Elkland Labour Day Durk Sherman Tournament

The Elkland Labour Day Durk Sherman Classic tournament starts tonight (Friday) and runs through Monday September 3 in Elkland, PA.

There are 18 teams this year, including five from eastern Ontario: West Carleton Electric, Kars Aces, Carp I4C Victory, Orleans Rebels and Greenbush Generals.

The bracket has been released on Al's Fastball for the 60th Annual Durk Sherman Tournament. It's a modified double knockout with a three game guarantee.

Great ball, excellent venue, outstanding atmosphere, top notch chicken dinners, cheap pints = good times.

The Fitzroy Fastball media empire does not include any way to update the blog properly down there, but I am hopeful I will be able to provide some updates via Twitter from the @fitzroyfastball account using the hashtag #Elkand2012.

Once back, I will do my best to create the much anticipated "Memories of Elkland" post as I have done for the last five years I have attended.

*******************

I was talking to the boys telling them that I was off to visit my US American friends in Elkland this weekend. Since everytime he's in the USA mommy goes shopping, Caveman automatically asked if I would be hitting the malls while down there. I told him probably not, but that I might stop in at Dick's Sporting Goods on the way down for a quick look.

Caveman: "Oh Daddy, I like that store. Could you maybe get me a t-shirt from there? How about one that says 'I love Dicks', could you get me that, Daddy."

Midget All Star Game this weekend

from John Severson

The Greenbush midgets are hosting an All Star game including players aged 16 - 20 from the 6 Augusta Softball League midget teams. The game will occur this Saturday night at 7:15pm.

Smiths Falls Peewees win provincial select title

from the Smiths Falls EMC

Smiths Falls Redmen dominate to capture peewee selects provincial softball championship


By Stacey Roy

The Smiths Falls Redmen Fastball Peewee Selects team's strategy to win the recent provincial tournament in Georgian Bay was simple - play hard, play smart and leave them in their dust.

"They didn't give anybody a chance," said coach Tom Burchill.

Throughout the five-game Ontario Amateur Softball Association (OASA) provincial tournament held Aug. 18 in Georgian Bay, the area team of 13 and 14 year-old players allowed 13 runs while making 52 runs of their own against some of the best teams around. Burchill said the high caliber of athletes did help the local players in one respect.

"Your competition brings you up," he said.

The Smiths Falls Redmen established their dominance early on in the tournament. Three round robin games were played to kick off the day-long event with scores of 8-1, 10-1 and 12-1 posted in favour of the local team.

Burchill credits the entire team for the results that day, giving special mention to the team's strong catchers and pitchers. One pitcher recorded 29 strike outs that day. Other team members experienced personal bests by achieving a home run or two and pushing their batting to new limits.

"That made their tournament," he said.

This performance earned them a spot in the semi-finals and then the final game against the highly respected Topham Park team from Toronto. The team knew gold was within their reach and resolved not to give their seasoned opponents a chance to get ahead from the first pitch.

The final game was by far the highlight of the tournament when the Redmen Selects pushed six runs across the plate in one inning and eight in another!

"It was beautiful," Burchill remarked.

The final score was 14-6 for the home team.

This is the first gold the team has received from this tournament in the four years the Redmen have been competing. Last year they earned a bronze with only one loss in the tournament. The year before they brought home a silver medal.

Burchill said four years ago the team came on the scene as unknowns. It's safe to say the name Smiths Falls has gained some recognition now.

A couple of exhibition games will wrap up the season for these peewees. The Smiths Falls Redmen Fastball Peewee Selects team is made up of players from Smiths Falls, Athens, Lyn, North Augusta and Johnstown.

It happened in Harbour Ball....

As part of a continuing series, we once again proudly present another version of "It happened in Harbour Ball".

In tonight's episode a triple play!
Two guys from Team Blue on first and second. Team Orange (my team) in the field. Soft liner to shortstop up the middle, steps on second; the guy on first is a deer in the headlights halfway to second, throw to first is in time - triple play.

Kid that plays left field for us: "What just happened there?'

Barrhaven takes two games to one series lead

Barrhaven Broadway Blues took a two games to one lead in their GOFL best-of-five playoff series against Stittsville 56ers with a 7-6 win in eight innings on Wednesday night in Manotick.

Jason Smith earned the win, throwing seven innings in relief of Chad Hargrove. Scott Herriot took the loss for the 56ers in relief of Trevor Scott.

Down by four, the Blues scored three in the sixth and one in the seventh to force the extra frame.

more to follow

Cornwall league playoff update

The Cornwall league has an update in their local paper - thanks to Jason Woodside for sending this on.

Last call for umpire - Cornwall article

By Todd Hambleton, Cornwall Standard Freeholder

Cornwall — When Cornwall’s Tom Wereley began his umpiring career, Canada's Prime Minister was Louis St. Laurent, a loaf of bread cost 19 cents, and Mickey Mantle was just reaching his prime with the New York Yankees.

Yeah, Wereley had a pretty good 55-year-run behind the plate, and it ended when the Cornwall Kinsmen Girls Softball Association held its season-ending tournament in mid-August.

“My greatest memory is just seeing all of the kids (over the years),” said Wereley, 84.

“I enjoy them all . . . I love the kids — always have.”

A lot of the kids, over parts of seven decades, have loved seeing Wereley at the ballparks in the city and region.

Mathieu Fontaine, a player and 16-year-old umpire in the Cornwall Optimist Minor Softball League, said Wereley's presence has always been appreciated.

“Before a game the kids would see him walking toward the (ball diamond), and they'd all yell, ‘Yeah, Tom’s here','' recounted Fontaine.

Philippe Roy, another 16-year-old umpire who’s received lots of guidance from the veteran, first met Wereley a handful of years ago, at Optimist mixed league games at the Bob Turner centre fields.

“He was the umpire, but he was always helping out the kids,” Roy said.

“He was there to make (the game) better — he was there for the players, coaches and parents, not just himself.
“He's a legend.”
In 1957, Wereley didn’t set out to become a “legend,” he just wanted to organize and umpire adult and kids softball leagues in what was then called Cornwall Township.

He’d end up umpiring 50 to 60 games each spring and summer in leagues in Cornwall and the region, for a total of more than 3,000 games over the years.
Wereley, a family man who started working with Cornwall Street Railway Light & Power Co. in 1948 (he would become manager of equipment and plant for what would become Cornwall Transit, retiring in 1993), coached a lot of years too, including behind the bench of kids’ hockey and broomball squads.
In 2008, Wereley was inducted into the South Stormont Hall of Fame, and the plaque sits in his den in his Cornwall home — with plenty of other memorabilia.
One of his favourite certificates is from the Ontario Municipal Recreation Association for volunteer contributions to recreation.

And there were plenty of thank-you letters that piled up over the seasons, from players and coaches.
“We're going to miss him,” said Monique Sauve-Roy, co-president of the Optimist Softball League that has players as young as age four.
“We're encouraging our younger umpires to be like Tom, to be supportive (of the players).
“As a league, we respect and back our umpires (in the calls they make), but we also want them (the umpires) to be there for the kids, to encourage the kids,” she said.
“Tom always did that — it's a recreational league.''
Wereley cut down on his workload a couple of years ago, when he stopped driving to umpiring jobs outside of the city.
And now he’s calling himself out of the umpiring game.
“I used to get to second base (to make a call) before the kid got to second base,” Wereley said. “Now I have trouble getting to the pitcher's mound.”
“It's time (to retire).”
Perhaps, but the expression gone, but not forgotten, seems to have be coined with Wereley’s impact on the local sports scene specifically in mind.

Senior Canadians start tomorrow

The Senior Men's Canadian Championships are being held this week in Fredricton, New Brunswick, with 10 teams participating from Newfoundland (3), PEI, New Brunswick (2), Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario (2).

There are a few GOFLers participating. (See here for rosters).

Joe McCleary and Matt Greer of the Quyon Combat Flyers will suit up for Team Quebec. Dan Loney of Carp I4C Victory is with the Kitchener Cubs.

Action starts on Tuesday, with the championship game on Sunday.

GOFL Playoffs update

There is but one game on tap for the Greater Ottawa Fastball League playoff schedule this week, with more games scheduled next week.

Stittsville 56ers and Barrhaven Broadway Blues are knotted at 1-1 in the best-of-five playoff series. Game 3 is Wednesday August 29 at 8:30pm in Manotick.

The other series are taking the week off due to player availability issues.

Game 3 of Carp I4C Victory and Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric is scheduled for Thursday September 6 in Carp.

Game 2 and 3 of Quyon Combat Flyers and Ottawa Taylor's Blitz will be played on Tuesday September 4 and Thursday September 6, with both games at 7:30pm in Quyon.

First round of the Blackburn Men's Fastball League playoffs

from Nick Bowman


The first round of the BMFL playoffs is shaping up to be quite exciting. Here is a preview of the first round. All games will be held at the BMFL arena.

#1 Guzzlers - Bye

After winning their last regular season game, the Guzzlers beat out Gloucester Heating to become Regular Season Champs. The Guzzlers accepted the bye.

#3 Knights vs #6 Goodfellows
Tuesday, August 28 at 7:00 PM
Thursday, August 30 at 9:00 PM

The Knights and Goodfellows will square off for the first game of the 2012 playoffs. The Knights won the season series by winning 10-5 and 11-4 and tied the last game with a score of 10-10. The Knights have an impressive pitching duo of Jamie Blakely and Ryan Chatten. Offensively, the Knights are well-rounded and they will look for Ryan Chatten to keep swinging a hot stick. For Goodfellows, Will Lowe will see most of the action on the mound. Goodfellows will have to play sound defense to pull off the upset and need Jordan Adams and Brendan Clarke to get some timely hits.

#4 Mr. Electric vs #5 Good Ol' Boys
Tuesday, August 28 at 9:00 PM
Tuesday, September 4 at 7:00 PM

The second game of the playoffs will see the number 4 ranked Mr. Electric square-off against the 5th place Good Ol’ Boys. Only 2 points separated the teams in the regular season. Mr. Electric won the season series 2 games to 1. They beat Good Ol’ Boys 7-2 and 12-1 and lost an 8-7 game. Al Tomlinson picked up both of the win for Mr. Electric, but with him out of town, Nick Bowman will get the ball for the first game of the series. Offensively, Mr. Electric is led by MVP candidate Matthew Bowman. Good Ol’ Boys will have Andy Dunn and Gilles Roy on the mound. GOB have one of the best defensive teams in the league and an intimidating line-up at the plate, led by Serge Potvin.

#2 Gloucester Heating vs #7 Rogues
Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 PM
Tuesday, September 4 at 9:00 PM

The last playoff match-up will feature the number 2 ranked Gloucester Heating against the number 7 ranked Rogues. Gloucester swept the season series 8-3, 6-4, and 17-7. Pierre Lalonde will likely start on the mound for Heating and he will have one of the best defensive teams behind him. Heating will use their team speed (a rarity in the BMFL) and will be aggressive on the base paths. The Rogues will be led offensively by Brad Dishaw and Chuck Musicka. Rogues will use a trio of pitchers in this series, Matt Cox, Chuck Musicka and Kevin Wilson.

Wikwemikong Fall Fair Fastball Tournament

Wikwemikong Fall Fair Fastball Tournament

September 21-23, 2012
Thunderbird Park, Wikwemikong, Manitoulin Island, ON
Entry Fee: $350
$1500 guaranteed 1st place prize (2nd place and consolation prize amounts based on # of teams)
$100 non-refundable deposit required to secure your team's spot in the tournament
3 Games Guaranteed
All games officiated by the Blue Umpires of Greater Sudbury

For more info or to register your team, please contact Mark Peltier at 705-859-1708 or Lawrence Enosse at 705-859-3597.

North Leeds League Playoffs wrap up

from Terry McCann

The 1st place Greenbush Junior A’s beat the 3rd place Greenbush Generals in the third and deciding game of the North Leeds Mens Fastball league finals on Thursday night.

In a back and forth contest the Generals scored 2 runs on a home run in the top of the 7th to go up 4-3. The A’s in their first year of existence then came back to score 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win the playoff championship by a 5-4 score.

Glen Cairn Men's Fastball League playoff update

from Matt Medaglia

The Glen Cairn Men’s Fastball League playoffs kicked off this week at A.Y Jackson ball diamond with all four top seeds winning their opening games.


Regular season points leader Taggart’s Welding defeated East Side Mario’s in the playoff opener on Monday night by a score 5-1. Trevor Watta led off the game with an inside the park home-run to take an early 1-0 lead, but that was all that East Side Mario’s would get. After taking the lead in the second inning, Taggart’s Welding strung together three runs in the bottom of the 5th to take a 5-1 lead. That was all that Taggart’s Welding pitcher, Shawn Ryan, would need as he cruised to the victory.

In Monday’s late game, Mattamy Homes defeated Don Cherry's 2-1. Mattamy Homes went up 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd. Don Cherry’s tied it in the top of the 7th. Then with one out in the bottom of the 7th, Darryl Doxsee blooped a 3-2 pitch into right field to knock in the winning run for Mattamy Homes. Mattamy homes pitcher Darren Featherstone was able to keep the Glen Cairn’s highest scoring offence at bay.

Glen Division leading Broadways opened their series with Laurysen's Kitchen’s with a 4-3 victory. Laurysen's Kitchens jumped out to an early lead plating a run in the second inning off Broadway’s hurler Neil Cooke. Two innings later, Broadways capitalized on a few defensive lapses to score four runs to take a 4-1 lead. That was all Cooke would need as he held off a late charge to secure the victory. Laurysen's Kitchens lead-off hitter Aaron Amo continued to rip the cover off the ball and reached base in all four at bats.

The late game on Wednesday was highlighted by the pitching duel between ASAP’s Billy Gerber and Ottawa Home Services Trevor Scott. As expected, the two were nearly untouchable. ASAP prevailed with a 1-0 victory to take the series lead.

The second games of the best of three Quarter Finals are next week …
Monday, August 27, 6:30 p.m. Mattamy Homes @ Don Cherry’s
Monday, August 27, 8:30 p.m. Taggart’s Welding @ East Side Mario’s
Tuesday, August 28, 6:30 p.m. ASAP @ Ottawa Home Services
Tuesday, August 28, 8:30 p.m. Broadway @ Laurysen's Kitchens

Quyon wins game 1 - with details

Quyon took game 1 of their best-of-five series with the Blitz by a score of 6-1. Joran Graham had the complete game win for the Flyers, while Shannon Borho took the loss and had relief from Derrick Bulley.

The Blitz got on the board with a run in the bottom half of the 1st inning. Marcel Mondoux reached base on a strike-out passed ball and advanced to third when a ground ball was thrown away by the Flyers 3rd baseman. Mondoux would later score on a Derrick Bulley sacrifice fly. Graham then got out of the inning with two k’s.

The Flyers answered back in the top of the 3rd inning. Luke Young walked and advanced on Jordan Kearns’ SAC bunt that was misplayed by the Blitz 3rd baseman. Young proceeded to advance to 3rd on the play, and scored when the first baseman threw the ball away. After a strike out and pop out, Greer stroked a 2 RBI triple down the right field line. Greer would then score on a Graham RBI single to make the score 3-1 for Quyon.

Quyon added two more in the 5th. Shawn Laframboise reached on an error to the third baseman, and scored on Greer’s monster blast to left field to make it 5-1. Bulley then entered the game for Borho and got out of the inning with no further damage.

With two outs in the 6th, Quyon added its 6th run of the game. Curtis Daley came off the bench with a pinch hit line-drive single, and thought about 2nd before face-planting into the dirt rounding 1st base. Daley advanced to 3rd on a Laframboise single, and scored on Greer’s RBI single.

Pitching
WP – Joran Graham – 7 IP, 1R, 0ER, 3H, 5BB, 6K’s
LP – Shannon Borho – 4.1 IP, 5R, 3ER, 4H, 2BB, 6K’s
Derrick Bulley – 2.2 IP, R, ER, 5H, BB, 3K’s

Quyon Hitting
Matt Greer – 3/4 HR, 2B, 4 RBI
Nick Armitage – 1/3, 2B, BB
Steve McCord – 1/3, SAC
Shawn Laframboise – 1/3, BB, ROE
Joran Graham – 1/4, RBI
Joe McCleary – 1/4
Curtis Daley – 1/1

Blitz Hitting
Derek Bergeron – 2/3
Tony Searle – 1/3
Jamie Blakely – 0/1, 2 BB, ROE

Quyon wins game 1 in Manotick

The Quyon Combat Flyers won the first game of their best-of-five GOFL playoff series against the Ottawa Taylor's Blitz on Wednesday night in Manotick by a score of 6-1.

Joran Graham was the winning pitcher while Shannon Borho took the loss. Matt Greer hit a monster homer, a triple and single for Quyon to win Caveman's Choice as player of the game.

more to follow

Micksburg Squirts win Bronze at Provincials

Congratulations to the Micksburg Twins squirt (U12) select boys team for their showing at the Provincials in Woodbridge this past weekend.

Micksburg won bronze medals at the event, beating Belleville, Richmond Hill and Stoufville, before losing to the gold medal winning teams from Georgian Bay.

Elkland "First Weekend" Tournament

On August 24-26, Elkland will host the "First Weekend Tournament" with 16 teams participating. This is a warm up before the big dance on Labour Day weekend, the 60th edition of the Durk Sherman Classic.

Schedule for the First Weekend Tournament posted here.

Quyon - Blitz series now to start on Wednesday (with update)

With player availability a problem, the Quyon Combat Flyers - Ottawa Taylor's Blitz game on Tuesday night was postponed. The game Wednesday night in Manotick at 8pm will now be Game 1.

The series will take a hiatus next week as Quyon has three players away for the Men's Senior Canadians in Fredricton, NB.

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday September 4 at 7:30pm in Quyon.

Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday September 6 at 7:30pm, also in Quyon.

West Carleton Electric comes back to defeat Carp

In GOFL action Tuesday night in Fitzroy Harbour, the home town West Carleton Electric came back to defeat I4C Victory in eight innings by a score of 5-4 to take a two games to none lead in the best-of-five playoff series.

Andy Barber had the win for Fitzroy in relief of starter Steve Cavanagh, while Neil Cooke went the distance for Carp.

Carp got off to an early start. Shawn Simzer hit the first pitch he saw to the gap for a double, reaching third when the ball was misplayed. Kevin McGuire hit the first pitch he saw out of the park to make it 2-0 for I4C. After back to back walks to Matt McNish and Tony MacDonald, with two out Al Read stroked a single to left, but McNish was thrown out at plate by a good toss from Derek Barber to end the rally.

I4C got another run in the second on Neil Cooke's solo home run to centre.

Carp threatened again in the fifth. Adam Fleming was hit by a pitch with one out. MacDonald and Cooke both singled to load the bases, with a pop up in between. With the bases loaded and two out, Fitzroy made the pitching change, taking out Cavanagh to bring in Andy Barber. Barber struck out the next batter to end the Carp chance.

Through six innings, WC Electric only had three hits. However, down 3-0, they rallied for three in the bottom of the seventh. After a strike out, Neil Murphy singled. Jeff Cavanagh's double scored Murphy and when Cavanagh took third on the throw to the plate, the ball was misplayed allowing Cavanagh to score to get the 'Trics within one. After another strikeout, Troy Wilson hit a solo homer to tie the game and force extra innings.

With the international rule in place, it looked like Carp wouldn't get a run. Barber got the first batter to fly out, and the next batter to ground out, moving the runner to third. When Simzer's comebacker went directly to the pitcher it seemed that I4C would go scoreless - however the ball was bobbled allowing the runner to score. McGuire then singled putting two men on. The Electric opted to give McNish the intentional walk and load the bases, a move that worked as the next batter struck out.

Fitzroy had their chance to respond in the bottom of the eighth. With Charlie Ross starting the inning on second, Dave Bahm sac bunted him to third. Ross then scored on Andy Barber's double. Barber took third on the throw in which was slightly off target. I4C decided to give Jon Daley the intentional walk, bringing Trevor Barton to the plate. Barton's walk off single ended the game 5-4 for Fitzroy Harbour.

For his relief pitching performance, hitting hte game tying RBI and scoring of the game winning run, Andy Barber again is the winner of the Caveman's Choice as player of the game.

Fitzroy
WP Andy Barber 3.1IP 1R 0ER 2H 6K 1IBB
Steve Cavanagh 4.2IP 3R 3ER 9H 3K 3BB 1HBP

Andy Barber 1-4, 2B, RBI, R
Jon Daley 2-3, 2B, BB
Trevor Barton 1-3, RBI
Neil Murphy 1-2, sac, R
Jeff Cavanagh 1-3, 2B, RBI
Troy Wilson 1-3, HR, RBI, R
Dave Bahm 1-2, 3B, sac

Carp
Neil Cooke 7.1IP 5R 5ER 8H 9K 1IBB

Shawn Simzer 1-5, 2B, R
Kevin  McGuire 3-4, BB, HR, SB, 2RBI, R
Matt McNish 1-3, 2BB, SB
Tony MacDonald 2-3, BB
Al Read 2-4, 2B
Neil Cooke 2-4, HR, RBI, R

Barrhaven evens up series with Stittsville

The Barrhaven Broadway Blues evened up their best-of-five playoffs series with the Stittsville 56ers with a 5-3 win at the Grove on Tuesday night.

Paul Ceppi had the win for Barrhaven while Darren Featherstone took the loss. Ceppi gets the nod as the Caveman's Choice for his role in the victory.

55+ team looking for players

Anybody 55+ out there looking for a road trip?  Join some of the parents of WC Electric players on their softball team. See below.

Chance to go to mixed over 55 year old nationals


Due to some late injuries the Carp over 55 year old team for mixed softball is looking for a couple men and women players. They will be leaving on Monday morning to drive to Sydney, Nova Scotia. It is a great chance to play some ball and represent Ontario at the same time. There are teams from all over the country, and the team is looking to improve on its third place finish in 2010.

For contact details please contact Roy Daley at 613-839-2087.

GOFL Playoff update (one start time updated)

Greater Ottawa Fastball League playoffs continue with the three best-of-five series that are underway all playing tonight.  Winners of each series advance to the "Final Weekend Showdown" in Manotick on September 14-15.

Game 2 of Carp I4C Victory vs West Carleton Electric will be played tonight in Fitzroy Harbour at 8:30pm.

Game 1 of Ottawa Taylor's Blitz vs Quyon Combat Flyers goes tonight in Quyon at 8pm. Game 2 will be played tomorrow (Wednesday) in Manotick at 8pm.

Game 2 of Barrhaven Broadway Blues vs Stittsville 56ers is set for 8:30pm tonight at the Grove in Stittsville. [note: corrected time]

Information on further games to be published on the blog when available.

OASA Men's B Championship Photo (warning: includes Caveman)

OK, one last thing on this past weekend - team photo with the pennant and plaque, plus Caveman story.

Back row: Charlie Ross, Cory Morrison, Kevin Shonfield, Steve Cavanagh, Paul Ceppi, Aaron Amo, Trevor Power, Adam Brown, Jason Smith.
Front row: Chico Ross Jr, Fitzroy Junior with arm around The Caveman, Dave Bahm, Neil Murphy, Jon Daley, Jeff Cavanagh and Lyle Schell.

You will notice Fitzroy Junior rocking the WC hat and t-shirt. The Caveman had a similar get up.......until about the third inning. All weekend long, the three boys (including Chico Jr) enjoyed being ball chasers for errant fly balls. They had a bit of a rivalry with the Sudbury kids chasing down the KMasters.

In one game on Saturday, Chico Jr was in a dead heat with a local and there might have been a slight 'unintentional' bump as they both went for the ball at the same time and the pudgy Sudbury kid went flying off his shoulder.

During the final game, the Caveman was in hot pursuit for a foul ball when he tripped and fell into the only puddle at the diamond left over from Saturday's rain delay, right behind our bench. Water and mud from head to toe all over his shirt, shorts and ball cap. Screaming and shouting ensued: "stupid puddle!!" Pretty much the entire WC Electric bench witnessed it. As Steve Cav remarked "I was trying not to laugh at him but it was pretty hard not to." Mrs Fastball, prepared mom that she is, had dry clothes on hand so he calmed down and managed to watch the rest of the game and pursue more foul balls.

Sudbury Star article on Men's B Provincials

From the Sudbury Star.

North Stars fall in tournament final
by KEITH DEMPSEY, FOR THE SUDBURY STAR

Monday, August 20, 2012 6:28:55 EDT AM

The Sudbury North Stars wanted to showcase their Northern talent at the All- Ontario B/C Intermediate Fastball Championship.

Despite a 5-0 loss to Fitzroy Harbour in the B Division final Sunday at Terry Fox Sports Complex, they believe they accomplished what they set out to do.

"We showed we do belong," North Stars third baseman and coach Junior Ilnitski said after the game. "We left it all out on the field and drained the bag. But we just fell short to a better team today."

Playing in a double knockout format tournament and with Harbour having a perfect record heading into Sunday's action, Harbour took a bye into the finals, leaving the North Stars with the task of having to defeat the Harbour twice in order to claim the championship title. But because the Harbour defeated the North Stars on Sunday, a second game did not have to be played.

"That could have been us in that situation instead," Ilnitski said, speaking of the North Stars' 5-3 loss to Harbour in round-robin action Saturday.

Though the North Stars lost 5-0 in the final, the score didn't tell all of the game story.

Up to bat in the bottom of the second, after giving up a run in the top of the first inning, the North Stars were able to put two men on base, one on second and one on third with only one out, but Harbours pitcher Steve Cavanagh struck out two batters in a row to end the inning and the threat. Cavanagh struck out 11 batters in the game.

"We missed out on our chances," Ilnitski said. "We couldn't find a way to cash in our guys on base."

Cavanagh believes it's his variety of pitches that helped give him an edge against North Stars batters.

"We had good defence," Cavanagh said, trying to share the spotlight with his teammates. "I threw a lot of change-ups. I don't try to strike out everybody. I like mixing it up and I know that because I don't throw that hard, I have to be smarter, I can't try to throw it past everybody. The drop-ball and changeup are my two best pitches and they were working for me today."

Those two pitches certainly helped Cavanagh all game long, as he earned the shutout, only allowing five hits.

"We didn't hit the ball enough in the finals, but we hit it enough throughout the tournament to get us here," Ilnitski said. "We're used to heat and he (Cavanagh) came in with a strategy to out-pitch us and he stuck to it and he won. We got hits, had men on base and didn't capitalize on those chances. He pitched a heck of a game."

After his back-to-back strike-outs in the bottom of the second helped keep his team up by one run, Cavanagh got some insurance on the scoreboard, when, in the top of the fourth inning, with two men on base, Harbour's Kevin Shonfield hit a triple and reached home on an error on the throw to home plate. Harbour added another run afterwards.

"That definitely helped my confidence," Cavanagh said of his team's four-run inning. "I knew I had our team's offence supporting me."

After giving up the runs, North Stars starting pitcher Brad Matheson was relieved of his duties and replaced by Jordy Dahlvick.

"I'm still proud of our team," Ilnitski said. "Obviously, we're disappointed with the outcome. We would have liked to come a little closer than what it was, even though the score doesn't indicate what the game was. But we had a good showing at this tournament and proved that we have good talent here in the North."

The Pickering Panthers won the C Division title.

In other fastball news, locals Chad St. Cyr, Joel Belanger and Todd Parsons, all players from the Rick Macdonald Fastball League, suited up for the Parry Island Hawks at the 2012 ISC World Championship. They were joined by Heikel Espinosa and Matheson of Elliot Lake. The Hawks won the Division 2 title.

Successful Fundraiser for Chris Hall

The Kars Aces hosted Carp I4C Victory in an exhibition game on Friday night in North Augusta to support Chris Hall who was in a bad accident last year. Chris is making a recovery and the game helped raise some funds to assist.

Kevin Chevrier sends in this report.

We would like to thank everyone who helped make the fundraising game for Chris Hall on Friday night such a success! For the game itself, the final score was a 5-1 victory for Carp. Neil Cooke was the winning pitcher with relief from Matt McNish while Cory Alkerton started for Kars and had relief from Joran Graham.

The event was very well attended and supported by many local friends, family and softball fans as the stands were full! A 50/50 draw was also held, and the winner graciously donated the money back to Chris as well, so we would just like to thank all of those who volunteered, attended, donated and helped in so many ways.

Special mention to the following: the Carp I4C team, including the 'pick-ups' who helped complete their roster for the game, the umpires, Gary Lamer and son Brandon, Brittany Graham and Jess Ireland for selling 50/50 tickets, the gentleman who donated his 50/50 winnings back, Mrs. Sue Alkerton for photographing the event, Lyle Lawrence for looking after collecting the donations, Amy and Chris Finucan for donating and preparing the diamond and lights, and Matt Alkerton for his work in helping to organize the event as well. Below is a photo off the players and umpires with Chris following the game.

West Carleton Electric wins OASA Men's Intermediate B title

Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric went 4-0 to win the Ontario Amateur Softball Association Men's Intermediate B Provincial title in Sudbury this past weekend.

The Electric, combining with Barrhaven Broadway Blues for the event, were tops in the seven team field to earn the title.

With North Bay a late withdrawal, the format was modified to a double knockout instead of pool play to determine the Provincial Men's B champion. The first four teams eliminated went to a consolation bracket for the Provincial C title.

WC Electric started off with a victory over the Pickering Panthers. Steve Cavanagh tossed the two-hit shutout in a 4-0 win. Dave Taylor took the loss for the Panthers. Cavanagh earned the MVP award for Fitzroy.

The second game saw Fitzroy face the Sox, a second entry from Pickering. The game was interupted in the second inning while scoreless for a two hour rain delay. After coming back from the break, the Sox went up 4-0. However, a two-run shot deep to centre by Trevor Power cut the lead in half. In the fourth a seven run inning made it 9-4 and the Electric cruised to their second win. Paul Ceppi earned the victory while Glen Sellars was the losing pitcher. Jeff Cavanagh had two key hits for Fitzroy Harbour. Power was tapped as MVP for the Electric.

This set up the undefeated game on Saturday night between Fitzroy Harbour and the host Sudbury North Stars who had three players from the ISC Parry Island Hawks. In a see-saw battle, West Carleton Electric prevailed 5-3 with Jason Smith earning the win and Jordy "Swede" Dahlvick taking the loss. Smith was awarded the MVP for the winning team.

West Carleton then proceeded directly to the championship game. In play on Sunday, Bracebridge The Farm beat Pickering Panthers, but Bracebridge lost to Sudbury 3-2 to set up a rematch in the final.

In the championship game, Fitzroy Harbour started Steve Cavanagh, while the North Stars countered with Brad Matheson. Catcher Trevor Power cashed an RBI in the first inning to get West Carleton on the board. In the third, with Cory Morrison and Dave Bahm on base, Kevin Shonfield stroked a hard line drive deep to centre field (254 feet) that allowed him to score on an in the park homer to make it 4-0. Swede Dahlvick came in to relieve. WC got another run after Neil Murphy's RBI single drove in Jon Daley who had tripled. Final score was 5-0. Steve Cavanagh, who was named top pitcher in the final after chucking a five-hitter, threw fourteen innings on the weekend allowing zero runs and only seven hits. Shonfield was named top hitter in the final and Power the MVP.

Judging by a quick scan of the trophy plaque, it appears that this may be the first time in OASA history that a team from eastern Ontario has won the OASA Men's Provincial B title. Pickering Panthers won the Provincial C title over the Toanche Eagles.

UPDATE: Article also on Al's Fastball from Roger Legendre about the event.

Sudbury Star article on the OASA Intermediate tournament

The Sudbury Star ran a story on the OASA Tournament up there this past weekend.

OASA Men's B tournament in Sudbury

The OASA Men's Intermediate B tournament is in Sudbury on Saturday and Sunday. There are eight teams participating from across the province, including Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric who have combined with Barrhaven Broadway Blues for the event.

Also participating are Toanche, Sudbury, North Bay, Frankford, Bracebridge, Pickering Panthers and Pickering Sox.

Full schedule here.

West Carleton Electric win game 1 over Carp 7-4

West Carleton Electric beat Carp I4C Victory 7-4 in Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff series on Thursday night in Carp.

Andy Barber had the complete game win for the Electric while Neil Cooke took the loss with relief from Cody Price.

Fitzroy scored four runs in the top of the first inning to start the game. Andy Barber lead off the game with a walk. Back to back walks by Jon Daley and Jeff Barber loaded the bases. Neil Murphy's off hand single to left scored Andy, and when the ball was misplayed the bases were cleared and Murphy was on third base.  Derek Barber's ground out scored Murphy and the score was 4-0.

WC got another run in the fourth. Derek Barber lead off with a walk. Trevor Barton's sac bunt moved him to second base. After a strikeout, Jeff Cavanagh's single scored Barber for a 5-0 lead.

Carp made it close, putting up four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Neil Cooke stroked an off hand triple to start the inning. After a ground out, Shawn Simzer's single scored Cooke. Kevin McGuire then tripled and was cashed on Matt McNish's homer.

The Electric got two insurance runs in the sixth when Cody Price came in to relief Cooke. Derek Barber started the inning with a triple. Price struck out the next two batters, but Jeff Cavanagh's homer made it 7-4.

Andy Barber shut the door in the sixth and seventh with two three-up-three-down innings, earning the Caveman's Choice as player of the game.

Fitzroy
Andy Barber WIN 7IP 4R 4ER 5H 8K 1BB

Andy Barber BB, R
Jon Daley 3-4, R, SB
Jeff Barber 1-4, R
Neil Murphy 2-4, R, RBI
Derek Barber 1-3, BB, RBI, 2R
Jeff Cavanagh 2-3, 3RBI, HR

Carp
Neil Cooke LOSS 5IP 5R 4ER 5H 7K 2BB
Cody Price 2IP 2R 2ER 4H 5K 1BB

Shawn Simzer 2-4, R, RBI
Kevin McGuire 1-4, R, RBI
Matt McNish 1-3, HR, 2RBI, R
Neil Cooke 1-2, 3B, R, BB

Parry Island ISC II champions

Congratulations to Parry Island Hawks who won the ISC II Championship game 1-0 over Aurora, IL Dolan & Murphy.  Joe McCleary scored the games only run. Matt Greer had a hit for the Hawks and after the conclusion was named to the ISC II All Tournament Team.

Click here for the full story on Al's Fastball.

ISC World Tournament update - UDPATED AGAIN

Another quick round up of the GOFLers participating at the ISC Worlds in Midland, Michigan this week.
Joe McCleary and Matt Greer from the Quyon Combat Flyers are playing for the #36 ranked Parry Island Hawks. After dropping their first two games to Pete's Blues from Illinois and Shakespeare, ON, they got relegated to the ISC II side. In the "twos" they have won four games straight over Wiarton, ON, Venezuela, St. Thomas, ON and Aurora, IL. They are in the ISC II final at 4pm today, a game on Ballpark TV.

Cory Alkerton from the Kars Aces was pitching for the unranked Kitchener Outlaws. They lost 3-1 to a local team called Big Apple Bagels, then lost 7-4 to the Kitchener Cubs. After moving to the ISC II bracket, the lost two close games to Wellington, ON and Wiarton to finish 0-4.

Dan Loney of the Carp I4C Victory played for the Midland Explorers host team, ranked #9. They beat the NY Bombers, lost to Saskatoon, beat Circle Tap from Wisconsin, then lost to Niagara Snappers to finish their tourney 2-2.

Joran Graham from the Flyers is pitching for the #15 Scarborough Force. They started off with a win over the Staten Island, NY, lost to Hill United from Six Nations, ON, beat the Kitchener Cubs 5-4 and beat Spokane, Washington to make it to the round of 12. The Force lost to the California A's 2-1 this morning to finish the tournament 3-2.

Joel Langford from I4C is playing for the #19 Toronto Gators. They beat the Circle Tap Dukes, beat the Cal-State Builders, lost to PA Power. Today they beat the Niagara Snappers 12-9 in a wild one to advance to the round of 8. They will play the California A's tomorrow at noon.

Gil Read Memorial Tournament article from the EMC

Jeff McGuire's article about the Gil Read Memorial Tournament is now online.

Stittsville wins wild Game 1 over Barrhaven

info from Trevor Power

It was a wild one in Manotick on Wednesday night as Game 1 of the Barrhaven - Stittsville series was played. Stittsville won the game 14-10 in nine innings.

Dan Bradley earned the win, in relief of Adam Smith. Jason Smith took the loss in relief of Trevor Lahey, who also saw action in relief of Smith.

more to follow

Playoff update

The GOFL playoffs get started tonight with Game 1 of the best-of-five series between Barrhaven Broadway Blues and the Stittsville 56ers. The game is in Manotick with the first pitch at 8:30. Game 2 is scheduled for the Tuesday August 21 in the Grove in Stittsville.

Game 1 of the series between Carp I4C Victory and West Carleton Electric is on Thursday August 16 at 9pm in Carp.  Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday August 21 in Fitzroy Harbour.

The Quyon Combat Flyers vs Ottawa Taylor's Blitz series is on hold until three of the Flyers return from the ISC World Tournament next week.

Easton's Corners one day tournament

from Mike Hanna

Looking for teams for August 25 in Easton's Corners for an open one day tournament. Entry is $280.00, prize determined on amount of teams.

Contact: mikehanna447@hotmail.com

GOFL Playoff previews

Carp I4C Victory (11-6-1) vs Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric (6-11-1)

The teams played three close games with I4C taking a two games to one edge, with all games being tight match ups.

May 17 - Fitzroy 4 Carp 2 (in Carp) WP: Steve Cavanagh LP: Neil Cooke relief by Ryan Chatten
June 16 - Carp 6 Fitzroy 4 (in Fitzroy) WP: Cody Price in relief of Neil Cooke LP: Steve Cavanagh
June 24 - Carp 2 Fitzroy 1 (in Fitzroy) WP: Paul Koert SV: Cody Price LP: Steve Cavanagh

Quyon Combat Flyers (9-7-2) vs Ottawa Taylor's Blitz (6-10-2)

The Flyers and Blitz were even in their games this year, with each team winning one and their first matchup ending in a tie.

May 16 - Quyon 5 Blitz 5 (in Manotick) P: Matt Greer P: Shannon Borho, Derick Bulley, Jamie Blakely
June 20 - Blitz 10 Quyon 4 (in Manotick) WP: Jamie Blakely LP: Matt Greer
June 28 - Quyon 11 Blitz 4 (in Quyon) WP: Joran Graham LP: Derick Bulley relief Will Mood

Barrhaven Broadway Blues (7-8-3) vs Stittsville 56ers (6-10-2)

These teams also split their season series with each team winning a game and their season opener starting with a tie.

May 16 - Stittsville 2 Barrhaven 2 (in Carp) P: Darren Featherstone P: Trevor Lahey
June 27 (1) - Barrhaven 4 Stittsville 1 (in Manotick) WP: Jason Smith LP: Darren Featherstone relief Trevor Scott
June 27 (2) - Stittsville 5 Barrhaven 3 (in Manotick) WP: Darren Featherstone LP: Paul Ceppi

GOFL playoff matchups set

With tonight's results in the GOFL final two games of the season, the standings are finalized.

1. Kars Aces: 12-5-1 = 25
2. Carp I4C Victory: 11-6-1 = 23
3. Quyon Combat Flyers: 9-7-2 = 20
4. Barrhaven Broadway Blues: 7-8-3 = 17
5. Stittsville 56ers: 6-10-2 = 14 *
6. Ottawa Taylor's Blitz: 6-10-2 = 14
7. Fitzroy Harbour WC Electric: 6-11-1 = 13
* Stittsville wins tie-breaker based on 2-1 head to head record over Blitz

This means the following matchups will be played in the first round. All series are best of five.

Carp I4C Victory vs West Carleton Electric

Quyon Combat Flyers vs Ottawa Taylor's Blitz

Barrhaven Broadway Blues vs Stittsville 56ers

Kars Aces receive a bye to the Final Weekend Showdown, meeting all the series winners in a double knockout tournament to be held in Manotick on Saturday September 15 to determine the Greater Ottawa Fastball League Champion for 2012.

Game times and dates will be published as soon as they are confirmed. Also watch Twitter for updates.

GOFL History

It is once again time for the annual fastball history lesson. The Greater Ottawa Fastball League and its predecessor, the Kemptville Men's Fastball League have been around since 2000.


Here are the past winners/finalists, as well as the league teams.

2000 Dolco defeated Macton (3-0)
2001 Macton defeated D.T.I. (3-1)
2002 Lomor defeated Macton (3-0)
2003 Team Easton defeated Macton (1 game final, 8 innings)
2004 Team Easton defeated West Carleton Electric (3-1)
2005 Team Easton defeated Stittsville (3-1)
2006 Team Easton defeated Stittsville (3-1)
2007 Team Easton defeated West Carleton Electric (3-0)
2008 Stittsville defeated Team Easton (3-1)
2009 Stittsville defeated Quyon (3-2)
2010 Kars defeated Quyon (2-0, series shortened to best of three)
2011 Kars defeated Quyon (FWS tournament format)

2000 - 6 teams
Kemptville Macton Muckdogs
Kemptville D.T.I.
Stittsville 56ers
Kemptville Dolco Printing
Kemptville Thunder Juniors
Kanata Pirates Juniors

2001 - 5 teams
Kemptville Macton Muckdogs
Kemptville D.T.I.
Stittsville 56ers
Kemptville Dolco Printing
Kanata Pirates Juniors

2002 - 4 teams
Kemptville Macton Muckdogs
Kemptville Team Easton (formerly D.T.I.)
Stittsville 56ers
Kemptville Lomor Printers (formerly Dolco Printing)

2003 - 4 teams
Kemptville Macton Muckdogs
Kemptville Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Kemptville Lomor Printers

2004 - 5 teams
Kemptville Macton Muckdogs
Kanata Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Manotick Lomor Printers
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric

2005 - 4 teams
Kanata Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Manotick Lomor Printers
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric

2006 - 6 teams
Kanata Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Manotick Lomor Printers
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Blitz

2007 - 8 teams
Ottawa Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Manotick Lomor Printers
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Blitz
Quyon Combat Flyers
Orleans Gators

2008 - 9 teams
Ottawa Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Manotick Lomor Printers
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Blitz
Quyon Combat Flyers
Orleans Gators
Greely DNTW Eagles

2009 - 9 teams
Ottawa Team Easton
Stittsville 56ers
Manotick Lomor Printers
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Blitz
Quyon Combat Flyers
Orleans Gators
Greely DNTW Eagles

2010 - 8 teams
Kars Aces (formerly Team Easton)
Stittsville 56ers
Barrhaven Broadway Blues (formerly Lomor Printers)
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Blitz
Quyon Combat Flyers
North Gower Marlboroughs (formerly Greely Eagles)

2011 - 7 teams
Kars Aces
Stittsville 56ers
Barrhaven Broadway Blues
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Taylor's Blitz
Quyon Combat Flyers

2012 - 7 teams
Kars Aces

Stittsville 56ers
Barrhaven Broadway Blues
Fitzroy Harbour West Carleton Electric
Carp I4C Victory
Ottawa Taylor's Blitz
Quyon Combat Flyers

Kars ends GOFL regular season with 3-1 win over Stittsville

In the final GOFL regular season game of 2012, the Kars Aces beat the Stittsville 56ers in Carp by a score of 3-1.

Corey Costello had the pitching win, with 19 strikeouts. Trevor Scott took the loss.

Ryan Bond had a solo home run for Stittsville.

Costello also had a home run to earn Caveman's Choice as player of the game.

GOFLers at the Worlds: UPDATES as of 8:30pm

A quick round up of the GOFLers participating at the ISC Worlds in Midland, Michigan this week.

Joe McCleary and Matt Greer from the Quyon Combat Flyers are playing for the #36 ranked Parry Island Hawks. They lost their first two games - 2-0 to Pete's Blues from Illinois and 4-3 (8 innings) to Shakespeare, ON Falcons. This moved them to the ISC II side where they won their first game 6-3 over Wiarton, ON Nationals. They now play the Venezuelan team at 5pm. [update: looks like they beat the Venezuelans 2-1, and now play 11am on Wednesday]

Cory Alkerton from the Kars Aces is pitching for the unranked Kitchener Outlaws. They lost 3-1 to a local team called Big Apple Bagels, then lost 7-4 to the Kitchener Cubs. The also moved to the ISC II bracket and are playing the Wellington Sox from Harriston, ON right now. [update: they lost 3-1 to Wellington, are are currently playing now against Wiarton]


Dan Loney of the Carp I4C Victory is on the Midland Explorers host team, ranked #9. They started with a 5-0 win over the New York Bombers from Cortland, NY, then lost on a walk off homer to Saskatoon Diamondbacks 4-2. They are currently playing the Circle Tap Dukes from Wisconsin. [update: they beat Circle Tap 2-0 and play Niagara Snappers at 1pm on Wednesday]
Joran Graham from the Flyers is pitching for the #15 Scarborough Force. They started off with a 8-0 win over the Staten Island, NY Safari Swashbuckers, lost to Hill United from Six Nations, ON 10-1, the beat the Kitchener Cubs 5-4. They play against on Wednesday at 1pm against the winner of Spokane, WA Silverhawks and Alvinston, ON Indians.

Joel Langford from I4C is playing for the #19 Toronto Gators. They started off with a surprise 1-0 squeaker over Circle Tap Dukes, beat the Cal-State Builders from Seattle 6-1, and now face PA Power from Harrisburg at 6pm in what should be a great game. [update: they lost 3-0 to the Power and will play again at 10am on Thursday]

Fastball Fundraiser game in North Augusta

The Kars Aces will host Carp I4C Victory in a special fastball fundraiser game in North Augusta on Friday August 17 at 7:30pm.

All are welcome to attend what should be a great game and show of sportsmanship for a good cause.

To learn more, contact Matt Alkerton at mattalkerton @ hotmail.com.

GOFL update for Tuesday night

The Quyon Combat Flyers had to forfeit their game tonight to Carp I4C Victory.

There is still a game in Carp at 8pm as Kars Aces will play Stittsville 56ers in a game that will determine who finished first and second - Kars or Carp.

GOFL final regular season games

There remain only two make up games in the GOFL season before playoffs start. Both are scheduled for Tuesday. Stittsville 56ers (6-9-2) face the Kars Aces (11-5-1) at 8pm in Carp, while Carp I4C Victory (10-6-1)  travels to Quyon to play the Combat Flyers (9-6-2) at 8pm.

West Carleton Electric (6-11-1), Barrhaven Broadway Blues (7-8-3), Ottawa Taylor's Blitz (6-10-2) are all completed and await the results so playoff matchups are finalized.

The only playoff matchup for certain in the first round is Stittsville (5th) vs Barrhaven (4th).

Kars can finish 1st or 2nd.

Carp can finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

Quyon can finish 2nd or 3rd.

The Blitz have 6th and WC Electric has 7th and await their first round opponents (2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th). First place earns a bye to the Final Weekend Showdown tournament on September 15 in Manotick.

Softball Canada U21 Junior Nationals

After being delayed two days by rain, the Junior Nationals (U21) in Owen Sound wrapped up yesterday. The playoff games were all five innings to get things completed, with the exception of the final which was seven.

The host Owen Sound Selects won the round robin portion, losing only once to Newfoundland. However, the Newfs beat the hosts in the playoff round twice to take gold. Owen Sound earned silver while the Walkerton Wild were third.

Congratulations to Andy Barber, who plays for West Carleton Electric in the GOFL, on earning tournament all-star honours as a left fielder for Owen Sound. Andy hit very well the entire week and also picked up one win as a pitcher. The Android had key hits in the playoff round including a two run homer in the first playoff off game and a bases loaded double in the semi-final.  His stats for the week: 10 games, 11 for 25 (.440), 10 runs scored, three doubles, a homer, nine RBIs, six walks and four stolen bases. Pretty good against the best junior pitching in the country.

U21 Junior Nationals update - Championship day

Friday and Saturday both got rained out at the U21 Junior Nationals in Owen Sound.

But they are getting games going today, playing only five innings to get games in.

Revised schedule here.

U21 Junior Nationals update

Weather permitting the playoff round for the U21 Junior Nationals in Owen Sound will start today. The host team went 7-1 to finish in first of the thirteen participants.

Andy Barber only got to pitch one game (a win over PEI), but he did play a lot of left field and ended up with the sixth best batting average in the tournament. The Android hit .471 with two doubles, four RBIs, eight runs scored, four walks and three stolen bases.

Owen Sounds gets the "double life" in the playoff system. More info on the tourney website.

ISC World Tournament starts today

The 2012 ISC World Tournament starts today if the weather in Midland, Michigan will cooperate. Best of luck to the local guys taking part:

Joe McCleary and Matt Greer from the Quyon Combat Flyers are playing for the #36 ranked Parry Island Hawks from northern Ontario. Their first game is scheduled for 5pm against Pete's Blues from Illinois.

Cory Alkerton from the Kars Aces is pitching for the unranked Kitchener Outlaws. They are supposed to start at 3pm today versus Big Apple Bagels, a local team.

Dan Loney of the Carp I4C Victory is on the Midland Explorers host team, ranked #9 going in. They have a bye to the second round and play at 7pm on Sunday against the winner of NY Bombers vs Sweaburg, ON Crush.

Joran Graham from the Flyers is pitching for the #15 Scarborough Force, who also have a bye until Sunday, starting at 9pm against the winner of Staten Island, NY Swashbucklers and Westerville, Ohio Capitals.

Joel Langford from I4C is playing for the #19 Toronto Gators, recent winners of the Gil Read Memorial Tournament. The Gators were scheduled to play the Rocky Mountain Rebels of Colorado but they bailed on the tourney so they ended up getting a bye to Sunday.

If I missed anyone let me know.

Carp at Quyon tonight - POSTPONED

The GOFL game in Quyon tonight is postponed. With the rain all day, the field is not playable.  Carp and Quyon will find a time to play early next week.

GOFL playoff picture gets clearer

With only two games remaining in the 63 game GOFL schedule, the playoff picture has become somewhat more clear. The only positions in dispute are first, second and third.

Current standings. Team with asterisks are done for the season:

1. Kars11-5-1 = 23 pts
2. Carp 10-6-1 = 21 pts
3. Quyon 9-6-2 = 20 pts
4. Barrhaven 7-8-3 = 17 pts *
5. Stittsville 6-9-2 = 14 pts
6. Ottawa Blitz 6-10-2 = 14 pts *
7. Fitzroy Harbour 6-11-1 = 13 pts *

The only games remaining are Carp at Quyon on Thursday August 9 and Kars vs Stittsville which likely will be played Tuesday August 14.

Scenarios are as follows:

- If Kars win or tie their remaining game against Stittsville they get first.
- If Carp beats Quyon and Kars loses to Stittsville, Carp gets first (based on tiebreaker).
- If Carp ties Quyon, Carp gets second and Quyon finishes third. Same result applies if Carp beats Quyon and Kars beats or ties Stittsville.
- If Carp loses to Quyon, Quyon gets second and Carp finishes third.
- Barrhaven is fourth no matter what.
- Stittsville is fifth no matter what - they hold the tiebreaker with the Blitz.
- Blitz is sixth no matter what, see above
- Fitzroy is seventh no matter what.

Kars wins both in Wednesday night doubleheader

info from Cory Morrison

The Kars Aces took both games in a GOFL Wednesday night doubleheader in Carp.

In Game 1, the Aces defeated the Ottawa Taylor's Blitz 8-0. Brad Porter had the shut out victory. Shannon Borho took the loss and Derek Bergeron saw action in relief. Chad Milne stroked a homer for Kars. Porter gets Caveman's Choice as player of the game for the win.

In the second game, Kars were 6-1 winners over the Barrhaven Broadway Blues. Cory Alkerton earned the win, while Chad Hargrove was the losing pitcher with relief from Trevor Lahey. Matt Alkerton had a three run homer for the Aces. Cory Alkerton earns Caveman's Choice as player of the game for his pitching performance.

more to follow

Junior Nationals in Owen Sound

The Junior Nationals (U21) are rolling along in Owen Sound.

The host Selects are tied with Walkerton for first place with 5-0 records to start things off.

Andy "Android" Barber of West Carleton Electric is playing for Owen Sound. He has a pitching victory (over PEI Cardinals) and has been tearing it up at the plate, going 6 for 9 in three games with three walks, six runs scored, two doubles and a stolen base.

Owen Sound has scored 58 runs in the five games so far.

Stittsville defeats Kars 10-8 UPDATED with details

info from John Craig and Spud Morrison

The Stittsville 56ers defeated the Kars Aces 10-8 in GOFL action Tuesday night in Carp. Darren Featherstone and Dan Bradley (win in relief) threw for the 56ers while Nick Ellis and Kevin Chevrier (loss in relief) chucked for Kars.

It was an eventful game at the Carp Fairgrounds last night between the Kars Aces and the Stittsville 56ers as echoes of a catcher and a golden arm could still be heard. After a rare summer shower the game started on time with a looming black sky in the distance. Nick Ellis took the hill for the Aces and got 3 ground balls in the top of the first to get a quick inning out of the 56ers. Darren Featherstone started for Stittsville and matched the three up three down posted by Kars.

Stittsville’s bats came alive in the 2nd in an inning that was plagued by two rain delays (and more water than we’ve seen all summer) and after drawing three walks they scored four on a couple of fielder’s choices and three singles.

The four run lead was short lived though as Kars scored three of their own in the top of the 3rd. Nick Ellis homered to score one. Kristain Knapp singled then Cory Morrison homered to make the score 4-3. Dave Tubman followed with a single then Scott Marion tripled to tie the score.

The bottom of third saw one wiley vet take the hill as Kevin Chevrier dusted off his pitching toe and came in in relief. Stittsville picked up two more on Dan Bradley’s 2 run HR to left, 6-4 after three.   Brad Pender hit a 3-run shot in the top of the 4th to give Kars the lead back then Cory Morrison hit a liner off the shin off Darren Featherstone and he had to be replaced by Dan (Marmaduke) Bradley back to his old familiar circle to close out the 4th.

Kars up 7-6 in the bottom of 6th, the see-saw match saw a couple of costly errors allowed the home side 56er’s to score four runs and take a 10-7 lead.

The last few innings were quiet and it seemed the 56ers had it all but wrapped it up with two out in the 7th. Andy Davey then hit a fly ball deep to centre when lo and behold Jose Canseco made a surprise GOFL debut and on the warning track saw the ball bounce out of his glove and up over the fence - home run. Canseco leaned against the fence in disbelief and appeared to be trying to pick the lock to the centre field gate but eventually turned around to finish the game. The 56ers got a ground ball to get out of the inning and pick up a 10-8 victory.

The Caveman's Choice as player of the game was Dan Bradley with a 2 run HR and a win on the hill after coming in to relive Featherstone.

Quyon and Barrhaven tie at 4 UPDATED with details

info from Edgy Edgerton and Moe Laframboise

Quyon Combat Flyers and Barrhaven Broadway Blues tied 4-4 in GOFL play on the Quebec side on Tuesday night. Paul Ceppi threw for the complete game for the Blues. Joran Graham started for Quyon but came out after the first as he was not feeling well, meaning Dan Konkle made an appearance pitching in the GOFL for the first time in a three season. Konks took over for a few innings before Graham reentered to finish the game.

Nick Armitage got Quyon on the board first with a solo homerun in the 2nd inning.

Barrhaven scored two to go back up 2-1, after a nasty hop eluded the shortstop.

The Flyers responded with three in the bottom half. Dennis McCleary tripled down the right field line, and scored on Shawn Laframboise's misplayed grounder to short with one out. Matt Greer then hit a two run bomb to give Quyon a 4-2 lead.

The Blues tied it up in the 4th. After a walk, a base hit to right field took a nasty hop and got by the fielder and went to the fence, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Joe Allan cashed them both with an RBI single. Graham reentered to close the inning.

There was no further scoring as the game ended 4-4.

Caveman's Choice for player of the game is shared by Paul Ceppi of the Blues (complete game pitching) and Matt Greer of the Flyers who was 2 for 4 with a two run homer and a double.

GOFL make up games this week UPDATE

UPDATE: Just got word about a couple of location changes for games this week.

The GOFL make up games continue this week before the start of playoffs.

On Tuesday, the Kars Aces (9-4-1) will face the Stittsville 56ers (5-9-2) in Carp. It's a 8:30pm start. The Barrhaven Broadway Blues (7-7-2) will make the trip that night to face the Quyon Combat Flyers (9-6-1) at 8pm.

Wednesday will see Kars in to Carp to face the Ottawa Taylor's Blitz (6-9-2) at 7pm and Barrhaven at 9pm.

And Thursday has Carp I4C Victory (10-6-1) in Quyon to play the Flyers at 8pm.

West Carleton Electric (6-11-1) has compeleted their regular season games.

Junior Nationals start Monday in Owen Sound

The Canadian Championships for Men's U21 (Junior) run from August 6 to 12 in Owen Sound.

There are 13 teams from seven different provinces.

Pitcher Andy Barber of West Carleton Electric has been added to the Owen Sound (host team) roster for the week.

As well, local official Ted Metcalfe will be working the Championships and George Findley will be the Deputy Umpire in Chief.

Quyon blanks West Carleton Electric 5-0

In GOFL action on Thursday night in Fitzroy Harbour, the Quyon Combat Flyers defeated West Carleton Electric 5-0.

Joran Graham had the complete game win, throwing a one-hitter. Steve Cavanagh took the loss with one inning of relief by Jeff Barber.

Dennis McCleary led off the game for Quyon with a home run deep to right field. This game was played on the "upper" second diamond so there was no 'grey monster' for this line shot to deal with.

A solo shot by Steve McCord in the fourth deep to centre made it 2-0.

The Flyers added three in the sixth. Matt Greer singled, Joran Graham tripled, Joe McCleary doubled, Curtis Daley singled to make it 5-0.

The Flyers looked to add  more in the seventh as they loaded the bases with one out on a Greer single and walks to Graham and McCleary. However a 5-2-6 double play ended the inning.

Graham only gave up one hit on the night and earned the honours as Caveman's Choice for player of the game.

Quyon
Joran Graham WP 7IP 0R 1H 8K 0BB

Dennis McCleary 1-4, HR, RBI, R
Matt Greer 2-4, R
Joran Graham 1-3, 3B, R, BB, RBI
Joe McCleary 1-3, 2B, BB, R, RBI
Steve McCord 2-4, HR, R, RBI
Curtis Daley 1-3, RBI

Fitzroy
Steve Cavanagh LP 6IP 5R 5ER 7H 4K 0BB
Jeff Barber 1IP 0R 1H 0K 2BB

Neil Murphy 1-3

Blitz beat Kars 12-2 on Wednesday

from Marcel Mondoux

The early dip in Manotick had the Kars Aces in town to face the home team Ottawa Taylor's Blitz. Both sides had the minimum 9 players aside as the Blitz made the call to semi-retired, Anil "Needle" Hayne, to help fill out their own roster. Starting pitchers for both sides were Corey Alkerton for Kars while the Blitz countered with Jamie Blakely. Both pitchers went the distance.


In the first inning, Kars got off to another great start on the base paths as Brad Pender led off with a walk and a stolen base followed by walks to Kristian Knapp and Chad Milne. Cory Morrison singled in Pender for the first run of the game. From there, Blakely was able to get the next three batters out to leave Kars with the bases loaded. 1-0 Kars.

The bottom of the second inning proved to be the biggest inning for the Blitz as they knocked in eight runs. Shannon Borho led off with a walk and was moved to third on a misplayed sac bunt by Ryan Mitts. The next batter struck out for the first out of the inning bringing up Hayne to load the bases on a walk. Adam Grier lined the ball down the right field line for a double, scoring Borho and Mitts. Marcel Mondoux followed up with a two run single scoring Hayne and Grier and was knocked in by leadoff hitter, Jeremy Regan via a two run shot to left center. Blakely and Tony Searle followed with a singles of their own and with Blakely on third, he was scored on a sac fly by Borho. Mitts then cashed in Searle with an RBI triple. 8-1 Blitz.

Hayne led off the bottom of the third inning with his first hit of the year, finally, with a solo shot to right center. Regan doubled two batters later and scored on an infield error off the bat of Blakely. 10-1 Blitz.

Kars scored in the top of the fifth as an infield error put a runner on for Pender to give him a tie for the league lead in RBI's. 10-2 Blitz.

For their performances at the plate, Jeremy Regan and Anil Hayne were chosen as the Caveman's Choice for players of the game.

Kars lines:
Pender - 2/3 R, RBI, SB
Knapp - 1/2 BB
Ellis - 1/2 R
Morrison - 1/2 RBI

Alkerton - LP 4IP 10R 9ER 8H 2BB 3K

Blitz lines:
Regan - 2/3 2R, HR, 2B, 2RBI
Blakely - 1/3 R, ROE, RBI
Searle - 1/3 R
Borho - R, BB, RBI, SACF
Mitts - 1/2 R, 3B, SAC, RBI
Hayne - 1/1 2R, HR, BB, RBI
Grier - 1/2 R, 2B, 2RBI
Mondoux - 1/2 R, 2RBI

Blakely - CGW 5IP 2R 1ER

Morrisburg Leader article on Rosey and Bobby Jack

Morrisburg Leader article that appeared online this week.

Hart, Rosenquist on board in AuSable Forks win


Sports - July 25, 2012 Edition

When the Carp 14C team (pronounced One Four C) team defeated the Donnacona Blue Sox, 7-6, in the championship final of the 50th annual AuSable Forks Memorial Fastpitch tournament on Sunday, July 15, the team included some local South Dundas talent.

Carp 14C is managed by Morrisburg native Eric Rosenquist and catching for the team is Riverside Heights native, Bobby Jack Hart.

Hart, who is enjoying his final season of fastball, has played for Carp for two years. At the tournament, he was named the most valuable catcher to join Rosenquist, who was named most valuable manager, in the silverware department.

“It was my 20th anniversary at this tournament,” said the talented catcher noting that on the tournament’s prestigious trophy there are some familiar old-time local team names like the Williamsburg Pioneers, the Johnstown Counts and the Cardinal Pats. “It’s a pretty prestigious tournament with some high calibre ball.”

Hart says he has had some great experiences with Carp 14c and is totally impressed with the skills of fellow South Dundaser, Eric Rosenquist. “I have played for a lot of managers over the years, but Eric is far and away the best. His attention to detail and the fact that he always goes above and beyond for his players speaks volumes for his love of the game. His most valuable manager award was well earned.”

Sweetening the victory for Hart was the fact that Carp defeated the two-time defending champs from Donnacona after trailing 6-2 in the fifth inning. That’s when Bruce Hackett connected for a grand slam to even the score 6-6.

Carp claimed the victory in the bottom of the 7th when Matt McKnish ended the game dramatically with a walk-off, two-run homer.

Last year Carp 14C lost to Donnacona in the final.

Hart also pointed out that Donnacona is the team that has dominated the Casey at the Bat tournament in Williamsburg each spring. Hart suits up for the local tournament with the Williamsburg Cigars who this year lost in the championship final to Donnacona, 6-1.

Hart says that although he is officially retiring from competitive ball at the end of this season, he will play next year, just once, as a member of an all star team that will be going to the 8th World Masters Games in Torino, Italy in August.

For his work, he is currently preparing to relocate his young family out west.

Softball Canada announces Men's Pan Am Championship Roster

A few names of interest on the list, including Gregg Garrity and Mathieu Roy, and of course GOFLer Mike "Pudge" Branchaud as the manager. 

Softball Canada is very pleased to announce the list of players who have been selected to represent Canada at the VIII Men’s Pan American Softball Championship, which will take place from September 15-23, 2012 in Medellin, Colombia. This event will serve as a qualifier for the ISF XIII Men’s World Championship to be held March 1-10, 2013 in Auckland, New Zealand.


The list of players who have been selected to represent Team Canada at the VIII Men’s Pan American Championship from September 15-23 in Medellin, Colombia are:

Athletes
Bryan Abrey (Richmond, BC)
Tyson Barkman (Abbotsford, BC)
Ryan Boland (St. John’s, NL)
Jeff Ellsworth (St. Lawrence, PEI)
Blair Ezekiel (Harbour Main, NL)
Greg Garrity (Courtice, ON)
Jason Hill (St. John’s, NL)
Brandon Horn(Waterloo, ON)
Mark Johnson (Glencoe, ON)
Rowan Lam (Glencoe, ON)
Stephen Mullaley (Freshwater, NL)
Brennan Pokoyoway (Saskatoon, SK)
Mathieu Roy (St. Gervais, QC)
Jason Sanford (Durham, NS)
Don Scott (Stratford, ON)
Andy Skelton (Newmarket, ON)
Brady Woods (Stonewall, MB)

Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Don Bates (Saskatoon, SK)
Assistant Coach: Les Howey (Conception Bay, NL)
Assistant Coach: John Stuart (Langley, BC)
Athletic Therapist: Adam Davies (Ottawa, ON)
Team Leader: Larry Gould (Burtts Corner, NB)
Manager Men’s National Team: Mike Branchaud (Ottawa, ON)

Cornwall Men's League Allstar game

The Cornwall Men's Fastball League has a their All-star game tonight at 7pm - details here.

Blues and Aces tie at 4

from Steve Edgerton

Barrhaven 4 Kars 4

The Blues started the first with a lead off single by Aaron Amo who sacraficed to second by Kevin Williams and then took third on a pass ball. With two out Amo stole home after the throw back to the pitcher and a close play at the plate with catcher Matt Alkerton.

Kars quickly responded with two runs in the bottom of the first the help of some suspect defence. Brad Pender lead off with a single, stole second and then scored on an error at short of the bat of Kristian Knapp. Knapp stole second and scored on a single by Spud Morrison.

No scoring in the second, and the Blues put up 3 in the third. Calvin Medynski out of retirement lead off with a single, advanced to second on a sac by Amo, and scored on the Williams strikeout as the throw after the pass ball made it all the way to right field. Williams ended up on third on the play and scored on a pass ball. Chad Hargrove hit a line drive home run to right centre for third run in the inning.

Kars answered in the fifth with Knapp hitting a triple down the third base line. Next batter Chad Milne drew a walk and both runners scored on the Morrison double.

Barrhaven made a pitching change for the seventh with Trevor Lahey replacing Paul Ceppi. Lahey struck out Pender, walked Knapp who stole second, struck out Milne and set up a coaching decision to walk Morrison with first base open. Lahey struck out Scott Marion to preserve the tie for the visiting team playing at home.

For his pitching performance, the Caveman's Choice as player of the game goes to Kars thrower Brad Porter.

Pender, 1-4, sb, r
Knapp, 1-3, 3b, 2sb, 2R, BB
C Alkerton, 2-3, two singles

Porter, 7 innings, 6 hits, 10 k's, 1HR, 1ER

Hargrove 2-3, s, HR,
Ceppi, 6 innings, 7 hits, 3ER, 5k's, 1BB
Lahey, 1 inning, 3k's, 2BB,

GOFL results Wednesday night

Various reports from Wednesday night GOFL play in Manotick indicate that:

In the first game, the Ottawa Blitz beat the Kars Aces 10-2 in five innings. Jamie Blakely earned the win while Cory Alkerton took the loss. Anil Hayne and Jeremy Regan had home runs for the Blitz.,

The second game saw the Aces tie the Barrhaven Broadway Blues 4-4 (corrected score). Paul Ceppi threw six innings for the Blues and Trevor Lahey saw an inning in relief. Brad Porter threw for Kars. Chad Hargrove had a homer for the Blues.

Standings for the GOFL as of August 1st:
Carp 10-6-1 = 21 pts
Kars 9-4-1 = 19 pts
Quyon 8-6-1 = 17 pts
Barrhaven 7-7-2 = 16 pts
Ottawa Blitz 6-9-2 = 14 pts
Fitzroy Harbour 6-10-1 = 13 pts
Stittsville 5-9-2 = 12 pts

Caveman Olympic observations

The Caveman had the Olympics on yesterday. He's keen on trying to figure out the nations competing based on their acronym and counting the number of medals won.

Yesterday, he asked "Daddy, why isn't softball in the Olympics?" Good question, and a tough one to answer - why did they ever get rid of it? Boooo to the Olympics on that one. For the record, he certainly supports the "Back Softball" campaign as I am sure many blog readers do.

(He also asked the question "Daddy, what's that sport called where they row the boat?" An easier one to answer!)

Photos from the Gil Read Tournament

Bruce Hackett had his camera at the Gil Read Tournament in Carp this past weekend. Check out the great photos here, including team photos for all 9 squads.