GOFL playoff action

Playoff action heats up this week in the Greater Ottawa Fastball League with four games on tap:

Semi-Final - Quyon COMBAT Flyers vs Ottawa Team Easton (best of five)

Game 1: Tuesday Sept 1, 8:30 in Stittsville
Game 2: Thursday Sept 3, 7:30 in Quyon

Quarter-Final - Manotick Lomor Printers vs Carp I4C Victory (series tied 1-1)

Game 3: Wednesday Sept 2, 8:00 in Manotick

Semi-Final - Winner of Manotick/Carp vs Stittsville 56ers (best of five)
Game 1: Thursday Sept 3, 8:30 in Stittsville

Keatings Fitness wins at Elkland B weekend

from Bill Sherman

The Keatings Fitness Fastpitch team beat the New York Bombers in the finals to win the 2009 16th annual Elkland “B” Tournament. Keatings went a perfect 5-0 in the tournament. Kevin Smith was named the tournament MVP.

updated with details:

Here are the results for the 16th Annual Elkland "B" Weekend.

Game 1
RF Lineman 3 ESA Bellys 2
WP Dean Vanzile
LP Bill Sherman

Game 2
Keatings 9 Warriors 1
WP Troy Hertzler
LP Larry Pouzon

Game 3
K/O 7 Express 0
WP Craig Hollinsworth
LP Jim Bevagua

Game 4
Yuengling 9 Lackawanna 5
WP Dale Franquet
LP Barry Vanhooser

Game 5
PA Power 11 Keenyville 0
WP Brad Theyes
LP Marv Flynn

Game 6
Busters 4 Bombers 3
WP Bob Kulp
LP Ryan Cummings

Game 7 Hammer 6 Beverage Barn 1
WP Jim Herst
LP Frank Phillips

Game 8
Northern Merchants 8 Cornerstone 0
WP Tom Haver
LP Joe Hineline

Game 9
Warriors 2 ESA Bellys 1
WP Larry Pouzon
LP Gord Scott

Game 10
Express 3 Lackawanna 2
WP Jeff Mayer
LP Jeff Vanhooser

Game 11
Bombers 7 Keenyville 0
WP Sean Sampson
LP Marv Flynn

Game 12
Cornerstone 2 Beverage Barn 1
WP Justin Zimmerman
LP Trevor Hall

Game 13
Keatings 15 RF Lineman 0
WP M. Crawford
LP Dean Vanvile

Game 14
K/O 2 Yuengling 1
WP Lefty Clark
LP Buck Gilbert

Game 15
PA Power 3 Busters 2
WP Merlin High
LP Rick Ski

Game 16
Northern Merchants 9 Hammer 0
WP George Clouster
LP Wayne Wells

Game 17
Hammer 11 Warriors 0
WP Jim Herst
LP Larry Pouzon

Game 18
Busters 9 Express 2
WP Bill Kaslovik
LP Jeff Meyer

Game 19
Bombers 4 Yuengling 1
WP Ryan Cummings
LP Lucas Hahn

Game 20
Cornerstone 7 RF Lineman 0
WP Kevin Oberholtcer
LP Dean Vanzile

Game 21
Keatings 2 K/O 0
WP Dave Stokes
LP Craig Hollinsworth

Game 22
Power 4 Northern Merchants 3
WP Bill Hillhouse
LP Tom Haver

Game 23
Bombers 7 Cornerstone 6
WP Sean Sampson
LP Joe Hineline

Game 24
Hammer 7 Busters 0
WP Wayne Wells
LP Bill Kaslovik

Game 25
Hammer 9 K/O 2
WP Jim Hurst
LP Lefty Clark

Game 26
Bombers 3 Northern Merchants 2
WP Ryan Cummings
LP George Clouster

Game 27
Keatings 3 PA Power 2
WP Troy Hertzler
LP Bill Hillhouse

Game 28
Bombers 4 Hammer 0
WP Justin Heyman
LP Wayne Wells

Game 29
Bombers 4 PA Power 3
WP Ryan Cummings
LP Bill Hillhouse

Game 30
Keatings 10 Bombers 0
WP M. Crawford
LP Justin Heymen

1st Keatings 5-0 $1,000
2nd Bombers 5-2 $500
3rd PA Power 3-2 $300
MVP Keatings Fitnessmen's Kevin Smith

ESA would like to thank all the teams and fans for making this event another success. Hats off to Mother Nature as it rained everywhere except Elkland. A bracket for the 57th Annual Elkland Labor Day Tournament will be posted on Wednesday night.

WC Electric finishes fifth in Fenelon Falls

West Carleton finished fifth of twelve teams in the Fenelon Falls open tournament this past weekend.

The Electric, along with some key additions from other GOFL teams, finished with a 2-2 record.

Game 1: Etobicoke Royals 6 WC Electric 4 *

Steve Cavanagh pitched well for the 'Trics, but four errors in the third inning allowed for five Royals runs and put the Etobicoke team up 5-1. WC staged a bit of a rally in the sixth, scoring three off starter Marvin Smith, but the comeback fell short as a Royals solo HR in the bottom of the inning resulted in the 6-4 score.

Game 2: WC Electric 13 London Dock Leafs 0

West Carleton sent 36 men to the plate in this 5 inning mercy game in shutting out the Leafs from the Toronto Dieppe League. Bud Hanlon was perfect, facing the minimum 15 batters. Tourney pick up Cory Morrison had a grand slam for the Electric.

Game 3: WC Electric 3 Log Chateau 1

The Electric squeaked out a close win over the local Log Chateau team. Steve Cavanagh had the start but left early due to a sore foot, with Bud Hanlon finishing the game and getting the win.

After the round robin, all teams advanced to the single elimination playoff round, with the top 6 in the "A" side and the bottom 6 in the "B" consolation side.

A side:
Curve Lake, ON (3-0)
Etobicoke, ON Royals (3-0)
Cobourg, ON Force (2-1)
Peterborough, ON Seven Wood Selects (2-1)
Toronto, ON Wally Tavern (2-1)
Fitzroy Harbour, ON West Carleton Electric (2-1)

B side:
Keswick, ON Lake Simcoe Lightning (2-1) - relegated by runs against tie-breaker
Toronto, ON London Dock Leafs (1-2)
Perkinsfield, ON Bantus (1-2)
Fenelon Falls, ON A's (0-3)
Fenelon Falls, ON Highland's Propane (0-3)
Fenelon Falls, ON Log Chateau (0-3)

Playoff round: Cobourg Force 6 West Carleton Electric 1

Once again it was one inning that the 'Trics undoing, as the Force scored five in the bottom of the third to go up 6-1 in the game, a lead that did not change. It was not errors that were costly this inning, but several keys hit strung together by the veteran squad led by the ageless Slammin' Sammy Forbes.

Tom Berube had the win, while Bud Hanlon took the loss. Steve Cavanagh threw three scoreless innings in relief.

The brothers Daley were the standouts for West Carleton in this game. Big brother and newest 'Tric James doubled to lead off the third and was brought in on double by younger brother Jonny. Jonny Vegas was 2-3 in the game and James had a 7-2 put out at home on a single to left in which the runner on second tried to score.

Notes:

- The facilities are nice in Fenelon Falls, true infields, two good sized parks. The osprey nest over the beer gardens made for some entertainment as the mama bird was delivering fish to the screeching babies on a regular basis. The tasty "McFenelon Burger" at the BBQ was a nice light snack - hamburg with two slabs of peameal bacon on a bun. As well, they had a Sarah Palin look a like tending bar in the beer garden.

- It's about a 3.5 hour drive or so from Eastern Ontario, and a good opportunity to see some different teams. Twelve teams with some varied skill levels were at this tournament. There were several good throwers there such as Ian Knott (Curve Lake), Matt Leahy (Seven Wood Selects), Andy Skelton (Seven Wood Selects), Tom Berube (Cobourg), and Gregg Garrity (Lake Simcoe Lightning). It was nice to see three local "Town League" teams battling hard and doing their best despite not winning a game between all of them.

- Word is that Seven Wood Selects defeated Cobourg Force 4-0 to win the title.

- The officials looked like they may have been more used to "town league" ball, but on the whole, most indications were that they actually did OK.

- The format with the four game guarantee for a $350 entry fee is not bad at all. The idea of pool play Friday and Saturday seeding the teams top 6 and bottom 6 and having the single elimination playoff round on Sunday seemed pretty good. And the prize money was decent - $1200 to win, $600 to finalist, $400 to the consolation winner.

- There were time limits of no new inning after 1hr 20min, but the three non-mercy games that we played all got 7 innings in. Time limits probably weren't necessary, but fortunately they didn't seem to come into play that much.

- However, one rule they had made it a bit of a joke - they insisted that the bottom of the inning be played out for their run rule tiebreaker, even if the winning team was coming up in the bottom of the seventh. That's why the "*" in the first WC game - we actually had to go out and play the bottom of 7 even though Etobicoke was batting and they had the game won. They scored two so the official score on the board was 8-4, but I refuse to acknowledge that hence the asterisk. The umps hated it, most teams hated it - in fact in two games teams refused to play the bottom of the inning. There was a 13-1 game that was going to be a mercy after 4 and a half -but they had to go out and finish the bottom half of the fifth with the team up 12 runs! I kinda complained about it to the organizer and I'm hopeful he will change it for next year. If they do change it, I think we'd consider going again....but if they don't we may have to find another one to look at!

Manotick 2 Carp 1 (8 innings) - full deets

from Tony Riches

Manotick evened its first round series with a hard fought, extra inning 2-1 victory in Carp on Thursday evening. Trevor Lahey and Neil Cooke both had fine outings as the starting pitchers, each surrendering only 1 run into the sixth inning before the bullpens took over on a cool night.

Carp opened the scoring in the second, capitalizing on a Manotick error to plate Trevor Wood with 2 out.

Manotick tied the game in next frame on a Steve Edgerton single, driving home Joe Allan who had singled and stolen second base. Allan followed that play by making an outstanding running catch in the bottom of the inning, robbing Al Read of an extra base hit.

Dan Konkle and Paul Ceppi relieved for their respective teams and both did an excellent job, carrying the game into extra innings where Manotick took advantage of a Victory error to plate Tony Riches with the game`s winning run.

The series will continue with the deciding game scheduled for Wednesday, September 2 at 8PM in Manotick.

Manotick;
Allan 2/4, R
Edgerton 2/4, RBI
Calvin Medynski 1/2, BB

Lahey 5IP 3H 1R 0ER 0BB 4K
Ceppi (WIN) 3IP 0H 0R 0BB 8K

Carp;
Wood 2/3 R
Todd Storms 1/3

Cooke 5.1IP 5H 1ER 1BB 10K
Konkle (LOSS) 2.2IP 1H 1R 0ER 5K

ToC Interviews

Blair Setford notes a couple of interviews at the ToC that might interest Blog readers:

Francis Leclair:


Jeff Van Hooser:

Manotick ties quarterfinal with 8 inning victory over Carp

txt msg update from Trevor Wood

The Manotick Lomor Printers evened their quarter final series with a 2-1 victory in 8 innings over Carp I4C Victory in GOFL playoff action in Carp on Thursday night.

Paul Ceppi had the win for the Printers in relief of Trevor Lahey.

Dan Konkle took the loss for I4C in relief of Neil Cooke.

Game 3 deciding match of the series is scheduled for Wednesday in Manotick.

Quyon 3 Blitz 1, Flyers advance to semis

Quyon COMBAT Flyers defeated the Ottawa Blitz 3-1 in Quyon on Thursday night to win the best of three quarter final 2 games to 1.

Drew Hathway had the win for Quyon. Hathway had 17 strikeouts and allowed only four hits. Jamie Blakely took the loss, allowing only five hits.. Both pitchers had complete games.

Matt Greer's solo home run in the second inning gave Quyon a 1-0 lead.

In the third, Luke Young singled, stole second and scored on a Dennis McCleary single.

The Flyers scored their third run in the fifth. Dennis McCleary walked. When Shawn Laframboise's sac bunt was overthrown into right field, McCleary came all the way around to score.

The Blitzos run came in the top of the seventh. Derick Bulley doubled and scored on a Derek Bergeron single.

With the victory, the #3 seed Flyers will move on to face the #2 seed Team Easton in the best of five GOFL semi final series. Game 1 will be Tuesday night in Stittsville at 8:30, with Game 2 anticipated to be in Quyon on Thursday at 8:00.

Midland announces website

Midland, Michigan, the host of the ISC Worlds and ToC in 2010 has unveiled their website.

Midland is about 950 km from Ottawa.

Bold move to senior level pays off for Rebels

from the Orleans Star

Members of the Orléans Rebels should clear some additional space in their trophy cases when they add their new Senior Women Canadian Fastpitch Championship bronze medal.

Not only was the tournament, held Aug. 12-16 in Kitchener, the team’s debut at the senior nationals, but the team took on players with much more experience, including a few Olympians.

“We peaked at the right moment, and everything seemed to click when we were playing the game,” said Rebels pitcher Jill Taylor.

Last year, the team competed in the junior national championship, for women 23 years old and younger. They finished with a record of 4-4 and did not medal.

“We didn’t know what to expect. We played the defending champs on the first day,” Taylor recalled of last year’s mediocre tournament. “We didn’t come in (to the game) thinking we could win, and we got killed.”

During the off-season, when two Rebels players turned 24, the entire team made the bold decision to step into the senior ranks and compete against the best in Canada. The decision was supposed to be part of a long-term plan, with medals coming after a few years’ experience at the senior level. Apparently, the Rebels underestimated themselves.

“(Winning bronze) wasn’t even our goal for this year,” Taylor said. “Our goal (for) next summer (was) to medal, and the summer after, to win.”

Rebels coach Scott Searle said the team didn’t squeak into the semi-finals by accident.

“We played all the tough teams,” he said.

The Rebels finished the preliminary portion of the tournament with a record of 4-2 including wins over the 2008 champion Manitoba Smittys, and teams from Calgary, Port Perry, and Calahoo.

The Rebels lost 3-0 in the preliminaries to the Kitchener Krush – whose roster includes four athletes on the Canadian national team – the eventual gold medallists.

The team then defeated Saskatoon 2-0 to guarantee themselves a medal. They settled for bronze after a heart-breaking 1-0 loss to the Smittys, the same team they had beaten earlier.

While many teams hailed from Western Canada and Southern Ontario, the Rebels had to represent all of Eastern Ontario, a lamentable fact of life for these Ottawa-area players.

“Growing up in Ottawa our athletes are at a huge disadvantage because they’re never exposed to that top-tier ball,” Searle noted. “The best (fastpitch) is played in Toronto. “We only get down there three or four times a year for tournaments, whereas most of the team are playing (against top-tier competition) three of four times a week.”

With bronze medals in hand, the Rebels have no excuses for next year. Both Searle and Taylor expect the team’s roster to stay largely in tact for the next few seasons, and next summer, the team should know its own strength.

“We’re pretty excited that everyone seems to be in for next year,” Taylor said. “It just shows what we can accomplish if we stick together.”

Elkland B Tournament schedule

Billy Sherman has 16 teams lined up for the Elkland B weekend tournament Aug 28-30.

Play starts on Friday night at 7pm with the ESA Thunderbellys playing the RF Linemen. (Interesting fact: the "RF Linemen" are the guys that used to stand along the right field line watching games. They decided they would put a team together and enter in the tourneys!)

The finals are schedule for Sunday at 4pm.

Teams include Keatings Fitness, PA Power, NY Bombers, Waterdown Hammer and the Northern Merchants as well as some other local squads.

The B tourney only allows ISC II pitchers/players.

Stittsville comes back to beat Greely, take series

deets from TC via Blackberry

The Stittsville 56ers had to score in the seventh to defeat the Greely Eagles 3-1 in GOFL playoff action on Monday night in North Gower in a fast-paced game.

Greely was one out away from the upset as they had two Stittsville outs with the bases loaded in top of the seventh and a 1-0 lead. Dan Jessiman's 3 RBI triple was the difference maker to give Stittsville the win and take the series 2 games straight.

The Eagles had scored their run in the first inning as TJ Jones plated on an Anil Hayne RBI single.

Darren Featherstone had the win for Stittsville while Ryan Chatten took the loss.

Next up for GOFL action on Thursday is the final game in the Quyon / Blitz series at Quyon at 8pm and Game 2 of the Manotick / Carp series (I4C leads 1-0).

If Quyon wins their series, they will face Team Easton in the semis, with the winner of the of the Manotick/Carp series to face Stittsville.

If the Ottawa Blitz win their series, they will face Stittsville in the semis, with the winner of the Printers vs I4C facing Team Easton.

Ottawa Citizen coverage

The Ottawa Citizen did give the GOFL teams a little bit of coverage in the Sunday edition as well.

New FF record

I was wondering if anyone was following along as I spent my Saturday at the computer following the ToC and updating the Blog.

I guess the answer is "yes", there were people following along - I had 931 "page impressions" on Saturday, a new fitzroyfastball record, surpassing the 777 on September 6, 2006.

A normal weekday during fastball season is around 250 and a normal Saturday during the season is about 120 or so. In other words, there were almost 8 times more page impressions this past weekend than normal.

Thanks to all those that visited on Saturday and made it worthwhile. (Still have to get that grass cut......)

Frank Cox pitching clinic - Weds Aug 26

from Scott Searle

Frank Cox will be in the Ottawa area on Wednesday August 26 and is planning on hosting a fastball pitching clinic. It is open to women/men and girls/boys.

Frank has been a World Champion 7 times and won 2 Pam-American Games Gold Medals.

Cost is $20 and the diamond it to be determined. If you are interested contact Scott at scottsearle [at] rogers.com.

Scott

GOFL playoffs back underway

With the excitement of the ToC complete, it's now back to the Greater Ottawa Fastball League playoffs. Next up:

Monday Aug 24 at 8pm in North Gower:
Game 2 Stittsville vs. Greely (56ers lead 1-0)

Thursday Aug 27 at 8pm in Quyon:
Game 3 Blitz vs Quyon (series tied 1-1)

Thursday Aug 27 at 8:30pm in Carp:
Game 2 Manotick vs Carp (I4C leads 1-0)

Easton awaits the completion of the quarter-finals to determine their opponent.

Nick Armitage named to all tourney team at ISC II ToC

Congratulations to Nick Armitage of the Quyon COMBAT Flyers on being named to the ISC Tournament of Champions All Tournament team. Well earned Nick!

Also named to the team from the Donnacona Blue Sox were Steve Savard and Jean-Daniel Doucet as infielders as well as Francis Leclair as a pitcher.

Port Elgin wins the ToC

Congratulations to the #3 Port Elgin Blue Devils who won the ISC II Tournament of Champions with a 6-0 win over the #5 K-W Cubs in the "all-Ontario" final game.

Donnacona lost 2-0 in the semi-finals to the Champs, as Francis Leclair was the hard luck loser throwing a 4-hitter.

K-W had defeated Ashland Stockpack 10-6 in the other semi-final.

ToC Final Four

Four teams remaining at the ToC:

Semifinal #1:
Donnacona, QC Blue Sox vs Decatur, IL Pride

Semifinal #2:
Kitchener-Waterloo, ON Cubs vs Ashland, OH Stockpack

Ashland beats Quyon 4-3 - live blogging

UPDATE: the box score and play by play online

Top of the first - Quyon batting

Ty McKinney, who threw for Team USA at the ISF worlds, is throwing for Ashland.

Joel Langford leads off with a single down third past Junior Rodriguez (organizer of the Lackawanna, NY tournament).

Dennis McCleary tries to sac bunt, but pops up to Rodriguez, F5, one out.

Nick Armitage strikes out swinging, two out.

Joran Graham pops out to shortstop, F6, three out.

1 hit, 0 runs, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
****************************************

Bottom of the first - Ashland batting

Hargrove pitching for Quyon.

Brad Webb flies out to Dennis McCleary in right, F9, one out.

Trevor Urban grounds to first, Moe Laframboise misplays it, Urban on first, E3.

Shane Flinner strikes out, two out.

Announcers commenting on Hargrove playing in the Canadians with Fingal, talking about his good change up and his variety of pitches.

Other scores: Port Elgin 1 Decatur 0 in the bottom of 2.

Ty McKinney grounds out to third, Albie with the throw to first, 5-3, three out.

0 hits, 0 runs, 1 error, 1 LOB
****************************************

Top of the second - Quyon batting

Matt Greer grounds out to shortstop, 6-3, one out.

Joe McCleary pops out to third, F5, two out.

Shawn Laframboise hits a single up the middle.

Steve McCord grounds to second, 4-3, three out.

1 hit, 0 runs, 0 error, 1 LOB
****************************************

Bottom of the second - Ashland batting

Chad Honaker grounds out to shortstop, 6-3, one out.

Jason Whiteley lines out to the "big first baseman", L1, two out.

David Wiley strikes out, three out. Three up, three down.

Somebody tell Jim Flanagan that it's "Chad" Hargrove, not "Mike".

0 hits, 0 runs, 0 errors, 0 LOB - we're still scoreless.
****************************************

Top of the third - Quyon batting

Luke Young strikes out, one out.

Joel Langford walks.

Dennis McCleary gets hit in the arm, men on first on second with one out.

Nick Armitage, "the big stocky third baseman", stays hot and hits a single, driving in Langford and Dennis McCleary, 2RBI, Quyon leads 2-0.

Joran Graham at bat. Armitage takes second on a wild pitch. Graham flies out deep to left, F7, Albie tags and makes it third, two out.

Matt Greer singles to right, driving in Nicky, "nice piece of hitting", RBI, Quyon leads 3-0.'

Joe McCleary pops up to first.

2 hits, 3 runs, 0 errors, 1 LOB, Quyon leads 3-0.
****************************************
Other scores:
Port Elgin 1 Decatur 1 in the third
Wyevale 1 Donnacona 0, bottom of third.
K-W and Waterdown are tied at 0-0 in the third.
****************************************

Bottom of the third - Ashland batting

David Lach singles to right.

Junior Rodriguez at bat. Lach moves to second on a wild pitch. Lach takes third on a passed ball. Rodriguez walks, runners on the corners, none out.

Brad Webb hits a stand up triple, Lach and Rodriguez score, 2RBI, Quyon lead cut to 3-2. Still none out.

Trevor Urban strikes out on a 'great change up', one out.

Shane Flinner grounds out to third, 5-3, runner checkecd, two out.

Ty McKinney strikes out swinging, three out. McKinney mouthing ump about previous called strike.

2 hits, 2 runs, 0 errors, 1 LOB, Quyon leads 3-2.
****************************************

Top of the fourth - Quyon batting

Shawn Laframboise strikes out swinging, one out.

Steve McCord strikes out looking, two out.

McKinney "labouring" on the slab.

Luke Young strikes out, three out.

McKinney strikes out the side.

0 hits, 0 runs, 0 errors, 0 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 2
****************************************
Other scores:
Port Elgin 2 Decatur 1, top of fifth
Wyevale 2 Donnacona 0, bottom of fifth
Waterdown 4 K-W Cubs 3
****************************************

Bottom of the fourth - Ashland batting

Chad Honaker flies out to McCord in centre, F8, one out.

Jason Whiteley pops out in foul territory to Greer, F6, two out.

Announcers still calling Chad, "Mike" for some reason! Big Joe also being call "Joel".

David Wiley walks.

David Lach hits a change up out into left field for a single, Wiley moves to second. Two on, two out.

Mike Justice in to pinch run for Wiley.

"Hargrove has a good change, using it early and often."

Junior Rodriguez walks to load the bases with two out.

Big Papi Fleck is out to talk to Hargrove on the slab, Joran Graham starts warming up.

Brad Webb has a full count, bases loaded two out. Webb hits one to third, E6, Greer keeps the ball in the infield. Lach scores. Game tied at 3.

Trevor Urban grounds into a fielders choice, Webb out 4-6, three out.

1 hit, 1 run, 1 errors, 3 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 3
****************************************

Top of the fifth - Quyon batting

Joel Langford grounds to shortstop, 6-3, one out.

"Quebec Flyers looking old school with many players wearing high red socks." Announcers keep calling them 'Quebec'.

Dennis McCleary strikes out, two out.

Nick Armitage at bat. McKinney hurts his leg, has a visit on the hill. McKinney stays in the game. Jim Flanagan commenting that he may not last much longer. Albie strikes out looking, three out.

5 of the last 6 outs by McKinney by K.

0 hit, 0 run, 0 errors, 0 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 3
****************************************

Other scores:
Port Elgin 2 Decatur 2
Wyevale 2 Donnacona 2
Waterdown 4 K-W Cubs 3
All these games in the sixth
****************************************

Bottom of the fifth - Ashland batting

Joran Graham now into pitch for Quyon, relieving Hargrove as Quyon goes down to nine men.

Shane Flinner walks to lead off the inning.

Ty McKinney removed, Ryan Saylor into hit. Saylor strikes out swinging, one out.

Chad Honaker drops a bunt, avoids the tag by Graham, reaches on a single, Flinner moves to second.

Jamie Thompson in to run for Honaker at first.

Jason Whiteley now up with runners on first and second, one out. Whitely strikes out, two out.

David Wiley walks to load the bases.

David Lach pops up to Joran, P1, three out. Bases left juiced for the second inning in a row.

1 hit, 0 runs, 0 errors, 3 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 3
****************************************

Top of the sixth - Quyon batting

Jeff Van Hooser in to pitch for Ashland - big native guy from Tyendinega near Napanee, a veteran pitcher.

Joran Graham singles to left field to lead off the inning.

Matt Greer sac bunts, but reaches safely on a dropped ball at first, SAC, E3. Joran to second base. Coony appears to have hurt his ankle, but remains in the game. Shouldn't Big Papi be in to run?

Joe McCleary up with men on first and second, none out. Shows bunt twice, two fouls. Fouling off some more pitches. Strikes out swinging on a beauty change up, one out.

Shawn Laframboise strikes out swinging, two out.

Steve McCord flies out to left field, F7, three out.

Quyon had two on with none out but could not capitalize.

1 hit, 0 runs, 1 error, 2 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 3
****************************************
Other scores:
Decatur 4 Port Elgin 3 in sixth
Wyevale 2 Donnacona 2 in seventh
Waterdown 4 K-W Cubs 4 in seventh (Wells for Waterdown, Thompson for K-W)
****************************************

Bottom of the sixth - Ashland batting

Junior Rodriguez pops to short, P6, one out.

Brad Webb flies out to centre, F8, two out.

Trevor Urban pops out to Luke Young at second, P4, three out. Three up three down.

We go into seven tied at 3-3.

0 hit, 0 runs, 0 error, 0 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 3
****************************************
Other scores:
Decatur 4 Port Elgin 4 in seventh
Wyevale 2 Donnacona 2 in seventh
K-W Cubs 10 Waterdown 4 in seventh
****************************************

Top of the seventh - Quyon batting

Luke Young strikes out looking, one out.

Joel Langford grounds out to first, 3U, two out.

Dennis McCleary strikes out swinging, three out. Three up three down for Van Hooser.

We go to the bottom of the seventh.

0 hit, 0 runs, 0 error, 0 LOB - Quyon 3 Ashland 3
****************************************
Other scores:
Decatur 5 Port Elgin 4 in seventh
Donnacona 4 Wyevale 2 FINAL
K-W Cubs 10 Waterdown 5 in seventh
****************************************

Bottom of the seventh - Ashland batting

Donnacona wins 4-2 over Wyevale with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh, they advance to the semi-finals.

Decatur leads Port Elgin 5-4 in the seventh.

Shane Flinner strikes out, 2-3 put out, one out.

Announcers discuss Donnacona victory: "Frankie Leclair making a name for himself at this tournament."

Ty McKinney re-enters. McKinney grounds to short, 6-3, two out.

K-W Cups game is now a final, a 10-5 win over Waterdown, #1 team eliminated.

Chad Honaker hits one hard to short, credited with a single.

Jason Whiteley singles, Honaker advances to third.

David Wiley up with two out, bottom of the seventh, runners on the corners. Wiley hits one to second, misplayed E4, Honaker scores, Ashland wins 4-3, Quyon Eliminated.

2 hits, 1 run, 1 error

FINAL: Ashland 4 Quyon 3
WP: Jeff Van Hooser, in relief of Ty McKinney
LP: Joran Graham, in relief of Chad Hargrove

Quyon defeats Team Easton 1-0

txt msg update from Kenny Fleck

Quyon defeated Easton 1-0 in their quarterfinal matchup. Joran Graham threw a no-hitter, Matt Greer had the solo HR that was the game winner. Steve McCord made a great catch to help seal the win. Joel Langford, Moe Laframboise and Joe Allan all had hits as well for Quyon.

Brad Porter took the loss for Easton with a four hitter.

The Flyers will face Ashland, OH Stockpack (assuming they finish off their game which they should with a 9-3 lead over PA Power). This game will be broadcast live on http://www.ballparkradio.com/ Channel 2. I plan on live blogging that one with a pint and a bowl of popcorn.

more info to follow as it becomes available




PREVIOUS UPDATES:

Blair Setford reports on http://www.ballparkradio.com/ that Quyon and Team Easton remain scoreless in the bottom of the second in their game to determine who advances to the quarter-final at the ToC.

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He didn't say what inning, but it must be in the fourth or fifth - and Quyon / Team Easton is scoreless. (Man, I wish that game would have been on http://www.ballparkradio.com/ )

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Now an update that Quyon has taken a 1-0 lead over Team Easton - no indication of the inning.

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Sounds like Quyon is still up 1-0. The guys also reported that the winner of the Quyon / Easton game will play the winner of the Ashland / PA Power game - and it will be broadcast on http://www.ballparkradio.com/ Channel 2. Looks like the grass won't get cut this afternoon at my place :)

ToC Quarter Finals

Here are the match ups so far for quarter-finals at the ToC:

Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils vs Decatur, IL Pride

Donnacona, QC Blue Sox vs Wyevale, ON Tribe

Ashland, OH Stockpack vs Quyon, QC COMBAT Flyers

Waterdown, ON Hammer vs Kitchener-Waterloo, ON Cubs

"Press Release"

I sent a little press release to the Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun last night with some information about Easton and Quyon at the ToC.

The Citizen ran a small item in the Saturday edition, which is great.

Anybody know if the Sun had anything? Leave a comment if you saw it in there.

I'll send something out after today as well to both papers. I know this might surprise loyal readers, but not everyone reads the Blog, so they gotta get their fastball news from somewhere!

Kitchener Riversharks win Worlds

The Kitchener Riversharks successfully defended their title and won the ISC World Title as the best of the 24 teams entered.

Donnacona advances to quarterfinals at ToC

Donnacona Blue Sox came up with a big 8-2 win this morning over Lloydminster, AB Dodgers to advance to the quarter-finals against the Wyevale Tribe at 1pm Central.

Patrice Leclerc had the pitching win - expect Francis Leclair to get the ball against Wyevale.

Quyon vs Easton at the ToC - UPDATED

Easton defeated CPI Classics by a score of 4-2 according to http://www.ballparkradio.com/, setting up a "round of 16" match up with Ottawa Team Easton vs Quyon Flyers at 11am Saturday morning.

Here are some details on the Easton 4-2 win:

- Brad Porter had the complete game win, allowing 7 hits, walking 4 and striking out 11.
- Jason Smith started for CPI and lasted only 4 batters. All four of these runners scored and were charged to Smitty. Jeff Murphy came in and pitched seven complete and allowed only two hits and striking out 16, but it was too late as the damage was done in the top of the first.
- Easton only had 3 hits in the game.
- Scott Herriot once again led off a game with a homer, his third of the tournament. (Surely Herry will get some "all star" consideration?) After that, Kevin Chevrier walked and took second, third and scored, all on wild pitches/passed balls. After Dan Jessiman and Kyle Jamieson both walked, Murph came in to pitch. Cory Morrison's single cashed the other two Easton runs. And that was it for Easton scoring!
- The only other hit for Easton was a double by Dan Bradley who was DH'ing for Porter.
- Both CPI runs came on wild pitches. The Classics stranded nine runners on base as Porter got out of several jams.

16 teams left at the ToC for Saturday

Of the 40 teams that entered the tourney, there are 16 teams remaining in the ToC on "Championship Saturday", with their rankings noted.

#1 Waterdown, ON Hammer
#2 Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder
#3 Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils
#4 Ashland, OH Stockpack
#5 Kitchener-Waterloo, ON Cubs
#7 Bridgeport, ON Braves
#9 Elmira, ON Expos
#11 Decatur, IL Pride
#13 Ohsweken, ON Redmen
#14 Sioux Falls, SD Sox
#18 Alvinston, ON Indians
#19 Lloydminster, AB Dodgers
#23 Donnacona, QC Blue Sox
#24 Harrisburg, PA Power
#27 Quyon, QC COMBAT Flyers
#28 Wyevale, ON Tribe

Easton still leads 4-2 in the sixth

According to http://www.ballparkradio.com/, Team Easton is up 4-2 over CPI in the sixth.

"Still around..."

From www.ballparkradio.com

"Quyon Flyers, still around here celebrating their first place finish in their pool".

"Flyers have been impressive here in their second appearance at the ToC".

Lloydminister advances to play Donnacona

Donnacona Blue Sox will face Lloydminister Dodgers from Alberta in a 9am Central match up.

Playoff seedings finalized

The round robin games are now completed after the rain delay.

Quyon COMBAT Flyers
Lloydminister defeated Rude Pac from California in the final round robin game. This gives Quyon first place in Pool E with a 3-1 record. Quyon gets the bye and will play Saturday at 11am central, against the winner of game 87 (see below).

Donnacona Blue Sox
With their win in their final pool game against Bridgeport, the Blue Sox finished first in Pool G with a 3-1 record. Donnacona receives a bye and will play Saturday at 9am central against the winner of game 83 between Lloydminister Dodgers from Alberta and Herman Black Gold from Missouri.

Ottawa Team Easton Thunder
Easton finished also with a 3-1 record, but because of their loss to Alvinston, they finish second in pool B. They play tonight (Friday) at 10pm central against Dundas CPI Classics in game 87. The winner of that game will face the Quyon Flyers on Saturday at 11am.

Quyon awaits to find out placing

Joe McCleary reports from the ToC:

They have it on a rain delay until 7pm to get the field ready again. At that point Lloydminister and Rude Pac have to finish their game in progress - it's 3-1 Lloyd in the fifth.

If Lloyd holds on, Quyon gets first seeding and will probably play at around 1am. If they lose, then Quyon have to play right after that game vs Herman, Missouri Black Gold.

Donnacona Blue Sox 5 Bridgeport Braves 0 - FINAL

Donnacona / Bridgeport game is now being broadcast on http://www.ballparkradio.com/.

Bridgeport is a veteran team that's been to the ToC before with lots of former Senior players.
Jeremy deBelleval is throwing for Bridgeport, Francis Leclair for the Blue Sox.

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Donnacona went up 1-0 in the first inning on a typical Blue Sox run:

With one out, Julien Richard hit one just past second base, didn't stop running and ended up on the two bag. He then took off toward third on a casual throw back from the catcher to the pitcher and ended up making it home when the throw from the pitcher to third was errant.

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After three complete innings, Donnacona still leads 1-0.

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The rain is coming down heavy now, announcers say it looks like it could be a long delay.

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Obviously these guys aren't weathermen, the game has resumed.

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Frankie Leclair who has shutout the big bat of Bridgeport after 4 innings, hits a three run shut in the bottom of the frame. Donnacona 4 Bridgeport 0 after 4 complete.

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Leclair shuts out Bridgeport in the top of the fifth. Donnacona leads off the bottom of the fifth with two straight singles, chasing deBelleval from the game, Todd Winkworth now on the slab for the Braves.

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Steve Savard drives in another run in the fifth to put up Donnacona 5-0 after five complete.

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Francis Leclair gets the win, 5-0 victory, throwing a 3 hitter andhit a 3 run HR. Donnacona finishes first in their pool and get the bye.

Team Easton takes second in their pool

With USA Maccabi defeating Minnesota Angels 12-6, Ottawa Team Easton will finish second in Pool B.

Next up for Easton is a playoff match up with CPI at 6pm.

World Tournament

The World Tournament has four teams remaining:

Midwest Stampede, Saskatoon Aspen Interiors, Kitchener Rivershark Twins and Broken Bow / Patsy’s are still in contention.

The finals are scheduled for 7pm tonight (Friday).

K-W Cubs 6, Rude Pac 5

K-W Cubs beat Rude Pac from California 6-5 this morning.

This means that if Lloydminister can pull out a win in the Lloyd/Rude Pac game at 2pm this afternoon, Quyon Flyers will take first in their pool.

Donnacona loses to Staten Island, NY

Donnacona lost in the late game last night 5-3 to the previously winless Staten Island, NY ADCO Electric, dropping their record to 2-1.

Donnacona needs a win against Bridgeport Braves in their game this morning at 11:30AM central and can still earn first spot. This match up will be on www.ballparkradio.com.

Minnesota beats Alvinston

With Minnesota Angels 3-2 victory over Alvinston Indians, this means that if Minnesota beats USA Maccabi at 10am Friday, Team Easton will get first place in their pool and earn the bye.

Top teams at the ToC

From a quick scan of the results, here are the top teams so far at the ToC.

Teams with 3 wins or undefeated:

Bridgeport, ON Braves 3-0
Elmira, ON Expos 3-0
Quyon, QC COMBAT Flyers 3-1
Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder 3-1
Sun Valley, CA A-1 Rude Pac 2-0
Alvinston, ON Indians 2-0
Ashland, OH Stock Pack 2-0
Decatur, IL Pride 2-0
Donnacona, QC Blue Sox 2-0

Heard on the Ballparkradio.com broadcast

Blair Setford on tonight's Ballparkradio.com broadcast "There's Dave Tubman watching the game here with three beers on hand..that's the second time I've seen Dave with three beers tonight."

UPDATE

Later on that same broadcast.

Blair Setford: "This time Tubby has 4 beer"

Tubby: "I hope mom isn't listening"

Thursday results

Just back from granny's funeral and catching up with things at the ToC.

10AM Ottawa Team Easton 2 USA Maccabi 0
- Brad Porter had the win allowing 2 hits over 6 innings, while Dan Bradley saw an inning in relief. Dewey Dyck had the loss for Maccabi.
- Scott Herriot had a solo homer in the fifth, while Cory Morrison had an RBI double in the sixth for the Easton runs.
- One interesting note - the guy that wrote and directed "Fastpitch - the movie", Jeremy Spear, plays for Maccabi.

3:30PM Alvinston, ON Indians 2 Ottawa Team Easton 1
- Dan Bradley took the loss, Jason Dawdy had the win. Both teams were limited to 4 hits.
- Easton's only run was on Scott Herriot's solo shot as first batter of the game, his second HR of the tourney
- Alvinston scored one in the fifth and one in the sixth.

4PM Donnacona Blue Sox 19 Walcott, IA Lampliter Inn 0
- Major beat down by Donnacona in 4 innings. Patrice Leclerc was awarded the win, and Frankie Leclair and Luc Thibeault also saw some action.
- Donnacona scored 12 on 10 hits in the first inning, sending 16 men to the plate in that one inning.

5:30PM Quyon Flyers 9 Dubuque, IA Hammerheads 2
- Kenny Fleck reports by txt msg that Chad Hargrove had the win with a two-hitter and Nick Armitage had a HR.
- Moe Laframboise and Nicky had 2 RBIs each, Steve McCord and Luke Young also had RBIs.
- Quyon finishes at 3-1 and awaits to see if they will be able to earn the bye.

6PM Ottawa Team Easton 6 Davenport, IA Pizza Shack 0
- Kevin Chevrier reports by txt msg that Easton won their final round robin game. They also finish 3-1 and will need some help to get the bye.
- Brad Porter had the win with a 2-hitter
- Dan Jessiman, Kyle Gourgon, Cory Morrison, Dave Tubman and Lukas Kamps all had RBIs for Easton.

So both Team Easton and Quyon will play on Friday, but their first playoff round game time depends on how the other teams in their pool finish.

Donnacona is at 2-0 and has two games left - Thursday night at 9:30PM central vs Staten Island, NY and Friday morning at 11:30AM central vs Bridgeport Braves.

Thursday at the ToC

I won't be able to provide many updates tomorrow - at grandma's funeral.

For updates, check the following sites:
www.ballparkradio.com
www.alsfastball.com
www.iscfastpitch.com
www.fastpitchwest.com/thedeuce

I have also left comments open so feel free to provide updates on scores in the comments field.

ToC Rain Delay update

The crappy weather is causing Wednesday's ToC action to be halted for the day. The revised schedule has been released. For teams the blog has been following, here are their next roudn robin games:

Thursday

10AM USA Maccabi vs Ottawa Team Easton

3:30PM Alvinston, ON Indians vs Ottawa Team Easton

4PM Walcott, IA Lampliter Inn vs Donnacona Blue Sox

5:30PM Dubuque, IA Hammerheads vs Ottawa Team Easton

6PM Davenport, IA Pizza Shack vs Ottawa Team Easton

9:30PM Staten Island, NY Adco Electric vs Donnacona Blue Sox

Friday

11:30AM Bridgeport, ON Braves vs Donnacona Blue Sox

24 team playoff round to follow

Easton vs Alvinston on Ballparkradio.com

The Team Easton vs Alvinston Indians game at 9:30pm Eastern will be on www.ballparkradio.com tonight (Wednesday).

No live blogging (Fitzroy Harbour Mens Fastball League showdown tonight between team 2 and team 3) but I will open up comments so that readers can provide updates online in this thread.

Rude Pac 7 Quyon 0 - FINAL

Rude Pac from Sun Valley, California beat the Quyon COMBAT Flyers 7-0 this afternoon.

Matt Barnes was the winner, Chad Hargrove was the losing pitcher.

Rude Pac is now 2-0 in pool play. Quyon falls to 2-1 - they next play the unranked Dubuque, Iowa Hammerheads tomorrow at 8:30am Central.

Quyon broadcast tech difficulties RESOLVED

Looks like some technical difficulties are preventing the Quyon vs Rude Pac game from being broadcast at this time.

ISSUES NOW RESOLVED, GAME IS ONLINE
http://www.sportsjuice.com/broadcaster2.aspx?bid=MTIx-l0%2bM8mKVnwo%3d#

GOFL playoffs next week

Here is what tentatively is scheduled for GOFL playoffs coming up:

B2: Stittsville vs Greely - Monday Aug 24 at 8pm in North Gower
B3: Greely at Stittsville - Wednesday Aug 26 at 8:30pm - if necessary

D3: Blitz at Quyon - Thursday Aug 27 at 8pm

E2: Manotick at Carp - Thursday Aug 27 at 8:30pm
E3: TBD (probably Weds Sep 2 in Manotick) - if necessary

Team Easton awaits to find out their semi-final opponent.

Rude Pac 3 Quyon 0 - in progress

According to the main Ballparkradio.com broadcast (which is working) the Quyon Flyers are down 3-0 to Rude Pac from California in top of the third.

UOVMFL playoff update

Thanks to the anonymous reader that sent in the following:

Micksburg Juniors beat Douglas 6-2 in the play-in game. Cody Coughlin hit a three-run home run. Joran Graham also had a solo home run.

Game one of the semi-final series between the Micksburg Juniors and Shawville Snappers was played Sunday evening in Micksburg. Micksburg won 3-2. Joran Graham had a two-run home run for the Twins and was the winning pitcher. Matt Greer pitched for the Snappers. Down 3-1 in the seventh inning, Shawville scored once and had runners on second and third with two out. On a wild pitch, Curtis Daley tried to advance home but was stopped by the Micksburg catcher blocking the plate and preventing the score.

Note: the other semifinal is McNab vs Micksburg Seniors and that series gets underway Friday.

Upper Valley play in

Just wondering if any of the Upper Valley readers of the blog have insight as to who won the play-in game for the UOVMFL between Douglas and the Micksburg Jrs.

If you know, send me an email at fastball (at)fitzroyharbour.com or leave a comment.

Quyon game on Ballpark Radio

The Quyon game vs. Rude Pac is on Channel 2 at Ballparkradio and can be a bit difficult to find. This is the link on which I will be spending my lunch hour (while of course dillengently working at my paying job as well.)

ToC update: Quyon goes to 2-0

txt msg update from Big Papi Fleck

Quyon COMBAT Flyers won their second game at the Tournament of Champions in Illinois/Iowa, a 7-6 victory over the #17 Lloydminister Dodgers from Alberta to go to 2-0. That's 17 runs in two games for the Flyers.

Chad Hargrove had the pitching win. Matt Greer hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to win the game.

Next up for Quyon (ranked #27) is a game against #12 Rude Pac from Sun Valley, California at noon Eastern tomorrow (Wednesday). That game will be on http://www.ballparkradio.com/.

Team Easton's (ranked #2) next game is 4pm Eastern Wednesday the #31 USA Maccabi team.

Donnacona (ranked #23) might as well get into the pints heavy tonight - they don't play again until 10pm Eastern on Wednesday and they face the host from Walcott, Iowa, an unranked team. For more on Donnacona's first game 5-2 victory over CPI see the ToC site. Francis Leclair had the win and helped his cause with 2 RBIs.

ISC Game reports - Tuesday

Here are links to the ISC Game Reports and Play-by-Play for Easton and Quyon's first games on Tuesday:

Easton 1 Minnesota 0 - you can also reference my live blog details on this one which more or less gets things right as well!

Quyon 10 K-W Cubs 5
Some highlights in this one:
- Joran Graham gets the win, going 6 innings, allowing 5 runs (2 earned), striking out 5, walking 6. Chad Hargrove finished the game working one inning and allowing only one walk.
- Quyon pounded out 14 hits in the game
- Joe McCleary had two key singles and 5 RBIs, one with the bases loaded scoring three in the first and another scoring two in the fifth.
- Joran Graham had a 3 run HR in the sixth
- Nick Armitage was 2-4 with an RBI and Matt Greer was 2-3 with an RBI and walk.
- Quyon ended the game with a double play to seal the win

Waterdown vs Ohsweken at ToC

A great game at the ToC broadcast on www.ballparkradio.com between two Ontario teams.

Waterdown Hammer vs. Ohsweken Redmen, tied at 1-1 after seven. Final score was 4-3 for the Hammer, ending in the tenth inning.

Wayne Wells threw six for the Hammer, with Tim Neill coming in to relieve.

Darren Zack went into the ninth for the Redmen and Phil Martin finished.

Team Easton wins first game 1-0 over Minnesota - live blogging story

The Team Easton vs. Minnesota Angels ToC game is now on live at http://www.ballparkradio.com/.

I'm going to blog live as the game progresses.

Top of the 1st - Easton batting:

Kevin Kammeuller pitching for Minnesota.

Scott Herriott leads off with a single.

Kevin Chevrier hits an infield single.

Dan Jessiman grounds out moving Herriot and Chevy up to 2nd and 3rd.

Kyle Jamieson struck out.

Dave Tubman flew out to centre.

Bottom of the 1st - Minnesota batting.

Dan Bradley has the ball for Easton, Dan Jessiman catching.

Paul Artnzen leads off with a walk. Artnzen gets picked off going too far from first.

Chris Didert grounds out to first on a 1-3-4 ground out deflected from Bradley to Jessiman, throw to Chevy.

Mike Applegate struck out.

After 1: Easton 0 Minnesota 0

Top of the 2nd

Cory Morrison leads off with a single.

Kyle Gourgon sac bunts, but reaches on an error. Spud moves to second.

Dan Bradley strikes out.

Scott Marion strikes out.

Blair Setford has just mentioned on the broadcast that Corey Costello did NOT make the trip to the ToC.

Scott Herriot now up. Wild pitch moves up Spud and Kyle to second and third. Herry walks to load the bases.

Kevin Chevrier flies out to end the inning.

5 men left on in two innings.

Bottom of the 2nd

Sam Bishop - a New Zealand import - strikes out.

Rick Saunders doubles.

They just announced that Donnacona beat CPI 5-1. Francis Leclair with the win, Jeff Murphy and Shaun Winship threw for CPI.

Tommy Thompson strikes out.

Jeff Mataczynski strikes out.

After 2: Easton 0 Minnesota 0

Top of the 3rd

Dan Jessiman walks.

Kyle Jamieson reaches first on an E4, Jessiman moves to third.

Dave Tubman hits into a fielders' choice, Jamieson out at second, Jessiman scores to make it 1-0. RBI for Tubby.

Cory Morrison reaches on another Minnesota error, Tubman moves to second.

Kyle Gourgon strikes out.

Dan Bradley strikes out.

Easton 1 Minnesota 0 after 2 and a half

Bottom of the 3rd

Jeff Larson grounds out to short.

Brandon Amond pops up.

Paul Arntzen grounds out.

After three complete Easton leads 1-0.

Top of the 4th

Scott Marion gets hit by a pitch.

Scott Herriot sac bunts and moves Hollywood over.

Kevin Chevrier reaches on an infield single.

Dan Jessiman strikes out.

Kyle Jamieson strikes out.

Bottom of the 4th

Chris Didert flies out.

Commenter just said Bradley is throwing 80% drop balls - no kidding!

Mike Applegate strikes out.

Sam Bishop hits a single.

Rick Saunders hits a single, Bishop to second.

Tommy Thompson grounds out to second and Chevy makes a nice play to end the inning.

End of 4, Easton 1 Minnesota 0

Top of 5th

Dave Tubman hits a single.

Cory Morrison strikes out.

Kyle Gourgon sac bunts and moves Tubman to second.

Dan Bradley strikes out.

Easton still leading 1-0.

Bottom of 5th

Jeff Mataczynski grounds out third, good defensive play by Gourgon.

Jeff Larson grounds out short, good defensive play by Herriott.

Brandon Amond flies out to Spud right out at the warning track.

After 5 complete, Team Easton 1 Minnesota Angels 0

Top of 6th

Scott Marion strikes out.

Scott Herriot pops out to the catcher.

Kevin Chevrier walks.

Dan Jessiman strikes out.

Easton continues to lead 1-0 after five and a half.

Bottom of the 6th

Paul Artnzen grounds out to short.

Chris Didert grounds out to short.

Mike Applegate hits a single.

Sam Bishop strikes out looking.

Easton still leads 1-0 going into the top of the 7th.

Top of the 7th

Kyle Jamieson grounds out to second.

Dave Tubman reaches on an infield hit.

Cory Morrison pops out.

Kyle Gourgon now up - Dave Tubman is called out for leading off. Hmmm.....I thought Tubby never led off!

One run lead for Easton, 1-0, going into the bottom of 7.

Bottom of 7th

Rick Saunders grounds out to third.

Tommy Thompson grounds to short. Announcers giving props to Herriot for a strong game at short.

Jeff Mataczynski doubles to right.

Jeff Larson hits out to right and Cory Morrison makes a big catch to finish the game.

Final Score, Ottawa Team Easton 1 St-Paul Minnesota Angels 0

Winning pitcher, Dan Bradley with the shutout, a 5 hitter by my count.

Losing pitcher Kevin Kammeuller.

Dave Tubman with the game winning RBI.

Quyon wins their first game at ToC

from Kenny Fleck

Quyon COMBAT Flyers, ranked #27, won their first game at the ToC against the #5 ranked K-W Cubs from Kitchener-Waterloo by a score of 10-5.

Joran Graham had the win for Quyon and Chad Hargrove saw an inning of relief. Graham also hit a homer for the Flyers. Bryan Lathrop threw for K-W.

Next up for Quyon is a game tonight (Tuesday) at 8pm Central versus Lloydminister, Alberta.

Blitz win Bronze in Wiarton

from Andrew Bruce

The Ottawa Blitz returned home on Sunday from the B provincials in Wiarton with the bronze medal.

The Blitz had wins over Kitchener Selects (6-3), Saugeen Shores (9-2, 5 innings) and Enterprise (3-0, 6 innings). Their only losses were to each of the eventual finalists - Colbourne Merchants (9-2, 6 innings) and Wiarton Nationals (2-1).

The bronze medal game was cut short in the bottom on the 6th with the Blitz beating Enterprise by a score of 3-0. The Enterprise catcher twisted his knee on a close play at the plate, just after they had used their last player off the bench.

The semi final game saw the Blitz lose 2-1 to the host Wiarton Nationals. The Blitz were up 1-0 on a run by Russ Mitchel (scored on a John Zeiger sac-fly), when the Nationals scored both their runs in the top of the 6th to capture the lead. The Blitz had a number of hard hit balls throughout the game, but couldn't find any holes in the Wiarton defence.

Jamie Blakely was very strong for the Blitz all weekend. Blakely pitched both Sunday games for the Blitz, only giving up 2 runs over 13 innings of work. Saturday saw Blakely toe the rubber for 7 2/3 innings, giving up only 2 runs and capturing 2 wins.

The Blitz recieved great performances from the bats of Will Mood, John Zeiger (Lake Simcoe), Todd Hamblin (Lake Simcoe) and Brad Copping (Lake Simcoe). While Brett "the squirrel" Dugan had a strong weekend patrolling the outfield for the Blitz and made a number of exciting catches at key points in time.

Kars Aces win at Newboro

from Eric Rosenquist

Kars beat Carp 3-2 in the championship game of the Newboro tournament. Brad Porter went the distance for Kars; Neil Cooke and Chad Hargrove split the pitching for Carp.

Carp jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, getting a pair of runs in the top of the 1st. Kars tied it in the fourth, then got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 6th on an RBI single by Darren McCartney.

Earlier in the day, Carp defeated Williamsburg 3-2 in semi-final #1. Trevor Lahey pitched a complete game for Williamsburg, with Chad Hargrove and Neil Cooke splitting the game for Carp. Kars defeated Sydenham in semi-final #2. Dan Bradley went the distance for Kars plus hit a no-doubter high over the fence in left centre.

McNab Mavericks win second straight OASA Bantam Select title

McNab/Braeside Minor Fastball is very proud to announce that the McNab Mavericks Bantam Boys have won the gold medal for the 2nd year in a row.

The final game against Orleans was a close one with only a score of 4-0. Lyn won the Bronze Medal over Scarborough. Thank you to all our sponsors,volunteers, parents, and fans who came out in the heat to support thetournament.

Greenbush wins the OASA Midget Select tourney

from Terry McCann

Greenbush Midget Boys Select House team won the OASA Provincial tourney on Sat. in Scarborough.

Greenbush loss their 1st game 5-3 to Staffordville and then ran off 4 back to back victories defeating Goodwood 10-7 in the final.

Lyn wins OASA Peewee Select championship

from John Severson

Lyn Pee Wee Selects won the OASA Provincial Select Tournament held in Goulding Park August 15. They had wins over Stittsville and the host Goulding Park, tied Unionville and scored a 8-2 win over St. Catharines in the final.

They used a balanced attack of hitting, pitching and almost errorless ball throughout all the games.

Marcus Rice, nephew of Newboro Sappers and Miners player and tournament organizer Scott Rice, was named the tournament's top pitcher.

Micksburg Twins win silver at Peewee Provincials

from Jerry McIntyre

The Micksburg Twins had a successful weekend at the OASA Peewee Provincial Tournament in Cobourg.

The Twins started the weekend with an 18-3 win over Springbrook after forcing the mercy rule in the fourth inning. Matt McIntyre was the winning pitcher.

In their second game, the Micksburg Twins faced Port Perry and defeated them 2-1 after a game saving catch by second baseman Kyle Sauriol. The winning pitcher of that game was Jared Steege.

The third game, the boys faced the Cobourg Clippers in the undefeated game. Micksburg’s bats were hot and they mercied the Clippers 10-0 after 5 innings. Matt McIntyre got the win for the Twins for that game.

With 3 wins, the Twins advanced to the gold medal game on Sunday. Unfortunately, the results weren’t as favourable for the Twins on day two and the Twins were beat by the Cobourg Clippers by a score of 4-1. The Twins’ shortstop Riley Hennessy went out of the game in the fourth inning after hurting himself sliding into second base, and this was a big loss for the Twins.

This was the first loss for the Twins, so the Clippers had to beat them again, and that they did, by a score of 5-2.

The Twins ended up bringing home a well deserved silver medal.


Front row left to right: Brad Lapierre, Brett David, Tanner Smith, Michael Moss, Nolan Rook
Back row left to right: Assistant coaches Brad Steege and Mike Hennessy, Braydon Couturier, Matt McIntyre, Jared Steege, John Ross Headrick, Kyle Sauriol and Coach Jerry McIntyre. Missing from photo is Riley Hennessy.

ToC gets ready to go

from Al's Fastball

The 2009 ISC II Tournament of Champions kicks off tomorrow (18 Aug) at 8:30 am central with Game 1 between Reading, PA Hoffman Rise and Elkhart, IN Duncan Outlaws.

All games will be played at the Alan Campbell Sports Complex in Rock Island, Illinois, a part of the Quad Cities.

With 40 teams on hand this year, it will take 103 games to decide the ISC II Champion.

Waterdown, ON Hammer, last year's finalist, come into the ToC as the top seed. They will face stiff competition from the likes of Ottawa, ON Team Easton Thunder, Ashland, OH Stock Pack and Port Elgin, ON Blue Devils. Other challenges will come from the reconstituted Decatur, IL Pride, a revamped St. Paul, MN Minnesota Angels squad and a geared up Lloydminster, AB Dodgers.

Truth be told, there are probably 12-15 teams that could win the ToC and it wouldn't be considered an upset.

Surely drawing a crowd on Tuesday following the Opening Ceremonies at 5:00 pm will be the legendary Darren Zack.

Zack makes his ToC debut with the Ohsweken, ON Redmen and will face Waterdown at 6 pm central Tuesday.

Other new faces to watch in ISC II include Francis Leclair with the Donnacona, QC Blue Sox, Bryan Lathrop with K-W, ON Cubs and David Boys with Decatur.

Ballpark Radio (www.ballparkradio.com ) will once again be on hand to broadcast 29 games from the ToC, including every one of the quarters, semi's and championship final. (NOTE: The following games for local interest will be broadcast: Tue 3:30pm EDT Team Easton vs. Minnesota; Wed Noon EDT Quyon vs. California; Wed 9:30pm EDT Team Easton vs Alvinston; Thu 7:30pm EDT Bridgeport vs Donnacona)

Watch The Deuce at www.fastpitchwest.com/thedeuce for daily recaps, links to exclusive video clips along with broadcast schedules and previews every morning.

Orleans Rebels win bronze at Canadians

from Scott Searle

The Orleans Rebels won the Bronze Medal at the Senior Women Canadian Championships in Kitchener on Sunday.

The team lost 4-1 to eventual champion Kitchener Krush in the undefeated game at 12:00 to set up a re-match with the Defending Champion Manitoba Smittys. The Smittys have won 9 of the last 13 Canadian Championships and won the right to play in the semi-final by defeating Whitby 2-1 behind a dramatic 2 run bottom of the 7th.

The Smittys sent former National Team member Ashley Lanz to the circle to face the Rebels and the Orleans team countered with 18 year old Raegan Turner. They were perfect for 6 innings as the score was knotted at 0, before Manitoba pushed through a run in the top of the 7th on a pair of hits. The Rebels couldnt respond and lost a heartbreaker 1-0 and took the bronze medal.

Manitoba ran out of gas in the final, falling to Kitchener 5-0.

A great year for the young Rebels as this was their first time qualifing for Senior Nationals and a big accomplishment as a result of their young age. The team has only 2 players who are Sr age, so they look to be very competitive for a very long time.

Update on Orleans Rebels at Women's Nationals

from Scott Searle

The Orleans Rebels are off to a great start at the Senior Nationals with a 4-2 record in the round robin and a chance at 1st place overall for the Playoff Round.

The team started slowly with a 3-0 to the Whitby Eagles, but won a critical game 3-2 against the Calahoo Extreme (Alberta 1).

Thursday presented a great challenge for the young Rebels as they faced the Defending Champion Manitoba Smittys and 2009 favourite, Host Kitchener Krush. The team knocked off the Smittys 3-2 but fell to the Krush 3-0 in the night cap.

The Rebels had a chance at 2 lives in the Playoff round with 2 wins on Friday and came through in spades with a 3-0 victory over Port Perry and a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Calgary Ice.

Play resumes tomorrow morning.

Easton wins in Orleans

txt msg update from Cory Morrison

Ottawa Team Easton won their GOFL quarterfinal series on Thursday night with a 5-4 win over Orleans Gators at Pierre Rocque Park. With the 2-0 series win, Team Easton advances to the GOFL semi-finals.

more info to follow

Quyon evens series with Blitz - now with details

txt msg update and story from Shawn Laframboise

Game two between the Blitz and Quyon saw the home team come out on top by a score of 6-2. The Combat Flyers were happy to be back within the friendly confines of the Quyon ball park.

Drew Hathway took the mound for the second night in a row while Ottawa countered with Jamie Blakely again.

The Flyers started their half of the first inning with a couple base hits, but Blakely managed to get out of the inning leaving to aboard.

The game remained scoreless until the third inning. Luke Young led off with a triple to right field. Dennis McCleary then hit a high chopper to the pitcher and beat out the throw at first, scoring Young in the process. After being sacrificed to second on a bunt from Shawn Laframboise, McCleary scored on a Matt Greer RBI single. Next to the plate, with two outs, Hathway hit one down the left field line and with the throw coming in to third base he advanced to second. With runners on second and third, and two outs, the Blitz elected to walk Joe McCleary to get to Steve McCord and set up the force play all around. This proved costly as McCord took Blakely's second pitch over the centerfield fence for the Grand Slam and put the Flyers up 6-0.

The Blitz put together a rally in the bottom of five. Facing the 6 run mercy, they need to score one to stay alive. With Russ Mitchell on first, Andrew Bruce sacrificed him over to second. Will Mood then doubled to the gap in right-center to score Mitchell. Tony Searle followed that up with a single to left and advanced to second on the throw home, which wasn't in time. That's where the Blitz rally ended, and Quyon managed to hold on for the remainder of the game.

Hathway went the distance and is credited with the win. Blakely took the loss and Derick Bulley saw some action in relief, pitching the last four innings.

Quyon Pitching

Drew Hathway (W) - 7IP 2R 2ER 7H 4BB 9K

Quyon Batting

Steve McCord - 1/2, HR, 4RBI, BB
Luke Young - 1/2, 3B, BB, R
Matt Greer - 1/4, 1B, RBI, R
Shawn Laframboise - 2/3, 2B, SAC

Orleans pitcher wins bronze at 2009 Midget Girls Nationals

from Claude Couturier

Lise Couturier, a local pitcher from Orleans, has won bronze with her team, the Midget Mississauga North Tigers Acton at the Canadian Midget Championships held in Brampton, Ontario from August 2nd to August 9th. Overall the team finished the season with a 60 – 13 record. Lise had previously played competitive softball for the Orleans Rebels and the Kanata Pirates organizations. Lise finished her season with a 22 – 5 pitching record.

Upper Ottawa Valley Men's Fastball League Playoffs now set

from Shawn Laframboise

The Upper Ottawa Valley Mens Fastball League playoffs are now set to begin Friday August 14th in Micksburg.

Friday night will see the Micksburg Jr Twins hosting the Douglas Green Sox in the 4 vs. 5 play-in game. The winner of that will move on the face the Shawville Snappers on Sunday evening.

Micksburg will be hungry for a match-up with the Snappers. Although they did not win any games in this year's season series, they provided Shawville with an early 1st round upset in last year's playoffs before bowing out the the Sr Twins in the finals. Douglas will look to extend their inaugural season on Friday night as well.

The Sr Twins will host McNab in the other series. Micksburg finished the regular season as the #2 seed, only 1 point up on McNab. Micksburg was also the only team to beat McNab in the season series, taking it 2-0-1.

Final Standings

Shawville Snappers 10-2-0 20pts
Micksburg Sr Twins 6-5-1 13pts
McNab Badham Carpentry 5-5-2 12pts
Micksburg Jr Twins 4-8-0 8pts
Douglas Green Sox 3-8-1 7pts

Updates

Details of the Blitz/Quyon and Carp/Manotick Wednesday games are now provided below in the original posts.

Softball gets rejected in attempt for Olympic re-instatement

The IOC board prefer Tiger Woods to Jennie Finch - see the details on the Globe and Mail site.

GOFL Thursday playoffs

Thursday night playoff games in the GOFL:

Ottawa Blitz at Quyon Flyers - 8pm in Quyon. (Blitz lead 1-0)

Team Easton at Orleans Gators - 8:3pm in Orleans. (Easton lead 1-0)

Remaining games to be played after ToC break - dates to be determined.

Stittsville over Greely in Game 1

Blackberry update courtesy TC

The 56ers prevailed on Wednesday night with a 7-1 victory over Greely in Stittsville to take game 1 of their quarterfinal series.

more to follow

Carp wins game 1 over Manotick

txt msg update from Tony Riches, info from Eric Rosenquist

Carp I4C Victory edged Manotick 1-0 in game one of their quarterfinal series on Wednesday night.

Carp jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and then made it stand up with good pitching and good defence. Neil Cooke started but came out of the game after 3 1/3 when he took a line-drive off his right foot. Dan Konkle came in with 1 out and runners on 1st & 3rd, and struck out the next 2 Manotick hitters. Konks did not allow a baserunner over 3 2/3 innings of relief.

Paul Ceppi threw well in a losing effort for Manotick, giving up just a handful of hits and getting a ton of outs via the ground ball.

Both teams had excellent pitching and fielding on the night.

Newboro Tournament

from Scott Rice

With a late withdrawal, the Newboro Tournament will have seven teams this year. Here is the schedule:

Friday
7PM - Newboro Sappers and Miners v Sydenham
9PM - Newboro v Carp I4C Victory

Saturday
10AM - Kars Aces v Greely DNTW Eagles
NOON - Williamsburg GPI v Central Fairbanks Lumberjacks
2PM - Sydenham v Carp
4PM - Kars v Central Fairbanks
6PM - Williamsburg v Greely

Sunday
10AM - Williamsburg v Kars
NOON - Greely v Central Fairbanks
2PM - semi-final 1
4PM - semi-final 2
6PM - Championship

Blitzos over Quyon in Game 1 - now with details

Moe Laframboise txt msg update
details from Andrew Bruce

Ottawa Blitz 7 Quyon COMBAT Flyers 1

The Ottawa Blitz defeated the Quyon Flyers 7-1 in GOFL quarterfinals on Wednesday night in Manotick to take a 1-0 lead in the best of three series.

Jamie Blakely had the 5 inning win for the Blitz, and Drew Hathaway took the loss for the Flyers.

The Blitz scored thier first run in the bottom of the 1st when Russ Mitchel took a pitch off the thigh, was advanced to third by a bunt and fielders choice, and then took home on a passed ball.

The Flyers evened the score in the top of the 3rd when a Nick Armitage RBI single scored Luke Young.

The Blitz regained the lead in the bottom of the 3rd when Russ "the run machine" Mitchel doubled and was scored on a 2-out single by Tony Searle.

The score remained 2-1 Blitz until things were broken open in the bottom of the 5th, when the Blitz scored their first 5 batters of the inning (Russ Mitchel, Andrew Bruce, Will Mood, Tony Searle and Derick Bulley). Derek Bergeron ended the game with a 2-out single to score Searle and Bulley.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Quyon.

more to follow

Greely wins play in game, Easton takes game 1 over Orleans - now with more details

GOFL playoff action on Tuesday night.

Greely 9 Fitzroy Harbour 4

The Eagles picked a good time to win their first game of the season, coming back from a 4-1 deficit to defeat West Carleton Electric 9-4.

The best crowd of the season was on hand in Fitzroy to witness Greely score 6 runs in the top of the seventh to seal the victory.

Gord Flannery had the win in relief of Ryan Chatten. Bud Hanlon took the loss; Steve Cavanagh started the game and Troy Wilson saw some action in relief.

Fitzroy opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Jon Daley singled and ended up on third after a Neil Murphy sac bunt. Daley scored on a Jeff Cavanagh ground out.

Greely tied things in the top of the third. Steve Tsonos reached on an error, moved to second on a sac bunt by Derek Dumond and scored on a Terry Jones single.

WC Electric put three across in the bottom of the third. Jim Hook singled to lead off and was moved to second on a Jon Daley sac bunt. Hook was however put out on a Neil Murphy grounder. The Murph Dog then stole second and took third on a passed ball and ended up scoring on a Jeff Cavanagh single. After Steve Cavanagh reached on an error, Steve Johnson drove both Cav brothers in on a double off the monster in right field.

That was it for starter Chatten as the veteran Flannery came in to pitch in the fourth.

Greely scored two in fifth when Mike Savoie led off with a single and Steve Tsonos hit a homer.

Bud Hanlon came in to relief Steve Cavanagh in the sixth.

The game was broken wide open for the Eagles in the top of the seventh. Derrek Dumond led off with a walk. When Terry Jones tried to sac bunt, Dumond was put out at second. However two errors later, the bases were loaded for Greely, putting DH Shannon Borho to the plate. Borho worked a full count and walked to tie the game. Tyler Cox then came to bat. Down 1-2 in the count, he hit a fly to right field. With the ball tailing foul, right fielder Jeff Cavanagh let the ball drop intentionally to avoid the run scoring on the tag up. Cox then worked the count full and preceded to foul off five more pitches, before hitting a slow roller to third on which there was no play, scoring another run. Back to back 2RBI hits by Guy Millette and Mike Savoie put the game out of reach, as the Eagles took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Troy Wilson came in to retire the final two batters of the inning.

Flannery shut the door for the win, and the 'Trics 2009 'rebuilding' season officially came to a close.

Greely will now play in Stittsville on Weds Aug 12 for game one of the quarterfinal series.

Greely hitting
TJ Jones 1-4, RBI, R
Shannon Borho 0-3, BB, RBI, R
Tyler Cox 1-4, RBI, R
Guy Millette 1-3, 2RBI, R
Mike Savoie 2-4, 2RBI, R
Steve Tsonos 1-4, HR, 2RBI, 2R

Fitzroy hitting
Jon Daley 1-3, SAC, R
Neil Murphy 1-3, SAC, R, SB
Jeff Cavanagh 1-4, 2RBI, R
Steve Johnson 1-3, 2RBI
Troy Wilson 1-3
Jim Hook 2-3

Gord Flannery, Win, 4IP, 0R, 2H, 4K, 0BB
Ryan Chatten 3IP, 4R, 5H, 3K, 0BB

Bud Hanlon, Loss, 1.1IP, 6R, 4H, 2K, 2BB
Steve Cavanagh, 5IP, 3R, 3H, 4K, 0BB
Troy Wilson, 0.2IP, 0R, 0H, 0K, 0BB



Team Easton 9 Orleans 1
from Cory Morrison

Team Easton won the first game of their quarter-final series by a score of 9-1 in Stittsville on Tuesday night.

Easton opened the scoring in the first as Chad Milne launched a grand slam over the right field fence.

Milne was at it again in the 3rd as he connected for a 2-Run shot to put the home side up 6-0.

Easton added to their lead in the 4th as Cory Morrison doubled to drive in Martin Ballard then Lukas Kamps homered to put Easton up 9-0.

Jason Naylor singled home Derek Barber who previously walked to break up Brad Porter's no hit bid.

Chad Milne 2/3 2HRs 6Rbi
Lukas Kamps 1/1 HR 2Rbi
Cory Morrison 1/2 2B BB Rbi

Jason Naylor 1/2 Rbi

Brad Porter Win, 1 hitter
Corey Alkerton Loss with Relief from Jeff Barber

Game two goes Thursday Aug 13 in Orleans.

more to follow

GOFL playoff preview on Al's Fastbal

Check out the story on Al's Fastball for a GOFL playoff preview article.

OASA tourneys

Good luck to local teams in OASA tournaments this weekend.

The Ottawa Blitz will be participating in the Men's Intermediate B provincials up in Wiarton as per the previous post. As someone who played in a provincial tourney up there about 5 years ago, based on that experience I offer the following advice:
- Make sure you say hi to Wiarton Willie. Do NOT attempt to feed him though.
- There may be a fish dinner on the Sunday of the tourney. Try not to deface any signage they may have advertising the event. (You had to be there).
- If you go to the Pacific Hotel, stay away from the bikers. Especially if they ask you to dance.

A team from Micksburg will also be participating in the Peewee B provincials in Cobourg this weekend. Best of luck to the Twins at this event.

McNab Mavericks will be hosting the OASA Bantam Select tourney this weekend with teams coming from Scarborough, Orleans, Cornwall, Lyn, Georgian Bay, and Bramalea.

And finally, Smiths Falls participated this past weekend (Aug 7/9) in Sydenham in the Bantam A provincials. Unfortunately the Redmen went 0-2 BBQ. Napanee won this event.

"If you find a woman who likes softball, you ought to marry her,"

Young Rebels a team on rise

Everything about nationals is different

By Wayne Scanlan, The Ottawa Citizen
August 11, 2009

It is hitting home to the Orléans Rebels that they're not playing junior girls fastpitch any more.

Case in point: During an exhibition against a Quebec team on the weekend, the second game of a doubleheader had to be delayed so the Quebec catcher could breastfeed her baby. Her infant settled, she pulled the mask on and went back to work behind the plate. Play ball.

On the senior softball circuit, the Rebels are youngsters themselves, relatively speaking, easily the youngest team in this week's Canadian Softball Championships at Kitchener.

Last year, the Rebels finished sixth in the junior nationals (under-23) at Summerside, P.E.I. With the same core group intact, they would have had a strong chance to win this year's junior tournament, but opted instead to jump to senior because two of their best players, Hayley Fleming and Laura Gallant, were 24. Most of the Rebels are 21 or 22, and a couple are just 19.

"This will be great experience," head coach Scott Searle says. "Our goal is to finish in the top five or six. We're really playing for two to three years down the road."

Searle ought to know. He doubles as University of Ottawa head coach, and several players belong to both the Rebels and the Gee-Gees.

Jillian Taylor and Emily Ernst are the team's top pitchers, and the Rebels have picked up a third pitcher, Raegan Turner, who also joined last year's junior Orléans club from a Windsor midget team.

Taylor and Ernst are a complementary combination because Taylor throws heat and Ernst specializes in softer junk.

"Hopefully we'll have less anxiety than we did last year," says Taylor, about to enter the teaching program at U of O this fall.

Everything about the nationals is different from the usual summer tournaments, Taylor says. Players wear accreditation tags, deal with media and see names in the lineup and across the diamond they know from world tournaments and Olympic Games.

For example, the powerhouse Kitchener team, which Orléans was leading 3-0 in the sixth inning of the provincials before losing 5-3 in seven, has four Olympians in its lineup, Searle says.

Canada won a silver medal in the Pan Am championship in Venezuela this past week, and several of those competitors are flying home to take part in the national tournament. Taylor, who earned a scholarship at Webber International University in Florida before returning home to attend U of O, was MVP of last year's provincials, and her coach says she is only getting better.

Taylor's father, Jim, is manager of the Rebels.

"This team is special because of its hard work and ability to keep the core group together ... we have a lot of '86- and '87-born players," he says.

Everyone on the team has a sense of something big happening down the road, partly because the Kitchener team is older and expected to break up soon, partly because the Rebels have become a team on the rise.

Jillian Taylor is awed that Cambridge's No. 3 and 4 hitters, Laura Gallant and Jess Scholey, jumped to the Orléans roster when the Cambridge club split up. Just like that: a three and four hitter.

"Huge add-ons," Taylor says.

In Kitchener, the Rebels play six round-robin games, two each day Wednesday through Friday, but Thursday stands out with games against host Kitchener and defending champion Manitoba.

Searle hopes to survive by playing some small ball, bunt-and-run. He has seven or eight base stealing threats, a unique asset.

"Hopefully our youth and athleticism will keep us going over five, six days," Searle says.

Somehow, between the demands of coaching a university team and summer women's team, Searle found time to get engaged to Renfrew's Lisa Hawley a few weeks ago. Hawley's enjoyment of the game was a factor.

"If you find a woman who likes softball, you ought to marry her," Searle says.

The couple plan to do just that ... get married, next summer.

Right after the national championships.

Attack Grounded

Another strong fastpitch team from the area fell short in its bid to reach the Eastern Canadian championships. The Ottawa Valley Attack bantam girls team needed to finish among the top three clubs in Ontario to advance to New Brunswick, but dug itself a hole by losing the provincial opener against Brampton in London on Friday night. That left the Attack in the position of having to win five consecutive games on Saturday. The Attack did win the first three but then lost to Brantford 2-1. Led by pitchers Jean Cardona and Aisha O'Connor, both of Pembroke, and hitters Tawny Godin of Petawawa and Grace Lonergan of Ottawa, the Attack still finished fifth in Ontario. Overall, Cardona had a record of 19-4-1, O'Connor was 18-7-2 (it's all in the family, as sister Amber O'Connor is a catcher for the Rebels), Godin hit seven home runs and Lonergan finished with a batting average above .400. Who says the days of the .400 hitter are over?

Orleans defeats Manotick in final GOFL regular season game

txt msg from Joel Langford

Orleans Gators defeated Manotick Lomor Printers 3-0 in the final GOFL regular season game Monday night at Whalen Park in Kanata (one of the few fields available tonight to get the game in).

Jeff Barber had the win for Orleans while Trevor Lahey took the loss for the Printers.

Orleans remains in seventh place with a 7-12-1 record, a significant improvement from their 3-14-2 finish last season.

The Manotick loss means that the Printers finish fourth in the GOFL standings and will face Carp I4C Victory in a best of three series. Manotick finishes the season at a much improved 10-7-3 record as compared to a 6-12-2 mark in 2008.

Quyon Flyers finish third and face the Ottawa Blitz in another best of three series.

Final standings:

1. Stittsville 17-1-2
2. Easton 14-4-1
3. Quyon 11-7-2
4. Manotick 10-7-3
5. Carp 9-7-4
6. Blitz 8-11-1
7. Orleans 7-12-1
8. Fitzroy 5-14-1
9. Greely 0-18-1

Here is the updated schedule for GOFL playoffs this week:

Tuesday August 11
A1: Greely Eagles at Fitzroy Harbour WC Electric (8:30pm in Fitzroy)
C1: Orleans Gators at Ottawa Team Easton (8:30pm in Stittsville)

Wednesday August 12
B1: winner of A1 at Stittsville 56ers (8:30pm in Sttittsville)
D1: Quyon Flyers at Ottawa Blitz (7:00pm in Manotick)
E1: Carp I4C Victory at Manotick Lomor Printers (9:00pm in Manotick)

Thursday August 13
C2: Ottawa Team Easton at Orleans Gators (8:30pm in Orleans)
D2: Ottawa Blitz at Quyon Flyers (8:00pm in Quyon)

Vega$ and the Murph Dog

from last week's West Carleton Review



PHOTO CREDIT: Nevil Hunt
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric players enjoy a laugh during a lull in the action on July 30 in Carp. The smiles continued as the Harbour beat Orleans 3-0. Fitzroy Harbour WC Electric finished the year at 5-14-1 and will face Greely on Aug. 11 at 8:30 p.m. in a single-game elimination at the Fitzroy diamond.

Internet Radio schedule for the ToC announced

ISC II Tournament of Champions Broadcast Schedule - www.ballparkradio.com

Team Easton will be featured in two games and Quyon will be featured in one game.

Tue Aug 18
10:30 am ToC G5 Ashland vs Palermo
12:30 pm ToC G9 Port Elgin vs Sioux Falls
2:30 pm ToC G13 Ottawa vs Minnesota
6:00 pm ToC G17 Waterdown vs Ohsweken
8:00 pm ToC G21 Bridgeport vs Walcott

Wed Aug 19
10:30 am ToC G29 KW vs Lloydminster
11:00 am ToC G32 Rude Pac vs Quyon (CHANNEL 2)
12:30 pm ToC G33 Kitchener vs Villard
1:00 pm ToC G35 Halifax vs Port Elgin (CHANNEL 2)
2:30 pm ToC G37 Bridgeport vs CPI
4:30 pm ToC G41 Portland vs Elmira
6:30 pm ToC G45 Waterdown vs Rise
8:30 pm ToC G49 Ottawa vs Alvinston
9:00 pm ToC G52 Elmira vs Bulyea (CHANNEL 2)

Thu Aug 20
10:30 am ToC G57 Port Elgin vs Shakespeare
12:30 pm ToC G61 Ashland vs Black Gold
2:30 pm ToC G65 Kitchener vs Decatur
4:30 pm ToC G69 K-W vs Rude Pac
6:30 pm ToC G73 Bridgeport vs Donnacona
8:30 pm ToC G77 Portland vs PA Power

Fri Aug 21
11:00 am ToC G85 Pool B 3rd vs Pool G 2nd
1:00 pm ToC G89 Pool C 1st vs Winner G81
3:00 pm ToC G93 Pool A 1st vs Winner G85
5:00 pm ToC G97 Quarter-final 1
6:00 pm ToC G98 Quarter-final 2 (CHANNEL 2)
7:00 pm ToC G99 Quarter-final 3
9:00 pm ToC G100 Quarter-final 4

Sat Aug 22
11:00 am ToC G101 Semi-final 1 (CHANNEL 2)
11:00 am ToC G102 Semi-final 2
1:30 pm ToC G103 ISC II Championship Game

Napanee wins bronze at Nationals

Napanee wins bronze at Nationals
Posted By MIKE KOREEN, SUN MEDIA Belleville Intelligencer


After finishing an unlucky fifth in round-robin play and then barely avoiding elimination in their first playoff game, the Napanee North Key Express bucked the odds and captured a bronze medal at the Canadian Junior Fastball Championship.

The Express, who missed a desirable top-four round-robin finish (those teams have to lose two playoff games to be eliminated) because of the tiebreaking rule, made it all the way to the penultimate game of the tournament yesterday in Owen Sound.

That's as far as the Express could go as they dropped a 4-2 decision to Nova Scotia, missing out on a chance to play in the final after winning three playoff games.

"It was a great effort by all of our players, absolutely huge," said Express coach Joe Lewis. "I'm very happy with the finish."

The Express squeezed into the nationals, grabbing the fourth and final Ontario berth at the Ontario Eliminations in Mitchell. At the nationals, the Express were the top-finishing club from Ontario.

Newfoundland beat Nova Scotia 4-2 in the final.

Napanee finished 5-3 in round-robin play at the nationals, the same record as Owen Sound, but finished behind the host team after losing 3-2 to that squad in preliminary action.

That forced Napanee into the single-knockout playoff bracket. And right off the bat, the Express received a serious scare from the eighth-seeded Saskatoon Diamondbacks.

The game went to extra innings, tied at 3-3 after seven.

In the first extra frame, Saskatoon scored a run (each team gets a runner on second to start the inning), only to see Napanee even things up in the bottom of the inning.

So it went to a ninth inning and Saskatoon scored again to put Napanee in a must-score situation. But the Express did one better, tying it on a Kyle Lloyd double and winning it on a Chris Brown single.

Advertisement


Then, the Express exacted revenge on Owen Sound with a 9-1 win and earned a berth in yesterday's play with a 3-2 triumph over Waterloo.

Chris Lewis had the offensive highlight of the day, hitting a grand slam in the first against Owen Sound to cap a seven-run inning.

"We were amazing (on Saturday)," Lewis said.

Yesterday, however, Napanee ran into its nemesis for the tournament, Nova Scotia starter Cory Avery.

Though Napanee had success against Avery in the past, including in the 2005 national midget final, he won two games against the Express this tournament.

On Sunday, the teams were tied at 2-2 before Napanee ace Joran Graham gave up a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Graham and Mike Roantree drove in runs for the Express.

Napanee has seven players eligible to return next year.

"They'll be great," Lewis said. "The future is bright."

The Express now return home to complete their Loughborough League schedule.

GOFL Playoffs

GOFL playoff schedule. First round series are best of three (except "play in" game).

Series A - Play in game
Tuesday August 11 8:30pm: Greely Eagles at Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric

Series B - 1st vs winner of play in
Game 1: Wednesday August 12 8:30pm: Winner "A" at Stittsville 56ers
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD

Series C - 2nd vs 7th
Game 1: Tuesday August 11 8:30pm: Orleans Gators at Team Easton (in Stittsville)
Game 2: Thursday August 13 8:30pm: Team Easton at Orleans Gators
Game 3: TBD

Series D - 3rd vs 6th
If Manotick finishes 3rd
Game 1: Wednesday August 12 7:00pm: Ottawa Blitz at Manotick Lomor Printers
Game 2/3: TBD
If Quyon finishes 3rd
Game 1: Wednesday August 12 7:00pm: Quyon Flyers at Ottawa Blitz (in Manotick)
Game 2: Thursday August 13 8:00pm: Ottawa Bltiz at Quyon Flyers

Series E - 4th vs 5th
If Manotick finishes 4th
Game 1: Wednesday August 12 9:00pm: Carp i4C Victory at Manotick Lomor Printers
Game 2/3: TBD
If Quyon finishes 4th
Game 1: Thursday August 12 8:00pm: Carp I4C Victory at Quyon Flyers
Game 2/3: TBD

GOFL final regular season game

One game tonight (Monday Aug 10) in Greater Ottawa Fastball League play. Manotick will play Orleans at 8:30 at Whalen Park in Kanata.

If Manotick wins or ties, they will face the Blitz in the 3rd vs 6th series.

If Orleans wins, Manotick will face Carp I4C Victory in the 4th vs 6th series.

Playoff rounds at Canadian Junior Nationals

St. John's, Newfoundland wins the Junior Nationals. Information below from the tourney web page.

Friday

C1 (1st vs 4th) Nova Scotia 2 Owen Sound 0

C2 (2nd vs 3rd) St. John's 4 F.S.I.N. 2

Saturday

C3 (5th vs 8th) Napanee 6 Saskatoon 5 (9 innings)
Napanee scores 2 in the bottom of the ninth to win
NOTE: Joran Graham (p) 1-4, RBI; 9IP, 5H, 11K

C4 (6th vs 7th) Waterloo 1 Fingal 0
NOTE: Joel Lanford (2b) 0-4; Chad Hargrove (p) 7IP, 1R, 7H

C5 Napanee 9 Owen Sound 1
NOTE: Joran Graham (dh) 1-3

C6 Waterloo 1 F.S.I.N 0

C7 (undefeated game) St. John's 6 Nova Scotia 5

C8 Napanee 3 Waterloo 2
NOTE: Joran Graham (p) 7IP, 2ER, 5H; 0-2 at the plate

Sunday

C9 (semi final) Nova Scotia 4 Napanee 2
NOTE: Joran Graham (p) 6IP, 4ER, 4H; 1-3, R at the plate

C10 (final) St. John's 4 Nova Scotia 2

GOLD: St. John's, NL
SILVER: Nova Scotia
BRONZE: Napanee, ON

Bantam Boys Select Provincials - McNab/Braeside

McNab Mavericks will defend their 2008 Bantam Boys Select (ages 15&16) Provincial Title during the championship tournament to be held on August 15 & 16 at McNab Centre Park.

Eight teams be competing for the 2009 title: McNab Mavericks; Scarborough East; Orleans; Cornwall; Lyn; Augusta; Georgian Bay; Bramalea.

All are welcome!! No gate fees!! Final schedule will be posted prior to August 13th.

Indoor fastball this winter

If anyone is interested in organizing indoor fall/winter fastball at the Superdome in Blackburn, note there are plans to have a fall session that will run from Sunday Oct. 4 to Sunday Dec. 20 (11 games excluding Thanksgiving weekend). Game times will be 5pm.

Contact David Fox (613-823-0649)