Team Quebec now at 1-4 at the Nats

Team Quebec lost two in a row to go to 1 and 4 at the Senior Men's Nationals in PEI.

Last night saw them lose a close one 2-0 to Blackburn Transport from Nova Scotia. Francis Leclair had the loss with a 5 hitter. Matt Bramwell had the win with a 2 hitter.

Today they lost to West Side Charlie's the second Newfoundland team 6-3. Rob Schweyer had the win, Gregg Garrity took the loss.

Next up is a game tomorrow at 11am Atlantic against PEI - the host team, featuring GOFL'er Frank Cox. PEI is currently 3-2.

Four teams are tied in seventh place with 1 win each so Team QC isn't out it yet.

Game 1 venue set for Kars / Stittsville series

Game 1 of the Kars / Stittsville best-of-three semi-final GOFL playoffs series has been set for Thursday September 2 at 8:30pm at the Grove in Stittsville.

Playoff time in the Glen

Eric Rosenquist sends on this report for the Glen Cairn Men's Fastball League

The GCMFL playoffs kicked off tonight (Monday) at the AY Jackson ball diamond in Kanata.

With two divisions of five teams, the format this season sees #4 vs. #5 in each division play a single game "play-in" for 4th place in the division. The winner then plays the #1 team in the division in a best of three series. Seeds #2 and #3 from both divisions face off in a best of three starting on Tuesday night. On Wednesday night, the #1 seed in each division takes on the winner of the "play-in" game.

In the "Glen" division, the teams vying for fourth place are Ottawa Home Services and D'arcy McGee's. The winner takes on the #1 seed in the division: the 13-1-2 East Side Mario's team with Billy Gerber pitching. Tuesday sees #2 ASAP Print Management with a 7-8-1 record against #3 Don Cherry's who finished one point back at 7-9-0.

In the "Cairn" division, the play-in game pits new team Broadway Bar & Grill against the veterans from Air1One Mechanical. The winner faces Taggart's Welding, who finished with a 12-3-1 record behind the pitching of Neil Cooke. On Tuesday, the #2 11-3-2 Mattamy Homes squad is home to #3 Laurysen Kitchens who finished 8-7-1.

Check www.gcmfl.com for schedule updates and results as the playoffs progress.

Napanee Bantams win Eastern Canadians

Another championship for Napanee - the Bantams win the Eastern Canadians in Quebec.

Playoff time in the Blackburn league

The Blackburn Men's Fastball League is starting playoffs and their website has a preview.

Any other questions?

As blog readers are well aware, the Caveman is an interesting lad, with some "quirks".

One of these foibles is his tendency to hear things incorrectly. The other day he asked if we could get some doughnuts at "Tim Porton's". When he goes to Mickey D's, he prefers the chicken "muggets". For a significant period of time, he honestly thought his favourite lunch time food was a "gorilla cheese".

Another interesting habit is the bizarre and non-sequitur type questions he asks on a regular basis. On Saturday after a fine round of mini-golf ("A hole in three, Daddy!") and a large bucket on the driving range ("Daddy, that went far, right Daddy?") he came up with a beauty.

For no logical reason that I'm aware of, his question of the day was "Can monkeys swim, Daddy?". For the record, the answer is "yes".

Team QC posts first win at the Canadians

"Import" pitcher Gregg Garrity has arrived at the Canadians to play with Team Quebec, and they have picked up their first victory of the tournament to go 1-2. Les Quebecois defeated the Brookfield Elks 7-0.

Big John's wins ESA II tournament

from Bill Sherman

Big John's of Lackawanna are the 2010 Elkland ESA II level first weekend champions. Behind the pitching and hitting of Gregg Garrity, Big John's defeated the PA Power 6 to 1 in the championship game Sunday night. We had a great crowd of people on hand to watch some very good competition all weekend long.

Here is the top 3 finishing teams for this year's tournament

First place -Big John's, Lackawanna, NY $1,000.00
Second place - PA Power, Harrisburg, PA $500.00
Third place - ESA Bellys, Elkland, PA $300.00

Most valuable pitcher - Gregg Garrity - Big John's 4 and 0 with 1 save
Most valuable player - Gregg Garrity- Big John's 7-14 with 2 home runs

The Elkland Softball Association would like to thank all the teams that participated this year and we are looking forward to next year's ESA II level tournament.

We are still taking applications for this weekend's Durk Sherman classic over Labor Day weekend, any teams looking to participate please contact me asap.

Bill Sherman, ESA, esabill30@yahoo.com

North Leeds league playoff update

Veteran ball player and Elkland regular Terry McCann reports that the North Leeds league is in the middle of their best-of-three finals.

Greenbush leads Newboro 1 game to none. Game 2 is Tuesday night in Newboro, while game 3 if necessary is Thursday in Greenbush.

Cornwall league wraps up

Yum Yum Chips wins the Cornwall league.

Chips are champs again, after a sweep in final
Cornwall Standard-Freeholder
Henry Looyen's two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning pushed Yum Yum Chips ahead of Bojangles for good.
The result was an 8-3 win for Yum Yum, and a sweep of their best-of-five Cornwall Cruising Men's Fastball League championship.
Tom Hutchingame and Jeremy McMullen each scored twice in the victory for Chips.
Brian Tardiff, Herb Seguin, Pete Marion and James Martell each scored once.
Hutchingame also contributed an RBI.
Seguin picked up the pitching win.
Bojangles had the long ball working but unfortunately for them, all three dingers were solo shots.
Scott Guppy, Kevin Wells and Mark Massia all went yard in Bojangles' final game of their inaugural season in the CCMFL.
Wells was tagged with the pithing loss.
The championship was the third in the seven seasons the CCMFL has been in existence.
Yum Yum also won the regular-season title, finishing with a record of 12-5-0.
Bojangles finished in second spot during the regular season, with a record of 9-7-1.

Senior Canadians get started

Looks like a tough start to the Senior Men's Canadians for Team Quebec as they lost their first two games.

First one was a 12-0 defeat to Fredericton in which the New Brunswickers scored 10 in the first inning. According to the stats page, Francis Leclair took the loss and Brian Newton had a perfect game in 5 innings for NB.

Things were a little closer in the game 2 as they lost to St John's, NL 8-4. Leclair again took the loss while Sean Whitten had the win. Quyon Flyers' Shawn Laframboise had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run for Team QC.

According to the Charlottetown Guardian, the host PEI team won their first game in front of 1800 fans, but had a tough loss in Frank Cox's start against Kitchener.

Fastbrawl at Girl's Canadians in New Brunswick

The Ottawa Sun has the story.

GOFL Playoff update

Some updates on GOFL playoffs:

Game 1 of the Kars / Stittsville series will get underway on Thursday September 2. Time and location to be determined once diamond time is found.

Game 3 of the Quyon / Carp series will be in Quyon on Wednesday September 8 at 7:30pm in Quyon.

Feature on TSN on Randy Peck

thanks to Kenny Fleck for the tip

TSN Sportscentre is in the middle of their cross-Canada tour. Yesterday's stop was in Wakefield, QC. Part of the coverage was a great feature on residents Randy and Stacy Peck and their five kids. Check out the clip online here.

It's a great story about the family and talks about Randy's fastball career.

I know Randy used to be a blog reader, so if you're still checking it out Woody, congrats on a cool story and the GOFL misses your participation.

(How do I know Randy used to read the blog? One night at the diamond he spit tobacco juice on my pants and said "You'll have to get Mrs. Fastball to clean those up for you!")

Quyon evens series with 3-0 win over Carp

Quyon COMBAT Flyers evened their best-of-three GOFL semi-final series on Thursday night in Carp with a 3-0 win over I4C Victory.

Drew Hathway had the shutout win, throwing a 4-hitter. Frank Cox took the loss, in relief of Neil Cooke.

Carp loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with one out on a Shawn Simzer single, followed by walks by Tony McDonald and Neil Drummond. But two strikeouts got the Flyers out of the inning.

The game was scoreless after five innings, until Quyon plated a run in the sixth. Shawn Laframboise singled, stole second and scored on a Drew Hathway RBI single.

The Flyers added two insurance runs in the seventh. Tim Craig reached on an error and scored on a Steve McCord home run to straight away centrefield.

The deciding game of the series will be played in Quyon on a date to be determined.

Quyon pitching
Drew Hathway WIN 7IP 0R 4H 3BB 12K

Carp pitching
Neil Cooke 3.0IP 0R 2H 1BB 4K
Frank Cox LOSS 4.0IP 3R 2ER 3H 0BB 8K

Quyon hitting
Matt Greer 1-4
Shawn Laframboise 1-3, R, SB
Drew Hathway 2-2, SAC, RBI
Steve McCord 1-3, HR, 2RBI

Carp hitting
Kevin McGuire 2-3
Brooks Paziuk 1-3
Shawn Simzer 1-3
Neil Drummond 2BB

Play by play

Starting lineups
Quyon: M Greer SS / S Laframboise 1B / N Armitage 3B / D Hathway P / J McCleary C/ T Craig LF / S McCord CF / L Young 2B / T Cote RF

Carp: E Colvin CF / T Power 1B / K McGuire SS / A Read C / B Paziuk 2B / S Simzer LF / T McDonald DH / N Drummond RF / T Storms 3B / N Cooke P

Quyon 1st
Greer struck out looking; Laframboise struck out looking; Armitage struck out looking. 0R 0H 0LOB

Carp 1st
Colvin struck out looking; Power struck out looking; McGuire singled; Read flew out to lf. 0R 0H 0LOB

Quyon 2nd
Hathway singled; McCleary popped out to c; Craig reached on fielder's choice, Hathway out at second ss to 2b; McCord struck out swinging. 0R 0H 1LOB

Carp 2nd
Paziuk struck out swinging; Simzer singled; McDonald walked, Simzer to second; Drummond walked, McDonald to second, Simzer to third; Storms struck out swinging; Colvin struck out looking. 0R 1H 3LOB

Quyon 3rd
Young grounded out 1b unassisted; Cote struck out swinging; Greer singled; Laframboise grounded out 3b to 1b. 0R 1H 1LOB

Carp 3rd
Power struck out swinging; McGuire singled; Read hit into double play p to 2b to 1b. 0R 1H 0LOB

Quyon 4th
Armitage walked; Cox to p for Cooke; Hathway sac bunt out 3b to 2b, Armitage to second; McCleary popped out to 2b; Craig struck out looking. 0R 1H 1LOB

Carp 4th
Paziuk grounded out 2b to 1b; Simzer grounded out to 1b unassisted; McDonald flew out to cf. 0R 0H 0LOB

Quyon 5th
McCord reached first on error by ss, out at second on throw ss to 2b; Young struck out swinging; Cote struck out looking. 0R 0H 0LOB 1E

Carp 5th
Drummond walked; Storms reached on fielder's choice, Drummond out at second 3b to ss, Storms advanced to second on error by ss; Colving struck out swinging; Power struck out swinging. 0R 0H 1LOB 1E

Quyon 6th
Greer struck out looking; Laframboise singled; Laframboise stole second; Armitage struck out looking; Hathway singled, RBI, Laframboise scored; McCleary struck out swinging. 1R 2H 1LOB

Carp 6th
McGuire struck out swinging; Read grounded out 3b to 2b; Paziuk singled; Rosenquist to pinch run for Paziuk; Simzer struck out swinging. 0R 1H 1LOB

Quyon 7th
Craig reached on error by ss; Craig stole second; McCord homerun, 2RBI, Craig scored, McCord scored; Young struck out swinging; Cote flew out to rf; Greer struck out swinging. 2R 2H 0LOB

Carp 7th
McDonald flew out to lf; Drummond struck out swinging; Storms struck out looking. 0R 0H 0LOB.

Quyon: 3 runs, 5 hits, 4 left on, 1 error
Carp: 0 runs, 4 hits, 6 left on, 2 errors

ESA II weekend schedule

Elkland hosts a tourney ("the B weekend") the weekend before the big Labour Day weekend event every year. Bill Sherman provides the details.

The Elkland Softball Association releases the first round of games for the 17th annual ESA II Level tournament. This weekend will feature some very competitive teams, trying to take home $1800 in prize money, awarded to the top three finishing teams with first and second place trophies as well as a most valuable player award and most valuable pitcher award. We will do our best to keep you updated through http://www.alsfastball.com/ throughout the weekend.

FIRST ROUND:
Friday 8pm
ESA Thunderbellys VS JA Transportation

Saturday 9 am
Field One KO VS Busters
Field Two Schuykill Merchants VS Williamsport
Field Three Hoffmans Power VS NY Express

10:45am
Field One NY Bombers VS Ohio AWS
Field Two Northern Merchant VS CPI Classics
Field Three Lackawanna VS R.M. Kurtz Enterprise

12:30pm
Field One Waterdown Hammer VS Bedford Rays

GOFL playoff article in the EMC

More coverage in the EMC newspaper chain about the GOFL playoffs. Regular reporter Jeff Maguire was on holidays so some other guy is the author.

Carp takes game one 1-0 as Cox throws a no-hitter

email msg Joe McCleary and Eric Rosenquist

Carp I4C Victory took game one of the GOFL semi-final series by a score of 1-0 against Quyon COMBAT Flyers on the Quebec side Tuesday night.

Frank Cox was the winner, throwing a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts. Drew Hathway was the hard luck loser for the Flyers with a three-hitter.

The game's only run came in the top of the sixth after Victory's Aaron Amo walked. When Amo stole second, he was hit by the throw and the ball bounced into the outfield allowing Amo to scored the game's only run.

Game two in the best-of-three series will be Thursday night in Carp at 8pm.

Carp hitting
Brooks Paziuk - 2 hits, walk
Tim Power - 1 hit
Aaron Amo - walk, stolen base, run

Carp pitching
Frank Cox - WIN - 7IP 0R 0H 2BB 17K

Quyon pitching
Drew Hathway - LOSS - 7IP 1R 0ER 3H 1BB

New Zealand Black Sox "no dope" policy

The New Zealand Black Sox national fastball team has brought in a strict "zero tolerance" policy for smoking dope.

I guess it must be performance enhancing?

Newfoundlanders at the ISC World Tourney

An interesting article on Newfoundlanders playing at the ISC World tournament last week in Michigan.

Kanata Pirates peewee girls win PWSA Select tourney

Congrats to the Kanata Pirates peewee girls team on their big win.

Senior Men's Nationals in PEI

The schedule and team information has been posted for the Canadian Senior Men's Nationals in Charlottetown, PEI next week. There are 10 teams participating - unfortunately it appears to be more of an "Eastern Canadians" as there are six provinces represented but the farthest western team is Owen Sound.

The schedule is online and things get under way with the first game on Sunday Aug 29 at 10am with Team Quebec facing Fredricton.

Team rosters are posted here. Four players from Quyon are on Team Quebec. Frank Cox from Carp I4C Victory is playing for the host PEI team.

Ten teams are as follows:
St John's, NL 3 Cheers Pub
St John's, NL West Side Charlies
Owen Sound, ON Verge Selects
Kitchener, ON Rivershark Twins
Team Quebec
Fredericton, NB Coors Light Twins
Charlottetown, PE Gahan House Fawcetts
Glace Bay, NS Mets
Brookfield, NS Elks
Halifax, NS Blackburn Transport

GOFL Semi-finals preview

With the top four seeds advancing in the GOFL playoffs, the following match ups will be on tap for best-of-three series to see which teams advance to the finals.

Kars Aces (1st) vs Stittsville 56ers (4th)
In the past seven years, no other team has won the GOFL (and the predecessor Kemptville Men's Fastball League) championship other than Team Easton (Kars' previous incarnation won it 2003 thru 2007) or Stittsville (2008 and 2009). Trivia question - what team was it that won in 2002? First one to get it right in the comments gets a free Labatt 50 next time they are in Fitzroy.
The Aces swept the season series against the 56ers, winning all three games: 7-0 on May 19, 8-4 at the Showcase on June 5 and 6-4 on June 23. The schedule is to be determined for this series will be posted once available.

Quyon COMBAT Flyers (2nd) vs Carp I4C Victory (3rd)
Quyon and Carp will also play down for a spot in the GOFL finals. Neither team has ever won the league playoff championship. Quyon was a finalist last year, losing out to Stittsville. Carp hasn't been to the finals since they joined the league in 2006.
The Flyers took the season series with two wins and a tie. Carp lost 6-0 in Quyon on May 27, while the doubleheader in Carp on July 15 resulted in a 7-4 win for Quyon and a rare 0-0 tie.
The schedule is as follows:
Game 1: Tuesday August 24, 8pm in Quyon (time updated)
Game 2: Thursday August 26, 8pm in Carp
Game 3: TBD - to be played after Labour Day - Quyon has half their team at the Senior Canadians during the last week of August.

Quyon wins 6-1 over WC Electric to move on to semis

A nice crowd was on had to see the Quyon COMBAT Flyers defeat West Carleton Electric 6-1 in GOFL playoffs on Monday night in an error-free ball game in Fitzroy, as the Flyers moved on to the semi-final round with a two games to none sweep. This means that all four top GOFL seeds advance.

Drew Hathway had the win, throwing a three hitter, while Steve Cavanagh took the loss with relief from Jeff Barber.

Quyon took the lead in the top of the second. Nick Armitage doubled with one out and scored on Steve McCord's RBI single.

In the fourth, Matt Greer led off for Quyon with a solo homer. Then Armitage singled and scored on another McCord RBI single to put the Flyers up 3-0.

In the top of the fifth, Cavanagh was removed for Jeff Barber to come in and pitch.

Another run in the sixth made it 4-0 for Quyon. Hathway singled to lead off, moved to second on Armitage's sac bunt and scored on yet another McCord RBI single.

For the first five innings, Hathway had a perfect game going. WC Electric finally got some baserunners in the bottom of the sixth. Jon Daley doubled with one out. Dave Bahm came in to pinch hit and singled to shallow left. Daley attempted to score, but a throw from Tim Craig was on the money for the out at home. Andy Barber then tripled, scoring Jason Armstrong who had re-entered to run for Bahm.

Quyon padded their lead in the seventh. Craig reached on a bunt single with one out, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a sac bunt by Troy Cote. After a Matt Greer walk, Craig scored on a Hathway single. Greer then scored on a single by Armitage to cap the scoring at 6-1.

When the Electric couldn't respond in the bottom of seven, Quyon advanced to the semi-finals.

The GOFL semi-finals will see Quyon face Carp I4C Victory and Kars Aces against Stittsville 56ers. Quyon and Carp will get things going right away with a game on Tuesday night (Aug 24) in Quyon at 7:30. Games in the Kars/Stittsville series are to be determined.

Quyon pitching
Drew Hathway WIN 7IP 1R 1ER 3H 0BB 9K

Fitzroy pitching
Steve Cavanagh LOSS 4IP 3R 3ER 5H 0BB 5K
Jeff Barber 3IP 3R 3ER 6H 1BB 2K

Quyon hitting
Tim Craig 1-4, R
Matt Greer 1-3, HR, RBI, BB, 2R
Drew Hathway 2-4, RBI, R
Nick Armitage 3-3, 2B, 2R, SAC
Steve McCord 3-3, 3RBI
Luke Young 1-3

Fitzroy hitting
Jon Daley 1-2, 2B
Dave Bahm 1-1
Andy Barber 1-3, 3B, RBI

EMC playoff article

Jeff Maguire of the EMC newspaper provides some playoff coverage.

Indoor Men's Fastball in Ottawa

from David Fox

The Ottawa Indoor Softball League would like to introduce indoor mens fastball (we've been running indoor mixed 3-pitch & mixed slo-pitch for the past 4 years in the fall & winter, see: indoorsoftball.ca).
----------------

Play fastball in the fall just like they do in California & Florida. The Ottawa Indoor Softball League (indoorsoftball.ca) is introducing Sunday night (9pm) indoor mens fastball at the Ben Franklin Superdome in Nepean on a half soccer field for $2025/team or $170/player (format to be determined by the players). Contact foxball@rogers.com if you have any questions.
Limited space is available, so send your cheques (payable to O.I.S.L.) ASAP to:

O.I.S.L.
37 Wittingham Drive
Ottawa, ON, K2G 6H5

Stittsville comes back to win 7-6 over Barrhaven

from John Craig

The second game of the three games series between the Stittsville 56ers and Barrhaven Broadway Blues ended in a come from behind 56ers 7-6 win to finish the series on Wednesday night in GOFL playoffs. Darren Featherstone had the win, and Dan Bradley had the save. Paul Ceppi took the loss for Barrhaven and Trevor Lahey faced one batter in relief.

The 56ers got behind early down 5 runs after 2 innings with Barrhaven scoring two runs in the 1st inning and followed that by adding three runs in the second. Then to start the bottom of the third inning with the 56ers reeling and not knowing where to turn the 2010 56ers pitching coach Dan Bradley made one of his smartest moves this year and changed the game calling off catcher Tyler Nystedt and pitcher Darren Featherstone.

The move worked as Barrhaven only scored 1 more run in the 4th inning on a triple by Don Cox followed by a Sac fly by Steve Edgerton.

The 56ers were still down 6 runs after 4 but things started to change based on Brads game calling philosophy change in the third.

In the top of the 5th inning the 56ers finally got on the board when Darren Ladouceur reached on a fielder’s choice and Nystedt reached on an error. This brought Scott Herriot to the plate who promptly hit a 2 run triple. The score after 5 was 6-2.

In the 6th Featherstone hit a double to lead things off this was followed by a single from Ryan Bond. Featherstone was held at third on the play. This brought Scott Jessiman to the plate who had a 1-1 count before launching a three run homerun to the opposite field. The score after 6 was 6-5 for Barrhaven.

In the top of the 7th Herriot lead off with a single this was followed up by John 'Cranky' Craig who laid down a nice sac bunt but reached on an error when the ball was thrown just out of the reach of the second baseman covering first. Herriot then stole third while a sleeping Cranky stood on first watching the play and not moving up to second on the play. Not to fear Scott Parsons picked up Cranky's mistake by earning a full count walk to load the bases. Herriot scored the tying run on a FC hit by Featherstone. This was followed up by a bloop single by Bond to score Parsons which ended up being the winning run.

In the bottom of the 7th the 56ers Coach Cranky made a rarely seen double switch bringing in Dan Bradley to close out the game and Dan Jessiman to catch the final inning. Barrhaven threatened in the bottom of the 7th when Trever Lahey singled and was moved over to second on a sac bunt by Lindsay Medynski. Bradley then struck out the next two batters to end the series.

Stittsville 56ers hitters
Scott Herriot 3-4 R 3B 2RBI
Ryan Bond 2-4 R 2RBI
Scott Jessiman 1-2 R HR 3RBI 2BB

Quyon finishes tied for third in ISC II tournament

with thanks to Gary Hargrove

The Quyon Combat Flyers finished tied for third in the ISC II side of the International Softball Congress Tournament at Midland, Michigan. Quyon finished the week at 4 wins and 4 losses.

In their final three games of the tournament, the Flyers defeated the Kitchener Outlaws 6-1 and Maccabi USA 7-0, before being elminated by the Wellington (ON) Sox 6-1, who went on to defeat the Wyevale Tribe 5-3 to win the ISC II tournament.

Quyon 6 Kitchener Outlaws 1. Drew Hathaway threw a four hitter and offensively Joel Langford went 2-4 and Joran Graham went 2-3.

Quyon 7 Maccabi USA 0. Joran Graham held Maccabi to two hits as the Flyers responded with seven runs in eight hits. Joel Langford went 3-4 at the plate, while Joran Graham and Steve Savard lead the team with two RBIs each.

Wellington Sox 6 Quyon 1. Todd Uhrig (ISC II Tournament MVP and Outstanding Pitcher) held the Flyers to four hits. Mike Noftall pitched five innings and was tagged with the loss. Drew Hathaway completed the game for Quyon.

All-Tournament Team All-stars. Joran Graham was one of three pitcher selected as a ISC II tournament all-star, while Joel Langford was one of five infielders selected. Joel was the top batter in the tournament with a .529 percentage at the plate.

Quyon at the ISCs - updates

I've been away with the family at a non-internet accessible cottage the last few days - hence the blog silence on Quyon at the ISCs. (Actual quote from the Caveman speaking to his brother in a particularly carefee moment a couple of days ago: "Junior! Guess what I'm not wearing! UNDERWEAR".) Here is a bit of an update.

After their defeat of St. Thomas, the Quyon COMBAT Flyers lost three straight at the ISC Worlds in Michigan.

NY Gremlins 7 - Quyon 4. Drew Hathway took the loss allowing 7 hits. Joel Langford was 2 for 3 off winning pitcher Bryan Newton.

Maccabi USA 2 - Quyon 1. Mike Noftall, Quyon pick up for the tourney took the loss. Russ Snow was the winner. Matt Greer had the lone Quyon RBI. Jeremy Spear, the guy that made Fastpitch-The Movie, was 3 for 3 for the Maccabi team.

Marshall, MI Lightning 5 - Quyon 1. Joran Graham took the loss, Sean Kelly had the win. Only two hits for Quyon, including a solo shot by Graham.

The Flyers moved on to the ISC II portion of the tournament.

Quyon 2 Frankenmuth, MI Tiffany's 1. Chad Hargrove threw a 4 hitter for the win. Matt Greer had two hits and Joe McCleary and Nick Armitage had RBIs.

Quyon's next game is tonight at 5pm.

Kars wins 6-1 over North Gower in GOFL playoffs

info from Cory Morrison

Kars won their quarterfinal series with a 6-1 victory in North Gower on Tuesday night.

Brad Porter got the win while Shannon Borho took the loss. Cory Morrison and Matt Alkerton had 2Rbi's for Kars while Kevin Chevrier was 2/3. Eric Sanchez had an Rbi single for the Marlies.

The Aces now join Carp in the semi-final round with their opponents to be determined based on the other two series to be completed.

Stittsville will try to clinch their series in Manotick tonight at 8pm as they face Barrhaven up 1-0.

Quyon and Fitzroy Harbour will play game 2 of their series on Monday when the Flyers are back from Michigan, with Quyon a game up.

Quyon wins opener over St Thomas - link to details now available

Quyon used a big six-run sixth to defeat St Thomas, ON Storm 7-3 at the ISCs in Midland, MI on Saturday night. Joran Graham had the win with a two-hitter. Luke Leahy the loss and had relief from Dan Beecroft.

The Flyers only managed three hits but scored 4 runs on passed balls/wild pitches in this game. All runs scored by the Storm were unearned as they plated three on a error in the fifth.

Box scores and "play by play posted" online here.

Next up is a tough game against the NY Gremlins. This game was scheduled for 8pm on Sunday and was to be videocast on the 'net. Not sure if weather related issues will change the scheduled time or not - link to the PPV is here.

The 34-inning ISC game

A story about the famous 34-inning game back at the 1981 ISCs in Saginaw, Michigan.

Elkland Labo(u)r Day update

from Billy Sherman, Genny Light drinkin' fastball pitcher

The Elkland softball association has 17 teams committed and has room for more for this year's 58th annual Durk Sherman classic double elimination men's open fastpitch softball tournament held over Labor Day weekend from September 3 - 6, 2010 in Elkland Pennsylvania.

Here are the teams that are committed:
ESA Bellys
Knoxville/Ontario
Kars Aces
Shaggy Dog
J A Transportation
Williamsport
Jersey Shore Generals
West Carleton Electric
Elkland Juniors
I4C Victory
RF Linemen
Greenbush Generals
Aqua Specialists
Hoffmans Power
Wyeville Tribe
First Kings
Keatings Fitness Center

5,200.00$ in ESA/ Elkland Moose lodge #746 prize money awarded to the top 6 finishing teams with just a 250.00$ entry fee. Any other teams interested please contact Bill Sherman. Thanks, Bill Sherman
ESAesabill30@yahoo.com
814-258-7096 HOME
814-258-5229 Elkland softball association

ISC World Tournament starts

The ISC World Tournament has started in Midland, Michigan.

Things get started for the Quyon COMBAT Flyers on Saturday night at 9pm against the St. Thomas Storm.

Carp defeats Blitz 6-3 to sweep

Carp I4C Victory swept their quarter-final series with a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Blitz in GOFL playoff action on Thursday night in Carp.

Neil Cooke had the win for Carp, while Derick Bulley took the loss for the Blitzos.

Carp will now move on the semi-finals.

Feature story on Cory Alkerton

From the Brockville Recorder Times

My favourite quote: "Alkerton is not shy...." No kidding!

Alkerton claims first national gold
Posted By RON SMITH , SPORTS EDITOR

For the first time in his young life, Cory Alkerton is a Canadian champion.
The 20-year-old Alkerton was a pitcher on the Napanee Express, winners of the Canadian junior men's fastball championships in Nova Scotia last weekend.
In front of more than 4,000 fans, the Ontario-based team beat Nova Scotia 6-1 in the championship game for players ages 19 to 23.
"We're the best junior men's fastball team in the second biggest country in the world," said Alkerton. "This is something I've never felt before. It's the best feeling I've had in my life yet, very cool."
It was his first medal from a national championships.
"Finally getting a medal, even better getting a gold medal," said Alkerton, the son of Darcy and Susan.
Full of energy and enthusiasm, Alkerton said it was a fun, 17-hour car drive home after the tournament, talking about the championships.
Alkerton, who played with Napanee at last year's midget boys fastball nationals, enjoyed the emotion of the championship.
"I remember the last out and not much after that," said Alkerton. "It was just a whole pile of guys screaming but you couldn't hear a sound."
On a team with three righthanded pitchers, the lefthanded Alkerton was viewed as the team's relief pitcher, coming in to finish off games.
He did start and finish one game in the round-robin where Napanee ended up with a 7-1 won-loss record.
Otherwise, he finished off games and was the sparkplug to ensure the bench was always lively and into the games.
Napanee wasn't the favoured team in the tournament, noted Alkerton. The team just played well all the way through.
"I never saw a team come through and play like that. We didn't have a game where the guys were sitting back. It was whiteknuckle to the piping, going all the time," said Alkerton.
Alkerton isn't able to relax yet.
He leaves on Friday to play with a Cobourg team at the men's world fastball championships in Michigan.
It's been a busy season for the young leftie.
He played for a men's team in Florida in January, another men's team in Alabama in June and has been pitching for some team, somewhere, every weekend since June.
When he returns from Michigan, he's headed away to Pennsylvania to play in another two-week men's fastball tournament.
Alkerton credits Jason Smith, a top Canadian pitcher who will also be on the Cobourg team in Michigan this weekend, for opening doors, setting him up with contacts and mentoring him in the fastball pitching world.
Alkerton is not shy and is always willing to talk to other pitchers to get better.
Thanks to spending time with fastball Hall of Famer Ted Hoy of Cardinal, Alkerton has learned how to throw varieties of changeups to go with his riseball and dropball.
He's spent time, pen and notebook in hand, talking to Oshawa's Pete Landers, a name well-known to fastball fans.
He's looking forward to learning from legend Darren Zack at the world championships.
"I'm going to be able to talk to Darren Zack. He has an unbelievable amount of knowledge. You can't put a price on that," said Alkerton. "The man was just a genius at getting the ball around the bat. He was one of the best in the world for 20 years."
Alkerton is learning about pitching as opposed to just throwing.
In men's fastball, he knows he can't overpower hitters with his rise and dropball. He has to keep them off-balance with off-speed pitches, changing speeds and location.
The idea is to get hitters out and it doesn't matter how he does it, noted Alkerton.
He's looking ahead past Pennsylvania, trying to find a building already where he can throw through the winter months.

Kars edge North Gower 2-0 in Game 1

info from Cory Morrison and Anil Hayne

Kars Aces took a 1-0 lead in their playoff series over the North Gower Marlboroughs win a 2-0 win at Manotick last night.

Pitching was the name of the game in this one as the throwers combined for 30 strikeouts in the contest. Brad Porter had the win, giving up three hits and striking out 17. Shannon Borho took the loss, allowing only four hits and striking out 13.

The speedy Kristian Knapp scored on a passed ball in the first to get the Aces a 1-0 lead. Lukas Kamps' well placed bunt single scored Matt Alkerton in the fifth for the insurance run.

Chad Costello was 2/3 for Kars while Anil Hayne was 1/2 for the Marlboroughs.

Carp 19 Blitz 0 - Frank Cox perfect over five

with info from Eric Rosenquist and Eric Colvin

Carp I4C Victory won in a big way in Game 1 of their playoffs series against the Ottawa Blitz, by a 19-0 score in five innings on Wednesday night in Manotick.

Frank Cox was the winning pitcher, perfect over 5 innings, throwing 11 strikeouts to catcher Al Read. Jamie Blakely took the loss for the Blitz with relief from Derek Bergeron.

Victory put 11 runs across the plate in the top of the fifth. Kevin McGuire was a double short of the cycle and had 6 RBIs for Carp.

The Blitz will attempt to rebound in Game 2 tonight at 8:30 in Carp.

Stittsville Squeaks Out A Win in Game 1

Parsons' Hits Walk Off Shot For 56ers
from John Craig

Game 1 of the 56ers vs. Broadway Blues series went Wednesday night at the Alexander Grove park in Stittsville. Stittsville won 8-5, with Darren Featherstone taking the win and Trevor Lahey the loss.

Pick it up in the top of the first when Joe Allan singled for Barrhaven and was moved to second on a Jordan Adams sac bunt, but that was as close as he got as the 56ers retired 2 of the next 3 to end the inning.

Stittsville was quiet in the first with a lone single by Dan Jessiman and Barrhaven matched in the top of the second when Smith reached first on an error only to have Featherstone retire the side.

Stittsville took the lead in the second on a single by Scott Jessiman and Dan Bradley's double cashed him in.

Barrhaven followed up immediately with another Allan single and a walk to Steve Edgerton and both scored on a Calvin Medynski single, Blues lead 2-1.

Barrhaven picked up another run in the 4th when Allan's third single of the game cashed in Adams, and they grabbed another in the 5th on singles from Edgerton, Don Cox, and Cal Medynski now leading 4-1.

The 56ers loaded the bases in the 3rd but were unable to cash in and despite adding a run in the 5th the bats went pretty quiet through the 4th 5th, and 6th.

The Blues added what was hoped to be insurance in the top of the 7th as Cox scored off singles to C. Medynski and Adams taking a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th.

Stittsville found their bats in the 7th when Scott Herriot singled, Ryan Bond drew a walk and Dan Jessiman then singled cashing in (Dirty) Herriot- 5-3. Featherstone then hit a blooper to shallow right and Bond and D. Jessiman were forced to tag up as Jessiman just beat the throw into second. S. Jessiman kept things rolling driving in 2 with a single to tie the game as D. Jessiman scored from second on a crafty head first wide sweeping slide into home, all square at 5. After going down 0-2 in the count Scott Parsons belted a 3 run walk off shot to hand the 56ers the win. The score sheet shows 8-5 but the game was much closer with Featherstone picking up the win and Lahey gets the loss.

Game 2 goes next Wednesday in Mantock at 8.

Notables

Barrhaven:
J. Allan, 3 for 4, 1R, 1RBI
C. Medynski 3 for 4, 2RBI

Stittsville:
D. Jessiman 4 for 4, 1R, 2 RBI
R. Bond 1 for 3, BB, 2R
S. Jessiman 2 for 3, 2R, 2RBI
S. Parsons, 3 run HR

ISC announces broadcast schedule

The ISC has announced the audio and video broadcast schedule from Midland next week. If Quyon wins their first game and moves on to face the NY Gremlins, their second game will be video broadcast.

Note that they are "pay per view" - all the details here.

Quyon wins game one 2-0 over WC Electric

Quyon COMBAT Flyers took a 1-0 lead in the quarter-final playoff series with a 2-0 victory over West Carleton Electric on the Quebec side on Tuesday night.

Recently returned from the Junior Nationals, Joran Graham was the winning pitcher, throwing a one hitter, while Jeff Barber threw well allowing only three hits while taking the loss for Fitzroy. Every starter for the Electric walked at least once, and they left eleven men on base, but failed to score a run.

Quyon scored both their runs in the bottom of the first. Shawn Laframboise's solo shot golfed out of the park made it 1-0. Then Nick Armitage and Joran Graham both walked and moved to second and third on a wild pitch. After a strike out, a ground out should have ended the inning but a wild throw to first allowed Armitage to score and make it 2-0.

The Electric had a chance to get the runs back in the second when three walks loaded the bases with one out. A hard hit ball by Mitch Taylor looked like it might score some runs, but the 4-2 put out at home made it two out, and another ground out ended the inning.

The Flyers had a good chance to score in the fifth when another walk to Joran Graham and a single by Joe McCleary put men on first and second. However a ground out and a fly ball ended the threat.

Fitzroy again threatened in the seventh. Mitch Taylor, Derek Barber and Neil Murphy all walked and the bases were loaded with two out. A sharply hit ball by Troy Wilson was fielded cleanly by Armitage at shortstop and the game ended in a 2-0 victory for the home team.

Quyon pitching
Joran Graham WIN 7IP 0R 0ER 1H 9K 10BB

Fitzroy pitching
Jeff Barber LOSS 6IP 2R 1ER 3H 9K 4BB 1HBP

Quyon hitting
Shawn Laframboise 1-3, solo HR
Joran Graham 0-1, 2BB
Joe McCleary 1-3
Luke Young 1-2, BB

Fitzroy hitting
Derek Barber 1-3, BB
Jon Daley 0-1, 2BB

Triple play in Cornwall

Check this out - a triple play in the Cornwall League.

"We'll live 'er up tonight" - Media coverage of Junior Nationals

Some news stories on the Napanee win at the Junior Nats, with quotes from Joran.

From the Halifax paper: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1195970.html

This is from the Kingston paper. I like the quote from Napanee shortstop Kyle Lloyd in this one: http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2704011

About defending the title next year as Napanee hosts the Jr Nats in 2011: http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2704010

GOFL Playoffs ready to start

The GOFL regular season in now in the books for 2010. The final standings will be as follows:

1. Kars Aces 16-3-0 32pts
2. Quyon COMBAT Flyers 14-4-3 31pts
3. Carp I4C Victory 11-7-3 25pts
4. Stittsville 56ers 11-9-1 23pts
5. Barrhaven Broadway Blues 7-12-2 16pts
6. Ottawa Blitz 6-13-2 14pts
7. Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric 6-14-1 13pts
8. North Gower Marlboroughs 2-11-6 10pts

First round matchups are best-of-three and will be as follows.

Kars vs North Gower
Since the final doubleheader of the season will not be played between these two teams in the interest of getting the playoffs started, the Aces and Marlies only faced each other once this season, a 10-3 win for Kars on July 6.
Game 1: North Gower at Kars - Weds Aug 11 in Manotick 9pm
Game 2: Kars at North Gower - Tues Aug 17 in North Gower 8pm
Game 3: TBD

Quyon vs Fitzroy Harbour
The cross-border rivals will face each other in a series affected by the fact that the Flyers will be at the ISC Worlds in Michigan, hence the long break between game 1 and game 2. The season series was lopsided this season, as Quyon defeated WC Electric by scores of 7-0 on May 6, 8-0 on June 18, and 7-3 in the Harbour Days game on July 2.
Game 1: Fitzroy at Quyon - Tues Aug 10 in Quyon 7:30pm
Game 2: Quyon at Fitzroy - Mon Aug 23 in Fitzroy 7:30pm
Game 3: Fitzroy at Quyon - Tues Aug 24 in Quyon 7:30pm (if necessary)

Carp vs. Ottawa
While these two teams were separated by 11 points in the standings, the season series was evenly split. The first game was a 5-5 tie on May 12, Carp won 8-2 on June 10 and the Blitz won 6-4 on July 22.
Game 1: Carp at Blitz - Wed Aug 11 in Manotick 7pm
Game 2: Blitz at Carp - Thur Aug 12 in Carp 8:30pm
Game 3: TBD

Stittsville vs. Barrhaven
The 56ers had the advantage in this series, taking two games and tying another. The doubleheader on June 9 was a sweep by Stittsville with a 9-2 win in the opener and a 2-0 rain shortened victory in the nightcap. On July 7 the teams tied at 8-8.
Game 1: Barrhaven at Stittsville - Wed Aug 11 in Stittsville 8:30pm
Game 2: Stittsville at Barrhaven - Wed Aug 18 in Manotick 8pm
Game 3: TBD

Napanee wins Junior Canadians Gold

thanks to Gary Hargrove and Joe McCleary for the heads up

The Napanee were Gold Medalists at the Junior Men's Canadians in Nova Scotia today.

Napanee finished the qualifying round in first place and won their first playoff round game defeated Saskatoon 9-8. Joran Graham drove in the winning runs with a 2 run shot in the bottom of the sixth.

In their second playoff game against the host team, St Croix, NS Murphy's Fish and Chips, the winner was guaranteed a berth in the gold medal game. The Express lost 9-1 in 5 innings. Graham took the loss. Cory Alkerton also saw some pitching action in this game.

So the Express then had to beat the perenially strong Owen Sound team. Final score was 5-1 for Napanee as Graham earned the victory and a berth in the finals.

In the final this afternoon, the Napanee Express earned revenge for their early defeat and beat the host St Croix, NS Murphy's Fish and Chips 6-1 in the gold medal game of the Junior Men's Nationals. An estimated 3,000 fans were in attendance for the final. Joran Graham was the winning pitcher for the second time on Sunday.

This finished an excellent tournament for Graham, who was named the qualifying round MVP. Kudos as well to Joel Langford, a Napanee pickup, on earning all-star honours at second base. Congratulations guys on being national champs and representing the area and the GOFL in fine form. Both Graham and Langford will be suiting up for the Quyon COMBAT Flyers at the ISC World Tournament in Michigan later this month.

Walkerton defeats Stratford in Midget Nats final

In the final of the Midget Nationals in Stratford, the Walkerton Wild won the gold medal final in 10 innings over the host team but a score of 7-6.

Statistics from Junior Nationals

The statistics for top batters and pitchers have been posted following the completion of round robin play (9 games for each team) at the Junior Nationals in St Croix, NS.  A couple of GOFLers amongst the leaders.  Napanee has finished first in the round robin, and gets a double life in the playoff round.  Thanks to Moe Laframboise for the heads up.

 

Final round-robin batting and pitching leaders

BATTING (by average - min. 23 plate appearances)

Mathieu Roy (QC) .500
Brad Ezekiel (DC) .480
Cory Avery (HOST) .474
Blake Hunter (HOST) .462
Kyle Lloyd (ON2) .450
Zach Sill (HOST) .440
Joran Graham (ON2) .440
Tyler Whynot (HOST) .429
Donnelly Archibald (HOST) .417
Darrin Newson (ON1) .391
Mathieu Vermette (QC) .375
Joel Langford (ON2) .370
Blake Underwood (ON1) .360
Scott Lealess (ON1) .360
Kyle Ezekiel (DC) .357

PITCHING (by earned-run average, min. 20 innings pitched)

Joran Graham (ON2) 0.26
(4-0 record, 37 strikeouts in 27 innings)
Luke Leahy (ON1) 2.07
(3-0 record , 33 strikeouts in 20.3 innings)
Devon McCullough (SK1) 2.14
(4-1 record, 52 strikeouts in 32.7 innings)
Brady Woods (SK1) 2.37
(1-2 record, 44 strikeouts in 23.7 innings)
Scott Lieph (BC) 2.84
(3-4 record, 45 strikeouts in 37 innings)
Dustin Keshane (SK2) 3.03
(2-5 record, 72 strikeouts in 34.7 innings)
Shawn Koster (BC) 3.33
(1-1 record, 19 strikeouts in 21 innings)
Dustin Veenhof (ON1) 3.85
(2-2 record, 24 strikeouts in 23.7 innings) 

 

Final standings

1. ON2 (Napanee Express) 8-1
2. ON1 (Owen Sound Selects) 7-2
3. HOST (Murphy's Fish and Chips Eagles) 6-3
4. SK1 (Saskatoon Diamondbacks) 6-3

5. QC (Quebec) 5-4
6. SK2 (Saskatchewan FSIN Chiefs) 4-5
7. BC (Sooke Smoke) 4-5
8. DC (Kelly's Pub Canadians, N.L.) 3-6
9. ON3 (Linwood Chiefs) 2-7
10. ON4 (Selkirk Steelers) 0-9

 

Championship round

Friday, 6 p.m.-- C1: ON2 (Napanee) vs. SK1 (Saskatoon)
Friday, 8 p.m.-- C2: ON1 (Owen Sound) vs. HOST (Murphy's Fish and Chips Eagles)

Saturday, 9 a.m. -- C3: QC (Quebec) vs. DC (Kelly's Pub Canadians, N.L.)
Saturday, 11 a.m. -- C4: SK2 (Saskatchewan FSIN Chiefs) vs. BC (Sooke Smoke)
Saturday, 1 p.m. -- C5: Loser C1 vs. winner C3
Saturday, 3 p.m. -- C6: Loser C2 vs. winner C4
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. -- C7: Winner C1 vs. winner C2
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. -- C8: Winner C5 vs. winner C6

Sunday, 11 a.m. -- C9: Loser C7 vs. winner C8
Sunday, 2 p.m. (Championship game) -- C10: Winner C7 vs. winner C9. 
 

Stratford to meet Walkerton in finals of Midget Nationals

Oshawa BBs went undefeated through 9 games, but they lost two today and earned the bronze medal as they lost 4-3 to the host Stratford Memorials in the semi-final game. The host team will face Walkerton Wild for gold. The final will be webcast live.

The Kingston Whig has some coverage on both the Midget and Junior Canadians.

Congrats Pudge

As per this Cornwall Standard-Freeholder article, Barrhaven Broadway Blues player Mike Branchaud will inducted this month into the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame, joining his dad Ron.

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2700795

Mike Branchaud has been synonymous with softball excellence in Cornwall since the late 1980s.
After becoming one of the preeminent pitchers and hitters on the Cornwall fastball scene, Branchaud began to get recruited to compete on All-Star and tournament teams which eventually led to a long career as part of the world famous King & His Court four-man Softball Team led by Eddie Feigner.

Branchaud 's fastball was once clocked at 91 miles an hour and his home runs are the stuff of legend.
Branchaud collected several MVPs in Cornwall before being a key member of the 1993 silver medal winning Ottawa team at the Eastern Canadian Championships.

His performance at that tournament led to a tryout with Eddie Feigner's four-man team. The tryout was videotaped for the NBC news program "NOW" with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric.

He also won two batting titles with averages over .500 prior to joining the King & His Court full time in 1994.
Branchaud 's highlights while playing alongside Feigner include 226 home runs 1994 and once being labeled the future of the King & His Court the 1998 program used by the touring group.

Branchaud was named first team All World at the ISC World Tournament in 1999.
Branchaud has won numerous batting and pitching awards throughout Canada and the U.S.
Branchaud still plays in the Eastern Ontario Fastball League and has been a part-time participant with the King & His Court since 2000.

To quote "the King" Eddie Feigner, "For his age, Mike's the fastest pitcher I have seen in many years."
Branchaud is currently employed as Manager of Canadian Championships and Domestic Services with Softball Canada.

Fastball story from Nova Scotia

Check out this story from Nova Scotia: Brookfield, NS Elks shortstop and clean up hitter Chris Hopewell gets blinded in a freak fastball injury a month before the Senior Canadians. Details here: http://www.trurodaily.com/Sports/2010-07-28/article-1629641/Hopewell-loses-vision-in-left-eye/1.

GOFL regular season finishes

In the doubleheader tonight in Carp, only one actual game ended up getting played.

Barrhaven Broadway Blues had to forfeit their game due to player shortage / injuries so Kars Aces picked up the two points and sealed first place in the GOFL.

In the second game, which was actually played, Carp I4C Victory defeated Kars Aces by a score of 7-0. Neil Cooke had the win while Joel Patterson took the loss with relief from Chris Hall. Aaron Amo and Brooks Paziuk had homers for Carp. This win gives Carp third place in the standings.

Word is that the final two regular season games between Kars and North Gower will not be played and the league will move on to the first round of playoffs with best-of-three quarter final series.

Kars (1st) vs North Gower (8th)
Quyon (2nd) vs Fitzroy Harbour (7th)
Carp (3rd) vs Ottawa (6th)
Stittsville (4th) vs Barrhaven (5th)

Playoff scheduling information will posted as soon as confirmed.

Fitzroy Fastball Junior - Blog Diary

The kids today! Fitzroy Fastball Junior and the Caveman are pretty fortunate lads. Mrs Fastball is a teacher (favourite part of teaching: July and August) so that means all kinds of fun for them the entire summer. Back in the 70s when I was a wee t-baller, summer excitement meant a double episode of the Flintstones and Spiderman with a bowl of Kraft Dinner at lunch followed by a game of "scrub" or "500 up" with the neighbourhood kids.

Let's pretend that Fitzroy Fastball Junior had a diary (in blog format of course) - if he did, a recent week would have looked something like this.

Friday July 23: Daddy is playing ball this weekend. He has some friends visiting and staying at our house. Daddy says they are AMERICANS. I can't wait to meet some real U.S. Americans! [His question to me: "Are they really Americans, Daddy?" He made it sound like he was meeting the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.]

Saturday July 24: Met the Americans this morning. They seem pretty much like normal people, except they talk a bit funny. They left a bunch of "Genny Light" cans around the house. I asked Daddy if it was beer and he laughed and said "more like monkey piss", and then Mommy got mad at Daddy for using a bad word.




Later on in the day, we got to go watch some of Daddy's games at the tournament. Caveman and I were excited. Daddy wasn't playing though. He just stood near third base waving his arms around. So at the second game Caveman and I kept bugging Daddy saying "when will you play, Daddy, go in and hit, we want to see you play". Finally Daddy went in to hit and did his grunting thing when he swung at the ball. He tried hard but he didn't hit it very far and the other guy caught it. Caveman and I tried not to laugh and told him good try.

Monday July 26: Tonight was drop in softball night that Daddy runs down at the Community Centre. Caveman and I went as well as six other kids. We got to catch some pop flies, get some grounders and practice hitting. It was funny when Caveman took his turn to hit. After watching Daddy on the weekend, every time Caveman swung the bat he grunted "arrrrggghhh" just like Daddy does!

Tuesday July 27: Daddy was playing ball again and it was an early game so Mommy said we could watch some of it. Daddy kept hitting it right to the other team - he's not near as good as #15 Trevor. He's my favourite player.

Wednesday July 28: Today Mommy and I and a bunch of other mommies and kids went on a big bike ride in the big city. We left Caveman behind with Cousin Dilly - he slows us down too much with his training wheels. When we got to the big city, we met this guy that Mommy said was kind of famous. I've never heard of him - Mommy said his name was Max Creeping or something like that.

[Note the dart in Max's hand]

Thursday July 29: Today was definitely my most fun day so far of the summer! First, Grandma took me to the mini-putt. And we also got to go the driving range for the first time. I hit one out ninety yards. Caveman tried as well - but it looked like he was taking slap shots with his golf club. Then we went back to Grandma's pool for a swim.

Next up was a visit to Uncle at the fire station. He is so cool! We got to go for a ride in the ladder truck. Then Uncle let us use the joystick to move the aerial ladder around from the ground. It's easy, just like a video game. When Caveman got to try I think Uncle was a bit worried as he was moving it around really fast and the whole fire truck started to shake! Then they had to put the truck back in the station.

After that was the breakdancing class at the Library with B-Boy Breadcrumbs. [Note: Fitzroy Junior is probably the whitest person in Fitzroy - and that's a pretty significant accomplishment. If you have never met him in person, he looks something like this. Mrs Fastball and I are just hoping he doesn't turn out like this.]

I was very excited to learn all the cool breakdancing moves. I am pretty good at most of the dance steps. [No he's not.] Caveman was too young to go to the lesson, but I am teaching him all I know.

At the end of the day, we got to go to go see Ambush at the Concert in the Park. I busted out a few of my new dance moves and for the very last song I got to go on stage in front of the huge crowd! They let Caveman on stage as well - good thing too or he might went after one of the old band guys.

What a day! When I went to bed that night, Daddy told me "don't expect every day to be like today".

There you have it - not a bad week for a seven year old.

Napanee 7-1 at Junior Nats

The Napanee Express are now 7-1 at the Junior Nationals in Nova Scotia. They have one game remaining against the host team and are guaranteed a double life in the playoff round. Both Joel Langford and Joran Graham had strong games for Napanee in their 7-1 win over Sooke, BC today.

Sydenham gets beat out of Midget Nationals

Sydenham Cyclones finished the Midget Nationals round robin with a 6-1 and earned a double life in the playoff round - but they lost two straight and will not advance to the final four on Friday. Sydenham lost 1-0 to the Oshawa BBs, then 7-4 to Newfoundland. They will finish 5th of the 16 teams at the event.

Stratford beats Sydenham 4-1

Sydenham lost 4-1 in their final round robin game to the host team on Wednesday night at the Midget Nationals, giving them second place in their pool.

Nationals update

They are in a rain delay at the Junior Nationals in Nova Scotia. The website does have some new stats posted - Joran Graham is leading all throwers in ERA.

At the Midget Nationals in Stratford, Sydenham beat Langford, BC today to go to 6-0. The Cyclones are tied with the host team who also won today. The teams play their final round robin game tonight at 7pm against east other to see who will be the first seed in their pool. Based on his previous outings, look for Andy Barber to get the ball in this one.

Kingston Whig articles

The Kingston Whig has some articles about Napanee Juniors and Sydenham Midgets at their respective National tournaments. Check here and here

Napanee at 3 and 1 at Junior Nationals

The Napanee Express are currently tied for second with a record of 3 and 1 at the Junior Nationals. Their only loss is to the Owen Sound team. Team Quebec, who attended the Gil Read Memorial Tournament, are also a surprising 3 and 1 at the Natties. Their loss was also to Owen Sound, who are 4 and 1.

Not surprisingly, Joran Graham appears to be having a strong tournament.

Sydenham goes to 5-0 at Midget Nationals

The Sydenham Cyclones defeated Saskatoon by a score of 2-0 this afternoon. Andy Barber had the complete game win, striking out 10. He was also named MVP of the game. Congrats Android and good luck in your upcoming games.

Kars / NG games postponed

The Kars / North Gower doubleheader on Wednesday was postponed. They are working on a make up date to get the games in before playoffs start.

Kars will be facing Barrhaven (7pm) and Carp (9pm) in a doubleheader on Thursday in Carp.

Sydenham 4 and 0 at Nationals

The Sydenham Cyclones have 4 wins and no losses at the Midget Nationals in Stratford, ON. They have beaten Viking, AB 9-2, Saskatoon, SK Selects 3-2, West Hants, NS 11-0 and Fredricton, NB 17-0.

Andy Barber has a win and a save on the slab for the Cyclones. Next up for Sydenham is a game against the Saskatoon Young Guns who are 2-1. This game starts at 1pm and will be webcast at http://www.2010midgetboys.ca/webcast_3.asp