in the semifinal of the B-side competition.
"I'm very proud of the guys," Allen said. "We're definitely happy. [Qualifying for nationals] was our goal."
"After the Saturday morning loss it was a tough road back, but the boys did the job. It was perfect to see that out of them."
The Kobras, who lost 2-1 to the Frontenac Cyclones on Saturday morning to fall out of the unbeaten bracket, came back with wins over Kitchener Waterloo Twins and Cobourg later Saturday and then had to win out yesterday. Kingston defeated Chepstow 13-1, Paris 8-3 and Newmarket 11-2 in the span of five hours before taking on Napanee.
The Express countered a Kobras run in the first off of Joran Graham with four in the bottom half of the inning. Wallwork, Graham and Matt Henwick drove in three of the runs as the Express jumped on a sagging Kobras club.
"Kingston was a tired team," Kerr said. "They're a better club than what we saw. They didn't have much left in the tank.
"We didn't give them any opportunities after the one in the first. We came back with four and shut the door on them. It was important to us to kind of get them down and keep them down."
Left-handed hurler Cory Alkerton went the distance against Napanee in his second game of the day. He also drove in both Kingston runs, the last one with a triple to right-centre field.
Graham collected the most valuable player award for the championship game. Besides striking out 10 and tossing a four-hitter, he doubled and singled to drive in two runs. Four other Express players -Ryan Mills, Dave Pratt, Cal McGarvey and Matt Clement -had two-hit games.
The balanced hitting was typical for a Napanee club that outscored its opposition 31-3.
"It wasn't just one guy going with the bat," Kerr said. "At different times different guys were going, which is huge. You need all nine in the batting order going to win games. "I cant say enough of our two throwers. We're got more guys who can throw but we went with the two big guys for the weekend and they didn't disappoint at all.
Kerr was most impressed by Graham's 16-strikeout performance in a 6- 1 win over Chepstow on Saturday.
"That ranked up there with the Gregg Garritys, Blake Orrs and Jordan MacDonalds," Kerr said, referring to former Napanee pitching aces. "It was one of the best pitching performances I've ever seen."
Joining Napanee and Kingston as the third team to advance to the nationals was the Newmarket Stingers, who won three straight before losing 9-0 to Napanee and 11-2 to Kingston. Host Brantford will be Ontario's fourth entry.
The fifth-and sixth-place teams at the elimination tournament are eligible to go to the Eastern Canadian midget championships in New Brunswick next month. Paris, the fifth-place team, declined. The Frontenac Cyclones and Chepstow were next and both indicated they would go.
posted by fitzroyfastball | 7/15/2008 06:55:00 pm
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