Things looking up for Napanee fastball teams

By Mike Koreen/The Whig-Standard
With little on the line, two Napanee Express junior fastball teams delivered promising performances this weekend.

As a result of their play at Ontario eliminations in Owen Sound, the North Key Express and the Shoeless Joe's Express will enter the national under-23 championship in Napanee next month feeling optimistic.

The defending national champion North Key Express bounced back from a loss in their opener to reach the final, where Napanee lost 6-1 to the reigning elimination champion Owen Sound Selects on Sunday.

The Shoeless Joe's Express, in the nationals as the host team, went 3-2 on the weekend and finished sixth at the 14-team event.

The North Key Express, of course, will be in the spotlight Aug. 8 to 14 at the Napanee Fairgrounds. The elimination tune-up showed the players and the coaches that the team is ready to compete against all the top squads.

"After losing the first game (against another Owen Sound entry), it's definitely a good weekend for us to come all the way back and reach the final," said Dave Kerr, who coaches the team with Joe Lewis. "(The final) was our third game in six hours and it was really hot out there. The boys were starting to run out of gas and we've already qualified (for nationals), so it's hard to get guys motivated. We started to wear down a bit."

Napanee won five in a row after the Friday night setback, setting up a confrontation with Owen Sound in the elimination final for the second year in a row.

The championship game really was an exhibition for both teams. Two national berths were up for grabs for the rest of the field and they were secured by undefeated Owen Sound and the Linwood Chiefs, who lost 5-0 against North Key earlier Sunday in a semifinal. Owen Sound won bronze last year at nationals.

"We had to come the long way back (to reach the final) and they were kind of there waiting for us," Kerr said. "It's kind of what we expected (for the weekend)."

Kerr and Lewis were pleased with all three of the team's pitchers — Ian Wallwork, ace Joran Graham and Cory Alkerton. (Pitcher Josh Lockridge of Kingston is battling a knee injury).

Graham also swung a hot bat, belting three home runs. Left fielder Luke MacDonald was the other big hitter for the defending champs.

"Everybody got some good playing time and the pitchers got some work," Kerr said.

Coaches with the Shoeless Joe's Express felt much the same way. The team's only two losses were against the host Owen Sound squads.

"We did very well," manager Daryl MacDonald said. "We showed everybody who we are and what we can do."

One highlight was a 10-3 win over the reigning Canadian midget champion Walkerton Southwestern Jays. The Express also beat the Jarvis Juniors and Freelton.

Matt Hannwich and Jordan Wrightly did the pitching for Napanee. Fellow pitcher Kyle Arsenault was sidelined because of work commitments.

"We kind of wanted to get up there and prove we deserve to be (at nationals)," MacDonald said. "Now, we know what we have."

The Shoeless Joe's Express, MacDonald said, relied on their speed to make things difficult on opposing defences.

"It was just an all-around effort (offensively)," he said.

Meanwhile, the Sydenham Cyclones went two-and-out, falling 15-6 to Linwood and 8-2 against the Newmarket Stingers.

Both Napanee teams will continue playing a Loughborough League schedule in July. Later this month, they'll travel to Ottawa for a tournament.

At the Ontario bantam eliminations in Stratford this weekend, the Napanee Allen Insurance Group Express went 1-2.

Napanee opened with a 9-7 win over the host Stratford Memorials before losing 10-3 against Kitchener-Waterloo and 8-6 against Pickering.

Next weekend, teams from Napanee and Belleville compete in the Ontario peewee eliminations in Penetanguishene.