Stittsville 56ers u16 Earn Silver at the Eastern Canadian Championships

from Erin Durant

 

 

 

This past weekend the Stittsville 56ers u16 team earned a silver medal at the Eastern Canadian Softball Championships hosted in Whitby. The tournament featured the top tier II teams from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and, of course, Ontario.  The 56ers competed in the tournament as Ontario 3.

 

The 56ers are sponsored by platinum sponsor Sleepwell Property Management as well as Beans Chevrolet, Ken White Construction, Upper Canada Elevators, the BLG Foundation, lawyer Larry Elliot, Ram Electric, Shouldice Mechanical, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians Sports Club, Kanata Sports Club and Water Depot.

 

In the first game the 56ers faced Quebec 2. The team would have 23 hits while committing zero errors to start the tournament with a 19-1 win in five innings (including scoring nine runs in the 5th). Alison Roach and Kate Parks led the offence with four hits each, with Roach hitting an opposite field homerun. Roach also had four RBIs in the game and four runs scored. Sydney Watts pitched four innings for the 56ers striking out seven and allowing one earned run. Jordyn LeBoutillier was perfect in relief.

 

The 56ers next faced New Brunswick 2. The 56ers scored early with one run in the first inning and six in the second inning on route to a 10-0 win in four innings.  The offence was again led by Roach who was 3 for 3 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored. Pick up players Ella Altiman and Meg McCallum (both from the Springfield Brewers) each had two hits and two RBIs – Altiman’s on a two run homerun. Emmy Lecour also contributed two hits and two RBIs in the game.  McCallum earned the pitching win going three innings with four strikeouts. LeBoutillier was, again, perfect in relief.

 

In the biggest game of the round robin, the 56ers then faced Ontario 1 (Brampton).  It was a tight game with both teams playing stellar defence and no score going into the top of the 7th. In the top of the 7th, MacKenzie Bresee led off the inning with a single. Following a strikeout, Emmy Lecour executed a perfect bunt and legged it out at first base, leaving runners at first and second. Avery Smith then hit a bloop single just over the third basemen that scored the speedy Bresee and advanced Lecour to third. Altiman then hit a long fly ball to centre field that was caught for a sacrifice fly, scoring Lecour. The 56ers would hold their 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th after a fly ball to Lecour, a strikeout, a single down the third baseline, and a pop out to Watts to end the game. Watts pitched the complete game for the 56ers, striking out seven and allowing only two walks and no runs.

 

In the last game of the round robin, the 56ers faced Newfoundland. McCallum had the ball for the 56ers. The game was a close one after three innings with the score tied at 2-2. In the 4th inning, the bats again exploded for the 56ers. Brianna Flowers started the inning off with a walk. LeBoutillier then executed a bunt and was safe at first following an overthrow, which advanced Flowers to third. Hailey Armstrong then got on base with another walk, loading the bases for leadoff hitter Avery Smith. Smith singled scoring Flowers. McCallum then drew another walk, scoring LeBoutillier. With the bases loaded, Delaney Johnston belted a grand slam homerun clearing the bases. In total, the 56ers scored six runs in the inning. They would go on to add three more runs in the fifth inning after a single from Paige Galbraith, homerun from Smith, a triple from Johnston and a single from Jayde Shouldice. McCallum pitched four innings for the 56ers allowing 1 earned run. LeBoutillier pitched two innings in relief, striking out four, walking none and allowing no earned runs.

 

The win over Newfoundland earned the 56ers first place in their pool and a spot in the 1st vs 1st game – with the winning advancing straight to the final and the loser guaranteed no worse than third place.

 

The 56ers would face Ontario 2 (Aurora) in the 1st vs. 1st game.  It was clear from the outset that the game would be a slug fest with both teams coming out very strong on the bats. After the 56ers scored three runs in the top of the 2nd inning,  Aurora responded with 6 of their own in the bottom of the half earning a 6-3 lead. The 56ers responded immediately with 5 runs in the top of the third inning with a single from Johnston, a single from Parks, a single from Roach (scoring Johnston), a fielder’s choice for Bresee (scoring Parks),  a double from LeBoutillier (scoring Bresee), a single from Lecour and a double from Avery Smith (Scoring LeBoutillier and Lecour who had stole second). The scoring pace for both teams slowed down after that and the 56ers would go in to the top of the 7th inning up by only one run. An insurance run was added in the top of the seventh following a triple from Lecour, a sac fly by Smith and a double by Altiman. The bottom of the 7th inning was a nail bitter. After forcing a pop up to Bresee, a runner reached base safely on a single. A fielder’s choice then left a runner on first with no one out but with one of Aurora’s top batters at the plate. With two out a sinking line drive was hit to Smith in right field who executed a perfect sliding catch that ended the game for the 56ers 10-8. Smith was also 4 for 5 in the game with four RBIs. Bresee was the other offensive powerhouse going 2 for 4 with three RBIs. LeBoutillier was the hero in the pitchers circle pitching 5.1 innings in relief and allowing only two earned runs with four strikeouts and only one walk.

 

Brampton would go on to defeat Aurora in the bronze medal game forcing a re-match with the 56ers in the final. Unfortunately, the 56ers bats went cold in the final and they would lose the game 9-0.  Watts, Leboutillier and McCallum all pitched in an effort to calm the Brampton bats but to no avail. Smith, Lecour, Johnston, Shouldice and Roach all had hits in the final.

 

The team was extremely pleased with their silver medal performance. They were also treated to an additional surprise during their medal ceremony when two of their athletes were honoured with individual awards (pictured). Watts was named top pitcher of the round robin having pitched 11 innings, earning two wins, allowing only seven hits, one earned run and striking out 14 for a 0.636 ERA. Roach was also named top batter for the round robin finishing with a 0.800 average, 1.200 slugging percentage, scoring six RBIs, six runs scored, a homerun, a double and six singles in ten at bats. The 56ers as a whole had a phenomenal tournament at the plate with a team batting average over six games of .441 with eight batters with averages over 0.400, four homeruns, seven triples and twelve doubles.

 

 

 

It was an incredible end to an incredible year that the coaches were privileged to be a part of. 

 

The 2019 Stittsville 56ers u16 Team at Eastern Canadians

 

Athletes: Sydney Watts, Jordyn LeBoutillier, Paige Galbraith, Emmy Lecour, Avery Smith, Brianna Flowers, Hailey Armstrong, Kate Parks, Jayde Shouldice, Mikaylee Driver, Delaney Johnston, MacKenzie Bresee, Alison Roach, Ella Altiman (Springfield), Meg McCallum (Springfield)

 

Coaches: Erin Durant, Brad Pender, Dale Aiken, Carolyn Harmen