Napanee Beaver August 25, 2016 by The Napanee Beaver

18 / SPORTS

T H E

N A PA N E E

Thursday, August 25, 2016

B E AV E R

MITES | Team looks to win league title NOVICE | Resounding success this season CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 After a small delay, Napanee took the field to bat, starting their half of the inning with three straight singles by Kayla Gendron, Sutton and Whan. That was followed by a huge double by Barker to tie the game at 3-3. Just then the skies opened up again for good and postponed the rest of the game to Sunday morning. When play resumed, Napanee added a run in the third inning to take the lead. The lead wouldn't last however as the Tigers

stormed back with three runs to take what seemed like a comfortable 6-4 lead in their final at bat. Mississauga came out to go into shutdown mode in the bottom of the inning. However, the Express girls showed great plate discipline, and the Tigers walked the first four batters, bringing the score to 6-5. The next two hitters struck out bringing the leadoff hitter, Gendron to the plate. With nerves of steel, she took the first pitch she saw and lined a rocket shot up the middle to the outfield and scored the two runs for a walk-off

victory. Sutton picked up the win and struck out eight batters. The celebration was cut short by the strong Senior Bats team however, who ended Napanee’s run with the 4-2 victory. The Express girls have some unfinished business left as they will be travelling to Oshawa this Saturday to play in the North York Women’s Softball League Mite Division playoffs. They will start off at 9 a.m. and a win would push them through into the gold medal game.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 She also didn’t allow a single base runner. As she was shutting down the Energy the Express bats roared to life, posting enough runs for a 9-5 victory. That win relegated the Express to the top pool of the playoffs, where they would face off against the top two teams from B.C. as well as Halton Hills, the top seed from Ontario. In their first game, they drew the White Rock Renegades, who had yet to allow a run the entire tournament

NAPANE TRUCTION S N E EXP O C RE T B S A A L L CHAM AFW DIAN U16 F PION SS SH A CAN ST 10-14, 2016 – OWEN SOUN IPS D, O U N AUG

The Players, Coaches and Families of the AFW Construction- Napanee Express would like to sincerely thank the following contributors for their generosity and support :

GOLD

Calderwood Automation Bush Furniture Al White Landscaping and Excavating Free Flow Fuel Home Hardware Continental Conveyor Specialized On Site Service Inc Doyle’s Windows and Sunrooms Robert Sullivan and Son's Denzen Farms Auctioneers Ltd. Steve’s Trucking Loyalist Township Big Jump Garvin Real Estate – Patrick Severin Residence Inn- Kingston (Jeffrey Gillin) BRONZE Softball Napanee The Doyle Family McKeown and Wood OASA Michael Derry/TD Wealth A.W. Clark Transportation Services Boyd Electric MyFM 88.7 Drain All Access Automotive SILVER Waterworks Irrigation McDougall Insurance Bar Electric D&D Electrocraft Bar view farms GT Machining TD Canada Trust Rankins Towing and Repair

Performance Sales and Leasing Play it Again Sports Mc Glennon Insurance Mc Cormick’s Country Store Oma Opa Samis R Richmond - Combined Insurance Greenbush Generals Fastpitch Spicer’s Movers Brockville Ltd Tile Tech Floor and Bath Solutions Rideau Insurance Services J.J 's Hair Barn Ogilvie’s Auto and Fleet Service Inc AM Sports Centre Street Auto Courtyard Marriott - Kingston Holiday Inn Express- Kingston L&A Animal Hospital Castle Building Centre April’s Image Davis & Davis Dewe’s Independent Grocer The Napanee Beaver

to that point. “We played the game of our lives,” said coach Morrow. “Facing the top pitchers in Canada, we were able to hold on for the win.” Weese tripled and scored on a hit from Fairs to make it 1-0. Rachel Foster followed up with an RBI of her own and the Express tacked on another for a slim 3-0 lead. Morrow made the start and turned the ball over to Alexa Oriecuia to close out the final three innings. “At the end of the game (the Renegades) had bases loaded, nobody out,” said coach Morrow. “We walked in a run and then got a fielder's choice for the first out. Then (third base) Chihiro Suzuki turned a double play to end the game. It was incredible.” It would go down as the only loss the Renegades would suffer the entire tournament and also saw them allow three of the four total runs they’d surrender all week. Unfortunately, the Express weren’t able to build on their upset win and lost 8-1 to the Devils. They did, however, bounce back to beat the Halton Hills Hawks for their first time ever, a streak that dates back to when the girls were at the mite level.

They bested them 8-5 to close out playoff pool play. “We were finally able to beat them when it mattered most,” said Morrow. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough to qualify for the finals, as the White Rock Renegades advanced. All of the teams in the pool finished with a 2-1 record, forcing organizers to determine the top team based on runs for and against. White Rock would go on to beat the host Winnipeg team 5-1 in Sunday’s final. “We were a bit unlucky,” said Morrow. “We went 2-1 in our pool and a 1-2 team went on to play for a medal. The math got us. We only had one bad inning the whole tournament.” Still, the season will go down as a resounding success for the novice Express. In total they played 68 games this summer and lost just 12. They also were tournament champions in Vaughan, the qualifier and had a second place finish at provincials. Morrow thanked his sponsor of Doyle’s Windows as well as the community at large for helping the girls go as far as they did. The girls will look to improve on their strong finish next season as 10 of the 12 will move to the bantam level.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

visit www.napaneebeaver.com AMBER WEESE

Amber Weese is a member of the Napanee Doyle’s Windows Novice Express. She had a great week at the plate last week, helping her team defeat two of the top teams at the 2016 U14 Canadian Fastpitch Jamboree, which was held in Winnipeg Manitoba. She delivered several clutch hits.

If you know someone who should be our Athlete of the Week, call the Beaver’s newsroom at 354-6641. Or send us a picture and a brief write-up to 72 Dundas St. E., Napanee, K7R 1H9.

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