Silver Lining ends Bronze Age for Gee-Gees
from Scott Searle
The Gee-Gees travelled to Waterloo on Friday night knowing that they were in tough, kicking off their Championship schedule against the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks are coming off a silver medal at last weeks inaugural University National Championships and are perennially one of the toughest teams in the OIWFA. The Gee-Gees fell behind early as an error led to a Laurier run in the first, before Jillian Taylor settled down to throw a gem. Jill allowed 2 runs on 6 hits to one of the top offensive teams in Ontario. The offense kicked into gear in the 3rd inning with 4 hits from the Gee-Gees own Murderers Row as Vanessa Homiak, Mallory Watson, Laura Gallant, and Laura Skiperis as the team raced for 3 runs which would be the difference maker. The Gees threatened again in the 5th inning leaving the bases loaded and Laurier mounted a comeback in the bottom of the 7th scoring a run to push the score to 3-2 and leaving 2 runners on base when Ottawa recorded the 3rd out. A very strong start for the Gee-Gees as they chased their second OIWFA Championship.
The Gee-Gees continued their strong weekend with a win over a very tough Queens team. Queens jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning before the Gee-Gees responded with 5 of their own in the second to close the scoring and take a 5-4 victory. The damage was done behind 5 hits in a row from the Gee-Gees, Laura Skiperis was an offensive star with a 2/3 afternoon and Emily Ernst picked up the win and helped her own cause with a 2/3 outing at the plate. After a rough start Emily settled down to allow only 1 hit in the next 6 innings to pick up the win.
The team looked to clinch first spot in their pool with a win over the Windsor Lancers in the first matchup between these two teams in 2008. Again, the Gee-Gees fell behind early as Windsor jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. The Gee-Geees responded immediately as Vanessa Homiak singled and was driven in by Mallory Watson. Radha Khosla and Rachel Legaspi were both stars against their old team as Radha exploded for a ¾ outing with a run scored, and Rachel scampered to 2 hits and a walk. Amanda Toll came off the bench and drove in the teams 4th run in the bottom of the 6th inning. Amanda has proven to be a deadly pinch hitter with 6 hits off the bench this year.
At the OIWFA Banquet, Jillian Taylor and Vanessa Homiak were awarded team MVP honours, and Jillian was named Top Pitcher in the OIWFA Championship tournament.
The Gee-Geed advanced directly to the semi-final and were scheduled to play the winner of McMaster and Windsor. McMaster mounted a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the 7th to take a gutsy 3-2 victory. The Gee-Gees sent Jillian Taylor to the circle and she allowed 1 run in the first inning before settling in and allowing only 4 hits the rest of the game as the Gee-Gees stole a 6-1 victory. Laura Gallant and Laura Skiperis drove the offense for the Gees with 3 hits each, Mallory Watson drove in a pair of runs with a bloop hit in the 6th inning. The Gee-Gees showed off their versatility as a pair of bunt singles, followed by a double-steal and a 2 RBI single from Laura Gallant put the game out of reach.
The team moved into their first OIWFA Championship game since 2004, despite finishing on the podium for 4 straight years against the top-ranked University of Western Ontario Mustangs. The Gee-Gees appeared to be in control as they got their first two batters on base and scored a run in the first inning. They had runners on 1st and 3rd with red-hot Laura Gallant at the plate and Western pitcher Kristina Lemon appeared to make a play on Mallory Watson who was between 1st and 2nd base, the home plate umpire disagreed and called Radha Khosla on 3rd base out for leadoff, killing the rally. With 2 outs, back-to-back hits from Laura Gallant and Laura Skiperis could not score a run and the Gee-Gees offense went quiet for the rest of the afternoon. The Gee-Gees could not push back against the potent Western offense as they raced to 5 runs, uncharacteristic defensive and baserunning lapses cost the Gee-Gees opportunities and gave the talented Western hiters too much time to drive in runs. The team would like to congratulate Pete Lemon and the rest of the Mustangs on a very well deserved Championship.
Second place was a disappointing finish to a very successful season for the garnet and grey that exceeded all expectations. Despite losing 6 starters from the 2007 team, the 2008 Gee-Gees recorded more wins and finished higher in the regular season as well as the Championship tournament. Strong kudos must go out to an elite group of leaders on the team who helped stay the course in some rough waters.
The Gee-Gees will move into their talent identification phase to begin recruiting new athletes for the 2009 season as they will chase their 100th regular season victory, and the elusive OIWFA Championship.
The Gee-Gees travelled to Waterloo on Friday night knowing that they were in tough, kicking off their Championship schedule against the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks are coming off a silver medal at last weeks inaugural University National Championships and are perennially one of the toughest teams in the OIWFA. The Gee-Gees fell behind early as an error led to a Laurier run in the first, before Jillian Taylor settled down to throw a gem. Jill allowed 2 runs on 6 hits to one of the top offensive teams in Ontario. The offense kicked into gear in the 3rd inning with 4 hits from the Gee-Gees own Murderers Row as Vanessa Homiak, Mallory Watson, Laura Gallant, and Laura Skiperis as the team raced for 3 runs which would be the difference maker. The Gees threatened again in the 5th inning leaving the bases loaded and Laurier mounted a comeback in the bottom of the 7th scoring a run to push the score to 3-2 and leaving 2 runners on base when Ottawa recorded the 3rd out. A very strong start for the Gee-Gees as they chased their second OIWFA Championship.
The Gee-Gees continued their strong weekend with a win over a very tough Queens team. Queens jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning before the Gee-Gees responded with 5 of their own in the second to close the scoring and take a 5-4 victory. The damage was done behind 5 hits in a row from the Gee-Gees, Laura Skiperis was an offensive star with a 2/3 afternoon and Emily Ernst picked up the win and helped her own cause with a 2/3 outing at the plate. After a rough start Emily settled down to allow only 1 hit in the next 6 innings to pick up the win.
The team looked to clinch first spot in their pool with a win over the Windsor Lancers in the first matchup between these two teams in 2008. Again, the Gee-Gees fell behind early as Windsor jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. The Gee-Geees responded immediately as Vanessa Homiak singled and was driven in by Mallory Watson. Radha Khosla and Rachel Legaspi were both stars against their old team as Radha exploded for a ¾ outing with a run scored, and Rachel scampered to 2 hits and a walk. Amanda Toll came off the bench and drove in the teams 4th run in the bottom of the 6th inning. Amanda has proven to be a deadly pinch hitter with 6 hits off the bench this year.
At the OIWFA Banquet, Jillian Taylor and Vanessa Homiak were awarded team MVP honours, and Jillian was named Top Pitcher in the OIWFA Championship tournament.
The Gee-Geed advanced directly to the semi-final and were scheduled to play the winner of McMaster and Windsor. McMaster mounted a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the 7th to take a gutsy 3-2 victory. The Gee-Gees sent Jillian Taylor to the circle and she allowed 1 run in the first inning before settling in and allowing only 4 hits the rest of the game as the Gee-Gees stole a 6-1 victory. Laura Gallant and Laura Skiperis drove the offense for the Gees with 3 hits each, Mallory Watson drove in a pair of runs with a bloop hit in the 6th inning. The Gee-Gees showed off their versatility as a pair of bunt singles, followed by a double-steal and a 2 RBI single from Laura Gallant put the game out of reach.
The team moved into their first OIWFA Championship game since 2004, despite finishing on the podium for 4 straight years against the top-ranked University of Western Ontario Mustangs. The Gee-Gees appeared to be in control as they got their first two batters on base and scored a run in the first inning. They had runners on 1st and 3rd with red-hot Laura Gallant at the plate and Western pitcher Kristina Lemon appeared to make a play on Mallory Watson who was between 1st and 2nd base, the home plate umpire disagreed and called Radha Khosla on 3rd base out for leadoff, killing the rally. With 2 outs, back-to-back hits from Laura Gallant and Laura Skiperis could not score a run and the Gee-Gees offense went quiet for the rest of the afternoon. The Gee-Gees could not push back against the potent Western offense as they raced to 5 runs, uncharacteristic defensive and baserunning lapses cost the Gee-Gees opportunities and gave the talented Western hiters too much time to drive in runs. The team would like to congratulate Pete Lemon and the rest of the Mustangs on a very well deserved Championship.
Second place was a disappointing finish to a very successful season for the garnet and grey that exceeded all expectations. Despite losing 6 starters from the 2007 team, the 2008 Gee-Gees recorded more wins and finished higher in the regular season as well as the Championship tournament. Strong kudos must go out to an elite group of leaders on the team who helped stay the course in some rough waters.
The Gee-Gees will move into their talent identification phase to begin recruiting new athletes for the 2009 season as they will chase their 100th regular season victory, and the elusive OIWFA Championship.
posted by fitzroyfastball | 10/21/2008 11:20:00 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home