Silver for The Stittsville 56’ers Squirt Boys Selects

by Al Read

Left to right - Back Row – Derek Konkle – Tim Maxwell – Al Read

Middle Row – Camden Konkle – James Villeneuve – Rowan Randal – Todd Rowley – Zakk Mallette – James Parent

Front Row – Daniel Read – Finn Kylie – Hayden Bourre – Ashton Ledain – Graham Maxwell 

Missing – Micah Pyefinch

The Stittsville 56’er Squirt Boys (U12) Selects team were in action on the weekend in Cambridge Ontario. The team was formed in Mid June following a busy house league season. They managed to have only one practice and an exhibition game, before being “thrown to the wolves” in Southern Ontario. But the boys rose to the challenge taking home the silver medal in the 8 team event.

 

The first game of the day saw the 56’ers up against a strong team from Kitchener Waterloo. Graham Maxwell got the ball for the 56’ers and was awesome on the mound. In 4 innings, Maxwell struck out 9 while the bats came to life. Scoring 9 runs in 3 innings, the 56’ers didn’t have to bat in the last inning, taking the victory 9 to 8. Maxwell was named the player of the game for Stittsville.

 

The second game was in the heat of the day against Lake Simcoe in a pitcher’s duel. Daniel Read got the ball for Stittsville and was dealing! After Lake Simcoe scored 1 run in the top of the 1^st inning, Read shut the door the rest of the way striking out 11 in the four inning game. The only out that wasn’t a strike out was a deep fly ball to left that resulted in an amazing catch by Finn Kylie. And Kylie wasn’t done there hitting a triple in the second inning, however the 56’ers were unable to cash him and after 3 innings Lake Simcoe was still leading 1-0. Fortunately, the bats came alive in the 4^th. A lead off home Run by Graham Maxwell and back to back hits from Ashton Ledain and Daniel Read, put the score at 1-1 with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd. James Parent stepped up and stroked a single and put the 56’ers up 3-1. Parent also came around to score and the 56’ers took the game 4-1. With 11 strike outs and a big hit in the 4^th, Read was named the player of the game for Stittsville.

 

With an 2-0 record heading into the final game of the round robin, the 56’ers took on the St. Catharine’s Athletics. Todd Rowley took the ball for the 56’ers and was throwing his heart out on the mound. Unfortunately for Rowley, the long day in the heat got to some of the guys and uncharacteristically, some errors followed giving St Catharine’s a 7-1 lead after 1 and half. The boys rallied for him though with 5 runs in the second to bring them within 1, including Rowley himself stealing home.  After a couple runs in the 3^rd were scored, they 56’ers changed the pitcher, bringing Read in with the bases loaded. The Athletics’ still managed to score 4 staking them to an 11-6 lead. In the bottom of the third however the bats for Stittsville wouldn’t go away. Everyone hit, including some massive deep balls by Zakk Mallett, Ashton Ledain and Read. The 56’ers tied the game at 11 heading into the last inning. Read was again dealing and shut the Athletics down aided by an amazing cover and throw home from James Parent that led to a run down between home and 3^rd, preserving the tie. However, the bats for 56’ers went quiet in the bottom of the 4^th and the game ended in an 11 -11 draw. Ashton Ledain was named the game MVP.

 

With a 2-0-1 record the 56’ers won pool B and headed to the Championship Game against the Unionville Spartans, Graham Maxwell took the hill for the 56’ers. Maxwell was awesome again, however, the strike zone seemed to get quite small for the finals. Unionville took advantage of the walks and were extremely aggressive on the bases giving the 56’ers some trouble. But the hitters for Stittsville wouldn’t go away. After 2 complete the Spartans were ahead 7 -5. In the 3^rd, the 56’ers gave the ball back to Daniel Read who, like Maxwell had a difficult time with the strike zone. On walks, the Spartans managed to score 4 in the 3^rd inning and 3 in the fourth inning to take a 13 -9 lead, heading into the bottom of the last inning. The team tried to rally scoring a run and had runners on the corners with 2 outs and their top hitter Ashton Ledain at the plate. Ledain scorched one, but right at the shortstop who made a great play and ended the game in a 13-10 victory for the Spartans.  Ashton Ledain who hit a ton all day long, and caught almost every inning for the 56er’s in 40-degree humidity, was named player of the tournament for the 56’ers.

 

The team and the coaches were thrilled with the Silver medal result. They are looking forward to the provincial’s in August where they hope to take it all.